Meeting in keeper's cottages row

A Reading MP will meet with lock keepers and the Environment Agency over a plan to sell a third of keeper's cottages along the River Thames.

The Environment Agency said it would sell 10 of its 57 properties along the river as part of efficiency savings.

Martin Salter MP says the decision was a fundamental mistake. He will meet all sides in June to ask the Environment Agency to reverse its decision.

The agency said it needed to make sure public money was being spent wisely.

"I believe that the Environment Agency is making a fundamental mistake in flogging off 10 lock houses and decommissioning another 12," Mr Salter said.

"These are public assets and should remain in the public sector.

"The existence of an on-site presence at weirs and locks prevents vandalism and enhances safety."

A further 12 properties will be rented out privately as they are no longer needed for "operational reasons", under the plans.

The agency said lock keepers will remain in work. But some people have expressed concerns that a presence will not be maintained 24 hours a day.

Of those lock house that will be sold, one is in Oxford, two in Maidenhead, five in Surrey and two in Buckinghamshire.

The meeting will take place in the House of Commons on 2 June.