A family believes their elderly mother died after becoming depressed when she was moved to a bed and breakfast from her flooded Oxford home.

Wayne Singleton whose mother Margaret died after being moved out of Knights House

Margaret Singleton's children have been left wondering if their mother would still be alive if she had not been moved from her flat at Knights House, Risinghurst.

Mrs Singleton, 69, was one of 22 pensioners evacuated when a burst water main flooded the sheltered accommodation's ground floor in April.

As reported in the Oxford Mail on Saturday, 14 residents are settling back in after the building was repaired and redecorated by Oxford City Council and Thames Water.

Mrs Singleton's three sons, Malcolm, Wayne and Tony, and daughter Gillian, are devastated that their mother is not among them.

They said she became depressed after being moved to a bed and breakfast in London Road, Headington, paid for by Thames Water.

Gillian, who lives in Chipping Norton with her three children, said: "All I know is that my mum was healthy, well and happy while at Knights House and then, all of a sudden, and within a couple of months, she was dead."

Residents in need of medical care were moved to nursing homes but Mrs Singleton was deemed fit enough to stay in a hotel.

It was the second time the flat, her home since leaving Blackbird Leys eight years ago, had been flooded by the same water main. The last time she stayed with her daughter.

Within weeks of the latest move, Gillian noticed a change in her mother's mood and Wayne realised she was losing weight.

Despite protests from Mrs Singleton -- a grandmother of nine and great-grandmother of two -- Gillian encouraged her to see her GP and she was prescribed anti-depressants.

But she slowly stopped eating until she was surviving only on packet soups and lemonade.

She was admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital with severe dehydration and died 10 days later.

A Thames Water spokesman said a manager had met the family and offered condolences in a letter.

He added: "It's a very sad case. We regret any inconvenience and upset caused to Mrs Singleton."