Repair works on the Thames Towpath between Richmond Lock and Kew Gardens have been delayed until autumn, despite previous expectations for completion this summer.

Richmond Council announced today (Monday, 4 August) that the path will remain closed to allow for essential repairs following the collapse of a section last year.

In May, the Council said it was working "as quickly as possible" to complete the works by summer.

However, it has now said: "Due to challenging access and ground conditions impacting the installation of sheet piling equipment, crucial to reinforcing the riverbank, the reopening of the towpath has unfortunately been delayed."

As a result, the towpath is now expected to reopen in October 2025.

This means the annual Richmond RUN-FEST, scheduled for 14 September and typically using the towpath as part of its route, will need to take an alternative path.

Despite the disruption, organisers say they have "identified a strong alternative" and are working closely with Richmond Council, Network Management, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, to finalise approvals.

Earlier this year, RUN-FEST had to adjust the route for its Kew The Run event in March due to a similar closure and remains confident about its September event.

RUN-FEST told Nub News: "We've got a route that avoids the towpath from Kew Gardens, which will mean the rest of the marathon course remains unchanged from mile 7 onwards. The race will still finish in our party festival at Old Deer Park.

"We've got a meeting with Richmond Council to get feedback on it. We're confident it works just as well and causes minimal disruption.

"We've got over 100 international runners coming to this event, over £500,000 has been raised for charity, and thousands of runners have been training for months—so there's a lot of pressure on us to find a solution.

"We're confident we've found one and look forward to updating our runners soon."

To learn more about Richmond RUN-FEST, click here.

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