Oxfordshire flooding: Homes and cars submerged after heavy rain

Dozens of homes remain under water, roads have been flooded, cars abandoned and public transport delayed after heavy rainfall across Oxfordshire.

A Met Office yellow warning for rain expired at 03:00 GMT but the problems have been exacerbated by already saturated ground following the arrival of Storm Henk earlier in the week.

The River Thames also burst its banks in several places overnight.

Some residents have compared it to widespread flooding in 2007.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran said she had been in touch with a resident in Radley who had raw sewage coming into their home.

"It's obviously incredibly dangerous because it is raw sewage and we're helping them get in touch with Thames Water," she said.

"We've been asking them for weeks to clear those drains and they haven't, so there is culpability here."

A Thames Water spokesperson has apologised.

"In this instance, the heavy rainfall caused our local sewer system to overload resulting in heavily diluted wastewater to escape from nearby manholes," a spokesperson said.

"Our teams will be carrying out clean ups to the affected areas. We recognise how difficult this can be for customers which is why we have published plans to upgrade over 250 of our sewage treatment works and sewers, including Oxford and Abingdon our sewage treatment works.

"This will improve the sites' ability to treat the high volumes of incoming sewage and reduce the need for overflows during wet weather."

Carol Greenway, who lives on the causeway in Steventon, said her house began flooding at 23:00 GMT, when water first came in through the kitchen.

She said she and her daughter had to "bail out through the window", and said the flooding was "just as bad" as it was in 2007.

Nikki Bolton, who has lived in Steventon for 20 years, said it had been the second time she had experienced flooding since 2007 when it had taken six months to fix her ground floor.

She said had been "up all night" trying to get the water out of her home.

Other residents told the BBC they were concerned that development in the area was making flooding worse, and that plans for a reservoir nearby would only intensify the problem.

Michael Burgess said he felt "abandoned".

"I'm trying to unblock these drains that the council don't seem to care about," he said.

"This is the second time it's flooded down here - they came out about a year ago to clear the manholes out.

"The one near my place down there was blocked, they marked it and have never been back."

Oxfordshire County Council said: "Following the recent extreme rainfall, our highways officers, fire crews and partners responded to flooding issues across the whole county throughout the night and continue to do so - large numbers of sandbags have been distributed.

"Teams are working to address immediate issues as far as is possible. However there is a limit to what can be done when rivers to which excess water normally drains are themselves overflowing."

Bridge replacement works near Oxford Station have been impacted by severe flooding.

The site along Botley Road has been submerged under water after heavy rainfall.

The weather also impacted shoppers in Abingdon, where the Tesco Extra store was forced to close due to flooding in its carpark.

A Tesco spokesperson reassured customers that the store would reopen "as soon as possible", adding "we apologise for the inconvenience caused".

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