Most locks are operated by their keepers between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. from June to August, with progressively shorter hours as the hours of daylight reduce, and they are not operated during the lock-keeper's lunch hour between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. During the summer months Assistant Lock Keepers are employed to deal with the heavy traffic and avoid the lunch-time closure. However Teddington Lock, which is the most downstream of the Environment Agency locks and separates the long Kingston reach of the non-tidal river from Hampton Court to the tideway, is manned 24 hours a day. During winter, some locks will be closed for maintenance and the status has to be checked with the Environment Agency.