Flood warnings remain in place on four rivers in Oxfordshire today.

A flood watch, the lowest level of alert issued by the Environment Agency, which warns people to expect flooding around low-lying land and roads, is in place on the catchment areas of the Windrush, Ray and Thame and the catchment of the River Cherwell catchment, from Charwelton, north of Banbury, to Oxford.

The flood watch which was in place on the River Evenlode in west Oxfordshire was removed on Monday.

A flood watch also remains in place on the River Thames between Cirencester and Lechlade.

Source: Witney Gazette

Union members bowed their heads in silence yesterday in memory of a contractor killed on a Witney building site.

But despite calling on his fellow workers to join the minute's silence, the group of around 20 stood alone in memory of Altin Balla, who died in an accident involving a cherry picker vehicle at the Marriotts Close building site on Friday, August 29.

The 28-year-old father of two from Aberystwyth, in west Wales, died at the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The group gathered at the entrance to the building site in Welch Way, which is currently being redeveloped into housing and a shopping centre by the Simons Group.

Organiser Tony O'Brien, from the Construction Safety Campaign, said he was disappointed workers had not joined in.

Dominic Wright, operations director for the Simons Construction, a division of the Simons Group, confirmed they knew of the vigil organised by the campaign.

He said they would be holding their own commemorative effort on Friday, the day of the funeral and two-week anniversary of Mr Balla's death.

Source: Witney Gazette

A flood warning was put back on the River Windrush today as heavy rain continued to fall.

Flood warnings are now in place on four rivers in Oxfordshire.

A flood watch, the lowest level of alert issued by the Environment Agency, which warns people to expect flooding around low-lying land and roads, is in place on the catchment areas of the Windrush, Ray and Thame and the catchment of the River Cherwell catchment, from Charwelton, north of Banbury, to Oxford.

Met Office spokesman Phillippa Barnes said drivers were advised to take care on the roads as heavy rain would continue for the rest of the morning.

She added: "The rain will be persistent and fairly heavy throughout the morning but there will be a gradual improvement throughout the afternoon, and then the evening and overnight should be dry, with the odd shower filtering through.

"Tomorrow should be a much better day compared to today and will be essentially dry, with broken cloud and the possibility of a few bright spells."

The flood watch which was in place on the River Evenlode in west Oxfordshire was removed yesterday.

A flood watch also remained in place on the River Thames between Cirencester and Lechlade.

Source: Witney Gazette

The annual average price of a house in Oxfordshire has dropped for the first time in eight years, according to Land Registry figures.

The Government's official body, which checks on the number of house sales, has revealed an average home cost £245,293 in July - 0.3 per cent lower than in the same month last year.

It is the first drop since the Land Registry started collecting figures in 2000 and echoes concerns about the housing market around the country.

Now one Oxford estate agent has warned the situation in some areas of the city may actually be a lot worse.

Robert Maxwell, branch manager of Andrews estate agents in Cowley, said: "We have seen property prices fall in the last year.

"In Cowley, properties that were fetching up to £285,000 12 months ago are struggling to reach £250,000 this year.

"A lot of asking prices are not realistic and some properties have been on the market for six months as there is now a lot of choice and people are going for the lowest figure.

"Last year anything would sell. Now it is properties that are new to the market or which have been reduced in price which are moving."

Oxfordshire house prices also fell by 0.3 per cent on the Land Registry's June figure.

AN allotments crisis has hit Witney with more and more people queuing for plots, and no one apparently prepared to provide land.

More than a year after Witney Town Council was given £400,000 from developers as 'planning gain' to provide new allotments, the money has still not been spent.

The situation was described this week by Caroline Brett, secretary of the Witney Allotments Association, as a serious problem, because almost all the new houses being built in the town have very small gardens.

It mirrors a national issue, with the number of allotment plots across the country in decline, while demand escalates.

Latest figures are that Witney has 160 plots on four sites - at Lakeside, Hailey Road, Newland and Park Road. There is a waiting list of 133 people wanting plots.

Ms Brett said: "I do know that no money has been spent on allotments for some time. Allotments seems so low on the town council's agenda. My plot is at Newland, and I have people coming to see me there saying they are furious there are no available allotments.

"People on the Madley Park estate were promised them, and are now very upset. Their gardens are so small, and there are no allotment plots. Something needs to be done about the Park Road allotments, which are down to just five, while other land is empty, apparently awaiting redevelopment.

"And, as well as Madley Park, there are many on the Deer Park estate who want allotments. Something needs to be done to ease the crisis. The money is there.

"There were allotments on land opposite Sainsbury's, which may be lost for good because of the line of the Cogges Link Road. That land should be replaced."

Waistlines in Oxfordshire are among the smallest in the UK, according to a new report.

A 'fat map' of England, Scotland and Wales shows the county is in the top 15 per cent of Primary Care Trusts containing the least obese people.

The woman in charge of combating obesity in the county welcomed the news, but promised Oxfordshire PCT would continue the fight to improve lifestyles.

Kate King, obesity leader for the PCT's health improvement team, said: "It is good news, but even in Oxfordshire we recognise levels of obesity are predicted to rise.

"We are not going to be complacent - we want to make sure we are doing the work we need to support people to live healthy lives."

The new report was compiled by Dr Foster Research, using data from GP surgeries across the UK.

It revealed that in Oxfordshire, 6.3 per cent of over 16s registered with GPs were obese - meaning the county has the 22nd best performing PCT out of 189 surveyed.

Shetland in Scotland was the worst - with a figure of 15.5 per cent.

More than 400 motorists were caught speeding on Oxfordshire's roads during a week-long campaign.

Police carried out road checks throughout the Thames Valley during a European road safety week.

In Oxfordshire, 406 drivers were spotted speeding, compared with 119 in Buckinghamshire and 103 in West Berkshire.

More than 1,100 were caught across the region.

Drivers stopped for travelling between 35mph and 39mph in 30mph zones were given a talk by road safety officers.

Those between 40mph and 49mph were issued a fixed penalty notice of £60 and three penalty points on their licences, while motorists doing more than 50mph will be taken to court.

Traffic officer Sgt Chris Appleby said: "It's disappointing that more than 1,000 motorists were exceeding the speed limit through inattention and, in some cases, total disregard.

"Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership, in conjunction with Thames Valley Police, will continue to target such behaviour with all means at our disposal."

The road safety week finished on Sunday.

Source: Witney Gazette

WITNEY is to get more anti-crime spy cameras, and both Carterton and Chipping Norton are also in line to have their own CCTV systems.

The Gazette learned this week that nine fixed cameras are to be installed in the £50m Marriotts Close redevelopment, due to open in autumn next year.

They will monitor public areas of the shopping and entertainment complex, as well as the multi-storey car park.

The addition will bring the total of CCTV cameras in Witney to 33, joining the 24 which have already been put round the town centre over the last decade. They are linked to the 24-hour-a-day monitoring centre at the town's police station, in Welch Way.

And it also emerged this week that a deal is close to being struck to include the district's two other main towns, Carterton and Chipping Norton, under the watchful eye of the control centre.

Both towns have been keen to have CCTV for some years, but the issue has always been over who pays for them.

Bill Oddy, the district council's head of community services, said he expected that the extension of the Witney scheme to include Marriotts Close would be largely financed through businesses moving in there.

Private sponsorship is also expected to make up part of the schemes in the other two towns.

BOTH of Witney's secondary schools, Henry Box and Wood Green, have chalked up the maximum with passes in this year's A-level exams.

It was a record year for both of them, gaining 100 per cent A to E pass grades for all their sixth-form pupils and the highest ever achievement in the top A to C grades.

The successes were mirrored elsewhere in west Oxfordshire secondary schools.

And at Burford School sixth former Sophie Ansell had extra reason to celebrate when she picked up one of the country's top five marks for A-Level photography.

David Bell, deputy head at Henry Box school, said: "Seventeen of our students got three As or more, a record for us. Four of them, Rebecca Watson, Catherine Guertsen, Laura Kane and Danielle Thomas, have secured Oxbridge places. We are very pleased, half of our grades are As and Bs."

A total of 97 Henry Box pupils took A Levels, with a success rate of 75 per cent in the top A to C grades.

At Wood Green school the A to C rate out of the 100 pupils taking exams was 78 per cent, with more than half at A or B grades for the second successive year. The A to C grade rate was 78 per cent.

Cym Savage, head teacher, said: "We are delighted with this year's results, which are a credit to students and staff. We rightly celebrate the success of all our studenrts and are immensely proud of their achievements."

PLANS for Witney's Cogges Link Road have been submitted, but campaigners have vowed to continue their long-running battle against the contentious £16.4m scheme.

The West Oxfordshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), which has been against the road since it was first mooted over 20 years ago, will object to the formal planning application, which is about to go out to public consultation.

And Oxfordshire County Council, which has submitted its planning application to West Oxfordshire District Council, expects it may have to go through a public inquiry and compulsory purchase orders, delaying the opening of the road to 2012 at the earliest.

The council announced its plans this week.

As part of the public having their say, an exhibition on the scheme is being mounted in early October at Witney's Marlborough Hotel.

The times are October 8, 3pm to 9pm, October 10, 10am to 6pm, and October 11, 10am to 1pm. Documents, however, will be available online later this month.

The link road would connect the Sainsbury's roundabout in Witan Way to the main road at Oxford Hill, at the junction with Jubilee Way, and is designed to ease town centre traffic congestion around Bridge Street.

CPRE local chairman, Gillian Salway, said: "We have been against it all the time and will continue. Yes, this is the last battleground, the last possibility of stopping it.

"But we will need support. We know that there are businesses in Station Lane worried about the effects of traffic stacking up in that end of town before the Sainsbury's roundabout.

"And we will also be canvassing residents on the Cogges estate to object individually."

THAMES Water, which supplies water to Oxfordshire, announced today it will be launching a £6.5 billion investment programme over the next five years - the largest undertaken by a UK water company.

However, the investment will see average water bills rise by just over four per cent a year over the next two years.

Thames Water chief executive David Owens said: "Thames' customers have enjoyed the lowest bills in the industry for many years, but we need to make essential investment to secure their services for the future.

"There will be an inevitable impact on bills, but even so, we will be able to keep them below the industry standard.

"Ultimately it will be up to the independent regulator, Ofwat, to decide the price we are allowed to charge to provide these services."

According to Thames Water, the average bill for both metered and non-metered homes in 2008/09 is £280 per year.

It estimates this figure will increase to £303 by 2010/11, £313 by 2011/12, £325 by 2012/13, £326 by 2013/14 and £329 by 2014/15.

The £6.5 billion will also include the building cost of the proposed reservoir near Abingdon, which it said would provide 10 per cent of the region's water when it was completed in 2021.

It also included the cost of installing a million water meters to increase the number of metered households to 54 per cent from 24 per cent.

Mr Owens said: "This is an ambitious programme of investment which will deliver the services our customers expect."

Source: Witney Gazette

POOCHES wagged their tails and batted their eyelashes for a dog show run by the Blue Cross animal charity.

On Sunday, the dogs were judged in categories of waggiest tail, most handsome, and they could even compete in a canine sausage-eating competition.

There was also entertainment for the dogs' owners during the fun day at the Blue Cross Centre, in Shilton Road, Burford, with games and stalls, including crafts, home-made cakes, and books. There was also a magical display by dancing dog Tippy Toes.

Adoption centre manager, Nikki Smith, said: "The dog show is always great fun, with something for all the family."

Burford's adoption centre was opened in 1990, and can house up to 60 dogs and puppies, 48 cats and kittens, seven pairs of rabbits, and six guinea pigs.

Source: Witney Gazette

Micro blogging site Twitter is the latest target of cyber criminals who are increasingly finding fertile ground on social networks.

A fake Twitter profile with a malicious payload has been spotted by security firm Kaspersky.

It purports to link to a pornographic video but downloads a fake version of Adobe Flash which installs programs capable of stealing data.

The attack is believed to be the first to target Twitter.

Fifteen schools in Oxfordshire are still waiting for all their Key Stage 2 results - despite statistics on how the country's 11 year olds have performed being published today.

Nationally, 475 schools are missing some or all of their results for the SATs which measure youngsters' performance in English, science and maths due to problems with marking by contractors ETS Europe.

But the Department for Children, Schools and Families, decided to release statistics based on the results received despite concerns over missing or inaccurately marked papers.

In Oxfordshire, the percentage of pupils achieving the expected level four in both English and maths had risen slightly, from 72 per cent to 73 per cent - although the percentage of boys reaching the benchmark level remained the same.

Girls continued to outperform their male counterparts, with 75 per cent of girls achieving level four in both subjects compared to 71 per cent of boys - with the gap between the genders increasing by two per cent compared to last year.

All marks released today are subject to change following the results of reviews requested by the schools, as concerns have been raised about the quality of some of the marking, and an inquiry set up to examine the problems delivering the results.

Source: Witney Gazette

DISCOUNT store operators Lidl have vowed to overcome objections and set up shop in Witney.

Their plans for an outlet at Ducklington Lane, next to the drive-in McDonald's, was thrown out by West Oxfordshire district councillors last week.

But this week Lidl has told the Gazette it would be putting in new plans, and was confident it would succeed next time round.

At the same time, Europe's biggest discount store operator, Aldi, has registered formal plans with the district council for a supermarket in the middle of Carterton.

German-owned Aldi, which has more than 300 outlets in the UK, wants to build a supermarket on land opposite Carterton town hall, in Alvescot Road.

On the site at 10 and 12 Alvescot Road is Dowleys Garage and several empty business premises. There is also space for a car park, and the land has been designated, in local plans, for shops.

The town's population has been growing with a major new housing estate at Shilton Park, and has a Co-op and Somerfield supermarkets.

Town councillor Adey Coomber said this week: "If you'd asked a year ago, the public might have reacted differently.

"But things are different now. Because of the credit crunch, I think local opinion would welcome more competition and choice for shopping."

The district council's lowlands planning sub-committee refused a Lidl discount store at Ducklington Lane on design and highways grounds.

Lidl claims it also has a good public demand case for their Witney store.

Weather forecasters warned the country would get a soaking by heavy storms tonight.

Heavy rain and thunder will move north-eastwards across Wales and most of England.

While yesterday was the hottest day of the year, with temperatures soaring to 30C (86F) in London, today could be the most humid, forecasters say.

MeteoGroup UK, the weather division of the Press Association, forecast that the downpours would hit central and southern England and Wales.

Brendan Jones, a MeteoGroup forecaster, said: "Storms will kick in in the afternoon. There will be some really torrential rain."

Parts of south Wales and south west England could see rainfall of up to 40mm, he said, with possible flooding across Devon and Cornwall.

Source: Witney Gazette

MORE shoppers are coming to Witney town centre, despite the credit crunch and new car parking arrangements.

Footfall in the Woolgate Centre rose by an unprecedented 11 per cent in May this year. And this month it is heading the same way - with the rise in petrol prices being attributed as one factor with people preferring to shop closer to home than travel to Oxford.

The figures, taken from CCTV monitoring cameras, are a boost for the new Stay Longer in Witney campaign, being officially launched on Friday by Witney MP David Cameron.

The figures do not necessarily convert into extra trade, but they are a key indicator of how the town is attracting more shoppers, even before the new 'magnet' of the Marriotts Close development - due to open in autumn next year.

Rodney Hartnell, Woolgate Centre manager, told the Gazette: "We have been using the CCTV and computer software for more than five years, and these are some of the best figures yet. Until Christmas last year, the footfall was going down. But the creation of more short-stay car parking spaces - an extra 186 in the Woolgate - has had a big effect. People are finding it easier to get spaces and shop here.

"In the current economic climate, it is amazing, and, as far as I am concerned, mission accomplished."

About 74 workers at Stewart Milne Timber Systems factory in Witney are facing redundancy.

The company said the downturn in housebuilding sales had prompted it to start a consultation process seeking to reduce its 191-strong workforce by more than a third.

Final numbers would be defined during the consultation process, said the company, which opened its Witney factory in 2001, supplying major housebuilders with timber frame kits.

Only last September, the company was predicting that the Witney operation could double in size in the next three years, as a possible site for a fully fledged housebuilding division by 2010.

The company was also looking to build on its Witney-built Sigma home, the first commercially viable home that would have near zero carbon emissions.

And owners Stewart Milne and family featured at number 214 in this year's Sunday Times Rich List, up from 251, with £294m.

Source: Witney Gazette

Households in Oxfordshire have spent "millions of pounds" in a desperate effort to ensure a repeat of last year's devastating flooding never happens again.

In the past year, homeowners - some of whom are still out of their properties - have purchased a range of equipment designed to keep rising water at bay.

Some have even spent their insurance pay-outs flood-proofing their properties.

But exactly a year on from the chaos, the Government has warned those living in flood-prone areas to brace themselves for more frequent deluges in years to come.

Although significant progress has been made clearing up a large part of last July's mess, floods recovery minister John Healy last night said "never say never again".

He added: "The blunt truth is we are faced with the sort of rain we have never seen before in Britain in records going back 250 years. We can never say never again."

More than 2,100 homes across Oxfordshire flooded last summer.