Summary

  • Updates on Friday 11 March 2016

  • News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00 on Monday

Live Reporting

Andrew Humphrey

  1. Primary school head teacher Christopher Field guilty of sex offences

    Roz Tappenden
    BBC South

    A primary school head teacher has been found guilty of sexual offences against young children.

    Woodcote Primary School, OxonGoogle

    Christopher Field, 47, committed the offences against two girls in 2010 and 2011 while head of Woodcote Primary School in Oxfordshire.

    Field, of Chieveley, Berkshire, was found guilty of two counts of assault by touching a girl under 13, and one of making indecent images of a child.

    The jury at Oxford Crown Court failed to reach a verdict on two other counts.

  2. Oxford student wins £3,000 science prize at Westminster

    A physics student, who is originally from Oxford, won a competition at Parliament this week. 

    Euan Allen receives his prizeSET for Britain

    Euan Allen attended Peers School, now known as the Oxford Academy

    Euan Allen presented his PhD research into identifying chemicals to politicians and expert judges, securing a £3,000 prize at the SET for Britain awards.

    I’m really glad and surprised. I had a quick look around at the exhibition and there’s some really high quality, interesting science going on. It was surprising that they found my work as exciting and interesting as the rest of them.

    Euan Allen

  3. At the movies with James Luxford

    This week BBC Radio Oxford's resident film critic James Luxford tells David Prever about the new Spiderman movie, Anomalisa, Kung Fu Panda 3 and Allegiant.

  4. Garage rents soar up to 50% on Banbury estate

    Banbury Guardian

    Residents living in a cul-de-sac in Banbury have spoken of their anger after the rent on their garages went up by nearly 50%.

  5. Donations for families of Didcot missing

    Roz Tappenden
    BBC South

    A woman who baked cakes for teams searching for three missing men in the collapsed Didcot power station has turned her attention to raising money for the victims' families.

    Food collected for rescue workersNicola Hutchings

    Residents baked and donated food for the rescue workers

    Nicola Hutchings, who delivered food to the site, launched the appeal when the search began to be scaled back.

    She has so far raised more than a quarter of her £2,000 target through the Just Giving website.

    I wanted to raise £2,000 just to show a gesture that the local community are so sorry, we are thinking of them and our prayers and love are with them

    Nicola Hutchings

  6. U's top-scorer Kemar Roofe rejuvenated after rest

    Oxford United defender Joe Skarz believes key players have benefited from being rested by head coach Michael Appleton.

    Kemar RoofeReuters

    Kemar Roofe looks 'rejuvenated' after his week off, says Joe Skarz

    The U's have played 47 matches this season, more than any other side in the top four divisions.

    Top scorer Kemar Roofe and midfielder John Lundstram have both been rested in recent weeks to avoid aggravating minor injuries.

    Roofey looks rejuvenated after his spa week. If that week has benefited him, then it's the best thing we could have done. He's played a lot of games in his first full season.

    Joe Skarz, Oxford United

  7. Travel latest: Lorry breakdown causing A34 delays

    BBC Travel

    • The A34 is slow in both directions around the Milton Interchange, with a lane blocked southbound by a broken-down lorry
    • Woodeaton Road between Oxford and Woodeaton is closed because of flooding

    You can keep up to date with the BBC Travel site.

  8. Weather: Fog and cloud clearing

    It will be a dry afternoon, with some bright spells and light winds.

    Weather graphic

    You can get a full forecast on the BBC Weather site.

  9. Sport headlines: Appleton undecided on Hylton for Orient clash

    Jerome Sale
    Sports editor, BBC Radio Oxford

    The county's top sport stories: 

    • Oxford United boss Michael Appleton admits he's in a quandry about whether to field striker Danny Hylton in tomorrow's match at home to Leyton Orient, as he faces a two-match ban if he is booked in the fixture
    • U's defender Joe Skarz believes key players have benefited from being rested

  10. Latest headlines: Didcot power station rescue 'balancing act'

    Andrew Humphrey
    BBC Local Live

    This afternoon's top stories in Oxfordshire:

    • Oxfordshire's chief fire officer says the rescue operation at Didcot power station has been a difficult balancing act between finding the missing and protecting his workers
    • An Oxford pharmacy says there is unprecedented demand for the meningitis B vaccine from parents
    • Hip fractures cost the NHS 1.5% of its total budget, according to an Oxford professor

  11. Concert in Bampton to honour 100th anniversary of birth of Bernard Rose

    Oxford Times

    A concert to celebrate the musical life of an Oxfordshire man who taught music at Oxford University all his life and died in 1996 will be held in Bampton later this year.

  12. Twenty-five years of inspiring women exhibition

    Somerville College in Oxford is hosting an exhibition of 16 portraits of the founders and chairs of the International Women’s Forum UK, as the organisation of eminent female leaders celebrates its silver jubilee.

    Karen Richardson portraitMartin Burrough

    Karen Richardson

    The event, which is open to alumni and guests until Saturday 12 March, features portraits of former Somerville students Karen Richardson, who became a solicitor after graduating from Somerville, was the first female partner at City firm Travers Smith and is currently chairman and trustee of various City and charitable organisations.

  13. Hip fractures 'costing NHS billions'

    BBC Radio Oxford

    Hip fractures in the elderly account for more than 1% of the entire NHS budget, according to an Oxford professor. 

    Coloured X-ray of an artificial hip jointScience Photo Library

    Coloured X-ray of an artificial hip joint

    Doctor Matthew Costa works in orthopaedic trauma surgery and says a fall can massively affect an older person's quality of life.

    Around 1.5% of total health and social care expenditure is spent on patients with hip fractures alone, so that's billions of pounds. It's a huge problem for the hospitals and for society in general really, as well as for the poor patients.

    Dr Matthew Costa, Oxford University

  14. Residents vote yes to housing plan

    Henley Standard

    Residents have backed the joint Henley and Harpsden neighbourhood plan, with 2,105 votes in favour and 471 against.

  15. How does your garden town grow?

    Brennan Nicholls
    BBC News

    Cherwell District Council has opened a pop-up shop to give local people the chance to say how they want their town to develop under its new garden town status.

    The extra government money and development has been welcomed by some, but not everyone is convinced by the changes.

  16. Landlord must pay £10,000 over 'dreadful conditions' at Oxford home

    A landlord from Oxford must pay more than £10,000 after allowing 10 people, including a young mother and her seven-week-old baby, to live in "dreadful conditions" in a property he owned.

    The five-bedroom, semi-detached property on Cowley Road was unlicensed for multiple occupation, and was found to be in a state of disrepair.

    Khadam Hussain, 55, from Cowley Road pleaded guilty to the charges. 

    The dreadful conditions which our inspectors found at this property damage tenants' health and standard of living, and cannot be tolerated in this city.

    Bob Price, Leader, Oxford City Council

  17. County's best buildings up for architecture award

    Eleven buildings in Oxfordshire have been shortlisted for an award to celebrate the best architecture in the South at this year's Royal Institute of British Architects awards, which take place next month.

    Blavatnik School of GovernmentIwan Baan

    The Blavatnik School of Government was designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron

    Included in the list are the Blavatnik School of Government, St Clare's, the Ruskin School of Art, the Weston Library and the Investcorp Building at St Antony's College, and private houses.

  18. Latest headlines: Didcot power station collapse response defended

    Andrew Humphrey
    BBC Local Live

    Oxfordshire's top stories this morning:

    • No more could have been done to find the men lost in the rubble of Didcot power station, Oxfordshire's chief fire officer says
    • Demand for the meningitis B vaccine in Oxfordshire is unprecedented, a Marston pharmacy says
    • Eleven buildings in Oxfordshire are competing to be named as having the best architecture in the South

  19. 'No more could have been done' to recover missing at Didcot power station

    BBC Radio Oxford

    The mission to recover the missing people lost in the rubble of the Didcot power station collapse could not have happened more quickly, according Oxfordshire's chief fire officer.

    Didcot Power Station collapseGetty Images

    The building at Didcot Power Station that partially collapsed last month

    Earlier in the week, the family of one of the missing men criticised the operation as too slow, and called for more action, but Dave Etheridge says there was nothing more that could be done.

    We did everything we could to try to make our way into that rubble pile. We are dealing with a building there which was due to be demolished... and the structure of that is naturally weakened... and what we have to make sure of course is that we minimise the risk to our own people as well, and that's an enormously difficult thing to balance.

    Dave Etheridge, Chief fire officer, Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service

  20. Oxford United assistant Derek Fazackerley reflects on 100 game progress

    Oxford United's game against Leyton Orient at the Kassam tomorrow afternoon will mark 100 matches under manager Michael Appleton and his assistant Derek Fazackerley.

    Derek FazackerleyGetty Images

    Derek Fazackerley says the U's current position was one "we were anticipating being in"

    Their first competitive game in charge was a 1-0 defeat at home to Burton Albion in August 2014, but now the club can look forward to promotion, according to Fazackerley.

    From a period, round about this time last year, when we started to build some sort of momentum, this is the position that we were anticipating being in at this time of the year. And now we've got to be good enough to handle it and good enough to get the results and see it through to the end. If we are then we'll achieve the goal that everybody's after which is of course promotion.

    Derek Fazackerley