Councillors have demanded an investigation into why millions of pounds from Oxfordshire County Council's pension fund is invested in tobacco firms. Their calls have been backed by the public service workers union, Unison, which claims it is hypocritical
Hikers are being urged not to leave valuables in their cars near Thame beauty spots following a spate of thefts. Ten cars have been broken into and items stolen since the start of January. Area beat officer Graham Martin said he thought thieves may have
Four players, who figured in Oxford's drawn Varsity Match with Cambridge at Twickenham in December, have been picked in the Dark Blues' squad for the rugby league equivalent at Richmond next Wednesday (7.30pm). And, for the first time, the rugby league
Give us a break . . . that's the message from Oxford United boss Ian Atkins, who believes his side just need a change of fortune to reignite their promotion charge. Their quest for automatic promotion has faltered in recent weeks with three successive
A shop assistant has spoken of her anguish after she was attacked while trying to move on a group of youths throwing bottles. Ann Marchbank was in hospital for three days and had to undergo surgery after her jaw was broken in three places. She also had
RT Harris Oxford City FA: Phil Stokes bagged a brace as Real Islip swept aside Bullnose Morris Res 5-1 in the Doug Hobbs Cup semi-final at Rover Cowley. Stokes gave Islip an early lead and they never looked back with further strikes by Kevin James, Mark
Witney & District FA: West Witney's title hopes suffered a massive setback when they were soundly beaten 3-0 by Hanborough in the Premier Division. First-half strikes from Lee Williams, Matt Herrin and Martin Lambourne sent West crashing to defeat
A soldier who punched a sergeant in the face after an alleged racist remark told a court he was acting in self defence. Rafaele Tatawaqa, 23, of Dalton Barracks, Abingdon, has denied causing grievous bodily harm to Sgt Jason Swift during an assault in
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis will be in Bicester on February 26 to discuss the Government's controversial asylum policy. About 300 residents are expected to turn out for the Question Time-style meeting at Bicester Community College, in Queens Avenue
A businessman is turning the clock back to Victorian times and installing gas lights at his home because his electricity supplier is so unreliable. Trevor Taylor, who lives in the village of Spelsbury, near Charlbury, says he is fed up with being plunged
Learner driver Peter Giles turned up for his driving test to find it had been cancelled because of industrial action by examiners. The 17-year-old from Eynsham, pictured, arrived at the Banbury centre to take his driving test just before 3.30pm on February
Pensioners who are angry about cuts to a bus service have called on the county council to step in and subsidise it. They want Oxfordshire County Council to run Oxford Bus Company's No. 16 bus, which has been re-routed away from Oxford's Abingdon Road
Nissan is launching a special version of the new Micra to mark its first birthday. The XS, which is priced from £8,795 including free insurance, is based on the S grade, with 15-inch alloy wheels, a rear roof spoiler, body coloured electric door mirrors
Renault will unveil its new concept car, called Wind, at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show in March. The objective of the roadster is to test public reaction to a compact, soft top, perhaps to be made by Renaultsport, who produce the high performance versions
It's not only motorists who don't like Mondays, their cars are reluctant to start the week as well. Cars are more likely to break down on a Monday than any other day , the AA said. It added that battery failures continue to be the top cause of breakdown
Agency nurses in Oxfordshire's major hospitals are costing more than £30,000 a day, despite a drop in staff vacancies. The number of temporary staff being employed at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Radcliffe Hospital, and at
Henley MP Boris Johnson has tripled his MP's salary through journalism and writing. The Tory earned more than £100,000 on top of the £53,000 he gets for representing his constituents. That is without declaring how much he earns to edit the Spectator.
Supermarket giant Tesco says there is no space in the two One Stop stores it has taken over in Witney for post offices. A campaign to save the post offices, in Cogges and Fettiplace Road on the Windrush estate, was launched when Tesco announced the closure
for students! Danny Wise scored twice as Oxford City overcame Oxford University 5-1 in their Town v Gown contest at Court Place Farm last night. City's other goals came from Neil Champelovier, Andy Prescott and Jemaine Ferreira, with the students' only
Abingdon Amblers had good cause for celebration as they came back from the British Masters Indoor Championships in Cardiff with a clutch of medals. Jackie Charles took pride of place as she claimed three golds and two silvers in the over 60 category.
Oxfordshire Senior League: Dan Leggett smashed a second-half brace as third-placed Oxford University Press stretched their unbeaten Premier Division run to 12 matches with a 3-1 win at strugglers Haddenham United. But they did it the hard way, fighting
North Berks League: Third division Appleton sent high-flying Division 1 outfit Ardington & Lockinge crashing out of the North Berks Cup with a shock 5-2 victory in the quarter-finals. Gary Wilson and Paul Wilson did the damage with doubles, while
Police were called after about 400 people held an illegal rave in a Banbury warehouse, but officers let the clubbers carry on. A member of the public alerted police as vehicles gathered outside the empty building in Beaumont Close shortly before 1am on
Police in north Oxfordshire are warning residents to be on their guard after a spate of thefts from gardens. Over the past three months, there have been 49 thefts in the northern Oxfordshire police area, which includes Kidlington, Bicester, Banbury and
Headington Roadrunner Allison Hirst led home the Oxfordshire contingent in the women's race at the English Cross Country Championships in Leeds on Saturday. Hirst finished in 34th place, crossing the line in 35mins 23secs. In the men's race, Kevin Murphy
Mondeo Man has real reason to smile. Despite tough opposition from the likes of the Vauxhall Vectra, Citroen C5, and Renault Laguna, to say nothing of Peugeot's new offering, the fearsome 407, the Mondeo is in the best shape ever to face 2004. New engines
Oxfordshire's largest NHS hospital trust is set to break even only a year after incurring debts of £21m. Staff at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust have fought hard to make savings of £15m since the beginning last April, when they were forced to
University lecturers went on strike in protest at their salaries and a proposed new pay framework. Members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), some of whom are pictured above, staged a demonstration on February 24 outside Oxford University's
Anxious pub landlord Alan Burgess is worried about whether girlfriend Miranda Baxendale will propose to him on February 29 -- the day women traditionally pop the question. Mr Burgess, of The Turnpike in Woodstock Road, Yarnton, and Bob Maher, of The Trout
Oxford has shot up a league table of TV Licence dodgers, with 1,489 evaders caught out last year. After coming 13th in TV Licensing's League of Shame for the South East the previous year, it is now in fifth place. The 36 per cent increase in the number
Oxford speedway boss Nigel Wagstaff has added the impressive up and coming American youngster Ryan Fisher to his 2004 squad. Fisher, who first impressed the Oxford management with a string of strong performances for his club and two excellent guest appearances
Subaru is set to surprise performance fans with the unveiling of a concept version of the new Legacy 3.0R saloon. Displayed purely as a prototype, the all-wheel drive teaser, being shown at the Geneva Motor Show will have the same six-speed manual gearbox
UP TO 80 jobs have been axed at a hi-tech Oxfordshire firm, just months after a German company took control. The redundancies at Oxford Magnet Technology were announced despite bosses claiming there would be no job losses when it was wholly taken over
