“I can’t hear you!” Bill Huaki, of the British STIHL Timbersports team, urges the crowd for their support so he can make the final cut at the CLA Game Fair competition. David Fleming’s shot leaves me wondering how on earth Bill even managed to
THE Met Office is forecasting a cloudy night in Didcot for when the power station's iconic towers are to be demolished but with good visibility. However, there is a chance of a light rain shower at some point during the proposed detontation time
READERS have been invited to join a photography project that could see the best work exhibited alongside internationally-renowned artists. On Thursday the Oxford Mail launched the competition in partnership with Oxford Brookes University to mark
OXFORD: City councillor Anne-Marie Canning, pictured, resigned her Carfax seat this week. The Labour councillor was first elected in 2012, but told the Oxford Mail her job as a head of department at a London university was becoming increasingly
SOME 6,800 drivers between Wantage and Faringdon will be asked to take a 24-mile diversion route for 13 weeks this autumn. Commuters have been told to take the A420 and A338 while Network Rail rebuilds Challow Station Road bridge on the A417 from
THIS month Banbury’s hospital radio station Radio Horton celebrated its 50th birthday with a long weekend of touring radio. To mark the occasion, ALEX WYNICK looks at the health of community radio stations in Oxfordshire ON July 7, 1964, patients
PUPILS caught a glimpse of the future when they looked around the UK’s first space academy in Banbury. More than 70 students attended induction days this week at Banbury Academy in Ruskin Road to get to know their new teachers and classmates and
SINGERS and scientists feature in an impressive line-up of speakers announced for the 2014 Blenheim Literary Festival. The American Grammy award-winning contemporary opera singer Jessye Norman will be talking about her life at the Woodstock festival
A BUILDING in an industrial estate near Faringdon was destroyed by a blaze today. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the fire at the Chowle Farm Estate, off the A420, at 12.25am. Six fire engines attended the scene and firefighters
SOME 34 buildings were without electricity supply today after a power cut. Both Tesco and Sainsbury's on Magdalen Street were shut as a result of the outage. However lights were still on in both businesses and customers gathered at the entrance
OXFORD United confidently swept aside Fulham's development side 3-0 in a behind-closed-doors friendly at Roman Way. Danny Hylton, Tom Newey and Jon Meades were all on target in the first half to give the U's their fifth win from five pre-season
FOUR people were arrested after protesters clashed at Gloucester Green bus station yesterday. A protest by a group claiming to be aligned to the National Front had planned to head to Bonn Square at 1pm yesterday. Counter-protesters from anti-facist
A six-strong team from RAF Brize Norton have raised more than £4,000 after taking on the River Thames Path in a 184-mile relay run. The run, from Kemble in Gloucestershire to the Thames Barrier in London, was in aid of charities including the RAF
JAMES Salter likes to bring some sweet sunshine to his corner of Oxford’s Jericho. After running Cowboymod Emporium in Walton Street for 19 years, he’s still as much in love with his neighbourhood as ever. On sunny days when he isn’t hairdressing
MUM-OF-SEVEN Lianne Moody says John Radcliffe staff are her Hospital Heroes after helping her safely give birth with a heart condition. She has nominated consultant cardiologist Dr Oliver Ormerod for the Oxford Mail’s Hospital Heroes awards.
A DECISION on whether a Cowley Road bar can create a rooftop terrace and bar has been temporarily shelved amid concerns about noise. The Art Bar, formerly The Bullingdon Arms, applied to Oxford City Council to convert its first-floor flat and roof
A FORMER teacher has been charged with carrying out historic sex abuse while he worked at Oxford primary schools. John Collier, 69, faces three counts of indecent assault allegedly committed on two boys aged under 14 in the 1970s. The charges
SCHOOL’s out for the next generation of rock superstars spending their summer break jamming at the Muzo Akademy School of Rock summer camp. The Witney group, which suffered a power cut when our photographer arrived at its Market Square base, is
1. Jayden leaving the One Foot Forward hostel in Iffley Road, Oxford, December 3 - the day she died - on her way to meet Ben Blakeley 2. Jayden and Ben Blakeley at Oxford Train Station on December 3 as they head for train to Didcot at
A TOTAL of 24 people will face their fears and jump out of a plane 13,000 feet up to raise money for Charlotte Nott. Six-year-old Charlotte, from Cowley, had the lower part of her arms and legs amputated in 2010 after contracting meningitis, an
Dan Rivers admitted he has never been under so much pressure after winning a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Games yesterday. The 23-year-old shooter, from Didcot, came third in the 10m air rifle category at the Barry Buddon shooting centre in
JAYDEN Parkinson’s family said justice had been done after her “sick and twisted” murderer was given a life sentence. But reading a statement outside Oxford Crown Court, the 17-year-old’s grandfather Eric Shrewsbury said that their nightmare will
JUDGE Patrick Eccles' remarks when sentencing Ben Blakeley for the murder of Jayden Parkinson YOU were both physically and emotionally abusive towards Jayden Parkinson. You dominated and controlled her everyday life by demanding that she should
TWO mothers embraced outside Oxford Crown Court on the day the killers of their children were finally put behind bars. But both Samantha Shrewsbury and Mehfooz Akhtar have said the pain of their losses are still with them every day of their lives
THE poignant and heart-rending pictures on our front page today tell their own story: two mothers with a common and terrible bond comforting each other outside Oxford Crown Court. They were there to witness the sentencing of the people who killed
THE mother of arson victims Anum and Majid Khan paid an emotional first visit to their graves yesterday as one of their killers, Fiaz Munshi, started a 13-year jail term. Munshi, 38, of Oldham, was convicted of being involved in the deaths of Anum
POLICE have this morning said protests by a group calling itself the National Front and anti-facism demonstrators are likely to be peaceful but they are taking precautions. The force has been told of both demonstrations by the National Front and
George Long is looking forward to a battle with Max Crocombe to become Oxford United’s first-choice goalkeeper after joining on loan yesterday. The Sheffield United stopper, who was in the England under 21 squad last season, passed a medical yesterday
MR JUSTICE Robin Spencer's remarks when sentencing Fiaz Munshi for her part in the deaths of Anum and Majid Khan They were the youngest children of the family. In their short lives they brought great joy and happiness to their parents and to their
YOUNG people slept rough to raise awareness of youth homelessness in Oxford. The group of 15 teenagers aged beteen 16 and 17 united with their sleeping bags on Wednesday. They came together over the last fortnight as part of the National Citizen
CITY of Oxford’s Chris Wood won 12 gold medals in the club’s July Open Gala at Temple Cowley. The home club’s swimmers were in dominant form, winning 125 gold medals across all age groups. Competing in the boys’ 15 years and over age category
MECHANICS are supposed to fix cars, not people. Thankfully for 84-year-old Bill Bingham, Hurley Motors in Abingdon do both. Mr Bingham is lucky to be alive after suffering a potentially fatal arrythmia while having his car MoT-tested at the garage
CENTURIES from captain Tom Price and Harrison Ward helped Oxfordshire Under 14s to a poignant 103-run victory over Shropshire ECB in County Cup Group 2. The match at Shifnal CC was Oxon’s first since learning of the death of teammate Felix Byam
DIDCOT Barramundi’s Freddie Wilkinson won a gold medal in the ASA British Gas South East Regional Open Water Championship at Westhampnett Lake, near Chichester. Wilkinson won the 12-year-old boys’ 1,500m to earn an invitation to compete in the
A 40-year-old man was arrested by police on suspicion of prostitution offences after officers were called to Duke Street, off Botley Road, on Wednesday. The man was yesterday in police custody. Officers taped off a flat in the street on Thursday
Commuters faced delays on Thursday and yesterday after roadworks closed one lane of High Street in Oxford. Work carried out by Thames Water outside Magdalen College caused buses to terminate early and long tailbacks in both directions. Traffic
Almost 160 people were caught flouting the 20mph speed limit by driving above 24mph in St Giles on Wednesday. In an hour-and-a-half operation, 159 offences were recorded by officers, the fastest being 45mph. In a similar operation at 8am in
A RESIDENTS’ group is considering making a bid for an outdoor education centre in Oxford in order to save it. Headington’s Friends of Quarry hopes to put in a bid for the centre or may liaise between potential buyers of Stansfeld Outdoor Education
Two fire engines were called to Abingdon Road, Oxford, yesterday after smoke started coming out of a car. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene near Redbridge park-and-ride at around 1.40pm. The smoke was caused by a mechanical
THAMES Valley Police officers go out on the beat knowing every day could bring a new challenge, but some reported incidents in the last few years have been out of this world. Officers received 48 reports of extra-terrestrial or supernatural activity
A 40-year-old man arrested in Spain has appeared in court facing 156 theft and fraud charges. The offences are alleged to have happened at a company in Witney, over a period of three years. Oliver Trusgnach, of Calle can Marti Feluiu, Palma
Cumnor were crowned Oxfordshire Under 13 champions after beating Great & Little Tew by six wickets at Bicester & North Oxford. A massive hailstorm the previous evening threatened to wash out the whole proceedings, but after an hour’s delay
ALEX Davies scored a fluent 69 as Oxfordshire Under 17s posted their third successive ECB Cup victory with a 63-run success away to Bedfordshire at Southill Park. Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire’s players and officials held a minute’s silence before
MATCH NEWS CHRIS Webb took an all-roach bag on hemp and tares on the pole to win Littlemore AS’s R Arnatt Cup with 19lb 4.0oz on the Thames at Sandford. It was the first match of the new river season at the venue and there were some good roach
Oxfordshire's men clinched promotion to Summer County Cup Group 4 with a 5-2 win against Buckinghamshire at West Worthing yesterday. Needing victory to make it three promotions in a row, captain Jon Maskens and Sebastian Rey won both their matches
ABOUT 9,000 people are expected to descend on a West Oxfordshire riverbank for the county’s biggest free music festival this weekend. The 19th Riverside Festival Charlbury will take place today and tomorrow at the Mill Field, off Dyers Hill, alongside
Oxford skaters Natasha Nemeth Knight (15), Maeve Hastings (13) and Alicia Boyer (10) head to Sheffield Arena in November to compete in the national championships. The trio, who train at Oxford ice rink six days a week with former British champion
Oxfordshire athletes won three medals for England in the SIAB Under 17 Under 17 International at Cardiff. Simi Fajemisin (Headington) won a silver medal in the girls’ long jump with a leap of 5.79m. Fajemisin won the English Schools title the
Freeland moved to the top of the Oxfordshire Midweek League with a 24-run win at Charlbury. After being inserted, the visitors made a respectable 104-3 from their 16 overs. Carla Wood led the way with 28 not out, while Rhian Todd (25no) and Suzy
A GARAGE in Abingdon has taken customer service to the next level – they now save people’s lives. When 84-year-old Bill Bingham went in to Hurley Motors on Radley Road to take his car for its MOT, he did not expect to be leaving in an ambulance
BICESTER'S 23 Pioneer Regiment will parade through the streets tomorrow in a farewell to the town where they have been stationed for more than 70 years. From 12.30pm, 150 troops from the regiment, which is being disbanded, will march from St Edburg
AN OXFORD University graduate who set up a fundraising page asking people to help pay for her Master’s degree at Wadham College has received £14,600 in pledges. Emily-Rose Eastop, who graduated from Magdalen College in 2010 with a 2.1 in Human
Bicester Tri Club’s Fiona Clarke finished fifth in the women’s Olympic distance event at the City of Birmingham Triathlon at Sutton Park. The 33-year-old completed the 1500m swim, the 40k bike ride and the 10K run in a time of 2hrs 41mins 24secs
BICESTER Cooper School pupil Owen Murray has been selected by England to shoot at the Commonwealth Euronations Championships in Cardiff from August 1-3. Murray, 14, a member of Bicester Archers, has been part of the GB Academy programme for the
‘WELCOME to Didcot’ said the sign as I drove towards the power station to take a close look at the cooling towers before they are blasted to smithereens. But the ‘Twinned with Meylan’ symbol below appeared to be falling off, perhaps a sign of things
ANYONE who is asleep in Didcot in the early hours of tomorrow can expect to be woken up, if not by the explosion then by cheers from the crowds. Some time between 3am and 5am, 44 years of Oxfordshire history will come crashing down in a cloud of
PAINTER Patrick Cannon feels a familial bond to Didcot power station. Before it was even built his grandfather and great-grandfather farmed those fields. Their company Cannons of Milton helped transport construction materials to put up the
Kidlington's Georgina Polden suffered more misery in round six of the Motul Motostar Championship at Brands Hatch. Last time out, at Knockhill, she crashed on the first lap, but this time electrical problems were her undoing. Qualifying in
Oxfordshire's women have had a week to forget with six defeats from six matches. They were beaten by Northamptonshire and the Netherlands in successive ECB Women’s County Championship Division 3. This was followed by double losses against Hampshire
THE names of 82 men on a town’s war memorial will be read out before a church service to mark the First World War’s centenary. People have been invited to the war memorial outside Wallingford’s Town Hall, in Market Place, before the recital from
