Archive

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Oxford cinemas get £500,000 facelift

Two cinemas in Oxford city centre are being refurbished this month and next at a cost of £500,000. Odeon, which runs the cinemas in Magdalen Street and George Street, is spending the cash on new seats and revamping the cinemas’ facilities and interiors

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Hundreds lose jobs as beds firm goes under

About 300 people have lost their jobs after an Oxfordshire company which sold adjustable beds to the elderly and disabled went into voluntary liquidation this week. Scores of customers have been left without the goods they had ordered. Craftmatic

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Student jailed for attacking paramedic

An Oxford Brookes University student has been jailed after drunkenly attacking a paramedic. Melissa Massey, 20, the founder-president of the university’s Women in Business Society, admitted common assault on 43-year-old Ann Sumner on New Year’s Day

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Oxford cinemas get £500,000 facelift

TWO cinemas in Oxford city centre are being refurbished this month and next at a cost of £500,000. Odeon, which runs the cinemas in Magdalen Street and George Street, is spending the cash on new seats and revamping the cinemas’ facilities and interiors

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BOWLS: Setback for Oxon's plans

Oxfordshire were given plenty to think about after slumping to a 125-103 defeat against Northants in their opening Middleton Cup trial match at Banbury Central. Oxon won on two of the six rinks, but lost on the other four. Mark Charlett

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Hundreds lose jobs as Vale beds firm calls in liquidator

ABOUT 300 people have lost their jobs after an Oxfordshire company which sold adjustable beds to the elderly and disabled went into voluntary liquidation this week. Scores of customers have been left without the goods they had ordered. Craftmatic employed

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Oxford United face battle to keep Green

OXFORD United face competition to keep striker Matt Green. The on-loan Torquay front man, who scored the opening goal in the 3-1 play-off victory over York at Wembley, is wanted on a permanent deal by U’s boss Chris Wilder. But other clubs have already

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BOWLS: Centrals set standard in title mission

Banbury Central A’s bid for a seventh successive Division 1 title in the Oxford & District League, sponsored by Yarnton Nurseries, got off to a flying start with a 6-0 win over promoted South Oxford. Headington A, seen by many as favourites

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BOWLS: Results round-up

OXFORDSHIRE TRIPLES Prelim round: Kingston Bagpuize & South-moor (S Fraser, F Abraham, P Mortel) 21, Morland (C Wheeler, P Pabury, W Greenway) 13. BERKSHIRE TRIPLES 1st round: Wantage (J Drage) 18, Shrivenham (K Carter) 16.

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BAR BILLARDS: Super Sheard storms home to claim crown

Kennington’s Steven Sheard captured the men’s individual crown with victory over teammate Mark Trafford at the Johnsons Buildbase Oxford & District League finals night at the Gladiators Club, writes PETE EWINS. Sheard scored 21,210 over

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Lawrence of Arabia plaque returns home

A BRASS plaque has been returned to Lawrence of Arabia’s old Oxford school, 74 years after it was first unveiled by Sir Winston Churchill. The plaque was removed when Oxford High School closed in George Street in 1966, with the building now

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Thames death: Police rule out foul play

A MAN found dead floating in the River Thames in Oxford could have accidentally fallen in the water after drinking earlier in the day, police said today. Andrew Swadling, of Marlborough Road, in Grandpont, was found dead in the river shortly

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RACING: Knight's thrilled by royal winner

Henrietta Knight described training her first winner for the Queen as a big thrill after Harvest Song sprang a 40-1 surprise at Fontwell. Knight, who trains at West Lockinge, near Wantage, was sent the beautifully bred four-year-old after he failed to

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RUGBY LEAGUE: Cavaliers fall to Giants

Oxford Cavaliers are still looking for their first win of the season after a 42-26 home defeat by Guildford Giants in the Co-operative RL Conference South East Division. A poor start saw Cavaliers trail 10-0 thanks to two Guildford tries and a conversion

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Oxfam shop has three million reasons to celebrate

STAFF at Summertown’s Oxfam shop could not believe it when they totted up how much had come through the tills in the past 25 years. About £3m has been earned for the charity as it marks a quarter-century of trading in Banbury Road, Oxford.

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New MP gets first taste of life in Commons

OXFORDSHIRE’s newest MP Nicola Blackwood took her place in the House of Commons for the first time this week. The Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon admitted feeling a little overwhelmed as she entered the chamber. “I thought ‘my goodness,

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Oxford in Bloom seeks bumper crop of entries

LAST year Oxford in Bloom came of age on its 21st birthday. Now organisers are calling for a bumper crop of entries for 2010. Once again, the search is on for the city’s best-kept gardens. The contest is open to all residents and businesses

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South Oxfordshire teacher suspended over sex allegations

A teacher has been arrested and suspended from his job following allegations of sex offences. Police said the teacher was arrested following a complaint at a school in south Oxfordshire on Thursday, May 13, and was bailed until July 14 pending further

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Brookes student jailed for attacking paramedic

An Oxford Brookes University student has been jailed after drunkenly attacking a paramedic. Melissa Massey, 20, the founder-president of the university’s Women in Business Society, admitted common assault on 43-year-old Ann Sumner on New Year’s Day.

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GOLF: Sydenham breaks record

Pauline Sydenham broke North Oxford’s ladies’ course record after shooting a 75 in their Medal No 6. Sydenham shot the five-over-par round to win the medal and saw her handicap cut from 13 to 11. OXFORD City’s Paul Bradbury bagged a double in a memorable

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GOLF: Oxon pair fly flag at nationals

Oxfordshire pair Tilly Magill and Jane Binning reached the matchplay rounds of the English Ladies’ Amateur Championship at Broadstone, Dorset. Magill (Woburn) made the last 16 and Binning (Frilford Heath) the last 32 after coming through the strokeplay

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GOLF: Jackson's just champion

Eight-handicapper Robert Jackson won North Oxford’s Tournament of Champions in a sudden-death play-off. Jackson (pictured), a former assistant pro and now a solicitor, pipped 16-handicapper Cliff Johnson. Entry was restricted to winners of club trophies

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GOLF: Results round-up

SHAW GIBBS OXFORDSHIRE FOURSOMES LEAGUE Section 1 Tadmarton Heath 3 (4pts), Ellesborough 0 (0) (Tadmarton Heath first): O King & G Sambrook bt R Crisp & M Tomlins 4&3, S Hallam & A Mason bt P Cuthbert & B Godwyn 6&4, L Robinson & S O’Connor bt N Purdy

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Robinsons scoops top industry honour

ABINGDON: Robinsons International Removals has won the industry’s much-coveted Best Relocation Service Provider of the Year award. The judging panel, consisting of distinguished figures from business, academia and the Chartered Institute of Personnel

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Local share prices (PM)

AEA Technology 20 BMW 3235 Electrocomponents 222.3 Gladstone 33.5 Nationwide Accident Repair 88.5 Oxford Biomedica 9.9 Oxford Catalyst 65.5 Oxford Instruments 263.5 Reed Elsevier 487.8 RM 179 RPS Group 207.4 Courtesy of Redmayne Bentley, Abingdon

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True colours

I REMEMBER that soon after David Cameron was elected as leader of the Conservative Party the slogan ‘vote blue, go green’ was introduced. He got his wish – Conservative blue with Lib Dem yellow makes green. VIM RODRIGO Rivermead Road Rose Hill

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Shared delight

You refer to “pampered” Chelsea or Manchester United fans negating Oxford’s play-off final at Wembley as “nothing but a minor sideshow”. Not true. As a very long-standing (not late-arrival, glory-hunting) Manchester United fan/member I was delighted

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Please sit down

Having had to spend the entire match at Wembley on Sunday standing up, I make the following observations. This was caused as a result of some fans near the front who decided that they wanted to stand. As a result, hundreds, if not thousands of fans

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Get on with your job

I refer to Banbury MP Tony Baldry’s letter (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, May 13) “suggesting that I don’t get on my bicycle”. Tony, most people do not give a flying fig whether you get on your bike. If you want to pacify the bobble hats occasionally, by

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Buildings in line for top awards

Three Oxfordshire buildings are to go through to the national finals of Britain's top architecture competion. The refurbishment of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and a new auditorium for Corpus Christi College in Merton Street, both by Rick Mather Architects

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Puzzling pundits

In the run-up to the General Election, commentators in the media were telling us that a coalition government was our only hope and to back this up they said most European governments were coalitions, including Germany. Now we have a coalition government

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Traffic trouble

TONY Augarde writes (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, May 3),about the ridiculously long routes which traffic must take to get from A to B and the extra pollution which it causes within the city. I agree with him fully. It’s because of such reasons that so many

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United boss Wilder has worked miracle

I really wonder if some Oxford United fans actually realise what manager Chris Wilder has achieved with the team’s excellent final game of the season, played at Wembley? To think just a few weeks ago people were questioning his ability and position

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Kidlington school passes its test from Ofsted

A SCHOOL issued with a ‘notice to improve’ by education watchdog Ofsted in March has been rated as ‘satisfactory’ after its first monitoring inspection. Senior staff at West Kidlington Primary School raised concerns about a new Ofsted framework after

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Wood Festival set to sell out

The county’s greenest music festival is set to sell out for the first time since it started two years ago. Wood Festival, in Braziers Park, Ipsden, near Wallingford, was set up by brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, members of group Danny and the

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Hair of the dog helps tackle oil spill

The hair of the dog has long been touted as a fool-proof remedy, but it has never been used to deal with a multi-million-barrel oil slick. Now three dog-groomers from south Oxfordshire are bagging up the trimmings from their canine clients

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ATHLETICS: Douglas eyes up Euro challenge

INJURY setbacks have become second nature to Nathan Douglas – but the triple jumper has vowed not to let his latest stint on the treatment table stop him qualifying for the European Championships in Barcelona in July. Douglas hasn’t been the same since

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Film to chart history of city cinema

The history of an East Oxford cinema is about to be turned into a film. Philip Hind, 38, is producing a documentary to mark the centenary of the Ultimate Picture Palace – one of Europe’s oldest surviving cinemas. The Jeune Street Picture

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ATHLETICS: City last despite Johnson's heroics

OXFORD City finished in last place in their Southern League Division 2 meeting at Bexley. City could field only eight athletes, and although they pulled together to compete in most events, they could not avoid the wooden spoon. However, there were some

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ATHLETICS: Depleted Oxford cruise to victory

OXFORD City’s juniors cruised to victory in their National Young Athletes League Midland 1 South East meeting at Horspath Road. With the team severely depleted by Oxford United playing at Wembley, those that competed performed well to ease in. Beth

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Sandwich bar tastes success

A sandwich bar in Oxford has proved it is the best thing since sliced bread after taking home a prestigious award. Morton’s, of New Inn Hall Street, has been named Independent Sandwich Bar of the Year after entering the British Sandwich Industry

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ATHLETICS: Veterans take bronze medal

Oxford City’s vet 60 team claimed a bronze medal at the National Masters Road Relay Championships. John Exley, Roy Treadwell and Dave Parsons (pictured from left) finished third at Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield – 1min 20secs behind winners Barnet & District

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Documentary to chart history of city cinema

THE weird and wonderful history of an East Oxford cinema is about to be turned into a film. Philip Hind, 38, is producing a documentary to mark the centenary of the Ultimate Picture Palace – one of Europe’s oldest surviving cinemas. The Jeune Street

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Tackling sex crime 'priority for police'

Prepapring for the threat of terrorism and solving more sexual assaults are among the priorities for Thames Valley Police this year. Chief Constable Sara Thornton said she also wanted to improve communication between police officers and local

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Mixed reaction to Hips plan

PROPERTY experts have given a mixed reaction to the coalition Government’s plan to scrap Home Information Packs. Estate agents welcomed the move to abolish HIPS but one specialist provider believes it is a short-sighted move that could cause hundreds

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Head urges schools to enter SOS competition

THE headteacher of a primary which received a £7,500 revamp in last year’s School Build Save Our Schools competition is urging others to apply for this year’s scheme. Last year, the Oxford Mail teamed up with Abingdon-based construction company Leadbitter

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Wood Festival set to sell out

THE county’s greenest music festival is set to sell out for the first time since it started two years ago. Wood Festival, in Braziers Park, Ipsden, near Wallingford, was set up by brothers Robin and Joe Bennett, members of group Danny and the Champions

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Hair of the dog helps tackle oil spill

THE hair of the dog has long been touted as a fool-proof remedy, but it has never been used to deal with a multi-million-barrel oil slick. Now three dog-groomers from south Oxfordshire are bagging up the trimmings from their canine clients and sending

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Sandwich bar tastes sweet success

A SANDWICH bar in Oxford has proved it is the best thing since sliced bread after taking home a prestigious award. Morton’s, of New Inn Hall Street, has been named Independent Sandwich Bar of the Year after entering the British Sandwich Industry Awards

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Solving sex crime a priority for force

PREPARING for the threat of terrorism and solving more sexual assaults are among the priorities for Thames Valley Police this year. Chief Constable Sara Thornton said she also wanted to improve communication between police officers and local

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Museum gets £28k boost for new art

STAFF at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum are celebrating after scooping a share of funding to buy new art – and being shortlisted for a prestigious national prize. The museum in Beaumont Street reopened at the end of last year following a £61m refurbishment

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Former leader to be Lord Mayor

FORMER Oxford City Council leader John Goddard is to be the new Lord Mayor. The long-serving Liberal Democrat councillor will take over from Labour councillor Mary Clarkson at the mayor-making ceremony at the Town Hall tomorrow night. Mr Goddard, who

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Shops urged to join Wantage radio scheme

MORE businesses and shops in Wantage are being urged to sign up to a radio system to crack down on shoplifters. The appeal came as police revealed the Storenet system helped catch a shoplifter at Sainsbury’s last week. Staff detained

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Asda announces petrol price cut

Supermarket Asda has sparked a possible fuel price war by announcing a 2p-a-litre reduction in the cost of its petrol. To take effect from tomorrow, the cut will take Asda petrol prices down to 115.9p a litre, while its diesel will drop 1p

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Do you believe Oxford United can achieve back-to-back promotions following the Wembley win?

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How to be a persuader

How often do you have to influence or persuade someone else? Discover a set of clear guidelines that you can use consistently in all situations at the Skills 2 Grow seminar run by the Oxfordshire Bioscience Network. Six universal principles of influence

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CRICKET: Costley's first ton

THIRTEEN-year-old Tom Costley was on cloud nine after the youngster smashed his maiden league century for Ducklington on Saturday. The teenager, who plays in Ducklington’s first team in Division 7 of the OCA League, finished unbeaten on exactly 100 as

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Oxford United's promotion down to the fans, says boss

Chris Wilder dedicated Oxford United’s promotion to the fans. And the U’s manager said that having a poor month in March, when the team’s automatic promotion hopes disappeared, was part of the club’s masterplan! Speaking to the tens

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A brave endeavour for Colin

ANY actor prepared to step into the role of Inspector Morse is either very brave, or very foolish. That’s because the late, great John Thaw, the man who played him so unforgettably over 33 episodes of the hit TV series, still casts a giant shadow.

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Time to grant a dying wish

BARBARA Mullins’ story is heartbreaking. The 79-year-old suffers from progressive supranuclear palsy and does not have long left to live. It is a rare and horrific illness, which means she can no longer walk or talk. Her last wish is to die at peace

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Benefits blunder leaves pensioner in debt

A PENSIONER who tried to stop the Government giving him too much benefit has been forced to take out a loan to pay it back. Kenneth Pankhurst, of Anson Way, in Bicester, has been receiving pension credit – extra money which tops up his income – for the

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Benefits blunder leaves man in debt

A man who tried to stop the Government giving him too much benefit has been forced to take out a loan to pay it back. Kenneth Pankhurst, of Anson Way, in Bicester, has been receiving pension credit – extra money which tops up his income – for

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'Send me home to my friends' pleads poorly mum

A SCRIBBLED note is the only way Barbara Mullins can tell the world she wants to go home. Suffering a rare and horrific illness, she can no longer walk or talk, relying on her deteriorating handwriting to communicate with her sons from her

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Greens 'must be more organised'

The new leader of Oxford’s Green Party said the group needed to “get its act together” if it wanted to be a political force in the city. The party lost two seats at Oxford City Council elections earlier this month – reducing the number of Green councillors