Guidance

River Thames: guidance for event organisers

Updated 21 August 2023

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/river-thames-guidance-for-event-organisers/river-thames-guidance-for-event-organisers

This document provides guidance for events that have permission from the Environment Agency. If you do not have permission from the Environment Agency to hold an event, visit Inland waterways: get permission to hold an event.

Our guidance relates to the River Thames and Environment Agency land. If your event is on land not owned by the Environment Agency, you need to contact the landowner for their permission.

Safety advice

You are responsible for making plans for the safety of event participants, spectators and members of the public.

During the event, you should remind participants of their responsibilities for their own safety and that of others.

Your event takes place entirely at your own risk and responsibility. The Environment Agency will not accept any liability for death or injury, unless resulting from negligence on behalf of the Environment Agency.

Risk assessment

We recommend you carry out a risk assessment when planning your event. You should consider the location and nature of the event.

Governing bodies for sports often provide advice on risk assessments. You should check with the governing body for your sport or activity, for example British Rowing, British Canoeing or the Royal Yachting Association.

You can send a copy of your risk assessment to the Environment Agency. We may be able to provide you with additional safety information.

Safety boats

You should provide an adequate number of safety boats suitable for rescue, with competent crew. You should also provide marshals around the event, to look for potential risks.

River and weather conditions

We recommend you hold your event in daylight and when weather conditions provide good visibility.

You should check the river conditions before your event at River Thames conditions.

If stream warnings are displayed, you will need to review your risk assessment. You may need to cancel or delay the event.

Swimming

The River Thames is not a designated bathing water. Rivers are not sterile and swimming in them carries a risk of infection. You can reduce the risk of becoming ill by following the swim healthy guidance.

There are also risks from other river users, as the Thames is a busy river used by a lot of different boats.

You may encounter underwater hazards such as submerged obstacles and strong, cold currents.

All river users, including event participants, must comply with River Thames legislation. We may take enforcement action if you fail to comply. The legislation includes:

You must not:

  • obstruct the river or cause annoyance to other river users
  • obstruct the towpath or cause annoyance to other towpath users
  • drive, or leave a vehicle on, the towpath unless there is a right of way
  • put structures (for example marker buoys, floating notices, piles or landing stages) in the river without prior written consent

You must:

  • use all available means appropriate to the situation to avoid collisions
  • follow any instructions given from Environment Agency control points or patrol launches
  • register any boat used on the River Thames

You can find information about registering your boat at River Thames boat registration.

Participants can register their boats directly with the Environment Agency.

Organisers of events can register participating boats in bulk if they are:

  • open
  • unpowered
  • visiting (not based on the River Thames)

Visiting and Thames-based rowers can register their boats with British Rowing.

Canoes and other unpowered boats may be covered by our agreement with British Canoeing.

Communicating about the event

We will share details of river restrictions and closures on GOV.UK.

You should tell the local community about your event. You should:

  • place notices at locks upstream and downstream of the event
  • place notices at each end of the event area
  • contact local passenger boat operators, hire boat bases and river-based clubs
  • inform the event co-ordinator of the local River User Group (RUG)

You should make sure that all interested parties know about any changes to the event.

You can contact us:

Thames Waterways

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Environment incident hotline

Telephone (24 hour service) 0800 80 70 60

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