Archive

  • Helicopter launched in search for "suspicious" man

    POLICE used the force helicopter to search for a "suspicious" man tonight. The helicopter flew over the Osney area of Oxford about 8pm. A police spokeswoman was unable to say why the man was suspicious and added she believed he had not been found by

  • RACING: Magical Morrison lands Royal Ascot double

    East Ilsley trainer Hughie Morrison had a day to remember as Sagramor and Pisco Sour gave him a brilliant 188-1 double at Royal Ascot today. Sagramor stormed home under Nicky Mackay to take the Britannia Stakes by half a length from Cai Shen at 8-1.

  • Oxford dog walkers blast ‘crazy’ limit rules

    CONTROVERSIAL plans to regulate how dog owners exercise their pets in Oxford are set to be approved today. Consultation showed city residents who responded broadly backed the plans, to include a ban on dogs in play areas and an increase in

  • THE BEAVER (12A): Story of real emotion

    The trials of Mel Gibson, whose rants to an ex-girlfriend were caught on tape last year, seem like a curious case of life imitating art in this blackly humorous tale of a middle aged man’s emotional breakdown. Hopefully, any lingering controversy

  • BAD TEACHER (15): Lacking class

    One inspirational man or woman can make a difference... in the classroom. Robert Donat won the hearts and minds of his young charges as he bade a tearful goodbye to Mr Chips, then Sidney Poitier brought hope back to the unruly streets of the

  • Going solo

    From getting married to starring in his first musical, having a baby to straight plays, Jonathan Ansell is pushing the boat out in all directions. But ask him about his pending solo tour and that’s when his face lights up. “I love it

  • Ready to rock

    THEY may have their roots in the freewheeling hippy ideals of the 1960s, but music festivals today are big business. With weekenders becoming ever more corporate, security reaching prison camp proportions, and ticket prices topping £100 – and

  • Vaccination reminder issued after measles outbreak

    OXFORDSHIRE health officials are urging parents to make sure their children are protected against measles after a serious outbreak of the disease in France and other European countries. NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, said

  • Three car smash causes delays

    A three-car crash on the A40 at Eynsham is currently causing long delays for rush-hour drivers. The eastbound carriageway is currently closed between the Eynsham roundabout and Wolvercote roundabout following the accident at 3.40pm. One of the drivers

  • Couple to help raise charity cash

    A FAMILY is continuing to raise charity cash in memory of their disabled son. John Sammons, from Ambrosden, near Bicester, will embark on a 880-mile bike ride from John O’Groats to Lands End on Friday night with five friends and family.

  • ‘Grant cut will hit homeless young support’

    AN ABINGDON charity which helps disadvantaged young people says some of its services are at risk after it suffered a drop in cash support. The Abingdon Bridge has £28,000 to spend this year compared to £60,000 last year, when it finished with

  • Energy-saving pupils receive sweet reward

    PUPILS have been handed a year’s supply of chocolate for their energy-saving efforts. The Sheriff of Oxford Jean Fooks yesterday gave out the 365 Fairtrade bars to youngsters at Matthew Arnold School, in Cumnor Hill. The school saved 67 per cent of

  • JOYCE SILVESTER: Remembered for her career as secretary

    JOYCE Silvester, who has died aged 87, was well known as a secretary for Oxford companies and organisations. After completing her training, she joined the Pressed Steel company at Cowley and then moved to Blenheim Palace, a wartime base of the British

  • JOHN BIRCHER: Tributes to ‘Mr Witney United’

    JOHN Bircher, who has died at the age of 81, will be remembered by players, supporters and management teams past and present as “Mr Witney United”. Mr Bircher, who was joint president of the club, passed away last week following a long illness. He was

  • Local shares (PM)

    AEA Technology 3.5 BMW 5526 Electrocomponents 272.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 93.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.5 Oxford Catalysts 88.5 Oxford Instruments 842.25 Reed Elsevier 533.25 RM 154 RPS Group 240.9 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Developer appeals against housing plan refusal

    A DEVELOPER has launched an appeal after a controversial plan to build 140 homes near Bicester Village shopping centre was refused planning permission. Abingdon firm Leda Properties put forward plans for flats and houses off Talisman Road but its planning

  • Numbers seeking debt advice leaps

    THE number of people getting into debt in Oxford has risen by almost 20 per cent in the past two years, according to one of the UK’s leading debt advice charities. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service has expressed concern over the high

  • Do your bit for carnival

    CREATIVE teens are being encouraged to get involved in preparations for this year’s Cowley Road Carnival. A new project, Cowley XChange, has been set up to train young people to design and run workshops at this year’s carnival, Oxfordshire’

  • Allotments to reopen after council rethink

    A CLOSED allotment site will reopen after a council u-turn over plans to sell it for housing. The Naldertown site has been closed for 10 years as Liberal Democrat controlled Wantage Town Council earmarked it for a multi-million pound housing deal. But

  • Mature students discover new directions in art

    MATURE students are juggling the demands of work and childcare to explore new horizons and show off their journeys into the world of art. Their work is among the items on display at the Oxford and Cherwell Valley College creative art department

  • Local share prices (AM)

    AEA Technology 3.6 BMW 5493 Electrocomponents 272.8 Nationwide Accident Repair 93.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.5 Oxford Catalysts 88 Oxford Instruments 829.75 Reed Elsevier 532.75 RM 154 RPS Group 240.3 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Internet surfers get faster links

    MORE than 17,000 homes and businesses in and around Cowley are set to get super-fast Internet connections by the end of the year. Last September, BT announced that its new Infinity fibre-optic system would be rolled out to parts of the city. The Cowley

  • Award in memory of art-lover Nancy

    A KEEN artist has put on a competition for youngsters in memory of a friend who loved art. Art’s Kool founder Jan Harvey, 49, named the top prize after Nancy McCulloch, of Ledwell near Chipping Norton, who died of breast cancer aged 64. Mrs Harvey

  • GOLF: Andrews king of the north

    MARC Andrews made it two in a row when he defied rough weather to win the North Oxford Club Championship. Andrews, who plays off two, had rounds of 70 and 76 for a 12-over par total of 146 to take his title by one shot from Paul Jones. “I didn't know

  • Workers upset over 'key' plans

    NURSES and teachers fear they could miss out on affordable homes because of plans to count hundreds of university staff as “key workers”. Key worker homes are currently made available to health workers, firefighters, police and teachers, to attract and

  • COMMENT: Don't hand the keys to universities

    ON almost any reading, the proposal by Oxford City Council to allow university staff the status of “keyworkers” to qualify for affordable housing is ridiculous. The keyworker scheme was set up to ensure that a town or city would always be able to accommodate

  • RUGBY LEAGUE: Oxford slide to defeat

    OXFORD Cavaliers suffered more woe in the South West Conference, going down 36-22 to Bristol Sonics. This was their opponents’ first victory of the season. It started well for hosts Oxford, who took the lead when Jack Briggs crashed over for an unconverted

  • GREYHOUNDS: Poacher faces big test

    OXFORD favourite Jolly Poacher puts his impressive local record on the line when he lines up in the £8,000 Betfred Pall Mall Stakes at the Stadium tonight. Winner of nine of his 11 races at Sandy Lane, Poacher, now trained by Nick Colton and a recent

  • GOLF: Results round-up

    SHAW GIBBS OXFORDSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Knockout 1st rd: Chiltern Forest 2, Burford 1 (Chiltern Forest first): P Mardon & C Kinvig bt J Wilks & T Dexter 1 hole; N Trew-Smith & J Benson lost to S Hopkins & B Carter 2 & 1; Finn McLean & Mark Williams bt

  • BOWLS: Central lead way in Banbury treble

    It was a great night for Banbury as all three of the town’s teams won handsomely in the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries. Leading the way in Division 1 were Banbury Central A, who stormed to a 51/2-1/2 home win over Bicester.

  • BOWLS: County ladies bow out

    OXFORDSHIRE Ladies suffered a first-round exit in the John’s Trophy with a 120-102 defeat by Buckinghamshire at Prince Risborough. Oxon won on three of the six rinks, but lost on the other three with Katherine Hawes’s heavy 29-10 defeat proving pivotal

  • 'I did not make any money from sham marriages'

    A MAN who has admitted arranging sham marriages told jurors he did not financially benefit from them and had only helped with travel arrangements. Abiola Abdulkareem, who came to England from Nigeria in 1999 to study at Oxford Brookes University, denies

  • BOWLS: Oxon Middleton Cup hopes in disarray

    OXFORDSHIRE’S Middleton Cup hopes lie in tatters after they crash-ed to a second successive defeat with a 130-119 loss against Middlesex at Banbury Central. Having lost their opening Group 2 Section B (South) game away to Hampshire, Oxon were desperate

  • Review into impact of car parking fees hike ordered

    CONTROVERSIAL car parking charges in north Oxfordshire will be reviewed after councillors demanded a rethink. Conservative-controlled Cherwell District Council increased charges and ended free evening, Sunday, bank holiday and disabled parking in April

  • Taken in by pool

    IT’S quite interesting to see how Susan Thomas has been so taken in by the Labour administration spin that she states that a “much larger and more expensive Olympic size pool is to be built in Blackbird Leys to replace the smaller, yet well used one in

  • You couldn't make it up

    YOU couldn’t make up the things some Conservative councillors say. At the county council meeting on June 14, Tory leader, keith Mitchell, described parts of the National Health Service as “Stalinist”. Whether he was comparing the nurses, doctors,

  • THE INSIDER: A weekly update from the corridors of power

    The Insider is, of course, far too polite to accuse Ed Vaizey of self-promotion – but sometimes you have to wonder. It appears the Wantage MP and culture minister, right, has been hawking his new digital column on a GQ iPad application, to anyone who

  • ATHLETICS: Jégou lands golden haul

    WHITE Horse Harriers’ Richard Jégou took home three gold medals at the Midland Masters Track & Field Championships in Leicester. Jégou won three vet 65 events, throwing 28.24m to win gold in the hammer, 9.55m in the shot and 28.90m in the discus. OTHER

  • Sinking in debt

    WHEN this Coalition took over from Gordon Brown they were quick to say that our national debt was more than a trillion pounds – or £1,300 for every man, woman and child in Britain. Since then their bail-outs have cost us billions, the war in Afghanistan

  • Hearty praise

    I recently had to spend a few days in the Cardiology Department of Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, having corrective heart surgery, and wanted to share my experience with you and your readership. The treatment I received during my time there was absolutely

  • Verging on ridiculous

    OPPOSITE Long Hanborough railway station, commuters have to park on the grass verge alongside Hanborough Road, because of a lack of parking spaces. But don’t worry folks, Oxfordshire County Council is set to fence off the unused verge – which will

  • Unneighbourly cops

    I WRITE further to your article (Oxford Mail, June 10) that Thames Valley Police did not make clear that the old Block B was primarily used for storage and not essentially office use. The proposed new block will house up to 180 staff, who

  • Parking charges are not fair on residents

    THERE is a serious anomaly in the £50 charge for controlled resident parking in Oxford, namely the many and varied loopholes in the regulations which allow free parking to non-residents. The prime example is the illegal removal of resident parking signs

  • ATHLETICS: Dean flying the flag for Britain

    Hatti Dean leads Great Britain & Northern Ireland’s hopes in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase at this weekend’s Spar European Team Championships in Stockholm, Sweden. And the former Radley steeplechaser will go into the race on Saturday as one of the

  • BAR BILLIARDS: Bob at the helm

    BOB Pincombe was elected chairman at the annual meeting of the Oxford Bar Billiards Association. Pete Ewins celebrates his 35th year of involvement after being re-elected secretary and treasurer. OTHER APPOINTMENTS Competition’s secretary: A Oliver

  • Oxford United face Cardiff in Carling Cup

    Oxford United have been drawn at home to Cardiff City in the first round of next season's Carling Cup. The game is scheduled to be played at the Kassam Stadium on Tuesday August 9. Championship club Cardiff just missed out on promotion

  • Oxford United ace can't wait for Swindon derby dates

    Oxford United goal king James Constable can’t wait to find out when his team will play Swindon. The two clubs are arch rivals, but have not locked horns in league combat for a decade. However, Swindon’s relegation from League One means they will meet

  • Mum to donate a kidney to daughter

    DIANE Wincott will go under the knife later this month in a bid to give her precious daughter and grandchildren their lives back. Mrs Wincott, 47, is donating one of her kidneys to her 21-year-old daughter Jasmine Parker. Miss Parker suffered renal

  • CARE HOMES: Council orders review of standards and costs

    AN URGENT review is to be launched into care home placements in Oxfordshire, amid concerns about standards, finances and value for money. County councillors unanimously backed a review of the fees paid by the council for places in care homes. The move

  • CARE HOMES: ‘You’ve got to get me out of here’

    COMPLAINTS were lodged about standards at a troubled Oxford care home as far back as 2005, the Oxford Mail has discovered. These include some 31 comments about issues at the home made to Oxfordshire County Council since 2007. The council’s review

  • CARE HOMES: Rescue moves over struggling firm

    STRUGGLING care homes provider Southern Cross last night appeared on the verge of reaching an agreement with its landlords, banks and the Government to ensure all 31,000 residents will still be cared for, even if the company is placed into administration

  • Quarter of postal jobs could go, union warns

    MULTI-MILLION pound losses at Royal Mail could mean one in four postal jobs cut in Oxfordshire, union officials claim. The organisation announced on Tuesday it had faced a £120m loss in its letters and parcels business. The number of letters being sent

  • Stay vigilant, police warn women over sex assaults

    WOMEN were last night warned to continue to be vigilant, with two sex attackers still on the loose in Oxford. Increased police patrols are ongoing in East Oxford and Cowley as police look for the two men they believe are responsible for five

  • Woman cut free from A34 smash

    A CRASH on the northbound A34 this morning between Peartree Interchange and Bletchingdon has caused long delays. One lane of the road was closed as fire crews cut out a trapped woman caught in the multi-vehicle crash. Fire crews were called to

  • Campaign to bring speedway back to Oxford Stadium

    A CAMPAIGN to bring speedway back to Oxford could help save the city’s threatened greyhound stadium. Former racing promoter John Payne says he and a wealthy ‘mystery’ backer want to bring speedway back to the Oxford Stadium to stop the threat

  • Ivor Gurney's Gloucestershire by Eleanor Rawling

    Ivor Gurney's Gloucestershire by Eleanor Rawling Anyone who reads Ivor Gurney’s poems will recognise how deeply they are rooted in landscape. Gurney’s passion for the lush Severn meadows and the steep Cotswold hills shines through his work.

  • Christian Atheist by Brian Mountford

    This important book by one of Oxford’s outstanding church leaders takes us into a debate that never goes away: about the nature of religious belief, conflicting viewpoints of science and belief, the origins of faith and the guidance it can offer

  • Interview with children's writer Sally Nicholls

    Her first novel told the story of a boy dying from leukaemia and the latest is set against the backdrop of the Black Death. Casual observers could be forgiven, therefore, for thinking that award-winning writer Sally Nicholls is obsessed with death and

  • Local author Mary Hoffman

    Mary Hoffman, who lives near Carterton, made her name with the picture book Amazing Grace, published in 1991. She has written more than 90 books, including the Stravaganza series, whose fantasy world is based on real Italian towns, including Florence

  • Healthy move

    While confusion appears to surround the future of health service restructuring nationally, here in Oxfordshire the man voted in to oversee the NHS reforms remains an optimistic voice. General practitioners in the county were among the most enthusiastic

  • Recalling turbulent times

    It seems just about everyone has had their say about the madness, sometimes referred to as industrial relations, that held sway at the Cowley car plant through the 1960s and 1970s. Academics, journalists and industrialists have all written in depth about

  • Skydiving son leaps for dad

    EIGHT weeks ago dad-of-four Andy Lee was given eight weeks to live, after the cancer he had battled spread to his liver, lungs and spine. On Saturday, he watched with pride as his son Jake, 17, leapt from a plane to raise cash for Cancer Research UK.

  • Concern for young

    Sir – In your obituary (June 2) you did not mention Dr Ann Mcpherson’s governorship at Cherwell School — distinguished by her sharp questioning, her trenchantly expressed views, and her willingness to think and pursue lateral thoughts that sometimes left

  • Unrivalled knowledge

    Sir – Oxford has hosted two concerts in the last three weeks, featuring artists of international renown that would have certainly attracted critical review in the national press had they taken place in London. Alas, Oxford Philomusica’s

  • Mr Gray returns

    Sir – It is exactly as I prophesied — the ‘Mr Gray’ character has been resurrected, I assume by popular demand (June 9). The new character has excelled itself with the piece on Garsington Opera, reaching ever-new heights. I particularly enjoyed the

  • East and west

    Sir – You report major plans for the Clarendon Centre which have been submitted to the west area planning committee (Report, June 9). Now, as it happens, I live in East Oxford, which comes within the west area. But if I lived in Headington or Rose Hill

  • Losing amenities

    Sir – When times are hard and cuts are being made it always seems to be that rural communities suffer the most. City libraries are reprieved while rural libraries must move to being run by volunteers, although I cannot see how our very popular, small

  • Paying respects

    Sir – On the announcement that the repatriation of service personnel would not be following a route through the middle of Carterton, I cannot understand the anger the town feels that it will be unable to ‘show their respect’ during the procession. Why

  • Politically weak

    Sir – Keith Mitchell expresses surprise that campaigns to save libraries are so much stronger than campaigns to protect adult social care and services for young people: but why is this so? Libraries are able to galvanise support from enough articulate

  • Cutting carbon

    Sir – There cannot be another city in the country doing more to tackle climate change than Oxford. The city council alone has cut its own carbon footprint by as much as a quarter in the last three years. Things like smart meters, covers on swimming

  • I care about safety

    Sir – The maximum sentence for killer cyclists is two years’ jail. Killer drivers can get up to 14 years. I support Andrea Leadsom MP’s Dangerous and Reckless Cycling Bill (Letters, May 26) because it would make our laws more equal. My letter cited DfT

  • Losing loyalty

    Sir – Since the reorganisation of postal delivery staff the service has become unreliable. I have today received all my next door neighbour’s post, but none of my own post. I regularly get post for the same house number as mine but for the next street

  • Parky at the Pictures (In Cinemas 16/6/2011)

    On 16 July 1942, the Vichy government of Nazi-occupied France acquiesced in the launch of Operation Spring Breeze. Over the next 48 hours, 13,152 Jews (including 4,000 children) across the capital were arrested and detained in either the Vélodrome d'Hiver

  • Parky at the Pictures (DVD 16/6/2011)

    Hoping for another hit of Taken proportions, Liam Neeson teamed with Jaume Collet-Serra to play an amnesiac scientist at the mercy of dastardly foes in Unknown. Yet, while this slick adaptation of Didier Van Cauwelaert's novel Out of My Head is packed

  • Waste of money

    Sir – As a business owner and a resident of St Clements I am left speechless once again by the hypocrisy of the authoritarian city council. The latest edition of their periodic newspaper Your Oxford, seems to be nothing more than a self-congratulatory

  • Garden city

    Sir – As more and more ill-conceived and badly-designed buildings threaten the landscape of Oxford city, I look back with nostalgia to the work of Ebenezer Howard, who believed a close bond with nature is essential to human well-being. He invited Raymond

  • Focus on homeless

    Sir – Anyone who trespassed with any regularity on Ruskin College’s fields would know that the metal fencing (Letters, June 9) has been there for years — it had nothing to do with me. The college evicted travellers from its fields in 1999 and reinforced

  • White elephant

    Sir – I have just read Oxford City Council’s summer publication Your Oxford. This highlights that over the next four years the council will be spending £68m. While most of that will be spent on improving Barton estate, it would seem that spending £16m

  • Let them eat cake

    Sir – David Cameron and local MP Ed Vaizey, who is also minister for libraries, tend to the ‘let them eat cake’ persuasion of rural social reality. To them, there may be poorer contingents among the homes and gardens idylls of Oxfordshire, but those

  • Living landscape

    Taking a broad view, the Boundary Brook is a fairly insignificant waterway, barely ankle-deep for the most part. But for the wildlife of our city it provides a home between the busy streets, linking the wild places and green spaces that we

  • Giving some time could help victims of crime

    If you’ve ever wondered what you can do to help those affected by crime, and their families and wished you could help, then this is your opportunity to do so. National charity Victim Support gives free and confidential help across England and Wales, to

  • Beating crime

    Last week we reported that the new police area commander for West Oxfordshire, Chief Inspector, Colin Paine, was trying a ‘new’ scheme to tackle antisocial behaviour in Witney at the weekend. It involved taking officers out of cars and putting them,

  • No avoiding Scotch theory

    For 1.e4 players who, naturally, regularly meet 1…e5 but shy away from reams of theory associated with the Ruy Lopez, the Scotch is no doubt a good choice. There’s a comprehensive new book on the Scotch game by Yelena Dembo and Richard Palliser

  • Finding Slovenian wine is worth the effort

    Generic wine tastings is the name we wine trade folks give to events that focus on a particular country. The likes of Wines of Australia or Wines of Argentina are typically vast affairs, in substantial venues with an impressive gaggle of importers, sommeliers