A report into the reaction to July's floods has been published.

Although firefighters and members of the county and city councils' emergency planning teams were praised, the report reveals a number of failings.

The report, Flood Emergency - Lessons Learned and Future Options - is due to be discussed by Oxford City Council's decision-making executive board tomorrow.

The failings highlighted included: Sandbag provision was chaotic Incorrect or conflicting information being issued Lack of information on health risks of floodwater Lack of information on accessing flood relief funds Some emergency plan phone numbers were wrong People answering council phone were very inexperienced and not local Some residential boaters were trapped aboard their vessels for several days and forgotten Lack of someone with overall responsibility for co-ordinating the response.

Discussions are continuing with the Environment Agency and the Government over what flood prevention measures can be installed to help ease future disasters.

City council housing director Michael Lawrence said: "Work has begun with local organisations to improve the supply chain of materials such as sand, sandbags and bricks.

"This includes negotiations to allow supplies to be held locally or to be deployed to local sites in advance of an emergency.

"City works is continuing to investigate the use of alternatives to sandbags, "They have now looked at the effectiveness of the water bag.

"Other products have also been identified, which they are investigating before making final recommendations."

The report singled out the response to flooding in the Lake Street/Vicarage Road area of South Oxford, which it said was "lamentable".