WALLINGFORD will get new moorings costing £200,000 next year — and they will be at the right height.

District councillors have passed the local authority’s own planning application to construct 136m of moorings along the eastern bank of the Thames to encourage more river-users to stop off at the town.

There were concerns initial proposals for the moorings put them so far above the waterline they would be unusable by small boats.

But after discussions with council engineers, the Environment Agency has agreed to allow a jetty to be built into the river, meaning the moorings will be low enough.

Town mayor and boat user Dee Cripps said: “This news is absolutely fabulous. The moorings are long-awaited, and the fact they are the revised plans which are slightly lower will help a lot of people.

“Boat users are generally over-50, with time on their hands, but they need moorings which Wallingford has always been sadly lacking. We need to encourage as much through traffic as we can to come in to the town.”

She added having a smaller population than other Thames towns, Wallingford needed the tourism boost.