Category: Thame news

IN a paper and cost-cutting exercise, Thame Town Councillors are to be issued with ipads to replace paper copies of committee papers and other council correspondence.

The council claims that it will make a saving of

A Thame Councillor has expressed her disappointment that a request for funding towards jubilee mugs for all Thame’s school children, has been turned down.

Cllr Mary Stiles told fellow town councillors at Tuesday’s council meeting: “This is an historic occasion and the people who raised

THAMES Valley Police has recorded the second largest fall in crime out of all 43 forces across England and Wales, according to Home Office figures released today (19/7).

The recorded crime statistics, which are the number of offences recorded from 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, show the Thames Valley had 149,766 offences compared to the 172,422 recorded in 2010/11, a drop of 13.1 percent.

The national reduction is 4.2 per cent, meaning Thames Valley Police are the second best performing force in the country, coming second to Gwent with a reduction of 14.7 per cent.

One of the biggest reductions is in violence against the person offences, which dropped from 35,906 in 2010/11 to 27,327 in 2011/12, a drop of 23.9 per cent compared to the national average of 7.2 per cent.

Sexual offences also fell from 2,195 to 1,961, a change of 10.7 per cent compared to the national average of 2.3 per cent, and robbery fell from 2,082 to 1,726, a fall of 17.1 per cent compared to the national average of 2 per cent.

Domestic burglary offences fell by 8.1 per cent and other burglary by 10.4, compared to national averages of 5 and 3.3 per cent respectively. Offences against vehicles fell by 17.4 per cent.

The figures released also show that 67.8 per cent of respondents to a national survey in Thames Valley agreed that the police were doing an excellent or good job, compared to a national figure of 62.3 per cent.

Chief Constable Sara Thornton said: ?The latest figures show another welcome reduction in crime across the Thames Valley and as always, it is encouraging to see the more serious categories of crime, such as sexual offences, violent crime and robberies, on the decline.

?This performance is down to the hard work and commitment of officers and staff, as well as the continuing support from our local communities, who have shown a real dedication to helping with the fight against crime.

?In real terms, these figures show there have been 22,656 less victims of crime in the Thames Valley this year compared to the previous, which is fantastic news.

?There is no room for complacency, and we will continue our efforts to reduce crime even further and make the communities we live and work in safer.?

Khan Juna, Chair of Thames Valley Police Authority said: ?I?m delighted to see that crime has continued to fall in the Thames Valley. It is great news for the communities of the Thames Valley and confirms our commitment to our priorities, being to cut crimes that are of most concern to the community and to increase the visible presence of the police.

“I would also like to pay tribute to officers, staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication in achieving this further reduction in crime.

“The Police Authority will continue to work closely with the Force to ensure that the residents of the Thames Valley are provided with the best possible Police service.”

SOURCE; Press release

THE body of an elderly woman was found by a member of the public, near a bridge on the Phoenix Trail in Thame, early this morning.

The police say that they are not treating the death as suspicious at this time.

The woman is believed to be from the local area.

?Britain is now re-connecting with its food culture? – Raymond Blanc Ambassador. THAME Food Festival 2012, looks like being even bigger and better that before with the organisers reporting a 50% increase in the number of stallholders already booked to take part in the event.

This, the fifth Thame Food Festival, will take place in the centre of Thame from 9am onwards in an expanded area across the High Street closed to traffic.

There will be up to 100 stallholders, with mouth-watering take-away food, a ?Pop-up-Pub? and a cookery theatre for food demos by an amazing line-up of celebrity chefs. Raymond Blanc will be signing copies of his cookery books at the ?Le Manoir aux Quat?Saisons? stall. Live entertainment will feature a concert band, a live music marquee and a tombola stall.

Food events in the stables of The James Figg public house include wine tasting for beginners and sausage making and there will be food demos, food talks and book signings in the AGA shop. Cream teas and posh kebabs will be served at The Spread Eagle Hotel with crepe and cocktail making demos. Beverley Glock will be hosting Whizz Bang Food: molecular gastronomy and food science classes for children in Thame Town Hall.

Smoothie Bike Hire, with their awesome custom built smoothie-making bicycle, will also be promoting healthy eating, exercise and sustainable energy for all the family http://www.smoothiebikehire.co.uk/

Festival ambassador Raymond Blanc will also perform a demo with Kush in the cookery theatre and may even stop for the finale cook-off between Mark and Adam of The Raymond Blanc Cookery School and Harding?s Restaurant at Aylesbury College.

To see the list of all the wonderful stallholders for the festival, with links, visit the website: LINK including the intriguing concept of the ?Oyster Meister? http://www.oystermeister.com

Raffle prizes will include a fabulous day at The Raymond Blanc Cookery School, one night?s Bed & Breakfast at The Spread Eagle Hotel, a set of professional Raymond Blanc by Anolon cookware kindly provided by Meyer Group Ltd, as used on the day in the cookery theatre, and a gorgeous food hamper from Thame?s own Harrison Catering.

The popular Thame Tart competition, where festival goers are invited to make their own version of the sophisticated classic jam tart recipe invented by John Fothergill owner of The Spread Eagle Hotel in central Thame in the 1930?s, will be judged by festival patron Lotte Duncan and the lucky winner will receive a signed copy of Lotte?s amazing book ?Lotte?s Country Kitchen?.

The star-studded line-up in the cookery theatre is as follows:-

10:00 ? 10:40 Beverley Glock: Splat Cooking
10:45 ? 11:25 Laurie Gear of The Artichoke Amersham
11:30 ? 12.10 Adam Simmonds of Adam Simmonds Danesfield House Marlow
12:15 ? 12.55 McCormick UK
13:00 ? 13:40 Raymond Blanc and Kush from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
13:45 ? 14.25 Lotte Duncan
14:30 ? 15:10 Marcus Bean
15:15 ? 15:55 Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi Cucina Contadina
16:00 ? 16:25 Nigel Rumsey of Rumsey’s Chocolaterie
16:30 ? 17:15 Mark & Adam from The Raymond Blanc Cookery School v Hardings Restaurant

Radio Oxford will be broadcasting their early show from the event set-up, interviewing stallholders, organizers and attendees.

Thanks once again must go to our fantastic sponsors, headline sponsor McCormick UK, South Oxfordshire District Council, Rectory Homes, Aga, Sainsbury?s and The Thatch and The James Figg public houses.

Please do join us on the day for this wonderful regional celebration of artisan local food and drink produce, to see fabulous local food producers and great local food retailers and to enjoy a fantastic, free, fun packed, family day of food.

Contact Details:

www.thamefoodfestival.co.uk

alison@thamefoodfestival.co.uk

For PR contact: sally@marketingfoods.co.uk

FOLLOWING criticism of the management of Thame Leisure Centre, for ruining a concert because of Health and Safety rules, the centre has issued an apology and promises to employ door stewards in the future. (See previous article)

In a message to ThameNews.Net this morning, TLC’s General Manager, Duncan Ives, said the following:

“As you can imagine it is difficult to ensure the security of building the size of Thame Leisure Centre, as such we ask that staff make sure that throughout the building all fire doors are kept closed so that people can only enter and be controlled through the main reception. This is particularly important when we have a large concert taking place as we do need to carefully monitor numbers within the hall to meet the requirements of our Premises Licence, and yes unfortunately this does relate to Health and Safety.

“I apologise to Julia Greenhough, members of the Festival Chorus and the audience on July 14, if the doors being kept closed caused the hall to become overly warm and stuffy and will ensure with future hirers that door stewards are provided if there is a need to open the rear doors.”

THIS is a Community Message from Thames Valley Police.
Theft of vehicle ? Ormond Road, Thame. Between 17:00hrs on Friday (13/07) and 21:00hrs on Saturday (14/07) offender(s) stole a green Mitsubishi pick up from a private residential car park in Ormond Road, Thame.

If you have seen any suspicious looking people or vehicles in the area, or have any information relating to this message, please call the police on the new national single non-emergency telephone number 101 and state you are responding to a Community message.

Alternatively if you have information but wish to remain anonymous, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online @ crimestoppers-uk.org. No personal details are taken, information is not traced or recorded and you will not go to court.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL SEPTEMBER- Date to be arranged. AN evening with Internationally acclaimed wildlife photographer, Ben Hall, is to be held at Towersey Manor Barn, on Saturday, July 14. This will be followed by a Sunday workshop for up to six participants at 8.30am.

Ben is a regular photographic and editorial contributor to clients as diverse as BBC Wildlife, Practical Photography, Outdoor Photography, Photography Monthly, Professional Photographer, Living Edge, Birds (RSPB)
and is Vice President of Cheshire Wildlife Trust.

Contact: Richard Duckham on 01844 214746 evenings;
077 256 88801 daytime
Email: rduckham@blsoftware.co.uk
Event organized by Towcap (Towersey Community Arts Project)

POSSIBLE Scam – Unsolicited Parcels – Oxfordshire Trading Standards have received two calls from vulnerable adults living in Thame who have recently received expensive goods through the post that they have not ordered from a well-known mail order company.

On one occasion, the consumer received a telephone call from an unknown caller shortly after receiving the parcel to arrange for collection of the parcel from the consumer?s home. The consumer had not contacted anyone about the parcel ? this was an unsolicited call.

Soon afterwards a tall black male wearing a yellow hi-viz jacket arrived at the consumer?s home and collected the parcel, no receipt was provided.

Both consumers are now being pursued by the mail order company for payment of the items.

We are asking residents living in the South Oxfordshire or Vale of White Horse area who experience this kind of behaviour to telephone Thames Valley Police on 101 and quote URN 706 of 13/07/12.

Free Advice about Consumer Rights is available by telephoning the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline: 08454 04 05 06

Further information to help a consumer be ?scam aware? is available via the Oxfordshire County Council website at:

http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/cms/public-site/scams

Message sent by:
Carol Rudd (Police, NHW & Community Messaging Co-ordinator, South Oxon & Vale LPA)

WEATHER warning for Friday/Saturday – possible flash flooding- The MET Office haa warned that very heavy localised downpours are expected on Friday afternoon/evening into Saturday morning which may lead to flooding.

Those whose properties are on a hill or whose driveway slopes down to their house should be especially aware.

Residents can divert surface water run off by using sandbags or any type of plastic bag or pillow case filled with sand or soil, piled up around doorways.

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