FIREFIGHTERS from Oxfordshire helped battle a storm surge threat.

Local crews traveled 150 miles to Norfolk where they joined crews from across the country helping defend coastal towns from rising sea levels.

The team from Banbury Fire Station were deployed to Norwich.

Setting out at 5am on Friday morning, the crew were faced with bad weather conditions before they arrived and even stopped en route to rescue a motorist who had driven off the road down an embankment.

The unfortunate stranded traveler was given a lift to a local fire station.

Once they finally got to Norwich the Banbury firefighters joined boat teams from Nottingham, the West Midlands, Hereford and Worcester.

Throughout the day the crews prepared for what was expected to be a dangerously high spring tide at 9pm that night.

Oxford Mail:

The high tide couple with a storm surge and winds funneling down the North Sea was expected to increase the sea level to more than a metre above its normal maximum height, threatening to breach coastal defences.

The teams prepared water rescue crews and high-volume pumps.

In the end, the water was not as high as expected and damage was minimal.

Assistant chief fire officer Rob MacDougall said: "Our firefighters are always prepared to support such deployments even though they often take them away from their families at short notice. I am very glad on this occasion that the weather and tides weren’t as severe as they could have been and that everyone has returned safely from an largely uneventful journey."