New reservoir planned for Oxfordshire

Pike anglers could have another trout ressie to go at in few decades' time...

Thames Water wants to build Britain's second-biggest reservoir on farmland near Abingdon, Oxon, where it has already begun buying up properties.

The firm claims the scheme is needed to safeguard supplies to London, whose population is projected to soar by another 800,000 over the next decade.

If it gets the go-ahead the £1bn lake will hold 150m cubic metres of water – half the volume of Lake Windermere - and will supply an additional 350 million litres a day for the Thames Water network.

There was controversy as details of the scheme were announced, as consumer groups highlighted the fact the amount of water the reservoir would supply is around a third of the amount Thames water loses to leaks each day under London's streets.

The scheme could take up to 15 years to complete.