On July 16, Will Boucher-Giles stepped down from the authority, leaving the Lib Dem administration without a majority on the council weeks after it had regained control.

The former representative for Chesterton and Launton has left his role “due to a family move to Switzerland”, a Lib Dem spokesperson has confirmed.

The party will continue to run the county council in a minority as they did after councillors Ben Higgins and Nick Cotter left the party in quick succession – this could mean it will have to seek support from other parties to pass its policies.

Mr Higgins has since re-joined the Lib Dems, restoring its majority for just under a month until Mr Boucher-Giles’ departure.

Councillor Ben Higgins (centre) back on the Lib Dem bench (Image: Isabella Harris/NQ)

Lib Dem council leader Tim Bearder had said Mr Higgins’ return was “providing stability so that we can get on with the job” of running the county.

On the latest departure, Conservative county leader and West Oxfordshire councillor Liam Walker said: “Oxfordshire deserves better than the chaos we’ve seen over recent months.

“Most importantly, the residents of the Chesterton and Launton division deserve strong, consistent representation.

“Instead, they’ve been taken for granted by the Liberal Democrats.”

A by-election is set to take place, and a party spokesperson said the Oxfordshire Lib Dems hope to take back their majority at the county council with “an opportunity to campaign on their record, which includes delivering safer roads in local villages and record investment in county council services”.

Buttercross Lane will be getting an improved drain, which is set to be installed in the coming weeks, funded by the public purse.

The Witney development, which is built on the site of a former industrial works in the town centre, has had repeated problems with flooding over recent years.

Over the last winter period the estate flooded several times, with one householder, who asked to remain anonymous, describing the situation as ‘appalling’.

READ MORE: Developer of flood-ridden Oxfordshire estate £400K in debt

The householder said: “I can’t leave my house today as I can’t drive my car through this.

“This is the worst it’s ever been it’s appalling and the council think the solution is to send a deism lorry once on a while.

Water being pumped away (Image: Cllr Thomas Ashby)

“It’s totally unacceptable – a failure of their adoption of road management and safety – I’m at a loss with what to do.”

Initially Oxfordshire County Council put in place low-level drainage tanks to provide interim relief but now a more permanent solution is to be delivered.

The drainage improvements will be carried out from August 3 to August 28, with warning signs set to be installed at the junction of Station Lane and Buttercross Lane.

Buttercross Lane will be closed from its junction with Willowbank during the works.

(Image: Oxfordshire County Council)

Liz Leffman, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for highways construction and repair, said: “Residents have had to put up with flooding at this location for far too long due to a lack of proper maintenance by the developer prior to the road’s adoption by the council as highways authority.

“Officers have worked hard to come up with a solution to this problem, which was far from straightforward to resolve.”

Cllr Thomas Ashby on Buttercross Lane (Image: Cllr Thomas Ashby)

It appears the work will come from the taxpayer’s pocket, which Conservative councillor Thomas Ashby is unhappy about.

He said: “While I am deeply disappointed that taxpayers are footing the bill for a development that should have included proper drainage from the start, I appreciate the council officers’ hard work in designing a robust fix.

In 2017 South Swindon MP Robert Buckland (centre) presented an award to MD Peter Mapson (right) (Image: NQ)

“Thank you to the residents of Buttercross Lane and the entire Buttercross Estate for your continued patience while I worked hard behind the scenes to get this secured.”

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This comes after this paper revealed that Bower Mapson, the house-builder that developed Buttercross Works in Witney, owes a total of £434,164.

In a summary of its financial statements up to March 31 last year – as published on Companies House – it said the firm owed £145 to trade creditors, £233,020 to other creditors and £200,999 to participating interests.

The document was filed on November 21, just days after Peter Mapson was officially removed as a director for the Swindon-based company on October 28.

A spokesperson for Thames Water confirmed the company are continuing to monitor river levels, reservoir levels, and groundwater levels as South East Water introduce a hosepipe ban.

South East Water announced that 2.4 million customers in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, and Berkshire will be affected by temporary restrictions from Saturday.

The company is urging residents to cut back on water usage immediately, asking them not to use hosepipes for gardens, cars, patios, boats, or swimming pools.

The ban was previously in place for customers in Kent only.

Thames Water continues to urge customers to stop using hoses and sprinklers, delay washing vehicles, stop filling up paddling pools, turn off taps when not in use, report leaks and only use the water you need.

The company reported a “decline in river levels” and the need to “protect some groundwater sources” due to lower-than-average rainfall, hot weather, and high demand for water.

Douglas Whitfield, water supply director at South East Water, said: “Our absolute priority has to be making sure there is always enough water for everyone’s essential daily needs: drinking, cooking and hygiene.

“To safeguard our shared resource and help prevent any homes from facing a sudden loss of water, we sadly need to ask our communities to not use their hosepipes immediately.

“We are deeply sorry for the disruption this causes, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone helping us protect water supplies in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.”

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A spokesperson for Thames Water confirmed the company are continuing to monitor river levels, reservoir levels, and groundwater levels as South East Water introduce a hosepipe ban. (Image: NQ)

The announcement comes as central and south-east England have experienced the longest unbroken spell of no recorded rainfall this century, according to Met Office figures.

An average of zero rainfall has been measured across the organisation’s weather stations in both regions for 14 days in a row, from July 2 to July 15, according to the latest available data.

The Environment Agency reports that reservoir storage levels in England are currently at 79%, around five percentage points below the long-term average for this time of year.

Six reservoirs, including Wimbleball in Somerset and Grafham in Cambridgeshire, are classed as having “notably low” levels.

Blagdon reservoir in Somerset is classed as “exceptionally low.”

The announcement comes after 28 days this year have seen temperatures exceed 30C somewhere in the UK.

At the end of June Thames Water confirmed soil was drier than average, river flow in the River Thames and River Lee were below average, and reservoirs in London were 89 per cent full which is below average.

However, the water company confirmed Farmoor Reservoir was 99 per cent full, above average for this time of year.