STAFF at a fire-stricken council are working "flat out" to get services back online for 256,000 residents, one of their chairmen said yesterday.

South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) and Vale of White Horse District Council relaunched their websites yesterday but said it will take a week until its whole IT system was up and running.

The computer system which the councils share was destroyed in an arson attack on their offices.

It is not yet clear if any residents' data was lost in the fire in Crowmarsh Gifford on Thursday morning.

About 380 of the councils' shared 400 staff normally work at the Crowmarsh Office, and 20 at Abbey House in Abingdon.

Yesterday about 70 staff went to work at Abingdon and the council hopes to have 200 staff back at work by the end of the week.

Vale chairman Mike Badcock said: "We are letting the recovery team get on and do their job and they are working flat out."

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South Oxfordshire leader John Cotton said many services were already up and running but planning would take until the end of the week.

He said: “We get around 3,000 planning applications a year, about 15 a day, so we’ve lost more than 45 already. So there will of course be a bit of a backlog over the next few weeks.”

He said the Government's Planning Inspectorate had given the council extra time to deal with ongoing planning appeals.

With regard to planning application deadlines, he said: "The dates are target dates and not legal dates.

“If the applicant hasn’t heard a decision after eight weeks they can appeal, if anyone has a planning application in and hasn’t heard a decision we hope they will... understand it may take a few weeks longer.”

The councils issued a statement yesterday morning saying: "Planning is the main area of our website affected by the fire and we are asking residents not to submit any planning applications until further notice.

"Our planning application register is currently not available so you are unable to view or comment on existing applications on our website."

Mr Cotton said the councils were looking at using Didcot's Cornerstone arts centre for temporary office space.

Bill Service, SODC cabinet member for Didcot, asked Didcot Town Council if it could accommodate any South and Vale staff.

Mr Service said: "The town council office in the civic hall might have a bit of desk space so I have asked the question."

Didcot town council leader Eleanor Hards, a district councillor for Didcot Park ward, said: "We will do whatever we can to help.

"Life's problems don't stop and we need to find a way to help staff to help residents - if we can we will."

Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service chief fire office Dave Etheridge yesterday praised his team for Thursday.

With 150 firefighters in 27 engines battling the blaze in the early hours of the morning he said: "It's the biggest challenge we've faced for many years.

"The response was absolutely fantastic."

He said he was especially proud that his team had installed a smoke alarm at the home of Jean Gladstone, also hit in the arson attack, just weeks before.

Andrew Main, 47, of Roke Marsh Farm, Rokemarsh, appeared at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Saturday charged with four counts of arson in relation to the fires. He will next appear at Oxford Crown Court on January 30.

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