ANTI-FLOOD campaigners will urge Prime Minister David Cameron to pull the plug on a £2.5m replacement for a historic Thames weir.

Northmoor Weir, near Eaton, is one of the last hand-operated paddle and rymer weirs left on the river and a campaign has been mounted to save it.

The Environment Agency says the work is needed for health and safety and flood defence reasons.

But residents say the 115-year-old weir is of historic value and claim the change would be a waste of money.

An EA planning application for a work compound at the site was due to be considered on Thursday by Vale of White Horse District Council, but it was withdrawn 24 hours before the meeting.

Now Oxford Flood Alliance, which campaigns on behalf of flood victims in the city, has written to Mr Cameron urging him to intervene to stop the work.

Chairman Dr Peter Rawcliffe, from South Hinksey, said: “The cost of the weir will come from flood defence money, which could be much better spent on flood defences in Oxford or in other parts of the Thames region.

“This project has no flood risk benefits, so it is galling to see so much money being tipped into the Thames.

“Residents in South Street on Osney Island have been campaigning for a pump for the past four years, which would cost up to £70,000, but the money has not been forthcoming.

“For £2.6m, you could build a bund to protect about 25 homes in South Hinksey, most at risk of flooding.”

Eaton resident Mike Hill, 51, of the Northmoor Weir Campaign, said: “We appreciate the intervention of the Oxford Flood Alliance – they are making the valid point that there are people just down the river who need flood defences and that the money would be much better spent on flood protection for Oxford.”

EA area manager Innes Jones said it withdrew the site compound planning application because it had decided it did not need permission.

He said: “As our work on the weir is a permitted development, separate permission for the compound is not required.

“We will continue to engage with residents and other interested parties as we move forward to install a new weir that is more efficient, reliable, and easier to operate.”

In a Westminster Hall debate last month, Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood urged Defra Minister Richard Benyon to suspend the project until there had been a “full and transparent cost-benefit analysis” of the project.

The weir replacement work, due to start this month, will be carried out over two years.