Heavy rainstorms regularly flood a tunnel on a busy footpath, causing people to wear wellington boots to wade through the water.

Pedestrian Susan Cox and Bicester councillor Les Sibley outside the frequently flooded tunnel

The tunnel goes under the embankment of the railway carrying the London to Birmingham trains that stop at Bicester North station, in Buckingham Road.

It is part of a footpath used by people walking between the Glory Farm housing estate to Bicester town centre.

Children and parents also use the path and tunnel to reach Longfields Primary School in Longfields.

After the most recent rainstorm Susan Cox found the tunnel flooded once again when she walked from her home in Balliol Road to town centre shops.

She said: "The tunnel always floods and the rainwater is polluted from dogs that have fouled the footpath and rubbish.

"Myself and other people have to wear wellingtons and sometimes the water can come over the top of my wellingtons."

Another problem was that the lights in the tunnel were often not working, leaving people to negotiate the water and mud only by the little daylight that came in from either end.

She added that to avoid the tunnel, some people took a long route along Buckingham Road to reach the town centre.

Mrs Cox said: "The only trouble then is that you risk getting a soaking from vehicles throwing up the rainwater that accumulates in the dip under the Buckingham Road railway bridge."

Jim Hooper, headteacher of Longfields School, said: "The flooding is caused because the floor of the tunnel slopes towards the middle. The gradient is wrong."

A Railtrack spokesman admitted it had received several complaints after the recent rain and said contractors were sent in to pump water away.

He added that structural engineers were in talks with Oxfordshire County Council staff to try to reach a long-term solution.