Category: Thame news

DURING their second week of trading since the tragic tsunami disaster, the Oxfam Bookshop in Thame has received around

THAME Police are treating as arson, a fire in which a shed was destroyed behind premises in Thame town centre.
Two fire appliances attending the fire at the rear of the old Lloyds Pharmacy in Thame High High Street.
Acting Fire Station Commander, Andy Ford said: “Luckily we were able to get to the incident quickly and prevent the fire spreading from the disused shed to the main building, otherwise this could have been a very serious problem.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555111 or the Police Enquiry Line 0845 8505505

A woman who died at the scene of a collision on the B4027 near Stanton St John yesterday morning has been formally identified.
She was Patricia Eyres, 54, of The Gables, Haddenham, Bucks.
At around 8am yesterday morning, January 6, a blue Land Rover and trailer travelling towards Stanton St John was in collision with Mrs Eyres’ blue Rover saloon travelling in the opposite direction. A Blue Nissan Almera was then in collision with the Land Rover trailer.
The passenger and driver of the Land Rover, both male, were taken to the JR 2 hospital with injuries and the driver of the Nissan was treated for shock.

Sgt Pete Jell, of Bicester Roads Policing, said: ?I appeal for anyone who saw the collision to contact me immediately to help our investigation.?

Contact Sgt Jell on 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to talk to the police and you don?t want to give your name, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Ends.

A THAME woman has spoken of her anguish and relief after her son and daughter-in-law had a dramatic escape from the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka on Boxing Day.
Mrs Nina Oakman, of Mitchell Close, Thame, was so grateful to a Tangalla taxi driver who took her daughter and son-on-law into his home after their escape, that she has decided to raise money to build a school in the area. Mrs Oakman told ThameNews.Net how her 27 year-old son Ben and his wife Hannah jumped into their jeep and sped inland when they saw the giant wave approaching the beach at Tangalla, in Sri Lanka.
They managed to get up to a first floor balcony of a hotel where they stood and watched as the other balconies around them collapsed. They managed to get to a road where a taxi picked them up with 9 other people who were then taken by the driver to the safety of his home.
Mrs Oakman took up the story: ?The taxi driver fed and clothed them for two days and his whole family even gave up their beds to them. He then hired a car to take them to Colombia airport from where they returned to England.
?That man was a complete stranger and yet he did so much for Ben and Hannah and the others. I want to do something for him and his community.?
Ben and Hannah had sold up their home in Bristol and intended to stay for four months back packing in Sri Lanka. Three weeks later they have found themselves homeless and have lost all their personal belongings.
After spending a week with Nina in Thame, they have now gone to stay with Hannah?s mother in Cardiff for a week to continue their recovery.
Nina Oakman has spoken to the Mayor of Thame, Cllr David Dodds, about the town council supporting her efforts to raise money for a school and as a trained Reflexologist, she intends to set up a practice in her home as a way of raising money herself.

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a wallet was stolen from a house in The Square, Brill, near Thame.

Sometime between midnight and 6am on Sunday, January 2, a kitchen window was forced open and a brown leather wallet containing around

OXFORDSHIRE’S Chief Fire Officer, John Parry, has given his view on the disagreement between the Government and the Fire Brigades Union on the controversial subject of fire and rescue service control rooms.

Yesterday the Fire Brigades Union’s concerns over the risks and benefits of the project were widely publiced nationally.

The minister responsible, Nick Raynsford, responded saying: ?The Fire Control programme will provide a more effective and efficient service that will protect the public better and save more lives.?

He added that Fire and Rescue authorities’ own estimates of their control room costs over the next few years, show that regional control centres will achieve, on average, a saving of some 30% over existing arrangements.

John Parry believes there is a valid issue regarding the capability of single brigades to respond adequately to a large-scale incident such as a terrorist attack.

He believes there is valid concern therefore about the ability of existing control rooms to be able to respond at the right level of magnitude and for a sustained period and this project, if enacted successfully, could be one way of responding to such periods of exceptional need.

He said: ?There are other concerns including the overall cost-effectiveness of a new regional control centre and in the consequent level of service provided in responding to emergency incidents.

?Whilst nationally the project could result in an overall reduction in expenditure, I am concerned that Oxfordshire, as one of the most cost-efficient services, will not benefit and that future costs could be higher for Council Tax payers locally.?

Chief Fire Officer Parry said the Service’s main priorities currently are to:

1. Ensure that current professional standards, high performance to the public and ongoing low costs are maintained

2. Support and retain staff while providing opportunities to broaden skills and consider potential redeployment opportunities

3. Contribute to national and regional projects, ensuring the financial, functionality and performance interests of Oxfordshire are fully considered

4. Plan for transitional arrangements, including the effects on other aspects of local service delivery, e.g. requirements of standardisation of systems and procedures

5. Continue to report fully to the County Council, other stakeholders and the public.
On November 2,Oxfordshire County Council unanimously passed a motion opposing the plans of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to replace the current system of 49 county-based fire control rooms with one based in each of the 9 regions, until all issues have been satisfactorily resolved.

The motion asked the Leader of the Council to express to the ODPM the Council’s lack of confidence in the ability of the proposed new system to improve efficiency in the Fire Service, and its belief that the change will have an adverse effect on quality of service -particularly response times – to the detriment of the people of Oxfordshire.

County Councillor John Farrow, Executive Member for Community Safety said: ?We will ensure that the best interests of Oxfordshire are continually brought to the fore to ensure any future system is robust, efficient, cost-effective and delivers a high quality service to the public.?

ACCORDING to local charities, the response by the people of Thame to the terrible disaster in South East Asia has been “overwhelming.”
The Oxfam Bookshop in the Cornmarket took over

AN Elderly Chinnor woman has been robbed, after a gang of youths talked their way into her house.
Three men, aged between about 19-22 years-old, knocked on the woman?s door in Oakley Road, Chinnor, during the daytime, last Saturday, November 13, and asked for pen and paper before going in and stealing cash.
Inspector Graham Sutherland, of Thame Police, said this is the first time this particular method of distraction has occurred in this area, although a similar ploy has been used in Witney and Buckingham. He suggested that this would indicate that these people are travelling around the area.
Anyone with any information can call the Police Enquiry Line 0845 8505 505, or talk anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800555111.

A PROPOSED 20 MPH speed limit zone in Thame, is being held up due to lack of staff to carry the project on.
Oxfordshire County Council?s Principle Engineer, Geoff Barrell, told ThameNews.Net today that he was fighting for more staff to design the scheme which was chosen as a Pilot, and for which money has been ear-marked.
The next stage, he said, was for his department to take some speed measurements in the proposed speed limit area, to see that traffic is travelling at under 24 mph. If it is not, added Mr Barrell, they could suggest some measures to try to reduce the speed of vehicles, like pink tarmac for instance.
“We would not be able to impose a speed limit if the majority of Thame people did not want it,” said Mr Barrell.
“However, the views of the Town Council would probably reflect most people?s attitudes so we would probably be guided by them. A second consultation exercise would have to be carried out, including a big publicity blitz and probably the posting of notices on site, to make sure we get the views of everybody. I would not expect anything else to happen now until at lease April of next year.”

ONE of the last stumbling blocks to the completion of the Phoenix Trail, in Thame, has finally been overcome after six years of negotiations.
SUSTRANS Area Manager, Simon Pratt has brokered an agreement with land-owner, Mr Waters, over that time, and now a lease agreement has been signed.
Subject to the go-ahead from the Governors of Lord Williams’s school, where the Trail will end, work will begin in the new year, thanks to a grant of