THE A4129, Tythrope Way, Thame Eastern by-pass was closed in both directions for several hours today, due to burst water main and flooding near its junction with Cromwell Avenue, Thame.
All vehicles, including heavy goods vehicles, were diverted around via Cromwell Avenue, East.
This picture was taken by Cromwell Avenue resident, Bill McCarthy, whose garden and greenhouse were temporarily inundated with several inches of water.
A MAN accused of causing the death of Thame teenager, Greg Stiles by dangerous driving, admitted in court today that he lied when he denied being the driver of the car suspected of causing the fatal crash.
Under questioning by prosecuting barrister, Neil Moore, 24 year-old Sammy Edwards, of Marsh, near Aylesbury, told Reading Crown Court that he had been given “bad Advice” by his father to deny being the driver of car to police, because: “I didn’t want them to frame me for what I hadn’t done.”
He now wanted to tell the truth, he said, because he realised he was “digging a big hole” and making things “a hundred times worse” for himself.
Edwards told the court how he drove his father’s blue BMW X5 along the A4129 Kingsey Road towards Thame, on Sunday, May 17, 2009, and decided to overtake three cars infront of him. He described how he overtook the first two cars, pulled partly in between the second car, a Corsa, and the front car, a Yaris, before checking that the road ahead was still clear, before completing the manoeuvre and successfully overtaking the Yaris.
When questioned by Mr Moore, Edwards denied that he had hesitated before overtaking the third car. He went on to describe how he then saw a blue car (Greg Stile’s Ford Fiesta)coming towards him on the opposite carriageway, with the driver shaking his hand at Edwards in an obscene gesture.
Edwards denied looking in his mirror after the incident and denied being aware that there had been a collision shortly afterwards, as he (Edwards said) would have been “round the corner” by the time it happened.
Mr Moore told Edwards: “I suggest you pulled out right in front of Mr Stiles, either to put the frighteners on him or in a risky manoeuvre.” To this Edwards replied: “If he wasn’t going so fast he wouldn’t have crashed! He was going over 100 miles an hour.”
Edwards denied continuing to drive in a dangerous way, of overtaking another four vehicles, including a horse box further along the road, as seen by witnesses, and of getting out of his car on the ring road and “giving aggrow” to another driver.
After hearing evidence from Sammy Edwards’ elder brother, Terry, who both brothers said in court was a passenger in the car at the time of the incident, Mr Moore sugggested that this was “a lie”. His reasoning was that Sammy Edwards had not mentioned the fact that his brother was in the car, until August 9, during his third or fourth interview with Police, nor had his brother Terry come forward in his younger brother’s defence until shortly before the case came to court.
Terry Edwards in his defence said that he had not come forward because he was never asked to by anyone, and that he had expected to be “pulled in” for questioning. He added: “It was clear from day one that the police had clearly decided Sam did it.”
Mr Moore concluded: “The truth is, you (Terry) were not in that car, and you have been asked to come along to help your brother!”
Terry Edwards emphatically replied that this was not the case and that he had asked his brother for a lift to the Skate Park in Thame where he hoped to see his two estranged sons who regularly went there.
The case continues tomorrow.
THAME police has promised that traffic regulations will not be enforced on “the dodgems” at Thame fair this year.
For helpful advice on this and other aspects of having a good time at Thame fair this year, Thame Valley Police have issued this video on youtube:
The fair will take place in the centre of Thame this Thurs, Fri and Saturday (16-18/9).
PHOTO by: vicky.inglis
WORK on a television transmitter at Beckley is set to cause some disruption to reception across Oxfordshire, including the Thame area.
The work is in preparation for the area’s digital switchover in 2011, and is expected to cause daytime disruption between today, Monday and Wednesday, September 15, 2010. It was made necessary by a fire that destroyed much of the newly installed mast in May.
A BODY body found at the foot of Beachy Head is understood to have been that of a 45-year-old man from Thame.
The man?s family apparently reported him missing at 4pm on Wednesday, (08/09) just hours before his body was found yesterday at around 9am.
A Sussex Police spokeswoman yesterday morning confirmed that a police helicopter had been scrambled after reports of a person in the area, a notorious suicide spot.
The man has not yet been named.
THIS is a Community Message from Thames Valley Police. Officers from Thame police station recently carried out a series of anti crime operations which have resulted in five persons being arrested following a spate of criminal damage in the area.
One person was interviewed in relation to graffiti being sprayed on buildings at a local secondary school and four youths were interviewed in relation to criminal damage caused to a vehicle.
One person was arrested following a report that a member of the public had been sprayed with a pepper spray device. Following this arrest, other offences came to light, resulting in the individual being charged with a total of seven offences and remanded in custody to appear in court.
NEW legislation, dubbed ‘a load of tosh’ by a town councillor, means that is is now illegal for town councils to confer Honoraryry Citizenship on those who have given exemplary service to their towns.
Thame town council has been told that because of the new law, they should retrospectively change the title of the honorary citizens of Thame, Len Webb, David Dodds and Arthur Staggs, to something else such as ‘Freeman of the town.’
However, following discussion about what the council should do about this dilema (and Cllr Mike Weply’s view, that the new regulations as passed down by NALC, National Association of Local Councils, are “a load of old tosh”), Thame Town Council’s Policy and Resources committee has agreed to ignore the change and take a chance that someone in the future may challenge the legality of the honours.
PHOTO: Len Webb, a former town councillor and war veteran who was one of the first allied servicemen to enter Belsen concentration camp, and who was Thame’s first Honorary Citizen.
THE historic market town centre of Thame is set to come alive with the mouth-watering sights, sounds and smells of the third Thame Food Festival on Saturday, September 25.
And with the count-down on for what promises to be the biggest and best day yet in the festival calendar, visitors can look forward to an inspirational day of delectable things to eat and drink from some of the finest local producers around.
?This year?s festival is quite literally awe-inspiring, with stall-holder take up at an all-time high, a brilliant programme of events and even a food treasure trail around the town centre in what will truly be a delicious day of food and drink discovery,? says Alison Isherwood, Market Town Coordinator for Thame.
?We?ve got a fantastic line up of stall holders, with over 30 different food and drink producers there on the day, as well as cookery demonstrations and fun hands-on workshops with something for fanatical foodies everywhere.?
CHOCOLATE, CHEESE AND CAKES
Visitors to the festival will find the market town centre transformed with stands as deliciously diverse as local chocolaterie, Rumsey?s, who will also be organising the treasure trail, the Oxford Cheese Company, specialist cake makers, Yummy Scrummy Cakelicious, traditional bakers, The Old Farmhouse Bakery, Tims Dairy, the makers of fantastic Greek style and natural yogurts, and Mortimer Chocolate Company who specialise in powdered chocolate for drinks. The list goes on.
TURN UP THE HEAT
with Meah?s Flavours of India, Anila?s Authentic Spices and Chillies 2 U, who will be promoting their excellent home grown organic chillies.
Enjoy the best of the season?s salads and vegetables from local specialists, Bucksum, who are making their first appearance at the festival, alongside Sandy Lane Farm and their co-operative market, the newly opened Stables Farm Shop from Long Crendon, home-cooked treats from EllyBelly and Thame?s own What?s Cooking?
FREE FOOD & DRINK DEMOS AT THE JAMES FIGG
Venues including The Stables at The James Figg will be holding free food and drink demonstrations throughout the day, with plenty of ideas to inspire you in the kitchen. The pub?s invited some great guest speakers down for a day packed with delicious tastings, so whether you?re fanatical about fish or crazy for cakes, there?s something for everyone:
10.30am ? Aylesbury-based M&J Seafoods’ Mike Berthet, will be giving a talk about sustainable fish with tempting samples to try.
11.45am ? Local butcher, Tom Newitt of Newitts will be giving a butchery demonstration and a sausage making masterclass. If you think sausage making is easy then get ready to get messy…
1.00pm ? A fantastic wine and beer tasting session with the James Figg?s Frazer Sutherland leading you through the best wines, with beer and real ale tastings from one of the best local brewers.
3.00pm ? If you think you already know how to make a cup of tea, then think again as we?ve got a guide to making the perfect afternoon cuppa and ideas for scrummy cakes to go with it.
?The food festival?s going to be a great day with some of the best local food and drink producers around and we?re delighted to be able to play host to some of them,? said Frazer Sutherland, owner of the James Figg.
?If you want to come down, take part in a fun demo and learn something about where good food and drink comes from, make sure you come and see us.? The pub is offering 50 free tickets for each of the above sessions (except for the tea party for which there will be a charge of
THE Trustees of the Thame and District Day have welcomed a statement today from Oxfordshire County Council that no decision has yet been made about funding for day centres.
A spokesman for OCC told ThameNews.Net today: “After reading your article about the axing of the day centre’s grant from OCC Social Services, we would like to make it clear that no decision has been made regarding which organisations should receive or not receive funding in future years.”
The day centre trustees last week launched an SOS appeal for funds, fearing that new proposals for social care for the elderly will see them lose their annual grant from the county council, which last year amounted to
MEMBERS of the public in the Thames Valley can play a greater role in bringing serious offenders to justice with the launch of a Most Wanted website for the region.
It allows members of the public to look at pictures and E-fits and view CCTV footage of people currently wanted by the police in Thames Valley. The site is run by the independent charity Crimestoppers, which allows people to give information about crime anonymously by telephone or via the Crimestoppers website.
Launched in late 2005 the national Most Wanted site has successfully resulted in the arrest of more than 900 criminals, for offences ranging from murder, rape and drug smuggling to robbery and assault.
Members of the public can find the gallery of Thames Valley?s Most Wanted criminals at: “a href=”http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/in-your-area/south-east/thames-valley”target=”_blank”>http://www.crimestoppers-uk.org/in-your-area/south-east/thames-valley and click on Most Wanted.
The Most Wanted website for this region is being officially launched at the Thames Valley Police Open Day at Sulhamstead, West Berkshire, on 4 September.
FORCE OPEN DAY
Are you interested in finding out more about infamous crimes that have happened in the Thames Valley area, like the Hungerford Shootings or the Great Train Robbery of 1963?
The Thames Valley Police museum will be open to members of the public at the annual Force open day in Sulhamstead on Saturday 4 September from 10am until 4pm. Come and see for yourself the equipment police used to investigate crime, try on the uniform and find out the history of Thames Valley Police and the five police forces that merged to form it: Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, OxfordCity, Oxfordshire and Reading Borough.
http://www.youtube.com/user/thamesvalleypoliceuk#p/a/u/0/WC_JdPxR8Eg
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