Updates on Tuesday 24 November 2015
News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00 on Wednesday
Adam Williams
BBC Sport
Oxford United defender Cameron Gayle has joined Cambridge United on a loan deal until January.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe 23-year-old former Shrewsbury full-back joined Oxford earlier this month on an initial one-month trial and has made two appearances.
Gayle has extended his contract with Michael Appleton's side for a further two months, which he will spend on loan with Cambridge.
It's the Autumn Statement tomorrow - with news expected about cuts to tax credits. We asked you what you wanted to hear the Chancellor say:
Darren says: "Forcing employers to pay their employees enough to live on is better than subsidising companies by giving benefits to their underpaid employees. It is far more efficient for people to get paid properly in the first place than it is for a large expensive government department to collect tax and hand it out as benefits."
Jill says: "I'd like to hear that he listens to the country when we tell him tax credits are vitally important to many of us working families and we need them to stay above the breadline."
Share your view with us via email, Facebook, external or Twitter, external.
An overnight signal failure between Leamington Spa and Banbury meant Network Rail passengers faced cancellations delays this morning.
The company has apologised, external, with area director Liam Sumpter saying: "We will still be looking into what happened and how we can prevent problems in the future.
"We will be learning lessons as part of our ongoing commitment to provide a better railway for passengers."
The Open University, external council is meeting today to discuss plans to close seven offices which could result in more than 500 job losses.
Image source, Open UniversityStaff have voted to strike tomorrow and next Wednesday if the university does not back out of the plans.
University and College Union, external branch president Pauline Collins says: "The ball is now firmly in the university’s court and we hope they will see sense and reject these plans."
The university has said the offices earmarked for closure were not predominantly used as teaching centres and services to students would not be reduced or withdrawn.
Defence analyst Paul Beaver has been speaking to BBC Radio Oxford following the government's defence review.
He says: "The good news for Oxfordshire is that the Hercules force at RAF Brize Norton, 14 aircraft, will stay there.
"Those aircraft are very important because they support the special forces."
Charlotte Greeves, Henley Festival's director, says she is “incredibly thrilled” to have Elton John as a headliner.
"He’s such a fantastic artist with such a great global reputation," she said. "He’s iconic in his own right."
Tickets go on sale to the general public on 7 December.
Adina Campbell
BBC South Today
If you think you're sometimes more stone age than digital age, then help could be at hand.
More than a dozen libraries in Oxfordshire have had wi-fi installed to help provide free sessions for people, who've never used the internet.
The project will be run twice a month, in certain libraries across the county.
More than a dozen libraries in Oxfordshire have had wi-fi installed
Pensioner Joan Smith, and library service manager Ann Manwaring, spoke to us about the changing technology.
Bright and breezy conditions will follow for the rest of the day with the chance of the odd shower.
Although it will also be a milder day than of late, it will still feel cold in the wind.
The maximum temperature will be 9C (48F).
You can get a 10-day forecast on the BBC weather site.
Dave Gilyeat
BBC News
The top stories on Oxfordshire Live this lunchtime:
A flag designed by pupils in Wallingford has come home after being flown in Westminster, external.
Dan Wheeler
BBC Sport
Wolves midfielder Jordan Graham says his loan stint at Oxford United was a vital step towards making his full debut for the Molineux club.
Image source, EmpicsGraham, 20, returned to Wolves at the end of October after a month with the U's and was named in the starting line-up for Saturday's draw at Ipswich.
"It was a great loan for me because I feel I really improved and matured," he says.
"I can tell I've got better, especially off the ball. I'm really pleased."
The Huffington Post is calling last night's EU debate at the Oxford Union, external that involved Nick Clegg and Nigel Farage (seen below in a BBC interview) a win for the former Lib Dem leader.
"It was Mr Clegg who won the loudest applause from the 500 students gathered in the famous Oxford Union," their political reporter writes.
Student newspaper Cherwell reported that a queue of 450 people waited in the cold, external to get into the debate, some waiting more than four hours.
Sixth-form girls are much less confident about their careers than boys, according to new research from Oxford University.
In the study of about 3,700 sixth-formers, three-quarters of girls believed boys would get more money in their jobs after leaving university.
Image source, PAJonathan Black, the director of Oxford University's careers service which was behind the research, says: "Sixth-form girls have lower confidence about their career and, compared with boys, are more concerned about each aspect of job applications, and are more interested in careers that offer job security.
"This has the knock-on effect that girls may be self-limiting their choice of careers, especially because the types of jobs they seek often have informal entry processes - for example networking or low-paid and unpaid internships."
A street in Oxford city centre was closed this morning after a child left his school kit on a bus and it was treated as a suspicious package, external.
Ciro Romano, from Nocturne 2016, external, said securing Elton John as a headliner at the music festival at Blenheim Palace “took quite a long time”, after organisers failed to get him on the bill last year.
Image source, PAHe added: "I think he wanted to play the palace and we managed to get him to commit last month.
"It’s very competitive and we were lucky."
Tickets go on sale on Friday at 09:00. There will be four concerts in all, with three more headliners to be announced.
A street closure in Oxford earlier this morning was caused by what was thought to be a suspicious package on a bus.
Thames Valley Police, external was called just after 09:00 and evacuated the vehicle and closed Speedwell Street.
It turns out the package was a bag that a passenger had left behind, and didn't contain anything dangerous.
Politicians have welcomed plans to tackle the county’s bedblocking crisi, externals.
The top stories this morning on Local Live:
The Oxford Bus Company says its services have returned to normal after this morning's street closure.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Elton John has been speaking about his upcoming shows in Oxfordshire at Henley Festival at Blenheim Palace.
Blenheim Palace
He says: "The simple truth is I want to spend more time with my family, and I am only too aware of just how precious the time ahead is. My sons are growing up so quickly; their early years are just flying by and I want to be there with them.
"So these concerts will give me the chance to thank the British audiences who have been so faithful to me over these many decades.
"I remember my first show in Oxford - towards the end of our 1972 tour of the UK with the great Linda Lewis on support - and am so glad to be playing my first show there in 10 years."
