  Gauge theories in axial gauges are studied using Exact Renormalisation Group
flows. We introduce a background field in the infrared regulator, but not in
the gauge fixing, in contrast to the usual background field gauge. It is shown
how heat-kernel methods can be used to obtain approximate solutions to the flow
and the corresponding Ward identities. Expansion schemes are discussed, which
are not applicable in covariant gauges. As an application, we derive the
one-loop effective action for covariantly constant field strength, and the
one-loop beta-function for arbitrary regulator.
