If the floods return to Oxford and other parts of the county, members of the Territorial Army will be on hand and fully trained to get people to safety.

On a weekend course, more than 100 TA soldiers were given training in how to handle inflatable dinghies and flat-bottomed boats.

They also learned how to build pontoon bridges, effective sandbagging and brushed up on their first aid skills.

They were also taught how to construct emergency rafts and how to help those who had been immersed in cold water.

The Oxford Territorials are all members of 7 Rifles based at the TA Centre in Slade Park, Headington.

They took part in Operation Downpour at Hawley Lake in Surrey as part of their Civil Contingency Reaction force role.

Riflemen George Njoroge, 17, a student at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, from Temple Cowley, Oxford, and David Young, 19, who lives in Bicester and works at Bicester Magistrates' Court, were getting their first taste of watermanship training.

Mr Njoroge said: "I have been studying public services and this helps to give me a better perspective on my studies."

The Territorial Army Civil Contingency Reaction Force is made up of Reserve Forces throughout the region including Royal Naval Reserves, Royal Marine Reserves, Territorial Army, and RAF Reserves and is trained to be on standby within 24 hours to help out and support the emergency services in the event of a local disaster, or major incident.

During the weekend, the Territorials were visited by the General Officer Commanding 4th Division, Major General Peter Everson.

At the pontoon bridge exercise, he watched a team race against the clock to build a bridge across a river and then tested it himself.

Among those building the bridge was Rifleman Iltaf Chohdri, 42, from central Oxford, who works as a lorry Driver for Chris Hayter in Witney.

Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Damian Griffin said: "With the recent flooding still uppermost in a lot of our minds, the skills that we have been learning have been very relevant."