OXFORD band Radiohead scooped another major award for their smash hit album OK Computer last night.

The band, all originally from Abingdon, won the Best Album category at the NME awards, held at the Brixton Academy, London.

The awards, voted by readers of the weekly music paper, are among the few chosen by music fans themselves rather than by industry big wigs.

The band were not able to attend the award ceremony but singer Thom Yorke apologised in a video link up from Japan, where the band is currently on tour.

Rivals The Verve picked up Best Band, Best Video and two Best Single awards at the awards, hosted by comedian Eddie Izzard.

Radiohead, which also includes guitarists Jon Greenwood and Ed O'Bien, bassist Colin Greenwood and drummer Phil Selway, met while pupils at Abingdon School and formed Radiohead in the early 1990s.

Their previous albums, Pablo Honey and The Bends, have been hits both in Britain and the USA. OK Computer was released last June to both popular and critical acclaim. It was recently voted best album of all time by readers of Q magazine.

The latest single to be lifted from the album, No Surprises, is currently at number 22 in the charts.

The Glastonbury Festival, at which Radiohead made a landmark performance last year, was also voted best live even at last night's awards.

Radiohead are also hotly-tipped to win awards in the music industry Brit Awards, to be held next month. Designer label fight hots up MANAGERS of Tesco in Abingdon are expecting huge queues tomorrow as designer sportswear goes on sale at half the normal price in a battle with top fashion stores.

Trainers and clothing made by designer label Nike will be on special offer after Tesco secretly bought more than £8m of gear from the US firm.

Offers include Nike ladies Silver Trimax trainers, reduced from £119.99 to £50 and men's Deep Marina Air Max trainers, cut from £79.99 to £45.

The price cuts are part of Tesco's bid to break the sky-high price strategy of major fashion retailers.

Designer labels regularly refuse to supply Tesco with goods when they learn the supermarket intends to sell them at a discount. Nike told the Tesco it did not fit its "Image criteria".

Tesco director John Gildersleeve said: "It is outrageous that British shoppers are being forced to pay over the odds for many branded products."

"Nike are not alone in operating a system of selective distribution. It is unfair and we are campaigning for changes on behalf of our customers."

Tesco use middlemen to buy goods from the US on the so-called "grey market" and ship it to Britain.

The campaign against Nike follows similar sales of Levi Strauss jeans. Stocks of Nike goods are limited and Managers are advising customers to arrive early to get the best choice.

ASTRONOMERS in Didcot have discovered a series of massive explosions constantly erupting on the surface of the sun.

Known as blinkers, each one is the size of the earth and has the power of 100 megatons - equivalent to almost seven H-bombs.

Scientists operating a satellite telescope at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory made the landmark discovery. They hope it will help unravel many more of the sun's mysteries.

About 3,000 of the short-lived explosions break out on the sun's surface at any given time. Woman in custody A WOMAN accused of the attempted murder of her husband will remain in custody until a further hearing on February 23.

Julie Toye, 39, of The Oval, Bicester, appeared at a remand hearing before magistrates at Bicester.

She is accused of stabbing her husband Raymond on January 21. yesterday.

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