Victory in Tab campaign: Riverside railings and lights to be introduced

The most dangerous parts of the river path are to have railings erected and lights installed to ensure better visibility, the City Safety Group has announced.

The river, which has claimed the lives of three students in the last two years, will have fencing replaced or new fencing installed along with improved public rescue equipment.

Some of this equipment has already been paid for with money raised by the mum of a fresher who set up a JustGiving campaign because she felt “too many lives had been lost”.

An artists impression of what the fencing will look like (Photo: City Safety Group)

The work, which is to cost £230,000 and will be funded by the council, the uni and the cathedral, is due to start on 6th July and is expected to last 12 weeks.

Terry Collins, chair of the City Safety Group, said: “Whilst it is impossible to mitigate every risk, we hope that together the safe drinking messages and physical works will be of significant value.”

Fences will be added to places that are deemed dangerous (Photo: City Safety Group)

The changes, which also include the reintroduction of the union night bus, will be displayed at the Gala for the next two weeks.

The news has been welcomed by students as Trev’s fresher Charlie told The Tab: “It’s good to see someone has finally made the logical choice, drinking is an issue but that doesn’t detract from how dangerous the river is itself”.