A COURSE which helped six teenagers become new trainee coaches for Oxford United has returned bigger and better for a second year. Open days will be held this week for 16- to 18-year-old ‘Neets’ – those youngsters Not in Employment, Education or Training
FIREFIGHTERS were tonight trying to establish the cause of a fire that ripped through an antiques centre. Seven fire crews from Banbury, Chipping Norton, Hook Norton and Charlbury raced to Station Mill Antiques Centre, in Station Road, Chipping
FIVE Oxfordshire people have applied to find out if anyone in regular contact with their children is a convicted paedophile, in the first month of a police scheme. The scheme, called Sarah’s Law, gives parents and carers the right to information about
THIS is the mess left by flytippers at a Cowley recycling spot over the Bank Holiday. They dumped the rubbish – including six dirty mattresses – at the recycling bins at the Oxford Retail Park in Ambassador Way, Cowley. Dozens of other bin bags were
Mini bosses are “confident but cautious” after latest sales figures slumped by almost 18 per pent. Statistics compiled by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 753 of the Cowley-built cars were sold in the UK during August, compared
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Police are appealing for witnesses to a collision on the A34 today in which two men died. The collision happened at about 7.30am on the southbound carriageway, about three-quarters of a mile before the Chieveley turn-off. Police said a white Mercedes
A CARE home has said goodbye to a “dedicated” member of staff after almost 30 years of service. Rona Gedde, 62, a clinical care manager, had worked at Rush Court Care Home, in Wallingford, for 29 years, before retiring last week. She now plans to go
AN ANIMAL lover who had to put her dream of becoming a vet on hold after falling ill with a debilitating disease, is being helped to get vital qualifications by a school friend. Will Mansfield, 23, will cycle to Bournemouth to raise £1,000 towards Hannah
SIXTY years ago today, a group of young women left their husbands and their sleeping children to meet in the Old Reading Room at St Nicholas Church Hall, in Old Marston. The Young Wives, as they would become known, wanted a little social time
ATTRACTIONS across West Oxfordshire will throw open their doors to give free or discounted entry to the district’s residents next week. West Oxfordshire Week, running from Monday, September 13, to Sunday, September 19, gives people the chance to try
TWO friends are to drive a £150 rally car across Europe dressed as the T-Birds from the film Grease to raise money to help an Abingdon boy who needs a bowel transplant. Richard Ball and Chris Wilson will take part in the Ramshackle Rally to support the
A COUPLE and their son who put a pregnant women through “sustained episodes of violence” have been given suspended prison sentences. Saira Ahmed was two months away from giving birth when the abuse from her husband and his parents began at
THE annual St Giles' Fair returned to the centre of Oxford today. St Giles itself is packed with rides, stalls and attractions, and thousands are expected to flock to the two-day autumn event. Revellers can enjoy traditional funfair
Police are appealing for information after three burglaries in South Oxfordshire over the weekend which are believed to be linked. A house was broken into in Mead Walk, Didcot, on Sunday night and a blue Ford Ka was stolen from the drive, along with
KITTENS have been born to a rare species of wild cat, newly introduced to the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Pallas Cats Hopalong and Tsara, who have only been at the park since February, have become parents, with two kittens. The girl and boy have not yet
WHEN Deb Hunt was told she had breast cancer on April 1 2008, April Fool's Day, she said it was ‘one of the worst jokes she had ever heard’. But since then, Mrs Hunt, of Fleming Close, in Middle Barton, has thrown herself out of a plane, organised
People in blocks of flats in Banbury are set to join Cherwell District Council’s food waste scheme after previously being excluded. Brown caddies for food waste will be delivered to homes from tomorrow. Flats were initially excluded
BUILDERS are to extend the Leys Children’s Centre in Blackbird Leys to make it more user-friendly. The centre, in Cuddesdon Way, will undergo £50,000 of work to make it more accessible for wheelchair users. An extension will be built on to the front
OXFORD Raymond Smith, 41, of Luther Street, Oxford, admitted theft of an iPod valued at £193 from Weston Computer in Oxford on May 26. Given a 12-month conditional discharge and told to pay £193 compensation. Matthew Bagnall-Nevers, 21, of Nye
TEAMS from across the country put their backs into a challenge to pull a 70-tonne aircraft as part of a RAF fun day on Saturday. Twenty-five teams of 20 men and women competed to pull a VC10 over 75 metres in the fastest time at 99 Sqaudron
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Oxfordshire Over 50s reached the ECB 50+ Championship final for the second time in three seasons with a convincing seven-wicket victory over Kent at Cumnor yesterday. After reducing Kent to 206-5 overs, Oxon, led by a fine all-round display by Adrian
OXFORD United midfielder Simon Heslop admitted his stunning 30-yard strike for the opening goal on Saturday was “up there” with the best he’s ever scored. “I’ve struck a couple of decent ones, but it’s up there,” he declared following Oxford’s 4-0 win
ONE of Oxford’s best known restaurants and a fledgling wine bar will shut up shop after a bid to renovate a landmark Victorian building in Jericho was approved. The Big Bang sausage restaurant in Walton Street will close after plans for 35
OXFORDSHIRE County Council last year spent an estimated £125,938 on trade unions by paying employees carrying out union activity in company time, the Taxpayers’ Alliance has claimed. The right wing pressure group, who made Freedom of Information requests
A CONVOY of pink cars rolled up at Oxford Children’s Hospital this weekend to raise money for a children’s cancer charity. Members of the Little Princess charity, which makes real hair wigs for children with cancer, arrived at the hospital yesterday
Police officers are at the scene of a double fatal crash on the A34 at Chieveley. The collision, between a white van and a black Audi, happened at about 7.30am today, in a lay-by off the southbound carriageway, about three-quarters of a mile
A FATHER auctioned invitations to a barbecue at his dream home for £20,000 – to raise the money he needs to buy it. Brian Adams, 29, claimed the eBay auction was his “last resort” as there was no other way for his family to finance a move to a
The mendaciousness of Tony Blair was apparent to all us anti-hunt campaigners as long ago as 1998, when he sabotaged Michael Foster’s Private Member’s Bill, which would actually have banned hunting effectively – unlike the weak law that finally clawed
IT IS something of an exaggeration to describe the public as having been misled (Oxford Mail, August 19) by the statistics provided by the Safer Roads Partnership. The significance of the increase in speeding at the Woodstock site is somewhat clouded
THE cost of parking in Oxford is a joke. I would much rather take my family to Milton Keynes, Reading or Swindon. These places put Oxford to shame. There are no decent toilets in Oxford, no decent shops, and the price of parking is too high. I would
FAMILIES in the Friars in Oxford could always rely on shopkeeper Edith Harris. Fruit, veg, groceries, even children’s clothes – all their daily needs were available at the tiny store in Commercial Road, St Ebbe’s. Her grandson Michael O’Keefe recalls
UNIVERSITY students led the way when Oxford Brownies decided to celebrate their diamond jubilee in 1974. Members of the Oxford University Scout and Guide Club organised a special day at St Michael’s School in Marston Road. Six hundred
CHILDREN at the village school helped towards the cost of repairing an ancient thatched cob wall in 1972. They gave £20, part of the proceeds of a school play. Antony Chown, 10, watched by headmaster, Ron Martin, is seen presenting a cheque to Ann Dendy
IT IS something of an exaggeration to describe the public as having been misled (Oxford Mail, August 19) by the statistics provided by the Safer Roads Partnership. The significance of the increase in speeding at the Woodstock site is somewhat clouded
THE floods in Pakistan are now worse than Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and the 2005 Kashmir earthquake combined. An area the size of England has been left under water, with 20 million people now affected. Such a
WHEN dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was young, a common joke about the police was that they were too busy directing traffic to collar criminals. How I yearned for the return of that blissful state while edging towards Wantage in a queue of refugees
It’s the small things in life isn’t it? Indeed, as architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once observed: ‘God is in the detail’. And he was right too – for life, or rather a good life, is all about those minor, almost inconsequential events and circumstances
ONE of the big attractions of St Giles Fair is that it appeals to people of all ages – there is something for everyone. This woman, whose name we don’t know, was clearly having a great time. Dress hitched up, she was enjoying herself on one of the fair
OCA League Divisions 1-3 THE Division 1 title race will go down to the last day after the top two both won their penultimate matches of the season on Saturday. Westbury saw off Freeland by four wickets, while Horley romped to a seven-wicket
JAMES Constable is hoping his first Football League hat-trick – and the first ‘proper’ one in Oxford United colours actually counts this time, writes JON MURRAY. Beano, as he is known, scored three times last season for United against Chester, only for
Zamaretto Southern League Abingdon Utd 3, Yate Tn 1 THREE second-half goals sent Abingdon United back to the top of Division 1 South & West on Saturday. The home side trailed at the break through a Russell Church goal, but they fought back to seal
THRILL-seekers will be treated to two new rides at Oxford’s St Giles Fair, which starts today. Among the white-knuckle attractions at the annual two-day event are the Mega Drop – a 150ft high drop tower – and Rock Rage – in which riders are flung 360
THE Pegasus Theatre has finally reopened after a £7.4m rebuild. And, if first impressions are anything to go by, it is worth every penny. The project was the result of a 15-year dream to create a top-notch arts centre in East Oxford. What is particularly
MIND-BLOWING – that was the reaction from people as Oxford’s Pegasus Theatre reopened after a £7.4m rebuild, the culmination of a 15-year-long dream to create a top-quality arts centre in East Oxford. The doors opened to the Magdalen Road
A brilliant all-round display by Oxford’s Stefan Van Dyk decided the outcome of the Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Division 1 championship on Saturday. Welwyn Garden City, needing a victory to secure the title, slumped to a 74-run defeat
FIRE crews have been tackling a blaze overnight at an antiques centre in Chipping Norton. Firefighters from the town, and from Charlbury, Banbury and Hook Norton, were called to the incident after the fire broke out at 5.20pm last night on the first
A brilliant spell of spin-bowling from Luke Ryan could not prevent Banbury ending their Division 1 campaign with a 29-run defeat in a low-scoring Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League match at Radlett on Saturday Left-armer Ryan captured 6-44
Thame Town had a disappointing end to an otherwise satisfactory season when they went down by eight wickets to local rivals Dinton, who thus secured their survival in Division 2 West of the Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League. Thame’s weakened
Zamaretto Southern League Didcot Tn 0, Banbury Utd 2 BANBURY United stretched their unbeaten run to three matches after a hard-fought victory at their Oxfordshire rivals in the Premier Division on Saturday. There was not much to choose between the
Henley retained the Division 1 title in the Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League and confirmed Aston Rowant’s relegation with a thumping 135-run victory at the Brakspear Ground on Saturday. Welwyn’s defeat by Oxford, opened the way for Henley
Zamaretto Southern League Swindon Supermarine 1, Oxford City 1 SUBSTITUTE Dan Holman secured a point for Oxford City in their Premier Division clash at Swindon on Saturday. It was a deserved point, although City had to wait until
POLICE fear thieves as young as seven are out on the streets of Oxford, stealing cars. It is thought trainee villains are being mentored by hardened criminals, who operate without a thought for the safety of their young apprentices. All car theft is
CHILDREN as young as seven are being taught to steal cars by hardened criminals, police believe. Detectives said some “apprentice criminals” were learning the ropes before they even started secondary school, not targeting shiny new Audis, Mercedes
DRIVERS heading south on the A34 are facing delays this morning following a fatal accident close to the Oxfordshire-Berkshire border. The collision involving two vehicles happened at 7.30am on the southbound carriageway between the Beedon turn and the
UHLSPORT Hellenic League Carterton 1, Abingdon Tn 3 JAKE Howard bagged a brace as Abingdon came from a goal down to snatch all three points in their Premier Division clash at Carterton on Saturday. Mark Threlfall lobbed Abingdon keeper Gareth Walker
FA Carlsberg Vase Wantage Tn 4, London Colney 2 RICHARD Claydon scored a hat-trick as Wantage booked their place in the second qualifying round on Saturday. The home side dominated the early exchanges, but had to wait until midway through the half
CHRIS Wilder admitted Saturday’s first league win was a huge relief for everybody. The U’s hammered Morecambe 4-0 with James Constable smashing a hat-trick, after a stunning long-range strike from Simon Heslop. It was Oxford’s first npower League Two
CITY attractions will reveal their secrets when their doors are opened to the public at the weekend. On Saturday and Sunday visitors can discover Oxford’s hidden gems by getting into hundreds of places for free as part of Open Doors Weekend
A HOTEL donated furniture and bedding to an Oxford charity for the homeless. Following the refurbishment of The Old Swan and Minster Mill, in Minster Lovell, near Witney, owner Lana de Savary donated soft furnishings and bed linen from the guestrooms
