WITNEY’S sewers are in danger of backing up if they are overloaded with waste from new housing developments, councillors and residents have warned.

Their fears were raised as West Oxfordshire District Council approved a Thames Water strategy to deal with sewers backing up in Brize Norton on March 2, but admitted that there was no such strategy in place for Witney.

The sewers in High Street were blocked in February this year after a ‘fatberg’ was found clinging to a gas pipe that runs through the sewer pipe. Residents said this occurs on a regular basis and the sewers in Corn Street have to be cleaned out regularly.

West Oxfordshire District Council wrote to Thames Water and the Prime Minister and town’s Conservative candidate David Cameron in 2014, asking for the sewerage system to be upgraded across the district.

Witney town councillor Alan Beames said a proper drainage strategy like that being planned for Brize Norton must now be put in place in Witney to prevent sewers clogging up when there is heavy rain or they reach capacity.

He said: “There are risks for Witney because There is insufficient capacity for sewage passing from houses in north Witney to the sewage works at Ducklington.

“The pipes passing under Corn Street have to be water blasted every other year because of blockages and the build up of fat, and the pipes in High Street blocked up again recently.

“West Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan highlights the risks in Witney because of insufficient capacity through the town from the sewage works from north Witney, through to the sewage works at Dark Lane, Ducklington.

“Equally, if there are further developments in North Witney and East Witney as planned, there will be an increase in the need for capacity.

“I believe we need a full assessment of the sewage capacity across the whole of West Oxfordshire.”

Campaigners from the North Witney Action Group have long been against plans for building 1,000 homes on a greenfield site to the north of Witney, partly as on the grounds that it will overload the town’s sewers.

Taylor Wimpey has lodged an application for 200 homes on the site which is yet to be approved.

Campaigner Stuart Harrison said: “The consequences of wanting to put 1,000 houses in the most remote part of North Witney – the furthest point from the sewage plant at Ducklington – means the sewage will be required to come through the middle of Witney through a pre-1950s system that couldn’t cope.

“I would have to question the complete lack of joined up thinking of not including Witney in a drainage strategy.”

Becky Trotman from Thames Water said: the firm has a rolling programme of putting in drainage strategies, starting with the worst hit areas first.She said the strategies are designed to help resolve problems of sewers backing up because of flooding or blockages in the worst hit areas.“We’re prioritising the areas across our region for drainage strategies that have recently had problems with sewage flooding risk.”

In the case of new housing developments she said Thames Water works with the developer and the council to plan adequate sewage provision but developers are expected to pay for major improvements to the network.

A report commissioned by Taylor Wimpey states Thames Water has advised systems sewers and the Dark Lane pumping station will not cope with waste from the new homes that it is investigating what upgrades will be necessary should the homes be approved.