Archive

  • Eviction threat curbs attacks

    Vandals stopped pelting buses in Barton with stones after parents learned they could be evicted for breach of their tenancy agreement as a consequence of their children's actions. Police and Oxford City Council issued the warning to tenants following

  • House prices down again

    House prices in Oxfordshire continued to fall during the last three months of 2003 compared with the previous quarter, according to new figures. The Land Registry statistics show the average price of a house sold between October and December was £229,675

  • Why we must stop this pay jamboree

    I am astounded that Oxfordshire County Council chief executive Richard Shaw and other senior managers are in line for pay rises of up to 15 per cent (Oxford Mail, February 5). The pay of senior managers at the county council has gone up dramatically in

  • Biker killed at crash blackspot

    A motorcyclist has been killed at a notorious accident blackspot. The man was riding towards Nettlebed on the A4130, near Gangsdown Hill, when he crashed at 9.40am on February 7. Police want to talk to the drivers of an old-style estate car and a box

  • February 6: Bird-brain experts

    Why must scientists always try to debunk our long-held and cherished beliefs? It was bad enough introducing the 'big bang' theory when for centuries we had been happy to believe God made heaven and earth in six days and took Sunday off. Now they are saying

  • February 7: Hero by a mile

    Fifty years ago, he was every schoolboy's hero. The tall, long-legged Oxford student with the floppy hair thrilled the world when he broke the athlete's version of the sound barrier at the Iffley Road ground in Oxford. Roger Bannister's name and those

  • Crossing demanded

    Pensioners in wheelchairs or scooters would welcome a zebra or pelican crossing being put down to help them get over a busy Bicester road. The idea for a second crossing in Churchill Road came from town councillor John Cozens, following improvements made

  • Party Fun at Bistro

    It was a proper ladies' night out at Witney's newly opened Bistro 35 restaurant where we arrived on our first visit - I am sure it won't be the last - to find a party of no fewer than 30, with nary a lad among them, ranged along each side the balloon-bedecked

  • Bella Pasta, George Street, Oxford

    Mama mia - a dish to cry over before the opera A night at the opera, and Rosemarie is in tears even before we get there - not over the coming demise of the hapless heroine but because of the heat of the dish she is trying to eat next door to the Oxford

  • Bath Place Hotel and Restaurant, off Holywell

    The refined Bath Place belies its odd description in top guide... MORE SEDATE THAN SIZZLING While I am the first to applaud owners Kathleen and Yolanda Fawsitt on the award of the accolade of Oxfordshire Restaurant of the Year to their historic Bath Place

  • Football: Lewis strikes at death

    East Thurrock 1, Oxford City 2: A late goal from Kevin Lewis saw City record their eighth away win of the season in Ryman Division 1 North on a quagmire of a pitch at East Thurrock on Saturday. Playing with the wind at their backs, City had an early scare

  • Football: Heapy keeps Didcot bubbling

    Cherry Red Records Hellenic League: Wootton Bassett Tn 0, Didcot Tn 1 Didcot maintained their 100 per cent record in 2004 and stayed four points clear at the top of the Premier Division after Saturday's hard-earned win. On a heavy pitch, Didcot should

  • £13bn air tanker contract agreed

    A European consortium has been named as the preferred bidder for a £13bn contract to supply refuelling aircraft to the RAF, which will be based at Brize Norton. There were two bidders for the deal, which will create about 600 jobs at the west Oxfordshire

  • MP calls for anti-protest fund

    Oxfordshire MP Dr Evan Harris is pressing the Government to protect Oxford University against the cost of animal rights campaigns and demonstrations. The Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon was responding to threats from the National Anti-Vivisection

  • Eviction threat curbs attacks

    Vandals stopped pelting buses in Barton with stones after parents learned they could be evicted for breach of their tenancy agreement as a consequence of their children's actions. Police and Oxford City Council issued the warning to tenants following

  • Driver jailed for killing refugee

    A bus driver has been jailed for 18 months for killing an asylum seeker who fled his home country after being beaten by the Taliban. Alexander Briant, 21, drunkenly shoved the 22-year-old Afghani in the chest for 'smirking' at his girlfriend during a

  • Man jailed for child porn

    A man found with almost 600 indecent images of children has been jailed for three months and will then spend three years on licence. Martin Gunn, 34, of Beech Road, Wheatley, pleaded guilty in December to possessing 596 images, which police discovered

  • Football: Drama as Kidlington defy leaders Purton

    Kidlington 2, Purton 2: Kidlington held Division 1 West leaders Purton to a deserved draw in an entertaining match at Yarnton Road. The home side led at the interval thanks to a penalty from leading scorer Luke Holden after Lee Cook had been upended in

  • Results: All the weekends sports results

    NATIONWIDE LEAGUE Div 3: Leyton Orient 1, Oxford Utd 0. RYMAN LEAGUE Div 1 North: East Thurrock Utd 1, Oxford C 2; Thame Utd 8, Enfield 0. Div 2: Abingdon Tn 2, Ware 1. DR MARTENS LEAGUE Eastern Div: King's Lynn 4, Banbury Utd 1. UMBRO ISOTONIC SOUTH

  • Review: Something's Gotta Give (PG)

    Perennial bachelor Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) has never dated a woman his own age. In fact, if a woman is over 30, he's just not interested. Harry much prefers the company and attention of younger women and is completely infatuated with his latest

  • Football: Banbury are well beaten

    King's Lynn 4, Banbury Utd 1: Banbury United were well beaten by a strong King's Lynn outfit who stormed to the top of the Dr Martens Eastern Division on Saturday. Backed by a 700-plus crowd, King's Lynn went on the attack almost immediately, with Banbury

  • Football: Ware trio sent packing

    Abingdon Tn 2, Ware 1: Abingdon Town were made to sweat for victory against a Ware side who had three players sent off in Saturday's stormy Ryman Division 2 fixture. Former Oxford United winger Joey Beauchamp, making his return in a Town shirt, raced

  • Football: Terrific Thame go on goal rampage

    Thame Utd 8, Enfield 0: Alex Stewart bagged a brace as Thame United got back to winning ways in style with a demolition of Ryman League Division 1 North strugglers Enfield. Mark West's side, who earlier in the season thrashed the same opponents 5-0 away

  • February 9: The root problem

    Embarassment is nothing new to Oxford City Council. The fact that artists' impressions of a re-vamped Bonn Square were released by mistake merely confirms the belief that all too often the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. But this

  • Review: Big Fish (PG)

    "In telling the story of my father's life, it's impossible to separate fact from the fiction, the man from the myth. The best that I can do is tell it the way he told me . . . it doesn't always make sense, but that's what kind of story this is." Will

  • Review: Lost in Translation (15)

    Famous American movie star Bob Harris (Bill Murray) is in Tokyo to shoot a lucrative commercial for a popular Japanese brand of whisky. Despite constant attention from his host, the obsequious Ms Kawasaki (Akiko Takeshita), Bob feels desperately alone

  • Trainers win honour

    Oxfordshire horse trainer Henrietta Knight and her husband Terry Biddlecombe have been awarded for their outstanding contribution to sporting life in the region. The top national hunt trainers, based at stables in West Lockinge, near Wantage, were honoured

  • GP letter pulled

    People in Oxford have received official letters threatening to remove them from the care of their local doctors unless they send back personal information. More than 300 households in the city have had the letters which one resident likened to a 'Big

  • MP Boris offers support

    Henley MP and Spectator editor Boris Johnson was impressed with what he saw during a visit to Victim Support Oxfordshire. Mr Johnson, who has been shortlisted in the British Press Awards as columnist of the year for his Daily Telegraph column, chatted

  • Library officially reopens

    Residents, staff and teachers have hailed the new-look Blackbird Leys Library as a wonderful facility for the community. The refurbished library, funded with £174,000 each from the Learning and Skills Council and Oxfordshire County Council, features a

  • Football: United need Alsop tonic

    Julian Alsop looks certain to come straight back into the side following his five-game ban after Oxford United lost 1-0 at Leyton Orient on Saturday - their second successive away defeat. The big centre forward will return for Wednesday's home game against

  • Peers? This is not the school I know

    Both my sons went to Peers School at Littlemore, Oxford, then on to university. I do not recognise the school that Ken Beames insults (Oxford Mail, January 31). Peers received A grades for added value in 2001 and 2002. In 2001, it had the most improved

  • Joyriders have run of Barton estate

    I live at Barton, Oxford, and have seen joyriders on mopeds and in cars. I know this goes on all over the place, but I have now lost faith completely in the police. My husband called a police number from the directory and was promptly cut off when he