Good news and bad news for David Cameron, who as we speak is packing his suntan lotion ahead of a family holiday in the South West of England.

The good news is that the Witney MP and Conservative Party leader is treating his wife and children to a sunshine break on the Cornish coast.

The bad news is that he might have booked up some palatial, but haunted, lodgings.

We hear that the Camerons will be staying in a house cursed by a 16th century white witch after a dispute with wealthy landowners.

You certainly wouldn't get that in the more traditional Tory blue rinse holiday destinations like Bognor Regis and Eastbourne.

A mischievous mole tells a tale of plotting and Machiavellian scheming at a recent South East Regional Assembly meeting.

It concerns the dismantling of the unelected quango - a glorified talking shop of councillors from across the region - chaired by Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell.

The assembly is soon to be scrapped and a scramble is on for power at a newly-formed, but equally dull, South East Councils Forum.

However, a row has erupted among the assembly's mainly Conservative representatives about vote distribution.

Word is the likes of west and south Oxfordshire - and other mostly Tory-run district councils across the region - are deeply concerned about 'Kaiser' Keith's plans to give the county councils and unitary authorities from big towns and cities much more of a say in what goes on at the forum.

They're an unhappy lot out in the shires.

A coup d'etat, perhaps? You heard it hear first.

Those Liberal Democrats sure know how to enjoy themselves. Come Friday evening, while the rest of us try to wash away the dirty memories of a working week, they can be found in Oxford Town Hall, holding a city council group meeting.

And so it was last Friday. However, it was not all hard graft.

One of my sources caught a glimpse of two Lib Dem councillors enjoying a stiff one in a city centre bar afterwards.

A couple of weeks ago we told of Patrick Murray's belated thank you to the good people of Barton and Sandhills for his re-election to Oxford City Council in May by just four votes.

His expression of gratitude came fully two months after the election was held.

Then this week, the man he beat into second place - Labour's Andrew Lomas - thought it would be a good idea to pump out a similar thank you message.

Labour, beaten by the Lib Dems. Again.