RESIDENTS say at least 20 homes in Oxford have been blighted by sewage that has poured into their homes because of this week’s floods.

People living in Western Road, Earl Street and South Hinksey are all blaming Thames Water for the problem, claiming not enough is being done to properly maintain the city’s sewers.

Thames Water denies any maintenance failures, arguing the sheer volume of water from the last week combined with one of the wettest summers on record, is the cause.

Pensioners Michael and Maura Dennehy said they have been left to wade through filthy knee-high waste water which poured into the ground floor of their house in Western Road.

On Tuesday, following heavy downpours, the couple found their front room and kitchen filled with ankle-deep contaminated water.

Mrs Dennehy said: “It’s very frustrating and upsetting. “Two years ago we spent thousands doing up our kitchen after the last flood, but it’s all happened again.”

Mr Dennehy said their family had lived in the house since 1949, but it was only since 2003 that they had experienced serious flooding problems.

He said: “Why should we get all this disgusting water coming into our house every time it floods?”

Their son John, 47, from Holton in Oxford, said there were six houses affected by the problem.

He said: “It shouldn’t have happened, we’ve had the Environment Agency and fire teams out here and they are saying it is a Thames Water issue.”

They say that Thames Water was told following the flooding in 2007 that the frail piping system had clogged up and filled their home with sewage – but took no action.

Thames Water said it had no record of the complaint. Residents in South Hinksey say a dozen properties are affected by sewage.

Anna Lamb, 37, of Manor Road, cut a hole in her living room floorboards to find effluent underneath.

She said: “It absolutely stinks. This sewage is under our floorboards, under our whole house. “We are really concerned with the impact it has on our health.

“We have two young boys here too and we have put our dog in the kennels to stop him from wading in the water and getting ill. The kids have to stay upstairs.”

And residents in Earl Street, off Botley Road, were also affected. Andrew Webber, also a member of Oxford Flood Alliance, said that sewage flooded into his back garden when the flood waters began.

He said: “We can put a man on the moon but we have sewage coming into our homes.”

Carl Jeffreys, of Oxfordshire Drain Services, said the sewer systems in Oxfordshire needed much better maintenance to handle modern rainfall.

He said: “The type of rain we’re getting these days is just ridiculous, and the systems can’t cope. It’s like tropical rain. “You will also find that a lot of drains and sewers are not properly maintained. “The sewage water has nowhere to go because the systems are backed up all the time. “The systems do work, but not like they can.

“They need much more attention to keep them clear.” Essential £7m sewer expansion works at Botley were completed by Thames Water in September.

The work was carried out to reduce the risk of flooding as 36 properties in five years suffered backed up sewage entering their homes.

But Thames Water insists the sheer volume of water is just too much.

Spokesman Simon Evans said: “We sympathise with those affected, but the sheer amount of rainfall is the fault here, not the system. “If it is enough to overwhelm the Thames, it is enough to overwhelm our sewers.

“We sent our tankers down there to help these people out, not because we were at fault.

“The recent rain was preceded by the wettest summer on record, which has left the ground like a soaked sponge as we go into winter, making flooding more likely.”