Nursing staff at the Radcliffe hospitals will face disciplinary hearings if they are caught continually flouting a smoking ban from the start of the New Year. From Monday, the ban will be introduced for staff, patients and visitors in the grounds of
Christmas rubbish has been left to fester in the streets of an Oxford estate for two weeks for the second year in a row. Black sacks filled with festive waste and rotting food have been littering streets in Blackbird Leys because refuse collections
Revellers are being warned 'rogue' unlicensed taxis could be on Oxford's streets tomorrow night to take advantage of a lack of New Year night buses. No night services will be running in the city on New Year's Eve - leaving taxis and minicabs to pick
I have just started reading this remarkable book by Kevin Cahill. His "Who Owns Britain" was a revelation to many of us. It has a special page for every county, including Oxfordshire, comparing land ownership by the likes of the Duke of Marlborough and
THAMES Valley Police are trying to trace Mercedes-Benz drivers whose car badges were stolen last month. Two teenage boys were arrested on suspicion of theft after five Mercedes badges were stolen from cars parked outside John Lewis in the theatre district
MOTORISTS have been warned that gale-force winds could lead to treacherous driving conditions tonight and over the weekend. Winds gusting up to 70-80 mph, accompanied at times by heavy rain, are expected to make driving difficult across many parts of
PEOPLE living in Goring are returning home after spending Christmas in hotels while Network Rail replaced a bridge. The firm offered residents £100 a day to stay in hotels on Christmas Day and Boxing Day due to the noise caused by the £1m project.
Firefighters were called to a barn fire south of Oxford today. Fire crews from Wheatley, the Slade and Rewley Road stations in Oxford were alerted to the blaze in the Dutch barn, in a field off the B480 at Chippinghurst, south of Garsington, shortly
OXFORD illustrator Ted Dewan is planning to set fire to Broad Street - all in the name of art. Mr Dewan caused a stir with the Cyclemas Tree in 2004, a tree made entirely of abandoned bikes, which he pulled through the streets before "planting" it in
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TWENTY-FIVE firefighters were called to a barn fire south of Oxford during the early hours today. Fire crews from Wheatley and The Slade and Rewley Road stations in Oxford were alerted to the blaze in the Dutch barn, in a field off the B480 at Chippinghurst
More than £570m is being lined up for investment in Bicester during 2007 - making it one of the most important years in the town's history. The plans include two large housing developments, a revamped centre and an expanded Bicester Village. David Simpson
Health union leaders have objected to proposals to reorganise psychology services across Oxfordshire - including a 13 per cent cut in therapy. The proposed changes will mean a reduction in clinical services, a downgrading of senior staff and reduced
A Didcot mother-of-two has backed a new website offering advice on family mediation. Seirian Kennedy, who split from her husband last year, said mediation had helped them resolve practical issues and she believes the new on-line guide could help more
THE death toll on two of the county's most dangerous roads now stands at 12 in four years, following two more fatalities - prompting fresh calls for action. On Christmas Day, Shane Vaughan, of Didcot, was killed on the A4130 near Didcot and on Thursday
The flat tyre promised to be a diversion from the stop-start early Wednesday afternoon journey north on the M40. The deflated Dunlop belonged to a black Audi A4, from which a young mother was lifting pushchairs and several bags, to reach the spare.
I would like to respond to to Mubarak Ahmed Basra about his letter, Living in peace and harmony (Oxford Mail, December 23). I wish the tolerance he alludes to were shown by the Muslim fanatics. Can he name another religion that kills indiscriminately
The First Great Western train timetable changes (Oxford Mail, December 16) are yet another example of the results of a totally misconceived privatisation which is now working against the customers' interests and any idea of a progressive national transport
EDDIE Hutchinson looks likely to be out for a month after the Oxford United midfielder hobbled off against Woking on Boxing Day. The former Brentford player has had an X-ray which shows nothing broken, but suggests possible ligament damage. U's physio
A Barton man wants people living on the Oxford estate to decide how money set aside by developers for community schemes is spent. When the city council grants a developer permission to build new housing, the applicant is obliged to offset the impact
Some doctors in Oxfordshire are undermining Tony Blair's flagship scheme to allow patients to choose which hospital to undergo operations in, a study has revealed. But the proportion of survey respondents who said their GP had offered them a choice
Oxford illustrator Ted Dewan is planning to set fire to Broad Street - in the name of art. Mr Dewan caused a stir with the Cyclemas Tree in 2004, a tree made entirely of abandoned bikes, which he pulled through the streets before "planting" it in Gloucester
Abingdon's annual Dragon Boat racing raised more than £40,000 for charity - £5,000 more than last year - bringing the total raised since the races started seven years ago to nearly £250,000. Figures released by the organisers, the Abingdon Vesper Rotary
A theatre is to open its doors and show off its £6.5m plans for a new home to neighbours and supporters. Pegasus Theatre is inviting people to drop by between 7.30pm and 9pm on Monday, January 22, to look at drawings of a scheme to take the centre into
Farepak customers who feared the company's demise would mean they had to cancel Christmas were still able to enjoy a low key December 25, thanks to donations from the public. People across the county lost hundreds of pounds after 11 months worth of
Waiting too long for a meal in a pub or losing the house keys is hardly a matter of life or death. But more than a quarter of a million calls - including such obviously trivial matters - made to Thames Valley Police this year have been unnecessary,
A comprehensive tree policy is to be drawn up by Oxford City Council following the felling of willows on Osney Island. The Oxford Mail has been told the public document, the first of its kind for Oxford, would set out strict procedures to be followed
The estranged mother of a girl who plunged to her death from an Oxford tower block has spoken of their two-year rift. Natasha Saxton, 16, died after falling from the top floor of Hockmore Tower, in Banjo Road, Cowley, shortly before midnight last Friday
THE Oxford-built Mini range will be unveiling a new addition to its Convertible range at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, when it unveils the Sidewalk model for the first time next week in Detroit. Mini Convertibles have always combined
KOREAN car maker Kia made its name with small cars, but it packs a pretty powerful punch when it comes to the business of moving people en masse. The Sedona people carrier has been a successful family seller over the past six years and its sleeker successor
Sir - Roger Moreton would have us believe that Jesus was born in a place called 'Palestine' (Letters, December 22). Jesus would have been no less surprised to hear this than Henry VIII on being told that he was born in the United Kingdom. No such place
Sir - Research by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the British Humanist Association, really does call into question the Christian mores of Messrs Robertson and Stevens in your November 10 edition - at least in the minds of the majority of the UK population.
Sir - The benefits documented by the Royal College of Surgeons, and supported by a recent president of the Royal College of Physicians must be accepted as the best possible advice. Unfortunately, earlier and equally well-informed advice that a complete
Sir - I once heard the new Bishop of Oxford's Church of England referred to ironically as a "phenomenon". It sure is, for one of the purposes of this English treasure is to preserve a show of national unity at all costs, because Church and state need
Sir - Councillor Belson was present I believe, as an observer, at the planning meeting on July 10, when his colleagues in Oxfordshire County Council resolved to give npower permission to turn a beautiful wildlife site into a waste dump. Why had he not
Sir - My application to have the Thrupp and Bullfield Lakes at Radley and surrounding land declared a Town or Village Green has cleared the first hurdle - the application has been accepted as duly made by Oxfordshire County Council. Under a 1965 Act
Sir - Thank you for giving coverage to Susan Westlake's excellent campaign to restore a decent Oxford-Paddington rail service. It is very important that as many commuters as possible as well as our local politicans get involved in this campaign rather
Sir - With reference to the Highways Agency report by Chris Buratta (Report, December 15), regarding the ever-increasing overload of traffic on the A34 Abingdon-M40. A feasible and practical solution would be to install a new link road from East Challow
THE estranged mother of a girl who plunged to her death from an Oxford block of flats has spoken of their two-year rift. Natasha Saxton, 16, died after falling from the top floor of Hockmore Tower, in Banjo Road, Cowley, shortly before midnight last
Oxford City will be without Omar Takriti for at least six weeks after he suffered a broken arm against Didcot Town. The young defender left the field after just 11 minutes of Tuesday's game and was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where
Sir - Your correspondent (Letters, December 15) claimed that trams would require sheds, but so do buses. People would have to make connections, but again, so they do on the bus. But there is no reason why a system should not eventually reach between park-and-ride
Sir - Councillor Roger Belson in his letter (December 1) is to be congratulated for making it clear to us what the drivers are for increasing reduction, re-use and recycling of waste - i.e. the strict Government targets on diverting biodegradable waste
Sir - It's not recycling that matters to Oxford residents - everyone should acknowledge the sense of this project. But the frequency of collection is the issue. To quote from Why Don't Penguins Feet Freeze?, published by New Scientist: "Analysis of household
Sir - The basic fallacy that 'atheism murders people' and 'atheists are mass-murderers' has been proclaimed in the letters page on two consecutive weeks now. First we have Edward Sanderson (Letters, December 1) asserting that 'the most famous atheists
Sir - When I started writing this letter on December 17, we had had 59 deaths on Oxfordshire's roads this year. In the few days it's taken me to finish, there have been six more fatalities. It is also despite new 50mph limits, 30 limits, 20 limits,
Having chronicled the lives of some world cricket's greatest names, Gerald Howat has now penned his own memoirs. The 78-year-old from North Moreton, near Didcot, has been fascinated with cricket since the age of eight, as the title of his latest book
HYUNDAI'S latest version of its coupé officially goes on sale on January 1. The new coupé SIII, so called because it is the third incarnation of the coupé, has been in showrooms for several weeks. It has been completely re-designed outside as well as
The death toll on two of the county's most dangerous roads now stands at 12 in four years, following two more fatalities - prompting fresh calls for action. On Christmas Day, Shane Vaughan, of Didcot, was killed on the A4130 near Didcot and on Thursday
HOLIDAY activity schemes for youngsters in Oxford that have been credited with reducing criminal damage and arson are to receive increased funding. An analysis of crime rates in Blackbird Leys, Barton and Wood Farm during this year's school holidays
A FAMILY have said they are suffering a campaign of persecution after vehicles adapted for their daughter's wheelchair were twice vandalised. Mary-Jayne Allen, 20, of Spencer Crescent, Rose Hill, Oxford, was going to visit her brother's grave but the
We are far from convinced of the motivation of Oxford City Council in charging a premium for parking oin the Westgate car park on Saturdays. As an isolated measure to deal with congestion and encourage people on to alternative forms of transport, it
In the last ten days, we have seen a shocking number of deaths on the roads in Oxfordshire. Nine people have lost their lives in separate accidents, raising the death toll for this year to 68, the highest for 16 years. If nine people were to die in
RESIDENTS' fears of a "student village" being built in Headington have forced a scaling down of plans to develop Warneford Meadow. A health trust says it now wants to create accommodation for 685 students on the sensitive green site, not 1,950 as originally
WITNEY Town Council gave awards to the best festively decorated shop and house in the town. Councillors trawled every street and deemed 101 Abbey Road the winner, and 50 Queen Emma's Dyke runner-up. Winners Darryl and Mary Jeffrey are pictured with
MORE than 50,000 parking tickets were handed out in Oxfordshire last year - costing motorists an estimated £1.25m. The 50,517 parking tickets for on-street parking violations handed out in 2005/06 was an increase of 1,983 on the previous year. It
THE UK's first children's food festival is one of many events planned to celebrate Oxfordshire's 1,000th anniversary next year. The festival will see celebrity chefs such as Raymond Blanc and Sophie Grigson give children and their parents a fresh perspective
Sir - The news that the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre is in trouble as a result of Labour's ridiculous approach to health care is desperately sad and completely avoidable (Report, December 15). The payment system in the NHS, which has packaged and simplified
Sir - Governments are keen to punish local bodies, such as schools, when they fail to measure up to perceived standards. However, privatised industries seem to have been granted an immunity that allows them to reduce services, although putting up prices
