Archive

  • How an apple a day saved me from cancer

    Teresa Kay was 25 when she was told that she had cancer and warned that without immediate chemotherapy she would be dead within a month. So when she spurned the traditional medical advice and treatment in favour of an organic diet of fruit and vegetables

  • Gigs: May 4 - 10

    The live music line-up in Oxford this week Friday, May 4: Borders Bookshop, Magdalen Street, Oxford: Live jazz. Every Friday in the licensed cafe, 7-9pm 01865 203901. The Mitre, High Street, Oxford: Oxford Jazz Club. Sessions every Friday 01865 552131

  • Farms fear animal ash

    Farmers are opposing plans to dump the ash of thousands of slaughtered animals at a site at Calvert, near Bicester. They say the plan will bring foot and mouth into an area which is free of it. The Government says the ash is safe.

  • Farms fear animals' ashes

    Farmers are opposing plans to dump the ash of thousands of slaughtered animals at a site at Calvert, near Bicester. They say the plan will bring foot and mouth into an area which is free of it. The Government says the ash is safe.

  • Nine injured in chemical spill

    Nine people were taken to hospital today after a major chemical spill following a lorry crash on the A34, near Oxford. The accident closed the road in both directions, causing major delays for rush-hour drivers while emergency services dealt with hundreds

  • No foot-and-mouth ash here, say residents

    Residents are angry that trainloads of ash from carcasses burned in the foot-and-mouth outbreak are being dumped in a landfill site. They say there was no consultation over the arrival of the ash in claypits at Calvert, near Bicester. The landfill site

  • ANGLING: Scots vote is a warning shot

    THE Scottish parliament voted last week in favour of The Protection of Wild Mammals Bill, which may lead to a ban on hunting. You might ask what that has to do with angling? Well, you only need to look on the Internet to see there are some strong anti-angling

  • HOCKEY: Rover rev up for the off

    AFTER what seems like months and months of waiting, the moment is finally here for Rover Oxford Ladies, who tomorrow travel to Bedford for their first ever National League match. Team spokesman Bob Phillips said the girls, who won the South Clubs' League

  • FOOTBALL: Thame aim to haunt Havant

    THAME United are expecting their biggest crowd of the season when they take on high-flying Havant & Waterlooville at the Windmill Stadium in tomorrow's FA Cup second qualifying round tie, writes NICK FARRANT. On Tuesday, Thame extended their impressive

  • Cameron reclaims Witney for Tories

    The Conservatives have regained the Witney seat - once held by turncoat MP Shaun Woodward - with an increased majority. David Cameron gives his victory speechThe party's new candidate, 34-year-old media executive David Cameron, polled 45 per cent of the

  • School run scheme

    A new scheme designed to raise the driving standards of parents and teachers who do the school run is to be piloted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). One in five children injured on the road is hurt during the hours of the school run, which

  • Review: Together at the Phoenix

    As keenly and sympathetically observed as his slightly over-valued Show Me Love, Together is an astute comedy of self-discovery and alternative delusion set in a Stockholm commune in the mid-1970s, writes David Parkinson. There's an abundance of characters

  • Posters vandalised

    A Tory candidate in the county council elections has apologised to supporters targeted by vandals who stole, smashed and defaced his posters. Conservative Charles Langton is battling for the Wantage division with Lib Dem Jim Moley, who is the sitting

  • Hague drops in

    Tory leader William Hague has visited Abingdon to help support Conservative candidate Ed Matts and tell voters that he was still in the business of winning the election, dismissing suggestions that tactical voting could scupper his party's chances of

  • Russian expert joins team

    One of the world's leading experts in magnet technology has uprooted his family to join Oxfordshire's growing scientific Russian expatriate community. Vladimir DatskovMr Vladimir Datskov, 50, has moved with his wife Nina and 14-year-old daughter Olga

  • Home working: Sharon Blaser, food technologist

    A business designed to help anyone who finds they cannot eat certain foods without feeling one degree under is the brainchild of a qualified Kidlington food technologist. Sharon BlaserMs Sharon Blaser, who herself found she could not eat certain foods

  • Home working: Katherine Jones, virtual assistant

    Katherine Jones is doing some secretarial work for her boss - nothing unusual about that, but she is sitting at home in Minster Lovell, while her boss is in the office in London. Katherine JonesMs Jones is a new kind of PA, following a trend that has

  • Foundation work on website

    A builder is urging the construction industry to get hooked up to the Internet to improve their businesses. Mr Ian Hinde, who has 25 years' experience in the industry, has set up a website for Oxfordshire builders and related services. Ian HindeHe said

  • Angels in waiting

    Maggie Hartford reports on a new Government-backed matchmaking scheme which could put entrepreneurs in touch with potential financial backers . . . A blind date system with a difference has been launched by Small Business Minister Mr Nigel Griffiths to

  • Home working: Could it work for you?

    How much of your valuable time did you waste last month? How many fruitless and frustrating hours did you spend in traffic, drumming your fingers idly on the steering wheel, seeing only the back of the slow-moving vehicle in front of you? Or did you wait

  • Mother appeals to hit-run driver

    A mother broke down in tears as she appealed on television for the driver who killed her son to come forward. Jackie Elliston, of Faringdon, appeared on last night's BBC Crimewatch to help catch the driver who drove over her son, killing him. Paul Elliston

  • 'Slow' city loses out on rally

    Slow decision-making cost Oxford the chance to host a major motor rally event, according to the event's organisers. Last November, Oxford city councillors agreed to host the ultimate round of the Formula Rally Series, with the event starting in St Giles

  • Schools chief accepts new job

    Oxfordshire's education director Graham Badman has resigned in the middle of the Oxford schools' reorganisation. Parents are concerned that Mr Badman, who masterminded the scrapping of the city's middle schools, will not see through the complex changes

  • RACING: Reid to call it a day

    OXFORDSHIRE-BASED John Reid, the multiple Classic-winning jockey, has announced his retirement from horse racing at the age of 46. The Ulsterman, who lives at Baulking, near Faringdon, has ridden 48 Group 1 winners worldwide, including the 1988 Prix de

  • Businesses apply for immediate aid

    Small businesses in rural Oxfordshire, which are struggling in the aftermath of the foot and mouth crisis, are set to receive a further boost from the Government. Businesses with a rateable value of £12,000 or under that can prove they have been hit by

  • Rate change 'will not help shops much'

    New Government rules giving rate relief to more village shops will not do much good in Oxfordshire, it is claimed. In addition, regulations to help farmers diversify after the BSE and foot and mouth crises may also not be good enough, according to Oxfordshire

  • Tennis: Devastating North crowned champs

    NORTH Oxford are the Ladies Division 1 champions after beating Abingdon 6-3 in their final game of the Wilson Inter-Club League season. Knowing that victory would give them the title, North cruised to what was in the end a comfortable victory, with only

  • FOOTBALL: Thorne blasts under-achievers

    ABINGDON Town boss Alan Thorne has threatened to ring the changes unless his players change their attitude. He issued the ultimatum during a team talk after their disppointing Ryman League Division 3 defeat against Clapton on Tuesday, which he described

  • RUGBY UNION: Ben out with broken jaw

    CHINNOR'S talented utility back Ben Thompson has broken his jaw and will be out of rugby for at least a month. Thompson suffered the injury while making a tackle during their 29-21 defeat at Bridgwater in South West Division 1 last week. An all-round

  • Smith makes it four in row

    The people of east Oxford gave Andrew Smith his fourth term as their MP. Mr Smith was first elected as Labour MP for the constituency in 1987 and, at 2.30am today in Oxford Town Hall, he was declared the winner again. Just before 3am, Mr Smith was delighted

  • Banbury backs Baldry 'to provide strong opposition'

    Tony Baldry held Banbury for the Conservatives with an increased majority, despite a lower turn-out. Mr Baldry, who is in his 18th year as an MP, won with a majority of 5,019 - compared to 4,737 at the 1997 election. Tony Baldry with wife PippaMr Baldry

  • Jackson back in Wantage

    Dawn was breaking today as Wantage MP Robert Jackson learned he had escaped the fate of so many of his Conservative colleagues in a second election night slaughter. But his tenure of the seat he has held for the past 18 years is now a slimmer one, his

  • Harris tightens grip on seat

    Liberal democrat Dr Evan Harris has held on to his Oxford West and Abingdon seat - with a significantly increased majority. Conservative candidate Ed Matts was forced to admit defeat after winning 15,485 votes, compared to Dr Harris's 24,670. Evan Harris

  • County setback shocks Tories

    The Conservatives lost one of their leading Oxfordshire county councillors as the party's election gloom continued. Douglas 'Choppy' Spencer, the Tory education spokesman, was ousted after 16 years serving Bicester North - the first time the seat has

  • Unruffled Johnson takes Henley seat for Tories

    Boris Johnson has won Henley for the Conservatives with 20,466 votes. Mr Johnson, the editor of The Spectator, saw off the challenge from the Liberal Democrat candidate Catherine Bearder, with 12,008 votes, and Labour's Janet Matthews, with 9,367. Boris

  • The legend is reborn

    Harley-Davidson, which lays claim to the title of the world's oldest motorcycle company, is about to launch its most radical machine in the company's 98-year history. The VRSCA V-Rod, the first member of a new family of Harley-Davidson performance cruiser

  • The number's up for old-style plates

    On 1 September the new vehicle registration mark format for Great Britain will be introduced. The new system will replace the existing one, when the current "Y" prefix expires. The new format will be made up of three elements: A two-letter local identifier

  • Holiday tips to care-free riding abroad

    Oxfordshire holidaymakers should take great care when hiring a motorbike abroad, a leading travel insurance provider has warned. Primary Direct points to its previous claims experience as evidence that this can be an area fraught with risk. Motorcycle

  • Mortgage duping 'joke' criticised

    A row has broken out between politicians after a candidate jokingly told a public meeting that he might have been tempted to dupe his mortgage company when buying his house. The Liberal Democrat candidate for Wantage, Neil Fawcett was replying to questions

  • Traffic-calming becomes a hot topic

    A controversial traffic-calming scheme for Banbury has become a pre-election party political issue. A Conservative councillor has accused Labour councillors of toeing the Government line on transport and ignoring the wishes of local people. Kieron Mallon

  • Oh, Brother I'm so glad to be out!

    Stuart Hosking is gradually getting used to the fact he is a household name. When he used to pick up his daughters Isabelle and Madeleine from Charlton-on-Otmoor Primary School he would chat to other parents and teachers just like any other father, writes

  • June 5: Missing vote forms found

    More than 3,000 missing Oxfordshire postal vote forms have been found by the Royal Mail in a sorting office - in Reading. The mix-up could have left thousands of people across the Oxford West and Abingdon and Wantage constituencies unable to vote. Election

  • How I have grown to love XP

    I have spent the past few months testing Microsoft's next operating system, Windows XP (www.windowsxp.com) for PCs. Being part of the beta testing program can have its ups and downs. Early versions of XP were hideously buggy on my system, although this

  • Increase in clients for advice centre

    THAMES Business Advice Centre (TBAC), which helps new businesses through their first critical years, has reported an increase in clients of 20 per cent during the last year. Chief executive Roger Cowdrey told the organisation's AGM that -- despite the

  • Firms attracted to business parkmaggie.hartford@nqo.com

    AMERICAN motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is among six companies to take space at Oxford Business Park -- site of the old Cowley car works founded by William Morris in 1930. Other names moving into the park include BT, the Government's new National

  • Eminem does the Home Counties

    Shock rapper Eminem will exchange the mean streets of Detroit for the English Home Counties, to headline this weekend's Reading Festival. The controversial cult-figure, who shot to notoriety on both sides of the Atlantic with his highly charged, vitriolic

  • Putting the city on the clubbing map

    Oxford has produced more than its fair share of top flight bands, spawning such giants as Radiohead and Supergrass. But for serious dance music lovers, the city has long been the equivalent of a clubbing wasteland. Clubbers at The Miss Moneypennies event

  • Gigs this week

    Gigs for the week, August 24-31 Friday, August 24 Cricketers Arms, Iffley Road, Oxford: Acoustic open session. 8.30pm. 01865 726264. Zodiac, Cowley Road, Oxford: Bluetones. Indie guitar pop. 7pm. For 16s plus. 01865 420042. Red Lion, Witney: Dirty Earth

  • Get your career back on track

    Most people have a good idea about what a sports coach does, working with individual athletes or sports teams to bring out their best performance, getting them to their peak physical fitness levels and encouraging them to achieve whatever goals and targets

  • JULY30-AUG 3: Holiday club

    Parents of children aged 4-11 are being invited to bring them to a church holiday club. The Ground Breakers club will take place in Wantage Methodist Church Hall. The sessions will run from July 30 to August 3. The cost is £7.50 per child for four mornings

  • Stranded yachtsman phones home for rescue

    A man has helped rescue his father on his yacht off the north coast of Spain -- after receiving an SOS call from his mobile phone. Paul Sims, 34, was at home in South View, Wallingford, when his father Alan alerted him that his boat was stranded off the

  • Sex sells message on fire safety

    Firefighters are banking that 'sex sells' as they try to get across an important safety message to Oxford students. Oxfordshire Fire Service is attending Freshers' Fairs at Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University to get across their message to

  • Bicester man fled New York attack

    A Bicester computer expert has told how he fled the crumbling World Trade Center as it was attacked by terrorists. John Butler was staying in the Marriott Hotel, linked by its first eight floors to the north Tower -- the first to be struck by a hijacked