OXFORD * Shane Turner, 23, of Bluebell Court, Oxford, admitted being drunk and disorderly and destroying a blanket belonging to Thames Valley Police in Park End Street, Oxford, on November 13. Fined £100, £85 costs and £5 compensation.
A burst water main affecting about 200 homes in Wallingtford has been fixed by Thames Water staff. The problem started at about 1pm yesterday affecting residents in the St John’s Road area.
A CITY of stark inequalities with a huge student population, a large number of public sector workers and high population turnover. That’s how Oxford will look in 2012, according to a new statistical guide. The Oxford City Council 2012 profile draws
A DATE has been set for bulldozers to move into Bicester to start the town centre’s long-awaited redevelopment. Workmen from builders Bowmer and Kirkland will move onto the site on January 9 and bulldozers will start work on January 30. Cherwell District
THE number of people aged 85 and over in West Oxfordshire will have almost trebled by 2031. Health chiefs say the ageing population represents one of the biggest funding pressures for the county because older people place a bigger demand on services.
YOUNG farmers have been snapped posing naked in fields and farmyards as part of a charity calendar. The men from Faringdon and District Young Farmers’ Club have bared all again after last year’s ‘Boys in the Buff 2011’ calendar raised more than £1,600
Some of the county’s most successful entrepreneurs gathered to celebrate the launch of the Oxfordshire Business Awards 2012. More than 70 guests gathered to mark the occasion at Blenheim Palace to kick off the 18th year of the competition following
MENTAL health charity Restore will be holding a series of seasonal events to help raise funds. Fleet Meadow’s Christmas Sales Evening will be held in Didcot from 5pm next Thursday, while the Restore Winter Fair will take place at the charity’s base in
A CHILDREN and young adults’ hospice has opened a ‘pop-up’ Christmas shop in time for the festive rush. Helen & Douglas House has opened the temporary shop next door to the charity’s first shop in Summertown. It opened on Wednesday when staff Luciano
FEARLESS bankers from Kidlington will be taking to the skies this weekend to raise money for charity. Martin Fouracre and Nadia Begum work at the village’s branch of Barclays in High Street and on Sunday will be throwing themselves out of a plane. The
AN ABINGDON woman has raised about £500 for Against Breast Cancer after a skydive in memory of her mum, who died of cancer. Sara Sexon, 42, of Sherwood Avenue, did the tandem skydive with an instructor last month at the Hinton Skydiving Centre. Her
When Oxfam’s specialist bookshop in Thame celebrated banned books earlier this year, Enid Blyton’s children’s stories were at the centre of their display. Books by the author of Noddy and The Famous Five were banned for 27 years by BBC bosses, who dismissed
Pupils from St Ebbe’s School packed their bags this week to be evacuated to the countryside. But they were separated from their parents for only one day, not the years that wartime evacuees had to endure. The 90 children were taken from the White House
COUNCIL chiefs have cut the proposed number of volunteers needed to keep libraries open. Oxfordshire County Council had planned that 16 libraries would be one-third staffed by council employees, with the rest of the staff made up by volunteers.
DESPITE a long-running campaign from protesters, city councillors are being asked to approve plans to turn a former South Oxford pub into a Tesco Express store. Campaigners battled for more than a year to stop the supermarket chain from demolishing the
NO puzzle is too big for jigsaw-loving grandma Rosie Mulvany, who has just to completed the world’s biggest puzzle. The retired factory worker from Bicester spent more than 2,000 hours pouring over the jigsaw before putting the final 32,000th piece in
BOTLEY’S Olivia Jagger shared a court with tennis stars Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Oxford High School pupil, 14, was among the ball boys and girls at the O2 Arena, London after seeing off
Oxford Brookes were the stars at the Wallingford Eights and Fours Head which attracted 252 crews from all over England. Their men monopolised the eights with five titles, taking the senior, elite and intermediate 1, 2 and 3 crowns. The Brookes winning
BANBURY: A 39-year-old man will stand trial accused of burglary and possessing cannabis. Richard O’Rourke, of Station Caravan Park, Station Approach, Banbury, is due to stand trial at Banbury Magistrates’ Court on February 8. The burglary relates to
TEACHING and learning is slow to improve at a primary school in special measures, an inspector said. In November 2010, Wheatley Primary School, Littleworth Road, was told it needed to rapidly accelerate rates of progress and raise attainment. And the
The Londis store on London Road, Headington, looks set to reopen under new management in the coming months. The 24-hour shop closed last February. Builders are now working in the shop and an advert for new staff has now appeared in the window.
About one in ten county women are smoking when they give birth, latest figures show. Of 2,042 pregnancies, 161 were smoking at the time of deliveries between July and September, Department of Health figures show. This placed it towards the bottom of
SATURDAY FOOTBALL EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE Premier Div: Banbury Utd v Bashley, Oxford City v Cirencester Tn Div 1 South & West: Cinderford v Abingdon Utd, North Leigh v Yate. UHLSPORT HELLENIC LEAGUE Premier Div:
Joe Hill, the 16-year-old son of Aston Rowant trainers Alan and Lawney Hill, notched a winner on his first ride when Ravethebrave scored at Black Forest Lodge, near Exeter. Joe brought the seven-year-old gelding home by six lengths from Light Touch in
AN Oxfordshire children’s home which looks after youngsters with learning and physical disabilities and those with sensory impairment has been rated outstanding by Ofsted. The home, which was inspected in November, provides respite care for youngsters
CHIPPING NORTON: Three men have been arrested over a burglary in the town. A 29-year-old and two 36-year-old men, all from the Chipping Norton area, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and bailed until December 5 after a house and static caravan
BANBURY: A 26-year-old man from the town has died after his Vauxhall car hit a tree. Edward Chaffe died in hospital on Tuesday after the collision last Friday in Cockley Road, Farthinghoe, Northamptonshire. He was taken to Banbury’s
THE mother of a fallen serviceman paid tribute to the people of Oxfordshire for their support at yesterday’s repatriation. Rifleman Sheldon Steel, from 5th Battalion The Rifles, was killed in Afghanistan on Sunday by an improvised explosive device.
Witney Town welcome back Andy Styles and Alfie Saunders when they travel to Thame United in the Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division on Saturday. They will be without Ian Lovegrove and James Kyberd (both unavailable). Dan Sadler is an injury doubt
THE level crossing in Bicester is being operated by hand after a signal failure in the early hours of this morning. Problems with a track signal were reported at 3.30am and the barrier to the crossing in London Road was closed, blocking traffic.
A SERIES of crashes on the A34 in less than 24 hours caused traffic chaos in Oxford. Yesterday at 9.24am the police were called to a collision on the A34 northbound, between the Wytham turn and Peartree roundabout. It involved an Army vehicle and a
POSTMAN Chris Davis was baffled when city council binmen failed to collect his rubbish because his wheelie bin was not ‘presentable’. A council bin chief was even set to pay him a personal visit to advise him where to leave it. Mr Davis, 33, who lives
POLICE are dealing with an accident at the Botley interchange in Oxford involving a lorry and a car. The A420 eastbound carriageway between Oxford and Swindon is partially blocked due to the accident. It is not yet known if anyone has been injured
FESTIVE cheer filled Abingdon last night as the town’s Christmas lights switch-on went with a bang. This year’s theme was Kings and Queens and a parade made its way through the streets before the evening culminated with an impressive fireworks display
OXFORD City Council has pledged to fork out extra money on education and youth services in a budget which sets out £1m of new spending. The package will put extra cash into areas which are Oxfordshire County Council’s responsibility, but which Town Hall
Banbury United manager Ady Fuller has urged Will Green to forget about the speculation surrounding a possible switch to rivals Brackley Town and get on with scoring goals. Their Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division rivals have put in a bid for
I WRITE regarding a letter I received this morning from Southern Electric. We have been paying by a direct debit payment “the figure set by them” for the past year. The letter said the predicted amount of electricity they expect us to use before the
SO could R Lee (Letters, November 21) please tell me when was the EU Commission president, or the president of the European Council elected? No he can’t – as he admits, all the persons of power in the EU were appointed to their roles. The European Parliament
I WAS taken aback by the comments made about Elise Benjamin in the Oxford Mail, November 29, by John Kelly. I have been to many of these very sad repatriation ceremonies and, yes, Mr Kelly is always very well dressed, which I admire. But Elise’s circumstances
OXFORD Harlequins face the most important game of their season tomorrow when they visit Amersham & Chiltern in National 3 South West. Quins, who are 12th, trail Amersham by five points, meaning defeat could leave them ten points from safety
IN the article (Oxford Mail, November 28, Street Fights Losing Battle), it is said that North Parade was once the frontline in a Civil War siege. This was not so. Although it was claimed by a German professor that North Parade was the parade ground of
ELISE Benjamin, with whom I am on chatting terms when our paths occasionally cross, has invariably struck me as being a very charming woman who is, by most accounts, proving to be an excellent Lord Mayor of Oxford. She tends to dress in a casual but
I HAVE read with interest the various articles and ideas put forward regarding a lack of space in our cemeteries. As I understand it, most burial grounds are now run by parish councils, or at least this is the case with Kidlington. As a widower I am
I’M SURE that all residents are delighted by the city council’s decision to axe its plans to build on Headington car park. Thanks are due to hardworking businesses, residents and Lib Dem councillors, Ruth Wilkinson and David Rundle, all of whom successfully
AT the risk of sounding like the late King George V – he was known for prefixing personal notes and letters with a weather report – Tuesday was cold and exceptionally windy with occasional showers. The decorative chandeliers in Cornmarket Street were
Thames Valley Police has published the results of last year’s annual campaign to put a stop to drink and drug driving as they launch this year’s crackdown. During December 2010, more than 5,156 drivers were breathalysed by Thames Valley Police with 261
A FLASHER who hugged a woman in the early hours of yesterday morning is being sought by police. The 21-year-old victim was walking home along Bullingdon Road when a man started walking alongside her. Feeling uncomfortable she got out her phone to call
Oxford University captain John Carter backed his players to repeat last year’s victory as he named his Varsity Match squad at Twickenham. Carter, who has selected seven old Blues in his pack to face Cambridge University on December 8, will look for their
A man arrested on suspicion of stealing a Poppy Appeal tin at Tesco Express, Ilges Lane, Cholsey, on Monday, October 31, has been re-bailed. The 32-year-old man of no fixed abode will be quizzed by police officers over the theft again on January 6.
A teacher with bi-polar disorder hanged herself, an inquest has ruled. Abigail Mackeen was found dead at her home in Church Lane, Old Marston, on April 8 by her husband Mukram. The 30-year-old science teacher took her own life, coroner
A SCHEME to offer council tenants the right to buy their homes at half price will escalate Oxford’s looming housing crisis, it was warned last night. Most of the 8,000 tenants living in council homes will be able to get a 50 per cent discount
Under the Government’s relaunched Right to Buy scheme, the vast majority of tenants living in council homes across the city could get up to a 50 per cent discount if they buy their homes. Bearing in mind full details of this scheme are yet to be released
CROWDS gathered as an MG was carefully lifted through the window of Abingdon’s museum yesterday. The car, which was made in the town in 1980, will form part of a new exhibition on the history of the town in the County Hall Museum, which is
A MAN who admitted showing his genitals to pupils outside an Oxfordshire school has been found not guilty of exposure – because he did it “to get a giggle”. Trevor Perry, who has six previous convictions for indecent exposure, deliberately performed
Sometimes you have to read a story twice or even three times... just to be sure. Certainly anyone who’s read the story about Trevor Perry, the 52-year-old who admitted flashing to pupils outside an Oxfordshire school but was cleared of exposure – because
LURKING behind the door of the day two Badvent calendar is Catiusa Rostas, who police believe specialises in fleecing pensioners of their jewellery. The cops want to question Rostas, right, about a theft at 4pm on May 9 in Moorland Road, Witney, and
A CRACKDOWN on households fraudulently claiming council tax discount is being mounted across Oxfordshire. People wrongly claiming the 25 per cent single person discount are being told “to own up or face prosecution” in a month-long amnesty. More than
