A NURSING home in West Oxfordshire has been evacuated this evening due to fears that the River Evenlode may burst its banks.

Thirty-three residents of the Old Prebendal Nursing Home, in Shipton-under-Wychwood, and 14 people who live in nearby sheltered flats have been moved to alternative accommodation with help from county council and NHS staff and firefighters.

And the council has sent a supply of sandbags to the village amid fears that houses could be flooded, with water levels expected to keep rising as more rain falls in the county tonight, with rivers and streams already swollen by yesterday's rain.

The nursing home in Station Road was flooded on July 20, 2007, when a torrential downpour over the Cotswolds led to the river bursting its banks.

Water was waist-deep on the ground floor and residents and staff had to be rescued the following day using boats and tractors and trailers. Repairs took five months to complete.