I would have to go to Australia for festive cruises if every country was like the UK had our infrastructure on non-tidal rivers!

Firstly, thanks to everyone who has so far signed this petition, but as we near 150 signatures, more voices are needed!

As I have already mentioned in previous posts, the demand is not for the Hampton Court to Westminster boats to run year-round, but a specific request for limited off-season festive cruises from Hampton Court to Westminster. As I have already said, the maintenance closure at Teddington Lock between Christmas and Easter is perfectly acceptable, as it avoids the festive season (even in years when Easter falls very late).

Let me cover the issue about infrastructure and weather - the non tidal Thames between Teddington Lock and Hampton can easily be flooded and water levels can be high even in the summer months when these sailings are operational if an exceptional amount of rain falls and snow is statistically more likely to fall between January and March rather than November/December.

Boats can have and have already been operating on the tidal Thames during the winter months for very many years (a notable example being extra boat services on December 31st, 1999 for the millennium) so the issue is outdated infrastructure on the non tidal section.

Even if maintenance at Teddington Lock took place only on weekdays throughout November and December (allowing weekend festive cruises) or if the operator extended services into just the first two weeks of November (with the maintenance shutdown immediately after that), even that would be a vast improvement to the late October shutdown of services!