An Easter Egg hunt for children with disabilities is to be a joint effort between the Oxfordshire Playbus and the Thomley activity centre near Thame. Up to 60 children will have the run of Thomley's site finding clues, which will lead them to Easter goodies
An Oxford postal worker has spoken of the intimidation and threats to his family he has suffered at the hands of colleagues in the build-up to the latest wildcat strike crippling the city's deliveries. The man, a Rastafarian, claimed he had been involved
A teenager who slashes herself with razors to stem depression says she could be dead before receiving vital treatment at an Oxford hospital. Laura Hilsdon, 17, pictured, cuts her arms and legs up to 100 times every couple of days. Despite being assessed
As a smoker, can I reply to to David Scott's self-rightous, sanctimonious rant, Clean up our dirty park (Oxford Mail, March 23)? Bury Knowle Park at Headington, Oxford, was a beautiful park when it had a head gardener and staff solely employed there,
A popular Kidlington school caretaker and keen painter has died aged 68. Alex Vincent, known to his family and friends as Vince, passed away in Sobell House on March 21 following an 18-month battle with cancer. Born in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire,
Traders in Wallingford are being urged to report all crime to the police -- no matter how trivial -- in the hope of boosting the police's profile in the town. The chairman of Wallingford Business Partnership Pat Hayward, said crime in the town was much
Staff at a pub company are waiting to find out if their jobs have been axed after a takeover bid from a major rival was approved. Enterprise Inns wants to shut down the Thame head office of the Unique Pub Company after the £609m deal was approved by shareholders
Fears are growing over cuts in health service cover for Wantage, Grove and surrounding villages. The loss of services was highlighted after a plea to site a new £4m NHS treatment centre in the area was dismissed. Zoe Patrick, county councillor for Grove
Autotype UTV League: Saxton Rovers' keeper David Hawthorne was the hero as his late penalty save helped the league's representative side to a 1-0 win over their High Wycombe Sunday Combination rivals. Hawthorne, who also kept out the follow-up, performed
Baden Sparkes's Carterton team saw their bid to reach the quarter-finals of the EIBA triples foiled by an eight-shot blast from Phil Dickens's Nottingham side at Melton Mowbray on Tuesday. There was an early shock for Sparkes and his clubmates Sammy Timms
The funeral has taken place of a popular pub landlord who also worked as a builder's foreman. Milton Walker, known as 'Micky' to his family and friends, had already worked for Hinkins and Frewin builders for more than quarter of a century when he was
Morrells of Oxford Sunday League: Star Royal wrapped up their Premier Division campaign in style with a fine 5-1 victory at Sam Waters Cup finalists Star Wanderers. In a programme reduced to just nine games by postponements, Royal's victory was built
Artist Richard Hamilton has opened an exhibition of his work at Oxford Brookes University. The collection is on show at the university building named after him 15 years ago, and features prints illustrating James Joyce's Ulysses. Mr Hamilton, pictured
Studley Wood, who came so close to winning the Shaw & Co Oxfordshire Foursomes League title last year, earned a battling draw at Ellesborough in the first match of their new Section 1 campaign. Austin Siggers and Simon Bulman won for Studley, with
Fifty years after Brendan Behan's The Quare Fellow signalled the arrival of a major new writing talent, the Oxford Stage Company's offers a timely revival that proves what a truly great play it is. Opportunities to see it are few and far between. This
One of two dogs stolen from a house in Marcham, near Abingdon, has been found -- but a greyhound is still missing and the owner fears it may be used in illegal hare coursing. The dogs belong to Daphne Ellender, of Mill Farm in Mill Road, and were stolen
A police officer has been charged with causing the death by dangerous driving of an Oxford Brookes University student. Pc Steve Norman, 44, based in Oxford, is charged with causing the death of Emily Higson, 22, who was knocked down in Cowley Road, near
monkey lab job' Anti-vivisection campaigners claim they have persuaded a major building materials company to withdraw from Oxford University's project to build an animal research centre. Oxford campaign group Speak asked Travis Perkins to pull out of
The Government survived a rebellion by Labour MPs when opponents failed to block ministers' plan for university top-up tuition fees of up to £3,000. A rebel amendment, which would have kept tuition fees at the current flat rate of £1,125, was defeated
Tony Blair has promised an Oxfordshire MP to look into the county's problems with the NHS. He was tackled at Prime Minister's Questions on the issue by Tony Baldry. The Banbury MP said that already children's services and mental health services in his
Cyclists welcomed the official opening of a £375,000 cycle track from Horspath to Oxford. County councillor Anne Purse opened the 1.5 km track which was completed in December. Anne Purse cuts the ribbons She said: "I personally campaigned for this for
Granite slabs from the failed scheme to repave Oxford's Cornmarket Street are to be used in the £34m redevelopment of the Castle site. The stone, imported from China, was intended for Cornmarket, but the project was halted at the end of 2001 after cracks
Chris Hackett is hoping the arrival of Graham Rix will ensure his frustrating season ends on a high. The 21-year-old speed merchant was very much the forgotten man under Ian Atkins, and did not start a league match under the now suspended manager. However
Concerns are growing over long-term plans for an express park-and-ride service between Abingdon and Oxford. The scheme has received a cool reception from Abingdon town councillors who criticised the proposal for its "lack of focus" with other transport
Berinsfield ABC prospect Michael Rendell chalked up a brace of impressive victories during a busy week of travelling for the Oxfordshire gym. The 16-year-old featherweight imposed a standing count from an unanswered flurry of punches during the middle
Staff at a Bicester hairdressing salon have been asking customers to match hairdressers with their baby pictures. The competition is part of a month-long fundraising campaign organised by stylist Sandy Butler, pictured, of Headmasters, in Market Square
Karl Bushell is the Oxford & District Lea- gue's individual champion once again after beating Fraser Harris in the Division 1 final at the Forum, Kidlington. Bushell ran out a 11-7, 11-9, 11-6 winner against his Forum teammate. Clive Morris (St James
Oxford Silver Machine boss Nigel Wagstaff drew plenty of positives from his side's 53-40 defeat at Wolverhampton in Monday's opening Elite League meeting of the season. Wagstaff believes his young side, with Niels-Kristien Iversen and Emil Kramer emerging
St John's Roman Catholic Church in Banbury will remain open, despite the shock resignation of priest Father Bede Walsh. A church spokesman said that temporary priests would take services, and that other activities such as educational programmes and the
Hiring consultants for Oxfordshire County Council now costs £6.3m -- an increase of more than £1m from last financial year. Liz Brighouse, leader of the council's Labour group, is calling for a review of the use of consultants after an analysis of fees
There is an increasing temptation for councils to hire consultants. The Labour opposition group on Oxfordshire County Council is right to call for a review after it was revealed that consultancy fees topped £6m in the last financial year. There may be
The NHS has teamed up with the county Drug and Alcohol Action Team and voluntary groups to combat drug abuse among young people in the Didcot area. Didcot presently has the highest incidence of drug abuse of any town in the local area, including south
An Oxfordshire woman is enjoying the sweet taste of success after being plucked from obscurity to become chief taster for Ribena, which has insured her tongue for £1.1m. Emily Swinburn, 22, pictured, of Bure Park, Bicester, was studying English at Exeter
Rail passengers in Oxford were invited to toast the new operator of their train services on April 1. From 2am, Thames Trains was replaced by First Great Western Link. Commuters passing through Oxford station were offered free Buck's Fizz and chocolates
What Brian Fisher (Oxford Mail, March 26) and we at The Oxford Bus Company want are exactly the same -- the best possible service for our passengers. We don't want to leave anyone at a bus stop. We want them on board with us! It is a fine balance between
County workers would rather work without their boss and a lunch break than without their computer. Despite a spate of high-profile businesses threatening to ban the use of email, 53 per cent of workers in the county said they couldn't survive for even
People using recycling centres over Easter are being urged to avoid peak times to relieve tension on busy roads. Traffic chaos and road rage have become the annual nightmares of Easter and managers of Oxfordshire's recycling sites fear that congestion
