A church leader has announced she will retire after seven years at the heart of an Oxford estate.

The Rev Fleur Houston will address the congregation at the Holy Family Church, in Cuddesdon Way, Blackbird Leys, for the last time on Sunday, June 29.

The United Reformed Church minister is off to Macclesfield to be closer to her three grandchildren and spend more time indulging her hobby of hill walking.

Mrs Houston, 65, said: "We have lived on the estate for seven years and we really do think this is an excellent place to be.

"I think it is a great shame the reputation which came with the joyriding and all that is still there. It does no credit to Oxford, the way the reputation of Blackbird Leys has stuck.

"It does have its problems - I will not deny that - but they are no worse than anywhere else."

Mrs Houston was born in Aberdeenshire and ordained in the early 1990s after a career as a French teacher and lecturer in Manchester and Belfast. She is married with three grandchildren and another two on the way.

She said her fondest memories included Christmas carol concerts, working with the Blackbird Leys Choir and an international motorcade, which formed part of the estate's 50th anniversary celebrations and ended in a church service last year.

She said: "I have found the community spirit very good. I notice it especially at funerals. Often the churches are overflowing.

"I remember when I came down here. The first thing that struck me was the friendliness of the people - the way they spoke very casually and helpfully."

Most of all, she said, she would miss the Glow Tree sculpture which sits just yards from the church, where about 65 people usually attend worship.

She said: "I think the Glow Tree is symbolic of life here - it's full of light and it is full of life.

"There are leaves at the bottom of the tree where people have written things they find important.

"It means God is at the heart of the estate."