Residents are demanding Thames Water end 37-year drainage problems which see foul sewage spill onto their properties leaving them unable to wash or flush the toilet.

In the last 12 months, eight homes in Dean Field Road and four properties in Tilbury Lane have had their driveways, garages and gardens awash with toilet paper, excrement and condoms on five separate occasions.

The sewer discharges mean residents of 70 homes in Dean Field Road, Broad Close, Eynsham Road and Owlington Close are unable to flush their toilet or wash themselves for several hours without adding to the effluent.

Heather Smith, 63, a resident of Dean Field Road for 40 years, said: "It's a nightmare. Everything that is flushed down the toilet appears on our property when it rains.

"It's a blight on our lives."

Sewage burst into two homes through toilets in 1971 but to prevent a repeat residents now spring into action and lift manhole covers on properties to relieve the pressure.

Mrs Smith, who had to make a call from her hospital bed in 2006 to ask her neighbours to lift her manhole cover, added: "It has been going on so long it is constantly on your mind no matter where you are. Whenever there is a heavy rainstorm we know we are going to suffer.

"It's terrible. We want a permanent fix for this. Its gone on too long now."

Peter Bowell, a resident of Dean Field Road since 1969, said manholes were pouring out sewage for seven hours after heavy rain on June 3.

He said: "When it happens you can't shave, you can't use the shower and you can't flush the toilet because that material would come out onto the driveway of one of your neighbours."

"The frequency and the intensity of these incidents is increasing and we've had enough."

Neighbour Norma Perry, 75, said: "Every time it rains we start worrying. There must be a health risk from this."

Dick Hubbuck, 85, of Dean Field Road, said: "At our age we don't need this."

After each spillage Thames Water has sent out a contractor with a powerhose and disinfectant.

Stefan Wynne-Jones, who runs Tilbury Lodge, said: "It is just shocking. It took two weeks for them to come out and clean it last time. As a businessman, I can't leave my property like that and I'm getting fed up of clearing it myself."

Thames Water spokesman Don Sharples said: "We realise how distressing this is for the residents affected.

"We have been doing work in the last few months to investigate the system and we've found there is no blockage.

"We don't believe this is a capacity issue. There could be some misconnections between the highway drainage and the foul sewer drainage which is causing some problems and we'll be meeting with Oxfordshire County Council next week to see how we can solve the problems."