A former Oxford city councillor is setting up a website to encourage the use of plain English.

Sarah Margetts, who stood down as an Independent city councillor last May, has established Common Talk to help people understand complicated forms.

Ms Margetts, of Tyndale Road, east Oxford, has also set up an e-mail group for people to exchange views.

She said she wants to help people wade through complex official documents which are often difficult to understand.

She said: "I am not having a go at the city council by setting up this group.

"There are lots of organisations which need to use plainer English in their documents.

"This is a free service, and we have already received interest from the Plain English Campaign."

The group will support people who:

Feel frustrated by complicated forms

Get annoyed by wordy letters

Would like organisations that affect their lives to write in language they understand.

Ms Margetts is a former chairman of the housing committee.

She was a Labour councillor for six years until she resigned in 2000 after disagreeing with a number of the group's policies.

It was claimed that Ms Margetts had resigned because her relationship with Liberal Democrat councillor Bob Hoyle, who lost his seat last year, made it hard for her to divide her personal and political loyalties, but she denied this.

She said at the time: "If I had been happy with the Labour group I would have stayed with them."

You can join Common Talk by sending a blank e-mail to: commontalk-subscribe@topica.com and visit the website at angelfire.com/rebellion2/commontalk