ROAD users claim it took more than six months for somone to listen to their complaints and clear a blocked drain in Witney.

They said water had been flowing into the road from the surface water drain in Newland since last summer.

Jason Bell, 41, from Cogges, said: “Every time I came into the town using the buses, there was always water down there.”

Thames Water said that it had been called out to look at the drain three times but engineers found that the leak was not fresh water.

Spokesman Amy Dutton said that the company had notified Oxfordshire County Council of the problem.

She said: “The water is coming from a surface water drain, which is the council’s responsibility.

“We sampled the water each time and no traces of chlorine were found, which meant that it wasn’t spilling from the mains.”

The council said it had repaired the drain on Wednesday, but spokesman Marcus Mabberley denied it had received any details from Thames Water.

He said: “Officers have visited Newland and hope to have the problem rectified.”

Cyclist Richard McKenzie, 30, of Manor Road, said: “I noticed it had been going on for at least six months, certainly since the summer. It wasn’t until I came off my bike on ice there between Christmas and New Year I realised it was a bit of a safety issue.”