An Oxford primary school has been forced to close after sewage water filled its playground.

Larkrise Primary School on Boundary Brook Rd, Oxford has closed for the day after discovering a ‘significant sewage problem’.

The primary school wrote on Twitter: “We are extremely sorry for this announcement but after further investigation, we have discovered a significant sewage problem that is now affecting the whole school. Due to this we now need to close the whole school.”

The school shared an image of water covering the playground.

One passer by commented on the amount of sewage on the school grounds.

Eylan Ezekil tweeted: “I’m so sorry to see sewage water in the playground of our lovely local school.”

Yesterday, the school warned parents of a leaking drain outside its ‘Goldfinch Class’, which had previously become a significant issue involving sewage in lockdown last year.

On Twitter the primary school said the leak last time was caused by Thames Water, who took a number of days to attend the school site.

Larkrise Primary school head teacher Jon Gray said Thames Water are now working to fix the problem.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Our engineers were quickly on the scene this morning and found that the flooding was caused by a blockage of hardened cooking fat and grease in the sewer. This has now been removed and the pipe is flowing normally again.  

“A full clean-up of the affected area is underway so the school can re-open as soon as possible.  

“We urge everyone not to pour cooking fat and oils down the sink as they will eventually turn solid and build up in your pipes.  

“Instead, collect them in a container like a jam jar or yoghurt pot. Leave them to cool and, once they’ve set, scoop them out and pop them in the bin.”  

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