Thames Valley braces as floods hit Oxford

The corner seat in the bar of the Watermans Arms was uncharacteristically empty at lunchtime yesterday. It is normally occupied by Rosemary Shorter who, at 94, is not only the oldest resident of Osney Island but was born here and has lived here all her life.

On Tuesday night, she and 250 neighbours who live beside the Thames in west Oxford, were moved to the safety of the nearby Kassam Stadium amid fears that their homes were about to be engulfed by waters feeding in from the flood plain.

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The Environment Agency had predicted a flood in Oxfordshire since Saturday morning, but it finally arrived in the early hours of yesterday, spilling muddy water into the old railwayman's cottages which make up this sought-after part of the city. Within hours, the highwater mark had passed the previous floods of 1947 and 2003.

Yesterday, the main Botley Road into the city was impassable, while sandbags lined the streets of Osney Island, guarding homes from the river which ran at twice its normal capacity.

The top priority for the firefighters who have been here since the weekend was safeguarding an electricity substation that feeds the city centre. Pumps there continued to remove the water that flooded in. But Henry Dean, landlord of the Watermans Arms, saw a silver lining amid the rain clouds. His pub remained resolutely open for business yesterday, serving up plates of ham, egg and chips. "These have been the best three days since I have been here - we should do this every month," he said.

The long wait for the waters to arrive took its toll on some. Paul Hughes, a Formula One car builder, said: "First we were told the surge would come at 9am on Saturday, then it was midday, then 3pm then the evening and then midnight. Then it was the following day. Now it is supposed to be 5pm today. It would be better if they just said they didn't know. They've kept us on tenterhooks and now I don't bloody care. I'd rather it just happened."

Giles Dobson, owner of a boat hire company, said the recent floods had devastated his business. He had been ordered to confine his fleet of pleasure craft to their moorings as the river rose last week. "We are faced with three weeks out of action and I'm spending all my time arranging refunds. But we will defend this island no matter what," he said.

Further along the Thames, communities down river from Oxford braced themselves for the waters to arrive. Last night two flood warnings remained in place around Oxford and another on the Ock, near Charney Bassett.

There were further warnings on the Thames' tributaries - the Thame, Coln, Ray, Windrush and Cherwell - and nine warnings remained active on the Thames itself. Flooding was forecast for Henley, while Pangbourne and Purley braced themselves for the peak last night. Reading and Caversham also expected to be hit. Residents in Marlow, Staines and Shepperton were warned of flooding later in the week, although Eton, Windsor and Maidenhead were expected to be protected by the Jubilee and Cookham flood defences, according to the EA. Homes in the north of Oxford had been saved from flooding by the Kidlington Flood Defence Scheme, the agency said.

With up to an inch of rain forecast for today on the already sodden ground to the west, the summer flood misery is far from over.

Chaos continues

* Two hundred and fifty people evacuated early Tuesday morning as Thames and its tributaries flood in Oxford. Fears mount over possible flooding further down river.

* Gordon Brown visits the worst-affected areas in Gloucestershire and announces aid will be boosted to £46m. He says more money needs to be invested to prevent future floods.

* In Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud, 350,000 people still without access to mains water for up to two weeks. Queues form at 900 bowsers set up by Severn Water to plug the shortfall in supplies as engineers begin to assess damaged water-treatment plant.

* Red Cross spends the day distributing hygiene kits - filled with toiletries and bottled water - around the flooded town of Gloucester by boat amid fears over sanitation.

* Hull City Council reveals that about 6,500 homes were damaged by flooding in June, down from the initially feared 16,000.

* River Ouse burst its banks in Cambridgeshire, though no properties are flooded.

* Up to an inch of rain forecast for affected areas today.