TRADERS and river users have hailed Wallingford’s new moorings a success, saying they are already bringing more shoppers and tourists to the town.

The £260,000 moorings were officially opened last Wednesday by South Oxfordshire District Council chairman Mike Welply, before local dignitaries enjoyed a cruise down the River Thames.

But the moorings were first used more than a month ago and traders have already reported an increase in business as day-trippers, holiday-makers, and other river users stop off at the 136-metre-long moorings and visit the town.

The moorings are alongside the open-air Riverside swimming pool, and Salters Steamers will be running river cruises up and down the Thames.

River Thames User Group chairman John Dalton estimated the moorings could already be bringing up to £10,000 a week into Wallingford.

He said: “There are only moorings for six boats overnight, but that could mean up to 20 visiting during the day.

“If you add that up, and all the spending they may be doing in town, it is a lot.”

Last November, Mr Dalton warned the council that the moorings’ original design was too high for boaters, prompting a review and redesign.

He hailed the result a success.

He said: ”There are now boats stopping every day in Wallingford. Up until this year, they have just been passing.

“Now it has become a place to stop.”

Town co-ordinator Deborah O’Brien said Wallingford shopkeepers were reporting dozens of boaters stopping at the moorings and spending money in the town.

She said: “One trader told me the other day that they have been in the town since 1974, and they have never felt so buoyant about economic prospects.”

Wallingford Partnership chairman Derrick Hoare said: “We are already getting feedback from traders that people who stop at the moorings are using the town to shop, to eat out and so on.

“The envisaged opportunity is already starting to be realised.”

Work started on the South Oxfordshire District Council project in March, with a budget of £221,500.

But costs rose when builders hit solid concrete trying to drive 20-feet-long steel piles into the riverbed, and strong currents meant work had to be postponed for several days.

Hundreds of boaters will pass the moorings this month en route to the Inland Waterways Association’s national festival at Beale Park, Pangbourne, over the Bank Holiday weekend.