Flooding this week in Oxfordshire has been worsened by Thames Water discharging sewage into rivers in more than 50 locations around the county. 

Some of the discharges, tracked on the water company's Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) storm discharge map, went on for days without stopping amounting to hundreds of hours of non-stop discharge. 

A councillor and an MP who represent the area both condemned the sewage overflow, for worsening an already difficult situation. 

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Councillor Chris Brant of Cherwell District Council said: “It's already been a challenging week with flooding for many residents,  but this week Thames Water also is discharging sewage in Cropredy, making the situation even worse.

"And it’s not just Cropredy—this is happening across North Oxfordshire, including Banbury, Horley, Hanwell, Shutford, Bloxham, and Hook Norton... the list goes on. 

"The previous Tory government allowed this to happen, and the current one believes it can address it. How can water companies get away with this?

"Major improvements are needed in upgrading outdated sewage systems, increasing investment in sustainable water management, and ensuring better accountability for water companies.

"Greater regulation and enforcement are required to reduce pollution incidents, alongside a focus on making water bills more affordable and proportionate to service quality”

Discharge in Cropredy, feeding into the River Cherwell which burst its banks and flooded one of the worst hit areas in Banbury, began on Wednesday, November 27 at 12.45pm and didn’t stop until this morning (Friday, November 29) at half past midnight.

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Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame, said: "Wheatley Sewage Treatment Works discharged sewage into the River Thame non stop from Tuesday to Thursday this week. It’s finally stopped - but for how long?”

Sewage discharge at Wheatley began again shortly after the MP's statement and is still currently active. 

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “While all storm discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to work in this way, to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes.  

“We know how much people enjoy and appreciate rivers, and we are committed to seeing waterways thrive, but we can’t do it alone. Farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife and increasingly extreme weather also play a role in river health.

"We have clear and deliverable plans to upgrade 250 of our sites across the region, to increase treatment capacity and reduce the number of storm discharges.

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“As infrastructure ages and demand on it increases, more investment is needed across the entire sector. That’s why we’ve asked for increased investment in the next regulatory cycle between 2025-2030.

"We’ve put transparency at the heart of what we do, and we were the first water company to publish a real time data map on our website, which in its first year has been viewed over 350,000 times.”

Residents are advised not to enter floodwater, as it could be a risk to health. Check sewage discharge for your area here: thameswater.co.uk/edm-map

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