Protestors say the ban would hit the local economy

A 10mph speed limit will be introduced on Windermere after March 2005.

Members of the Lake District National Park Authority will be asked to agree to buy better technology so it is ready to enforce the limit.

A report proposes spending about �20,000 for extra speed monitoring equipment such as a laser gun with an attached video camera and separate cameras linked to a global positioning system.

The recommendations follow discussions between the park authority, police and Crown Prosecution Service about how prosecutions should be brought once the speed limit is introduced.

Lake ranger Steve Tatlock will present the report to the authority's implementation committee on 20 January.

At the moment evidence of speeding on the lake, where there is already a 6mph limit in congested areas, has been gathered by using a stills camera.

Series of studies

That can capture boats in a position which they can only be in when they are moving at more than 12mph.

But the report says this kind of evidence will be "unreliable as evidence in any potential prosecution" when the new limit comes in.

The 10mph speed limit has faced opposition with opponents claiming the speed limit is unnecessary and dangerous.

The authority says the speed limit will make the lake a more tranquil place to visit.

But businesses have said it will devastate the local economy

Campaigners from the Keep Windermere Alive Association, have claimed a series of studies conclude a wide range of activities can safely take place on the lake, including the use of power boats.