The strange Royal arrangement that kept Bibby Stockholm afloat

The Mayor of Portland is suing the government for mooring the Bibby Stockholm in her town without permission. But government argues the barge is on Crown land - under the sea.

By John Lubbock and Daisy Steinhardt

Whenever you read about the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge, its location is given as Portland, Dorset. But the barge actually sits in the curious legal grey zone of crown land - and the chair of Portland Town Council is taking the government to court over mooring the barge in her town without bothering to ask the resid…