Work to reroute a water main in an Oxford street has forced residents to park their cars in a field and use wheelbarrows to get their shopping to their front doors.

People living in Cavell Road, East Oxford, said their waste bins had not been emptied at times during work that has now taken twice as long as promised.

The work is being carried out by Thames Water after a 24in main was discovered running under an extension to a house in Iffley Road.

Mains should not be routed beneath homes, due to the risk of damage if pipes burst.

After a four-year legal battle with the homeowner over who should pay for the work, the water company agreed to divert the pipe.

Mark and Marion White said they had been told work would start in February, then in May and then at the beginning of August, before work finally got under way in the middle of last month.

Mrs White said: "Finally, we had a letter from the contractors saying it will begin by August 18 and should last for two or three weeks. We're now going into the sixth week.

"It makes me angry, because they also said they would be working from 7.30am until 6pm, Monday to Friday, but they're leaving at 4pm and coming to finish things off on Saturday."

She added: "Thames Water promised we would have no inconvenience with the wheelie bins and that the workers would take them to the top of the road, but twice they haven't been collected and a neighbour has had to call and get them to come.

"Our cars have to be parked in a field at the bottom of the road and you have to use a combination lock to get at them. They've put metal boards down to drive on, but you have to step through the mud to get to them. It also means you have to get all your shopping from your car in the field to your house. We've had to use a wheelbarrow to do it."

Neighbour Doug Eva, 78, said: "It has been a damned inconvenience, but I appreciate these people are working under extreme hardship.

"They said it would take two or three weeks but it's felt like two or three months. I also understand the workers come down each day from Maidstone, so it must be costing the earth."

A Thames Water spokesman said: "We're working as quickly as possible and would like to assure residents that the road will reopen this week. We have resolved the issue regarding the collection of rubbish and apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."