Oxford canal could become a gateway to the city, following news that the Government wants to revitalise the UK's inland waterways, writes Victoria Owen.

Simon Ainsley, the city's waterways manager, welcomed ambitious conservation plans to transform canals into recreational and educational resources.

At the launch of the Waterways for Tomorrow policy document, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said he hoped to promote urban and rural regeneration through the water network. Mr Ainsley, who has been hosting public forums on Oxford canal with boaters, residents and businesses for the last three years, said: "We are hugely encouraged and intend to go out and do yet more things with the waterways. In ten years the canal could be a fine gateway into Oxford. Because we've been working with the Environment Agency, which looks after the Thames, the canal is not the end of the line in Oxford, but a staging post on to the river."

Mr Ainsley is also keen to see the rejuvenation of the Worcester Street basin, which was once a thriving mooring post for hundreds of narrow boats. He said: "We could have public access to the basin, with pubs and shops along it and boats coming in."