Author: Sonja Francis

THIS is a ringmaster message from Thames Valley Police.
There have been a number of offences of distraction burglaries involving the elderely in the Thame area.

All NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH members are being asked to keep an extra look out for any elderley, vulnerable neighbours, or members of their community.

If you see any suspicious vehicles or people in the area, please call the police straight away on 08458 505 505 and quote URN 332 of 09/11/06.

A GROUP from Thame, including the Mayor, Nigel Champken-Woods, returned triumphant last night from Montesson in France, after a weekend selling English products in their French twin?s annual Christmas market.
The Thame stallholders threw their all into their roles and would have given their counterparts in a Marrakech bazaar a run for their money (apart from the mayor who, sporting a rather Wagnerian Father Christmas hat, complete with plaits, would probably have been arrested).
They completely sold out of Christmas cards, Christmas pudding, Brandy butter, orange marmalade – and Christmas crackers which are still a novelty in France.
For the children of Montesson, the Thame Twin Sets (our very own, ?Stitch & Bitch? group) had hand-knitted miniature jumpers and scarves to fit small teddy bears ? or in one case (see picture), a treasured frog.
Apart from some showers on the Saturday morning, which temporarily brought water cascading in through the canvas walls of their shelter, the rest of the weekend was fine and mild, reaching at one point, 19 degrees Celsius, which put some urgency into the work of a sculptor shaping a wonderful angel out of a block of ice with a chain saw!
Hot coffee and cake (made to a special recipe of the Queen Mother?s), was provided by an English ex-patriot to sustain the, by Sunday, rather hoarse Thame contingent. The Montesson twinning committee kindly provided crepes and galettes to keep them going throughout the day and the German?s from Baesweiler, sold hot spiced wine to keep up the spirits.
As usual the Montesson families who hosted the English, many of whom themselves were involved in running stalls, nonetheless excelled themselves with wonderful food and convivial company in the evenings -the top topic of conversation being the forthcoming elections in France and the chances of S

ALTHOUGH the Thame link to the Lewknor Taxibus Service was discontinued some weeks ago, through lack of use, alternatives involving Thame may be reconsidered next year.
The service, which has helped reduced the number of cars parking contributed to reduced car parking at the Lewknor Interchange at junction six of the M40, was due to end at the end of the year when government funding ran out.
The service has been expensive to subsidise and the County Council decided it was unable to fund it following the end of central government grant.

In the mean time, OCC has granted a four month contract extension for the bus service that links Watlington with the M40 Lewknor Interchange (Junction 6) and the Oxford Tube London bus service.

The section of the route to Stokenchurch, funded by Buckinghamshire County Council, will cease at the end of January, but the Oxfordshire part of the service will now continue to run until June 2007.

The service, known as the Lewknor Taxibus, will now link Watlington – Lewknor Interchange – Kingston Blount and Chinnor from Monday, January 29 to Friday, June 1st, 2007.

The service was set up as a government-funded Rural Bus Challenge project with the aim of reducing the volume of cars parking on the roadside on the B4009 and in Lewknor village, reducing the amount of car movements and opening up a link to London for people without immediate access to a car.

Cllr David Robertson, the county council?s cabinet member for transport, said: ?The county council sees little prospect of the Taxibus service continuing in its present form beyond our June 2007 review of services.

?We are strongly recommending that local parish councils and local groups put every effort into establishing a community transport based longer-term solution to the provision of public transport links between Watlington and the Oxford Tube coach interchange at Lewknor?.

Photo: Flash back to the launch of the Taxi bus last year, with the then, deputy Mayor, Nigel Champken-Woods, and Thame Town Cllrs Peter Cockayne and David Laver.

THAME Town Council are considering how to respond to an increasing number of requests from residents who wish to take over small parcels of green space next to their properties.
Discussions arose at last night’s meeting of the council’s Policy and Resources committee, which focused on one particular request from a resident in Chalgrove Road, who wants to acquire a strip of grass verge next to his house so that he can move his boundary fence by 2.4m to enclose the area.
The resident claims to have maintained the area, which the town council owns, since moving into the property some years ago.
In general, councillors were not happy to see these small, green parcels of land lost and are to consider several options, including awarding licences to residents who wish to maintain the land, but not take over ownership.

THAME Town Council is to seek funding to improve the town hall clock which has not kept good time for some time.
The idea is to replace the mechanism with a more modern system that can be controlled to strike hours, and toll special occassions like New Year.
The council is also to consider having the design picked out in gold and possibly, illuminating the clock face at night.
Inproving the clock to raise the profile of the town hall was one of the suggestions in the recent Lockwood Report that looked at ways to improve the economic viability and vitality of the town.
The council is to ask SODC for