Oxfordshire village becomes first place in UK to run out of water in heatwave

A village on the border of Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire has become the first place in the UK to run dry following days of hot conditions and extremely high temperatures.

Residents of Northend are relying on tanker and bottled water - after their local reservoir ran dry and the area experienced pump issues.

A tanker is pumping 19,000 litres of water into the system at Northend.

Thames Water - which confirmed yesterday it will announce a hosepipe ban 'in the coming weeks' - has apologised to everyone affected.

One resident described the situation as frustrating. "We are paying our water bills like everyone else does, but we can't use the washing machine," she said.

"We can't have a shower, we can't use the dishwasher.

  • One resident describes the situation as 'frustrating'.

"People have children and elderly relatives living with them - it's really frustrating, and we can't get a straight answer out of Thames Water."

In a statement, a Thames Water spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to customers in the Stokenchurch area who are experiencing lower pressure than normal due to technical issues with our Stokenchurch reservoir.

"We have a team on site working hard to resolve this as soon as possible and the situation is improving and supplies have been restored to customers.

“We’re using tankers to help boost supplies to customers in Northend to keep up water pressures for these customers so they do not see supply issues as well as delivering water bottles.

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“Customers may experience lower than normal pressure during periods of higher demand. These times are typically in the morning and during the early evening.

“We’ve also identified everyone in the affected area who has pre-registered with us as having special requirements, such as being medically reliant on water, so we can get in touch and make sure we give them the help and support they need.

“We realise how inconvenient this is, especially during such hot weather, and appreciate customers’ patience as we work to resolve things."