OXFAM staff and volunteers were loading supplies in Bicester this morning to be transported to Africa to combat the Ebola crisis.

Forty tonnes of humanitarian aid, worth about £200,000, is being loaded up at Oxfam's warehouse in Arkwright Road to help fight the deadly virus affecting parts of West Africa.

The Cowley-based charity is flying out a drilling rig, water and sanitation equipment to Monrovia in Liberia.

Senior press officer Ian Bray, 61, who returned from Liberia on Sunday after two weeks, said: "The drilling rig costs about £100,000 and that’s very important for maintaining high levels of hygiene.

"To treat an Ebola patient takes 250 litres of water a day.

"The situation in Liberia is stabilising but in Sierra Leone it is getting worse so we can’t take our foot off the accelerator — the crisis is not over yet."

During his visit to Liberia Mr Bray, who lives off Cumnor Hill, spoke to Ebola survivors and community health volunteers. 

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