A DRIVE to boost interest in engineering among youngsters has been launched in Oxfordshire, writes David Duffy. On the eve of the British Grand Prix, the Formula Schools 2000 contest aims to produce potential future racetrack engineers and mechanics by
Overnight closure of Oxford's eastern bypass will send lorries thundering through residential streets in the small hours, furious local councillors claim. Representatives of people in Headington and Wood Farm were outraged by Oxfordshire County Council's
Construction firm Alfred McAlpine is in the final stages of negotiations to buy the Manor Ground from Oxford United Football Club, the Oxford Mail can reveal. Plans by McAlpine to build a housing estate on the site have been discussed by Oxford City Council
Passengers and staff at Oxford railway station found themselves in the middle of a crisis after a major power cut. The problem led to lights, ticket machines, electronic timetables and the station's public address system not working. The toilets were
When Phillipa Orme got back from a business trip and joked, "Alan Titchmarsh hasn't been to do the garden, then," little did she know... The camera crew for BBC2's Ground Force programme had actually been to her West Hanney home to check it out. And her
OXFORD United boss Malcolm Shotton got his man at last today with the signing of Aberdeen's Dean Windass for a club record £450,000. Shotton had made Windass his top target of the summer after seeing at first hand how the team needed a creative midfielder
Gemma Simms meets the three would-be stars who are just...dance crazy! Forget the nifty moves of the Spice Girls and B*Witched - this stunning trio of dancers are THE girls to watch out for in the county. They call themselves DKV Dance Company - which
Ann McPherson is used to seeing the inside of a doctor's surgery. But when she discovered a lump in her breast, the GP had to get used to life as a patient. The biggest irony was that the discovery came just as she was writing the chapter on breast cancer
Morrells workers arrived at the St Thomas' Street brewery yesterday knowing that time was about to be called on 200 years of brewing. For some, Oxford without a brewery was just about as unimaginable as Carfax without its tower. But any real hope of survival
A gardener is planning a change of scene by setting up an escort agency. Chris Cozens, of St John's Road, Wallingford, wants to take on his new role because his work as a landscape and general gardener dries up during the winter months. He said the legitimate
The decision to start charging at two more Oxford park-and-rides is a money-making venture for Oxford City Council, objectors claim. Figures produced by the city council anticipate total annual income of £521,000, if a 50p per day charge, discounted to
A consultant at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary has put up a sign warning patients of car parking misery if departments from the hospital relocate across the city. Grant Bates, a consultant in the Ear, Nose and Throat Department (ENT) and chairman of the
OXFORD Gresham Cheetahs have snapped up track specialist Martin Dugard as guest for the injured Jason Crump. The Eastbourne flier, who was in brilliant form here a couple of weeks ago, gives Cheetahs every chance to pick up the bonus point when they taken
Gene Culley may not be your usual idea of a model. But the 70-year-old has just been picked from hundreds of entrants to represent the UK in Avon's global photographic project celebrating women around the world. Residents in Gene's home village Childrey
DIY enthusiasts are finding that dumping on the cheap is costing them a whole lot more. Getting rid of DIY waste used to cost nothing. But now Oxfordshire County Council has started charging - £31 per tonne PLUS VAT. The council noticed a large increase
James murray was a snowy-whiskered Victorian multi-linguist who spent half his life compiling and editing the Oxford English Dictionary in a 50ft corrugated shed at the bottom of his Oxfordshire garden. The OED is arguably the greatest lexicon of the
Forget the wide-open prairies of the mid-west. If you want to find the meanest, hungriest buzzards around, hunt no further than the quiet suburbs of Cowley in Oxford, writes REG LITTLE. Pensioner Ron Smith learned to his cost that the buzzard is the latest
A new face is doing his bit to improve standards at a failing primary school. He's not a teacher, nor an authority on education. But his damp nose, glossy coat and tail which never stops wagging have won him many admirers among the children of Blackbird
The Morrell family stand to make a cool £35m from the sale of their brewery and pubs. As 77 workers were contemplating losing their jobs, it has emerged that 15 family members will be sharing out the millions. But 76-year-old Margie Eld insisted that
