The great and good of Oxfordshire have some of the strangest habits when it comes to hobbies and pastimes, according to the latest edition of the widely-consulted top people's directory, Who's Who.

The newly-issued 1999 edition just out reveals some bizarre listed 'interests' among the 1,000 new entries for this year.

Chipping Norton's Jeremy Clarkson includes 'smoking', Oxford boffin Richard Crampton spends his spare time 'avoiding pop music and mobile phones' while Oxford University Press chief Dr Henry Reece enjoys 'watching Wales lose at rugby'.

Principal of Oxford University's Jesus College, Sir Peter North, is one of the most established local names in the book.

He was first included in 1977 when he was made a law commissioner. Sir Peter, aged 62, explained that each name is updated every year and his listed interests have included: "playing and sleeping through cricket, gardening, children and grandchildren."

He acknowledges the influence the book has, including the year he included his full address only to receive a mountain of junk mail and requests from charities. But he's more philosophical about the names of stars which appear in the book.

He said: "Celebrities can be like comets that scream across the sky and then disappear, but they play a very significant part. Who's to say that people aren't more interested in finding out about them than some academic?

"I'm sure the panels take all that into account when making the choices."

Sir Peter uses the volume to find out background details on people he's meeting, to find out if they have a common point of interest, such as schooling or professional similarities. The only point of contention for him is that the number of sons an entrant has is placed before the number of daughters, regardless of the hierarchy.

His eldest daughter wasn't too happy but Who's Who justifies the move in the name of consistency.

*WHO'S Who 1999 is available from major bookstores priced £110.

Story date: Friday 29 January

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.