New flood wardens are sought to be the eyes and ears of Bloxham and Adderbury

An appeal has been issued for volunteers in Bloxham and Adderbury to help their communities understand flood risks and responsibilities by becoming flood wardens.

Oxfordshire County Council has extended its flood warden scheme to cover the whole county following successful pilot projects in Witney, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Abingdon and Sunningwell.

There is no set number of hours required, and flood wardens can volunteer according to their own schedule.

Councillor Judy Roberts, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Place, Environment and Climate Action, said: “Flood wardens are our eyes and ears on the ground and report things liked blocked ditches and drains so that we can resolve these issues before a flood event can occur. As extreme weather becomes a more common occurrence, their role becomes so much more important.

“We are so grateful to all the county’s volunteers, whose hard work and local knowledge does so much to keep their communities safe. I would like to thank our existing flood wardens for their efforts and invite more people to join them in improving the situation in the places where they live.”

Flood wardens are members of the local community. They can be individuals, representatives of the parish council or existing community resilience volunteers, highway wardens or police volunteers.

The council will support flood wardens in their role and provide the necessary training. All flood wardens undergo an informal one-hour call prior to signing the agreement to help them understand the role in more detail.

Anyone wanting to become a flood warden can read more and sign up online through the Oxfordshire Flood Toolkit here: https://www.oxfordshirefloodtoolkit.com/flood-wardens/