Oxford city councillors do battle in 'thermostat war'

Temperature knobs in the public building were made inaccessible behind hard plastic and a padlock

Radiators were padlocked in a town hall after a "thermostat war" was declared, a councillor has claimed.

Temperature knobs in the Oxford City Council public building were kept locked up behind plastic containers to make them inaccessible.

This prompted one of the authority's cabinet members, Anna Railton, to say on X: "Someone has escalated the thermostat war in the Town Hall."

The council said it took action to ensure a "comfortable temperature".

Ms Railton, cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford and Climate Justice, said: "Clearly someone has lost their temper and thought 'right I'm going to solve this problem'."

Oxford Town Hall opened in 1897 and is a Victorian Grade II* listed building

She told the BBC she thought it was "hilarious".

She added: "I think what's actually happened is it's been councillors changing the temperatures, and the Town Hall staff changing them back, because I did have a councillor admit to me 'oh yes, I used to change that during meetings'."

A council spokesperson said: "The thermostats have been locked in the Town Hall because it's expensive to heat and we need to maintain a constant comfortable temperature, but they are regularly monitored and changed when necessary."

Oxford Town Hall, the location of the city council chamber, opened in 1897 and is a Victorian Grade II* listed building.