DOZENS of workers at the county branches of stricken retailer Clinton Cards have had their jobs saved after the company was bought by an American firm. Ohio-based American Greetings, which has been one of Clinton’s biggest suppliers, will take
OXFORD city councillors have failed to spend nearly half of £72,000 that was supposed to benefit their communities. The 48 councillors only spent around £42,000 of the personal grant money they were given in the past 12 months. That
A VANDALISED Oxford pavilion has gained a new lease of life after volunteers cleared it out and redecorated it. The Louie Memorial Pavilion off Arnold’s Way, Botley, was neglected after it was trashed by vandals two years ago. But volunteers from the
ONE of Bicester’s most popular schools has been downgraded from outstanding to good. After an inspection under Ofsted’s new framework, King’s Meadow Primary School, in Shakespeare Lane, missed out on the top accolade it had won in March 2008. The school
The London Welsh Male Voice Choir is set to perform in Oxford for the first time in 40 years. The group of more than 100 singers, which has sung in front of the Queen, is performing at Oxford Town Hall from 7.30pm on Saturday, June 9. The choir formed
THE Old Fire Station in Oxford was shrouded in darkness this week. A tragicomic play set entirely underground was put on at the George Street venue as part of the Oxfringe festival. The Mole and The Worm tells the story of a Spanish potholer who discovers
TACKLING education, the county’s bed-blocking crisis and obesity are among the targets for the county’s new health task force. The Health and Wellbeing Board was set up earlier this year to improve the lifestyle, achievement and health of people
When you think about it, the mood right now probably isn’t too far removed from what it was in the Thirties – unemployment, all-round economic hardship and politicians wilfully out of touch. So it’s perfect that a show first created to lift the mood
Oxfordshire health bosses have been accused of pandering to the ‘nanny state’ by backing plans to sell cigarettes in unbranded packets. NHS Oxfordshire, the county’s primary care trust, will be drumming up support for tobacco to be sold in green packets
FROM humble beginnings in an Oxford bedroom, Creation Theatre has come of age. Over the past 16 years it has staged 46 plays and entertained 350,000 audience members in countless community venues. It has taken its shows to the city's rooftops, parks
UK sales of the Mini dipped last month, latest official figures have revealed. A total of 3,576 cars were sold during the month, compared to 4,262 for May 2011, a fall of 16.1 per cent, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. For
An elderly woman was taken to hospital after a crash between two vehicles in Skimmingdish Lane, Bicester. The road is currently closed in both directions after the accident involving a silver Skoda saloon and a blue Peugeot 206 at around 2pm. It is
AEA Technology 0.21 BMW 4722 Electrocomponents 202.3 Nationwide Accident Repair 62.5 Oxford Biomedica 2.85 Oxford Catalysts 53.5 Oxford Instruments 1199 Reed Elsevier 491.75 RM 74.5 RPS Group 204.7 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
A team of volunteers who support police on search and rescue missions has acquired a van to act as a control centre after operating out of car boots for over a year. The 30 volunteers in the Oxfordshire Lowlands Search And Rescue group (Oxsar) spent
DOZENS of farms across the county will throw open their barn doors next week for a major outdoor event. Now in its seventh year, Open Farm Sunday aims to give people an insight into farming. Free outdoor activities on Sunday, June 17, include nature
IT’S time to say “enough is enough” to new traveller sites, according to Cherwell District Council’s deputy leader. Councillor George Reynolds has claimed the district could be “littered” with traveller camps if action is not taken to get the
TWO Oxfordshire villages are to be brought into the 21st century with a new broadband internet service. Appleton and neighbouring Eaton will reportedly have broadband speeds that match the best in the country once the system operated by an
Community fundraisers are celebrating a quarter of a century of supporting vulnerable people in the Wantage area. The Wantage and Grove Lions Club has been holding jumble sales, cake stalls and collections to fundraise since June 1987. They have provided
Hundreds of people across Oxford will be celebrating a decade of Pride today when the annual gay celebration begins. The 10th Oxford Pride festival will carry on until Saturday June 17 and organisers are urging the city to unite behind their cause.
Musician turned cheese maker Alex James regrets the financial fallout from last year’s Harvest Festival but is looking forward to a new event this summer. The former Blur bassist has teamed up with TV chef Jamie Oliver to hold a new 9,999-capacity music
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THE hosepipe ban affecting Oxfordshire could be lifted within weeks, according to Thames Water. It no longer believes the ban will extend into the autumn, provided the weather does not take “an unexpectedly Saharan twist”. The review of water restrictions
A MOTORIST who refused to provide a breath test has been given a curfew. Billy Thomas was pulled over in Oxford Road, Cowley, on February 20, but did not co-operate with police. The 24-year-old, who has a previous drink-driving conviction, appeared
AN American father and the husbands of his two daughters were last night named as those killed in the car crash near Sandford-on-Thames on Monday evening. Police confirmed last night that Andrew Pain, 31, from London, died in the accident on the A4074
Oxfordshire's boys and girls teams both finished third in the latest round of the Ten & Under County Cup. Their girls line-up of Laila Zugic, Lois McNulty, Grace Tully and Imogen Hunt lost against Middlesex and Herts at Oxford Sports. But they beat
A SERVICEMAN has spoken of the double tragedy of losing his brother and platoon commander within a week. Just a day after attending the repatriation of Captain Stephen Healey last week, Corporal Matt Thacker was told his brother had been killed. Cpl
Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League SIMON Hole is relishing Shipton-under-Wychwood’s first Home Counties Premier League derby when they visit Aston Rowant in Division 2 West tomorrow. Unbeaten Shipton have made a great start
GROUPS from across Oxfordshire will have their say on whether the 1,200- home Barton West development should go ahead. Yesterday, government planning inspector Shelagh Bussey held a public meeting at Town Hall where she set out how the hearings into
Peter Wood, from Oxford, won a title in the regional finals of the Honda RYA Youth Rib Championship at Queen Mary Sailing Club, near Staines. The 16-year-old, an RYA sailing instructor, took the honours in the 13-16 age group, and said he was “surprised
Wallingford were the big winners at the Metropolitan Regatta held on the Olympic course at Dorney, going home with six trophies. The club also enjoyed success at the National Schools Regatta at Nottingham. Five of the wins at Dorney
SATURDAY. CRICKET. SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE. Div 1: Henley v Banbury, Welwyn Garden City v Oxford. Div 2 West: Aston Rowant v Shipton-under-Wychwood, Thame Tn v Dinton. CHERWELL LEAGUE. Div 1: Banbury 2nd v Cumnor, Bletchley
Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League BANBURY batsman Eddie Phillips will be out for eight to ten weeks after dislocating his left big toe in a freak accident. Phillips feared he might lose the toe following the injury in a friendly match on
Oxford Cavaliers play their first home game of the season tomorrow when they host Somerset Vikings in the RL Conference Western Division at Oxford RFC (2). They hope to bounce back from losing at Bristol Sonics, where Jack Briggs scored a hat-trick
Tom Johnson will complete a remarkable transition from Chinnor player to England international when he lines up against South Africa in Durban tomorrow. The 29-year-old makes his debut at blindside flanker after a second impressive season for
Oxfordshire's Jon Jukes pulled off a shock 4-2 win against Coventry professional Steve Beaton in the preliminary round of the Speedy Services UK Open at Bolton last night. Jukes was too strong for Beaton, who won the British Darts Organisation version
A “THORN in the side of the city council” who had 400 guns seized after telling a planning officer “blood will be spilt” is appealing against a decision not to return his firearms licences. Martin Young, who is well known for his disputes with
A GREAT deal of concern has been expressed to me over the painting out of Lord Nelson’s quote: “England expects every man to do his duty.” This was on the Marston Road side of the Scout hall, in William Street. I am pleased to say that, after a quote
THIS country, the once-Great Britain, fought wars in which thousands of soldiers lost their lives all in the name of freedom. But we are losing this freedom, little by little, by allowing little non-smoking dictators to tell us when we can and cannot
After the brilliantly thought-out decision to close the centre of Oxford all day for a cycle race (the rush-hour traffic towards the station stretched back up Walton Street to the Oxford University Press), a thought arises. Shouldn’t cyclists, like other
NOW we have a listening town council that wants to provide what the community wants, I would urge all users of West Witney Sports, whether playing football or cricket or just taking the dog for a walk, to turn up at West Witney Sports Ground on Wednesday
AFTER reading his views on Sunday trading in the Big Issue column on Tuesday, I am in complete agreement with Father Daniel Seward. I work in the retail myself, and have done so for more than 35 years and more. Why do we need to open up shops at all
IT’S been a bad time for umbrellas – my umbrellas. As I wrote in my May Morning report, I happily gave umbrella number one – a men’s small folding variety – to two flimsily clad young women who were braving the rain of Cowley Road. It gave me a
Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League OXFORD have signed South African batsman Ryan Canning as they bid to climb off the bottom of Division 1. Canning, who has played for Western Province and Cape Cobras and has 83 first-class matches under
ONE lucky nine-year-old got the chance of a lifetime this week as she helped make her own cupcakes that will be sold across the country. Kizzy McDonald won a competition to design a cupcake for the Fabulous Bakin’ Boys, based in Witney. Her banana,
A DEALER’S drug stash was found after he fired an air gun out of his window at a passing taxi. Police attending the scene found a quantity of cocaine at Luke Alford’s Abingdon home. The 23-year-old was yesterday unanimously convicted by jurors at Oxford
To the motorists who are angry, rude and sometimes dangerous to cyclists riding in groups in the countryside – you are in a minority. Most drivers are polite. It is legal to ride two abreast – you don’t have more of a right to be on the road and we
We have heard much about how Bank Holidays are bad for the economy because they lead to lost production. This is yet another example of wrongly blaming the workers for our economic ills. Not only does extra spending on Bank Holidays boost the economy
DEREK the kitten is among hundreds of pets being microchipped at the Blue Cross Centre this month. To mark the start of National Microchipping Month, the Blue Cross in Lewknor is urging pet owners to make sure their animal is chipped and their details
BUYING train tickets was branded “confusing and frustrating” by a rail regulator yesterday. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) questioned more than 1,600 passengers from all over the country on their experience of buying train tickets. More than half
A MAN who drunkenly aimed two kitchen knives at a policeman is facing jail. Gary Hughes was found by officers in an address in East Oxford, after a 999 call reporting a domestic incident. When police arrived they found the 43-year-old holding two kitchen
IT took 461 daily pleas on video, but James Bishop was willing to do anything to get his favourite band to play at his wedding. And after bombarding US group Hanson with online video messages since February last year, the 26-year-old from Abingdon finally
OXFORD: A 23-year-old man has been jailed for robbery. Jack Titcomb was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday. He had earlier admitted robbing Joshua Gunning of a mobile phone and headset on January 23. Titcomb, of Herschel Crescent, Littlemore
A VOLUNTEER who was awarded an MBE for running a soup kitchen for the homeless was refused funding – because her work “encourages rough sleeping’”. Icolyn ‘Ma’ Smith, 81, has been giving up her own time for others for nearly a quarter of a
Friends James Bishop and Chris Douch are living proof that if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. It may have taken 461 videos, one sent each day, to get their favourite band to agree to honour James’s upcoming wedding to Jennie Tripp
Well, they do say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And clearly that’s what Oxford City Council thinks of Icolyn Smith’s efforts. The 81-year-old has, for the last 22 years, run a soup kitchen for the homeless in Manzil Way
A college that provides an education for children that other institutions will not take has been praised for behaviour standards. Pupil referral unit Meadowbrook College, which takes children who have been permanently expelled or are at risk of exclusion
After losing his infant son to cancer and seeing his wife battle the disease, James Chadney proudly lit a beacon of hope to honour both The Queen and those fighting the condition. He lit the penultimate of 4,000 beacons that were ignited on Monday night
CYCLISTS are calling on the county council to sort out road markings in Oxford which have left them bamboozled. The city council is planning to invest more than £800,000 to improve the city’s cycling infrastructure. But residents want
A new mobile app that will help stranded students get home safely is among the winners of a university technology competition. Oxford Brookes University launched a contest for students to come up with ideas for apps they would like it to develop. More
