Oxford Crown Court might play host to watertight alibis, but the building’s roof appears to be rather more porous.

As the rain lashed down on Monday, a security guard was dispatched to two of the four courtrooms to put out buckets to catch rainwater falling from the ceilings.

In one court, the slow, steady plop of droplets filling a plastic cup added an echoing soundtrack to the delivery of a jury’s verdict.

Fortunately for the defendant, whose heart must have raced quicker the metronomic pace beaten out by the rain, he was cleared and released to enjoy the great British summer.

The Insider had a sneak preview of the Strictly Oxford dance training sessions of some of the competitors this week and couldn’t help but notice that Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood was absent.

Is the classically-trained singer feeling confident?

No stranger to public performances, she celebrated her 2010 election victory by singing Every Time We Say Goodbye on Radio Oxford.

One contestant who was putting in the effort was Oxford restaurateur Clinton Pugh. Indeed, he was breaking into quite a sweat and the heat appeared to be getting to him. Maybe it’s been some time since he was actually in the kitchens himself.

And Thames Valley Chief Constable Sara Thornton is strutting her stuff for charity in the competition.

But something tells us it may be some time before we see officers foxtrotting down Oxford’s streets.

Spending cuts must really be biting at Wantage Town Council, because staff failed to provide enough stamps to pay for posting a letter to this newspaper.

The Tory-run authority may have saved 19p in postage when sending out meeting agendas but the Oxford Mail was left with a bill of £1.19 when Royal Mail’s handling fee was slapped on top.

It seems we are all in this together – whether we like it or not.

lAs Euro 2012 progresses, the prospect of England meeting old foe Germany remains a painful prospect. But if football fans are still wondering why the Germans always seem to catch us napping at major tournaments then perhaps academic researchers can shed light on it.

A study has found Brits snooze on 20 minutes past the alarm clock sounding, while our German friends are up instantly – no doubt practising penalties and the offside trap.

The survey was carried out by Oxford University’s Prof Russell Foster and Prof Till Roenneberg from Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität.

Both are experts in chronobiology – the study of the body clock, or the circadian rhythms which govern our waking and sleeping patterns.