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THOUSANDS of Oxford residents have been left without water after a major water pipe burst.
Residents in Littlemore saw their water supply dramatically cut off - with locals in other areas reporting a drop in water pressure.
The pipe - which is maintained by Thames Water - burst on the Heyford Hill roundabout, flooding crowded parts of the city’s ring road.
The leakage from 24-inch wide pipe left cars partially submerged in water as hour-long queues formed.
Video footage posted online showed cars forced to drive through radiator-deep water as the burst pipe caused chaos.
Oxfordshire Police and the fire brigade were forced to close parts of the flooded carriageway.
Surrounding foot and cycle paths were also shut off due to flooding caused by the burst pipe.
It comes as yesterday Thames Water was fined £51 million - the largest fine issued this year by water regulator Ofwat.
Other providers, including Southern Water and Yorkshire Water, were also fined over their level of service.
Oxon Travel warned this evening (4/10) that the disruption could continue into tomorrow.
In a tweet they said: “The latest update we have currently from Thames Water in regards to road closures, is they are likely to remain in place into the AM rush hour.”
Last year Thames Water, which supplies the whole of Oxfordshire with water, was revealed as Britain’s leakiest water supplier by a considerable margin.
Data from Ofwat shows Thames Water lost 20.02 cubic metres of water per KM of mainline pipe a day - the equivalent of 236 Olympic-sized swimming pools a month.
Thames Water is also under fire for dumping raw sewage into Oxfordshire rivers over 5,000 times in 2021 alone.
The company admitted in a data release analysed by The Guardian that it could not treat all the sewage produced by its 1.1 million customers.
Mark Hull, Chair of the Oxford Rivers Improvement Campaign, told The Guardian at the time: “The simple truth is that Thames Water’s plans are completely inadequate”.
Thames Water said on Twitter: “Our teams work around the clock to find and fix leaks.
“We always aim to fix leaks as quickly as possible.”
Play our all-new interactive GAME to fully immerse yourself in the news, as you, a commuter, attempt to outrun £2m CEO Sarah Bentley in a green Oxford-made Mini.
Use the arrow keys to drive the car away from the pipe - which follows you - and the CEO, who moves in a random direction every second. To restart the game after being caught press space TWICE.
