Gibraltar police attempted on Sunday to stop a fishing boat from the port of La Linea from casting its nets in bay of Algeciras.

The captain of the fishing boat, Francisco Gomez, told Spanish television the boats scraped their hulls against one another as Gibraltar police carried out high-speed maneuvers to stop it from casting its nets.

The fishing boat left the port earlier with an escort of Spanish civil guards.

In March this year, Gibraltar Prime Minister Fabian Picardo ended an agreement which allowed fishermen from La Linea and Algeciras to fish in waters off Gibraltar.

Picardo claimed the agreement broke a Gibraltar law which prohibits fishing with nets.

Gibraltar, which borders La Linea and faces Algeciras across the bay, is a British crown colony located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, which ceded to Britain in 1713, ending the war of Spanish succession.

Spain has never recognized British sovereignty in the region.

Relations between Spain and Britain were further strained when it was announced that Prince Edward, the Count of Wessex, would visit Gibraltar as part of Queen Elizabeth II's diamond jubilee celebrations.

In protest, Queen Sofia of Spain snubbed an invitation to a luncheon to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's jubilee, with the Spanish government advising that her attendance would "hardly be appropriate."

Last week, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said that he would talk with British officials over the issue when he is in London this week to meet British Foreign Secretary William Hague.