Land Act 1958

The owner or occupier for the time being of land adjacent to a watercourse the bed and banks of which have remained the property of the Crown by virtue of section 385 or any corresponding previous enactment has the same right of access to (including access for members of the household, or for the stock, of the owner or occupier), and the same right to use for grazing purposes, the part of the bed and banks adjoining the owner's or occupier's land as the owner or occupier would have had if the bed and banks had not remained the property of the Crown.

An owner or occupier referred to in subsection (1) has the same right to seek and obtain a remedy for trespass against a person (other than the Crown or an Authority or a person acting under the sanction of the Crown or an Authority) trespassing on the part of the bed and banks adjoining the owner's or occupier's land as the owner or occupier would have had if the bed and banks had not remained the property of the Crown and if the trespasser were a trespasser on land in the owner's or occupier's possession.

This section—

applies to land occupied by a person, whether or not it is Crown land; and

subject to subsection (1), does not restrict the Crown's right to seek and obtain a remedy for trespass against a person trespassing on the part of the bed and banks referred to in that subsection; and

does not apply if the part of the bed and banks referred to in subsection (1) has been appropriated by or under the sanction of the Crown for any of the purposes of the Water Act 1989 or any corresponding previous enactment; and

has effect despite anything to the contrary in this Act.