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RESIDENTS of an Oxfordshire village are "ecstatic" that the plans for a high-speed driving track for television car show Top Gear have been dropped. Advanced Training Academy Ltd (ADA) lodged an appeal after being refused planning permission to convert

GETTING a car fixed at an independent garage in Oxfordshire is more expensive than anywhere else in the country, according to a new survey. The survey commissioned by the company Warranty Direct found that Oxfordshire had the highest average hourly

MERTON is Oxford's best college acccording to the university's league table for degree results. The college has taken over from St John's at the top of a table described by the university as an accurate version of the Norrington Table - the unofficial

THERE is growing pressure to turn the A34 into a motorway after a family of four were killed on the road. Oxford East MP Andrew Smith led calls for major changes to the busy route following the deaths of Malcolm and Janice Dowling and their sons Richard

THE average price of a house in Oxfordshire rose eight per cent to £260,353 over the past 12 months, new figures showed. Oxfordshire's increase was in contrast to nearby towns such as Milton Keynes and Swindon, which saw falls of two per cent. But

ROADSIDE cameras and warning signs are to be tested on the A34 through Oxfordshire in a bid to prevent drivers tailgating. The new technology will be trialled by the Highways Agency later this month between the Chieveley junction, where the A34 meets

A JUDGE who likened growing cannabis to tomato plants criticised Oxford City Council as he dismissed an Antisocial Behaviour Order. The city council had wanted Phillip Pledge thrown out of his home and banned from Blackbird Leys for two years after

RETAILERS near Green Road Roundabout estimate they have lost nearly half a million pounds in takings since road improvement work began in April. Shopkeepers at Roundway in Headington say takings have dropped by as much as 50 per cent since Oxfordshire

BBC Radio Oxford has recaptured thousands of listeners it lost last year. The latest audience figures revealed the station had attracted an average of 100,000 every week over the three months to the end of June - almost taking it back to its listenership

POLICE have been powerless to enforce a new speed limit brought in after Oxford's Eastern Bypass tragedy. The speed limit was cut from 70mph to 50mph between Horspath Driftway and Green Road roundabout following the deaths of three teenagers and a 21

AN OXFORD woman has appeared in court in connection with a series of airport security breaches. Sarah Lasenby, 68, from East Oxford, was among 17 people who were arrested at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow, following protests against its use by US planes

PEOPLE who put their rubbish out on the wrong day will be fined £75 in a drive to get Oxford's streets clean and tidy. The city council will have its first team of environmental enforcement officers in place at the end of the month. Armed with a book

HOPES for a multi-million pound theatre at one of Oxford's flagship schools have been scuppered after protests about the loss of lime trees. Oxford High School For Girls in North Oxford wanted to demolish 24 lime trees and to build a £3m theatre and

AN OXFORDSHIRE man has been found guilty of attempting to murder his fiancee by throwing electrical appliances into her bath before forcing her head under the water. It took a jury at Oxford Crown Court ten hours and five minutes to unanimously convict

A WALL erected around a former boatyard to keep squatters out will be reduced in height and have its razor wire removed. Residents likened the wall around the Castle Mill Boatyard, in Jericho, Oxford, to a concentration camp. They welcomed the move

THE drought is taking its toll on Oxfordshire wildlife with fish dying and the breeding patterns of frogs and insects being disrupted. Environment Agency officers have warned the situation could be the most serious for the last 100 years, while local

A TEENAGE beauty school student from Oxford was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison yesterday for smuggling more than 10,000 amphetamine tablets into Australia. Eleanor Kathleen Taylor, 19, from Headington, must serve at least three years of

OXFORD'S Nuffield Orthopaedic Hospital is the first in the county to go totally smoke-free. The specialist NHS hospital in Headington has been undergoing extensive rebuilding work and the latest phase of work is due to be completed by the end of the

STAFF numbers at Oxford City Council have risen to above 2002 levels - a time when employees were made redundant to tackle an employee numbers problem. Back then it was thought there were too many staff at the Town Hall, and senior management made 75

DELAYS in a multi-million pound railway scheme will have a damaging knock-on effect on A34 congestion, Oxfordshire motorists have been warned. County transport planners hoped that the expansion of Reading's rail station would be the first in a series

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Sir - Following on from your correspondent last week who found Mr Christopher Gray's views "rather old-fashioned", I believe Mr Gray may yet again have missed the target with his "bemused and disappointed" comments, regarding Creation Theatre's Robin

Sir - Your report (Cocaine use 'on rise', August 4) needs to be read alongside the news item New plans for Australian bar in city centre in the same issue. Both concern the drinking venue Bar Risa in Hythe Bridge Street. The first report tells us that

Sir - The Mother and Child sculpture, which is such a prominent feature of the old County Maternity Hospital in Walton Street, has looked out over Jericho for 75 years and witnessed the comings and goings of that community. Therefore it is only fitting

Sir - CPRE in West Oxfordshire and The Witney Society have been campaigning for more than 20 years against the building of the proposed Cogges Link Road, so it is good news that Oxfordshire County Council is now giving serious consideration to an alternative

Sir - Walking along High Street, I was pleasantly surprised to see a young woman washing the outside of Hobbs shoe shop; she informed me that this was done every morning. In the past, I remember every shop front and pavement being cleaned, and I cannot

CONSTRUCTION company Bluestone, which has offices at Milton Park, contributed to a set of record half-year results by parent construction group Morgan Sindall. Morgan Sindall reported pre-tax profits rose by 17 per cent from £18.2m last year, to £21.3m

A NEW depot supplying wheelchairs and other aids for the disabled is to open at Milton Park, near Abingdon, creating 23 jobs. It will be part of a network of 11 warehouses used by Medequip to supply community care equipment for a wide range of customers

Sir - There are some perplexing statistics in the recent summary of the Town Hall audience development plan. I can easily believe that nearly eight million visitors came to the city each year in 1999-2001. This year, I suspect there will have been many

GREEN policies have helped an Oxford builders merchant to win a £750,000 contract from Oxford City Council.o Johnsons Buildbase, based in Watlington Road, Cowley, will supply plumbing and heating materials for the authority's council house improvement

Sir - I have a helpful suggestion for the Conservative group on Oxfordshire County Council. Their policy to allow free parking in Oxford in the evenings is obviously deeply flawed. To rescue themselves, they could adopt an idea from Sheffield and

Sir - An Oxford concert hall? An excellent idea. But, Mr Stephen Ward (no relation), there is no need to go hang yourself. Only 70 minutes away, with an hourly train service, is the magnificent Symphony Hall in Birmingham, surely one of the finest in

Sir - Recent correspondence suggests that the management of the Sheldonian Theatre is complacent about standards of comfort. I guess that is possible and that one of the characteristics of complacency is you never know when you have got it. What I personally

OXFORD United footballers got out their beach balls to launch a new travel deal for this year's season ticket-holders. Co-op Travel has done a deal with the club to offer holiday discounts to club employees, season ticket-holders and regular match visitors

Sir - Your correspondents Alan Calder and Stephen Ward (Letters, August 4) are a little unfair on Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre. While I would be the first to censure the bench-like seating in the gallery, twice in the past year I have had a rather more

Sir - On reading the recent letters regarding the provision of a new concert hall/theatre for Oxford, I have gained the impression that the writers feel that funding for this should be the responsibility of local and national government. I also notice

Sir - It is strange that your editorial on the A34 fails to mention that this major trunk road is also part of the city's ring road. The Oxford Transport Strategy casually forced those of us who live west of Oxford to use it on any journey, except westward

Sir - Congestion on the A34 is not the cause of accidents (Deaths could increase as A34 chokes, August 4). Danger is increased where there is a substantial difference between the slower and faster vehicles using the same road. Safety is impaired by cars

Once again we had news of the tragic loss of life on the A34 in Oxfordshire. This road must now be one of the most congested roads in the country apart from the motorways, and one of the most dangerous. Action must be taken to stop this continued loss

Sir - I was saddened to read of the death of little Tyler Black who drowned last week in his parents' garden pond. Many of you will have read of the death of my little granddaughter Abigail, the inquest on whose death was held in April. Abi left her

Sir - I was deeply dismayed by the tone of your recent article on climate-change (Hotter weather could mean new way of life, August 4). With phrases like "Oxfordshire could be transformed into an olive- and wine- producing area", the article almost makes

Judge Charles Harris has received some criticism for his decision to throw out a proposed Antisocial Behaviour Order against Phillip Pledge for growing cannabis plants in his Blackbird Leys flat. Judge Harris said that growing cannabis plants was no

It was pleasing to see British Waterways softening its stance over a security fence around the Jericho boatyard. Its desire for security is understandable given the recent history of the site, but it has to be set against the need to be a good neighbour

We occasionally get a glimpse into the inner workings of Oxford City Council and it is not usually a pretty sight. This week we learn that the number of employees has drifted up by 150 over the last four years with no one seemingly noticing. It is an

The national knife amnesty has had a "negligible effect" on stabbings and knife point robberies, according to experts. During the five-week amnesty, which ended on June 30, 1,838 potentially lethal weapons from Samurai swords to pen knives were handed

CONSTRUCTION company Bluestone, which has offices at Milton Park, contributed to a set of record half-year results by parent construction group Morgan Sindall. Morgan Sindall reported pre-tax profits rose by 17 per cent from £18.2m last year, to £21.3m

ABINGDON-based architect and town planning consultants West Waddy ADP have won a four-year framework agreement with Oxford Brookes University, providing town planning and building surveying services to the university for four years, with an optional two-year

THE first industrial and warehouse development in Bicester for ten years, Arena 14, is being built at Bicester Park totalling 4,132 sq m / 44,477 sq ft after Equity Estates received planning permission for 14 units from 255 sq m / 2,745 sq ft. Jon

A new store in Long Hanborough, near Witney is aiming to be a 'green' grocer by demonstrating how supermarket buildings can become more energy efficient. The Coop store on Main Road includes a heat-reclamation system, which recycles the heat generated

BUILDERS have cut the first turf to mark the start of work on a new speculatively-built £4m industrial scheme in Witney. The Nimrod buildings on part of the former Smiths Industries site in De Havilland Way, Windrush Park, are due for completion in

A NEW depot supplying wheelchairs and other aids for the disabled is to open at Milton Park, near Abingdon, creating 23 jobs. It will be part of a network of 11 warehouses used by Medequip to supply community care equipment for a wide range of customers

A NEW depot supplying wheelchairs and other aids for the disabled is to open at Milton Park, near Abingdon, creating 23 jobs. It will be part of a network of 11 warehouses used by Medequip to supply community care equipment for a wide range of customers

GREEN policies have helped an Oxford builders merchant to win a £750,000 contract from Oxford City Council.o Johnsons Buildbase, based in Watlington Road, Cowley, will supply plumbing and heating materials for the authority's council house improvement

An Oxford teenager has been jailed for over six years after smuggling drugs worth about £80,000 into Australia. Eleanor Taylor, from Headington, was sentenced this morning in Perth, Western Australia after being caught in April with more than 100,000

Work will get under way next week on the £50m rebuilding programme at Britain's oldest museum, the Ashmolean. Down will come the Arthur Evans buildings behind the familiar Victorian gallery on Beaumont Street; up will go a light, modern "people-friendly

The Modern Bicycle was one of hundreds of books on sport that appeared at the end of the 19th century as a new leisure sector grew out of the industrial revolution. In Consuming Passions (Harper Press, £20), Judith Flanders argues that cycling was one

Laurie, arrested for setting fire to her father's lab, feels safe for the first time although Dad is in hospital, her brother is in custody and the world is in a perilous state. Kate Thomson, winner of the Children's Bisto award and the Guardian Fiction

Calcutta was never the place to be on a scorching summer day in 1756. But if you were one of the unfortunates locked in a 14ft by 18ft dungeon it would have been sheer hell. Of the 146 Europeans incarcerated, only a handful came out alive. So goes the

Eve Diett, who lives in Watlington, lied about her age to join the Land Army at 16 to help farm the land left by men fighting in the Second World War. She tells the story in Here Come the Land Girls, published by Blackie & Co at £6.99.

Kublai Khan John Man (Bantam, £20) With books on Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun (now in paperback) to his credit, it seemed inevitable that the intrepid John Man would tackle one of China's greatest warlords, Kublai Khan. The grandson of Genghis and

Monica Ali's latest book, Alentejo Blue, is set in a picturesque but less-than-idyllic community in Portugal Writing your second novel when your first has been a mammoth hit must be a huge pressure. But Monica Ali seems to take it in her stride. Just

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Ever 'media savvy', the Hon Michael Beloff QC penned a two-page 'farewell to Oxford', as I am choosing to style it, for readers of the Spectator last week, marking the end of his ten-year stint as President of Trinity College. Its blend of cocksureness

One of the earliest trustworthy maps of Oxford is that contained in work by Agas, published in 1578. I owe that piece of information to an erstwhile fellow of Merton, Andrew Lang, who like so many of his kind succumbed to the urge to pen a book about

Passengers leaving Oxford for Heathrow and Gatwick on the Oxford Bus Company's Airline service said they expected huge delays in the wake of a major anti-terrorism operation. A raft of extra security measures were introduced overnight including a ban

A walk that takes you into 15 Cotswold pubs - it sounds like a drinker's dream. But I don't like beer, particularly the real ale kind, and neither does my husband, George. So how did we come to be doing the Donnington Way? It was a question I asked

Teachers are being advised to stop encouraging children to be "clever" and talk about "successful" pupils instead. This would help overcome the prevailing attitude among pupils that it is "not cool to be clever", the Professional Association of Teachers

Excited squeals often fill the air at Oxford's Covered Market on a Saturday morning. They come from children who have dragged their parents to see the little sugar people on display in the windows of The Cake Shop in Avenue Three. There's something

Blenheim Palace will be a special draw for the August Bank Holiday. The Oxfordshire Living Heritage Craft Show will feature more than 100 stalls of traditional and more unusual crafts, with arena activities, children's amusements and music throughout

Do you remember the fizzy delights of lemon sherbet? Those were the yellow tubes full of white powder that you sucked through a liquorice straw. If you sucked a little too enthusiastically the fizz went up your nose. I could never decide whether I liked

Recent local and national surveys have indicated that the spotted flycatcher is declining in numbers, which has led to the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre making it the subject of its specific project this summer. The centre has been asking

Produced on a modest budget by onetime academic Kevin Willmott, CSA: Confederate States of America is a cod-documentary that ponders what the US would be like today if the Confederacy had won the Civil War - and it reaches the depressing conclusion that

Once upon a time, there was an Indian-born filmmaker called M Night Shyamalan, who proved it was still possible to wrong-foot savvy audiences with his 1999 supernatural thriller The Sixth Sense. The daring final twist captured the public imagination and

'It's been short of wind, and hasn't always worked properly." No, not a description of an unfit jogger, but organist Simon Preston's verdict on the organ in London's Royal Albert Hall. Indeed, for many years, all was not well with the mighty machine.

During July, artists Allie Butler and Barry Reeves took up residency in the Ovada studio and gallery space in Gloucester Green, while a third artist Martha Lewis developed her work in America. Between them they have created the exhibition Go on, Deceive

The Live Nation Stage Experience assembled what seemed like a cast of thousands to present Lionel Bart's Oliver! at the New Theatre last weekend. This was a splendid achievement for youth theatre in general and for Live Nation in particular. The leading

FRILFORD HEATH Ladies' Skellton Salver: 1 J Judd 95-26=69; 2 A Southwell 91-21=70; 3 P Kendall 83-12=71. CHIPPING NORTON Senior match: Chipping Norton 5, North Oxford 2. Senior Ladies' Stableford: 1 R Davies 39, 2 M Pettifer 37, 3 J Schofield 36.

THE Reynolds family from Chipping Norton stole the show in the Oxfordshire Junior League Championship at Frilford Heath. Tim Reynolds was overall winner after an excellent two-over-par 74, ahead of North Oxford's Glen Oakes (75) and Tadmarton Heath's

ALSO landing a hole-in-one was Donovon Henderson-Sowerby, 16, who struck during Witney Lakes' August Medal on Sunday. The five-handicapper aced the 210-yard par-three eighth hole with a five-iron, but only learned of his feat when arriving on the green

THE Oxfordshire will host a new Ladies' European Tour event for four years from 2007. Tour bosses have awarded the Thame course the Ladies European Masters, which will carry minimum prize money of £300,000. The Oxfordshire see the tournament, whose

The Royal Shakespeare Company's new production of the rarely seen King John provides a rampaging, bloody tale of deceit and weakness, driven by a monarch with no scruples. Within moments of the opening, a French-backed contender, Arthur, the son OF the

SHAUN Kench hopes breaking Chipping Norton's course record will spur him on to forge a career in the sport. The 20-year-old shot a fantastic eight-under-par 63 to beat Chippy's previous amateur best by two strokes during Sunday's medal. Kench, who

Four will become five next weekend as violist Simon Rowland-Jones joins the Sacconi String Quartet for a series of concerts showcasing some of Mozart's mature string quartets and quintets. The two-day festival, comprising three concerts - one on Friday

In the small room close to the Main Gallery at Modern Art Oxford there are two paintings. One canvas is covered with a pale nondescript grey, the other is painted black. At first that is all you see - just two panels depicting nothing more than the paint

CHINNOR and Oxford Harlequins have been given home draws in round 1 south of the EDF Energy National Trophy. Norfolk side North Walsham, who finished third in National 3 South last season, will travel to Kingsey Road on Saturday, October 28. South

SCORPIONS were the shock winners of the Lawrence Hamblyn Henley International Sevens after a series of thrilling victories at Dry Leas. They held their nerve to defeat old rivals Samurai International 24-19 in the final, but could have lost in the first

SPORTING celebrities and representatives from the horseracing world are to take part in a charity match at Challow & Childrey CC on Sunday, September 17 (10.30). The game between teams from Lambourn and Newmarket will be in aid of the Rhinology and

RYAN Newhook, fresh from notching his first five-wicket haul for Oxfordshire, has revealed he was unsure of his county prospects at the start of the season. The 20-year-old seamer's haul of 5-76 in the first innings against Dorset at Banbury gave Oxon

Mystery still surrounds the death of a Polish shop worker whose body was found in the River Thames after he disappeared in the early hours of New Year's Day. An inquest at Oxford Coroner's Court yesterday was unable to establish how the body of Waldemar

A teenager has denied deliberately driving a motorbike into a family pet and leaving it for dead. Six-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier Jazz suffered horrific wounds to her face after she was hit by a motorbike while on a walk with her owner in a

A coach-load of pensioners singing along to Andy Stewart standards, a bounty on rabbits, kagouls and a talc mine all helped turn a journey to Shetland into a Quentin Tarantino-style travelogue for travel editor Jeremy Smith. I had really hoped I could

The drought is taking its toll on Oxfordshire wildlife with fish dying and the breeding patterns of frogs and insects being disrupted. Environment Agency officers have warned the situation could be the most serious for the last 100 years, while anglers

Reports that US planes carrying weapons to Israel are stopping at Brize Norton to refuel provoked a protests at the base last night. A peace camp is expected to be set up tomorrow so activists can monitor aircraft activity at the west Oxfordshire RAF

Concerns about rotting rubbish, revolting smells and maggots are not enough to force a rethink over how Oxford's so-called 'recycling revolution' will work. Just 48 hours after the Oxford Mail showed how quickly household waste can fester in a secure

Former care worker Valerie Joseph has told how a £20 parking fine left her with a bill of almost £1,000 after she refused to pay up. "My advice to other drivers is to pay as soon as possible because the price can rise enormously," the mother-of-four

A wall erected around a former boatyard to keep squatters out will be reduced in height and have its razor wire removed. Residents likened the wall around the Castle Mill Boatyard, in Jericho, Oxford, to a 'concentration camp'. They welcomed the

Oxford's police commander has accepted a judge's damning criticism of the way an application for an antisocial behaviour order was handled. Chief Supt David McWhirter has vowed to take each case on its merits after a judge rejected an application for

Fraudsters who have swindled more than £100,000 in benefits from taxpayers have been caught as Oxfordshire councils get tough. Six people, including one woman who falsely claimed more than £40,000, have appeared in the county's courts in recent weeks

ANNE-MARIE Scott, best known for being Oxford City Council's human resources manager, has left the authority, we are told. You may recall she caused a rumpus when, talking about the Town Hall's appalling sickness absence record, she said one of the

It was a proud moment - one which made the months spent away from home on active service feel worthwhile. Service medals were this week pinned on the chests of the 23 Oxfordshire soldiers who served in Iraq last year. The men, all Territorial Army

One of Abingdon's last family businesses is to close its doors after more than half a century's trading. The owners of Glendale Electrical Services say they have suffered a decline in business over the past 18 months. Brothers Paul and Terry Heast's

Councillors have given the go-ahead for a £500,000 cycle route and footpath around BMW's Cowley car plant in Oxford. The car manufacturer has submitted a planning application to build the route for pedestrians and cyclists alongside the A4142 Eastern

Oxfordshire health officials have been accused of breaking promises made eight years ago on the future of The Horton Hospital, in Banbury. Barry Wood, the leader of Cherwell District Council, made the accusation on Monday as the authority's executive

It takes a strong man to criticise the people who pay his wages. So Oxford United manager Jim Smith deserves credit for taking a stand against the ridiculous and hysterical fuss surrounding Portuguese wonder boy Cristiano Ronaldo. Smith rebuked the

Your letters page is often filled with criticism of local councils, sometimes justified, sometimes not. Could I be allowed to offer some praise. Thanks to the generosity of the Vale of White Horse District Council and Kennington Parish Council, the

Fans of the folk rock band Fairport Convention could be immortalised in bronze in the village where the group holds a world-famous music festival. Cropredy residents, who welcome Fairport fans to their village every year, have launched an appeal for

Terminally-ill Peter Fidler knows only too well how tough life can be. And despite recovering from chemotherapy, the 39-year-old from Didcot, who has bowel cancer, is gearing up for a new kind of challenge - a sponsored 2,000-mile motorbike ride across

Yes, I know cycling is the cheapest, fittest form of transport there is and I agree, there's no pollution and it is healthier than any vehicle. But do these push-bikes use the road or the pavement? A lot of pedestrians will have a say about that, as will

"Letterbox thieves" burgled five houses on a Didcot estate in a month - using coat hangers to hook door handles and snatching car keys, valuables and vehicles while the owners slept. Police are urging householders in Didcot to keep keys out of sight