First Great Western services between Oxfordshire and London Paddington are still suffering long delays after a person was hit by a train in West London this afternoon. Many services from the capital to Didcot Parkway and Oxford are delayed
TWO armed police officers were called to Witney to deal with a fight that left an 18-year-old man in hospital. The armed response unit was called after reports of a fight involving weapons in Lowells Place, off Corn Street, at about 10.30pm
TODAY the Oxford Mail can reveal the shocking extent of crimes reported on school grounds across the county. Police were called to more than 400 reports of crimes at Oxfordshire school sites in the past three years. They include allegations
The A34 northbound is blocked after a car transporter overturned. Police were called just after 4pm to reports of a Scania transporter overturning on the northbound carriageway between Beedon and East Ilsley. The driver was taken to
Four men arrested as part a police investigation into a child sex ring in Oxford have answered bail. A 31-year-old man was released without charge while another 31-year-old man and his 23-year-old brother were rebailed until Thursday, July 5. A fourth
OXFORD Civic Society will be hosting an event to help people understand new planning laws. The Localism Act 2011 allows residents to set up “neighbourhood plans” which carry equal weight to city council policy when planning applications are decided.
ALL creatures great and small were unearthed during a ‘BioBlitz’ in east Oxford. Science Oxford brought together nature lovers of all ages for a special 24-hour survey of wildlife in a square kilometre of open spaces, gardens, rivers and woods between
A PEACEFUL weekend was had by thousands at a free festival in Nuneham Courtenay. The Peace in the Park event at the 55-acre Nuneham Park estate featured attractions including live music and meditation. Visitor Yvonne Green, from Kidlington
A GROUNDBREAKING project to assess the impact of tourism on Abingdon has been launched. Businesses and members of the public are being urged to take part in market research which not only aims to gauge the number of tourists visiting the town
RUSH-HOUR train services between Oxfordshire and London Paddington are suffering severe disruption this evening after a person was struck by a train in West London. All four lines are currently closed after the incident between Hayes & Harlington
A PROLIFIC burglar who “plagued” student accommodation has been sentenced to four years in prison. Jason Callaghan admitted stealing a laptop worth about £1,500 from a student’s room at St Edmund Hall, Queen’s Lane, Oxford, on October 10. The 39-year-old
THE Wolvercote Festival went with a bang, despite suffering some unexpected flooding. This weekend marked the 10th Wolvercote and Wytham Midsummer Festival, and to celebrate the anniversary organisers chose an Olympic theme. Heavy rainfall meant that
A CONSULTATION has been launched to seek residents’ views about a planned recycling centre in West Oxfordshire. The district council hopes to convert the former council depot Greystones, on the outskirts of Chipping Norton, into a new centre
Now that I have lulled you into a false sense of security and buttered you up with the professionalism of a master baker, now’s the time to reveal my true colours. Like a croc diving down to retrieve his softened and rotted flesh, stored safely under
GOOD causes in Blackbird Leys will tonight bid for more than £12,000 in grant money. The Blackbird Leys Parish gives out grants twice a year and tonight will decide between local reading groups, charities and theatre productions. And council members
AN Oxford tennis coach has pushed himself to the limit to raise cash for a young girl with cerebral palsy. Stephen Melia, 24, of Iffley, coached tennis to about 40 people over 36 hours straight at the weekend, raising £1,500 for Zizi Gregory-Osborne
The Olympic Torch won’t reach Bicester until next month, but one former resident held it high for the town. Lise Honsinger was given the honour of carrying the flame through the streets of Aberdeen after helping raise £20,000 for three charities
WOLVERCOTE residents are being asked to step in and help shape major housing plans for their community. A meeting will be held at 8pm on Monday at Cutteslowe Pavilion, in Cutteslowe Park, to discuss Oxford City Council’s policy around building
REFURBISHMENT work has begun on St Michael at the Northgate Church in the centre of Oxford. The Cornmarket Street church shut yesterday and will stay closed until Friday while scaffolding is put up. A state-of-the-art sound system has
CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 5 SIMON Pritchard plundered 128 as Didcot racked up 241-9 at home to Kimble on their way to a win that takes them above their opponents and up to second. Bradley Rose took 3-31 for the visitors, who crumbled to 120 all
Childrens’ Laureate Michael Rosen will be in Oxford today to give a talk about literacy among children. It will take place at the Town Hall in St Aldate’s between 7pm and 9pm. The event is open to all but places are limited. To book call 07967392229.
Two men will be sentenced for handling stolen goods after a burglary charge was dropped. Christopher Rea, 21, and David Carron, 18, admitted handling a laptop stolen in a burglary on January 22. At Oxford Crown Court yesterday, Carron, of Glyme Drive
Thames Valley Police will have to destroy the mugshots of innocent people after a landmark court case ruled that keeping them was a breach of human rights. The High Court ruled last week that police forces should no longer retain pictures
ONE of Oxford’s iconic dreaming spires has reopened to the public after the first stage of a £5m refurbishment was completed. Visitors with a head for heights can once again climb the tower of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin in
CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 4 HORSPATH 2nd were poised to beat Cublington and leapfrog them at the top when a downpour prevented any further action. Jehan Mohammed (67) and Matthew O’Connor (61) had helped Horspath post 226-6 from their 53 overs.
CHERWELL LEAGUE Divisions 6-10 CROPREDY 2nd’s Pete Cooling took a hat-trick, but finished on the losing side in their Division 6 clash with Bletchley Town 2nd. Cooling claimed 4-6 and Michael Boscott 4-45 as Bletchley were all out for 130, Jude
PROJECTS like the wattle and daub shelter at Cogges Manor Farm Museum showcase the very best of youths’ efforts. Unfortunately, the fire that has destroyed it may indeed showcase the worst. Yesterday the museum revealed the destruction
Three women and a man have gone on trial at Oxford Crown Court accused of involvement in a burglary at the Burford Garden Company. Dawn Dulake, Karley Gill, Faye Johnson and Danny O’Loughlin, all of Cleeve Prior, Worcestershire, are accused of handling
CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 3 WITNEY Mills’ left-arm seamer Pierre Lefort took 4-27 and veteran off spinner Steve Kelly claimed 3-17 as Chearsley slumped to 83 all out. Earlier Will Sterio had played another sound innings, top scoring with 45 in Mills
THE Rollright Stones have been named as one of “seven wonders” of the Cotswolds in a public vote. Hundreds of people voted after the Cotswold Conservation Board launched a poll to find people’s favourite places in the area. There were 80 nominations
Scientists are working on plans to ‘hack’ into Stephen Hawking’s brain to enable him to communicate more easily. The Oxford-born physicist, pictured, has been trying out the iBrain device, developed by Prof Philip Low, of Stanford University in the
A THATCHED shelter built by young people at a Witney museum has been destroyed in a suspected arson attack. But volunteers at Cogges Manor Farm Museum said they would rather work with the attackers to help them, rather than see them prosecuted
CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 2 NICK Hands was out one run short of his century as Oxford 3rd made 196-9 at Twyford. Left-arm spinner Bilal Afzal was the pick of the home attack with 4-46. Shahid Mahmood (38) and Stafford Sansome (37no) gave Twyford
Frilford Heath’s Tom Fleming will line up in the Open at Lytham next month after coming through qualifying yesterday. Fleming shot a 72 at The London to book his place in the sport’s showpiece event on July 19. The qualifiers at the Sevenoaks course
Nuffield Bar staged an as-tonishing comeback from 4-1 down to beat Gillans Bar 5-4 in their Greene King Oxford & District Darts Association Ladies’ Premier Section clash. Jayne Godfrey, Chris Thompson and Shaz Thompson gave Gillans Bar a 3-0 lead. Nuffield
BROUGHTON & North Newington beat leaders Oxenford on Saturday with a 42-run victory which left the top of Division 1 finely poised, writes KIEREN BUSHNELL. Gary Crook’s 81 and Olly Evans’s 46 led Broughton to a daunting total of 223-8, which
HUNDREDS of people are expected to attend the funeral of one of the leading lights of the Indian community in Oxford today. The Rev Masih Dass Gill is due to be laid to rest at the Cowley Road Methodist Church, where he has led a congregation
CHERWELL LEAGUE Graham Scott's Match of the Day WALLINGFORD clinched victory for the first time at their new Blewbury home by beating Hanborough in Division 4. The visitors squandered the decent start gained through openers Joe Burgess (35) and
CHERWELL LEAGUE Division 1 HORSPATH were spared their first defeat of the season when heavy rain brought a premature end to their match at Bletchley Town. But despite being outplayed for most of the afternoon, a quirk of the league’s points system
ALTHOUGH we have finally moved back into our house, Bob (his real name) the builder is still sawing and planing and sanding our house. He’s working around us, or we’re working around him. It’s hard to tell sometimes which is the greater labour: building
SUSAN Allen (the head of consumer relations for NatWest Bank) appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Money Box Live programme on Saturday, was asked whether the costs incurred by those calling the bank’s customer hotline via an 0845 number, during the current crisis
AS AN English football fan waiting since 1966 for another win, I wonder if the English tactic was to beat Italy on penalties. I, perhaps naïvely, felt quite positive after the first 20 minutes, but the next 100 were a wee bit disappointing, to say the
SOLDIERS from Dalton Barracks in Abingdon are flying the flag for Armed Forces Day. The flag raised yesterday was one of hundreds hoisted across the country to encourage people to show their support on Saturday, when Armed Forces Day will be celebrated
WITH Far From the Madding Crowd (Oxford City) having a bye last week, both the Plough (Wolvercote) and the Ploughman’s Bunch! (Wolvercote) had the opportunity to join their absent adversary at the top of the Premier Section. It could well turn out,
I attended a meeting of West Oxfordshire District Council for the first time on Wednesday as a member of the public. I had gone to hear a debate on a motion from Labour councillors about recognising and supporting Witney Pride and about promoting equality
IT IS great news that common sense has finally won out over the lengthy saga of the Cogges Link Road (Oxford Mail, June 16). Full credit must be given to the campaigners who have worked so hard over many years to protect local residents from increased
AS A cyclist myself I totally agree with Frances Lewis (Wednesday’s Oxford Mail ViewPoints)about being forced to abandon the cycle lanes and ride on the footpath to avoid inconsiderate motorists. The worst ones I find are vans and lorries who stop on
The driver of a cement mixer was hospitalised after his vehicle crashed into a light goods lorry on the A34. One lane was closed after the incident, which happened at around 1pm on the southbound carriage way before the Milton Interchange. The victim
Oxfordshire's patched-up side are up against it in their Minor Counties Championship Western Division clash against Dorset after a remarkable second day in which 23 wickets fell. With the match switched to Great & Little Tew after the first day at Banbury
Oxford University struck two important late blows to rock Cambridge University as day two in The Parks ended with the annual Varsity Match evenly balanced. Resuming their first innings on 171-4, the Dark Blues were bowled out for 280.
MORE than 1,000 young people in Oxfordshire could be without housing benefits if proposed changes to the system go ahead. Prime Minister and Witney MP David Cameron said he was looking at scrapping payouts for the under-25s in a speech yesterday
Police would like to speak to this man after a bicycle was stolen from the city railway station. The theft took place at about 6.30pm on Friday, June 8, but police did not launch an appeal until yesterday. The victim left the bike secured to the cycle
Oxford United are looking to seal two new signings before pre-season training begins next week. The U’s have made formal approaches to a pair of midfielders with Football League experience and are expecting answers from the duo, who are free agents,
A TOUCH of movie magic will be added to the unique centrepiece of Oxford’s Olympic celebration in South Park next month. Movie industry sound designer James Mather will be adding sound effects at the Tree of Light event. Mr Mather has worked on the
A 39-year-old motorcyclist died in a crash on the Woodstock to Charlbury road on Saturday. The man, from Hampshire, was declared dead at the scene after his BMW motorcycle crashed on the B4437 at about 1pm. Anyone with information should
OXFORD residents were among the thousands celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee at a river pageant and garden party in Henley. The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were applauded as they arrived on a passenger steamer by those gathered for the party in
ANDREW Buckland’s superb haul of 7-21 helped Marcham see off Risinghurst by four runs in a low-scoring affair in Division 6. Marcham were all out for 69, but Buckland saw Risinghurst dismissed for 65. Leaders Kings Sutton beat Dorchester by 51 runs.
OXFORD is facing “major disruption” when an estimated 10,000 people descend on the city centre for a protest by public sector workers next month. The city will be one of only two nationwide protest rallies taking place on Saturday, July 14,
A NEW £1m hub for Witney youngsters has officially opened its doors. The West Oxfordshire Early Intervention Hub will provide advice for new parents, help for the unemployed and host dance and music sessions. It has opened in a former
A PLAQUE in honour of India cricketing legend ‘Tiger’ Pataudi was unveiled at Oxford University cricket pavilion as his family visited the city. Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, nicknamed ‘Tiger’, studied Arabic and French at Balliol College and
A PROFESSIONAL golfer hopes to show the sport really is for everyone after setting up an academy for children with special needs. Waterstock Golf Club has teamed up with the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Golf Partnership to launch
ANOTHER 3,000 homes and businesses in Oxfordshire will be provided with high-speed broadband as part of BT’s £2.5m investment into the technology. It will see Chipping Norton given a high speed connection – taking the number of properties in
MORE than 250 people have been helped by a homeless charity which opened last year in Oxford’s Old Fire Station. Education charity Crisis Skylight opened at the George Street venue last November following a £3.5m revamp. Crisis director
