HI-TECH company AEA Technology has scooped a major deal to help destroy stockpiled chemical weapons, writes Chris Koenig. The US Army has awarded a new contract to AEA to help assess an environmentally friendly method of destroying weapons. Harwell-based
A teenager was in protective custody today after threatening to jump off a bridge in Witney. Police spent half an hour trying to persuade the 17-year-old youth, who was upset after a domestic row, to come down from Cogges bridge over the A40 dual carriageway
Freshly cooked school dinners look set to become a thing of the past in 93 Oxfordshire schools. Councillors are set to approve plans to replace the traditional school canteen with precooked frozen dinners. The dinners, similar to prepacked dinners bought
The family of a man facing sex charges had been desperately trying to trace him for hours before he was found hanged in his loft. Relatives of Bernard Saunders raised the alarm after he failed to turn up at Oxford Crown Court on Monday to face eight charges
Police searching the Oxford home of jobless Robert Gale found thousands of pounds stashed in his car and drugs hidden in his house and garden, a court heard. Gale, 37, faces Oxford Crown Court accused of dealing drugs following the search at his address
PARTYGOERS threatened to kill the man accused of murdering hairdresser Rachel Long after he bottled a girl's dad singing karaoke. Mathew Smith, 29, of Hermon Close, Abingdon, was said to have hit Michael Lipscombe on the head with an empty wine bottle
AFTER revealing that Perriss Wilkins's winning throws were in a state of decline only last week, the Banbury discus thrower made me eat my words as he shattered the British record in Birmingham with a throw of 66.64m. Wilkins, it would appear, is in unbeatable
TIDDINGTON crashed out in the Critchleys Oxon KO Cup first round last night as neighbours Chinnor, of OCA Senior Section 1, pulled off one of the biggest shocks in the competition's history to beat their Thames Valley League opponents by three wickets
GEORGE FREW takes a look at Jongleurs as they get ready to gear up in Oxford... Jongleur means wandering minstrel. It's a mediaeval expression. With his imposing height and shaven skull, comedian Jeff Innocent looks less like a wandering minstrel and
A timebomb is ticking which could force millions of people on to the breadline, make taxes rocket and cause a crippling housing shortage. The source of this impending explosion? A huge rise in the number of old people in Oxfordshire. Improved diets and
Mavis Knight doesn't need a stress counsellor. If the 41-year-old service manager has a particularly hard day at work, she doesn't fret. She just watches a football match and shouts until she feels better. To say Mavis is a football fan is something of
Pup-pup-pup PARR-pa-rup-pup pup-pup... When Match of the Day's theme tune starts, it's Theresa Clark's signal to head for the door and out into her garden, away from the sound or sight of anything to do with football, writes FIONA TARRANT. But now Theresa
A mentally ill man caused £20,000 damage after running amok with a sledgehammer. The patient chased workers on the Hithercroft industrial estate at Wallingford with the 14lb hammer, shouting 'I'm going to knock your head off', and attacked businesses
An Oxfordshire systems analyst has been arrested in Thailand on porn charges. Kim Draper, 36, of Didcot, was arrested in Pattaya, Thailand, on May 28 and accused of making pornographic films and selling them over the Internet. He could face two years
A new £4m computer centre in Oxford has given a major boost to University researchers. The centre will help solve problems ranging from the physiology of the heart and the structure of DNA, to flow in jet engines and the weathering of rocks. A three-ton
Abingdon, Wantage and Henley magistrates' courts are to close - but Thame will stay open, it has been announced. The news comes as a particular blow to the Vale of White Horse. People will lose both their courts and will have to travel to Didcot or Oxford
PLAYERS and officials of local football clubs have been stunned by the death of Didcot Town manager Rob Dodd, aged 44, at the weekend. On Sunday, more than 100 players and supporters turned up at Didcot Town social club as a tribute to Rob - or Doddy
A nursing and beds crisis is gripping Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital. As reported in two Oxford Mail exclusives, an emergency ward had to close for three days and some patients are dying before reaching the operating table as the situation reaches chronic
ANNE Brunner-Ellis couldn't find the words to describe the pain of not being able to have a second child. Her daughter, Jessica, was born in 1990 but Anne, 42, was desperate to have a child with her second husband, 35-year-old Robin. Despite numerous
