Hundreds of people living in parts of Oxford at risk of flooding were being visited by Environment Agency officers today to get them to sign up for an early-warning system.

Members of the agency's flood incident management team were calling at more than 700 homes at risk from flooding in South Oxford and Kennington and at businesses on the Osney Mead industrial estate, in west Oxford.

Parts of the city were flooded in December 2000 and January 2003 and more than 5,000 properties are considered at risk from flooding in the area.

The agency monitors rainfall and river levels and rates of flow and aims to give at least two hours' notice of possible flooding.

Team leader Kate Vincent said: "The main purpose of these visits is to encourage people to register for our free service, Flood Warnings Direct, and to offer advice to the public on what they can do to reduce the damage that flooding can cause.

"The properties we're visiting have received information about the risk of flooding on previous occasions, but have not registered with Flood Warnings Direct, although more than 1,800 other properties in Oxford have taken the sensible step of registering with us."

Householders and firms which register for the service can get flood warning messages by several methods, including phone, fax, mobile phone calls or texts and email or pager alerts, whenever a flood warning is issued for their area.

When warning messages are sent out, the Environment Agency advises people to call Floodline, on 0845 988 1188, select option 1 and then enter quickdial number 0111222 to hear what is happening in their area.

Ms Vincent added: "Flooding is a serious problem in Oxford, but the misery it causes can be reduced if people are warned about a flood and have some time to prepare. We want to get as many people as possible to sign up to Flood Warnings Direct."