BERINSFIELD celebrates its 50th anniversary next year and the parish council is looking at four ideas to mark it officially.

Meanwhile a working party is thinking how to make the annual Celebration Day extra-special in 2008.

Parish council chairman Ken Hall said: "We have four ideas in mind - a bell for the church of SS Mary and Berin, a clock for the church, a memorial garden or a bench with a plaque on it. A decision will be made in December on which to go for."

The parish council celebrates its own 40th anniversary next year.

The village was built on the site of a wartime airfield and developed by Oxfordshire County Council and Bullingdon Rural council as a council estate.

The first tenants moved in on August 8, 1958 - and next year's Celebration day will be held as close to that date as possible, probably Saturday, August 9.

As the village developed, the church was built by volunteers in 1961, the parish council was formed in 1968 and the health centre was opened in 1970.

The population is now about 3,000.

Mr Hall said: "It is a village like any other, younger maybe but with a similar mix of people."