ACROSS Oxfordshire, there are numerous tales of people going that extra mile for their friends, neighbours or complete strangers.

We really are seeing the best of a community rallying around to help, and IT worker Stewart Griffiths deserves particular praise for coming to the rescue of a stranded ambulance crew.

Paramedics had got stuck in Kennington and were unable to reach a pensioner who had fallen and broken her ankle.

Fortunately Mr Griffiths (already doing a good thing in dropping colleagues home) and his trusty 4x4 were on hand to tow the crew up the hill back to solid footing in Cranbrook Drive.

Of course you wouldn’t expect anyone similarly placed to have turned a blind eye to the paramedics’ plight but it is reassuring to know that when help is needed it will be at hand.

The ambulance service is certainly getting plenty of help, with other 4x4 owners lending their vehicles so that frontline paramedics can get to patients not on main routes.

We hope Keith Mitchell, the county council leader who questioned a lack of the British spirit that defeated Hitler, is more reassured about Oxfordshire’s backbone today.