logo
River Thames weir and lock keepers vote on potential strike

River Thames weir and lock keepers vote on potential strike

BBC News07-05-2025

River Thames weir and lock keepers consider strike
9 minutes ago
Share
Save
Ethan Gudge
BBC News, Oxford
Share
Save
Getty Images
Hambleden, near Henley, is home to one of 45 non-tidal locks along the River Thames, as well as a weir
Weir and lock keepers along the River Thames have begun voting on strike action over safety concerns, a trade union has said.
The GMB said workers were currently deciding whether to take industrial action over what it called "budget-driven decisions" that were "putting people and property at risk".
There are currently 52 permanent staff working on the river, along with 10 currently unfilled temporary roles, but an Environment Agency (EA) assessment in 2008 found more than 100 staff were needed, the union said.
In a statement, the EA said it was "committed" to working with keepers and unions to "avoid industrial action".
The ballot for workers opened on Friday and will close on 23 May, the union said.
GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter said weir and lock keepers along the Thames were currently "expected to keep people safe with half the numbers needed".
"There are only 52 staff doing the work of more than 90 - it's just not safe with planned time off, holiday commitments and sick absence," he said.
"All they want is to do their jobs safely and well and keep the public safe - and they may be ready to go on strike to achieve that."
Getty Images
The union wants better staffing along the river, including at Sandford Lock
In March, Mr Brandstatter raised concerns and warned of strike action in a letter to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
There are 45 non-tidal locks on the River Thames, including Osney and Iffley in Oxfordshire, Caversham and Shiplake in Berkshire and others in Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Greater London.
An EA spokesperson said lock and weir keepers were an "important aid in maintaining the non-tidal Thames and allowing the public to enjoy our waterways".
"Their safety, and the safety of river users, is a top priority," the spokesperson said.
"We are committed to continuing to work with them and unions to update our ways of working so we can deliver more for our customers and river users, and avoid industrial action, while ensuring the wellbeing of staff."
"To be clear, we have not proposed any cuts to jobs or services – and we will provide further detail on our approach to modernising navigation on the Thames in due course."
You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, , or Instagram.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Make your dad feel extra special this Father's Day by sending him a message in The Sun on Sunday
Make your dad feel extra special this Father's Day by sending him a message in The Sun on Sunday

The Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Sun

Make your dad feel extra special this Father's Day by sending him a message in The Sun on Sunday

THIS Sunday is Father's Day and we want to know why YOUR dad is the greatest. So if you want to send your dad – or the father figure in your life - an extra special message this Father's Day, now you can with the help of The Sun on Sunday. 1 Email us in your messages of love and appreciation – and we'll print a selection of them in this Sunday's paper. You can tell him why he is the greatest, send him a poem or simply say how much you love him.

Don't let a vocal minority silence Britain's ancient church bells
Don't let a vocal minority silence Britain's ancient church bells

Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Telegraph

Don't let a vocal minority silence Britain's ancient church bells

There used to be a tradition that ringing church bells would drive out evil spirits. Now it's the bells that are being driven out. The latest set of chimes to fall foul of complainers are in Mytholmroyd. It's a small West Yorkshire village, best known as the birthplace of Ted Hughes. Perhaps it was the bells of St Michael's Church that inspired the late Poet Laureate to write in one of his rhymes for children about a bell's 'clang of mumbling boom'. But that clang was far from mumbling for three residents who said they were being kept awake all night by the chimes, ringing every 15 minutes. A noise abatement order imposed on the bells means they now can't be rung at all, so for the first time in 100 years they have fallen silent. There have been similar ding dongs over church bells elsewhere in the past few years: in both Witheridge and Kenton in Devon, in Helpringham in Lincolnshire, and in Beith in Ayrshire, usually by people saying that chimes through the night in these rural neighbourhoods are ruining their sleep. As someone who lives in a city, used to police helicopters overhead, ice cream vans blaring their tinny tunes, trains rattling past, and crowds of students staggering home at night under the influence of numerous intoxicants, I have to say I do find the noise of the countryside rather disturbing. Here in the city, these noises are part of a constant soundscape. In the country, there is an enveloping silence, but then you will be jolted into wakefulness by a cockerel's piercing crow, or a huge piece of farm machinery rattling past, or a herd of cattle lowing their way to milking. But a church bell chime, surely, is in a minor key compared to these other rural interruptions? For me the sound of bells is, well, music to my ears. Despite the planes flying into Heathrow over my head and the police sirens blaring outside my door, I can still hear the sound of a bell nearby, which rings regularly to mark Divine Office being said in a local monastery as well as the Angelus at noon. On Sundays, a peal of bells sounds out at a nearby church, and on weekday evenings too you can hear the ringing, as the tower captain and his team practise Plain Bob Major or Grandsire Triples or one of those other extraordinary mathematical formulas, known as changes, that make up bell-ringing. But the kind of change we don't want is something so quintessentially English as bell-ringing to disappear because after a few people make a fuss, officialdom steps in. The bells of Mytholmroyd were silenced when just three people objected – but the 1,200 residents who wanted the chimes to continue had their petition ignored. It's a growing pattern: a few complaints put an end to chimes that had been loved by communities for generations. Yet there's more at stake here than bells. It sounds a death-knell for our tradition of going with what the majority want.

Family stunned to find their pet Joey the tortoise is actually a girl after 95 YEARS
Family stunned to find their pet Joey the tortoise is actually a girl after 95 YEARS

The Sun

time2 hours ago

  • The Sun

Family stunned to find their pet Joey the tortoise is actually a girl after 95 YEARS

A PET tortoise thought to be a boy for 95 years turned out to be a girl. Joey finally came out of her shell at a vet's examination shortly before her death from a stomach tumour last week. 2 The African spurred tortoise was bought from high street chain Woolworths in 1930 by Louise Dimmock, as a gift for son Alan. Joey spent the next nine decades being passed down through the family — ending up with Alan's granddaughter Lorraine Steward. The cabin crew trainee, 43, said: 'We always thought he was a boy until we took him to the vets to be examined before his death. 'We knew something was wrong as he wasn't taking his food. 'He had never needed to go to the vet before and it's difficult to check the gender. They were stunned he had done so well. 'They were examining him and revealed, 'I'm led to believe he's actually a girl'. 'We couldn't believe it. Maybe he was more of a Josephine than a Joey all this time. But after knowing him as a boy for 95 years, we're not going to change now.' Joey, who ate lettuce and strawberries, was well-known among locals in Whitwell, Herts. Lorraine added: 'We will all miss him greatly. He lived a simple life. He was very low maintenance and happy as anything.' 2 Giant tortoise found again after it was believed to be extinct for a century 21 PMs AND NINE POPES OVER her 95 years Joey never strayed any further than her home village, even surviving a German shell landing in the garden during World War Two. She also lived through: Twenty-one prime ministers. Five monarchs, stretching back to George V, left. Sixteen Presidents of the US. Nine popes. World War Two. Twenty-one England football managers — and one World Cup victory. And 22 Olympics.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store