Warning West Bar burst water main repairs could take longer to complete than usual
18/09/2025

The Thames Water team are in the area supporting those who’ve been affected by flooding
Just eight days after homes and businesses in Banbury were left without water another burst water main has affected the town centre.
People discovered a loss of water early this morning after a pipe ruptured on West Bar Street, close to Beargarden Road. The water created flooding around the local area.
Thames Water have now restored supplies but are warning that repair work is likely take longer than normal to complete, due to electric cables being in close proximity to where they are working.
The company confirmed they were investigating the problem shortly after 6am.
After their engineers arrived at the scene they issued an update saying: “Unfortunately the broken pipe has caused the pressure in the area to drop, meaning a number of the sites which pump water have tripped.
“Our teams are working on stopping the water flooding, which will mean the pressure will build. Once we’ve restarted the pumps your water supply will return.”
The situation forced the Frank Wise School to close for the day and Harriers Banbury Academy asked parents not to take their children to school as normal, with remote learning sent out.
On Wednesday last week a burst water main on North Bar affected Banbury town centre, with schools forced to close midway through the day and local properties flooded. Repair work there was completed within a day.
The repair needed today could take longer to complete.
In a statement issued late on Thursday morning Thames Water said: “We’ve successfully stopped the water flooding, which means everyone affected should now find their water supply back to normal. We apologise for the disruption this caused.
“Our Customer Representative and Loss Adjustor teams are in the area supporting those who’ve been affected by any flooding, if you’ve also been affected, please feel free to speak to them.
“The repair will likely take longer than normal to complete, this is due to electric cables being in close proximity to where we are working. Once we’ve fixed things the road will be cleaned and area returned to normal. Traffic management remains in place, please allow extra time if you’re travelling in the area.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team