Residents on a Witney estate whose homes were flooded 14 months ago are still waiting for a drain and culvert to be cleared.

The washback from the blocked soakaway was largely responsible for about 50 homes at Burwell Meadow being overwhelmed by floodwater in July last year.

Some householders have been told by their insurance companies their cover will not be renewed until the engineering work is carried out.

About 60 people have signed a petition calling for the work to be made a priority, but this week Oxfordshire County Council said it had a long list of flood defence work to do. The plan is for Burwell Meadow to be dealt with by Christmas at the latest.

Angry resident Julie Dixon said: "We still live in fear every time a heavy rainstorm occurs, knowing full well that as yet no preventative action has been taken."

Ms Dixon was one of a handful of residents who tackled the county council's drainage engineer, Gordon Hunt, at a flooding roadshow in Witney last week. She said: "He told us the reason for the lack of action is money.

"We feel we have been overlooked. Our understanding is that the culvert had not been cleaned for 10 years before last July's floods.

"It's just not good enough. Many homes here were flooded and some people have only just been moving back in after repairs. And we don't want one-off clearance, but regular maintenance."

Sheila Brooks, 79, was one of a group who went to the House of Commons three weeks ago to tell their MP, Conservative leader David Cameron, about the problem.

She said: "Some insurers have refused to renew cover until the culvert has been cleared. This is serious for people here. Why can't the council take on extra workers to get the job done?"

The 2007 floods affected more than 1,600 homes and many businesses in west Oxfordshire and work on action plans for future alleviation of risk have been going on for the past year.

The district council's cabinet member for the environment, Witney councillor David Harvey, said he would be pressing for urgent work at Burwell Meadow.

He added: "I understood that this work was in progress. I'm told that other work has been carried out in the area, including shoring up the balancing ponds between Thorney Leys and the A40 and the clearing of Colwell Brook.

"But I will press for this to be done as soon as possible. I will be talking to people this coming week to see what pressure I can bring to bear. If people are having trouble getting insurance on their homes, it's very worrying."

At the flooding roadshow representatives from the district and county councils, Thames Water and the Environment Agency updated people on what work has been done and will be carried out.

Mr Hunt said: "The Burwell Meadows culvert is one of a number of problems identified in the Witney report by West Oxfordshire District Council as needing attention and we're working our way through them as fast as we can."