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

Stories for 03 February 2005

Oxfordshire Business

Next in line for new shopping complex

High Street clothing store Next is the latest firm to sign up for Didcot's Orchard Development, creating 70 new jobs.   more...

Oxfordshire Education

Catholic college to close after 80 years

Plater College in Oxford is closing down after more than 80 years following a damning inspection report by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).   more...

Oxfordshire News

Agency care workers cost county over £2m

Social services are spending more than £2m a year on agency care workers because the department cannot attract enough full time staff.   more...

Sense of proportion

SIR -- I am appalled to read a national newspaper story that a 16-month-old baby, who probably did not realise what he had done was wrong, landed his father with a £50 on-the-spot fine for throwing a can of Coke out of his pushchair into a bush of thorns.   more...

We're too overcrowded

SIR -- It is all very well for Richard Taylor to deplore the proposal by Michael Howard to restrict the number of asylum seekers allowed in this country (Oxford Mail, January 28).   more...

Catholic college to close after 80 years

Plater College in Oxford is closing down after more than 80 years following a damning inspection report by the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI).   more...

Revamp may affect town centre trade

Tesco has announced it wants to expand its Abingdon store and create more jobs. But the plans have raised fears about traffic and flooding and the impact of a larger store on town centre businesses.   more...

Row at church over lack of silent nights

A pub landlord wants time to be called on the chiming of Wantage's church clock through the night.   more...

Motorists still ignoring mobile phone dangers

More than 1,000 drivers in Oxfordshire have been caught using a mobile phone while on the road -- and police say they will be getting tougher with offenders.   more...

Beauty for less

Many people know Oxfordshire has some of the most beautiful rural views in Britain, but few realise the county has only 24 different types of countryside.   more...

Film makers vie for prize

Young film makers will be given the red carpet treatment when they attend an awards ceremony after their work was nominated for a prize in a national competition.   more...

More cars torched

More abandoned cars are being set alight -- posing an increased risk of death or injury and becoming a blight on Oxford's estates.   more...

Thames death victim named

A man who drowned in the River Thames at Oxford earlier this week despite desperate attempts to rescue him has been named.   more...

Power off for second day running

Businesses in Didcot have been forced to close for the second day running after a power cut.   more...

February 3: Glad it's over

The review into infant deaths during heart surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital has found that mortality rates were not significantly higher that average, and pulled apart research which had suggested they were.   more...

Ten years of housing help

A Banbury scheme which helps homeless people put a roof over their heads has celebrated its 10th anniversary.   more...

Boris set for a busy day

South Oxfordshire Tory MP Boris Johnson will meet both old and young when he visits Thame on February 4.   more...

'We will fix problems on rail line'

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has admitted that rail services on the Cotswold Line from Oxford to Worcester are "totally unacceptable" and vowed to sort them out.   more...

Poor excuse

SIR -- For whose benefit is the Royal Mail run? You report that a mailbag stolen at Witney before Christmas has just been found (Oxford Mail, January 29).   more...

Cleared

Heart surgeons under scrutiny following allegations that a higher than average number of babies died on their operating tables have been vindicated.   more...

Estate scoops Lottery £134k

People in Barton have been given a financial boost for a community project which aims to improve the area for the residents.   more...

Oxfordshire Sport

Football: Leo can sleep easy after ending his scoring drought

Leo Roget is delighted that he can now sleep again!   more...

Speedway: Travis signs up again

Popular Australian rider Travis McGowan is the latest name to be added to the 2005 Silver Machine line-up.   more...

Football: Rovers' bite too strong for Oxford

Autotype UTV League: Saxton Rovers saw off the challenge of AFC Oxford to reach the semi-finals of the Devenney Cup with a 4-2 victory.   more...

Football: Jennings brace turns up heat on Highfield

Morrells of Oxford Sunday League: David Jennings bagged a brace as Cold Arbour kept up the pressure on Premier Division leaders Highfield with a 5-0 thrashing of strugglers Oxford Exiles.   more...

Boxing: Woods passes first test in title quest

Wolvercote ABC middleweight Chris Woods overcame the first hurdle on this year's ABA title trail when he outpointed Liam Stinchcombe, from the Broad Plain gym in Bristol, at Nailsea.   more...

Ice hockey: Stars battle away to secure play-off spot

Oxford City Stars clinched their place in the play-offs with a 3-3 draw at Milton Keynes Thunder in English National League South.   more...

Oxfordshire Whats On

Cellist set for solo spot

Australian-born cellist Jacqueline Johnson, now based in Oxford, will be the soloist with the Isis Chamber Orchestra at a concert in St Helen's Church, Abingdon, on February 5 starting at 8pm.   more...

Man of war

Jon Lee Anderson denies that he's a 'war junkie' despite having hung out in Afghanistan, Liberia, Panama and now Iraq, preferring to describe his calling as "reporting on places that are engulfed in conflict, where history is being made".   more...

Dance held

The Royal British Legion is holding a dance on February 5. It takes place in the Carterton Social Centre from 8pm until midnight.   more...