Elderly residents have been told they are safe in their flats after repair work was completed on a water main a year after it burst and deluged their homes with water.

Thames Water said work to replace a stretch of corroded pipe in Risinghurst, Oxford, had been successful and residents need not worry.

It was April 17 last year when 22 elderly residents had to be evacuated after thousands of gallons of water flowed into their homes when a water main linking Shotover Reservoir to Marston burst.

For some of the Oxford City Council tenants, it was the second time in three years that they had to be moved out of the Harold White Close accommodation because of flooding.

After the latest incident, tenants spent four months living in hotels, bed and breakfasts, at nursing homes or with relatives while the council and water firm repaired and redecorated their flats.

By October, 14 residents were back in their one-bedroom flats. Seven chose not to return and one woman, Margaret Singleton, 69, had died.

Her family blamed her death on the stress of being moved into a bed and breakfast.

Thames Water has now replaced a 500m stretch of the mains supply pipe which caused the flooding. Work was completed in the last few weeks and spokesman Hilary Bennett said: "This work means that there should not be any further problems with this pipe."

She said Thames Water had worked hard to help renovate the flats, and this was a priority before replacing the pipe so that residents could return home.

A temporary supply was set up to Knights House so that residents were not without water during work to disconnect the old pipe and fit the new length.

As well as pipe replacement work, the city council has dug out two new cattle-grid drains for surface water to run into the main drain system to prevent flooding risks during heavy down- pours.

A flood barrier was in place outside the flats at the time of the last flood, but council officials found it had been locked open and no-one knew where the key was.

It was later revealed that the deluge would not have been stopped even if the barrier was closed.

The council's housing manager Martin Mumford said the residents had settled well back into their homes, and the block's remaining 12 flats were being used to re-house other elderly tenants.

Marjorie Dick, 92, was among residents who moved back into Knights House after spending four months in Headington's Townsend House nursing home.

It was the third time in 11 years that she had seen her home flooded.

Mrs Dick said: "There's no place like home."