Protesters took their campaign to save night care services to the steps of County Hall today. Now hear this: Demonstrators take their message to save the night care service to County Hall today They say the move to cut night care from the social services
A headteacher has been singled out for exceptional praise by Government inspectors. Didcot Girls' School, a large comprehensive which enjoys language college status, has been highly praised by inspectors from Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education
Harry Houdini could not have pulled off a better last-minute escape act than Henley in their 18-18 draw against Birmingham/Solihull at Dry Leas. With four minutes of injury time already played and trailing 18-15, the Hawks ran the ball in desperation
West Witney continued their recent spate of losses in South Clubs' League Division 1 with a 3-2 defeat at home to Horsham. However, they could take a great deal of pride from a committed and much-improved performance. Luck was not on Witney's side when
Tony French's strike gave Witney a 1-0 win over Harrow to move a step nearer the safety zone in South League Area Division 2. In a second match, however, they lost 2-1 at home to Leighton Buzzard. Witney defended stoutly through Paul Green and Pat Daniels
Grove kept their promotion hopes alive with a convincing 28-10 victory away to inconsistent Chipping Norton. In their previous match, Chippy had beaten leaders Windsor, but they were never in this game after Grove seeking revenge for the one-point defeat
Oxford United boss David Kemp will not make wholesale changes for tonight's Division 2 game at Peterborough, because he believes the 11 he put out against Colchester was close to his best available team. One possible switch, however, is to bring Dean
A new chief executive has been appointed for Oxford City Council. Marion Headicar, who has worked in local government in London and Leeds, is to replace Bob Block. Labour councillors last year opposed the early retirement of Mr Block, 49, from his 75,000
An elderly man and women were threatened by two men who forced their way into their house and made off with cash and jewellery. The elderly man received minor injuries to his nose in the incident in the Sandhills area of Oxford on Sunday at about 7pm.
Banbury Operatic Society will be staging the classic musical Me and My Girl . The show in Wykham Hall, Banbury School, will feature Michael Seeley and Charlotte Price in the starring roles. Tickets for the performances, which run from February 19 to 24
Banbury failed to lay their away bogey but came out of their 9-3 defeat at Hereford with great credit. Forced by injuries to change three of their threequarters, Paul Cartwright, Stuart Viggers and Sam Adlen were replaced by Alex Stramrood, Chris Fellows
Saturday results for all Oxfordshire sides ENGLISH NATIONAL LEAGUE Div 1: Henley 18, Birmingham/Solihull 18. __________________________ ENGLISH CLUBS CHAMPIONSHIP Midlands Div 1: Hereford 9, Banbury 3. South West Div 2 East: Chinnor 42, Olney 8; Stow-on-the-Wold
A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but would a binman smell or even sound sweeter if he was described as a waste disposal executive? Sticking grandiose titles on mundane jobs has been going on for years, but things reached new levels of absurdity
Landscaped grounds at Culham Science Centre are being marketed as the perfect setting for corporate gatherings, conferences and events. The centre, recently named as the venue for Oxfordshire's enterprise festival Venturefest 2001, is working with Sovereign
Marketing firm Advanced Alchemy is continuing its rapid expansion with a move to new headquarters in a converted church. The step comes after the takeover of rival firm Intelligency for an undisclosed sum. The firm set up in Grove, near Wantage, with
Two Oxford bioscience experts, who clashed over the prospects for a possible new cancer drug, will appear on the BBC2 television series Blood on the Carpet tonight at 9.50pm, writes Maggie Hartford. Dr Andy Millar, 45, was sacked from his top job at British
A pensioner was seriously hurt when a car skidded on ice, struck him and hurled him into the River Thame. The man was hit by a VW Golf being driven by a 25-year-old man from Thame. The injured man, who has not been named by police, lived in Cuddington
An Oxfordshire land owner has dropped his appeal against the county council for compensation for a footpath across the Wychwood Forest, writes Suzanne Huband. Ramblers and local villagers fought a hard campaign for a public right of way through the forest
A Thames Valley team of rescue workers were left behind in England after a mix-up over the mercy flight to India resulted in them being told to go to the wrong airport. The team of ten volunteer rescue workers from the Thames Valley Medical and Rescue
Further attacks on vehicles have prompted police to make a fresh appeal to the public to help them track down the culprits, writes Ben Lloyd. In Wolvercote, Oxford, car windows and lights have been smashed, tyres slashed, house windows broken by stones
Public services are under threat in a town because soaring house prices are driving away young families. Woodstock's reputation as one of the most attractive small towns in Oxfordshire has sent house prices skyrocketing beyond the means of many people
A fifth park and ride scheme for Oxford has been approved - and even more could follow. County transport officials were delighted with the Government's decision that the 800-space car park at the Gosford grain silo site, above, could go ahead, arguing
Australian international Brett Robinson will captain Oxford University next season, when they hope to complete a hat-trick of victories over Cambridge. Brett RobinsonRobinson, who turned 30 last week, beat off a challenge from Luke Sherriff last night
A village is celebrating its 21st annual pantomime. Hansel and Gretel is the choice of Twyford Amateur Dramatic Society for their anniversary production staged over two weekends. Liz Boardman has been associated with all 21 shows, either on stage or behind
Children from three schools helped raise 124 for an animal charity caring for orphaned foxes. The pupils from Cooper School, Bicester Community College and Woodeaton Manor organised a charity ten-pin bowling competition in December to help the animal
Children at Freeland Primary School left their uniforms at home on Friday and came dressed as characters from their favourite books. The school's headteacher Bobby Kay said: "We have Harry Potters, witches and several from Enid Blyton's Faraway Series
Teachers, pupils and governors at a Catholic primary school have been praised by Government inspectors. Staff at St Amand's Catholic Primary School in East Hendred are delighted with a report by the education watchdog Ofsted, which described teaching
Abingdon squandered a two-goal lead at Amersham in Area Division 1 of the South League to go down 3-2. After Amersham hit the post in the first minute, Abingdon took control in the first half. They opened the scoring ten minutes into the match when Neil
A concerted effort by the Chinnor groundstaff to clear the pitch of snow proved worthwhile as their team proceeded to beat Olney 42-8. The league leaders scored seven tries to Olney's one, and if Conor Begley had had his kicking boots on, the scoreline
The BMW Williams Grand Prix team plan to snap at the heels of Ferrari and McLaren with their 2001 challenger, the FW23. A team, led by chief aerodynamicist Geoff Willis and chief designer Gavin Fisher, designed the BMW V10-powered chassis that will defend
Kidlington and Gosford's juniors produced a sustained team effort to retain the Horspath Service Station Novice Challenge Cup. The hosts got off to a perfect start with freestyle wins by the Fowler twins, Ellen and Sam. But their lead was never extended
Centre back Martin Shepherd and midfielder Ben Border return to Abingdon Town's squad as they bid to end third-placed Lewes's unbeaten record in Ryman League Division 3 at Culham Road tonight (7.45). The pair were both unavailable as Town drew 2-2 at
The first of a series of gifts to an old people's home in memory of a Thame landlord has been made. Meadowcroft old people's home in Towersey Drive, Thame, wanted an electronic till for the bar which Michael Davy, landlord of the Two Brewers in North
Witney's prospective parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrats, Gareth Epps, has condemned the lack of spending on rural transport by the Government's Countryside Agency. Mr Epps said: "From this year's budget of 5.8m, the Countryside Agency has
Student Donna Jones has gained the top award in scouting. She was presented with her Queen's Scout award by county commissioner Tim Kidd at a party. Award: Oxfordshire scout commissioner Tim Kidd helps Donna Jones cut the party cakeDonna, 20, of Wootton
A young Banbury dancer has been chosen to join the National Youth Ballet. Eleven-year-old Elizabeth Hoar, of Bath Road, has been offered a part in the NYB's production of The Nutcracker at the Wyvern Theatre, Swindon, in April. Elizabeth, a pupil at Warriner
A Banbury vet, described as a dangerous operator, is being sought by police and the Royal National Institute for the Blind over fund-raising activities. David "The Beast" Shepherd, of the West Bar Veterinary Surgery, will be arrested on February 14. He
Back by popular demand, television comedy stars Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders start a three-date stint at the Apollo Theatre tonight, writes Chris Gray. Famous as the original members of The Comic Strip, the pair went on to work together on Girls
A curious omission from the Mill at Sonning's programme for its new production of Relatively Speaking is the information - surely not without interest to theatregoers - that Lucy Fleming, one of the four members of its cast, is reviving a role originally
Littlemore managed only their second Division 1 win of the season as they won 32-7 at Shire Hall to complete the double over the bottom club. With a constant stream of possession from their forwards, Littlemore notched five tries and would have scored
Spikey-haired superchef Gary Rhodes cooked up a lot of enthusiasm in Oxford. He was at Borders bookshop in Magdalen Street signing copies of his new book, Gary Rhodes at the Table, which accompanies his new TV series. Gary Rhodes in Oxford In it, he delves
Law firm Marshall and Galpin Solicitors has won an international quality award. The practice, based in St Michael's Street, Oxford, joins the three per cent of UK businesses to hold the internationally recognised ISO 9000 certificate. Michael Gorick said
Council tax payers in south Oxfordshire face a six per cent rise on their bills this year to pay for the district council's budget. Finance committee chairman Dr Nick Hards said: "This will mean less than 6 a year on Band D properties and is a very modest
An Oxford woman spoke of her relief today that relatives had escaped unhurt in the Indian earthquake zone. Bhamini Patel, whose husband Kirit runs Bliep chemists in Abingdon Road, Oxford, said she was terrified when she saw pictures of the earthquake
A headteacher has been singled out for exceptional praise by Government inspectors. Didcot Girls' School, a large comprehensive which enjoys language college status, has been highly praised by inspectors from Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education
Student Donna Jones has gained the top award in scouting. She was presented with her Queen's Scout award by county commissioner Tim Kidd at a party. Donna, 20, of Wootton Road, Abingdon, started as a brownie in the same headquarters in Dry Sandford and
