The programme was agreed by Oxfordshire County Council thanks to information gathered during a project to inspect and clean every highway gully in the county last year.

There are around 147,000 gullies across Oxfordshire. In April 2025, the council launched a programme to inspect every gully and catchpit in the county over 12 months.

Working with partners M Group and Drainline, all gullies were inspected and 135,254 were cleaned at least once – around 92 per cent of the total.

Some could not be cleaned, despite repeat visits, due to parked cars, or issues such as seized lids, and have been flagged for follow-up visits.

Others were found to have more complex defects and have been added to the latest programme for further investigation and repair, confirmed by Councillor Liz Leffman, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Construction and Repairs, on Thursday.

The additional £4m funding – taking the total investment to £9.42m – will help increase the number of drainage infrastructure repairs and investigations over the next two years and ensure that routine gully cleansing work is as effective as possible.

Cllr Leffman said: “Given the wet winter we had last year, and the extensive flooding that it caused, it’s important to maintain and clear gullies and make sure that broken infrastructure is replaced.

“We have a lot of broken gullies, due to many years of under investment. We know that by repairing them we will significantly improve drainage, particularly over the winter period. That’s why we have invested £4m over the next two years on gully infrastructure.

“This work will help to minimise network disruption, protect communities and property, and support safe, reliable travel. The programme will also prioritise preventative interventions, reduce reactive maintenance costs and strengthen our ability to respond to increasingly severe weather events.”

The programme will also see higher risk areas cleaned annually and others on a two-year cycle. Priorities are based on risk, using data from last year’s countywide programme, flood mapping and flood investigation reports.

The 2025-26 programme removed around 2,346 tonnes of waste from the county’s gullies.

The material was processed through a zero to landfill specialist waste recycling facility, where water was treated and discharged if not required for the wash plant, and sand and aggregate was recovered and re-sold.

Rubbish was sent to a materials recovery facility, followed by recycling or energy recovery, and nothing was knowingly sent to landfill.

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Oxfordshire County Council will carry out drainage improvements on Buttercross Lane from 3 – 28 August. The road will be shut from its junction with Willowbank while the work is carried out.

As the route is the only means of vehicular access, traffic management including marshals will be in place to manage the movement of vehicles and pedestrians.

Councillor Liz Leffman, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways Construction and Repair, said: “Residents have had to put up with flooding at this location for far too long due to a lack of proper maintenance by the developer prior to the road’s adoption by the council as highways authority.

“Officers have worked hard to come up with a solution to this problem, which was far from straightforward to resolve. Once completed, this should significantly reduce the risk of the road flooding whenever there is heavy rain.

“Although marshals will be present while the work takes place, there may be times when it is not possible for people to gain immediate passage through the site. When this happens, we would ask for patience and co-operation from the public.”

Before the project begins, survey work will take place to identify the depth of underground apparatus throughout the site. This element could result in some delays for those wishing access through the site.

Warning signs will be installed at the junction of Station Lane and Buttercross Lane two weeks before the start date.

During the work, one side of the carriageway will be left open, when feasible to do so, to allow residents to move through the site.

Temporary ramps will be installed on the kerb line to assist larger vehicles that need to travel through the site. This operation will be done under the guidance of one of the marshals.

Overnight barriers will be installed at the site while the work takes place, although one lane will be left open to enable the public to exit and enter Buttercross Lane.

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For the third year running, Oxfordshire County Council is offering groups the chance to apply for grants of up to £25,000 for work to make their communities more resilient to flooding.

Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “In our role as lead local flood authority we are delighted to be able to fund another round of these priority action grants.

“Last year we received more than 80 applications, and we would welcome a similar response this year. It is fantastic that these groups are so committed to improving the situation where they live.

“When it comes to knowing what is needed to tackle flooding in a particular area, local communities are often the experts. Sadly, due to climate change and the increase in instances of extreme weather, flooding is now affecting more people and more severely than ever.”

The funding will be targeted at flood schemes led by parish, town, district and city councils, flood groups and catchment partnerships and is available for the upcoming financial year (April 2026 - March 2027).

The aim is for communities to deliver small scale work themselves to reduce flooding from surface water run-off, ordinary watercourses and groundwater.

Groups wishing to apply have until 4 May to register their expression of interest by emailing floodmanagement@oxfordshire.gov.uk

The council aims to let applicants know which projects can be supported by 30 May 2026.

Last year, the council awarded grants totalling over half a million pounds to help fund nearly 40 schemes to reduce flooding in Oxfordshire.

The grants funded surface drainage improvements; natural flood management schemes; ditch clearances and ditch construction; culvert inspections; water pumps; track repairs to reduce surface water flooding; the installation of timber dams; and flood sensors.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) received two grants to carry out natural flood management and other work – one at Carswell Marsh and another at Little Milton, in association with Little Milton Parish Council.

Daniel Akam, BBOWT’s Senior Reserves Officer, said: “Like many watercourses, the Hasley Brook has been altered historically to drain agricultural land more efficiently. The speed that the water now flows off the land has contributed to flooding downstream in Little Milton, particularly during extreme weather events, which are now becoming much more common.

“Here at Wells Farm, much of the brook flows through woodland in a natural way and is allowed to spill over, making the woodland wet. This already helps slow and store the water on the nature reserve and is of great benefit to the local wildlife.

“The funding will allow us to naturalise another section that was historically canalised and deepened. We plan to achieve this by regrading sections of the steep canalised banks, allowing the water to spill over at times of high water; creating natural permeable log dam features; and raising the bed level of the brook by creating gravel riffles, reconnecting the channel with the flood plain.

“We also hope to create a new backwater which will connect to the brook in times of flood, providing even more places for the water to be stored. All of this will help slow down and store water naturally, at the same time improving the habitats found at Wells Farm and the health of the Hasley Brook.”

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An appeal has been issued for volunteers to help their communities understand flood risks and responsibilities by becoming flood wardens.

Oxfordshire County Council has extended its flood warden scheme to cover the whole county following successful pilot projects in Witney, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Abingdon and Sunningwell.

There is no set number of hours required, and flood wardens can volunteer according to their own schedule.

Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “Flood wardens are our eyes and ears on the ground and report things liked blocked ditches and drains so that we can resolve these issues before a flood event can occur. As extreme weather becomes a more common occurrence, their role becomes so much more important.

“We are so grateful to all the county’s volunteers, whose hard work and local knowledge does so much to keep their communities safe. I would like to thank our existing flood wardens for their efforts and invite more people to join them in improving the situation in the places where they live.”

Flood wardens are members of the local community. They can be individuals, representatives of the parish council or existing community resilience volunteers, highway wardens or police volunteers.

William Wareing, Chairman and Trustee of the Witney Flood Group, has been a flood warden since April 2023 and is the coordinator of the town’s seven-strong flood wardens group.

Mr Wareing said: “My home was flooded in 2007 and 2020. Although I have since moved to a safer location, I feel passionate about making a difference to others who are unable to move out of the high flood risk zone.

“I wanted us to establish a flood warden community through our involvement in the joint risk management agencies’ working party that formed after the 2020 floods. This is very closely tied with our charity, the Witney Flood Group, which was also formed after the 2020 floods, to help us build a community, support and educate, and make a difference to the conditions locally.

“Ultimately the flood wardens project is another piece of the puzzle in the solutions we seek to reduce the risk of flooding in the area.”

The council will support flood wardens in their role and provide the necessary training. All flood wardens undergo an informal one-hour call prior to signing the agreement to help them understand the role in more detail.

Mr Wareing added: “We engage with the community, report issues to the responsible authorities and create community emergency flood plans and keep in touch with each other and support each other. My role involves coordinating our wardens, increasing their knowledge and expertise, and making sure that specific high risk locations are the priority, and making them known to the community.

“Our flood wardens attend public events, learn about river management, hold conversations with both the responsible authorities and our residents and business owners. We held two public events in September, conducted a full survey of the River Windrush with evidence of photos, locations and identified any poor levels of maintenance we want to see improved.

“We plan to engage directly with riparian landowners next to encourage them to improve maintenance standards on land they own adjacent to a watercourse. We can also help them directly with light maintenance work and are set up for that now.

“Becoming a flood warden is about building a community, helping each other, representing and supporting those less fortunate or able to, and raising awareness of the flood risk issues we face across Oxfordshire,” he said.

“In our experience so far, people at risk of flooding are the strongest contenders for becoming flood wardens, as well as those with experience or interest in the subject.”

Anyone wanting to become a flood warden can read more and sign up through the county council’s Oxfordshire flood toolkit.

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Work is being stepped up to make sure every highway drainage gully in Oxfordshire is cleaned and emptied this year.

In April, Oxfordshire County Council began its enhanced programme to clean nearly 145,000 highway gullies and manholes by the end of March 2026. By the end of October, 67,000 gullies had been emptied.

The £2.6 million programme is taking place after an additional £1.5m investment to improve highway drainage was approved in the council’s 2025 - 26 budget. The programme is being delivered by the council’s highways contractor M Group and specialist operator Drainline.

To meet the ambitious target of cleaning every gully in the county in 12 months, the number of crews has doubled from six to 12, working two different shifts to maximise the efficiency of the gully tankers and make use of quieter roads in some locations during the evenings.

Silt is removed from the drains using suction pipes and then they are cleaned with high pressure jets of water. Some have required digging out by hand where a lot of silt has accumulated.

Drain cleaning was previously carried out on a four-year cycle, although high priority drains – such as those in areas most at risk of flooding and on high-speed roads – were cleaned more regularly.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “We recognised the need to improve drainage, especially following the flooding in the county last year caused by exceptionally wet weather.

“I’m pleased that, with the additional crews, we are on schedule to complete this ambitious drainage improvement programme. It is a huge task but one that will make a big difference to our communities as extreme weather becomes more frequent.”

The funding is being used to empty gullies, carry out improved drainage management, and repair the infrastructure connecting the gullies to the outlets. Improving drainage also helps protect roads by getting water off the surfaces, reducing the risk of potholes forming during freezing weather.

While gully clearing is important in reducing surface water, no drainage system is designed to cope with instances of extreme rainfall like Oxfordshire experienced in September 2024, when a month’s worth of rain fell in just 36 hours.

Motorists are asked to make sure their vehicles are not blocking access to drains when the work is due to take place, and to take care when driving past gully emptying operations.

Around 2,500 drainage gullies were unable to be cleaned when visited so far this year because they were blocked by vehicles. Drivers are asked to lookout for signs letting them know when work is taking place.

Richard Lovewell, M Group Business Director, said: “In October alone, 17,000 drains were cleansed. That's more than 10 per cent of the county's total, thanks to huge efforts from all involved. We're proud to be working with Oxfordshire County Council and Drainline to deliver this vital programme.

“We’re also grateful to residents who move their vehicles to help our teams access the drains, meaning we can clean more drains more quickly. This simple action makes a big difference.”

All tankers are equipped with asset management software that will collect accurate data on all drainage in the county and ensure efficient planning for future programmes.

The technology also records any drain or gully that cannot be accessed, for example due to a car being parked over it or a stuck cover. This ensures a revisit can be scheduled or repair works prioritised.

A schedule, which can be viewed on the council’s website, is in place for the tankers to travel all around the county to complete the programme. However, the teams will still react to urgent incidents of blockages or flooding.

Residents can report blocked drains and gullies through Fix My Street, which is available on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

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Oxfordshire County Council received more than 80 applications for its priority action grants earlier this year from groups and organisations working to make their communities more resilient to flooding.

Following an assessment process, 39 schemes are being supported with grants of up to £25,000, subject to confirmation.

Councillor Judy Roberts Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “The quality of submissions was extremely high, and we would have supported almost all the projects if we had enough money to do so.

“It is fantastic that these groups are so committed to improving the situation where they live. When it comes to knowing what is needed to tackle flooding in a particular area, local communities are often the experts.

“This grant scheme is now in its second year and is a part of our drive to help residents take effective action to tackle flooding and extreme weather, which is being exacerbated by climate change.”

Last year’s inaugural grant scheme handed out £250,000 for communities to deliver small scale work themselves to reduce flooding from surface water run-off, ordinary watercourses and groundwater.

Among this year’s recipients are the city and district councils, parish and town councils, schools, wildlife organisations, the National Trust and residents’ flood groups.

Locations include Abingdon, Bicester, Witney, Oxford, Chinnor, Wheatley, Culham, Bucknell, Caulcott, Clifton Hampden, Sunningwell, Buscot, Hook Norton, Waterstock, Yarnton, Whitchurch, Fewcott, Wendlebury, Adderbury, Bloxham, East Hanney, West Hanney, Hailey, Kidlington, Hornton, Swalcliffe, Kelmscott and Bampton.

Projects include surface drainage improvements; natural flood management schemes; ditch clearances and ditch construction;  culvert inspections; water pumps; track repairs to reduce surface water flooding; the installation of timber dams; and flood sensors.

The funding will also pay for surveys, scoping workshops, information booklets, flood response kits and flood resilience mapping.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is to receive two grants to carry out natural flood management and other work – one at Carswell Marsh and another at Little Milton, in association with Little Milton Parish Council.

Discussing the Little Milton project, Daniel Akam, BBOWT’s Senior Reserves Officer, said: “Like many watercourses, the Hasley Brook has been altered historically to drain agricultural land more efficiently. The speed that the water now flows off the land has contributed to flooding downstream in Little Milton, particularly during extreme weather events, which are now becoming much more common.

“Here at Wells Farm, much of the brook flows through woodland in a natural way and is allowed to spill over, making the woodland wet. This already helps slow and store the water on the nature reserve and is of great benefit to the local wildlife.

“The funding will allow us to naturalise another section that was historically canalised and deepened. We plan to achieve this by regrading sections of the steep canalised banks, allowing the water to spill over at times of high water; creating natural permeable log dam features; and raising the bed level of the brook by creating gravel riffles, reconnecting the channel with the flood plain.

“We also hope to create a new backwater which will connect to the brook in times of flood, providing even more places for the water to be stored. All of this will help slow down and store water naturally, at the same time improving the habitats found at Wells Farm and the health of the Hasley Brook.”

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The enhanced programme began in Wheatley last month. Contractors working on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council are planning to clean nearly 145,000 highway drains, gullies, manholes and catchpits by the end of March 2026.

The £2.6 million programme is taking place after an additional £1.5m investment to improve highway drainage was approved in the council’s 2025 - 26 budget.

Drain cleaning was previously carried out on a four year cycle, although high priority drains – such as those in areas most at risk of flooding and on high-speed roads – were cleaned more regularly.

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said: “We recognised the need to improve drainage, especially following the flooding in the county last year caused by exceptionally wet weather.

“This money will be used to empty gullies, carry out improved drainage management, and repair the infrastructure connecting the gullies to the outlets. Improving drainage also helps protect roads by getting water off the surfaces, reducing the risk of potholes forming during freezing weather.”

Waste is removed from the drains using suction pipes and then they are cleaned with jets of water. Some may require digging out by hand if a lot of silt has accumulated.

It is expected that the work will cause minimal disruption, although there might be temporary traffic lights or manually operated stop-go signs in operation if lane or road closures are necessary.

Motorists will be asked to make sure their vehicles are not blocking access to drains when the work is due to take place, and to take care when driving past gully emptying operations.

The cleaning programme is being carried out by specialist operator Drainline on behalf of the council’s principal highway maintenance contractor M Group, previously known as Milestone Infrastructure.

Richard Lovewell, M Group Business Director, said: “We are proud to be working with Oxfordshire County Council and Drainline to deliver this crucial year long programme, which will improve our drainage systems and reduce the risk of flooding and potholes.

“With Drainline’s expert team and specialised tanker fleet, we are well equipped to tackle even the toughest drainage challenges.

“While we've designed the programme to minimise public disruption, I’d like to thank residents and motorists for their cooperation in providing access by moving vehicles. This support is crucial for our teams to perform their vital work, ensuring the safety and durability of Oxfordshire's roads.”

Capacity has almost doubled, with eight gully tankers working on the programme – six 18 tonne vehicles and two 26 tonne jetting tankers. The larger vehicles are used when an issue, such as a blockage, demands high volume or high pressure jetting.

Two of the tankers also work at night when traffic levels are lower, but only on rural roads to avoid disturbing residents.

All tankers are equipped with asset management software that will collect accurate data on all drainage in the county.

The technology also records any drain or gully that cannot be accessed, for example due to a car being parked over it or a stuck cover. This ensures a revisit can be scheduled or repair works prioritised.

A schedule, which can be viewed on the council’s website, is in place for the tankers to travel all around the county to complete the programme. However, the teams will still react to urgent incidents of blockages or flooding.

The council does recycle what it can from the waste. Using purpose built de-watering bays at its depot in Drayton, near Abingdon, water is removed and filtered. The de-watered gully waste is then dried, screened and graded, recovering as much of the original waste as possible and removing any non-recyclable contaminants.

These recycled materials can then potentially be used in highways work as filler material for resurfacing, topsoil replacement, or be fed into the production of recycled aggregates, subject to appropriate material and chemical testing results and stakeholder agreement.

Residents can report blocked drains and gullies through Fix My Street, which is available on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

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For the second year running, Oxfordshire County Council is offering groups the chance to apply for funding for work to make their communities more resilient to flooding.

Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations, said: “Local communities are often the experts when it comes to knowing what their area needs to tackle flooding, so it makes sense to give them the money to get on with the job.

“With the impact of climate change, extreme weather events such as flooding are becoming more frequent and more severe. Flooding can be devastating for those who experience it, and too many communities went through it numerous times last year.

"These grants are a part of our drive to get on the front foot, helping residents to take effective action to tackle flooding and other manifestations of our increasingly extreme climate. We are all in this together.

“In our role as lead local flood authority, we are delighted to be able to make these grants available and believe it will make a real difference to the communities that are most affected by flooding.”

The initial funding of £500,000 will be targeted at flood schemes led by parish, town, district and city councils, flood groups and catchment partnerships.

The aim is for communities to deliver small scale work themselves to reduce flooding from surface water run-off, ordinary watercourses and groundwater.

Projects could include small flood storage areas, embankments or channels, culvert (pipe) removal, improvements on ordinary watercourses, natural flood management work, or improving community flood resilience through awareness raising and preparedness.

Groups wishing to apply have until 18 April to register their expression of interest by emailing the flood management team on floodmanagement@oxfordshire.gov.uk

Last year, the scheme handed out £250,000 in grants to parishes and community flood groups including those in Sunningwell, Nuneham Courtenay, Northmoor, Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and Ascott-under-Wychwood.

Projects included floodplain storage, ditch clearance, culvert cleaning, stabilising failing banks, and the installation of timber dams.

Witney Flood Group was awarded a flood grant to help it install river gauges to improve its ability to monitor river levels and support its community resilience plan. It also received support from West Oxfordshire District Council.

Keith Jameson, Witney Flood Group drainage engineer, said: “Understanding how river levels rise and fall, and the impact of structures and maintenance issues is essential.

“Previously, submerged gauge boards made it difficult to monitor these changes. The new system offers real time insights that are key to identifying priority areas for improving channel capacity.”

More information is available in the county council’s Oxfordshire flood toolkit.

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After a year that saw the county hit by flooding in January, as well as repeated flood warnings following months of wet weather, Oxfordshire County Council wants to hear the public’s views on its draft local flood risk management strategy (LFRMS).

Councillor Dr Pete Sudbury, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council with Responsibility for Climate Change, Environment and Future Generations, said: “Flooding is devastating for those who experience it, and fear of being flooded again can have a terrible impact on people’s lives.

“As we saw this winter after Storm Henk struck, following the wettest July to December period in England since 1890, Oxfordshire is already on the frontline for risk of flooding, both from rivers and from groundwater, which is much harder to predict.

“However, this winter was a foretaste of a difficult future for which we need to start preparing now. We know that increasingly prolonged and extreme rainfall is a feature of a warming world – 90 per cent of the excess heating caused by climate pollution is absorbed by the oceans.

“Hot water evaporates more and that falls as more and heavier rain. The energy released when the water vapour condenses puts more energy into the atmosphere and we get stronger winds.”

The draft LFRMS sets out how the council, in its role as lead local flood authority for Oxfordshire, and partner authorities will work together to manage flood risk. The action plan will indicate how flood risk management will be managed in the county. 

The consultation, strategy and action plan, which are available to comment on at Let’s talk Oxfordshire until 23 August, cover a five-year period but also look at the longer term consequences of climate change.

Cllr Sudbury added: “We are at the beginning of a long period where our weather will be increasingly extreme and unpredictable, with unexpected and at times unprecedented events becoming more frequent, damaging and potentially dangerous.

“That’s why we want to hear as many views as possible about what we propose to do over the next five years. We would like to hear from residents, businesses, and anyone else who is affected as this feedback will help us to identify if changes are needed on the draft objectives and action plan.

“The biggest risk is failing to prepare properly. If we all work together that's a mistake we won't make.”

Residents can use the Oxfordshire’s flood toolkit, which has useful information about what to do before, during and after a flood. It can help people find out if they live in an at-risk area, what precautions they can take, which organisations to contact and how to report a flood.

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Oxfordshire County Council, as lead Local Flood Authority, led a successful bid with Cherwell and Vale of White Horse District Councils for the funding from Thames Water. The two districts will each receive £1.5m towards projects to tackle the problem over the next five years.

Councillor Yvonne Constance, Oxfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “I am delighted that Oxfordshire County Council, working in partnership with Cherwell and Vale of White Horse district councils, has managed to obtain this funding from Thames Water. It will allow us to focus on reducing the flood risk from surface water and, in doing so, will lessen the impact on Thames Water’s systems.”

The funding will enable the councils to explore schemes to tackle the safe disposal of rainwater, which can overwhelm the sewer system and lead to flooding in homes, businesses, and the environment.

Sustainable drainage solutions, such as raingardens and using green spaces to temporarily store rainwater after heavy rainfall, mimic nature by absorbing rain into the ground or slowing its journey to drains and sewers.

As well as reducing flood risk, this approach also provides wider benefits, such as improving the local environment, reducing air pollution and helping biodiversity.

Councillor Colin Clarke, Cherwell District Council’s Lead Member for Planning, said: “This funding will help us plan for the future and create solutions that will make it less likely that homes and businesses in our area will experience flooding. We will be working closely with residents and other public bodies to put the funding into action in the way that best meets local need.”

Councillor Catherine Webber, Vale of White Horse District Council Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency and Environment, said: “Flooding can have devastating effects – on homes, on businesses and on our natural world. By doing something to help stop preventable flooding, such as this, we can take a real step towards protecting our local communities and our local environment.”

Over the next five years, Thames Water – which also awarded £1.5m each to Hounslow and Lambeth Councils – will be employing a number of schemes to reduce the amount of surface water entering the sewer networks.

Krishna Ramjeeawon, Programme Manager for Thames Water’s surface water management programme, said: “Finding innovative and eco-friendly ways to manage surface water and protect homes from flooding is central to what we do. Working in collaboration with these councils, who are already improving our streets and urban places, will help us find creative ways to manage surface water drainage in areas where our sewers have limited capacity to deal with excess water flows.”

Residents in Oxford, Bampton and Woodstock were among those who felt the impact of the latest deluge, from the inconvenience caused by excess surface water, to the dangers posed by sewage flooding into people’s homes and gardens.

The risks, the misery, and the financial implications of flooding are all-too familiar to many in the county. And while the impact of storms and heavy rain can leave many feeling helpless, much is being done around the county to alleviate the issue – and there is plenty that householders and businesses can do themselves.

An unrivalled online source of information is Oxfordshire County Council’s Oxfordshire Flood Toolkit – a one-stop shop full of advice about what to do and how to get help before, during and after a flooding incident.

Oxfordshire County Council leader Ian Hudspeth said the onset of winter was a good time to remind people what sort of preparations they need to think about now – as well as what to do if their property becomes flooded.

Cllr Hudspeth said: “Whatever sort of information you are looking for about the issue of flooding, we are confident the Oxfordshire Flood Toolkit will be able to point you in the right direction.

“Flooding can turn people’s lives upside down, devastate their homes and destroy their treasured possessions. In the worst cases it can even threaten lives.

“That is why it pays to arm yourself with some knowledge and make your preparations in advance. There are plenty of measures you can take which can help prevent the worst impact of flooding, and they are all laid out in the Toolkit.”

The Toolkit will tell you if you live in a flood risk area, help you sign up to receive free flood warnings, make preparations – both as individual households and as a community – and advise you on what to do in an emergency.

It will also help you find out which organisations are responsible for different aspects of flood management, and has contact details for them – whether you are enquiring as a homeowner, landowner, community or business.

“Not surprisingly, most people never want to think about their homes being affected by flooding,” added Cllr Hudspeth. “But a bit of preparation can make all the difference when the water levels start rising.”

For more details, log on to www.oxfordshirefloodtoolkit.com

A new online “toolkit” has been launched by Oxfordshire County Council which promises to provide a “one-stop-shop” for flooding information and advice.

Access the Flooding Toolkit

The new website, which can be found at www.oxfordshirefloodtoolkit.com brings together all the information needed to take action against the potential menace posed by flooding.

First of its kind in Oxfordshire

The flood toolkit is the first resource of its kind in Oxfordshire and builds on the success of the approach in Northamptonshire. The website is also supported financially by Oxford City Council, South Oxfordshire District Council, Vale of White Horse District Council, West Oxfordshire District Council and Thames Water.

How to guides

Visitors to the site can browse through information helpfully organised under headings such as “Am I at Risk” and learn how best to help themselves through a series of “How to” guides.

The toolkit also explains the different types of flooding that can occur with bespoke guides on how to deal with them and, for those responsible for things such as drains and streams running across their land, guides on how to carry out preventative maintenance.

Interactive illustrations give visual inspiration for ways people can protect their properties and highlight some of the areas that would not instantly spring to mind, such as the garage, air bricks and cable holes.

Preventing the worst effects of flooding

County Councillor Rodney Rose, Deputy Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, said: “The county council is the lead local flood authority for Oxfordshire which means that we have taken the idea of the flood toolkit seriously, and we are delighted with the support we have had from our partners.

“Knowledge and preparation is the key to preventing the worst effects of flooding.

“There is much that can be done to plan for and deal with flooding so that it affects you as little as possible Doing your research and taking action now is far more effective and preferable to clearing up afterwards.

“I would urge people to look at the site now. Even just doing one or two of the things shown on the site such as signing up to a flood alert could make a big difference, but I would suggest people sit down and take some time to go through the toolkit and see just how much they could do to help themselves.

“The county council and partner agencies are playing their part to reduce the impact of flooding through developing and maintaining new and existing infrastructure. But that is only part of the picture – self-help is also needed.

“Flooding can devastate homes and disrupt lives as well as have a real impact on businesses and communities. The benefits of having a plan can’t be stressed enough and so the value of the new Flood Toolkit can’t be emphasised enough.”

Find funding and teach the children

Other useful features on the toolkit site include links that could help secure funding for flood related projects and an educational pack for schools.