The electricity company running one of Oxford's most important sub-stations has been told to ensure the facility is properly defended against future flooding.

During the height of the summer flooding, more than 30 firefighters spent three days ensuring the sub-station in Ferry Hinksey Road did not flood.

If it had, thousands of businesses and homes would have been without power - compounding the misery caused by some of the worst flooding in years.

Now, Scottish and Southern Energy - which is responsible for running and maintaining supplies in the city - has been told to take action so that firefighters' attention is not diverted away from human emergencies in future.

Richard Bowley from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "We have made it clear to the utility company they should ensure this sub-station is as well defended against the possibility of flooding.

"We would welcome any action that they could take.

"A lot of hard work and hours were put in by our firefighters at that location.

"It would be preferable if we didn't have to spend such a considerable amount of time there if flood waters rose to similar levels again. We would like to see action."

John Parry, Oxfordshire's chief fire officer, is currently drawing up a document to be tabled to the authority's decision-making cabinet later this month.

In it, he will stress the need for more effective coordination between services like utility companies and fire service - even though electricity at the Ferry Hinksey sub-station could have been re-routed if needed.

The situation in Oxford in July was not as critical as in Gloucester where fire crews minded the Walham sub-station around-the-clock.

In the city, West Oxford bore the brunt of the floods with Osney Mead Industrial Estate, where the Oxford Mail is printed, completely cut off.

Botley and Abingdon roads were also shut.

Scores of homes in Osney Island and neighbouring Duke and Earl streets were flooded - and many are still counting the cost of the damage.

A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Energy said: "Following the unique circumstances that arose from the summer flooding, we were pleased our existing contingency plans meant we were able to ensure there was no serious threat to the customers supplied from Osney substation.

"We have learnt a lot from the experience and have identified a number of actions we can take to ensure our contingency plans are even more robust in the future."

Last month, Nigel Bray, the Environment Agency's Oxford flood defence manager said work would not start on the city's much-mooted multi-million pound flood defence channel until 2016 - if at all.