A STRING of problems with water and sewage leaks in Headington needs sorting urgently, according to residents.

Headington councillors handed a dossier of problems to Thames Water officials at a special meeting on Monday.

It came after 2,000 Thames Water customers in Headington had their supply cut off about four hours after one of the mains sprang a leak in July.

Both the Churchill Hospital and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre lost their mains water supplies, as did Oxford Brookes University ’s Gipsy Lane campus.

And St Andrew’s Road in Old Headington has been hit by frequent sewage leaks, according to residents in Old Headington.

Councillors Ruth Wilkinson and David Rundle met Huw Thomas, Thames Water’s local government liaison officer, to hand over their nine page report and demand action.

Mrs Wilkinson said: “I raised issues to do with sewage flooding in Old Headington and also in the Old Road area.

“The area has sewers which are Victorian. I have asked him to find out how much more development Headington can take. When we get big development in Headington we want to be sure the infrastructure can support it.”

Last month, Thames Water revealed Oxford’s infrastructure might not be able to cope with the hundreds of new homes which Oxford City Council is planning to build.

Up to 1,200 homes are planned on land to the west of Barton, with building work set to start next year, and Oxford University ’s Park Hospital development is in the pipeline.

Meanwhile a development of more than 300 student bedrooms at Dorset House in London Road is set to open this month.

Mrs Wilkinson handed over a list of every leak in Headington since 2005 which had been reported to her.

Thames Water officials have promised to look at the document before reporting back to councillors and residents with details about what can be done.

Mrs Wilkinson added: “When these problems occur Thames Water is quite good at tackling them and they were very quick at fixing it the last time there was a leak in Headington.

“But we need to make sure the service is proactive rather than reactive.”

Mr Thomas said: “I had productive discussions on both immediate local concerns with the water and sewer networks, and on longer-term plans to put these issues right.

“We agreed to set up a series of further discussions to take these matters forward.”

Thames Water spokesman Simon Evans added: “It is our duty to ensure the sewer network has sufficient capacity for new housing.”