RIVER users are celebrating the opening of a long-awaited jetty on the River Stour at Stratford St Mary.

Until now, people in small boats have had to disembark via two small stone steps further up the River Stour. Now boat hire firm River Stour Boating, Dedham Vale and Stour Valley Project and Chilling Pubs and Inns, owner of the Swan Inn in Stratford, have arranged for the jetty to be built. It is 14 feet long long and four feet wide – big enough to accommodate the biggest canoes on the river.