Oxfordshire weekly round-up: 29 October - 4 November 2023

A statue of Dame Agatha Christie was unveiled in Wallingford in September

A look at the life of legendary crime novelist Dame Agatha Christie was among our most read stories this week in Oxfordshire.

A variety of local issues featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Oxford and South Today.

We have picked five stories to keep you up to date.

Homes building proposal rejected over flood risks

The proposed homes site is within an area of historic agricultural land, the application said

A council rejected a proposal from an Oxford college to build up to 540 homes to the north of a village due to flood risks.

Merton College's application for affordable properties on a site near Yarnton, Oxfordshire, had been recommended for refusal at Cherwell District Council (CDC).

Residents raised concerns the plans did not take into account "existing flooding issues" affecting the village.

Lifting the veil on the life of Agatha Christie

Many of Dame Agatha Christie's most well-known works have been adapted into films, including Death on the Nile

Dame Agatha Christie, one of the bestselling novelists of all time, but ironically, something of a mystery herself.

The writer, who died in 1976 aged 85, wrote 66 detective novels, 14 short story collections and more than 20 plays.

Many of her most well-known works have been adapted into films, including Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

She spent more than 40 years of her life on the outskirts of Wallingford in Oxfordshire - but kept such a low profile that many of the locals did not know she lived nearby.

John Radcliffe Hospital theatre development plans submitted

Plans for the building at the John Radcliffe Hospital have been submitted to Oxford City Council

A hospital has submitted proposals for a new complex of operating theatres to help meet patient demand.

Plans for the building at the John Radcliffe Hospital were sent to the city council by Carter Jonas on behalf of Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Foundation Trust.

They include seven elective theatres with "associated infrastructure, landscaping and parking".

Inside the Wallingford home of four million second-hand books

Awesome Books in Wallingford is home to more than four million second-hand books.

Set up in 2003 by brothers Mubin and Taskeen Ahmed to save books from being pulped, every day they receive 300,000 books which are resold around the world.

They also donate 100,000 books every month to literacy programmes in the UK and overseas.

Thames Water announces job losses

Thames Water employs about 8,200 people across its business

Thames Water is set to axe 300 roles after an "extremely challenging year".

The GMB union said it had been told 140 people were at risk of redundancy, including 89 retail roles and 39 digital jobs. The other positions are currently vacant, the water firm said.

The union blamed the company, saying public money had been "drained from the system".

But Thames Water said the plan was necessary, adding it would seek to minimise compulsory redundancies.