TEDDY bears and their owners tucked into Jubilee treats as people in west Oxfordshire partied into the night to celebrate.

Children gathered in Witney’s Church Green on Saturday for a teddy bears’ picnic in celebration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

They were also able to enjoy rides on a vintage bus from Oxford Bus Museum at Long Hanborough, as well as a balloon race and face-painting.

Pippa and Lulu Stahl-Morris took their teddy bear called Bletchley Blue along and he won a prize for his costume.

Nine-year-old Pippa said: “It was a fun day. We won some china bears and I’m really proud of our teddy bear.”

The party was followed by a barn dance at St Mary’s Church in the evening.

Celebrations in the town continued yesterday with a street party at Marriotts Walk shopping centre.

In Carterton there was a two-day Jubilee celebration, featuring a pig roast, live music and a talent contest.

On Saturday, the event was held at Alvescot Road recreation ground but rain yesterday meant it had to be moved into the nearby Brownes Hall.

St Kenelm’s Church in Minster Lovell was decorated with thousands of flowers over the weekend after parishioners put together floral displays representing some of the major events that have taken place during the Queen’s 60-year reign.

They included the Falklands War, the first flight to the moon and the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Father Adrian Gabb-Jones said: “The standard is extremely high and it is all looking rather fantastic.”

Residents in Hailey held a scarecrow competition to celebrate the Jubilee.

More than 30 scarecrows were dotted around the village. They were judged by the residents of the village’s Middletown Grange care home on Saturday.

Organiser Karl McConville said: “There was supposed to be one scarecrow for each of the Jubilee years, though only 35 were taken up.”

Bampton's annual fundraising shirt race was held on Saturday, with many of the participants dressed in Jubilee-themed costumes.

The race sees teams of two people make their way around the village with one pushing the other in a pram or wheelbarrow. More village Jubilee events take place today and tomorrow.

In Burford a party was held in Sheep Street yesterday to celebrate the Jubilee.

It began at 3pm and included sandwiches, cakes and biscuits.

The town’s Jubilee beacon will be lit at 10pm tonight at the recreation ground.

Woodstock town councillors joined Brownies and members of the Royal British Legion for a parade through the town yesterday as part of the town’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

They paraded from the Town Hall to the parish church at 10.45am for a special service to celebrate the occasion.

  • Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron said yesterday it was “out of the question” that the Queen would ever abdicate.

He added that she was “100 per cent” dedicated and “extraordinarily devoted”.

Speaking on BBC television’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Cameron praised the Queen’s role in advising the many governments which had run the country during her six-decade-long reign.