UK Vein Clinic, headquartered on London’s Harley Street, has launched the clinic to improve access to treatment for varicose and thread veins, which affect at least one in three people in the UK.

If left untreated, these conditions can lead to pain, swelling, skin changes, ulcers, or blood clots.

Ed Sideso, consultant vascular surgeon at UK Vein Clinic, said: “We’re proud as clinicians to be supporting patients in Bicester and Oxfordshire, helping to improve access to specialist varicose vein care.

“Our focus is always on understanding how symptoms affect everyday life and delivering treatment that helps each individual patient feel more comfortable, confident, and supported.”

The Bicester clinic aims to reduce travel and waiting times by offering care closer to home.

Services include vascular doctor-led consultations, diagnostic ultrasound scans, and advanced treatments such as radiofrequency ablation and sclerotherapy.

Jason Powell, founder of UK Vein Clinic, said: “This expansion represents a major milestone for UK Vein Clinic.

“With patient demand for specialist vein care continuing to rise, our goal is to bring expert, consultant-led treatment closer to more communities – ensuring people can get back to feeling their most confident and healthy self and back doing the things they love most.”

The clinic forms part of UK Vein Clinic’s growing national network, with further locations planned as part of its long-term expansion strategy.

David Pearce worked for The King in his kitchen garden, cultivating plants for him to eat.

The 29-year-old revealed that famously green-fingered Charles took a keen interest in the fruits and vegetables that landed on his plate, but a couple were off limits.

David managed mixed beds running down the middle of the kitchen garden.

READ MORE: King Charles offers £30,000 sum for help at home in Cotswolds

David Pearce. (Image: SWNS)

And although The King demands his produce be of a high standard, he is not a fan of all fruits and vegetables.

David, the youngest curator of Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens, said: “I spent about a year working for His Royal Highness in the kitchen garden, growing fruit and vegetables and wonderful things that went into his dinners and lunches.

“We were growing mostly things he requested himself, a whole bed of salad and two whole beds of asparagus; he was very keen on that. 

“Things like cauliflower, and he particularly liked his crudité carrots, we would have to grow them to a particular size, of your little finger. 

“He particularly liked spinach. We grew onions, leeks and Florence fennel. It was mostly working with him and his individual preferences.

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King Charles III. (Image: Tony Kershaw / SWNS)

“But squash was off the cards, and absolutely no courgettes.” 

David had a “feral” youth growing up on the edge of the New Forest.

He said: “I was running around having a wonderful time. Everything was wild and wonderful and exotic. 

“Weighing up my career options, I loved the idea of being outside, growing things – the science and the art of it.

“And on a bit of a whim, I applied for an apprenticeship at Ventnor Botanic Garden on the Isle of Wight.” 

READ MORE: Exclusive look at £24m luxury Cotswolds holiday resort opening in 2027

David Pearce. (Image: Emily Quance / SWNS)

He then worked in the gardens at Wisley – the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship garden in Surrey, which runs one of the oldest horticultural training programmes in the world. 

David’s days were spent in the garden, surrounded by 300 acres of impeccably managed planting; his evenings tapping away at coursework on a laptop. 

After graduating during the pandemic, he found a job at Highgrove, the private residence of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, near Tetbury in Gloucestershire. 

Tucked into the woodland, the one-acre walled garden is geometrically arranged, dripping with blossom in spring, and runs along emphatically organic principles. 

David describes the eco credentials of his royal boss as being ahead of his time.

READ MORE: Award-winning Cotswolds pub to open new deli shop this year

“When everyone else was primping lawns, he was cultivating wildflower meadows as far as the eye could see,” David said.

There was no spray – instead, electric gadgets for zapping pests and all manner of inventive methods for keeping on top of weeds without reaching for the chemicals. 

David says the then Prince of Wales was not always on site – this was a period when preparations were quietly underway for ‘the big transition’ – but when he was there, he insisted on a morning walk around the garden. 

“We would have the opportunity to walk around with him,” David added.

“He would tell us what particular things he wanted, when he wanted them.”

The incident initially occurred in the early evening of Saturday (May 2) on Cowely Road, outside Sundaes Gelato on the street corner.

Thames Valley Police cars and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service fire engines arrived at the scene shortly after, and a cordon was put in place with tape.

Members of the public were warned to get back away from the site with flames soon “erupting” from the smoke, according to onlookers.

AS IT HAPPENED: Smoke billows from underground as police tape off Oxford street

Now, someone who was inside the Sundaes Gelato shop at the time of the blaze has shared “frightening” footage of the flames growing.

Having been stuck inside the store, the member of the public, who wishes to remain anonymous, reflected on the incident.

“It was quite a frightening and uncomfortable experience to witness at the time,” they said.

READ MORE: Onlookers ‘scared’ as smoke rises from out of the ground in Oxford

The road reopened around 11pm on Saturday night, but the site of the fire remains cordoned off after the blaze was extinguished.

Thames Valley Police issued a fresh statement on the following morning (Sunday, May 3) after the incident.

A spokesperson for the force said: “No arrests have been made, and the incident is not being treated as suspicious at this time.”

 Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has also been approached for comment.