Author: Sonja Francis

OXFORDSHIRE County Council’s Trading Standards team is warning residents to think before they rush to buy that ?never to be repeated? bargain in the post- Christmas Sales.
The message is:”don?t be taken in by all the claims of ?50% off?; ignore the hype and look at the price before parting with hard-earned money.
While there will be genuine bargains to be had in the sales, shoppers should be very sceptical about price comparisons. Shops can be ingenious in complying with the letter of the law while still appearing to offer maximum savings.

What tricks can be employed?
These are some of the tricks the shops can use to make that bargain look irresistible:

It always pays to ask what was the original selling price. Shops may have kept the item on sale at the higher price at the back of their shop for a month. They can then claim a reduction against this price for the next six months. Would anyone have been silly enough to have bought it at the higher price?

The item may have been on sale at the higher price at just one or two branches – a practice that has been commonly used by a number of large multiples.

Offers of two for the price of one will usually be based on an increased price for the single item. After about a month of this offer the shop will then claim a reduction on its original inflated price. For example shampoo which sells for around

ACCORDING to a recent report, figures available show how Thame’s CCTV cameras are contributing to deterring crime, reducing fear of crime and increasing crime detection.
The figures for the second quarter of 2007 show that CCTV in the town centre was involved in identifying 60 separate incidents in the town, including anti-social behaviour, drug-related incidents and those relating to missing persons.
Two examples given in the report were as follows:

A) The operator heard over the police radio that a man ?was going berserk? in the High Street. The operator gave the specific location and observed the offender until the police arrived and arrested him.

B) The operator observed a group walking from town into East Street. He saw and reported one male kicking cars and causing damage to a wing mirror to one car. Police attended and arrested the man.

According to the report, published by South Oxfordshire District Council, there were 13 CCTV supported arrests, 15 evidence packs prepared using footage, and 20 searches made of the footage during the period.

Evidence packs are packages of recordings which the CCTV operators produce for Police, solicitors and the Crown Prosecution Service for court cases. The same people plus members of the public (they would need to make an application to the CCTV Data Officer) can also request searches; these are searches of previous (not live) recordings for particular evidence/information.

The report stated: “This does not include the routine patrolling of cameras by the operators. The operators patrol the cameras periodically and focus on hotspot areas. Even when they are not being patrolled all cameras are recording 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are set in ?default? positions which are agreed with the Police as the areas most likely to experience problems.”

CCTV cameras, for which town councils pay one third of the running costs, are also installed in the other South Oxfordshire towns of Wallingford, Didcot and Henley-on-Thames.

THE proprietor of a Thame Clinic has denied sexually assaulting a number of women.

Praminder Singh Mankoo, 46, of Brook Lodge, The Nap, Oakley, near Thame, appeared at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on December 27, where he denied the charges against him.

Seven offences of sexual assault on women over the age of 16 years are alleged to have taken place between July 2005 and June 2007 at the private clinic that specialises in hair and scalp problems.

Praminder Singh Mankoo will reappear at the court on Thursday, February 7.

THE Police are appealing for witnesses and information after eight vehicles collided on the M40, northbound, between junction three and four last Saturday.

At 7.45pm on Saturday (22/12) eight vehicles, a silver Chevrolet Lacetti, grey Renault Clio, black Ford Galaxy, black BMW 320, black Ford Sierra, blue Honda CR-V, grey Peugeot and red Vauxhall Vectra collided.

The 43-year-old driver of the Ford Galaxy from Thame, Oxon was seriously injured and transported to Wexham Park Hospital. He is said to be in a stable condition. Two other people were transported to Wexham Park Hospital with minor injuries. Both were treated and released on the same day.

The motorway was closed at junction three for two hours to allow recovery of the vehicles.

If you have any information or witnessed this incident, please contact PC Lindsey Turner at Amersham Roads Policing. She can be reached via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505 or, if you don?t want to talk to police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

You can also give information to the police in person by visiting any police station. To find out the opening times and location of your local station please call 0845 8 505 505 or visit: www.thamesvalley.police.uk/bcu/buckinghamshire/bcu-info/stations.htm

PART of the Thame by-pass (A418) was closed for several hours yesterday after the Emergency Services, including two air ambulances and a police helicopter, attended the scene of a multi-vehicle accident.
The A418 was closed between the junction with the Aylesbury Road and the junction with the Oxford Road and A329.
Three vehicles are involved in the collision, a black Skoda Fabia, a silver Vauxhall Corsa and a grey Honda CRV. The driver and passenger of both the Skoda and the Vauxhall were taken to the JR2 Hospital, three with serious injuries and one with potentially life threatening injuries.
Fire Crews from Thame were very quickly on the scene to remove the roof of one of the vehicles involved, to release one of its occupants trapped inside.

Anyone who may have witnessed the collision is urged to contact Sgt Bryan Smith via 0845 8 505 505, or if you don?t want to talk to the police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

AROUND sixty members of the Thame and District Day Centre were treated to a very special Christmas party on Wednesday (19/12), at the prestigous Oxfordshire Gold Club.
Having been brought to the Oxfordshire by a dedicated army of volunteer drivers, the guests were greeted with a glass of Bucks Fizz, before taking their seats to enjoy a splendid festive meal – once Christmas crackers and party poppers had been fired off in true party fashion.
Many members had dressed for the occassion, including Doug McKenzie who attracted a lot of attention with his sparkly red waistcoat and flashing Christmas hat, and his mate, Chris Deasy sporting an eye-catching red bow tie.
Among the guests were 99 year-old Mabel Makepeace who was being looked after by the Centre’s Treasurer, Jim Barrett. Plenty of chat and reminiscing fuelled the jolly atmosphere from every table, as each guest shared their own story. Among them was Barbara Clayson, whose claim to fame was that she once shook the hand of Winston Churchill who visited the tank factory in Luton where she worked as an eighteen year-old during the war. Barbara’s story of the event, entitled “My Proudest Day,” was chosen by Three Counties Radio to be published on its website recently.
Although in the Autumn of their years, so many of the guests have had facinating and full lives and it is at occassions like this, when so much local, social history comes together, that those of us yet to reach that stage in our own lives, are reminded of just how much we owe the older members of our community, and how much regard we should hold them in.

Brenda Prosser, the Chair of the Thame & District Day Centre, thanked Gillian Coleman, the centre’s manager and her team quoting: “Love to a child is spelt T I M E; That is what our volunteers give. That word says it all.”

The afternoon’s entertainment was provided by the amazing unaccompanied, harmony singing group, Just A Capella, who sang old favourites such as Misty and Blue Moon, and a couple of Christmas songs to bring the afternoon to a very happy conclusion.

Following volunteer driver, Norman Brand’s comment: “This year’s party has been the best yet – such a wonderful atmosphere,” the Day Centre’s able and resourceful management are going to have to to excel themselves to top this Christmas Lunch – nobody who has met them and seen them in action can doubt that they will.

A Thame District Councillor has criticised a decision to lump rent levels for homes in Thame with those of Aylesbury, when deciding housing benefit for the area.
Cllr Ann Midwinter told Thame Council at a meeting on Tuesday (18/12), that a Rent Review, currently being made on behalf of the government, is considering changing the boundaries for determining rent levels so that Thame, where rents are high, and Aylesbury where they are lower, will be considered together to determine Housing Benefit for those in financial difficulty.
Cllr Midwinter says that those on Housing Benefit will recieve around