Flooding: 'I've reported 150 blocks drains in Banbury - with 20 on just one street'

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A Banbury man who spends his spare time litter picking has reported 150 blocked drains around town and says ‘Oxfordshire County Council are not doing enough to prevent flooding’.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, started reporting the blocked drains on Fix My Street at the beginning of November.

Since then he has reported 150 blocked drains around the centre of Banbury and reports that the council has only fixed five of them.

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The man was inspired to monitor and log Banbury’s drains after a neighbour experienced bad flooding in his home following a storm.

A Banbury litter picker has logged and reported 150 blocked drains around the centre of Banbury.A Banbury litter picker has logged and reported 150 blocked drains around the centre of Banbury.
A Banbury litter picker has logged and reported 150 blocked drains around the centre of Banbury.

He said: “We had flooding on our road, so I looked at the drains near my house, and they were full of grit, leaves and all sorts.

“I spent four hours clearing out the drain and soon realised I wasn’t going to do that again, but it did make me start looking at them.”

A regular litter picker in town, the man combines checking on the condition of drains while out collecting rubbish from the side of the road.

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He says one of the worst affected areas is the busy Southam Road, where he has discovered around 20 drains entirely blocked.

A map showing the streets containing blocked storm drains around Banbury town centre.A map showing the streets containing blocked storm drains around Banbury town centre.
A map showing the streets containing blocked storm drains around Banbury town centre.

He said: “I don’t report drains that are just full at the top but ones where you cannot push a litter picker through the dirt and are most likely blocked right to the bottom.”

The man believes the blocked drains are a significant factor behind some of the recent flooding Banbury has experienced.

He said: “There are reasons behind the flooding and I think the council could save a lot of money in the long run by clearing out every drain in town.

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“Some of these drains have clearly not been looked at in several years, and I don’t think Oxfordshire County Council is doing enough to prevent flooding, a big rainstorm could cause a lot of problems for the businesses along Southam Road.

“There are things that are harder for the council to control, such as when the river breaks its banks but clearing out the drains seems like a good place for it to start to help prevent flooding.”

He also says there are far fewer blocked drains in Oxford and believes the council is prioritising the city over other places in the county.

The man said: “If you search for Oxford city on Fix My Street, you will notice there are much fewer blocked drains than in Banbury and Bicester, which are much smaller places.

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“It feels to me as if Oxfordshire County Council cares more about looking after Oxford itself than anywhere else in the county.”

Oxfordshire County Council has pledged to spend an extra £1.5 million to improve drainage and flood defences as part of its 2025-26 budget.

A spokesperson for the council said: “We are grateful to residents for getting in touch with us through Fix My Street to report problems on our highways, such as drainage.

“Due to limited funding for drain clearing, we have targeted our resources towards the areas that are most at risk of flooding all around the county.

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“We recognise we need to improve drainage, especially following the flooding in the county last year. Therefore we plan to invest an extra £1.5 million in next year's budget (2025-26) for further drainage work.”

“This will help us focus on cleansing systems, carrying out proper drainage management, and repair the infrastructure connecting the gulleys to the outlets in the areas that are most at risk.”

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