ALMOST 300 homes in Oxfordshire are still empty ten months after last summer's catastrophic floods.

Figures published today showed there are hundreds of people across the county living in caravans or rented accommodation as they wait for repairs to be completed on their flood-hit homes.

In Oxford - where areas such as Osney Island, Botley and Grandpont were badly affected last July, when the River Thames burst its banks - 35 households are still waiting to return home.

The situation is even worse in the Vale of White Horse and west Oxfordshire, where 97 and 159 households respectively remain affected.

In west Oxfordshire, 12 families are using caravans, including Jane and Richard Sanderson, of Clanfield.

They are living in their garden while builders work on the house. Mrs Sanderson said: "We have a nice caravan, which we chose as soon as the insurers told us we could, but it's not like home.

"We can't wait to get back in. The builders have had to rip out the ground floor and do all the plastering, but finally we're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Mrs Sanderson said their house - like many others in the area - had been "totally overwhelmed" by water last July. She added: "About seven inches of water came in. Obviously we saved the precious things, like family photos, but some of the furniture we couldn't rescue. I have been very fed up over the months since then."

In Abingdon, Samantha Bowring and husband Neil Fawcett are counting down the days until they can return to their home with their three children, Francesca, 17, James, ten, and six-year-old Emma.

They have been living in rented accommodation in south Abingdon while their home in Turberville Close is repaired. Ms Bowring said: "We're hoping to get back in within the next three weeks and we just can't wait.

"It's only in the past few weeks that things have finally been taking shape and the house has been transformed from a derelict cave into our family home. We're all certainly feeling a lot happier as a result."

She estimated the damage had cost at least £30,000 to repair. Nationwide, more than 1,400 households are still living in caravans and about 5,500 are not back in their homes. More than 48,000 were affected by the flooding in June and July.

Floods recovery minister John Healey said: "While the flood waters are long gone, the Government's determination to support flood-hit communities remains as strong as ever."