A burst sewer was left pumping raw sewage into a wildlife-rich stream for three hours without being repaired.

Angry residents in Locks Lane, Wantage, reported the overflow to Thames Water shortly after 8pm yesterday, but by 11pm nothing had been done about the sewage pouring into Letcombe Brook.

Graham Curtis, of Locks Lane, said: "It is quite a spectacle to see all sorts of things which go down toilets floating in the street and into the brook - gallons and gallons of it."

"This is an on-going problem. It's been happening every time there's a cloud burst - we've had a fair amount of rain and under those circumstances the sewer blew. I think this is about the second time this year it's happened."

When Mr Curtis phoned Thames Water a second time at 8.15pm to report the burst and again at 10.15pm when nothing had been done., he was told the company had contacted the Vale of White Horse District Council, which acts as its agent, and would call them again.

He also spoke to the Environment Agency after his second call to the water company.

"The Environment Agency and I have been talking to one another for six or seven years about the problem and all they do is note down the facts," Mr Curtis said.

Alex Body, a Thames Water spokesman, said heavy rain caused problems over a wide area and work had to be prioritised.

He said: "It's certainly not a question of us just leaving it. If we haven't got to the various places by now we can just apologise and say we'll get there as soon as we can."

"When it rains as it has done every river, stream and brook is so full that the dilution effect becomes such that it's not as bad as sewage entering a dry brook. Obviously it's not desirable."

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