A flood defence group is calling for a more 'coordinated' response from the council and other agencies to flooding problems.

After heavy rainfall recently hit the county, some towns and villages in north Oxfordshire such as Kidlington, Yarnton and Begbroke have been battling against floods.

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Residents in Yarnton feel the the village's flooding problem has been ignored and that there needs to be a collaborative approach to tackling the issue from the county and district councils, Highways, the Environment Agency and Thames Water.

Colin Rhodes, of Yarnton Flood Defence Group, said: “The flooding issues in Yarnton are multi-faceted. Significant surface water run-off is flooding homes, cutting off vital roads and overwhelming the foul waste system to the extent that raw sewage is entering residents’ properties.

“Despite growing concern in the community, these issues have continued for many years without any coordinated action or significant improvements to existing infrastructure.

“Management of a community’s hydrological system is a shared responsibility. That’s why we’re calling for a coordinated multi agency response to reduce flooding risk throughout Yarnton."

Oxfordshire County Council says it urges any householders who are concerned about flooding to visit its Oxfordshire Toolkit website which has information that people will need before, during and after an incident of flooding.

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It contains links for uploading information, forms and phone numbers to request sandbags, and to report blocked drains and tells householders how to receive texts about flood warnings and flood alerts from the Environment Agency.

But Cherwell Green councillor Ian Middleton, who has been regularly contacted by residents affected by flooding and has been trying to help them, says there needs to be a clear central point that people can call when their homes are threatened by floodwater.

He said: “There does seem to be a lot of buck passing going on between district and county councils, with various other bodies such as the highways department and the Environment Agency telling us it’s someone else’s responsibility.

“This just isn’t good enough. This is not a criticism of individual agencies. There just seems to be no credible protocol about what can and should be done and who should be doing it.

"We need a central control point that can co-ordinate a response to all levels of flooding whenever and wherever it happens, as well as a local flood task force to ensure flood defences are mapped and regularly maintained."

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