Archive

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Free tickets go like hot cakes

The first free theatre tickets for an initiative aimed at getting young people into the theatre have been dished out in Oxford. Over the next two years, more than 4,000 free tickets will be handed out to 18 to 26-year-olds by Oxford Playhouse

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Mystery over death in road

A pensioner was run over and killed in a possible hit-and-run in Oxford city centre. The elderly man, who has not yet been named, died after he was struck at the junction of St Aldate’s and Speedwell Street near Oxford’s main police station

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Don't risk drink driving warns banned international gymnast

FORMER international gymnast Katie Slader has warned others not to risk drink driving for even the shortest of distances after she was caught in Witney. The 20 year old, from Alvescot, near Bampton, was one-and-a-half times the legal limit when she

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OxVox deliver petition

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United on a Stag hunt

In-form Oxford United go in search of their first double of the season on Saturday when they take on a Mansfield Town side with several familiar faces. The Stags, now managed by David Holdsworth, have ex-U’s players Rob Duffy, Mich-ael Blackwood and

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Phantom of the Kassam!

Adam Chapman continued his fine form for Oxford United against Barrow last Saturday – though he covered his head in embarrassment after missing a golden chance when he shot against the outside of a post with the goal gaping at the Oxford Mail end. Manager

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Nelthorpe's warning

Oxford United left winger Craig Nelthorpe has been made well aware of his responsibilities to the team this week. The former Doncaster Rovers man was subbed at half-time against Barrow last Saturday. He had been yellow-carded and was close to the edge

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Woodstock bowls club burgled

Police are appealing for witnesses after a burglary at Woodstock Bowls and Tennis Club. Between 4.30pm yesterday and 8am today, alcohol and other items were stolen from the club in Cadogan Park. PC Jacqueline Johnson said: “Around £300 worth of

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Ref had previous

Referee Steve Cummins has been at the centre of controversy before. The Cheshire official, who showed two yellow cards to Barrow’s Nat Kerr without sending him off against Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium last Saturday, had another nightmare in this

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Burton payout

Conference sponsors Blue Square are now paying out on Burton, after they moved 19 points clear at the top of the table with their 2-1 win over Wrexham on Tuesday – even though they still have 14 games to play. “We’ll be paying out around

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Floral pride

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups and organisations are being asked to come forward to take part in this year’s Oxford Pride festival. For the first time, more than a week of events celebrating the gay community will be held leading

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HORSE RACING: Rupert times it right for Webber

Time For Rupert caused a 20-1 shock for Paul Webber’s Mollington stables, near Banbury, when running out a game winner of the Sidney Banks Memorial Novices' Hurdle at Huntingdon on Thursday. The five-year-old looking a sitting duck at one stage, but

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POINT-TO-POINT: Meetings off

The Bicester with Whaddon Chase Hunt meeting at Dunthrop, near Chipping Norton, on Sunday has been postponed due to a waterlogged course. The meeting has been rearranged for Sunday, March 1. Meanwhile, the Oxford University Hunt Club’s charity meeting

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Attack case jury retires

A jury will tomorrow continue deciding whether a teenager kicked and punched a schoolboy as he lay on the ground. Saqab Dogar, 18, of Abington, in Northampton, denies wounding with intent. He is accused of attacking a boy, who cannot be named but

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Man arrested over robbery

A 22-year-old man is in custody on suspicion of carrying out a robbery. He was arrested yesterday in Horspath Road, Cowley, Oxford, over a robbery at Ambleside Drove, Headington, on February 4, when two men barged into a house and took wallets

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No retrial in GBH case

A teenager who attacked a student on a cycle path in University Parks will not face a retrial, it was confirmed tonight. Thomas Mack, 18, of Nicholas Avenue, Marston, Oxford, was convicted at Oxford Crown Court last week of causing grievous bodily harm

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FIXTURES: February 21-27

SATURDAY FOOTBALL BLUE SQUARE PREMIER Oxford Utd v Mansfield Tn. PUMA YOUTH ALLIANCE Under 18 South West Conference: Bristol Rov v Oxford Utd. BRITISH GAS BUSINESS SOUTHERN LEAGUE Premier Div: Banbury Utd v Clevedon Tn, Oxford City v Yate Tn

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Crime gang 'steams' store

A gang of thieves was caught on CCTV cameras “steaming” an Oxford convenience store, distracting staff and grabbing stock before making their getaway. The four men and four women went into Daudhar News, in Horspath Road, Cowley, at about 2pm

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FOOTBALL: Simms boosts Abingdon escape bid

Abingdon Town parade new signing Mark Simms when they host Chalfont Wasps on Saturday. The Premier Division strugglers have been able to sign Simms from Southern League side North Leigh after three local firms put up the money to pay his wages. Abingdon

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Course offers care for carers

Older carers will be able to learn how to look after themselves, as well as their relatives and friends, on a new course in Oxford. The free course has been created to let unpaid carers over 50 know about advice and support that is available

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FOOTBALL: Sullivan wants repeat display

Banbury United boss Kieren Sullivan has praised his side for Tuesday’s derby win and called for more of the same when they face fellow-strugglers Clevedon in the Premier Division on Saturday. Although the Somerset outfit are bottom of the table, Sullivan

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Girl 'too young to understand suicide'

A coroner said a 15-year-old found hanged in her bedroom was too young to fully understand she was going to kill herself. Emily Casemore, originally from Bicester, was found in her room by staff at the Ashley House care home, in Tadley, Hampshire

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Parishes unite against incinerator

Twenty parish councils are calling on Government Minister Hazel Blears to call in a planning application for a waste incinerator at Ardley. They want the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to appoint an independent planning inspector

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BMW CULL: Job hunt '850 times harder'

Finding a job in Oxford is ‘clutching at straws’ with the influx of redundant BMW workers, a worried Richard Sale said as he trawled for jobs at today’s Oxford Mail Job Fair. A record number of people, estimated at about 2,000, crowded into Oxford Town

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RUGBY UNION: Time to perform urges Bowers

Chinnor must find some consistency if they are to avoid relegation from National 3 South, starting at home to Canterbury tomorrow (3). The Thame-based side are only three points off safety, but nearest rivals Lydney have a game in hand. Chinnor coach

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Today's local share prices (PM)

AEA Technology 16.75 BMW 1944 Electrocomponents 129.75 Nationwide Accident Repair 117.5 Oxford Biomedica 7.1 Oxford Catalyst 57.5 Oxford Instruments 142.5 Reed Elsevier 540.25 RM 175.25 RPS Group 156.25 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

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BADMINTON: Park pipped by Evenlode

With leaders Bicester sitting it out with a bye, Evenlode A took over top spot in Division 2 of the Five Disciplines League as the fifth round was hosted by Cramic in Banbury. Evenlode pipped Park 234-216 after a very tight match. The men’s singles

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CRICKET: Challow sign Jones

Challow & Childrey have signed up Aussie Ben Jones from Queensland for the new season. Jones has played first grade for University in Brisbane. Indoor training runs at Eynsham Sports Centre from Sunday, March 1 until March 22 between 9.50 and 10.50am

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Light van man

Just for a second I thought I was about to bring you a world motoring scoop. The sheet that was delivered with the road test vehicle from Citroën said a C2V was in the car park. Momentarily I fantasised that the French car maker had decided to revive

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Judge to hear new murder evidence

A father given a life sentence with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 13 years jail for murdering his wife is to have his sentence reviewed after new evidence was uncovered. Mohammed Rashid admitted killing Sughra Rani with two kitchen

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Garden waste scheme grows

TWICE as many residents in west Oxfordshire will be able to get garden waste collected for recycling when the district council expands its scheme. The fortnightly green waste scheme, launched in 2006, is running at full capacity, with 4,000 households

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Digging in at long last

Not many people are pleased to see workmen digging up their back garden, but Kennington pensioners Terry and Dilys Cale are delighted. The couple, who live in Upper Road, have suffered three years of stress and uncertainty since the discovery

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Local band shines in contest

Ziggy Stardust, a Pinball Wizard and Japanese cartoons all played their part in inspiring an Oxfordshire band into the regional finals of a national music competition. Indie-rock act The Elrics beat hundreds of bands to win a place in the local

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Tax hike will boost police

Extra bobbies on the beat have been promised in Oxfordshire after police decided to increase the amount they charge council tax payers. The county, which has a force of about 950 police officers, will receive 20 extra men and women over the next 12 months

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Cabbages & Kings

Being half term, there were more teenagers than usual around the city centre. Young girls, many of them dressed to please – and in some cases to freeze, judging by their skimpy outfits – paraded mostly in groups, their efforts not missed by the boys’

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Teachers display artistic skills

It was the teachers’ turn to put their artwork on display during a two-week special exhibition. Larkmead School, in Faringdon Road, Abingdon, staged the unusual art display in its gallery. However, instead of showing younger artists’ work, it was the

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Scouting for new pack leader

A call has gone out for help to resurrect a century-old Scout group on an Oxford estate. The Rose Hill group, which was founded in 1908, closed its doors last September and is searching for new leaders to get it back in action. Former

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Asbo thug says sorry

A 20-year-old man who was described by police as an antisocial and violent drunk has pledged to turn his life around after appearing in cour for breaching an Antisocial Behaviour Order. Alistair Aitken, of Preston Road, Abingdon, was given the Asbo

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In memory of Lord Mayor

A book of remembrance has been set up in memory of former Lord Mayor of Oxford Maureen Christian, who died earlier this month. The book has been set up by Mrs Christian’s family and can be signed by members of the public in the reception area

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Man questioned over alleged robbery

A 22-year-old man is being questioned by police in connection with an armed robbery in Oxford. The man was arrested last night at a house in Horspath Road, in Cowley, Oxford, on suspicion of robbery. The arrest was made in connection

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'Callous' thief befriended victims

A distraction burglar who befriended his victims in a bid to get inside their homes and then steal their cars has been jailed for three years. Anthony Stephen Gardener, 30, of Eustace Crescent, in Wokingham, Berkshire, admitted charges of burglary

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MYSTERY DEATH: Police appeal for clues

Mystery surrounds the death of an elderly man who was found with multiple head injuries in Oxford city centre shortly after midnight. Paramedics were called to the junction between St Aldates and Speedwell Street, near Oxford’s main police

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Missing boy found safe and well

A teenage boy who went missing for six days was found safe and well this morning. Police yesterday appealed for help after Kieran Ball, 14, was not seen after leaving his school in Blackbird Leys on February 12. The youngster was found today in Abingdon

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Update: Man found dead outside police station

Mystery surrounds the death of an elderly man who was found with multiple head injuries in Oxford city centre shortly after midnight. Paramedics were called to the junction between St Aldates and Speedwell Street, near Oxford’s main police

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Missing boy found

A teenage boy who went missing for six days was found safe and well this morning. Police yesterday appealed for help after Kieran Ball, 14, was last seen leaving his school in Blackbird Leys on February 12. The youngster, who lived in Chipping Norton

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Plumber with artificial limb tackles Kilimanjaro

A FATHER-OF-THREE who lost a leg to cancer has begun his quest to climb a 19,000ft high mountain in aid of fellow patients. Plumber Andy Ward, 41, has a prosthetic limb after losing a leg below the knee following complications with testicular cancer

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Banbury road branded 'most dangerous'

A COUNCILLOR has called for a review of a road labelled the most dangerous in Banbury after a pensioner’s death. Last Wednesday, a 92-year-old man died of natural causes when his silver Vauxhall Astra collided with a Citroen Xsara Picasso at about 9am

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Nostalgia for a wind-up gramophone

The music began as I placed my hand on the door of the cold cabinet. So loud and sudden was it that I thought I must have triggered an alarm in the splendid little community shop in Iffley where I stop a couple of times a week for a bottle of fizzy

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How to get tight on a thimbleful of booze

How often have you seen the characters in plays and films become howlingly, hog-wimperingly drunk on quantities of alcohol that would not give hiccups to a hamster? I notice this odd, credibility-straining phenomenon all the time. There was a good example

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When the stars came out for soul greats

A day or so agoI was chuntering about how old I am, having in early childhood played such records as I possessed (Danny Kaye’s Sparky’s Magic Piano was among them) on a wind-up gramophone. By contrast, a radio programme broadcast earlier this week reminded

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Enjoying the sweet taste of UK sugar

Before embarking on the successes I have had honouring my pledge to consume only local/British food, I have to hang my head in shame and admit that I cracked and bought some coffee. On the advice of friends, who have watched my self-imposed diet

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Apple pancake recipe (makes about 8)

With Shrove Tuesday coming up shortly (February 24 this year), it’s time to get the non-stick frying pan out and begin thinking pancakes, which are so delicious and easy to make you can eat them throughout the year. The secret to making a good pancake

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Confessions of a Shopaholic and Push

Confessions of a Shopaholic is the right film in the right place at the wrong time. With credit well and truly crunched, and our belts tightened to the point of cutting off the nations monetary circulation, it’s hard to muster sympathy for a spend-happy

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Opening the door to a cottage restoration

Realising the potential in a charming village property has proved worthwhile for Sarah and Philip Brayshay. Two years ago the couple took over Crenlyn in Scotts Lane, Marsh Gibbon, and set about painstakingly restoring this early Victorian Cottage.

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Othello: Oxford Playhouse

What do the playwright Ben Okri and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst have in common? Answer: they are both important influences on the Royal Shakespeare Company’s touring production of Othello, which comes to the Oxford Playhouse next week. It

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Homeowners keep their options open

Homeowners are keeping their options open when it comes to selling their property by taking advantage of a new initiative being offered by Chancellors. Under the company’s Platinum service, a property goes to auction if it is not sold after 12 weeks

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Crocus provides early delight

Gardeners everywhere are in limbo because of the wintry weather., and yesterday I went on the prowl (like a restless animal) for more seed potatoes and shallots purely to keep my faith and hope alive. So far I haven’t seen a bumble bee and my own high-altitude

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Recession survival tips for bosses

Business leaders in Oxford are being given an insight into how to survive the recession from the world’s largest chief executive membership organisation. A seminar at the Kassam Stadium on February 24 will provide bosses with a ten point plan

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Wartime personality clash

Blitzkreig strikes on more than one level in Masters of Battle (Viking, £25) by Terry Brighton. What else would one expect from the triple volcano of Britain’s Army commander Montgomery, the US’s Patton and Hitler’s Rommel? The egos of these three wartime

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African who believes aid is waste of time

Zambian-born economist Dambisa Moyo believes that the trillion dollars of aid thrown at African development has, for the most part, been a colossal waste. Not just a waste, she says; actually detrimental – “the single worst decision of modern developmental

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Man found dead outside Oxford police station

A man has died after being found just yards from Oxford's city centre police station. Paramedics were called to St Aldate's outside the entrance to the police station shortly after midnight. A spokesman for the ambulance service said

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Radiohead miss out

Oxford band Radiohead failed in their sixth attempt to win a Brit award last night. The group was nominated in the Best Band category alongside Coldplay, Girls Aloud and Take That but lost out to winners Elbow. It was the sixth time Radiohead have been

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Man killed near police station

A man has died after being found just yards from Oxford's city centre police station. Paramedics were called to St Aldate's outside the entrance to the police station shortly after midnight. A spokesman for the ambulance service said

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The Insider

More scaremongering over the planned eco town at Weston-on-the-Green has emerged this week, this time over transport. According to calculations by Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council, those who drive in and out of the 15,000-home

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Workers treated 'worse than dogs'

BMW has been told it treated its 850 sacked agency workers at the Cowley car plant “worse than dogs” in a stinging attack by Unite, the trades union. Tony Woodley, the joint general secretary of the UK's biggest union, said he had written to Dr Norber

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Cross this off your list

THE TO-DO LIST Mike Gayle (Hodder & Stoughton, £12.99) In this work of non-fiction, Mike Gayle, a 30-something Birmingham-based writer describes in detail how he tackled a 1,277 item to-do list, having bet his Sunday night pub friends that

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God head-to-head with science

As a man not known for pulling his punches when it comes to getting at the truth, you could see why Jeremy Paxman had been looking forward to his evening at Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History. For, on offer was a rematch of a

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Blunder ref faces FA probe

THE Football Association say they are investigating the performance of referee Steve Cummins at last Saturday’s Oxford United v Barrow game. The official gave two yellow cards to Barrow’s Nat Kerr without sending him off. Although he later claimed that

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BMW CULL: Workers 'left with nothing'

The anger was still there as scores of BMW workers returned to the Cowley plant yesterday morning to hand in their uniforms and identity cards. The plant, in the middle of a week-long shutdown, seemed eerily quiet and some of the former workers

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Keble unveils £45m scheme

A SECOND city centre hospital site is to be redeveloped, with Keble College unveiling a £45m scheme to create a modern new campus between the Woodstock and Banbury roads. Keble yesterday submitted a planning application to build on the site of the former

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Three crimes a day carried out by suspects on bail

SUSPECTED criminals allowed out on bail by courts and the police are breaking the law almost three times a day, the Oxford Mail can reveal. Figures obtained from Thames Valley Police under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that suspects

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Focus back on Broad

A new effort is being made to breathe life back into a scheme to revitalise Oxford’s historic Broad Street. An ambitious master plan for The Broad was unveiled more than three years ago, at a launch attended by leading Oxford figures including Oxford

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Fairtrade and organic case, £73

This week we are offering a mixed case of Fairtrade and Organic wines from two different countries. In Chile the Los Robles winery has become known for its educational projects in which much-needed support is given to teachers at the Los Almendros

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Fairtrade wine can do some good

It must be ten years ago that I first heard about Fairtrade. I remember very distinctly the moment because I was eating an organic banana for lunch, when a colleague pointed out to me that if I really did want to make a difference, I would do better to

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BMW CULL: Agency workers left in limbo

HUNDREDS of agency staff at the Cowley Mini plant do not know if they are among the 850 workers axed by BMW, it emerged last night. While 350 have definitely been laid off after the weekend shift was scrapped, the remaining 620 workers who work on the

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Helping hands at hospital have good laugh

Most of us have probably had a cup of coffee or a cheese roll in a League of Friends cafeteria in an Oxford hospital. Oxfordshire has many hospitals, ranging from the John Radcliffe and Children’s hospitals, to the Churchill, and the Nuffield Orthopaedic

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Keep them behind bars

SHOULD we really be surprised by the story we publish today that criminals released on bail are committing three crimes a day? The courts are under orders to lock up only the most serious offenders because there is such little capacity in our prison

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Action needed

The laying off of 850 workers at Oxford’s BMW plant this week must be the biggest single blow felt by the local economy in recent times. Ultimately, more than 1,200 agency workers have lost their jobs at Cowley in recent months and they add to the many

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Loud and clear

We are reassured to hear that the Environment Agency is to begin consultations on a flood ‘bypass’ for Oxford. It is important for all to get involved and press the case for a significant flood channel to provide the ultimate solution to the city

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Pedestrian plan worries

OXFORD Civic Society and pensioners in Oxford have urged the county council to rethink key elements of Transform Oxford, a scheme to pedestrianise parts of the city centre. Last week, Oxfordshire County Council set aside £1.2m for the first part of the

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Schools face wait on cash pledge

Schools are facing an anxious wait to see whether or not they are still in line for hundreds of millions of pounds to transform school buildings. Oxfordshire County Council submitted an initial £80m bid to make wide-ranging improvements to

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Rare opportunity

Sir – We read with interest the article (February 5) about the planning application for a hydroelectric turbine at Osney Mill in Oxford. As the Oxford Flood Alliance we have been flagging up this project to the city council for some time and

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Wonderful people

Sir – On Saturday, January 30, I came to Oxford with my daughter to visit my granddaughter. As I find it difficult to walk for long distances or stand for any length of time I was using a wheelchair. We turned into a road with a very narrow pavement

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Dreadful prospect

Sir – The south side of the Oxpens Road is delightful as it is. After the bright orange façade of Floors-2-Go, with its pockmarked forecourt and decorative arrangement of pallets, there is the Coven nightclub, followed by the coach park and then

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Leave Green Belt intact

Sir – CPRE Oxfordshire is deeply concerned to note that the city has enlarged the site for the so-called ‘Northern Gateway’ to Oxford at Pear Tree, by a third, increasing it to about 60 acres, taking in a stretch of Green Belt, lying south of the A40

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Town discrimination

Sir – Besides the closing of Magdalen Bridge on May Morning, there is a further instance of discrimination against those who live east of the river. When the cycle track over the Cherwell water meadows was flooded after the recent snow, a metal sign

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Degree of thrust

Sir – Professor Oswyn Murray (Letters, February 5) makes a good joke about his tutor, the late ‘larger-than-life’ Dacre Balsdon and the very large Gormley nude iron man, which is soon to be installed on the roof of Exeter College’s Thomas Wood Building

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Free access online

Sir – In Dave McManus’ column in the Weekend supplement (January 29), he mentioned the fact that Britannica required a premium subscription to access it online. Your readers may be interested to know that Oxfordshire County Council's Library Service

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Highly-rated Mini

Sir – The loss of jobs at BMW’s Cowley plant in Oxford is sad news. This decision will be even more regrettable if it puts at risk production of the Mini Cooper D, one of our greenest cars. The Mini Cooper D emits 104g carbon dioxide per kilometre,

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City clean-up

Sir – May I, through your columns, remind readers of the city wide clean-up event, Spring Clean 2009, to take place on March 6 and 7, under the auspices of OxClean? OxClean is an initiative between the Oxford Civic Society and Oxford City Council.

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Micro hamlets needed

Sir – The story (January 29) that Oxford is the least affordable city in the UK, is not news to the residents of the city and locale and should really be the last warning shot over the Oxfordshire County Council bow. Years of planning failure, lack

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Not ambitious enough

Sir – The more we learn about the county council’s Transform Oxford scheme, the more it resembles a rehash of old ideas. Although described as ‘a vision,’ it looks back to 1960s concepts of rigid separation between cars, bicycles and pedestrians which

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BMW CULL: Unite under fire over crucial vote

AGENCY workers at the Cowley Mini plant were not allowed to take part in a crucial vote which led to them being sacked, the Oxford Mail can reveal. On January 14, permanent staff were asked to vote on whether to agree to more shutdowns at the

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Tinkering with streets

Sir – £50,000 would be better spent in getting the Post Office back into North Parade — not that the city council has control over post offices. Tinkering with the layout of streets, when money is urgently needed for resurfacing work and keeping the

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Dangerous pavements

Sir – I agree with your correspondent, Susan Thomas, that good pavements should not be replaced simply to encourage shoppers. But I suggest that they should be changed to make them safer for pedestrians. Many pavements in Oxford are a disgrace, the

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Catastrophic jam

Sir – Councillor Alan Armitage (Report, February 12) is right to warn of possible consequences for the transport network of the suggested ‘northern gateway’ development. The Wolvercote and Pear Tree roundabouts are the cross-over point where long

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Proof of expenditure

Sir – I have no objection to county councillors being offered reimbursement for hotel rooms due to impending heavy snow. (Report, February 12). After all, the following day’s vote was an important one. Also I do not object to the amount

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Perceived irritation

Sir – I feel a reference to the speed of HGVs in a 50mph limit on the Botley to Hinksey section of the A34 (Letters, Feb 12) should not go unchallenged. Your correspondent claims to have been regularly overtaken by “heavy goods vehicles (including articulated

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Copying Milton Keynes

Sir – Now that the revamped Bonn Square is a couple of months old, I’ve taken a critical look at what has been achieved for the £2m (?) spent on the project. The old layout,while in need of attention,at least provided an oasis of trees and grass in