A MAN escaped from a burning house after arsonists set fire to the porch. The man, in his 60s, was asleep in the house at the time of the attack but was woken by the smell of smoke and shouts from neighbours. He escaped and was treated by paramedics
A BURGLAR fled after being confronted by a group of students – but dropped three laptops as he ran off. Shaun Hewitt burgled a student house in Morrell Avenue, East Oxford. He was confronted by the occupants as they returned to the house
GETTING around her beautiful garden can be a slow and painful business for Jayne Payne. The keen gardener, 55, from Burchester Avenue, Barton, Oxford, has ankle problems and is currently awaiting a knee replacement. But she doesn’t let her disabilities
JAKE Wright has been named as Oxford United's new captain for the 2011-12 season. The centre back will take over the armband from striker James Constable, who has been the U's skipper for the past season-and-a-half. Read the reasons behind boss Chris
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A Benson RAF helicopter pilot and two crew members have escaped without serious injury after crash-landing in a field in Hampshire. Police said the crewmen were able to walk away unharmed after the Puma helicopter came down close to the A303, near the
CHILDREN from Littlemore Playgroup in Oxford took part in a summer fayre to mark its 45th birthday. The event, at Littlemore Community Centre on Saturday, attracted more than 40 visitors. A new play garden was opened by Oxford East MP Andrew Smith.
ALL manner of beasts, decorated wooden horses, a jester and even the Fine Lady took over Banbury on Sunday. They were part of the annual Town Mayor’s Sunday and Hobby Horse Festival in People’s Park. Organised by Banbury Town Council, the event started
VILLAGERS had a whirl of a time at their summer fete. More than 300 people attended the Aston and Cote village fete, which offered fairground rides and a mix of stalls on Saturday. The Aston event was themed ‘Big Top’ and villagers dressed up as clowns
CHILDREN and teachers from New Hinksey Primary School, Oxford, enjoyed fun in the sun at their summer fete. Activities included a bouncy castle, coconut shy, barbecue, and a balloon launch at the Vicarage Road school. Year Two teacher Penny McCarthy
EYNSHAM residents kept a 52-year-old tradition alive as they dressed in fancy dress and raced from pub to pub as part of their annual carnival on Saturday. Winners Ashley and Darrin Roles have been taking part for the past 20 years. A parade of floats
Tomahawk Theatre Company’s outdoor production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream invites the obvious criticism that a play so suited to a sylvan setting is instead being performed in a paved courtyard with nary a tree in sight. But let’s not carp: if
OCA League Cup round-up ANDY Herrington scored a superb 149 to help Britwell Salome into the semi-finals of the Telegraph Cup with a 162-run win at Radley. Batting first, Britwell rattled up 271-5 led by Herrington’s super knock. Radley were restricted
OCA League Divisions 1-3 TOM Boardman scored a majestic century to help defending Division 1 champions Westbury to a ten-run win at Horley on Saturday. Boardman finished unbeaten on 103 as Westbury rattled up 206-8, which proved just beyond the home
OCA League Divisions 4-11 CHETAN Patel returned fantastic figures of 8-22 to help Cairns Fudge to a massive 229-run win over Cassington in Division 5. Fudge batted first and rattled up a massive 285-4 with Mark Chandler (75no) and Ralph Smith (70)
INDEPENDENT traders in Oxford appealed for support as they warned they faced the hardest times they had known. Yesterday was declared Independents’ Day in a national campaign to get shoppers using independent stores again. John Partington
“That sweet city with her dreaming spires,” sings the chorus in Vaughan Williams’s An Oxford Elegy. It’s all too easy to make this work, composed during the years 1947-49, sound wallowing and over sentimental to modern ears. But conductor Robert Secret
A SOUTH African hotel manager who fraudulently applied for a British passport was entitled to one anyway. A judge at Oxford Crown Court described it as a “supreme irony” that Ivan Fort, who runs the King’s Arms in Bicester, did not need to commit the
CHILDREN at Grove Primary School got a taste of life in the military when they were visited by a team of soldiers from Dalton Barracks in Abingdon. Children dressed up in camouflage for the school’s third Army Day on Friday, which was organised by parent
CONSERVATION, congestion and business issues will be among those discussed at a series of new residents’ meetings in Headington. Those behind the idea said the launch had been sparked by confusion about the various different public meetings held in the
THE STRANGER’S CHILD by Alan Hollinghurst (Picador, £20)Not the least of Alan Hollinghurst’s achievements in his marvellous new novel has been to transform himself — amid many other delicious literary parodies — into a purveyor of verse that might have
Like many 19-year-olds, Patrick McGuinness was looking for “something interesting to do” when he set out for Romania in 1987. What he found was a police state in a state of heightened paranoia. Teaching English in Bucharest, he met a colourful selection
RUNNING THE SHOW Stephanie Williams (Viking, £20)In one of the more engaging books on the British Empire, Williams takes a multi-faceted look at the governors who ruled so much of the globe in the Victorian era. Most battled with the mundane tasks of
Didcot Town have renewed their sponsorship deal with npower for the next two seasons. The announcement came as the The Evo-Stik League (Southern)Division 1 South & West side prepare for their opening pre-season friendly against Oxford United on Saturday
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 5 Dean Creed took 4-34 and Andy Cummings 3-19, including a hat-trick, as Horspath 2nd won by seven wickets at Thame Town 2nd. Town made 165 thanks to Alastair Thomas (72), but that proved some way short as Joe
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MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Divisions 6-10 TOM Weymes took 7-74 as Twyford 2nd saw off Oxford 4th by 98 runs in Division 7. Adam Perna (78) and Andrew Gilder (71) led the way in Twyford’s 268-9, which featured 5-66 from Harry Hudson. Andrew Busby
A MAN has gone on trial accused of slashing a love rival across the face with a carving knife in a public toilet in East Oxford. Calvin Souch is accused of cutting Carl Suter across the face in the public convenience in Cowley Road, near Manzil Way,
BOSSES at Templars Retail Park in Cowley are bidding to massively expand plans for a supermarket. They are seeking permission for a 2,500sqm superstore, more than half the size of the current Sainsbury’s at nearby Heyford Hill. And they have revealed
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 2 Olly Wright took 5-14 in an outstanding 11-over spell as Banbury 2nd dismissed Long Marston for 47. Ross Freeman helped Wright finish off the tail, taking 3-24. Despite chasing such a low total, Banbury were
Oxford University have retained five of last year’s winning players for the four-day Varsity Match, which starts at Fenner’s today (11am). Sam Agarwal, Tom Bryan, captain Raj Sharma, Dan Pascoe and Alex Scott all featured as Oxford beat Cambridge by
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 3 Marcus Goodchild bagged 7-37 for Bledlow Village, who maintained their push for promotion by beating Bicester & North Oxford. Bicester managed only 137 all out, with Jamie Hall (40) and Nick Moorman (30) getting
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 4 Wallingford beat Stokenchurch in a thrilling finish by just one run. Darren Grist (69), Lee Ainsworth (45) and Tom Wigley (35) led Wallingford to 208 all out. Arshad Latif then hit 103, but Warren Ainsworth
Four people were found with drugs during an operation involving 15 police officers and staff. Officers, PCSOs and a police drugs dog swooped on bars and clubs in the Cowley Road and East Oxford area on Friday. Three men, aged 31, 40 and 47, were discovered
A SECOND Oxford care home run by struggling provider Southern Cross has been shamed in a damning inspection report. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) found The Albany in Headington failed all seven essential safety standards. Inspectors
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 1 Joe Shillaker's 4-35 set leaders Cumnor on their way to victory over Great & Little Tew on a weekend when they and Oxford Downs pulled away from the chasing pack. Tew started brightly after being asked to bat
MP SPORTS CHERWELL LEAGUE Match of The Day A calamitous collapse by Kingston Bagpuize handed Hanborough their first win since May 15 in Division 3 on Saturday. Seeking 225 for victory, Bagpuize were 201-3 with Ian Oglesby on 87
OXFORDSHIRE County Council is doing the unforgivable by abandoning care of the disabled and elderly to private agencies. Southern Cross springs to mind as a private agency ‘success’. When will the people in Oxfordshire Tory donkeyland (Tory donkeyland
PEOPLE in Oxford have questioned whether proposals to limit costs of care for the elderly go far enough. Yesterday Oxford University pro vice Chancellor Andrew Dilnot recommended a cap on the amount individuals and their families pay for personal
ONCE again we report on the Care Quality Commission finding hugely damaging flaws at a Southern Cross home in Oxford. This time it is The Albany in Headington – you can read the findings on page five. What everyone reading the report
I WOULD like to enlighten readers about the personal consequences of the extreme cost-cutting exercises in the social services budget in Oxfordshire and the rest of England. At present, as a single, disabled person living on my own, I receive excellent
THE letter from Eleanor Watts (Oxford Mail letters, June 27) regarding the pending charges in pension arrangements for teachers and other public sector workers was very disingenuous to other hard-working people, and says much about the mindset of this
IN response to Neil Thompson’s letter (Oxford Mail, July 1), I don’t believe in coincidence, and I don’t believe I was tailgated, twice on the same day, by what he claims were a “tiny” number of drivers capable of exceeding the legal speed limit of 56mph
THE Prime Minister tells us “we are all in this together” but I have yet to hear of one MP being made redundant or taking a pay cut, losing any pension rights or even being denied expenses claims. Some seem to be more equal than others, Mr Cameron?
OUR Government betrays its own soldiers, by not complying with its duty of care and ensuring that the forces are properly equipped for battle. The Government then decides that our forces are to get the chop in certain areas, and announces redundancies
This Sunday saw glorious weather for the 20th annual Oxford Rural 22 Charity bike ride – and I was a participant. It seems that over summer there are plenty of fundraising cycle rides to take part in, but this ride really stands out and embodies the spirit
SPEED bumps near Brize Norton mean the corteges bearing the bodies of dead British soldiers must take rural roads instead of passing through Carterton, the Government claimed yesterday. Previously it had been claimed the route could not pass through
COMPUTER systems expert Aaron Milton-Eldridge is one of the first residents to move into a major new housing development in Didcot. Mr Milton-Eldridge, 37, and his wife Naphaphorn, 38, completed the contract to buy their three-bedroom Taylor Wimpey home
COMMUNITIES should consider buying their own road salt to combat snow and ice, according to Oxfordshire’s deputy chief fire officer. Colin Thomas told a review into planning for severe winter weather that bags of salt could be stockpiled by communities
JOHN GODDARD has a point about asking communities to buy in extra salt, but the idea from Colin Thomas, the county’s deputy chief fire officer, is worth exploring. Mr Goddard is correct that we have paid Oxfordshire County Council through council tax
OXFORDSHIRE’S new education boss last night vowed to get a grip on underachievement by primary schools, ahead of a crunch meeting today. The inquiry at County Hall will look into why Oxford’s seven-year-olds get the lowest results in reading
TODAY a scrutiny committee of Oxfordshire county councillors will look at the appalling education results of our seven-year-olds. This is not an issue they can shirk or skate over, blithely accepting platitudes from education officials who have overseen
Thirty fire fighters battled a blaze at a barn in the grounds of The Warriner School last night. Investigations are underway to find the cause of the fire in the barn which was used for storing hay, straw and machinery. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue
Merton Road in Amrbrosden has been closed for a police investigation after a cyclist and a motorist were involved in a collision. Police said a gold Volvo estate and the bicycle collided at about 6am. The cyclist was taken to hospital after suffering
Abingdon's Emma O’Hara is hoping her gold medal at the Aviva English Schools Track & Field Championships in Gateshead can put her on the map of British women’s hammer-throwing. The 16-year-old produced a best throw of 47.62m to top the podium in the
The Oxfordshire Geology Trust will be holding its Annual General Meeting at Oxford Town Hall on Thursday, this week. This annual event of the county's geological conservation organisation is usually held in Faringdon and is moving to Oxford for the first
PARENTS of autistic children who use the unit based at St Andrew’s CofE Primary in Chinnor have described how the school’s planned sensory garden would help their children. If the school wins the £7,500 of building work, it wants to create a spiritual
“THE hard work starts now”. That’s the message from campaigners fighting to save libraries across Oxfordshire. They have vowed to keep the pressure up, despite a pledge by the county council to help keep them open. An unprecedented public backlash
Two people were arrested and another was banned from South Park during the weekend’s fiesta in East Oxford. Police said a 47-year-old man from Cowley was arrested on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly. He was bailed to return to St Aldate’s police
