A village pub is calling for action to be taken after being struck by flooding for the third time in just two months.

The Lion in Wendlebury near Bicester was forced to close for 24 hours between Sunday (November 24) and Monday evening after areas of the pub, including behind the bar, were flooded as a result of Storm Bert. 

The pub also says it has lost £4,000 in stock due to water damage. 

Stefan Wright, the general manager of The Lion, said there has been a "total disregard" for maintaining the drainage and the brook in the village.

He said the pub has flooded three times since October, but "this is the worst one". 

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"Some of the villagers aren’t as young and able as they once were so having to lug sandbags around, and any other 'defence' they might have just isn’t cutting it anymore," said Mr Wright. 

"Some kind of action or planned maintenance needs to happen from those in charge of highways drainage and environment.

Flooding behind the barFlooding behind the bar (Image: Stefan Wright) "We lost four thousand pounds in stock as the water blew out our electrics for the fridges... not to mention the heavy discounting we had to do on the last tables we had in on Sunday due to them being sat in the flooding pub.

"Monday lunch is usually a busy time for us as other pubs in the area close, but this was a write-off as the team had to work to get the pub bailed out cleaned and sanitised ready for the evening service and hotel guests arriving.

"This can’t carry on happening to local businesses and local people."

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Mr Wright is calling for action to be taken by local authorities to prevent this from happening again, such as "planned maintenance" of the drains.

He also believes work needs to be done on the brook, such as digging it deeper or having a pump system in place.

The Environment Agency says Wendlebury brook is the "legal responsibility" of the riparian land owners.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "It has to be cleared by them. 

"However, what we do - and we don't have to do it - but we do have a maintenance programme where we go out twice a year.

"It would usually be cleared out about this time anyway, but it's been so busy across the whole of the patch that it's not been done yet - but we will.

"I can imagine once we get a dry spell we will be going out there."

Flooding behind the barFlooding behind the bar (Image: Stefan Wright) "At the moment it just seems to be that we flood, it goes away and we just have to pick up the pieces as a community every time," he said.

"But if nothing is done and with climate changes it’s going to just be worse and worse every time.

"We are open now, however the brook is still extremely high, so another heavy rain fall and we could be back to square one."

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: "Our drains empty into the watercourses.

"If these watercourses are flooded, then the water from the drains has nowhere to go.

"We continue to concentrate our drain maintenance on areas with high flood risk.

"We would urge all residents and businesses to check the flood risk levels in their area and make preparations if necessary."

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