A £380,000 project to repair and rebuild part of the Thames towpath in South Oxford should be finished this week.

The project forms the third of a four-phase £1.1m scheme to repair the towpath through the centre of Oxford and comes after a section had collapsed into the river.

The state of the towpaths around the city became an issue after the death of Wolvercote teenager Ben Halsey-Jones. He fell into the flooded river while cycling near Port Meadow in 2007.

Sections at Medley, Fiddlers Island, Abbey Road and between Folly Bridge and Donnington have already been completed at a cost of £940,000.

A section of the towpath alongside Grandpont Nature Reserve near the railway bridge was closed three years ago after it fell into the river.

An alternative path through the reserve was used as a diversion, but completion of the work will again allow access alongside the river.

The new path is wider, at 1.2 metres, and has an all weather surface. The work, carried out by Greenford Construction on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council, had to be extended after further problems were discovered during the winter. Following completion of this section, work will move to Donnington Bridge to repair the section to Iffley Lock and the Southern Bypass bridge. This will cost £150,000 and should be completed by late this summer.

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