OXFORDSHIRE County Council could be handing Thames Water a ‘gift’ in the battle over the proposed Abingdon reservoir, a councillor warned yesterday.

The authority has criticised the water company’s plans for the Heathrow Airport-sized reservoir, which it said would support the needs of the whole South East region.

At a meeting of its cabinet yesterday it was resolved that the council would fire a series of question at the firm demanding to see how it worked out its population growth figures and water usage for the coming years.

Thames Water amended its calculations following a campaign by CPRE Oxfordshire and the Group Against Abingdon Reservoir (GARD) meaning the date for the reservoir was put back to the ‘late 2040s’.

However Liberal democrat group leader Richard Webber warned the council’s response that Thames Water’s population figures were too low could be a ‘gift’ to the firm in a potential legal battle.

Mr Webber also convinced cabinet to allow GARD to present to councillors, officers and MPs an argument against the reservoir between Steventon and Marcham.

Principal transport planner at the council Amanda Jacobs accepted it may be a gift but leader Ian Hudspeth said the council’s projected figures were already publicly available in the form of local plans for development.

The county will also ask Thames Water how much of the water from the reservoir would be sold to other water companies and what other sites across the region were ruled out and why.