More than 5,000 homes are standing empty in Oxfordshire, according to latest Government figures, writes Roseena Parveen.

South Oxfordshire has the worst record in the county, with 1,589 vacant properties as of April 2000. Nearly all are privately owned.

The news comes as the Empty Housing Agency (EHA) steps up its campaign to urge people to report empty properties and push local authorities to reduce the number of buildings left unused.

West Oxfordshire has 1,176 empty homes, 300 of which are owned by public organ- isations.

Oxford has 348 empty homes, nearly 200 of which are owned by the city council. The rest are owned by housing associations or other public bodies and 80 are privately owned. Cherwell District Council has 1,132 empty homes in its area, of which more than 1,000 are privately owned. The Vale of White Horse has 453 empty homes, half owned privately.

The EHA wants local authorities to make more use of the powers they have with Compulsory Purchase Orders to buy up private homes which have been left empty for a long time.

It wants councils to promise in their Local Plans to convert empty properties - including empty shops - into homes, before considering new developments.

EHA spokesman Clare Mitchell said: "We want the public to report empty homes to their council. If they do not listen, people should call us so we can identify which councils are not taking the problem seriously. Councils should highlight where they have acted on empty homes.

"In areas such as Oxfordshire, where there is a lot of concern about Local Plans and green belt development, unless local authorities put in their local plan a clear commitment to using empty properties first, then it simply will not happen."

A South Oxfordshire District Council spokesman said: "We pursue people to make use of their homes. We have not had to resort to using Compulsory Purchase Orders but we would consider using them."

Oxford City Council is putting up posters throughout the city during National Action on Empty Homes Week, which starts on Monday, encouraging people to report empty properties.