More than 950 Oxfordshire community groups, advice agencies and leisure clubs have signed up to a new online county guide.

The Oxfordshire Gateway, launched in July, is a searchable database of council and community services and activities.

It has been set up by a partnership of Oxfordshire County Council and the district councils -- Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire and Oxford City Council.

The councils worked with police to create the service with Government funding.

People using the Oxfordshire Gateway can search for groups or services by town or postcode, and information on thousands of local council services is listed alphabet- ically.

The Gateway features details about where to find a Citizen's Advice Bureau, leisure centre, library, council office, police station, post office or Tourist Information Centre.

A community information database lists groups, clubs, events, services and activities run by voluntary or community organisations.

There are plans to include recycling banks, GP surgeries, dentists, chemists, hospitals and railway stations in the future.

Among the groups signed up so far is the Riding for the Disabled group based at Little Compton, near Chipping Norton.

Riding takes place every Thursday afternoon, with riders, both adults and children, who have physical and learning disabilities from the Chipping Norton and Banbury areas, taking part.

Organiser Anne Nobbs said: "We are now in our 35th year and we have a wonderful band of loyal helpers.

"But of course more would always be welcome so we're very pleased to feature on The Oxfordshire Gateway."

Also signed up is the Kidlington-based Oxfordshire Youth Mentoring Service (OYMS), which offers mentoring support to young people in Abingdon, Banbury, Berinsfield, Oxford and West Oxfordshire.

Ruth Bryant, OYMS Youth Officer, said: "The Oxfordshire Gateway is a great source of information for what's on locally, and has been an extremely useful tool for recruiting volunteers from the community."

Vic Allison, who chairs the Oxfordshire e-government Partnership Board which runs the Gateway, said: "To have almost 1,000 community groups signed up so early is a great start.

"This is a really useful service, both for the groups themselves and for people who use it. For the groups it can help publicise their services or activity to more than half a million Oxfordshire residents at the click of a mouse. For residents or people outside the county who use the service, it's an easy way of finding the council service, group or activity they want to join or take part in."

The site can be found at www.oxfordshiregateway.gov.uk