BOSSES at a West Oxfordshire plastics factory which burst into flames have pledged to be back in production by Monday. A trapped workman was rescued by a colleague during last night's major fire at Oxford's Plastics near Chipping Norton.
Vulnerable people have been given their own peaceful haven where they can learn new skills and improve their health. Oxfordshire charity Guideposts Trust has opened its first Dig’n’Grow therapeutic garden project in Witney to offer people with mental
THESE are the writers hoping to find out whether they have the literary X Factor. Authors from Oxford Brookes University’s creative writing course faced the task of pitching their fledgling novels to a group of hard-nosed literary agents
A HOMELESS charity and a college have joined forces to create job opportunities for young and unemployed people. Aspire Oxford and Abingdon & Witney College have launched the Get Involved Pledge which urges businesses to consider creating work placements
Thousands of runners will be limbering up on the starting line for the annual Oxford Town and Gown race tomorrow. About 3,300 people are expected to pound the city’s streets for the 10km run in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. Many of those
THE Easter long weekend loomed and the weather forecast was for rain – but we didn’t care, we were off to Butlins! Bognor Regis is officially the sunniest place in Britain, but even Bognor couldn’t shed the gloom of the rain clouds that bombarded
A West Oxfordshire community has pulled together to help its football club after it was ransacked by raiders. The clubhouse at North Leigh FC was left awash with beer last month after the thieves left the pumps running. They also smashed windows and
With its sleek low shape, low-resistance tyres and hi-tech battery technology, Peggie has a top speed of 18.6mph and aims to be one of the most power-efficient cars in the world. The eco-friendly technology has been developed by engineering students
PASSENGERS who had been waiting an hour at Charlbury station for their late-running train thought rescue was at hand when it finally drew up at the platform. But as they tried to open the doors, the guard told them he could not release the
ONE of the speediest celebrations of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee can be seen on railway routes through Oxfordshire. To mark the 60th anniversary of the monarch’s accession to the throne in 1952, train operator First Great Western has decorated
JEWELLERY worth thousands of pounds was stolen by a thief who took a suitcase from a train which called at Didcot Parkway station en route between London and Bristol. The jewellery, belonging to family from Bath, was in a suitcase taken from the 8.45pm
HEADINGTON residents found themselves going postal after not knowing where to put their letters for the past few months. But their wishes have been granted and Royal Mail has given them back their post box. When it was removed from All
MOUNTAINS – or even hills of any magnitude – are pretty few and far between in Oxfordshire. But that has not stopped the Oxford Mountaineering Club (OMC) from forging onwards and upwards since it was founded by an Oxford factory worker in 1962
TOURISM is boosting the economy in South Oxford and Vale of White Horse district council areas by a massive £428m a year. Now council bosses are hoping a new jointly-funded website will bring in even more visitors. The councils run a number of shared
A SPECIAL school which looks after children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties has been rated outstanding for its care. Woodeaton Manor School, which has 52 pupils including boarding facilities for 10, was given Ofsted’s top rating for
Sally Mitcham was baptised not in a church, but in a pub in 1976. She was the four-week-old daughter of Robert and Patricia Mitcham, who ran the Red Lion. Mrs Mitcham said: “I thought it was a good idea as she will be brought up here.” The ceremony
These children were happy to stay behind after school and take part in the Global Jog. Thousands of people across the world joined the Race Against Time organised in 1986 by Bob Geldof for Sport Aid, raising money for famine victims in Africa. The
OXFORD: An exhibition on controversial plans to build student flats on the St Clement’s car park takes place today. The scheme for 140 student rooms would see the number of parking spaces cut from 120 to 80. The plans are on show at the Town Hall, in
BANBURY: A mental health carer accused of defrauding a vulnerable woman out of nearly £8,000 will appear in court in July. Denise Kiff, 40, faces 18 charges of fraud by abuse of position. She is currently on bail. Kiff will appear at
HARWELL: A 46-year-old man has been cautioned for possessing an imitation firearm in a public place after the weapon was found at the village’s war memorial. The imitation gun, described as a .38 revolver, possibly dating from the Second World War, was
BURGLARS forced their way into an Oxford charity shop before helping themselves to its stock. The thieves cost the Helen & Douglas House vintage shop in Summertown hundreds of pound in lost takings. They took clothes, a basket and jewellery from the
Despite the blow of the burglary in Oxford, volunteers working for Helen & Douglas House in Didcot had reason to celebrate yesterday. The charity’s new-look shop in Broadway was officially opened by Wantage MP and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey and the
Oxfordshire Basketball Cup CHERWELL School, Oxford, are celebrating an Oxfordshire Cup basketball treble. The boys served up a double success with victories in the under 15 and under 16 finals against European School, Culham at Oxford Brookes University
Nick Harrison, 43, who works for tackle company Total Angling, put his experience to good use by recording a fantastic hat-trick of massive carp at Linear Fisheries’ Stanton Harcourt waters. The Shrewsbury angler caught seven fish in a session on Unity
THIS year’s Carp League 2012 series got off to a flying start at an in-form Rissington where 11 of the 19 anglers recorded weights of more than 100lb. Andy Wiffen (Bio-Source) led them home with 164.8.0 of carp to 8lb on the pole at 5m and luncheon meat
Abingdon’s Military Wives Choir will sing in public for the first time today. The group, featuring the wives and girlfriends of soldiers at Dalton Barracks, will sing in the Market Place between noon and 1.30pm. Last year choirmaster Gareth Malone worked
The Conservatives have held their seat in a South Oxfordshire District Council by-election. The seat, in the Chinnor ward, became vacant after district councillor Geoff Andrews stood down. Lynn Lloyd, above, won the seat on Thursday after polling 591
ART is imitating film at East Oxford’s Ultimate Picture Palace with a series of works about some iconic movies. Five artworks have gone up in the Jeune Street venue as part of the Oxfordshire Artweeks celebration. They include drawings of The Wizard
A man is facing prison after pretending he was a solicitor to bluff his way into a police station. James Mangan told officers at Abingdon Police Station he was representing a man being held on suspicion of domestic violence on August 4 last year. Afterwards
Sainsbury’s School Games WITNEY’S Eleanor Hubbert and Radley’s Kathryn Woodcock won medals in the Olympic Stadium. Hubbert, 15, took bronze in the T36 Paralympic category 200m, clocking a personal best of 39.08secs. The Witney Road Runner also came
A TRAPPED workman had to be rescued by a colleague during last night's huge fire at a factory in West Oxfordshire. About 80 firefighters from across the county battled the fire at Oxford Plastics, off Bicester Road, near Enstone airfield. One
Greyhound Racing Association boss Clive Feltham has reassured staff at their tracks of the immediate future des-pite more uncertainty. Risk Capital Partners purchased the GRA for £52.4m, in partnership with Gilliard Homes, with a view to building on
Sprinter Guinness Pirate, pictured, could be the toast of Oxford Stadium tonight as the Richard Yeates-trained runner gets the nap vote in the top grade D1 over 250 metres. TONIGHT'S RUNNERS. 7.35: Pennys Lexi, Lyle Lady, Boys Last, Aero Dakota 3, SHEDFIELD
Oxford bookmakers are reaping the rewards of open racing on Thursdays, reporting a 50 per cent increase in business. What’s more, some are prepared to lay £1,000 bets – an amount which one punter said he couldn’t get on at Wimbledon, the Greyhound Racing
BUCS Championships RADLEY’S Sophie Tyers cemented her place in history by becoming the first women’s 800m champion at the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. Tyers won the 800m title in the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) Visa Championships
National ABA Junior Championships OXFORD Boxing Academy suffered a triple blow when their three fighters all lost out in the semi-finals at Haslemere. Yaser Afzal (Class 4 52kg) plus brothers Declan (Class 4 63kg) and Bradley Townsend
DEFENCE Secretary Philip Hammond has vowed to re-examine a contract for RAF air-to-air refuelling planes based in Oxfordshire. It come after claims that the taxpayer is paying three times over the odds for the new Voyager planes. Fourteen converted
FRUSTRATED residents took a bag of human excrement to Witney’s mayor making ceremony to demonstrate to those attending just how bad their sewage problem is. Waste gushes out of two drains near Burwell Hall, in Thorney Leys, and runs past a children’s
National ABA Junior Championships OXFORD’S Jordan Flynn will be out for revenge when he fights Bury ABC’s Sahir Iqbal in the National ABA Junior Championships final at Batley, Yorkshire, tomorrow. Flynn, who booked his place in the 57kg title-decider
An escaped prisoner who was being hunted by police after allegedly assaulting a woman was caught by officers yesterday. Richard Hunt, 29, was found near Eynsham shortly after 11am yesterday and was being questioned in police custody last night on suspicion
Michael Esnouf, of Abingdon Vale, won two medals at the South East Regional Youth Championships. Esnouf, 15, finished second in the 100m breaststroke, setting an age group club record, and was third in the 50m breaststroke. He was also fourth in the
Simon Price won the under 18 Oxford & District City Open Championships crown – aged just 14. Price defeated Jonah Stott 11-8, 11-6, 11-6 in the final, having seen off Niall Harris in the last four. Harris, however, did gain revenge for
Riley A claimed a dramatic victory in the final of the Stephen Reiss Cup – lifting the crown despite losing the match to Oxford Bowls Club. The three-man Oxford & District League competition sees one point awarded for each victory, and then two for the
A 18-year-old will appear in court next month charged with dangerous cycling after a collision which left a 70-year-old woman in hospital. Tafari Millar, of Greenfinch Close, Greater Leys, will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday
Free courses to introduce people to fly fishing are again being run by members of Farmoor Fly Fishing Club. The sessions, which start at 6pm, are being run at the club’s Darlow Water, at Hardwick, on Wednesday evenings on May 23 and 30, and
THAMES Water bosses yesterday ruled out more serious water restrictions as flood alerts were put back on rivers in Oxfordshire. The company said it would rule out applying for a Drought Order, which is needed to get more restrictions, following the wettest
YOUNGSTERS met an astronaut yesterday after dazzling experts with their pictures of rockets. British astronaut Tim Peake dropped in at Hagbourne Primary School near Didcot. Pupils won a competition to secure the visit from Mr Peake,
OXFORD United chairman Kelvin Thomas says manager Chris Wilder has his full backing – despite missing out on the play-offs this season. The U’s spent the majority of the campaign inside npower League Two’s top seven, but a dismal run of
Oxford Food Bank is set to expand thanks to a new deal with supermarket giant Tesco. The news means the charity will be able to provide about an extra 100 meals a week to the city’s most needy families. Tesco, in Cowley, will hand over unused food to
TREE clearance work on an out-of-use section of railway trackbed between Oxford and Wolvercote has resumed after a compromise was agreed between Network Rail and Oxford City Council. Tree surgeons working for the rail infrastructure company
A FRAUDSTER who hid in woodland after conning a pensioner out of £25,000 was caught when he came home for a shower. Mark McGuire was jailed for 20 months at Oxford Crown Court yesterday for swindling 77-year-old Barbara Wellman of Banbury. McGuire befriended
IT’S fair to say that Kelvin Thomas of Oxford United is not your typical football club chairman. He is not out to make a mint off the back of the fans, has no desire to raise his own personal profile and clearly does not possess the itchy
Two men and one woman all denied murdering a man found dying in the street when they appeared before a judge. Daniel McCollin, 30, Wayne Cattell, 36, and Joanne Moriarty, 29, all pleaded not guilty to the killing of 39-year-old Denis Witney. Mr Witney
THE Lord Mayor of Oxford Elise Benjamin will be among the audience when the sixth Oxford Film Festival kicks off tomorrow night. This year’s festival celebrates the work of iconic American funnyman Woody Allen – and Ms Benjamin is a long-time fan. The
A HEARING is to be held into the proposed demolition of 29 Old High Street, Oxford. Headington resident Martin Young has appealed against Oxford City Council’s decision not to allow him to bulldoze the house and replace it with five homes. His plans
A FORMER Henry Box School pupil has created his own theatre company and is set to perform in its first play. Callum Hughes, 21, set up Blind Tiger Theatre with three friends after graduating from Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performances, in Sidcup
HELENA Lucas, part of the British sailing team for the London 2012 Paralympics, has told her life story to pupils at a boys’ school near Abingdon. Ms Lucas, 37, who started sailing at the age of eight, competes in the 2.4mR class and gave a talk to boys
SWIMMERS in Oxford can enjoy their first outdoor swim of the season today as the Hinksey Outdoor Pool opens. The city’s only outdoor heated pool, at Hinksey Park off Abingdon Road, will be open from 9am after a undergoing a major refurbishment programme
