WALLINGFORD Market Place will be packed with people today for the town’s annual St George’s Day celebrations – one of a number of events across Oxfordshire.

St George’s Day has been an important fixture on the town’s calendar in recent years and although Monday is the official day of celebration, people in Wallingford are marking the occasion today so more people can join in.

Town councillor Lynda Atkins said: “Although this has only been part of our calendar for a few years, it does feel like a Wallingford tradition now. It’s an example of the way the town, led by the Wallingford Partnership, gets together and has a great time.”

The celebrations run from 11am to 3pm in Market Place and will feature bell-ringing from St Mary’s Church, a town crier competition, and Abingdon Town Morris Dancers.

Market Place will be closed to traffic from 10am to 4pm to allow stalls to be set up and cleared away.

In Oxford, the St George’s Day Civic Service takes place tomorrow at 10.30am at St Michael at the Northgate Church in Cornmarket Street. Then at 4pm, the Oxford Spires Scout Fellowship’s annual St George’s Day service will take place at Oxford Castle, off New Road.

Villagers in West Hagbourne, near Didcot, have been celebrating St George’s Day by making dragons and placing them in different locations throughout the village.

Last year, for the first time, Icknield Way Morris Men danced on Dragon Hill, near Uffington, which, according to folklore, is where England’s patron saint slew the dragon. This year they will celebrate on Monday at the Fox and Hounds in Uffington at 8pm.