Archive
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Phone chaos
Oxford's telephone network has been thrown into chaos after half of the city's NTL lines stopped working on January 15. Engineers said a severed cable was the cause of the problem, which started at about 10.30am. The underground electricity cable in Abingdon
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Hospital says sorry for soap blunder
Hospital managers have apologised to the relatives of a six-week-old baby who was fed liquid soap instead of medicine, after the Oxford Mail highlighted the case. Megan Boswell, who was discharged from the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, after a nurse
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Reward offered to catch vandals
A £30 meal came with a £1,000 bill for a Wallingford couple after vandals attacked their car. Joanne Wornham left her Saab estate in the St Albans car park in Wallingford town centre and went for a meal with friends. She returned to find a massive dent
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MP goes on the web
Witney MP David Cameron has launched a website. www.davidcameronmp.com has details of his constituency surgeries, as well as speeches and debates in the House of Commons and published work. The site also includes links, a photo gallery, local information
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Teachers blamed for poor GCSE results
New figures out today show that schools in Oxfordshire are lagging behind the rest of the country in GCSE results. The county's schools failed to meet targets set by Oxfordshire LEA. Tony Crabbe, the county council's executive member for schools, said
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Table Tennis: Lovelock shines to fire Sutton top
James Lovelock reeled off a hat-trick of wins as Sutton B regained the leadership of Division 1 of the Didcot & District League by beating Crown 7-3. At the other end of the table, Didcot Power Station A came out on top 6-4 after their B team. Eddie
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Hoon meets Baldry over MoD depot
Bicester MP Tony Baldry and two trade union officials met Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon to discuss the future of the huge military storage centre at Bicester. Employees have been worried by the prospect of job losses, as the Government wants to save about
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Villagers win cash to deter lorries
Residents have won an extra £10,000 to help stop large lorries using their village as a short cut. People living in Weston-on-the-Green and Middleton Stoney are fed up with HGVs using the B430 to avoid the busy M40 junctions at Wendlebury and Ardley.
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Plaques trace history
A series of pavement plaques will illustrate Banbury's historic past for tourists and shoppers in a bid to encourage visitors to explore the town centre. Cherwell District Council is planning a trail of pictures telling the story of Banbury's heritage
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Treading the board
Pantomime heroine Ethel, played by Sarah Turner, is prodded by Pirate King (Martyn Beard) to walk the plank. Sarah was getting in some practice in readiness for the Launton Village Players' pantomime Ethel and the Pirate King at Cooper School, Bicester
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Rotary gift helps disabled student
An engineering student, paralysed from the chest down by a motorcycle accident, now has special wheelchair, thanks to his family and local fundraisers. Following a report in the Oxford Mail about the plight of Gareth Houston, 17, Didcot Rotary Club agreed
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Paramedic base plan goes ahead
Paramedics will be able to reach most areas of Oxfordshire more quickly under a £1.66m scheme to close seven ambulance stations. Ambulance trust managers believe the plans will help them improve their service, ensuring that crews can get to most emergencies
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Bus attack meeting will call for wardens
Attempts to stop vandalism and stone-throwing against buses on an Oxford estate are to be thrashed out at a public meeting in the town hall. The Barton estate and London Road, Headington, have been blighted by a spate of attacks in which missiles have
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Path opens after parents' campaign
Parents, children and staff have welcomed a new £10,000 footpath designed to guide them safely to a family centre. City councillors Bill Baker and Richard Tarver open the new walkway Donnington Doorstep in Townsend Square, off Donnington Bridge Road,
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Brita looks to the future
Water filter manufacturer Brita is to moving to a purpose-built £10.4m factory in Bicester, creating up to 75 jobs. The plant at the Chaucer Road industrial estate will be complete shortly, with Brita relocating from Sunbury-on-Thames, near London, in
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Ray of hope for MS victims
Sunshine may protect people against multiple sclerosis, according to an Oxford study. Prof Michael Goldacre, of Oxford University's Institute of Health Sciences, discovered that people with MS were half as likely to contract skin cancer as other people
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Expert ideas to slim down
Slimming cheats may find help is at hand at an Oxfordshire workshop later in January. The event, at Mount Farm Community Education Centre in Wimblestraw Road, Berinsfield, will cover topics like why it is difficult to follow a restrictive diet, how to
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Phone chaos
Oxford's telephone network has been thrown into chaos after half of the city's NTL lines stopped working on January 15. Engineers said a severed cable was the cause of the problem, which started at about 10.30am. They did not know where the cable was,
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Lorry spill causes jam
A busy road junction near Abingdon was closed for more than four hours after 200 old car batteries spilled from a skip lorry. Five litres of battery acid leaked on to the A415 in Clifton Hampden, near The Plough pub and the junction with the B4015. Firefighters
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Thomas McLellan
Thomas McLellan, a chemical engineer from Abingdon who helped design major projects abroad, has died, aged 81. For most of his working life Mr McLellan, who lived at Abingdon Marina, worked as a design engineer for chemical firm ICI. He helped build a
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Constance Burrows
Former Launton WI president Constance Burrows has died, aged 81. Mrs Burrows, who lived in Launton, died on January 5. She was a long-standing member of the village's WI and had held several offices, including president, vice-president and secretary.
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Ivor Blackford
The funeral of a man who tested the first Minis to roll off the production line in Oxford took place on January 14. Father of four and grandfather of nine Ivor Blackford, 73, grew up in Marston, where he lived until 1984. He then moved to Fewcott with
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Gwendoline Clarke
Gwendoline Clarke, a keen Oxford tennis and bowls player, has died aged 88. Mrs Clarke, ne Johnson, was born in 1916 in Hockmore Street, Cowley, where she lived with her three brothers and sister. Her first job was as a packer at a Cowley shop when she
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Town starts 'save our hospital bid'
Wantage councillors and residents have vowed to fight to the end to save the town's hospital. At a special town council meeting, called by mayor Jenny Hannaby, councillors pledged to stand united in a campaign to keep the hospital open. Calls for support
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Football: Mickey joins Slough
FORMER Oxford United midfielder and Oxford City assistant manager Mickey Lewis has been made coach of Ryman League Division 1 South side Slough Town. Lewis, who missed out on the manager's job at Premier side Aylesbury United last season, joined the exodus
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Tennis: Henman seeded 11th for Australian Open
Tim Henman was today seeded No 11 for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the season, which gets under way in Melbourne on Monday. The British No 1, from Oxfordshire, missed the tournament last year through injury, but has been in good form,
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Football: Lethal Clanfield hammers super hat-trick
Autotype UTV League Alex Clanfield smashed a hat-trick as leaders Forest Hill kept up their quest for the Division 1 crown with a 4-1 win at Burford United. James Horseshoe was also on target for Forest, while Mark Boyle netted the home side's consolation
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Golf: Henderson sparkles to claim top prize
Former Oxfordshire cricketer Iain Henderson secured a major title in another sport when he captured the prestigious President's Putter at Rye on the Sussex coast. Henderson, who plays off a handicap of 0.7, beat former winner Steve Seaman 2 & 1 in
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John Garne
A former chief education officer of Oxfordshire County Council, who had a road in Headington named after him, has died, aged 88. John Garne became an education administrator in Oxford after beginning his career as a teacher at Watford Grammar School.
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Football: Ford fires treble as Motors grind to halt
Morrells of Oxford Sunday League Justin FORD was quickly off the mark as his first-half treble helped Premier Division leaders Rose Hill crush Morris Motors 7-0. In terrible conditions, Ford grabbed two early goals and, as their confidence grew, Robert
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County house prices drop
House prices in Oxfordshire fell in December, putting the county bottom of a nationwide league table. The Hometrack Index shows prices slipped by 0.3 per cent, making it the worst performing area in the country along with Berkshire. But experts and local
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Cameras bother MP Boris
Henley MP Boris Johnson has expressed concerns about the proliferation of speed cameras in the county. He is concerned by Government proposals for hundreds of cameras at yellow box junctions, with extra powers given to traffic wardens to hand out £100
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'Yes' to homes inquiry
Campaigners against the proposed expansion of Didcot with 3,200 homes west of the town have welcomed the news that there will be a public inquiry following the huge response from residents. But the inquiry into unresolved objections to the South Oxfordshire
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County house prices drop
House prices in Oxfordshire fell in December, putting the county bottom of a nationwide league table. The Hometrack Index shows prices slipped by 0.3 per cent, making it the worst performing area in the country along with Berkshire. But experts and local
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Leap of death
The famous 'leap of death' in the closing moments of Puccini's opera Tosca will bring a sensational finale to a new production being staged at the New Theatre next month. Stuntman Rod Woodruff, who has made a career out of living dangerously, leaped 20ft
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Staff prepare for plane crash
Directors at Oxfordshire County Council were faced with a terrifying scenario -- a plane crash near Oxford rail station killing 89 people. Senior staff at the council took part in a multi-agency crash exercise on January 13 at the emergency planning headquarters
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Football: Jamie's nearly there!
Ian Atkins believes that Jamie Brooks is only a month away from seriously challenging for a place in the Oxford United squad. The 20-year-old striker, who has been battling back to full fitness from the life-threatening Guillain-Barre Syndrome, has been
