The county fell silent yesterday to remember those who have fallen in conflict.

Even on Cornmarket Street, Oxford’s busy shopping thoroughfare, the majority of people stopped with heads bowed for two minutes on Armistice Day, while the buskers stopped playing.

At the Westgate Centre, the arrival of 11am was announced over the PA system.

Len Denny, 84, from south Oxford, was shopping with his wife Betty in Cornmarket when the bells of Carfax struck the hour. He said: “We wanted to be aware of the time when we came out shopping.

“One or two people did ignore it but that’s their choice. The majority seemed to be taking notice of it, which I find pleasing.

“We are both very aware of what we owe to people who lost their lives in the wars. We are here because people gave their lives for us to be.”

Neil Davis, 55, a war pensioner from Marston who served in Northern Ireland said: “It definitely makes it more poignant having troops in Afghanistan.

“It makes me feel a bit more assured to see people stop in the street and fall silent. It was nice to see. The two-minute silence is important.”

Announcements were made at public buildings across the county. Hearings came to a stop at Oxford Crown Court, although in Court One a barrister carried on typing on his laptop despite Judge Anthony King and others trying to observe the silence.

Elsewhere in the county, a remembrance service was also held at Bicester Village, which was organised by the Royal British Legion where shoppers also stopped in their tracks.

Miranda Markham, community relations director at Bicester Village, said: “A huge crowd of all nationalities had gathered and it was totally silent.

“It was very moving considering they had just come to shop.

“As a mother, I really feel the tragedy that some of the people are going through.”

At St Peter and St Paul Church in Deddington, pupils from the local school gathered with members of the Royal British Legion and local MP Tony Baldry for a service and to launch a book about the parish during war.

Jim Lewendon, of the Royal British Legion, joined the Lord Mayor at Oxford Town Hall to pay his respects.

He said: “I am very pleased that people came to a stop even in the centre of Oxford. What is going on in the world today has caused people to pay more respect to those young lads.”