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Fire fighters are tackling a car fire southbound between Kennington Roundabout and Hinksey Hill Roundabout. The fire service was called to the blaze at 6.55pm and the three fire crews are in attendance.

BOSSES at Mini have revealed that the van version of the vehicle will go into full production at the Cowley plant in Oxford later this year. A concept version of the ‘Clubvan’ is currently being shown at the Geneva Motor Show. Now, as the firm announces

BLACKBIRD and Greater Leys will be home to a brand new skate park before the summer, say Oxford city councillors. The estate has been without any skating facilities since 2009, when the previous park in Cuddesdon Way was demolished to make

RADLEY resident John Huddleston, 59, received his MBE for services to the environment from the Queen at Windsor Castle on Friday. The father-of-two received the honour after working for 23 years at environmental consultancy AEA Technology in Harwell

A MOTHER is urging drivers to clear up spilled drops of antifreeze after she watched two of her cats die. Becky Bland, 35, right, believes the cats inadvertently drank the liquid, which is sweet tasting to animals, and suffered horrendous deaths. The

AEA Technology 0.28 BMW 5723 Electrocomponents 243.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 64 Oxford Biomedica 3.1 Oxford Catalysts 58 Oxford Instruments 1150.5 Reed Elsevier 541.75 RM 86.4 RPS Group 234.7 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

Imagine there are no stories. Just us and the prosaic drudgery of life. Washing up without the Cinderella complex. Bedtime without the Three Bears. Car journeys without The Cat In The Hat. Bleak, dark and... impossible in fact. Now, go to your happy place

Have you got enough there?” Josh Widdicombe asks at the end of our interview, and I nod looking at the pages and pages of shorthand. But reading it back I wondered if I’d got anything at all, because he doesn’t give much away. The 2011’s Fosters Newcomer-nominated

KATHERINE MACALISTER speaks to sitcom stalwart Matthew Cottle about his latest theatre role. It wasn’t the most auspicious of starts when I asked Matthew Cottle how rehearsals for the new Alan Ayckbourn play Neighbourhood Watch were going

JOHN CARTER (12A) Action/Sci-Fi/Romance. Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Ciaran Hinds, James Purefoy, Daryl Sabara, Willem Dafoe, Samantha Morton, Thomas Haden Church, Polly Walker. Director Andrew Stanton.

THE RAVEN (15) Thriller/Action. John Cusack, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Kevin McNally, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Pam Ferris. Director: James McTeigue. The bloodthirsty writings of Edgar Allan Poe give birth to a deranged

The promise of some top quality Indian cuisine tempts KATHERINE MACALISTER out from in front of the fire. It takes a lot to remove me from the sanctity of home in the winter, where my biggest terror is that I might run out of logs, chocolate

BEING tipped as this year’s hottest new artist comes with a certain amount of pressure. All that expectation must surely weigh heavy but Lianne La Haves is having too much of a good time to care. “I can’t believe this is my job,” the 22

BEL AMI (15) Romance/Drama. Robert Pattinson, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Ricci, Philip Glenister, Holliday Grainger, Colm Meaney, Natalia Tena. Directors: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod Robert Pattinson hones the mournful pout

With nearly 40 years of history behind them, TIM HUGHES talks to The Stranglers’ sticks man Jet Black about their enduring appeal for an army of fans and the fury that continues to fuel their music passion. If The Stranglers are rock and

A TALENTED schoolboy has wowed a piano teacher by becoming her youngest student to make the top grade. Twelve-year-old Michael Ng has just passed his diploma – a level usually taken by 18-year-olds. Exam body the Associated Board of the Royal Schools

NOT sure where to put all those S Club Juniors CDs and Police Academy DVDs? Now you can purge your music and movie collection without worrying about the environmental cost thanks to a new service. Residents can now recycle CDs, DVDs and books at Redbridge

INTERNATIONAL entrepreneur and estate developer Paul Oberschneider has bought the 36-bedroom Weston Manor Hotel at Weston-on-the-Green, near Bicester. Mr Oberschneider, who moved to Oxfordshire from London last year, said: “I plan to spend about £2m

TWENTY Oxfordshire schools competed for a slot at Oxford’s fourth Jazz Festival yesterday. In just under a month, the festival will return, filling the venues of Oxford with performances from well- known and fresh talent between April 1 and

AN OXFORD taxi firm is doing its bit for the planet, reacting to demand from eco-conscious customers, and saving at the pumps. Bosses at 001 Taxis in St Aldate’s have ploughed more than £100,000 into 15 Toyota Prius cars which combine an electric motor

FORMER Abingdon College lecturer William ‘John’ Wardle has died aged 86. Mr Wardle, who lived in Farm Road, Abingdon, died at Beech Court Care Home in Eynsham on Wednesday, February 22, after suffering a stroke in December. Neighbour Pauline Claridge

Few if any musicals I have seen supply the warmth, the wit and the stunning accomplishment — artistic and technical — offered by Sister Act. The first British touring production was already shining brightly when it made its second port of call at Oxford

A group of “energetic older people” have celebrated the eighth birthday of a popular tea dance in Woodstock. The group, which meets every Tuesday from 2pm at Woodstock Social Club in Oxford Street, has grown from a dozen members to about 40 since it

Staff and students at Gosford Hill School, Kidlington, are celebrating after the school was praised by Ofsted. The school, which has 894 pupils, jumped from ‘satisfactory’ rating in 2009 to good in every aspect following an inspection last month.

AS the giants of the literary world talk about their craft at the Oxford Literary Festival, another view of the city’s bookish talent will be offered. For the third year, Not the Oxford Literary Festival will run alongside the mainstream festival, shining

Bosses of a care home have promised not to close it until all the elderly residents have found new homes. Staff and residents at The Crown Care Home, pictured, in Harwell, near Didcot, were told this month that the residential home — taken over by Four

Bloxham Pre-school has been praised for the quality of care it provides for youngsters. Following a recent Ofsted inspection, the pre-school was given a good overall rating with outstanding features. The pre-school has 59 children on roll, and takes

Oxford United have signed Dean Morgan from Chesterfield on an initial one-month loan agreement. The 28-year-old forward, who can play on either flank or down the middle, comes straight into the U’s squad for Saturday’s trip to Bradford City

AN exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of Oxford's Pegasus Theatre will go on show at the Magdalen Road theatre next month. The display includes work by Oxford artist Dionne Barber which aims to capture the changing spaces and movement that represents

TEACHER Ros Lester has been elected as Wallingford’s new mayor. Town councillors picked Mrs Lester to be the new mayor at a meeting on Monday. She will officially be chosen as mayor at the mayor-making ceremony on May 14. Mrs

PARKING ticket campaigner David Hulse is urging anyone who believes they were unfairly given a parking ticket after Cherwell District Council introduced new fees last April to contact him. He is also keen to talk to one motorist, known only

World 1,500m silver medallist Hannah England was back in her home city of Oxford on Wednesday to start the Teddy Hall Relays. And the Oxford City member revealed she had once come a cropper on the course, despite it being on ‘home soil’.

THE modern day ‘Fairy Godmother’ behind the Jubilee Fund for O-fordshire wants us all to help make someone’s dreams come true. Jayne Woodley, chief executive of the Oxfordshire Community Foundation (OCF), is at the helm of the fund which has

A WHITE jockey has been added to the 3,000-year-old carving of a chalk horse on White Horse Hill near Uffington. The figure was unveiled this morning in a stunt from betting firm Paddy Power to promote next week's Cheltenham Festival.

TWO teenagers who helped steal £13,000 in takings from a chip shop have been jailed. Jose Leca de Jesus and Filipi Monteiro were sentenced at Oxford Crown Court yesterday. A third man, ringleader Ricardo Costa, was last month jailed for two-and-a-half

Oxfordshire County Council has said its former director of children, young people and families stepped down for health reasons. Meera Spillett, who joined the authority in February 2010, left the council in November last year. Spokesman Paul Smith said

Coach passengers were given pieces of cake yesterday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Oxford Tube. The service between Oxford and London was launched in 1987 and is now run by Stagecoach.

Road markings that misspelled the word ‘school’ have been corrected by Oxford City Council. The word ‘schoul’ was written in yellow paint outside Wolvercote Primary School after contractors working for telephone firm BT dug up the road two months ago

LEGO-mad youngster Danny Straughan has done his family proud after his toy design won them a trip to a new multi-million pound hotel. The eight-year-old from Cutteslowe beats thousands of entrants to win a competition to design a Lego figure to help

CASTLE Quay lifted the Banbury Indoor League’s Handicap Shield with a 2-1 win over Banbury in the final. RESULTS Banbury Indoor League – Handicap Shield 1st round: General Foods 2, Bicester 1; Chipping Norton 0, George 2; Castle Quay 2, Deddington 1

NORTH OXFORD Midweek Stableford: 1 S Wood 38pts, 2 T Bulford 37 (cb), 3 M Andrews 37. Juniors’ team 3, Vice-captain’s team 1. Pimms Cup: suspended due to flooded greens. WITNEY LAKES March Medal – Div 1: 1 D Barber 87-13=74 (cb), 2 G Eastaff 87-13

WOODSTOCK Harriers’ serial marathon man Paul Brackett has completed his longest race yet – the Thames Path 100. Brackett, who completed his 100th race of 26.2 miles or more at last year’s Abingdon Marathon, was pleased with his debut at the 100-mile

Further to Mr Anderson’s letter (ViewPoints, February 23), regarding river maintenance, I live near the Boundary Brook. This brook is a silt trap which has not been cleared out for at least 18 months. Silt is now building up on the banks. I reported

An interesting reply from Ian Cummings (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, February 24), about my opposition to the Government’s Health and Social Care Bill. While he states he is “no shire Tory”, he would seem to be a fan of Margaret Thatcher, even she stayed

I have been discussing with fellow users of the Octabus the solutions that we can put forward to save our dial-a-ride bus. The first was not my idea, though a very good one. We would not mind paying £5-a-year on a regular basis instead of the one-off

Kennington Club are the new Johnsons Buildbase Oxford League Premier Section leaders following a 4-1 win at Masons B, writes PETE EWINS. Mark Trafford (8,000), Steven Sheard (9,060, break 7,000) and Pauline Withey (5,810) reeled off the first

Chipping Norton trainer Charlie Longsdon is looking to cap his record-breaking season with a Cheltenham Festival winner next week. The 36-year-old handler has already beaten his personal best for a season with 55 winners this term. And now he is set

I see that John Tanner is calling upon us all to “stand shoulder to shoulder with the Greek people”. While most Greeks that I have met are charming, hospitable people, I think it would be absurd for the people of Oxfordshire to feel any obligation to

ON A similar theme, we hope the children at Oxford Spires Academy take some inspiration from Melody Hossaini. Forget the posturing needed for a show like The Apprentice and look at the drive Miss Hossaini has shown to make her life a success

A date for a by-election has been set following the death of county councillor Roger Belson. Mr Belson died from a heart attack on Boxing Day. The poll for his seat will be held on Thursday, April 19.

POLICE were alerted to the rape claims of a woman by her sister, a jury was told yesterday. Satellite TV repairman Waad Namek denies two counts of rape at Oxford Crown Court. Giving evidence on day two of the hearing, the complainant’s sister said she

FULL back Katie Sage’s brace of tries helped Oxford University to a 28-8 victory over Cambridge in the women’s Varsity Match at Iffley Road. A penalty apiece from Cambridge lock Julie Valade and Oxford fly half Beth O’Brien made it 3-3 at half-time.

OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE ABINGDON Amblers’ Fiona Bunn was crowned under 13 girls’ champion after winning her fourth race of the season in 7mins 58secs. Bunn finished six points clear of Oxford City’s Jessica Upjohn to complete a dominant campaign

OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE ORGANISERS have hailed the league’s return to Wittenham Clumps after more than ten years as a success, despite the cold and wet weather. Sunday’s final round took place with the support of the Earth Trust Centre, which

We have now entered the sixth month of work to replace just four bus shelters at Magdalen Street in Oxford city centre. As I have watched buses not quite knowing where to stop, or not having enough room to stop, or having to double-park in

A man has been told to pay nearly £2,000 for flytipping. Daniel Rawlings, 22, of Queen’s Avenue, Wallingford, appeared before Oxford magistrates and pleaded guilty to flytipping waste in Harwell, near Didcot. He dumped the waste after being told he

A 25-year-old serving police officer based in the city arrested on suspicion of computer misuse has been bailed again, until March 27. She was arrested on December 21 last year by the Force’s Professional Standards Department on suspicion of computer

MELODY HOSSAINI didn’t quite make it as Lord Sugar’s apprentice on TV, but she told pupils at Oxford Spires Academy it was important never to give up on your goals. The 26-year-old former Oxford Brookes University student went to the East Oxford

OXFORDSHIRE’S run in the English Short Mat Bowling Association’s Inter-County Championship Premier Knockout came to an end with a 24-16 defeat by Essex in the semi-final at Caroline Chisholm School, Northampton. Oxon were always up against it as Essex

EDDIE Pepperell was slightly disappointed after coming third in the second event of the Jamega Pro Golf Tour Winter Series at Frilford Heath. After a good year in 2011 and a promising start to 2012, with a second and a fifth place on the Hi5

As councillor John Tanner has hardly surprisingly of late come in for considerable ridicule, including from me, I shall strive to restrict myself to fact when responding to his letter published on February 23. He asserts that every European country

Your report about the proposed move of Kidlington’s police station to the fire station (Tuesday’s Oxford Mail) overlooks one important point. Kidlington police station is located in a residential area, where it is inconvenient for many people

WHAT I’M CALLED: Gary Hibbins, however most people call me Gazz. AGE: I have just turned 27 years young... proper gutted, hate getting old. WHAT I DO: I have been a youth and community worker for the past eight years. I love

MOBILE phones and purses have been snatched in a series of distraction thefts across the Vale of White Horse. There have been more than 10 incidents since last December. Police believe all involve suspects of East European origin, working as part of

A BOULEVARD-STYLE design has been chosen as the best way to replace the traffic lights in Oxford’s Frideswide Square. Oxfordshire County Council officers have settled on the boulevard after discounting an alternative oval-shaped layout, as

OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE CONSISTENCY proved the key as Paul Fernandez won the senior men’s and overall titles. Abingdon Ambler Fernandez secured the crowns after finishing fourth in Sunday’s final round. Fernandez did not win any of the league

The cast of TV’s Sunday night smash hit drama Downton Abbey have been filming here in Oxfordshire, in the picturesque village of Bampton. And it seems star of the show Hugh Bonneville is well acquainted with county hospitality. “Having served, my

I HAVE tried to avoid writing about football too often in this column. I know that for non-football fans it’s a bore and, indeed, probably for the fans too. Yet it would be utterly remiss of me not to talk about events last Saturday afternoon at the

OXFORDSHIRE’S hopes of reaching the National Under 20 Championship quarter-finals suffered a setback with a last-gasp 5-5 draw against Dorset & Wilts. A try from Oxford Harlequins centre Jonny Tevita, five minutes from time, looked to have won the South

OXFORD MAIL CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE ELYSIA Ridley shrugged off “freezing” conditions to take the senior and overall ladies’ titles with an emphatic victory in the final round at Wittenham Clumps. The 25-year-old Witney Road Runner led by one point in

IT is such a great shame to hear quite a few Swindon Town fans deliberately chanting 1970s rubbish in the very late stages of the U’s magnificent 10-man win at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday, simply because of the colour of a player’s skin. From where

‘I couldn’t believe it! People actually crossed the road to avoid me as if I had some awful disease!’ This is what people frequently say to us at Oxford Cruse Bereavement Care when they come for one-to-one bereavement support. Often it is the behaviour

A 36-year-old man’s jaw was fractured in a fight at the Jolly Postboys pub in Florence Park Road, Cowley. The victim was watching the Premier League match between Tottenham and Manchester United on Sunday when a fight broke out at 10.30pm, police said

A 32-year-old Wallingford man has admitted a motoring and public order offence. Stephen Roberts appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday and admitted dangerous driving and affray. The charges relate to an incident on the A4130 on June 21 last year.

A VAN DRIVER has died after crashing his vehicle off the A34 in the early hours of yesterday morning. Police found the van and its trailer with a mini-digger on board in a ditch off the southbound carriageway, just past the Milton Interchange, at 1.40am

MUSIC lovers will be treated to big name stars and new up-and-coming artists as two popular Oxfordshire festivals unveil their line-ups. Elvis Costello, James Morrison, Seasick Steve, Pixie Lott, Jools Holland, Will Young and Oxford-born comedian/actor

The suggestion to place a blue plaque on the home of the late Arthur Titherington in Church Green, Witney, is a good one. Mr Titherington was best known on the national stage as a campaigning former prisoner of war, but on a local level he worked tirelessly

A decision on the redesign of Frideswide Square, a key part of the redevelopment of the area around the Oxford rail station, could be taken next week. The preferred option is a new ‘city centre boulevard’ to replace the collection of traffic light-controlled

THREE people are on trial charged with the offence of taking revenge. Jenna French, 26, Chelsea French, 19, and Jason McMurray, 30, deny taking revenge on a witness, Gabrielle Haire, on September 1. They also deny an alternative charge of actual bodily

Protests regarding the Environment Agency’s plans for a £2.5m replacement of Northmoor Weir are growing almost daily. Residents led by Mike Hill claim the health-and-safety arguments for replacing the hand-operated paddle and rymer weir do not stack

League toppers Witney 1’s defeat of second place Cowley 2 last week has secured Witney another first division title. Last year there was strong competition to the finish from City 1 and Cowley 1; but this season Witney have swept all before them — winning

LARKMEAD School is guilty of over-enthusiasm rather than malevolence by naming underachieving pupils on a display in the canteen. Let’s be frank, putting up a list and photos of pupils deemed needing to improve for their GCSEs was not a plan

Backstage dramas or comedies seem to have an eternal fascination for audiences, with Michael Frayn’s Noises Off perhaps the pre-eminent example. Noel Coward spotted that fact in 1967, when he adapted a short story he’d written 16 years earlier and

Lee Holmes wants to extend his successful loan spell at Oxford United beyond this weekend to help the club reach the npower League Two play-offs. The midfielder joined last month on an initial four-week deal from Southampton which expires

PUPILS failing to make the grade have had their names and pictures plastered on the wall of their school canteen. Larkmead School in Abingdon put up photographs of about 30 Year 11 students who scored Cs and below in January’s mock GCSE exams

When Joan Baez telephones me from California (OK: that’s just how the interview was organised), she had just finished making breakfast for her 98-year-old mother. She told me she’d recently been looking to buy a cassette recorder on eBay.

Sir – I read with interest the letters in recent weeks from readers in Charlbury and North Leigh regarding problems with parking at Thornhill park-and-ride. If travelling to Heathrow or Gatwick readers living in North Oxford and West Oxfordshire must

Sir – For those discerning gardeners that would like to encourage and attract the local honey bee and butterflies into their garden this year and for future years, I would suggest a few plants that may not only add colour and joy to ones garden but will

Sir – On Saturday I was one of hundreds of volunteers across the city taking part in OxClean. My patch was at the lower end of Marston Ferry Road and included the bank where, many years ago, tens of thousands of daffodils were planted, I believe by primary

Sir – Your article Heavy rain required to avoid hosepipe ban (March 1) reports that after a not unexpectedly dry winter, restrictions in water supply by Thames Water are likely to be imposed later this year. A few pages earlier, we read that Grove is

Sir – Could someone please explain to me what the mayor of Abingdon is doing? In his imagined position of power his latest brainwave following the ‘Abingdon on Thames’ idea is to push to get Abingdon back into Berkshire by moving the county boundary.

Sir – There’s a good reason why councillor Rodney Rose won’t listen to local opinion on the proposed controlled parking zone in East Oxford. In 2009, when he and councillor Ian Hudspeth, his fellow Tory from another rural backwater, attended a meeting

Sir – It is becoming increasingly clear that the new Blackbird Leys swimming pool is being built at the expense of Temple Cowley swimming pool and community. Temple Cowley swimming pool is to be sold to the highest bidder/developer in order to pay for

Sir – Your correspondent Roger Jenking, of the Oxford Liberal Party, Headington, takes issue with the Council to Protect Rural England’s attempts to prevent inappropriate development of the city of Oxford’s green spaces, arguing that “there are

Sir – I applaud councillor Rodney Rose and our county council’s transport strategy department engineers for creative road safety experimentation with double yellow lines. Their blacking out is a dark moment in Oxford’s journey towards progressive

FOR almost 150 years The Oxford Times has been Oxfordshire’s first choice weekly newspaper. Since that first broadsheet edition of The Oxford Times & Midland Counties Advertiser hit the stands, our county has evolved, and so has the newspaper

Sir – I was very interested in Reg Little’s ‘Super race’ article (Feature, March 1). A few years ago my father, who began his career as a Workers’ Education Association and tutor and became Principal of Ruskin College, told me that he received

Sir – There has been much comment on the HS2 link, but what has been proposed is by no means the only route possible. Putting the link near Luton, Milton Keynes and Welwyn Garden City would put a million people within easy reach of it and save making

Sir – March 8 is International Women’s Day and I would like readers of The Oxford Times to consider how different our lives are to those of women in the developing world. Women carry the bulk of the burden when it comes to poverty — literally. In countries

Sir – As one of 1,700 plus Carterton residents who signed a petition last year against the allocation of houses on a beautiful piece of countryside west of our town, I was heartened to read the letter (Homes bring benefits, February 23). At last a house-builder

Sir – John Tanner and Jane Gallagher rightly question county moves to force selected Oxford primary schools to become academies (Letters, February 16). Government rhetoric implying that academy status raises school performance is not borne out by the

Sir – Whether one is a local commuter queuing through Hanborough and Bladon every day, a resident in one of the two villages, or both, the congested state of the A4095 is too urgent a problem to ignore (Leader, March 1). Perhaps even more than the rail

Jeremy Howe recalls seeing his wife’s photograph on the front page of The Oxford Times, although it may have been the Oxford Mail. His young daughter Lucy had initially shaken him to the core by saying: “Look! There’s mummy.” But the girl had only seen

Having already reduced Jude the Obscure to Jude (1996) and relocated The Mayor of Casterbridge to the Old West for The Claim (2000), Michael Winterbottom attempts his most ambitious adaptation of Thomas Hardy in Trishna, which sees the events of Tess

The South of France remains a very exciting place in which to make wine. Here producers are not bound by all the red tape and rules governing strict usage of certain grape varieties that tends to prevail in many other areas of the country.

Seventy years ago, the United States was still reeling from the day that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt predicted would live in infamy. Indeed, such was the impact of the Japanese air attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor upon the national psyche

Although known as one of the classic ‘little brown jobs’, the humble chiffchaff is actually a real party animal and shouldn’t be dismissed lightly despite its drabness and diminutive size. First to arrive (usually early March) and last to leave, indeed

Each year as the days of March lengthen, I am always on the lookout for the first harbingers of spring. On a recent walk along the River Thames adjacent to Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust’s Chimney Meadows nature reserve, I came across a group of

TWENTY years after the murder of his wife ripped his world apart, Jeremy Howe has written a book on how his family survived. In the summer of 1992 Dr Lizzie Howe travelled from the family home in Edith Road, South Oxford, to York University to lecture

WE’RE all used to the stereotypical images of Oxford’s bicycles, boffins and boats. But a new photography competition wants to get to the real heart of the City of Dreaming Spires – using images taken by the people who live here. Arts at the Old Fire

MUSEUM events manager Dale Johnston takes a close look at this stunning humanoid creation by acclaimed artist Michaela Bayley. The exhibition of fantastical creatures has been attracting lots of visitors to Banbury Museum, in Spiceball Park