A 'VERY well-known and liked' councillor who served for 45 years has died. Ex-Cherwell District Councillor Fred Blackwell, an Honorary Alderman, died at the Horton General Hospital in Banbury on Wednesday December 13. He was a councillor for
Travellers remain at a North Oxford park-and-ride site well over a week since they first arrived. Some 20 caravans set up at Water Eaton park-and-ride, near Oxford Parkway station, on Tuesday December 5 and have not yet moved on. The County
A TOWN mayor accused of misusing council funds won a vote of no confidence – but only after she swung a tied vote in her favour. Worries that councillor Lynn Little, who has served as Carterton’s Town Mayor for five years, misappropriated funds
ABINGDON’S B&Q store has applied for planning permission to install new luminescent orange signage.The shop on Fairacres Retail Park wants to replace one set of brightly-coloured signs saying B&Q with a fresh lot.The new designs are largely similar to
THE 'political awakening' of the millennial generation has given the world its 'word of the year'.Oxford Dictionaries has named 'youthquake' as the most influential word of 2017 after a fivefold increase in its usage. Defined by
Two roads in Bicester are still closed almost 24 hours after a gas leak in the town. Thames Valley Police said Causeway and Launton Road were closed this afternoon following the incident. There is congestion in Buckingham Road, Bucknell through
Rita Ora could be excused a little flutter of excitement when she was called up on to switch on the Christmas lights on the nation’s favourite shopping street. “London is my home,” she gasped, “so switching on the Oxford Street lights means a lot
Rita Ora could be excused a little flutter of excitement when she was called up on to switch on the Christmas lights on the nation’s favourite shopping street.“London is my home,” she gasped, “so switching on the Oxford Street lights means a lot to me
John Otway harshly describes himself as ‘rock’s greatest failure’. And with little commercial success after 48 years in the business, some might unkindly agree. He does, however, have two hits to his name, and is now celebrating as the first of them has
John Otway harshly describes himself as ‘rock’s greatest failure’. And with little commercial success after 48 years in the business, some might unkindly agree. He does, however, have two hits to his name, and is now celebrating as the first of them has
NOMINATIONS are now open for the Oxfordshire High Sheriff's Awards. The annual scheme recognises people who have made 'outstanding contributions to the communities in which they live and work.'Nominations should be sent to ella@organisationunlimited.uk
DWIGHT Tiendalli believes he is making progress with every game after admitting Sky Bet League One was tougher for him than the Premier League. The right back had not played for two seasons due to injuries before signing for United in July.
COUNCILS have introduced a new app to allow residents to check waste collection services.'Binzone' is available to download for people living in areas covered by South Oxfordshire District Council and Vale of White Horse District Council.The app
MORE workshops will be held to help autistic children bond with family dogs, thanks to a grant from the Oxfordshire Freemasons. Banbury-based Charity Dogs for Good will spend the £60,000 grant on running its Family Dog Workshops for the next three years.Some
A SCHOOL has coped well with growth in its catchment area, an inspector found.William Fletcher Primary School in Kidlington has kept up its ‘good’ Ofsted rating, following an inspection last month.A report published by the eduction regulator on Tuesday
A FESTIVE exhibition of some of the best art and craftwork by leading artists from across the county is on show at The Oxfordshire Museum.The Oxfordshire Craft Guild’s Christmas selling exhibition, at the museum in Park Street, Woodstock, features the
POLICE Neighbourhood Watch coordinators are being urged to volunteer in Bicester.Kerry O’Leary, Neighbourhood Sergeant for Bicester Town and Bicester Rural, is urging people to come forward.The coordinators are asked to act as a point of contact to receive
A MAN has been banned from Wantage, Grove and Ardington as part of a police order. Thomas Skelton, of no fixed abode, is not allowed to enter the three parishes for five years after repeated criminal behaviour which caused 'significant distress
A POP-up shop selling handmade gifts will support an Oxford mental health charity.Restore will rally funds by opening a shop in Banbury, stocked with gifts and decorations crafted by its service users. The Castle Quay store will open for one day only
ONE of Oxfordshire's oldest residents has died. William Dent Robinson, who was three weeks from his 106th birthday, died peacefully in his sleep earlier this month. The Blewbury resident was the sole surviving member of the original staff of
VISITORS to the Ashmolean Museum can join a tour of its current exhibition Imagining the Divine.The exhibition focuses on the rise of world religions and runs until February 18.The free tour takes place on Wednesday at 3.30pm after meeting in gallery
A NEW youth centre has been opened in one of Oxfordshire's newest villages Heyford Park, near Bicester.The Heyford Youth Centre was officially opened by MP for North Oxfordshire Victoria Prentis on Saturday, December 9, and hopes to provide more activities
THE Cathedral Singers of Christ Church will tomorrow perform Handel’s Messiah.The director is James Potter and there will be guest soloists, and Oxy Baroxy Youth Orchestra.The performance at the cathedral off St Aldate’s starts at 7.30pm and the evening
BENEFIT claimants have been assured of continued help from their district council after the rollout of the Government’s Universal Credit system in West Oxfordshire. The changes, which see several benefits and tax credits merged into a single payment,
BURGLARS smashed conservatory doors to break into a house in Kidlington.Thames Valley Police said the break-in happened between about 11am on Saturday and 12.30pm on Monday at the home in Cherwell Avenue.After breaking the doors the burglars searched
JOSH Ruffels has revealed the secret behind his impressive upturn in goalscoring form. The midfielder’s stoppage-time winner against Doncaster Rovers last weekend was his fifth this season. It is quite a return for someone who had averaged
I hold my brother-in-law wholly responsible for turning a sensible, straightforward day trip into a mileage marathon. The plan was simple. Leave at 8am, spend the day at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley and be home for tea. But as
CELEBRATIONS were in order for the dozens of volunteers across the county who give up their time to read with children.A festive event was staged by children’s reading charity ARCh (Assisted Reading for Children), with about 60 of its 220 volunteers heading
A MEDIEVAL travel guide and a pilgrim’s shoe are among competition entries inspired by medieval manuscripts now on display at the Bodleian’s Weston Library. Redesigning the medieval book, on display until March 11, features the best of over 50 entries
A BESTSELLING author will be signing copies of his new book in Oxford tomorrow. Robert Harris will be at the Blackwell's Bookshop in the Westgate to celebrate the launch of his new novel 'Munich'. The book is set in Germany ahead of the outbreak
IF you're still looking for a unique Christmas present for that special person, how about a bottle of sparkling Hendred 2017? Oxfordshire's newest wine-making couple have just opened a shop at their village vineyard. David and Eileen Bell took
OFFICERS from the Neighbourhood Policing Team will be at Botley Precinct tomorrow and on Sunday.They will hand out crime prevention advice to residents from 8am to 4pm on both days.They will also advise residents on how to make their homes more secure
A CHINESE takeaway which hit the headlines after receiving a zero-star food hygiene rating has made big steps towards turning itself around. Inspectors criticised the Bamboo Garden during a visit over the summer for leaving duck and pork on the
CCTV images have been released after a woman was pushed to the ground when a robber tried to snatch her handbag in East Oxford. The victim was getting off the number 16 bus on Wednesday, October 4, at about 11.10pm at the junction of Cowley Road
THEY say not all heroes wear capes, but in this case they do wear aprons, Christmas hats and festive jumpers.Alyson Clifton, and Stacy Irving, from Ambrosden, have only known each other less than a week but have joined forces to put on a Christmas dinner
WELL that was lucky, wasn't it!When we set our camera club theme last week, Baby It's Cold Outside, and forecast 'some weather' on the way, little could we have known that the entire county was to be brought to a standstill by a blanket
SNOW freezing overnight on Monday made it impossible for Oxford City Council to operate its domestic recycling and waste collections safely on Tuesday. A spokesman for the city council said bin collections have now resumed. Residents with Tuesday collections
THE county council will write to the Government to say Universal Credit has been riddled with difficulties and is 'causing unnecessary hardship to local families'. Most new claimants in Oxfordshire are paid Universal Credit as a result of the
ONE of the county's top tourist destinations has been found to contribute almost £90m to the economy each year.Blenheim Palace's huge financial boost to Oxfordshire was revealed as part of a survey by Oxford Brookes University, as part of a commitment
COUNCIL offices in West Oxfordshire will be closed over the festive period.West Oxfordshire District Council’s Witney office will close at 1pm on Friday, December 22.It will also be closed on December 25, 26, 27 and January 1. Normal opening hours will
NEW plans have been submitted for a controversial 700-home estate on fields near Kingston Bagpuize.Estate agent Savills, working on behalf of St John's College, Oxford which owns the land, has sent a second masterplan to Vale of White Horse District
THE final exhibits for this year’s Artweeks will be shown until tomorrow. Artists and craftspeople from across Oxfordshire have opened up their studios for the multi-venue festival of art, with this weekend seeing the final showings. Work on display today
A POPULAR farm park is holding a week of special events in the run-up to Christmas. Fairytale Farm, which has held its ‘illuminated evenings’ on Saturdays and Sundays since October 14, will be running the events each day from Wednesday, December 20 through
HOUSEHOLDS in West Oxfordshire could miss out on bin collections until the new year after snow and ice caused a knock-on effect for collections.The district council says due to crews catching up on missed collections from earlier this week, garden waste
OXFORD’S central library will open on Monday following refurbishment.The transportation, cataloguing and arrangement of more than 100,000 items has been completed.The revamped library at the Westgate Centre will have a dedicated community space for digital
RESTAURATEUR Clinton Pugh has revealed some eateries in Cowley Road are suffering from the ‘Westgate effect’. Before the shopping centre opened in October city councillor Colin Cook warned that city centre restaurants would have to ‘up their game
SPOTLAND saw one of Oxford United’s best displays last season, but it is unlikely to inspire much confidence in the visitors’ line-up tomorrow. Of the side which started the thumping 4-0 victory in January, only Simon Eastwood began against Doncaster
A REGIONAL Ofsted boss has curbed claims that classrooms are being infiltrated by a tick-box culture.Responding to concerns voiced by several headteachers in Oxfordshire, the regulator insisted school inspectors have pupils' best interests at heart.The
A BUS driver claimed he accidentally hit the accelerator seconds before ploughing into a pedestrian, a judge heard. Cheikh Senghor, of St John's Road, Wallingford, was driving a Reading Buses Purple 17 double decker bus in Gun Street, Reading June
A WOMAN had to be cut free from the wreckage of a head-on crash in East Hendred, near Wantage. Crews were called to the crash between two vehicles along the A417 near to the junction of White Road about 5.35pm. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
KEITH Hill will be expecting his side to make improvements defensively against Oxford United after being “disgusted” with their display last weekend. Only goal difference is keeping Rochdale out of the Sky Bet League One relegation zone after they
JEFFERSON Louis has left Banbury United to join Chesham United.The much-travelled striker, who broke a 50-year-old club record after scoring in the opening seven league games of the season, is set to line up for his new side – who are below the Puritans
JEFFERSON Louis has left Banbury United to join Chesham United.The much-travelled striker, who broke a 50-year-old club record after scoring in the opening seven league games of the season, is set to line up for his new side – who are below the Puritans
HENLEY Hawks have signed Oxford University’s Kieran Ball as they bid to ease their front row problems.The loose-head prop, who played in the Dark Blues 20-10 defeat by Cambridge in last week’s Varsity Match, comes straight into the Hawks side for tomorrow
MILITARY personnel who travelled to the Caribbean to help after the devastation of two hurricanes have been recognised for their bravery. RAF Benson air crew who took part in Operation RUMAN after hurricanes Irma and Maria in autumn were presented
OXFORD City’s players take a well-earned break this weekend after their exit from the Buildbase FA Trophy. After a testing schedule, which has nonetheless seen them stretch their unbeaten league run to six games, boss Mark Jones is happy for his
DIDCOT Town boss Andy Ballard is looking for a quick reaction from his side as they travel to the south coast to take on high-flying Wimborne Town in the West Division of the Evo-Stik South League.The Railwaymen fell to a 2-0 defeat at lowly Mangotsfield
OXFORD United’s training regime this week has been largely unaffected by the snow and ice. A recovery day on Monday was spent in the gym, while Tuesday’s session was switched to the artificial pitch in the dome at the Oxford Academy. By yesterday
A NINE-MONTH traffic 'nightmare' awaits drivers as a major roadworks project prepares to get under way. That was the warning from residents living near Headley Way and Cherwell Drive as plans for the next phase in Oxfordshire County Council's Access
OXFORD United’s players took time out of their busy training schedule to spread some Christmas cheer at the Oxford Children’s Hospital yesterday. The entire squad made the trip to the hospital to give out donated gifts to sick children who face spending
A ‘VITAL’ pharmacy at the heart of an Oxford estate is set to close down next month, leaving residents fearful about their health.Lloyds Pharmacy said ‘NHS England cuts’ have forced it to close in Blackbird Leys Road. The pharmacy, which is used by hundreds
IVO Pekalski has received a big boost in his recovery from a serious injury by returning to Oxford United’s training ground this week. The midfielder ruptured cruciate ligaments in his left knee days after signing from Halmstad in August. After
SATURDAY FOOTBALL SKY BET LEAGUE ONE Rochdale v Oxford Utd. EVO-STIK SOUTH LEAGUE Premier Div: Banbury Utd v Weymouth. West Div: Kidlington v Winchester City, North Leigh v Swindon Supermarine, Wimborne v Didcot Tn. East
