Oxford and Oxfordshire news, sport and information updated throughout the day

Oxfordshire | Archive | 2003 | January

Stories for 09 January 2003

Oxfordshire Business

BBC could enter software market

Educational publishers in Oxfordshire are upset at leaked reports that the BBC has approval from the Government to spend £150m of licence fee money on a new digital curriculum for schools. more...

Council and traders unite against Waitrose plan

Councillors and traders in Wallingford have joined forces to fight plans to demolish the existing Waitrose building and three neighbouring businesses. more...

AEA buys Scottish computing developer

Rapidly evolving science firm AEA Technology has strengthened its environment arm by taking over a Scottish software firm. more...

Vote will decide buy back rights

Shareholders in vaccine company PowderJect have been asked to vote on a move by the firm to buy back its own shares. more...

Takeover 'not unwelcome'

Partners of services group Amey in the plans to part-privatise the London Underground said they would not veto any takeover bid of the company's share in the project. more...

Firm snaps up prime office space

The first part of a prestigious commercial property development has been snapped up six months before building work is due to be completed. more...

Cable firm award

Hi-tech cabling firm cd-uk, based in Witney, has been awarded accreditation from the Building Industry Consulting Services International organisation. more...

Members of the Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester Co-operative Society can now use their dividend cards to receive savings on funerals, travel and childcare. Previously the saving was given only on purchases from Co-op food stores. more...

Talk on change

Handling Complexity and Change: The Organisational Challenge for the 21st Century is the title of a meeting to be held on January 13 at 7.30pm at The Oxford Union in St. Michael's Street. more...

Knowledge role

Law firm Morgan Cole has appointed Simon Drane as its first chief knowledge officer. more...

Oxfordshire News

Screen debuts beckon

Aspiring interior designers are being offered the chance to spruce up their neighbours' homes. The BBC is searching for people to take part in a new series of its programme Changing Rooms, which will be presented by Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen. more...

Lack of funds delays nursing home place

Pensioner Doreen Holding wants a place in a nursing home after spending a year in hospital. more...

Association fears fall in volunteers

Charity workers who help the blind fear their service could suffer because they are based at an empty NHS building in Oxford. more...

Phones still not working

Hundreds of Oxford residents are still unable to use their telephones five days after flooding damaged one of the city's main underground phone lines. more...

Row flares over school's name

A row has erupted between residents of Barton, in Oxford, and teachers over the new name of the area's only remaining school. more...

Wall 'caused flooding'

A resident blames a wall built 30 years ago to protect homes from flooding for the closure of the railway line between Oxford and Didcot. more...

Bangers and cash

The county's top village shop, Taste Buds Fine Foods, in Adderbury, and top community-owned store Appleton Community Shop and Post Office have been presented with certificates. more...

Snow and temperatures fall in county

Not even water bursting from an Oxford fountain could escape turning into ice as temperatures plummeted across the county. more...

Anne offers tips on image

The Princess Royal visited Oxford to address a conference about the role of the farmer in the 21st century. more...

Report backs common bid

Trap Grounds should be registered as a 'Town Green' or common, a planning inquiry inspector has ruled. more...

Minister to visit police station

Home Office minister Barbara Roche will visit St Aldate's police station on January 13 to discuss the effectiveness of the criminal justice system with Oxford's senior officers. more...

Get rid of unwanted presents

A supermarket is helping shoppers dispose of Christmas jumpers, novelty socks and other unwanted presents with a clear conscience. more...

Hospitals offered millions to improve

Hospital managers in Oxfordshire are being given the chance to share a £10.2m fund to improve services. more...

Group wins fight to save stable

Village groups in Iffley, Oxford, have successfully fought a planning application to convert a historic stable into a house. more...

Watery welcome

A new headteacher faced a tough challenge on her first day in the job just to get her school open after it was flooded. more...

Pub owner in court

A pub owner accused of driving a JCB into the side of his inn, the North Star in Steventon, on New Year's Eve was to appear in court on January 9. more...

Helpers needed

Female volunteers are needed to help Oxfordshire Women's Aid assist women and children suffering from the effects of domestic violence. more...

Watches snatched

Gold watches worth more than £6,000 were stolen from a Securicor van parked in Didcot town centre. more...

Better bus services drive in

Bus services in Didcot and surrounding villages are set to be improved. more...

Centre needs organiser

Didcot Volunteer Centre, which has seen calls for help rise from 35 to nearly 1,500 annually in the past 17 years, may employ a paid organiser. more...

Carols convert to cash

A band which provides free lessons and instruments for aspiring musicians had a successful time fundraising in December. more...

Thieves wreck festivities

A Banbury mother has described thieves who ruined her son's festive season as "not fit for the human race". more...

Pub regains historic name

A west Oxford pub has reclaimed the orginal name it carried for almost a century after a successful campaign by its landlady. more...

Railway show rolls in

Hordes of rail enthusiasts gathered in Kidlington as the village Scout group hosted a two-day model railway show. more...

Robber guilty of £400 theft

A robber has been convicted of threatening a man at knife-point before making off with more than £400. more...

Missing a crate of drink?

A crate of alcoholic drinks, believed to have been stolen, has been recovered in Thame. more...

Talks begin at theatre

A series of talks will be held at the Sheldonian Theatre, Broad Street, Oxford, as part of the Divided Cities lectures, to raise money for Oxford Amnesty. more...

Leys goes on the web

A website dedicated to news about Oxford's Blackbird Leys estate has been gone on line at www.blackbirdleys.co.uk more...

Road to be dug up yet again

Motorists face four weeks of disruption as a busy Bicester road is dug up for the third time in two years. more...

Residents spared tax increase

People in Bicester will not be asked to pay more towards town council services -- for the third year running. more...

Cafe brings world wide web closer

People in Bicester are a step closer to surfing the Internet with the opening of the town's first Internet cafe. more...

Parents give playgroup facelift

Children at a Bicester playgroup had a surprise when they returned to school -- the building had been given a make-over. more...

Learn first aid

A few places are still available on a first aid course for baby sitters. more...

Dickens event rescued

Wantage's popular Dickensian Evening will go ahead next Christmas, but organisers have dropped efforts to raise money for a new set of festive lights. more...

Art planned for housing sites

Unique works of art are to be installed in Wantage and Grove housing developments to reflect the local comm- unity. more...

Young photographer snaps prize

A Wantage teenager beat off national competition in the RSPCA Young Photographer Awards. more...

Service for Lord Jenkins

Lord Jenkins of Hillhead will be buried in his home village of East Hendred, near Wantage,on January 10. more...

French visit

Wantage's twinning association is planning a visit to Mably, France, during the May half-term holiday. more...

Awards collected

Sophie Cash, of Grove, and Thomas Penfold, of Wantage, received their Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards at a ceremony at the Vale and Downland Museum. more...

Successful fair aids research

A craft fair in the Civic Hall, Wantage, raised £250 for Alzheimer's Disease research at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. more...

Major revamp planned

A spending spending initiative of nearly £78,000 has been drawn up to improve playgrounds in West Oxfordshire. more...

Help turn trees into compost

Residents in Charlbury and Finstock will be able to get rid of their Christmas trees and garden waste on January 11 without harming the environment. more...

Advice goes online

West Oxfordshire Citizens Advice Bureau, which deals with more than 9,000 requests for advice and information a year, now has its own official website. more...

Stories for children

Charlbury Amateur Dramatic Society will be presenting a trio of popular children's stories, Once Upon a Time, in the Memorial Hall from January 23, to January 25. more...

Hot competition causes concern

The return of tourist steamers to Wallingford after almost 30 years could harm the town, according to councillors. more...

Council and traders unite against Waitrose plan

Councillors and traders in Wallingford have joined forces to fight plans to demolish the existing Waitrose building and three neighbouring businesses. more...

Sewage traps pensioner

An elderly man could not leave his house for six days because he was marooned in the middle of a pond of raw sewage. more...

'Victim was unreliable witness'

A former Broadmoor patient from Wallingford accused of attacking another patient has walked free because his victim was mentally unstable. more...

Teenager tells of stabbing

A teenager told police in an interview he was at home watching videos at the time a homeless 18-year-old was murdered. more...

Musicians offered jazz tips

Jazz fans will be getting tips from the top in Wallingford. more...

Council wants more money

Wallingford Town Council has asked for a 3.5 per cent increase in council tax. more...

BBC could enter software market

An educational publisher in Abingdon is spearheading a battle against the BBC, after leaked news that the corporation has won approval from the Government to spend £150m of licence fee money on a new digital curriculum for schools. more...

Mummers the word

Abingdon Mummers raised £372 for the town's day centre for the elderly. more...

`Woman attacked at JR'

A disabled woman has won her fight for tighter security at an Oxford casualty unit where she claims she was sexually assaulted by another patient. more...

Planned rail route is delayed once more

A rail service from Oxford to Milton Keynes via Bicester has been postponed for the third time in three years. more...

Drink-drive figures fall over Christmas

Fewer people were caught drinking and driving in Oxfordshire over the Christmas and New Year period despite more being breath-tested, figures released on January 9 reveal. more...

Local Advertisers

Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices » Schools » Crime » Hospitals »

Stories for 09 January 2003

Oxfordshire Business

Oxfordshire News

Oxfordshire Sport

Local Advertisers

Local Information