Burst pipe floods wildlife meadow for fourth time

A wildlife charity fears it could lose a funding grant after a burst pipe prevented vital conservation work.

It is the fourth time Long Mead Local Wildlife Site, at Swinford in Oxfordshire, has been flooded because of a mains failure.

Although the meadow by the River Thames naturally floods in the winter, standing water at this time of year can cause damage to the rare habitat.

Thames Water said the latest leak had been fixed and it remained committed to protecting local wildlife sites.

"It's already starting to stagnate, so that's serious," said Catriona Bass, director of the Long Mead Foundation.

"Floodplain meadows are used to flooding in winter when the plants are dormant.

"These meadows don't flood typically in summer and when they do it's a disaster because the plants are growing - so it kills off the plants."

The site is central to a restoration programme that aims to boost this type of specialist habitat across the county.

There are only four square miles in total of floodplain meadow in the country - the equivalent in size to Heathrow Airport.

The rare habitat is home to deep-rooting wild flowers and grasses like great burnet and devil's-bit scabious.

Long Mead meadow acts as a donor site where seeds are gathered to help restore other similar habitats around Oxfordshire.

Volunteers have hand-grown more than 11,500 individual specialist plants.

The latest flooding was discovered on the day that restoration works were due to start after the last incident.

Conservationists have said they are worried a grant the charity had secured is at risk if the work is not completed in time.

"We planned on the 1st September to do this massive restoration project to deal with the previous floods and now we're not going to be able to," Bass said.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "We are sorry for the disruption caused and remain committed to protecting local wildlife sites.

"We have repaired a recent burst in Bettys Meadow and traffic management equipment is due to be removed shortly.

"The repair took longer than anticipated due to heavy rainfall and the volume of water, which meant our engineers were unable to safely access and repair the pipework until conditions improved.

"We will continue to assess the condition of the water main and review any further measures needed to help safeguard the area in the future."