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A stretch of the Thames may be closed to boats during the 2012 Games.
The closure of the river at Windsor on security grounds is being considered by organisers of the rowing and kayak events to be staged at Eton College's Dorney Rowing Lake.
But one commercial boat operator is warning the river is a public right of way - and would be difficult to shut.
The rowing venue is just a few yards from the river bank. An application for the works and arrangements is to be submitted to Windsor and Maidenhead council early next year.
A spokesman for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games said: "We have had preliminary discussions with the Environment Agency about a range of traffic management measures on the Thames at Games time. Closure is one option."
The Environment Agency said there was not yet a closure plan, "but this might change due to security".
Neil Kinch of Salters Steamers, which has operated passenger boats on the river since Victorian times, said: "The river is a public right of way. I think the idea would need an Act of Parliament."
Reader views (1)
It would solve a lot of problems, particularly transport if the whole of London could be closed for the duration of the games and the population moved out. This would enable the Olympic bureaucracy and overseas visitors to travel in comfort and safety across the city without catching sight of the wretched British public.
- Patrick, Dalston
