WHEN it came to getting things done, 11-year-old James Lucey appeared to have more clout than a group of town councillors.

James wrote to Oxfordshire County Council in 1979 saying that the road surface near his home at Carterton was “disgraceful” and needed repairing.

He received a reply saying the work “will be done.” But when town councillors took up the case, the reply was more cautious – the work “should be done,” an official said.

Councillor Terry Warner told a town council meeting: “If it isn’t done soon, we should ask the boy to write again.”

James, of Dovetrees, Carterton, said the road by the Burford Road and Upavon Way roundabout was full of potholes and was dangerous to him and his fellow cyclists.

Signs warning of the danger were put up until repairs could be carried out.