DISTRICT councillor Steve Hayward has explained why he decided not to resign.

Mr Hayward now lives in Thailand and had said he would resign after being criticised for claiming he could still represent Ducklington on West Oxfordshire District Council despite living 8,500 miles away.

But he changed his mind and intends to remain a councillor until May, when he will stand down at the election, although he has said he will take a 90 per cent cut to his allowance.

He said: “If I had resigned totally, then the people of Ducklington and Curbridge would not have had a councillor until after the elections in late May.

“As I have previously stated, I have been doing a reasonable job via the telephone and email.”