Thames Water has been criticised after a pipe burst and sprayed huge jets of water onto the rooftops of houses in East Oxford.

A nine-inch main pipe in Rymers Lane erupted at around noon and sent water gushing onto the quiet residential street near Florence Park.

The leak worsened, and by 2pm it was spraying a stream of water that reached the height of some houses.

Oxford Mail:

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Thames Water stopped the leak by around 4pm, but some homeowners on the road believed the water company should have responded sooner.

A 35-year-old man, who asked not to be named, said: “It was small and then it got really big and there was water spraying everywhere and stone started coming out. It was pretty crazy.

“It was hitting my car in my drive.

“They (Thames Water) should have been a lot quicker. I know it’s easy to say that, but it was small at first and they should have responded to it then.”

For Eimis Truskaukas, 32, it had been a normal Sunday before the water leak.

He had planned to go out with his family, but soon found himself stuck indoors as his front garden was pelted with water and debris, including stones and tarmac, from the road.

“Water was coming onto my drive. It was missing my house and going onto the roof of my next door neighbours,” he said. “There are now stones all over my front drive.”

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Thames Valley Police were at the scene, and Mr Truskaukas claimed that one officer said they had “never seen anything like this.”

Oxford Mail: Eimis Truskaukas Eimis Truskaukas (Image: Albert Tait)

Camille Coiseau, 33, took videos of the leak when it first started.

She watched as it got “bigger and bigger” until it was spraying onto her neighbour’s roof.

“It was the noise, I had never heard anything like it,” she said. “And when you walked outside, it felt like it was raining.”

“I think that some of the neighbours weren’t home, and they left their windows open.”

Oxford Mail: The aftermath of the burst pipe The aftermath of the burst pipe (Image: Albert Tait)

A Thames Water worker at the scene said it was “hard to say” how long it would take to repair the pipe, but believed it was “not too bad.”

He said: “It’s just one of those things. As long as it hasn’t flooded anyone then that’s alright. We just get to these things as quickly as we can.”

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: "Our engineers have identified a burst water main and are now working to arrange the necessary permits to make the repairs.

"We are sorry to residents who may be impacted by this and would like them to know our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible."