New sensors are to be installed to analyse how the River Windrush behaves during floods.

Remote river level sensors mounted on new physical gauge boards have been set up at seven locations on the river which runs through Witney, with more planned in future.

These include Woodford Mill Weir and Mill Race, Riverside Gardens, which flooded on Christmas Eve 2020 when 13 elderly residents were evacuated, Riverside House, downstream of the town bridge and two critical points at Langel Common.

These sensors measure high river levels and provide critical data on flow behaviour around obstructions such as weirs and bridges.

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Charity Witney Flood Group (WFG) recently secured funding from Oxfordshire County Council with additional support from West Oxfordshire District Council to install the advanced river monitoring systems.

13 elderly residents had to be evacuated from Riverside Gardens on Christmas Eve 2021 (Image: Oxford Mail Archive) WFG drainage engineer Keith Jameson said: “Understanding how river levels rise and fall under flood conditions, and the impact of structures and maintenance issues is essential.

"Previously, submerged gauge boards made it difficult to monitor these changes.

"The new system offers real-time insights that are key to identifying priority areas for improving channel capacity.”

The sensors transmit data via a LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) to an online platform where data can be downloaded and analysed in real time.

The setup complements the Environment Agency’s flood warning service, which currently relies on a single telemetry station at Riverside Gardens.

WFG chairman William Wareing said the project "positions Witney as a leader in community-driven environmental monitoring".

He said: "By embracing citizen science, businesses, schools, voluntary organizations, and any member of the public in Witney can actively contribute to learning about, understanding and managing flood risk.”

Pete Sudbury, deputy leader of Oxfordshire County Council with responsibility for climate change, said "our climate has shifted a long way outside the bounds of what we've been used to, and getting ahead of the game is going to be a hard slog".

Flooding in Eastfield Road off Hailey Road in November 2024 (Image: Kim Hammond/Witney Spotted) He said the council is investing in flood prevention along with district and parish councils and partners like the Environment Agency, Thames Water, landowners and farmers.

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"But people living in flood risk areas should also see what action they can take themselves to protect their families, homes, and businesses.

"This is a great example, and we will help and encourage initiatives like this, wherever they spring up.”

West Oxfordshire District Council Dr Lidia Arciszewska, executive member for environment, said it was "a fantastic example of community in action".

"The flooding this week has shown how important it is we do this kind of work to help better prevent and manage flooding in the future.

"We are really pleased to have helped to fund this project and also install masts on our offices to help the transmissions from the sensors.”