Archive

  • Shot-shy Oxford United bow out to Aldershot

    Aldershot 2 (Hylton 17, Spencer 58), Oxford Utd 0 Oxford United's goal drought continued as they were knocked out of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the first round at the EBB Stadium last night. After this defeat by fellow League

  • RAF crew tells of aid mission to Pakistan

    AN AIRCREW from RAF Brize Norton who delivered aid to Pakistan have spoken of their experiences in the flood-hit country. Two C-17 Globemaster planes, operated by 99 Squadron out of west Oxfordshire, carried UK aid to the country’s capital Islamabad

  • House price rises levelling off

    House price inflation in Oxfordshire is running out of steam, according to the Land Registry. Prices rose by 0.4 per cent in July, with the annual rate of increase falling back from 10.4 per cent to 9.4 per cent. The small rise chimes with national

  • Oxford United swoop to sign Craddock

    Oxford United completed their second deadline day signing this afternoon with the arrival of Luton Town striker Tom Craddock for an undisclosed fee. The 23-year-old forward joins Doncaster midfielder Josh Payne in signing for the club today, and will

  • Classic cars at a classic venue

    CLASSIC car enthusiasts – including Dave Deadman with his 1951 Buick Super Riviera Sedan – flocked to Blenheim Palace at the weekend for the fifth Oxfordshire Classic Car Show. There were lots of classic models on show, including MGs, Triumphs

  • Italian city turns to Oxford for help with teen drinkers

    AN ITALIAN city has turned to Oxford to help tackle its burgeoning teenage binge-drinking culture. Padua in northern Italy, home to an 800-year-old university, has always had a relaxed attitude to alcohol, with families enjoying the region’

  • BREAKING NEWS: Late bid fails to stop Oxford Academy

    AN ELEVENTH-hour attempt to halt one of Oxford's largest secondary schools becoming an academy failed today. Opponents of plans to close Oxford School, in Glanville Road, and reopen it in January as an academy called for the move to be put on hold until

  • Girl, 15, goes missing in Banbury

    Police today appealed for help in finding a 15-year-old girl who has gone missing. Kelly Sarginson, 15, is originally from Leicestershire but lives in Chipping Norton. She was last seen at the Castle Quay Centre, Banbury, at 1pm yesterday. Kelly

  • Angler discovers joys of fly fishing

    YOU can’t teach an old dog new tricks, so the old saying goes. But try telling that to Colin Purvey, who has just discovered the joys of fly fishing at the age of 65. Mr Purvey, of George Moore Close, Oxford, says he had a “revelation” after heading

  • Local share prices (PM)

    AEA Technology 18.5 BMW 3390 Electrocomps 210.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 84.5 Oxford Biomedica 9.5 Oxford Catalysts 73 Oxford Instruments 355 Reed Elsevier 523.25 RM 131.25 RPS Group 170.2 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Man charged with toy shop burglary

    A 21-year-old man has been charged with burglary after he allegedly smashed the window to a shop in Witney and stole a bicycle. Sam Kiff, of Eastfield Road, Witney, was arrested on Sunday after Dentons Cycle and Toy Centre in High Street had

  • 'Despicable' thief steals pensioner's handbag

    A pensioner had her handbag stolen from her walking aid, in what police described as a "despicable" crime. The 83-year-old was shopping in Abingdon Market Place last Thursday when she noticed her navy blue leather handbag had been stolen from her Rollator

  • Armed raiders target Banbury store

    TWO armed robbers weilding a crowbar, claw hammer and kitchen knife made off with cash from a shop in Banbury. Shortly before 10pm on Sunday two men entered the Co-op store in Ferriston. One man, who had a small crowbar, remained at the door of the

  • Thief snatches handbag from woman, 83, in Abingdon

    Police are appealing for information after an 83-year-old woman had her handbag stolen from her mobility aid as she shopped in Abingdon. The victim was shopping in the Market Place when she noticed her navy blue leather handbag had been stolen

  • Home burgled in Nuneham Courtenay

    Police are appealing for witnesses after a burglary in Nuneham Courtenay. Between 1.30pm and 2.15pm on Saturday, a rear patio window of a house in Nuneham Park was broken. Although the property was searched, nothing was stolen. PC Matthew Napper

  • Armed raiders attack Banbury Co-op

    Robbers armed with a crowbar, hammer and a knife raided the Co-op store in Ferriston, Banbury. The first man remained at the door of the shop, while the second man approached the till staff and threatened them. The man then made staff

  • New start is a piece of cake...

    AFTER 20 years in management consultancy, Dawn Gigg decided to send her career in a new direction – by making cupcakes for a living. She said: “Business was difficult and I found myself fighting against people who did not hold the same principles that

  • CRICKET: Tew secure Division 5 title

    GREAT & Little Tew 2nd beat Didcot to secure the Division 5 title and end their opponents’ hopes of a top-two finish. Kevin Taylor took 5-46 as Didcot were bowled out for 128, with Simon Pritchard’s 33 the only contribution of note. Ben Millard (37)

  • Development to fund school’s wing

    STUDENTS will be sharing their school grounds with a housing development after plans to turn old classrooms into homes were approved. Old Stanbridge Hall, at Banbury School, Ruskin Road, is set to be turned into 72 apartments for over-55s, 43 parking

  • CRICKET: Promotion race is wide open

    Promotion from Division 4 remains a four-horse race, but Bicester & North Oxford’s chances are slim after losing at home to Buckingham Town 2nd. Ryan Spragg took 5-30 as Bicester were dismissed for 114, Iain Horner hitting 38. Richard Simpson kept the

  • CRICKET: Horspath on brink of clean sweep

    HORSPATH 4th need just five points from their final match of the season to complete a remarkable clean sweep for the club. With their first team crowned Division 1 champions last week, their 2nd and 3rd XI’s wrapped up their respective league titles

  • Local share prices

    AEA Technology 18.5 BMW 3352 Electrocomps 207.8 Nationwide Accident Repair 84.5 Oxford Biomedica 9.4 Oxford Catalysts 73 Oxford Instruments 347.75 Reed Elsevier 521.25 RM 131.25 RPS Group 169.6 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

  • Nepalese lead estate clean-up

    A COMMUNITY of Nepalese ex-pats has led a clean-up of one of Oxford’s largest estates. Thirteen youngsters, aged between four and 19, have helped put a sense of pride back in their new home by collecting sacks of rubbish during a two-hour clean-up in

  • CRICKET: Tweed takes all ten wickets

    NICK Tweed took all ten wickets as Great Brickhill closed in on the Division 3 title and effectively ended Dinton 2nd’s promotion challenge. Brickhill were shot out for 93, with Kelvin Burrows taking 3-7 and Mike Morgan 3-30. Tweed then went through

  • Banbury Choral Society seeks singers

    Singers are needed to stretch their vocal chords and take part in an autumn performance. Rehearsals are due to start on Monday, September 13, for Poulenc’s Gloria and Coleridge-Taylor’s Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast. The piece will be performed at St Mary

  • CRICKET: Downs miss chance to secure safety

    Oxford Downs missed a golden opportunity to end their fears of being relegated from the top flight on Saturday. Downs dismissed Cumnor for only 119, but then amazingly succumbed for just 89 themselves as their hosts guaranteed their Division 1 status

  • United sign midfielder Payne on loan

    Oxford United today signed midfielder Josh Payne on a month's loan from Doncaster Rovers. Payne, 19, made two first-team appearances for West Ham before being released this summer. He goes straight in to the United squad for tonight's

  • CRICKET: Sandford pipped for runners-up spot

    Sandford St Martin’s Division 2 promotion hopes ended when Leighton Buzzard Town beat them by three wickets to book the runners-up spot for themselves. Paul Tew (64) was the mainstay of Sandford’s innings, before Greg Pearson’s 36 not out saw them reach

  • Palace image to grace new passport

    ONE of Oxfordshire’s most iconic buildings will adorn the pages of the new UK passport when it is unveiled in October this year. Blenheim Palace will take a place alongside the white cliffs of Dover, Ben Nevis in Scotland, the Giant’s Causeway

  • Competition winners to appear in Lewis

    TWO lucky readers are looking forward to appearing in an episode of a hit TV show after winning a competition in the Oxford Mail. Paul Hunt and Gavin Bennett collected tokens from the paper in August and will now star as extras in popular Oxford-based

  • CRICKET: Wonder Wilson is star of show

    OCA League Tom Wilson took centre stage for Westbury as his side saw off Shrivenham by 23 runs in an entertaining Airey Cup final at Stonesfield yesterday. Wilson slammed a superb 83 and then chipped in with two important wickets as Westbury clinched

  • Giant marrow is star of the show

    SIX-YEAR-OLD Izzy Mulagan, left, and her cousins Annie Fairhurst, two, and Thomas Fairhurst, four, were left open-mouthed after taking a peek at some vast veg at the Steeple Aston flower show. The children were taking a glimpse of the entrants in the

  • Police ground failed airline inquiry

    A POLICE investigation into collapsed Oxford airline Varsity Express has been dropped, it has emerged. In March, Thames Valley Police received four complaints about the airline when its route from Oxford to Edinburgh was grounded after just

  • CRICKET: Nondies secure Division 2 crown

    Oxford & Bletchingdon Nondescripts sealed the MP Sports Cherwell League Division 2 championship in dramatic circumstances when they beat Abingdon Vale by three runs on Saturday. Put into bat, Nondies had limped to 145-8 from their 53 overs as Vale’s

  • A matter of faith

    YOU reported (Oxford Mail, August 19) that a local GP was under investigation. Leaving aside the particulars of the case, I was curious what significance readers would attribute to the GP being described as “a devout evangelist”. Let me suggest that

  • ON YER BIKE: Electric bike sparks fun side of cycling

    A few years ago I decided to take the long way home. I ended up on a country lane miles from civilisation praying I was headed in the right direction. Just as I was beginning to enjoy my solitude on the country lane another cyclist pulled out

  • There is no choice

    TALK about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. UKIP has noted that the Tory manifesto priorities set out in the coalition agreement states that a referendum will be held on “any European treaty that shifts powers from Britain to the

  • Going AWOL

    Letters debating whether law-breakers should be ordered to enter one of the armed services took me back to the time, just after the war, when radio operators, like myself, were becoming surplus to requirements and were given office work. In my case, this

  • Ticket to ride

    AS one of the country’s rapidly growing and much talked-about ‘ageing population’ approaching retirement age, I’m privileged enough to qualify for a ‘free’ bus pass to use on local bus journeys. However, as I’m also lucky enough to be in current full-time

  • No fig leaves

    Margaret Godden (Oxford Mail, letters, August 23) would hold up fig leaves to cover this cut-loving Coalition Government. Far from being ‘clapped-out’, the Labour Party would have continued with its progressive policies, including the expansion of nursery

  • Asbos have made estate life better

    THE Coalition Government does not appear to have got off to a good start, if the measure they are taking to combat the massive deficit is to cut some of the more beneficial things the previous government put in place. One of the items being proposed

  • Lib Dems face first test as councillor resigns

    LIBERAL Democrat support in the city will be put to the test when longstanding city councillor Patrick Murray stands down today. Mr Murray, the party’s deputy leader at the Town Hall, is moving on after taking a new job that will take him away from the

  • Squirrel catches photographer by surprise

    IT MAY look as though this cuddly critter is reaching out to shake your hand, but this picture captures the moment it lunged at an Abingdon photographer. The squirrel was busy stealing nuts from a supposedly squirrel-proof bird feeder, when

  • FOOTBALL: Banbury held in late drama

    Banbury Utd 1 (Shariff 85) Evesham Utd 1 (Agbor 89) Nabil Shariff’s late goal for Banbury United was cancelled out by an even later one by Evesham United’s Roley Agbor in their Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division clash

  • FOOTBALL: Bartley's double

    Windsor & Eton 1 (Chennels 18) Didcot Tn 2 (Bartley 8, 28) Michael Bartley’s first-half double earned Didcot Town a deserved victory at promoted Windsor & Eton in the Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division yesterday. Bartley bundled home at

  • CRICKET: Loggin and Tredwell do damage

    OCA League MICHAEL Loggin took 4-14 as Westbury went back to the top of Division 1 with a six-wicket win over Great Horwood. Loggin (4-14) and Richard Tredwell (3-8) tumbled Horwood out for 59, before Westbury reached 60-4. Horley kept up the pressure

  • Football can be a force for good

    FOOTBALL fans regularly get a bad name. Conversely they also do a lot of good, rallying behind fellow supporters of their club (or the club itself on occasion) when they are in deep trouble. Yet the United fans who organised a collection for

  • Sick tot’s plight touches U’s fans

    KIND-HEARTED Oxford United fans have helped a young terminally-ill supporter of another team move one step closer to her dream holiday. They dug deep for Tess Sullivan, three, who is one of only 50 children in the world to have Alexander disease

  • FOOTBALL: Sad City fall to Brackley brace

    Oxford City 0 Brackley Town 2 (Appiah 15, Storey 39) Oxford City are still seeking their first Zamaretto Southern League Premier Division win of the season after defeat by Brackley Town at Court Place Farm yesterday. The

  • CRICKET: Magee leads way in cup triumph

    FREDDIE Magee led the way as Chadlington cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Stonesfield to land the OCA League’s Telegraph Cup in Sunday’s rain-affected final at Charlbury. In a match reduced to 40 overs per side because of heavy showers

  • Tributes to teen killed in bike crash

    TRIBUTES have been paid to an 18-year-old man killed in a motorbike crash in Witney. The rider was thrown off his black and yellow Suzuki into a hedgerow while travelling along the Thorney Leys ring road towards the A415 at about 7pm on Sunday, a police

  • Badger death sparks concerns over wildlife

    THE discovery of a dead badger in west Oxfordshire has renewned concerns about people deliberately tampering with badger setts. Police discovered the animal last week in Centenary Woods, near Ticknell Place in Charlbury. They also found evidence that

  • Brave actions

    THE Oxford Tube coach crash on the M40 would have been a terrifying experience. The police are investigating the cause of the accident, but to have been on board a coach travelling down the motorway and toppling over despite the endeavours

  • UPDATE: Oxford Tube coach crash suspect released on bail

    THE man arrested in connection with the Oxford Tube crash on the M40 has been released on police bail. During the early hours yesterday, a London-bound Oxford Tube coach crashed off the motorway between junction two at Loudwater and junction

  • Wilder set to shuffle pack

    Several Oxford United players whose opportunities have been limited this season could get their chance to impress at Aldershot tonight. Manager Chris Wilder looks set to give one or two fringe players some valuable game time in the Johnstone

  • M40 coach crash driver hailed a hero

    A COACH driver battled bravely to keep control of an Oxford Tube bus after a passenger tried to grab the wheel on the M40. The double-decker crashed and ended up on its side on the motorway during the early hours yesterday as it travelled from

  • Raising a glass to help our heroes

    HUNDREDS of real ale lovers packed into an Abingdon pub for a charity beer festival. Town mayor Duncan Brown opened the three-day event at the King’s Head and Bell, in East St Helen’s Street on Saturday lunchtime. Drinkers initially paid for a pint

  • Pupils get vital scientific work experience

    Students from schools across Oxfordshire spent part of their summer holidays programming a space robot and researching how to combat climate change. The GCSE and A-Level students were on work experience at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

  • Young cyclists rewarded for being safe

    ROAD safety officers have handed out goody bags to young cyclists to drive home the importance of wearing cycle helmets. County council staff teamed up with Police Community Support Officers to reward hundreds of youngsters across the county who have

  • Pegasus Theatre to reopen after £7.4m revamp

    AN EAST Oxford theatre is just days away from opening its doors to the public following a £7.4m revamp. The copper and glass-fronted building in Magdalen Road, home to Pegasus Theatre, has been winning admiring glances from passers-by and will open on