A MAN was attacked with a fence post after singing songs about Reading in a Didcot pub. Martin Rendell and Adam Purse lay in wait for the victim after a group of men from the Berkshire town sang “We’re Reading, we’re Reading, we’ll kick your head in”
A COMPLEX of flats that will give elderly people greater independence is to be built in Oxford after an 11th hour funding deal. The extra care housing (ECH) development in Cowley will provide 55 flats, with 37 for rent and 18 sold on a shared ownership
Police are still hunting two men wanted over an aggravated burglary in Littlemore on Friday morning. They got into the home in Bocklesbury Road, by pushing past a 15-year-old girl and a 21-year-old woman. Witnesses should call police on 08458 505505
OXFORD: The New Theatre is holding open auditions on Sunday for its seventh summer Stage Experience, Guys and Dolls. Children aged eight to 18 are needed for lead and chorus roles and as singers and dancers in the musical. Auditions at the George Street
THE BEST thing since sliced bread could be a homemade loaf, and the move to real food, grown locally and bought locally, is spelling business success for Wessex Mill in Wantage. The smallest flour mill left in Britain to still commercially roller-mill
A MAN who was jailed for an attempted sex attack on a teenager will remain behind bars indefinitely after the Appeal Court rejected a challenge to his conviction. Robert Whitehouse, 45, was jailed indefinitely at Oxford Crown Court in September 2007
19th & 20th March Under 9 Red League Kennington v Summertown Eagles 3-3 Didcot Town Youth v Cumnor Minors 8-3 Grove Challengers v Didcot Casuals 1-4 Goring Robins v Hinksey Park 1-3 Under 9 Blue League
The appointment of a new Isuzu main dealer near Witney, will ensure easy access to the Isuzu Rodeo range of go-anywhere pick-ups at Cotswolds Isuzu. The highly regarded Japanese manufacturer has formed a partnership with the firm at Middletown
Uncertainty still hovers over supplies of vital Japanese gearbox components for the Cowley-built Mini — a week after it was revealed the plant had only “seven to ten days” left before stocks ran out. On Thursday last week Tim Abbott, UK managing director
AEA Technology 4 BMW 4757 Electrocomponents 265.2 Nationwide Accident Repair 97.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.65 Oxford Catalysts 98 Oxford Instruments 642 Reed Elsevier 514.75 RM 153 RPS Group 212.1 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley
The son of the 13th Earl of Home and brother of a prime minister, William Douglas-Home knew whereof he wrote concerning the British upper classes. The comic side to their lives was explored by him in more than 50 plays, almost all completely forgotten
Oxford United today signed young striker Ryan Doble on loan from Southampton. The 20-year-old, who made three appearances on loan at Stockport this season, will be available for the U's after returning from Wales Under 21 duty this weekend.
IT MAY not have set a new world record, but it still has the potential to save thousands of lives. That is the message from BBC Oxford and St John Ambulance who set out to get 1,000 people to simultaneously learn life-saving skills at the Kassam Stadium
A COUPLE from Oxford are aiming to prove they can do more than look sweet upon the seat of a bicycle made for two. Rich Roberts and his fiancée Denyze Bates, from Hollow Way, Cowley, hope to raise £10,000 by cycling from John O’Groats to Land’s End on
Bosses at pub operator Punch Taverns say they have not identified which of their 70 Oxfordshire sites could be offloaded as part of a major restructuring exercise. The debt-laden company wants to dispose of more than 2,000 sites across the UK and will
THE start of military strikes on Libya have received a mixed reaction in Oxfordshire. As missiles hit the North African country over the weekend, arguments raged over whether the UK had made the right decision by getting involved in policing
Southern Counties North NO 8 Jamie Fredericks and wing Gareth Hudson grabbed try braces as Grove saw off Oxford 48-12 at Cane Lane. Victory took Grove, who were missing Harry Carr, Joe Bellinger, Steve Dixey, Jimmy Wallbridge, Tom Clipsham and Jamie
BB&O Round-up HARRY Sutton was carried off with a knee injury in Gosford All Blacks’ 40-29 Premier Division loss at Drifters. Drifters led with a try from Gary Mc-Gilliott, converted by Mark Bannister, but Gosford No 8 Chris Bennett kicked a penalty
AEA Technology 4 BMW 4845 Electrocomponents 266.1 Nationwide Accident Repair 97.5 Oxford Biomedica 5.65 Oxford Catalysts 98 Oxford Instruments 632.25 Reed Elsevier 516.25 RM 155.25 RPS Group 212.1 Courtesy
YOBS have left a mother heartbroken after destroying a memorial to her son. Vandals kicked, smashed and ripped up candles, a cross, flowers and a guardian angel statue placed on Littlemore roundabout in memory of 21-year-old Rishi Khera.
WE have been concerned for many months about the poor education our children – particularly those in the city – have been receiving, based on results at primary and secondary school. On the face of it, the academic achievement of special needs children
CHILDREN with special needs in Oxfordshire are being failed by the education system, according to one mother. The criticism comes as figures uncovered by the Oxford Mail showed the county’s special needs pupils had among the poorest results
National 2 South Tom Stradwick bagged a try treble in Henley Hawks’ 87-5 demolition of Newbury at Dry Leas, which saw them climb to fifth. The No 8 led Henley’s 13-try spree, while centre Danny Wells, fly half Tom Allen and replacement wing Christoph
Cup Round-up ALCHESTER defeated Blanford 19-7 to win the Southern Counties Senior Vase final and move to within two victories of Twickenham. On five minutes, hooker Garrick Kimber crossed after good work from his forwards, centre Tom Miles converting
Oxfordshire proved too good for London in the Inter-Counties Youth League, running out 10-7 winners in the capital. The under 18s lost 5-4, with their victories coming from Jake Carter, Jack Lucas, Ryan Bull and man-of-the-match Mark Burns (23.30 average
Honda is extending its suspension of car and motorcycle production in Japan until Sunday amid a shortage of parts following the colossal earthquake and tsunami earlier this month. Japanese car companies are struggling with power cuts and a dwindling
Oxford Hawks men can join the club’s ladies in clinching promotion by winning at Barnes next weekend. Hawks entertained Tulse Hill & Dulwich for their last home game in Premier 2, and a Dave Cresswell hat-trick brought them a 3-1 win. A couple fine
Oxford and Cambridge are both trying something new for Saturday’s Xchanging University Boat Race. Dark Blues coach Sean Bowden has opted for a tandem rigging for the first time. The new set-up means Oxford will have Ben Ellison and Karl Hudspith in
Somersby, who was best of the English-trained runners when fifth in the sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, could step up in trip to tackle the Melling Chase at Aintree on Friday, April 8. The seven-year-old
Cody Wyoming, trained by Heather Main at Kingston Lisle, near Wantage, sprang a 100-1 shock in a dramatic opening race at Lingfield yesterday. The five-year-old, ridden by Dominic Els-worth, came home a length and three-quarters clear of 33-1 shot Petit
My chinchilla is drooling and having trouble eating. He recently had a course of antibiotics and was doing better, but now is drooling a lot again. V Schneider, Central Oxford It sounds like your chinchilla has dental problems.
South West 1 East WALLINGFORD were plunged into relegation trouble after losing 18-12 at Bletchley. The defeat came after Wallingford had it confirmed they will be deducted five points for fielding an unregistered player. Wallingford
Midlands 1 West BANBURY Bulls were relegated following a 45-17 home defeat to Whitchurch. The defeat leaves them 24 points adrift of safety, with just 15 to play for. James Heywood scored a brace of tries for Banbury, with Pete Papenfus converting
Have a look at your 2011 Census form. What are we to make of Question 17: “This question is intentionally left blank. Go to 18.”? Has the census compiler been told to write 43 questions for Section 1 come what may, and slipped in this left-fielder thinking
I write in reply to Ralph Leavis’ letter (March 21), which, I must admit, I was bewildered by. Because it has long been the custom of the British to marry for love, the key feature of a marriage is not the “union of a man and woman” but the union of
SOME time ago, I took measures to prevent myself being pestered by inland commercial telephone calls. I am unsure whether such action is possible with respect to those originating abroad, notably the Indian sub-continent. Recently, though, I have been
Silly me, I thought parking charges and restrictions were all about traffic management, not raising revenue. My mistake. In your March 17 edition, a county council spokesman informed us that it was about raising revenue for the county council. Jeremy
I can not decide whether the headline “rubbish tip plan dumped” in Saturday’s Oxford Mail is good or bad news. The county council has done a partial u-turn, by saying that residents will be able to use Redbridge at weekends and bank holidays when it
IN THE story reporting on the threatened strike by cabbies over the fitting of CCTV in cars (Wednesday’s Oxford Mail), one member of the taxi/private hire community said it would be a cheap way of checking on private hire drivers plying for fares. While
Oxford Hawks sec-ured promotion to the National League for the first time in the club’s history with a stunning 7-1 win over Epsom. It avenged a 1-0 defeat in Division 1 earlier in the season. Sandra Frankland, who went on to score four
THE expansion of the Orchard Centre is excellent news for Didcot. The first stage of it transformed the town and this £125m to double it will make Didcot an even more attractive place to go shopping, meaning more jobs and economic activity. But once
Peachcroft put the seal on the Greene King ODDA Winter League Section 1 title after a stunning 9-0 win at the Angel Bicester. After several near misses, Kidlington Green SC finally earned their place in next season’s top flight after a comfortable win
May I, through your letters pages, express my outrage at the barbaric murders of members of the Fogel family in Itamar, Israel, on March 11. Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their children were either stabbed or had their throats slit in their own home
The recent high-profile carbon monoxide poisoning cases, including Charlotte Church and the EastEnders storyline, should remind everyone to have their appliances serviced regularly and to buy a carbon monoxide alarm. Two thirds of people in our region
THIS week’s Climate Change Week is a reminder that we all have to save energy to save the planet. Petrol prices are at record levels and the cost of heating our homes continues to rise. Oxford City Council has cut its own carbon footprint by a quarter
BY USING the term “state control” when referring to public services, David Cameron conjures up images of an almost Stalinist system. No one suggests that every detail of these services should be centrally controlled, as advocates of privatisation would
Here is a full list of the registered finishers in the 2011 OX5 Run. To find a specific runner, use the find function on your computer (ie for Windows users Ctrl F) and enter their surname. If you want a physical copy of our results
DISABLED Adrian Stroud was born with cerebral palsy and tried hard to live a normal life despite his learning difficulties. So when he met Rodney Brain and his girlfriend Joanne Moriarty he thought he had found two good friends. But the pair latched
AN apartment in the centre of Witney with high ceilings and wooden beams might look like the perfect home. But just going to view it could cause a few headaches. The two-bedroom flat sits above and next to Prime Minister David Cameron
Chinnor 30, Oxford Harlequins 22 Two late tries saw Chinnor edge an entertaining National 3 South West derby at Kingsey Road. In a match that swung both ways more than once, Chinnor came on strong to earn a league double over their local rivals.
CHINNOR head coach Jason Bowers felt his side’s power proved decisive in their victory over Oxford Harlequins. The 30-22 saw Chinnor climb to fourth in the table and complete a league double over Quins. Bowers said: “I was hopeful we would win from
Fuel prices at the pumps have reached new record highs, with diesel passing the 140p a litre mark for the first time, the AA said today. The average cost of petrol is now 133.46p a litre, with diesel at 140.01p a litre. The figures come
Simon Clist and Jack Midson will not be offered new contracts by Oxford United in the summer. Manager Chris Wilder says he is determined to improve the quality in key areas of United’s team – and that is behind his decision to make four
A SERIAL criminal who committed her 24th burglary just days before Christmas has been jailed. Sylvia Martin was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after earlier admitting breaking into homes in Marston Road, Marston, and Headley Way, Headington
PEOPLE in Oxford can now be referred for a ‘good walk’ by their GP thanks to a new award. Oxford Health Walks, which are run by GO Active and Oxford City Council, have been recognised by Walking for Health, a Natural England initiative. It means healthcare
