As regular readers of this column will be aware, I’ve often expressed doubts about the Environment Agency’s decision not to replace resident lock keepers on the Thames and to rent out their empty houses to the public.

My readers never cease to amaze me with their enthusiastic responses to this column. Last week, I wrote about the diversity of wildlife on our stretch of the Thames and ever since the paper came out, I’ve been bombarded with people telling me their stories about their encounters with wildlife.

But lock-keeper's house to be included in Environment Agency's renting experiment