Five things in Oxfordshire

Five stories from Oxfordshire which have been attracting attention this week.

1. Graduate with 2:1 sues Oxford for £1m

Faiz Siddiqui is suing Oxford University for £1m in damages

An Oxford graduate's failure to get a top degree cost him a lucrative legal career, the High Court has heard.

Faiz Siddiqui alleges "inadequate" teaching on his modern history course resulted in him getting an upper second degree in June 2000.

Oxford denies negligence and causation and says the case is "massively" outside the legal time limit.

2. Students camp out for days to secure homes

Every year students in Oxford camp on the street for days in order to secure their first choice homes for next year.

Director of North Oxford Property Services, Robin Swales, said "no-one has to queue" but they had to release them on a set date "to be fair to everybody".

3. Water companies use 'magic' to find leaks

The process of using divining rods has been in use for hundreds of years

Water companies are using divining rods to find underground pipes despite there being no scientific evidence they work, an Oxford University scientist found.

Sally Le Page said her parents were surprised when a technician used two "bent tent pegs" to find a mains pipe.

She contacted all the UK's water companies, and a majority confirmed engineers still use the centuries-old technique.

4. Feeding homeless with kindness and curry

Shabnam Sabir and Tayyaba Hameed began feeding the homeless with their homemade curry two years ago.

They had the idea while fasting during Ramadan.

Now they feed dozens in Oxford every fortnight - and have even branched out.

5. Survivor of worst maritime disaster tells story

Jack Morgan, now 103 and from Abingdon, survived the World War Two sinking of HMT Lancastria, which killed more than 4,000 people.

The 1940 disaster was covered up by the government amid fears it would harm war-time morale.

Mr Morgan was ordered never to speak of it, but to this day wonders what happened to his friend Jock.