Local News

Crews dealt with a fire on the 7th floor Fire crews have been dealing with a fire at the John Radcliffe Hospital Maternity Unit in Oxford. They were called at 2.11pm to what is described as a small office fire on the 7th floor. The fire is now extinguished but crews remain on scene, ventilating […]

An electronic device was held under a toilet cubicle door in the male toilets Thames Valley Police have announced that a 20-year-old Banbury man was arrested following an incident in the toilets in the Castle Quay Shopping Centre on Monday June 2. A man in his mid-thirties had been recorded whilst he was in a […]

The site is just south of the crematorium A developer has announced its intention to apply to build up to 130 homes on the western side of the Southam Road in Banbury. Hargreaves Residential Developments wants to build in the remaining fields between the crematorium and the development currently being built to the north of […]

It is an offence to attach anything to lampposts without the consent of the highways authority by Nadia Lincoln, Local Democracy Reporter West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has urged any residents wishing to fly patriotic flags to do so safely and avoid putting them up on lampposts or road signs. Streets across the region have seen […]

The main A361 will be shut so traffic will be diverted through the village HS2 and their contractors are holding a community drop-in event in Chipping Warden village hall between 2 and 4pm today. The event takes place a day before a full closure of the A361 comes into force to allow work on a […]

Water testing and other explorative work revealed the water wasn’t coming from a burst pipe A suspected leaking pipe on a Banbury road has turned out to be a natural spring.   Local people had contacted Councillor Mark Cherry – the Oxfordshire County Councillor for Banbury Ruscote – after water appeared across Orchard Way. Both Oxfordshire […]

Across the country council debt is increasing New figures show that West Northamptonshire Council’s debt rose by more than £90m over a twelve-month period up to the end of the last financial year. Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows the council’s borrowing reached £679m by the end of 2024-25 – […]

Water is at historically low levels at the canal feeder reservoirs Water levels at the three reservoirs which feed into the Oxford Canal have fallen to historically low levels leading to boat users having to remain where they are, with all locks closed on the waterway between Claydon and Aynho.   The closure will remain in […]

A campaign has been launched to help repatriate them to their native Poland Two of the people killed in a helicopter crash on the Isle of Wight yesterday were a couple who lived in Bloxham. 52-year-old Justyna Czoska and 49-year-old Wojtek Kowalkowski were killed when the aircraft they were in “spiralled” onto a field.   One […]

A number of conversions of pubs to residential properties have been submitted in recent months An application to convert Little Bourton’s only pub into a house has been lodged with Cherwell District Council. The Dirt House on the Southam Road closed last November.   Formerly known as the Plough, the pub had reopened in March 2019 […]