Two Oxfordshire stations are among the shining stars of the railway world.

Easy access to facilities for all travellers won Oxford the Access for All award in Railtrack's Station of the Year 2000 and Banbury scooped top prize for Railtrack's Midlands zone, as reported in yesterday's Oxford Mail.

Representatives of the stations attended a ceremony at London's Hilton Hotel yesterday to receive plaques and certificates.

Oxford was praised as 'an exemplary model of how accessible stations should be'.

Judges said the its design and layout meant all travellers, including elderly people, those with disabilities and parents with small children, found it easy to get around.

The judges said: "There are ramps to access trains, automatic doors, handrails, lift access to both platforms, excellent signage, a low-level phone and clearly identified loops at the ticket counters."

Banbury was commended for its recent improvements.

The judges said: "The station has a very imposing new concourse, improved ticket office with double the number of ticket desks it previously had and the public announcements were very good and clear at all points."

More than 8,000 nominations were made by the public, and 300 stations were visited by undercover judges from Rotary International.