Archive

  • Pre-school closes on high after 44 years

    THE doors will close for the final time this summer at a Bicester pre-school after 44 years. First and Second Step Pre-School currently shares a site in Cemetery Road with St Edburg’s School. The school is relocating to the new Kingsmere Estate

  • Plan to make canalside heritage history

    HISTORIC buildings from the 1800s that made up the former Cherwell Iron Works could be demolished. Banbury company Swan Foundry Ltd, which owns the site, wants to replace the buildings in Canal Street with six industrial units. The current

  • One lane southbound closed on the A34

    A CRASH between two vehicles has closed one lane southbound on the A34, according to traffic reports. The route is closed between the Marcham Interchange and the Milton Interchange and is causing congestion. For automatic updates on this, see

  • Tour rolls in to show off a proud motoring heritage

    A NEW tour will celebrate the life of Morris founder and philanthropist Lord Nuffield and the impact his work had on 20th century Oxford. Tourist group Experience Oxfordshire has teamed up with The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities (TORCH

  • Supermarkets reveal proposals to build new shops

    TWO new supermarkets – an Iceland and a Waitrose – are set to come to Banbury. Applications were made to Cherwell District Council on Monday, January 26, by Iceland Foods Ltd for renovations to a property in Banbury Retail Park, Lockheed Close.

  • Discount store all set to bring jobs plus added competition

    DISCOUNT chain Aldi is to finally open its new store in Didcot next month with the creation of up to 37 new jobs. The supermarket is being built in Lower Broadway on the site of a former gym and foam mattress company. As Aldi managers prepare

  • ADAM ROCKS Air: Rolling on into Mini's world

    IF YOU plan to take on the might of the Mini then you need to raise your game. And the super-successful Oxford-built phenomenon is clearly the target Vauxhall has in its sights with its funky new supermini. Like BMW’s MINI, Vauxhall’s ADAM

  • Generation game for old footballing pals

    ONE Friday in February 1985, a group of friends from Abingdon went to play football. Thirty years on, they have clocked up 1,200 sessions and are still to be found at Radley College sports centre every Friday they can. The friends, who grew

  • UPDATE: Two men taken to hospital after crash near Pear Tree

    TWO men have been taken to John Radcliffe hospital following a six-vehicle crash on the A34 northbound at the Peartree Interchange. Four cars and two vans were involved in the crash, in which blocked all lanes for a period of time and caused traffic

  • Four cars in collision on M40 north of Oxford

    Four people have been injured in a four-vehicle accident on the northbound carriageway of the M40 near Bicester. South Central Ambulance Service said that they were currently assessing and treating four people at the scene, between junction nine

  • Poorly-lit link to centre makes us feel unsafe

    Sir – I am very much in favour of the redevelopment of the Westgate Centre and I am pleased to see that demolition has finally commenced. Working in the construction industry myself, I also subscribe to the adage of ‘you can’t make an omelette without

  • Flood channel will not increase risk downstream

    Sir – Dr Bob Eeles writes from Abingdon (Letters, February 12), understandably concerned that a scheme to alleviate flooding in Oxford might have adverse effects downstream. Two points. First, in the Environment Agency’s own words (January 2015

  • Monorail plan flaws

    Sir – Mr Leach’s proposal for a monorail connecting Witney to Oxford (Letters, February 19) recognises the importance of a non-road link between the two places but has two major flaws. The first is environmental acceptability: monorail systems

  • Shiny experiment

    Sir – On March 10, the west area planning committee will decide whether to accept the shiny stainless steel metal cladding material proposed for the new Exeter/Ruskin building in Jericho. In our opinion, the proposed experimental finishing material

  • Royal prediction

    Sir –The archive photograph that you published on February 19 of the Queen’s visit to the St Ebbe’s excavations in 1968 in advance of the construction of Westgate reminded me of the occasion eight years later when Her Majesty, accompanied by the Duke

  • Steamroller plan

    Sir – The recent Northern Gateway “exhibition” at the Oxford Hotel actually showed us nothing that we haven’t already seen many times before. I was expecting, at the very least, some sort of visual mock-up of how this huge, new development might look

  • Freedom to offend

    Sir – I sometimes feel uncomfortable with the targets satire chooses, and methods it employs, but can’t agree with Mr Emlyn-Jones (Letters, February 26). I certainly don’t believe the law should protect people from ridicule or offence. It is necessary

  • Protecting criminals

    Sir – Edmund Gray and Daniel Emlyn-Jones (Letters, February 26) think the law should be used to enforce respect for religious beliefs; well it hasn’t been very effective with racism or sexism and there is plenty of reason to take offence at class snobbery

  • Make walking easier

    Sir – I’m sure other readers will share my frustration at the issues which blight the quality of life for pedestrians in our towns and villages. Vehicles parked on pavements, inadequate or non-existent pavements, speeding traffic, HGVs travelling along

  • Where will people go?

    Sir – Yes, we would all like more homes for those needing them urgently but are the city and county councils looking at the impact on public transport that all these developments will have? Barton Park with 885 new homes will add about 2,000 more

  • Homes reform needed

    Sir – The 60,000 or so Oxfordshire people who live in leasehold flats or houses may be impressed by the images which the main political parties are putting about before the General Election – but disappointed in how they are applied. Labour emphasises

  • Tinkering with A34

    Sir – The suggestion that the A34 be replaced by a six-lane motorway has been made before -– but how? The A34 is essentially a  series of bypasses, built to take traffic away from villages that it originally passed through. This series of local

  • City should use sites in boundaries for homes

    Sir – We were not surprised to see that councillor Gillespie, South Oxfordshire District Council cabinet member for development and building control, is now on record as challenging the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) figures (Report, February

  • Insult to the fallen

    Sir – We believe that a campaign medal would have been a more honourable and worthy award than the clasp awarded to aircrew only in Bomber Command in 2012 and this is enshrined in law. I continue to press the Government to amend existing legislation

  • Supporting schools

    Sir – It was Lib Dem John Howson who first identified Oxford city schools as the worst-performing in the country at KS1 in 2011. Clearly, something needed to be done. Labour-run Oxford City Council continues to claim that the KRM reading scheme

  • Unhappy Mr Gray

    Sir – Chris Gray’s writings provoke strong and frequently negative reactions from many of your readers, judging by letters that you have printed in recent months. But to photograph the poor chap just after he has read a batch of them and then to

  • Womanity festival offers a diverse agenda

    BUSTING myths about sexual violence and making the perfect song are two of the diverse subjects being discussed at an allday festival. Womanity 2015 will feature a range of interactive talks along with exhibitions and an evening of live performances

  • Squeezing OAPs cash

    COUNTY councillor for Witney Laura Price, in regard to the development of care cost (February 25), says that Oxfordshire County Council is powerless and “have got to comply” with the Care Act 2014. Really? Did the act force the council to charge

  • 'Pots and kettles' Susan

    SUSAN THOMAS (March 2) tells us it is human to err and and continues: “However when politicians say unkind words that is a far worse transgression”. She then proceeds to describe Ed Miliband as inept, accuses him of making a vulgar comment and

  • Stop ducking out PM

    DAVID CAMERON keeps trying to wriggle out of live head-to-head TV debates ahead of the forthcoming General Election. Ed Miliband has again challenged him to name the date, anytime, anywhere. Come on Mr Cameron, stop ducking the debates and defend

  • Those who failed in their duty must be answerable

    AGAIN we see the people at the top not taking the blame following the publication of the Serious Case Review into the Bullfinch scandal. Just stating we have improved our ways of working. This should not have happened to the children. A full

  • Was it murder or was woman buried alive?

    I BELIEVE there is more to the tale than stated in the story about the skeleton found buried at St Cross College (March 2). There may even be a big secret behind it. It is very easy to see, for example, that the woman has not been buried, rather

  • Digital tickets to cut city station wait

    DIGITAL tickets could be introduced at Oxford’s railway stations to relieve queues. Rail companies are considering the move as part of the continuing upgrade of the city’s transport infrastructure. Chiltern Railways said the new technology,

  • 'Pork barrel' politics

    DID I dream it or was it only last month that the Vale Vision dropped through my letterbox proclaiming under “Ten things we have achieved together for Abingdon”, that the Open air swimming pool had been saved for future generations by no less a personage

  • Lib Dems are now just following our position

    I AM delighted to see that three of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidates have promised to challenge the SHMA housing report. With less than eight weeks until polling day, I am pleased that they have now acknowledged the position that all

  • A matter of being outfought and out-thought

    HAVING attended yet another disappointing game, this time against Morecambe on Tuesday, it was clear early on that we were watching another game in which our team were being out-fought and the head coach was being out-thought. I sit in front of

  • Royal coat of arms found at old cottage

    AN ENGLISHMAN’S home is his castle, or so the saying goes. But for David Crabtree and partner Karen Leonard, their labourers’ cottage has gone one step further. As workers knocked down a wall to begin building a two-storey extension, they uncovered

  • Guilty as charged and I've a bit of a confession to make

    THE Covered Market shop that sells art and crafts from Kashmir, Dragon’s Den, was in darkness. To my knowledge it had been for nigh on a month. Neighbouring traders confirmed this. There was a small handwritten note on the glass door. It read:

  • The night I feared for my life from the KKK snipers

    THE 54-mile civil rights march – to ensure black people got the vote in America – left from Selma, Alabama, for the state capital, Montgomery and started 50 years ago tomorrow. When it ended, I was standing along the back of the 25,000-strong crowd

  • Care Minister's plans inspired by Connor

    TEENAGER Connor Sparrowhawk will be given a “lasting legacy” by a public consultation being launched today. The 18-year-old drowned in the bath after suffering an epileptic fit at in-patient learning disability centre, The Slade in Headington,

  • University dons vote against reducing height of Castle Mill

    AN ATTEMPT to reduce the height of the Castle Mill student flats has been thrown out by Oxford University dons. Critics said the blocks blighted views of Oxford’s historic skyline and a report also found 22 views had been damaged by them. Last

  • Michael Appleton upbeat Oxford United's strikers will deliver

    OXFORD United’s attacking resources are the deepest they have been all season, but taking chances remains head coach Michael Appleton’s biggest headache. Defensive improvements have been made in recent weeks – and the grit shown in last weekend

  • Benefit cheats fleeced taxpayers out of £1.3m

    FRAUDSTERS in Oxford raked in almost £1.28m in the past financial year from the public purse. The number of detected cases in the city, including council tax and housing benefit fraud, was five times higher than in 19 neighbouring areas it was

  • Leading choirs will be in tune for performance

    THREE world-leading choirs will join forces tomorrow for the first time for 30 years. Boys from Magdalen College, New College and Christ Church Cathedral Schools will perform together at Christ Church Cathedral in St Aldate’s on Saturday evening

  • Fraud must be tackled to help those in need

    IT IS staggering to think that Oxford is topping tables for the amount of fraud detected. Almost £1.28m was defrauded in the city in the financial year spanning 2013 and 2014. The 970 cases detected makes one wonder just how many aren’t being

  • Joe Riley relishing reunion with Oxford United

    JOE Riley admits Oxford United’s trip at Gigg Lane was one of the first fixtures he looked for after joining Bury in January. The full back spent the first half of the season on loan with the U’s, who were keen to retain the then Bolton Wanderer

  • County to be hotter than Med as temperatures rise

    OXFORDSHIRE looks set to be hotter than the Mediterranean on Saturday as temperatures are set to rise over the weekend. Areas of the county could see temperatures reach up to 14C, whilst areas of the Mediterranean such as Tunisia experience low

  • Nine held in immigration raids in Didcot

    NINE men have been arrested during raids at two restaurants in Didcot, the Home Office has revealed. Home Office Immigration Enforcement visited Indian Dream restaurant, in Wantage Road, and Sun Koshi Tandoor, in Broadway. Officers spoke to

  • Your News Day: Friday, March 6

    8:39pm   Take a (cat)walk through our picture gallery from the Oxford Fashion Week lingerie show     4:26pm Tilal Mahdi has been jailed for

  • UPDATE: Two cars flip over in separate crashes in Oxford

    TWO cars were left on their roofs after flipping in separate crashes this morning. A car overturned on the A40 westbound between Cassington and the Wolvercote Roundabout. A spokeswoman from South Central Ambulance Service said: "We were called

  • Oxford United boss envious of Bury's stable ship

    MICHAEL Appleton admits he is “almost jealous” of the stability tomorrow’s opponents Bury have enjoyed this season. The Oxford United boss has overseen a testing first campaign in charge where he has rarely named a settled side. It was a similar

  • FIXTURES: March 7-11

    SATURDAY FOOTBALL SKY BET LEAGUE TWO Bury v Oxford Utd. VANARAMA CONFERENCE NORTH Oxford City v Colwyn Bay. EVO-STIK SOUTHERN LEAGUE Premier Div: Banbury Utd v Chippenham Tn. Div 1 South & West: North Leigh v Taunton

  • POINT-TO-POINT: Hill looks for Ravethebrave to start on a high

    Aston Rowant trainer Alan Hill is expecting a big run from Ravethebrave at Kingston Blount’s opening meeting of the season tomorrow (1pm). The 11-year-old gelding is among a small, but select entry for the men’s open at the Kingston Blount Racing

  • Parkinson's centre given £6m to help it find cure by 2020

    SCIENTISTS hope a potential cure for Parkinson’s Disease could be developed in Oxford by 2020 after a research centre won £6m of extra funding. The Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre (OPDC) has been given the money by national research charity Parkinson

  • Cash will help find a Parkinson's cure

    ALONG with Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s is one of the fastest growing diseases in our population. What great news it is then that Oxford could be the place that a cure is eventually developed. Thanks to a £6m boost, the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease

  • Museum strikes gold with a £100k boost

    A WINDFALL of nearly £100,000 has been granted to the Museum of Oxford from the Arts Council. The museum is one of 108 organisations to have been successful in the latest round of the Museums Resilience Fund, which enables museums to become more

  • TENNIS: Oxon girls avoid the drop from County Cup

    Oxfordshire's under 18 girls have avoided relegation from Division 5 of the AEGON County Cup. A 7-2 win over Shropshire on the first day of the tournament in Grantham proved crucial. Two wins across the three days from Asha Badiani, Taysie

  • FOOTBALL: Justin Merritt demands victory from Oxford City

    THREE points are essential for Oxford City tomorrow afternoon as they host struggling Colwyn Bay in Vanarama Conference North, according to general manager Justin Merritt. City missed the chance to move to within two points of the play-off places

  • Bullfinch: No evidence of grooming, says Tory councillor

    THE former lead councillor for children’s services at Oxfordshire County Council said she saw no evidence of grooming prior to Operation Bullfinch. Conservative Louise Chapman made the claim yesterday following the publication of the Serious Case

  • Modest supermum honoured for her devotion to her brood

    SUPERMUM Laura Halls dedicates almost every waking minute to looking after her four children. The Greater Leys resident, who wakes at 5am every day to look after her children, two of whom have extra care needs, has been recognised with a national

  • FOOTBALL: Didcot eye double derby delight

    DIDCOT Town joint manager Ian Concannon is relishing tomorrow’s trip to local rivals Wantage Town in Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West. The Railwaymen have the chance to do the double over their struggling hosts, having beaten

  • Five found guilty in Banbury sexual abuse trial

    FIVE young men from Banbury have been convicted of committing a range of sexual offences against six teenage girls. Yesterday a jury at Oxford Crown Court returned 16 guilty verdicts after more than two days of deliberating. Prosecution barrister

  • ATHLETICS: Lawrence Clarke bids to lead by example in Prague

    Lawrence Clarke declared himself honoured to be captaining Great Britain at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Prague this weekend, writes Stuart Weir. The 24-year-old, from Christmas Common, near Watlington, heads a 31-strong squad

  • Play footgolf with ex-Oxford United players for charity

    OXFORD United are supporting a charity footgolf day next month and are encouraging supporters to sign up. The sport sees players kicking footballs around a custom-built golf course, with oversized holes. It will be held at Hinksey Heights and

  • TENNIS: North Oxford take over at the top

    North Oxford went top of Ladies Division 1 in the Thames Valley Winter League after an 8-0 win over Banbury West End. Closest rivals Oxford City drew 4-4 with Virgin Active to hand North the initiative. RESULTS Ladies Div 1: Cholsey 6,

  • Guns N' Roses legend rocks out with teen's band

    THREE Witney teenagers have been living the dream by playing their latest single with one of their guitar heroes. The young musicians, who first got together at the Witchwood School of Rock, performed their single on Monday with Guns N’ Roses guitarist

  • Risinghurst cycle crossing complete four days early

    WORK on a pedestrian crossing in Risinghurst has been completed ahead of schedule following residents’ fears over delays. The crossing near Kiln Lane, which links Risinghurst to Quarry, was being developed into a toucan crossing by Oxfordshire

  • New church wing built to serve a wider community

    FINISHING touches are being made to a twostorey church extension that will create a busy community hub for parishioners. Congregation members at St Andrew’s Church, in Linton Road, Oxford, raised more than £2m for the scheme, called the ‘Jubilee