The A40 near Eynsham has been closed in both directions following a serious crash. The accident, involving three cars and two motorbikes, happened shortly before 6pm. Three people have been taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital with serious injuries.
A school has slashed its energy bills by simply turning things off. For the second year running, the Cherwell School in Marston Ferry Road, has taken part in the annual ‘switch-off fortnight’, a national campaign to make schools energy aware. The drive
PLANS to allow horse drawn carriages to carry tourists through the streets of Oxford have been turned down. Oxford City Council rejected the plan at a full council meeting tonight. Councillors had concerns about the health of horses in the summer sun
All of Oxfordshire’s 44 children’s centres are set to stay open after a county council review found savings could be made elsewhere. The centres provide guidance and support for parents, including health services, childcare and early learning, and access
Spending on pavement repairs in Oxfordshire has rocketed by 70 per cent to £2.3m, new figures show. Oxfordshire County Council’s bill for repairing kerbs, pavements and public walkways rose to £2.3m last year, up from £1.5m in 2007. Spokesman Owen Moreton
Town councillors voted unanimously to allow essential work at a “landmark” Bicester building. Last week a report revealed the critical state of Garth House, the home of Bicester Town Council, and urged councillors not to do nothing. At an extraordinary
WHEN Pete Bonney saw envelopes flooding through his letterbox last week, he was looking forward to reading cards from friends and family. But sadly they weren’t all for him. Two had been delivered to completely the wrong add-ress.
How do you tell the difference between the normal signs of ageing and dementia? That’s the question Oxfordshire residents are being asked by health officials as they visit elderly relatives this Christmas. Experts said the festive period provided the
Four-year-old Aiden Elpham, right, was among residents who took part in the third Wallingford Christmas lantern parade. About 100 people carried lanterns of all shapes and sizes from the Regal Centre in St Martin’s Street to St Mary’s Church
The congregation of an Oxfordshire church has been awarded a Chief Constable’s commendation award for their work in welcoming families bereaved through road traffic collisions to an annual memorial service. The reverend Alan Garratt and his congregation
Give up your time and volunteer. That’s the message from the chairman of Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action (OCVA), who has called on those who don’t currently volunteer to give it a go. It comes as the Oxford Mail winds up its
OXFORD Felistas Chisango, 38, of Thornhill Walk, Abingdon, admitted shoplifting a steak from Waitrose in Abingdon and a pair of children’s jeans from BHS in Oxford on November 3. Conditionally discharged for 12 months and told to pay £25
A 59-year-old man admitted carrying out 88 burglaries. William Vinson appeared at Oxford Crown Court and admitted 11 counts of burglary with a further 77 to be taken into consideration. Vinson, of Cotswold Terrace, Chipping Norton, targeted properties
Firefighters tackled a tumble dryer blaze at a home in Blackwater Way on Saturday. The fire happened just before 9pm and a woman in her 40s was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Fire crews from Didcot and Abingdon tackled the
West Oxfordshire District Council says it has saved £2.1m in four years by sharing services with neighbouring Cotswold District Council. The councils already share office staff and WODC has now agreed to share IT and legal services. It also plans to
Northampton boss Aidy Boothroyd said that he remained upbeat despite suffering his first defeat at the club. Boothroyd, who started his tenure with a draw at home to Crewe last week, says that Saturday’s loss was down to individual mistakes. “I thought
A Benson-based serviceman who was co-piloting an RAF helicopter when it crashed, killing three people, has been spared jail. Former Flight Lieutenant Robert Hamilton, 29, was not given a prison sentence because he was left paralysed by the August 2007
Gordon Geary has quit as boss of Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division Kidlington. Geary tended his resignation following Saturday’s 5-1 thrashing by Cheltenham Saracens. Goals from Jamie Hammond (2), Lorcan Sheehan (2) and Mike Rhodes saw Saracens
Conmen duped staff at an Oxford art gallery of more than £8,000 worth of jewellery in an elaborate scam. Posing as big spending customers and flashing huge wads of cash, two men targeted Verandah Gallery in North Parade, off Banbury Road. One of the
Paramedics treated a woman for minor injuries after her car crashed into a tree in Burford Road, Asthall, at 8.45am yesterday. No other vehicle was involved, and the woman did not need hospital treatment.
A 44-year-old man suffered serious facial injuries after he was bottled in The Cellar nightclub. He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital following the attack in the Frewin Court nightclub at 1.25am on Sunday. His condition is not life-threatening
Banbury MP Tony Baldry claimed some councils are cutting front-line services “simply to make a political point”. Speaking during a Commons debate about libraries, the Conservative said Tory-run Oxfordshire County Council was keeping its 43 branch libraries
Roads in Didcot’s new Great Western Park development could be named after seven fallen bomb disposal heroes. Veterans last night welcome plans to honour the soldiers from 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment. The regiment’s headquarters
Icy conditions across the county caused 17 traffic crashes and a “significant” number of falls on Saturday morning. South Central Ambulance Service said it was called to 15 road accidents between 7.28am and 11.55am – twice the normal number. Communications
Headington Amateurs reached the quarter-finals of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup with a 4-2 win against Oxfordshire Senior League Premier Division Adderbury Park. Adderbury’s Charlie Wright saved Shaun Jacob’s penalty, before Richard Oakey put Park ahead
Carterton boosted their Uhlsport Hellenic League Division 1 West survival hopes with a 5-2 victory at Oxfordshire rivals Hook Norton. strikes from Jamie MacDonagh and Ben Fitzmartin saw the visitors storm into a 2-0 lead. After the break, a double from
Liam Davis says that there has always been belief in the Oxford United camp, but the victory against Northampton boosts it. The former Northampton man got the nod to come back into the U’s side after suspension and played his part in Saturday's 2-0 win
CHRISTMAS is a busy time for everyone, particularly Santa Claus. He arrived at Debenhams in Oxford in a horse-drawn carriage in 1977 – he is seen in Picture One with nine-year-old Kim Donohoe. But by 1984, he had gone upmarket, travelling
CHILDREN at SS Philip and James School in Leckford Road presented a Christmas show with a difference in 1983 – Papa Panov’s Christmas was based on a fairy story by Leo Tolstoy, about a shoemaker who has a vision about a visit from Jesus. The Snow Queen
NEARLY 1,000 Oxford people had a Christmas surprise 100 years ago. Mr and Mrs H P Riley decided to take pity on 100 poor families in the city and give them a festive season to remember. They embarked on a series of fundraising events
I WAS much surprised at your correspondence about North Parade. I have always been told that Cromwell parked his guns at ‘Grinfield’ in Norham Gardens, and that the Royal Artillery was set at ‘The King’s Mound’, in Mansfield Road (which I believe, has
WITH regards to the Library consultation and councillor Keith Mitchell. In his summing up at the cabinet meeting, he could not refrain from insulting the library campaigners by telling us to get off our backsides and volunteer. It is sad that he cannot
NOW President Obama is hoping for some peace and quiet after the troops are brought home from an Iraq war some say was illegal. He was against the war in Iraq, but he knows that welcoming the troops back is a sort of victory for him. With Obama as President
WHAT a cheek! Susanna Pressel asks why people elected a Tory/Lib Dem Government in 2010. I am really surprised she has the cheek to show her head above the parapet. This was the Labour Government who ruled us so disastrously for 13 years after announcing
THERE are too many drivers dodging road tax, and too many police and their support officers willing to ignore the problem. Cutbacks in the force amounts to total mismanagement when up to 14 officers continue to be used in roadside spot checks on drivers
Banbury United took revenge for a 3-1 away drubbing at Barwell with a comfortable 3-0 win against the Evo-STik Southern League Premier Division’s highest scorers at Spencer Stadium. Goals from Ben Polk, Dan Chilton and Ricky Johnson sealed victory for
North Leigh were made to pay for missing their chances as they went down to defeat in Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West on Saturday. Morgan Williams, playing up front, spurned three good chances in the first 12 minutes. Carl Brown put
Oxford City had to settle for a share of the spoils – for the second time in a week – as they were held to a 2-2 draw by their fellow Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division high-fliers AFC Totton at Court Place Farm on Saturday. On Tuesday
Danny Seaward hit a double as Didcot hit back from a goal down to thrash nine-man Taunton 5-1 in Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West at the npower Loop Meadow Stadium on Saturday. Trailing 1-0 to a RodneyMarsh goal, an incredible second-half
Man-of the match Andy Whing says that a second successive clean sheet has given both him and Oxford United great confidence. The U’s built on last week’s 0-0 draw at Morecambe with Saturday’s 2-0 success over Northampton. And Whing,
NEGOTIATIONS to run Oxford’s park and rides broke down as the city council tried to at least double its rental income, it has emerged. Oxford City Council took back the three park and ride sites it owns – Redbridge, Pear Tree and Seacourt – in October
OXFORD food-lovers were able to try cuisine from the continent as a Portuguese food festival rolled into town. The festival was held at the Madeira Supermarket in Headington on Saturday to raise the profile of Oxford’s Portuguese residents.
MOST of the year I’m Mother Hubbard, with cupboards bare enough to shock a naturist. Yet Christmas is only one day and I’m planning ahead with my festive food shop, stuffing every spare space in the house with enough goodies to feed the entire cast of
IT’S the unmistakable face of John Inman. The star of the popular TV show, Are You Being Served?, was in Oxford in December 1979 to take the lead role in Mother Goose, the pantomime at the New Theatre in George Street. For several
AMID all the festivities, it is easy to forget the real meaning of Christmas. But carol singers will be making sure we get the real message, as they have for many years. The first picture was taken in 1979 when the Lord Mayor of Oxford, John Hamilton
I ATTENDED a Christmas dinner at the Old Jam Factory recently. What a wonderful time was had by everyone there. It was a really good dinner laid on and I would like to congratulate the organiser. I should think more than 100 OAPs were there. Everyone
WITHOUT wishing to detract from the devastating effect that any burglary, especially one involving ransacking, may have upon the victims, could it not be argued that there is a certain poetic justice in the fact that the Cedar Road thieves got away merely
I RECENTLY held a door open for a woman in Oxford. She had very short hair, check shirt, jeans and Doc’ Martin boots. “Did you hold the door for me because I’m a woman?” she demanded. I replied: “No, I did it because I’m a gentleman!” You just can’
THE North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a United States and Canada bi-national organisation charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Or, to put it in layman’s terms, that huge multi-billion
Most of the people I ranted at the night after seeing DJ Shadow treated me much like a simpleton describing some imagined alien abduction. No matter how faithfully I described the spinning baseball being whacked out of the stadium… Simon Cowell
FOR many the sound of Christmas choirs is one of the crucial elements of the festive season. But yesterday 15 performers were able to add their own take on the tradition. Members of the Oxford Deaf Centre signed the words to Christmas
The magic of Christmas is alive at a festive exhibition at Oxford Castle. The O3 Gallery is hosting a series of paintings by city painter and print-maker Flora McLachlan. Many of the gallery’s images were inspired by ancient English myths, which she
It will sit in the heart of Oxford, yet a proposed free school could be the first in England to teach a Scottish curriculum. Oxford New School will today launch a consultation on its plans, which would see pupils sitting Scottish Highers and
CHRISTMAS is a time for sharing and it brings a warm glow that profoundly deaf people performed a carol concert at Oxford Castle yesterday. As we report, the songs of Christmas are one of those elements that really announce the festive season. This was
HEADINGTON is set for more road closures in the new year. Roads will be closed from Monday, January 9, as part of a programme of work to improve conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. The junctions of Old Road with Valentia Road, Finch Road and Highfield
FOR many the sound of Christmas choirs is one of the crucial elements of the festive season. But yesterday 15 performers were able to add their own take on the tradition. Members of the Oxford Deaf Centre signed the words to Christmas
THE plan to base the curriculum of a new free school on the Scottish system is a brave and innovative one that should be investigated. However, we have a growing feeling that someone — and it’ll have to be the Government — needs to take a global overview
Chris Wilder accepted that Oxford United’s 2-0 victory over Northampton on Saturday was all about the result rather than the performance. Goals from Tom Craddock in the 50th minute and Deane Smalley three minutes from time saw the U’s end their seven-game
Motorists are facing delays this morning as one lane of the A34 northbound between Kidlington and the Islip turn-off is closed after an accident. Recovery work is ongoing after a car crashed into a hedge.
A group of doctors is today seeking permission to bring a High Court challenge over the Attorney General's refusal to give his consent for an inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly. The Government weapons inspector died in July 2003, aged 59, and
DRIVER Wayne Jones is in the 19th window of our Badvent crime calendar. The 26-year-old, of no fixed abode, was stopped in Godstow Road, Wolvercote, in June when police officers believed he was under the influence of drink and drugs. Jones, right, was
