Shiplake Lock, between Shiplake and Lower Shiplake on the edge of Oxfordshire, was closed ‘until further notice’ after a barge crashed into the lock gate on Tuesday, April 7.

One witness to the scene said it “looks like there’s significant damage” caused by the impact, and the Environment Agency said it would be shut to all river used for the foreseeable future.

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An update issued by the agency said the damage to the lock has now been inspected by a contractor, but more work is required before it can be reopened.

A provisional reopening date for the lock has been announced as Thursday, April 16.

Shiplake Lock (file photo). The lock is closed ‘until further notice’ (Image: Wikimedia Commons)

This is to allow a crew on a floating pontoon and crane assembly to attend on Wednesday, to partially life the lock gate and put it a back into position.

A statement from the Environment Agency said: “Our contractor has been on site inspecting the underwater elements of the lock and have confirmed that no damage was observed.

“It was not possible, however, to inspect the area fully due to the location of the lock gate.

“A floating pontoon and crane assembly is planned to be mobilised to Shiplake Lock on Wednesday, April 15. This will be used to partially lift the lock gate and relocate it back into position.

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“Once the gate has been secured, Environment Agency staff will operate the gates and inspect for any further operational issues.

“If none are observed, the lock will be re-opened to traffic on Thursday, April 16.

“We apologise for any inconvenience that this notice causes and thank you for your patience during this time.”

Oxford City Council is the freeholder owner of around 80 acres of land to the south of Grenoble Road between Littlemore and Blackbird Leys.

The land, which falls in the South Oxfordshire District Council area, is subject to a live planning application for 3,000 new homes.

Dubbed the South Oxford Science Village, it will deliver crucial housing delivered via a partnership between Oxford City Council, Magdalen College (owners of The Oxford Science Park), and Thames Water (which also own part of the land earmarked for development).

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Emma Gubbins, corporate asset lead at Oxford City Council, said in a report ahead of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, April 15 that the “disposal” of the land should be approved.

She said: “The council intends to dispose of the land by way of option agreement and ultimately freehold transfer.”

Grenoble Road site (Image: Damian Halliwell)

Grenoble Road site (Image: Damian Halliwell)

Essentially, this means a contract giving the developer the right to buy in future (option agreement). Then, if that right is used, a permanent sale of the land itself (freehold transfer).

Ms Gubbins added that the terms of the deal are confidential and subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

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As such, details of how much the land is valued at and how much the council could make from a potential sale are not known publicly.

What is known is that Oxford City Council would disposing of easements with a value more than £750,000 and/or rental value more than £250,000 each year.

Ed Turner, cabinet member for finance and asset management (Image: Ed Nix)

The report which the council’s cabinet will discuss, and make an ultimate decision on, says a sale would generate a “significant capital receipt” for the council despite it being just a “small part” of its total land portfolio.

“The other benefits the disposal could achieve via development would further benefit the local area and, as such, it is considered that on balance the disposal should proceed in order to achieve the significant positives for the council, future council and local areas,” Ms Gubbins’ report added.

Sam Casey-Rerhaye, Green South Oxfordshire district councillor for Sandford, said: “I hope this means that work to start this development will now get going and that the essential infrastructure upgrades are funded and get started in good time for the first new residents.

“What no one in the area wants is another development where health, transport and other infrastructure lags years behind. This includes essential work from Thames Water of course.”

Sam Casey-Rerhaye (Image: Green Party)

The site south of Grenoble Road has been earmarked for development since 2019, when an agreement was made with Oxford City Council and Oxford University’s Magdalen College.

As green belt land, the site was incorporated into South Oxfordshire District Council’s Local Plan 2035 in 2020 as a ‘strategic allocation’ for thousands of new homes.

But one stipulation of the deal was that at least half of them need to be of affordable tenure.

Cabinet members on the city council previously said they hoped a planning application would be submitted by the end of 2023, but the long-awaited proposal is only beginning to emerge now, three years later.

Ed Turner, the city council’s cabinet member for finance and asset management, is expected to be at the meeting to decide along with other senior councillors on Wednesday evening, April 15.

Former police constable Alex Whitchurch was training as a police officer in Sulhamstead last July when several colleagues reported he made deeply offensive and discriminatory comments.

A misconduct hearing held on March 30 this year, chaired by chief constable Jason Hogg, heard how the student officer made racist comments about Asian, Indian and Jewish people, misogynistic comments about women and other discriminatory comments about people who are disabled and who those live on ‘council estates’.

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All the comments were made during the eight-week training period.

Among the inappropriate comments reported, after a domestic abuse training lesson Whitchurch was heard saying “if you just tell the guy who’s beating the fuck out of his missus that he’s gay he’ll stop immediately” and “if a woman tells me what to do, I will tell her to go back to the kitchen and cook my food.”

Whitchurch went through the police attestation process, in which student officers become constables, at the end of his training on July 18 last year.

During the process, which was led by a magistrate of Asian origin, the former PC was heard saying “I’m surprised she can actually read the attestment with those slots”, while “stretching his eyelids from the corner of his eyes in a mocking gesture”.

Additionally, the student officer called his colleague “a snitch” after they reported an inappropriate comment he had made.

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Whitchurch resigned from the police force just months after formally joining, on September 15, 2025.

He did not attend his misconduct hearing but signed a written document arguing that his comments did not amount to gross misconduct.

The misconduct hearing found his behaviour discredited the police service and amounted to gross misconduct.

A report from the panel said: “Ex PC Whitchurch has repeated his behaviour in the short period of time since his attestation and has had no regard to the impact on his colleagues who I commend for reporting this inappropriate behaviour.

“There are multiple instances of explicitly offensive comments and gestures which are racist, discriminatory and derogatory.”

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It added that the evidence from the multiple officers who reported “Whitchurch’s persistent and inappropriate pattern of behaviour” was “compelling”.

The panel concluded the former officer had breached the policing standards of professional behaviour, including respect and courtesy, equality and diversity, orders and instructions and discreditable conduct.

The sanction imposed was that former PC Whitchurch would have been dismissed if he was still a serving officer, and his name was added to the barred list.