Waterways in Oxford are to benefit from a £2m Government scheme to upgrade locks, weirs and facilities along the River Thames.

Work to improve facilities in Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames, Windsor, Sunbury and Walton-on-Thames will start in November.

Abingdon Lock is to have £197,000 of work done to replace a wooden lay-by which is in poor condition.

It will be replaced with a steel bankside lay-by, which is expected to be safer and easier to use. The work is due to take place between January 7 and March 22, 2002.

Days Lock in Little Wittenham, near Wallingford, will have work costing £190,000 done, again replacing a wooden lay-by Work on the new steel lay-by, with a walkway, will start on November 5.

Hambledon Lock, near Henley-on-Thames, will have £170,000 spent on it to replace the breakwater, which protects boats leaving the lock from the the effect of flows from the nearby weir.

The remaining cash will be spread across projects along the rest of the Thames.

The works are expected to last until March next year and the agency has apologised in advance for inconvenience to river users.

Anyone planning a river journey during this period should contact the agency on 0118 953 5535 before setting off.