THE widening of a drain to ease a flooding bottleneck in Oxford has been hailed by campaigners as “like making a hole in a dam”.

Three giant culverts were yesterday lowered into place at the Hinksey Drain in Redbridge to ease a long-standing pinchpoint in the south of the city.

The work is being carried out by the Environment Agency as part of a £1.8m programme of measures to reduce flood risks in Oxford.

Peter Rawcliffe, of the Oxford Flood Alliance, said: “We have been on about Redbridge for more than a year, nearer two, so today was really a red-letter day.

“We haven’t quite cracked open the Champagne, because it’s a 13-week scheme, but they’re ahead of schedule and we’re delighted to see the first culverts go in.

“The flood plain is V-shaped and it narrows right down at Redbridge. Naturally, it’s a narrow point, but over the years it has also had many obstacles put in the way including the landfill site, the car park, the recycling centre and the railway line.

“All that has gone on top of the land and nobody had thought about the waterways. Water just wasn’t getting away.”

As well as the widening of the drain, the agency also removed a railway access bridge earlier this month.

Mr Rawcliffe said: “The space for water underneath that was literally a few square feet to take all the millions of litres of floodwater away.

“Now there are three massive culverts. There will still be the same amount of water but it will be able to get it through earlier in the flood, so it doesn’t stay there.

“It’s like making a hole in what is effectively a dam.”

He added: “It’s not going to sort out the huge floods on the Thames like in 1896 or 1947, or even 2007, which wasn’t on that scale, but it will make a difference to the more marginal events like 2000 and 2003.

“What’s happening at Redbridge is key, because it will help everybody in the city and South Hinksey.”

Enivronment Agency spokesman Keith Hutchence said: “This work will make a big difference to people’s lives, especially in the south and west of Oxford, and even over to South Hinksey.

“Work is due to finish in November, although that depends on the weather."

He added that once the culverts were in place, a surface would be laid over the top to give Network Rail permanent access to the track again – although it had been given access to the track throughout the duration of the work.