Residents of an Oxford estate are demanding action be taken over regular flooding in their area.

Residents of Northway have pointed to the new Children's Hospital - and a lack of foresight by Thames Water - as the cause of the flooding.

The water company has denied the hospital is to blame, but Stockleys Road resident, Betty Fletcher, 67, said planners, developers and Thames Water should have realised flooding might occur as a result of its construction.

She said: "Ever since the Children's Hospital went up, the Northway area has been suffering from flooding.

"You should see it when it rains. It comes pouring into my road and I worry that I'm going to be paddling around in my living room."

Charlotte West, 27, of Maltfield Road said: "While I think the hospital is great, its development has affected the way water runs over the land - and its consequences are being seen in Northway."

In July 2005 flash floods caused extensive damage in Northway as rainwater created a 4ft-deep river in Stockleys Road.

Derek Phillips, of Maltfield Road, said: "Water is coming down off Saxon Way and Westlands Drive and along Borrowmead Road. Stockleys Road is getting the worst of it."

The city council's north east area committee has arranged a meeting with Thames Water tomorrow, and local residents can attend.

Northway councillor, Tony Gray, said: "We need to make sure Thames Water are held accountable for the problems in Northway."

Thames Water said it did not believe the new hospital was to blame.

Hilary Bennett, a spokesman for the company, said: "We have looked into this and we have investigated, but we are not of the opinion that it's the hospital causing the drainage problems."

Thames Water pointed to issues it had with a vandalised water storage tank in a nearby field, but said this had been resolved.

A spokesman for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Thames Valley Water is satisfied that the drainage problems experienced by Northway residents are unrelated to the hospital.

"The new buildings on the John Radcliffe site were built to have minimum impact on the environment and further preventative steps were taken to ensure that any drainage issues, within the trust's control, were addressed.

"This included replacing hard floor car parks with porous material to absorb rain."