Archive
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ATHLETICS: Nathan gunning for glory again
OXFORD City triple jumper Nathan Douglas is free of injury and gearing up for a massive season. And he has vowed to get back to the sort of form that saw him qualify for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. The 26-year-old has suffered a rash of injuries in
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Chance for Oxford United fans to get in the picture
OXFORD United fans are being given the chance to be in the biggest team picture ever seen. This summer’s Oxford United Open Day is planned to be the biggest yet and supporters who buy the new Nike kit will have the opportunity to sit alongside the players
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Traditionally, shearers are young, tanned, topless, muscle laden types
The hot weather has been slowly kicking in lately and our woolly friends have been getting a bit hot under the collar. So, like all sheep farmers across the country, we called upon a trusty flock of shearers to perform some pretty drastic haircuts
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University to reveal primate experiment data
OXFORD University has agreed to release information about primate experiments, following a challenge by an animal rights organisation. The university initially refused to release the information following a 2007 request under the Freedom of Information
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Wildcat strike at Didcot Power Station
EIGHTY workers went on strike at Didcot Power Station today in support of protests against the use of foreign labour at British industrial plants. RWE npower, which owns the power station, confirmed the workers – all contractors – had gone on strike.
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Brookes leads way on green matters
OXFORD Brookes has finished 81 places above Oxford University in a green league of Britain’s universities. Oxford Brookes finished third in a table created to measure the environmental performance of each university. Oxford’s older university finished
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Archers break world record
Two servicemen from RAF Benson broke a world 24-hour archery record today. Sgt Jamie Fowler and Sgt Martin Phair smashed the current record with two and a half hours to spare. They scored 37,359 points in the challenge, which – subject to ratification
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Districts are skin cancer blackspots
PEOPLE in the Vale of White Horse are the most likely to die from the deadliest form of skin cancer than anyone else in England. People from the district, which includes Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon, have suffered the most cases of malignant melanomas
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FATHERS 4 JUSTICE: Protest over family courts
TWO protesters dressed as a superhero and a court jester climbed Oxford’s Carfax Tower yesterday to campaign for fathers’ rights. Shoppers and tourists looked on as the pair unfurled banners and shouted through a loud hailer. The men
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Baby lemur makes history at wildlife park
A NEW arrival has made history at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. The two-month-old red-bellied lemur is the first baby in the park’s 60-year history to have been born in quarantine. Chris Kibbey, section head for primates at the park, said
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Ex-sleaze watchdog slams MPs' expenses censorship
THE long-awaited official publication of Oxfordshire MPs’ expenses yesterday drew complaints from a former sleaze watchdog who said too many details had been censored. As MPs’ claims for their second homes, office costs and communications expenditure
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Cameron pays back more expenses
WITNEY MP David Cameron is to repay almost £1,000 wrongly claimed on parliamentary expenses after reviewing his receipts over recent weeks. The Tory leader had already announced his intention to pay back £680 claimed towards repairs at his second home
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Bands in tune ofr Charlbury music festival
THOUSANDS of people will descend on Charlbury over the weekend for the county’s only free music festival. The town’s Riverside Festival, which takes place tomorrow and Sunday, is now in its 14th year. The line-up includes several of Oxford’s most popular
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Wheelchairs stolen from cancer centre
A DISABLED pensioner was left waiting for 40 minutes while her family struggled to find her a wheelchair at the Oxford Cancer Centre, it has been claimed. Mary Perrett, 87, from Kidlington, said the situation meant she nearly missed her appointment at
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Crash partly blocks A424
A two-car crash has partly blocked the A424 between Burford and Stow-on-the-Wold. The collision happened near the junction with Merrymouth Road, Fifield, and has led to slow traffic in the area. Police say the road is partially blocked
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Burglar steals £140 from 80-year-old
Police are appealing for information after a distraction burglary in Wantage. Between 11.45am and midday yesterday, an 80-year-old man was in his house in Stockham Park when he heard a man at his door. The man said he needed to dig a hole in the
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Boy jumped on car roof
Police are appealing for witnesses after a car was damaged in Cutteslowe, Oxford. At about 7.30pm on Saturday, a teenage boy jumped on the roof of a blue Ford Fiesta parked in Wolsey Way. He is white, with dark hair and aged about 16. Neighbourhood
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City cycle amnesty launched
An amnesty has been launched to stop people filling Oxford’s cycle racks with abandoned bicycles. The Oxford Cycle Workshop has begun its first city centre appeal for donated cycles, timed to coincide with the end of term at the city’s two
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Now that's what I call real re-cycling
AN amnesty has been launched to stop people filling Oxford’s cycle racks with abandoned bikes. The Oxford Cycle Workshop has begun its first city centre appeal for donated bikes, timed to coincide with the end of term at the city’s two universities.
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Deaf man and his dog step out for charity
A DEAF man and his dog are gearing up to walk 146 miles on a Shakespearean trail. Antony Sabin, 85, from Great Rollright, near Chipping Norton, and his hearing dog Branson, aim to walk from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon, to the
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School kitchens rated for cleanliness
THE state of kitchens in Oxfordshire schools has been revealed for the first time — and most get the thumbs-up. On a website that, for the first time, has published results of environmental health inspections at eateries across the county, no schools
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School arts festival takes centre stage
DOORS open on Monday for the first Magdalen College School Arts Festival. From Monday, the school in Cowley Place, Oxford, is hosting two weeks of events, ranging from plays and concerts, to sporting contests — most open to the public. Several thousand
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O2 Academy rings in the carnival spirit
A LIVE rock venue has given a boost to a fledgling festival set up by shopkeepers to temper the loss of the Cowley Road Carnival. The O2 Academy Oxford has become the latest business to breathe life into the Cowley Road Carnival Fringe, which
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Churches take to the streets
CHURCH leaders are to act as guardian angels for youngsters on the streets of Wantage and Grove as part of a new late-night initiative. Ten churches will be sending so-called street pastors out on the streets on Friday and Saturday nights to
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Bumper fun at family day out
CARNIVAL-goers are putting the finishing touches to floats and costumes for this year’s Wallingford Carnival. Thousands are expected to line the bunting-clad streets to cheer on the colourful procession as it rolls into town tomorrow. Leading the floats
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Dragons roar into action on Thames
AN ACTION-PACKED new fundraising event is taking to the water in Oxford. Charity Marie Curie Cancer Care is staging a dragon boat race on the River Thames, and has thrown down the gauntlet for teams made up of families, friends or work colleagues to
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Planning a hole lot of watering
THE creation of a large hole in the carefully tended grounds of Oxford’s University Parks has been causing some raised eyebrows. But all became clear on Monday when four giant water tanks were lowered into the ground to help parks staff combat any future
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Schools battle it out for vouchers
SCHOOLS are battling it out to collect as many vouchers as they can to win a makeover in our SOS competition... and they need your help. We are offering one lucky primary school a £7,500 facelift courtesy of the Leadbitter Group, an Abingdon-based construction
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Science and art
Nestling in the foothills of the Ridgeway in Chilton, south Oxfordshire, Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron facility. The shiny silver doughnut-shaped structure you glimpse as you head south down the A34 towards Newbury houses a high-tech
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Inspired by architecture
What was your first job and what did your responsibilities include? My first job was working for Wall’s Ice Cream in my college holidays. After we’d loaded the boxes of ice cream onto the vans, we would sit in the warehouse with big padded
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Cameron to repay more expenses cash
David Cameron is to repay almost £1,000 he wrongly claimed on Parliamentary expenses after reviewing his claims over recent weeks. The Tory leader had already announced his intention to pay back £680 he claimed towards repairs at his second home in
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Carfax protest ends
Two protesters from New Fathers 4 Justice have ended their demonstration at Oxford’s Carfax Tower. The two men — dressed as the Incredible Hulk and a court jester — came down from the city centre tower at about 1.50pm.
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Architects think green
WORK has started on a £5m lecture theatre at Merton College, with a projected completion date of summer 2010. The new 130-seat lecture theatre is one of the college’s major projects as it prepares for its 750th anniversary in 2014. Alongside the auditorium
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Agents swap premises
Property company Cluttons is streamlining its surveying business in Oxford to concentrate primarily on commercial and consultancy services. Cluttons has closed its Gloucester Street operation and sold its residential letting agency to Breckon and Breckon
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CRICKET: Brothers swap places
Minor Counties Championship It is a case of one Hole in, another Hole out as Oxfordshire face Wiltshire in the Western Division at Trowbridge, starting on Sunday. And there is a even some deja vu as Oxon take on the same opponents for the second week
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Nimrod attracts local buyers
Two local companies have moved into the Nimrod development in Witney with both occupiers deciding to buy rather than rent. Complete Presentation, which supplies exhibition display and large format print solutions, has taken Unit 12 (3,016 sq
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CRICKET: Perkin handed Oxford debut
Serious Cricket Home Counties Premier League Jamie Perkin will make his Oxford debut when they host Radlett in Division 1 on Saturday. The former Oxford Downs player comes in for Todd Hutcheson, who is unavailable and will keep wicket
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Develoopment sites snapped up
Four Oxfordshire development sites have been sold by agents Savills, despite the economic downturn. The first was a 2.42 acre Green Belt site in Eaton, west of Oxford, with the potential to convert redundant farm buildings (subject to obtaining the necessary
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Vital ingredient
Allmakes, the 4x4 vehicle parts specialist, is expanding its business premises at Milton Park, near Didcot. The firm is one of Milton Park’s longest standing occupants, having started up on the park more than 30 years ago. It has now moved to larger
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Technology House for sale
A FORMER factory and research centre which once employed 150 staff is on the market for the first time in more than 20 years, for £2.9m. Technology House on the Oakfield Industrial Estate in Eynsham was built in the late 1980s as the UK headquarters
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Jamie expands
Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (pictured) is expanding his Oxford restaurant, less than a year after it first opened. The restaurant, Jamie’s Italian, will extend into the former Avid Record building adjacent to the George Street eaterie. The Oxford premises
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Cracking the code
This year has seen the abolition of the statutory dispute resolution procedures which were the guidelines used to tackle disciplinary and grievance issues in the workplace. They were replaced by ACAS’s revised Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance
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CRICKET: Cunningham hits super ton
ECB 50+ County Championship A stunning unbeaten century from Alec Cunningham propelled holders Oxfordshire to victory over Herefordshire at Eastnor. Cunningham smashed 106 off 62 balls including 11 fours and two sixes as Oxon reached
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CRICKET: Sarfraz shines
Mohammed Sarfraz hit 43 as OCA club East Oxford upset Great & Little Tew, of the Cherwell League, in round two of the Bernard Tollett Oxfordshire Knockout Cup. RESULTS Shipton-under-Wychwood 156-6 (I Lewis 50), Bicester & North Oxford 86 (P Hemming
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Planning a retreat
Think back two years — you were running a successful business in a thriving sector and planning an orderly exit and retirement over the next 18 months or so. You had watched as similar businesses had been sold to venture capital-backed management
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Audi is so sophisticated
You cannot move for all the new eco-friendly models that are flooding the market right now. Boasting low CO2 ratings and impressive fuel economy figures, it is clear manufacturers have finally got their collective acts together. One obvious
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When the music stopped
Regular visitors to this page will know that well before global economies began imploding, I never subscribed to the ‘masters of the universe’ label attributed to investment bankers. This is not to imply that Wall Street, the City and other financial
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Buying in skills
We have all heard about IT outsourcing, but what does it really involve? How can it benefit business? What are the pitfalls, and ultimately, what’s the point? These are all questions that have been thrown around boardrooms in firms big and
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Meet me at the Corner
The Corner Club in its various guises has always intrigued me. Tucked away down Turl Street, it started life as the QI Club run by the people behind the TV programme until it was taken over by Curious Clubs two years ago. I have visited on several occasions
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A fertile idea
Arriving at a crossroads reached by many in the past and doubtless many in the future, Toni Ertl had a stark choice. Faced with unemployment when Oxford Bio-Innovation closed in 2008, he could look for a new job, or go it alone. He chose the latter
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Never too late
Life is far better with two. That was the thought that inspired a 70-year-old serial entrepreneur to set up a dating agency for the over-50s. And Jill Barnes (pictured) should know more than most about how getting older can be a lonely business, since
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Going solo
Fed up with seeing cars and taxis carrying single passengers, and leaving all the other seats empty, the owner of an Oxfordshire taxi firm has come up with a novel idea to help people nip about town — and leave a lighter carbon footprint. George Raithby
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Sitting comfortably
A nuclear consultant has come up with a simple idea to help solve a problem that is literally a pain in the backside for many people. Dr Tony Moreton (pictured) has tarnished memories of watching his son Adam in judo competitions and having
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Peach of an idea
A new company has been set up to help generate local events and boost business for traders. Oxfordshire Events was founded by sisters-in-law Kelly and Amy Peach who had exhibited at craft fairs and had become concerned that they were not reaching the
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FOOTBALL: Top accolade for Big Jimmy
KIDLINGTON striker Jimmy Deabill was awarded the prestigious FTL Futbol Hellenic League Premier Division player-of-the-year award at the annual presentation evening held at the Oxford Centre. Deabill, known as ‘Big Jimmy’ to most people, was unble to
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FOOTBALL: Wray named new chairman
Lloyd Wray has been named as new chairman of Kidlington Football Club. He replaces the outgoing Geoff Talboys in the hot-seat, Talboys retiring after ten years at the helm. Wray was captain of the first team for many years and is a local businessman
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CYCLING: Ace Phil smashes his best
Didcot Phoenix rider Phil Brown beat his personal best for 25 miles by 18 seconds. His time of 54 mins 34 secs gave him 18th placein the Dursley RC Open on the A419 Blunsdon-to-Cricklade cou-rse. In the same race, clubmate Stan Maciak, 63, smashed
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FOOTBALL: New boss Berry eyes up revival
New Bicester Town boss Paul Berry (pictured) is confident he can transform the fortunes of the club, after being appointed as Tim Fowler’s successor. Bicester Town were reprieved from relegation from the FTL Futbol Hellenic League Premier Division at
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ROWING: City collect six victories
CITY of Oxford juniors enjoyed a successful weekend as they picked up six victories at Marlow. There were wins for the under 13 coxed quad sculls of Freya Dale, Sam Stargardt, Lorcan Carnegie, Joe Richards and Georgia Plunkett. The under 13 boys’ double
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NEW FATHERS 4 JUSTICE: Carfax protest ends
TWO protesters from New Fathers 4 Justice have ended their demonstration at Oxford’s Carfax Tower. The two men — dressed as the Incredible Hulk and a court jester — came down from the city centre tower about 1.50pm.
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SPORTING CALENDAR: The week's fixtures
SATURDAY CRICKET SERIOUS CRICKET HOME COUNTIES PREMIER LEAGUE Div 1: Oxford v Radlett, Slough v Banbury. Div 2 West: Basingstoke & N Hants v Aston Rowant, Thame Tn v Finchampstead. THE OXFORD TIMES CHERWELL LEAGUE Div 1: Bletchley Town v Horspath
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Making a difference
When Roy Scott opened his first shop in Woodstock almost 30 years ago, his fellow traders were intrigued at his idea of selling goods bought directly from craftspeople in developing countries. “One of them said ‘It is a lovely idea, but there’s no way
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TENNIS: Battling City hold Cholsey
LADIES Day came early to Oxfordshire on Saturday with two of the most crucial matches played to date. Ladies Pink Division is proving itself to be by far the most tightly contested of the four coloured divisions. The closest match by
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Life at a gallop
Moving a business from one location to another can be a distraction at the best of times, and to tackle it in the teeth of a recession shows great confidence. Young up-and-coming racehorse trainer Charlie Longsdon displays that confidence, even though
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Moving with the times
Coal and furniture may seem unusual bedfellows, but in the days of horses and carts, anyone with a vehicle was roped in when the occasion demanded. So a coalyard was the birthplace of Oxford removal business, Charles Wood & Sons, which now prides itself
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Juggling life and business
Tom Makin is one of those lucky people who has made a career out of something he loves. He took up juggling at the age of 18 and soon saw how he could turn a hobby into a full-time job. Mr Makin said: “I met some people who were doing performances in
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Growing confidence
The days of wine and roses, when hordes of rich people from the City of London spent their bonuses on buying up country retreats in the Cotswolds, may have faltered, but they are not gone — at any rate as far as the roses are concerned. Neil Nicholson
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Historic building restoration
Owning a historic property carries with it a lot of responsibility. Traditional building materials and techniques may be beyond the reach of the average builder, but there is a thriving niche where experts are on call to help with repairs or more major
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Brixton Beach
BRIXTON BEACH Roma Tearne (HarperCollins, £14.99)A quotation from Rudyard Kipling concludes Roma Tearne’s third novel Brixton Beach — “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten”. In 1964 she left her troubled and beautiful
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History of Oxfordshire pubs
Paul Medley begins his latest book, Pubs of Oxford & Oxfordshire, by acknowledging that it is thanks to the efforts of Camra (Campaign for Real Ale), that a remarkable number of really good quality ales are now being brewed in Oxfordshire. While this
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Over a barrel
Petrol prices that jump up and down like jack-in-the-boxes must be economic indicators of some sort — but of exactly what sort is hard to say. This month, average prices at pumps within a ten-mile radius of Oxford broke through the £1-a-litre barrier
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Didcot Power Station workers join strike
Workers at Didcot Power Station have joined a wildcat strike which has broken out at other facilities across the country. Some members of staff walked out earlier today A wildcat strike over jobs escalated when workers from several power stations
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BREAKING NEWS: Workers join wildcat strike
Workers at Didcot Power Station have joined a wildcat strike which has broken out at other facilities across the country. Some members of staff walked out earlier today.
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New M&S food store opens
A petrol station including a Marks & Spencer Simply Food outlet has opened at the A34 Milton Services, near Didcot, after a £2m renovation. The site was shut for 17 weeks while the old BP store was knocked down and the new shop built. The development
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Pair stage protest at top of Carfax Tower
A group calling itself New Fathers 4 Justice is staging a protest at the top of Carfax Tower in the centre of Oxford. Two men - dressed as a jester and the Incredible Hulk - climbed to the top of the tower this morning and unfurled banners. Roger
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Formula One win for Wirth Research
Up to 100 jobs will be created after Wirth Research won a place on the grid for next season’s Formula One motor racing championship. The firm will design and build the cars for the Manor F1 Team, one of three new outfits to be accepted into the competition
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Sunny view of St Giles
STREETS, squares and parks are vital parts of our city and provide a 'gallery' for many of Oxford’s beautiful buildings, according to local architects Berman Guedes Stretton. This image of how St Giles’ could look if imagination was given a free
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Local share prices
AEA Technology 25.5 BMW 2318 Electrocomponents 150.75 Nationwide Accident Repair 82.5 Oxford Biomedica 12.75 Oxford Catalyst 56 Oxford Instruments 138.5 Reed Elsevier 456.25 RM 163 RPS Group 199.25 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon
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Terrafirma lands major contract
A company which has doubled in size in the last two years is set for more major growth after landing a multi-million pound contract. Terrafirma Roadways based in Abingdon has sealed a three-year deal to provide temporary roadway services to the Electricity
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Lorry crash causes M40 delays
A crash involving a lorry and two cars brought delays to drivers on the M40 in north Oxfordshire today. The collision happened on the southbound carriageway between junction nine at Wendlebury and junction ten at the Cherwell Valley Services
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Button plays down 'man vs machine' debate
Jenson Button has defended himself against accusations it is the car, and not his talent, carrying him to Formula One glory this season. It is the age-old discussion that all-too-often surfaces in F1, arguably never more so than now given Button's
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Aquilegias deserve their place
Aquilegias deserve a place in everyone’s gardens for two practical reasons. First, they flower in May when there’s a dearth of flower and, second, the spurred forms (like A. chrysantha ‘Yellow Queen’) are full of nectar. In fact it’s the spurs
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A buzz about Shotover Hill
There is more to bees and wasps than meets the eye. Indeed, we may come across more of them than we realise for the simple fact that we do not recognise many of the solitary examples of these insects. “Some of the smallest we may see in the UK may be
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Get close up to beautiful moths
More than meets the eye Moths are those annoying brown things that whizz around your kitchen light and chew holes through your clothes, right? Well, yes, but that is really not the half of it! They can also be colourful, beautiful and exquisitely patterned
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Music at St Peter's Wallingford
You know you’re doing something right when you have regular audience members apologising to you for missing a concert. This is the enviable, if rather amusing, situation that Glynne Stackhouse finds himself in, as the chamber music series he took over
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Tales of the Thames: Mikron Theatre Company
Montmorency the dog, Ratty, Mole, Mr Toad: many famous characters have been inspired by the River Thames. Now a new, distinctly descriptive, name is added: Itchington Scratchit. He builds skiffs, the sort of rowing boat used in Three Men in a Boat
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Timothy West in The Winslow Boy: Oxford Playhouse
Timothy West is talking to me from his Guildford dressing room with half an hour to go curtain-up for The Winslow Boy, which comes to the Oxford Playhouse next week. “There are red wine parts and there are white wine parts,” he tells me. Warming to his
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Average price of fuel soaring
The average price of petrol rose almost 5p between mid-May and mid-June - the second highest monthly increase ever, the AA has said. The average cost of petrol is now 102.66p a litre compared with 97.68p in mid-May. The 4.98p-a-litre rise is exceeded
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The future of motoring
Revolutionary hydrogen-powered cars could be taking to the streets of Oxford within three years as part of a national pilot scheme. It is hoped that a fleet of 50 green cars could be moving around the city by 2012, with Oxford to see one of
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Suspended fine is fair, say Oxford United
Oxford United believe they were given a fair hearing after receiving a £500 fine, suspended for two years, by the Football Association for failing to control players and officials at the Kassam Stadium in the final game of last season. They had pleaded
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Light at the end of the recession tunnel?
WHISPER it quietly, but are we coming out of the worst of the recession? The latest jobless figures for Oxfordshire, published yesterday, show that just four extra individuals lost their jobs and were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance last month, compared
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A welcome compromise by Brookes
THE concession offered up by Oxford Brookes University to appease a well organised and concerted campaign against its expansion has been a welcome surprise. The university, understandably, wants to expand. But those living close to the Gipsy Lane campus
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Iffley and the former porn star
Just seconds beforehand, we had been complete strangers. But somehow I had ended up hand in hand with the former porn star Annie Sprinkle, looking up at the sky. Soon, after the lightest of squeezes, I was being urged to find a single word to sum
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Tanks plan to keep Parks green
THE creation of a large hole in the carefully-tended grounds of Oxford’s University Parks has been causing some raised eyebrows. But the mystery was solved on Monday when four giant water tanks were lowered into the ground to help parks staff combat
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Athlete opens new sports centre
A COMMUNITY was bowled over by Bicester’s newly-refurbished sports centre as it was officially opened by paralympic athlete Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson. The centre’s £4.3m makeover — which includes a new six-lane ten-pin bowling alley — was unveiled by
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MP's concern over MoD jobs
BICESTER MP Tony Baldry claims the Government is clouding the issue over the future of hundreds of jobs at the town's biggest employer. He has accused former defence minister John Hutton of obfuscating about plans for the Defence Storage and Distribution
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No escape for United pitch invaders
POLICE yesterday appealed for eight Oxford United fans to hand themselves in as they get closer to making arrests over the pitch invasion in the final game of the season at the Kassam Stadium. About 20 people who ran on to the pitch during
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Wonderful care
Sir – I suffered a heart attack on Saturday, May 23. My wife called for an ambulance, which was extremely quick, took very good care of me and took me to the John Radcliffe Hospital, where I was operated on to clear a blood clot and insert a stent to
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Inspector Lewis back on TV beat
A FOURTH series of the Oxford detective drama Lewis will be made, despite ITV’s cash crisis. The return of the popular crime series has been welcomed by Oxford’s tourism bosses, who say it will encourage more visitors to the city . In
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Lower limit needed
Sir — I must thank Bill Leonard for his contribution to the debate about the effect of lower driving speeds and speed limits (Letters, May 28). Unlike him, I make no claims to know much about climate science, but that does not stop me from being very
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Brookes offers to 'bury' new building
OXFORD Brookes University is lowering its proposed new student centre and going underground in a bid to appease its neighbours. The university says it is ready to add £5m to the cost of the scheme to reduce the height of the library building
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Keep our pool
Sir – Temple Cowley Pool and Fitness Centre (Council plans for £7m pool on city estate, May 21) is an essential way of bringing the local community together, especially in light of the vast amount of new housing that has been built in the area over
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Encourage planting
Sir – Green environments are good for you. Quite apart from the implications for biodiversity and climate change, there is considerable evidence that people are happier and healthier in a green environment. With the current trend towards the
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Deadly balloons
Sir – I expect that many people watched Springwatch on the BBC recently. In the last episode (June 11) Simon King showed us the remains of balloons which had been found off our shores where the leatherbacked turtles live. The diet of these turtles
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Menacing letterboxes
Sir – Distributing leaflets in the recent election campaigns I have learnt that some makes of letterbox are a menace. The older models present no problem, unless they are concealed under the door-knocker. Some fitted almost at floor level involve bending
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Costly travel
Sir – Mr Babic (Letters, June 11) surely has a point when he complains about the size of bus fares in our car-hating city. I have only two suggestions for him: 1: Take the car, anyway. It’s only 70p to park in Summertown 2: Get
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Correct votes
Sir – As one of the county council Conservative candidates from Oxford city, on glancing through your election results (Report, June 11), I was surprised to see that I had been demoted from third to fourth position in the Cowley and Littlemore division
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Unitary argument
Sir – Your analysis of the county council results was not the penetrating one expected of The Oxford Times. Indeed, you appear to have missed the most astonishing aspect of the results and one which has implications for the future of governance in Oxford
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Tiresome inconvenience
Sir – Other correspondents have already related cases in the last few weeks concerning postal delays, in delivery or collection, due to inefficiency in the sorting office. I have a case to add. Last week an important communication from my solicitor
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Vote of confidence?
Sir – I write in response to Graham Johnson’s letter (June 11), entitled ‘70 per cent in favour’. He refers to my letter of the previous week. All I had done was repeat verbatim what was in Pall Mall Consult’s report to Oxford Brookes and which makes
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Eternal vigilance
Sir – Jon Barton identifies correctly the intimidating and ever more intrusive behaviour of British governments in what is supposed to be a “great democracy”, in his particular example being placed on a police intelligence database just for crossing
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Vina Montes mixed case £155
Aurelio Montes is widely regarded as the man who put quality Chilean wine on the map. At the recent Vina Montes Dinner Tasting presented by Eduardo Stark from the winery we were really impressed by the overall quality of the wines. Here’s a chance to
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Jobs cheer
Jobless figures released this week give some encouragement to Oxfordshire if not large parts of the country. The flow of job losses we saw at the end of last year and the start of this year has stopped. Unemployment in the county rose by only four while
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Parking policy
No one should be surprised at the ten per cent fall in drivers using the Westgate multi-storey car park in Oxford. We are in the middle of the worst recession since the early 1980s at least, and car park charges went up by about 15 per cent at the beginning
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£5m rethink on Brookes plan
PLANS to redevelop Oxford Brookes University’s main Headington campus have been redrawn in a bid to address concerns from its neighbours. The university says it is ready to add £5m to the cost of the scheme in order to reduce the height of
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Little difference
Sir – Adding up the votes cast in the recent county council elections, I find that in total the Conservatives got 43.5 per cent, the Lib Dems 24 per cent, Labour 14.5 per cent, Greens 13.5 per cent and others four per cent. I believe, in the absence
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Date
Green space is vital
Sir – The Warneford Meadow is a priceless resource. It must be preserved for the use of patients and staff at the Warneford and Churchill Hospitals as well as the local residents who value it so greatly and are working so hard to improve it, in a range
