Our sympathy goes to the family of 17-year-old Max Sullivan-Webb, who drowned in a swollen culvert in Witney during Tuesday's floods.

Tragically, the scene of the accident had been identified as a potential troublespot.

A feasibility study had begun into a scheme to hold back water coming off nearby fields and prevent it turning into a torrent and putting lives and property at risk.

But as with many of such projects, it was still on the drawing board.

It is, of course, impossible to predict where fatalities will happen.

No doubt, had the Environment Agency had a crystal ball, the work would have been given much higher priority.

But it is another illustration of how slow we are to react to flooding issues.

It is nearly 10 years since the first of the present wave of floods hit us in Oxfordshire.

But largely through financial constraints, we don't seem to have made much progress in the battle to control or contain them.

We hope the Environment Agency will speed up work on the Witney scheme, and take any other measures necessary, such as putting up warning signs, to prevent another tragedy at this spot.

Meanwhile, the teenager's death should serve as a warning to everyone that floods are dangerous.

They may look inviting, and present a challenge, particularly to young people.

But you never know how deep the water is, and what hazards might lurk beneath the surface.

The deaths by drowning of two 15-year-old schoolboys in Oxford, Hassan Hussain and Ben Halsey-Jones, are still fresh in our minds.

Now floodwater has claimed the life of a third boy.

We all need to take that extra bit of care, whenever flooding occurs in future, to make sure we don't add to that tragic list.