Families hit by a burst water main face a three-month wait before they can return to their homes.

Eight homes in South Hinksey were swamped early on Friday after a pipe in Manor Road burst, gushing out millions of litres of water.

Thames Water yesterday finished repairing the two-foot wide pipe and said its insurance claim could reach £500,000 to cover the cost of the damage.

Father-of-four Keiron Blay, 47, was yesterday looking for rented accommodation for his family while staying with his parents-in-law in Kennington.

He said most of the downstairs of their home would have to replaced.

He said: “Everything is gone and it is now a process of rebuilding and it will take at least three months.

“We’re making the best of a bad case, but we are getting there.

“At the time it was very frightening because of the speed of the water and it getting into the house so quickly. If my baby had been downstairs it could have been devastating.

“We are all shocked and shaken as a lot of our possessions are gone. But everyone is healthy and fine and that’s the main thing.”

He said the family cat Max was found perched on a floating chair after the flood.

Yesterday residents were using a reserve water supply which was disconnected every three hours to be refilled. Thames Water has set up a temporary access road and said rebuilding the highway over the repaired pipe could take about a week.

Maggie Rawcliffe, chairman of South Hinksey Parish Council, said: “It is shattering because everything is just ruined and muddy and horrible. And it is so disruptive as these people have had to move out of their houses with their children.”

But she said the firm was working to make amends.

About 800 bottles of water were handed out to families on Friday and there were another 3,200 waiting in Kidlington.

Manor Road resident Simon Thomson added: “We have a very good community spirit so everyone has been out trying to help everyone else.”

Thames Water spokesman Simon Evans said the cause of the flood was likely to have been the pipe’s old age. He said the normal water supply would not be restored until test results on the old pipe come back today.

He added: “We would like to stress again how sorry we are to everyone affected by this incident, particularly to people in the eight properties we flooded.

“Our priority now is getting their homes and lives back to normal as quickly as possible.”

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood paid a visit to the flood victims on Saturday.