Crime & Safety
Artist competition launched for Cherwell countryside
The event, which will take place in the scenic setting of Newton Purcell in the Cherwell District, on June 13, will host its first-ever ‘Artist of the Year’ competition.
All ages and abilities are invited to create work live on the day in a relaxed countryside setting.
Artists in the Countryside exhibition at Newton Purcell will feature a live artist of the year competition (Image: Artists in the Countryside)
Each year, the exhibition draws visitors and artists alike for a day of creativity. It will raise funds for St Michael and All Angels church.
Sign up online to take part. Entry is £5 for adults and £2.50 for under-16s, payable on the day.
The competition will be judged by two established artists, Polly Pincott and Barry Miller.
READ MORE: Alton Towers owner backs new Puy du Fou theme park plans
Ms Pincott was a semi-finalist in Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year 2024 and is a member of the Oxford Art Society. She was also shortlisted for the British Art Prize in 2023.
Mr Miller is both a painter and photographer, with works exhibited in London, and at the SAA Artist of the Year exhibitions.
Winners will receive a special prize from the judges and will have their artwork professionally framed.
The event takes place in the scenic setting of Newton Purcell Village Hall, adjacent to St Michael’s Church, and promises to be a vibrant day of creativity for artists of all backgrounds.
Crime & Safety
Greggs axes fan favourite item leaving shoppers gutted
Famed for its sausage rolls, customers at the high street bakery chain noticed that one popular breakfast menu item had seemed to vanish.
The Greggs All Day Breakfast Baguette was first introduced to stores in 2024 and quickly became a hit item with shoppers.
Made with a baguette roll, bacon, sausage, omelette, cheese, and ketchup, the item has recently been removed from the menu.
Greggs removes popular item from menus
In a statement shared with The Sun, Greggs has removed the all-day breakfast baguette for now but has plans for its return.
As a spokesperson said, “Our much‑loved All Day Breakfast Baguette is taking a break from the menu.
“We continually review our range and regularly bring back fan favourites based on customer demand.”
The Greggs All Day Breakfast Baguette is a seasonal item, meaning it will be taken off the menu during the summer months.
However, fans of breakfast can still get several baguette options before 11am, like the Bacon and Omelette Breakfast Baguette, Sausage and Omelette Breakfast Baguette, Bacon, and Sausage Breakfast Baguette, and more.
Greggs announces trial of new self-service checkouts
Greggs is trialling a new self-service concept aimed at speeding up customer transactions.
The bakery chain is trialling Greggs Express, a self-service unit which allows customers to quickly grab their favourite treats on the go.
The first unit opened at Motor Fuel Group’s (MFG) petrol forecourt outside Glasgow Airport.
Tony Rowson, property director at Greggs, said: “Greggs Express is our latest concept being trialled to help us enhance our customer experience, focusing on convenience and speed.
Recommended Reading
“The units allows customers to grab their favourite bake or serve coffee themselves, ideal for customers on the move.
“Working with MFG, the trial will help us understand how this format can support our growth ambitions alongside our broader estate growth plans while continuing to deliver the great-tasting food and value our customers expect.”
Customer behaviour is being analysed, with a small number of other self-service units planned to be rolled out across MFG locations in the coming months.
Newsquest has contacted Greggs for a comment.
Crime & Safety
Public Notice Portal adds consultation and archive services
The new PNP consultation function enables members of the public to have their say by providing feedback on individual public notices, which can be accessed by local authorities through a bespoke PNP account dashboard, designed to boost the consultation process.
The dashboard will also give the local authorities and other businesses the means to add data – maps, images, and other information which may be useful to the public – to consultations, strengthening the process still further.
Conducted over the past 18 months by Reach plc, the development was funded by a six-figure grant from the Google News Initiative and continuing support from local publishers.
A fully searchable archive of all the public notices on the PNP has also been created.
Newsquest chief executive Henry Faure Walker said: “We are pleased that the recent Local Media Action Plan from the government explicitly referenced the PNP as a key platform for communities to access public notices, leveraging local publishers’ huge audiences.
“With new funding from the Google News Initiative, we have worked hard over the past 18 months to develop new services for the PNP, which will deepen public engagement with the notices and make consultation easier for local authorities and other organisations.
“All this work depends upon a strong statutory link between public notices and local news media environments.
“It is vital that this link is maintained and strengthened going forward, for the benefit of local communities.”
To promote the new PNP consultation and archive services to local communities, a major advertising campaign funded by local publishers launches today in local news titles across the UK.
Hayley Cochrane, Director of News Partnerships for Google UK and Northern Europe, said: “We are very pleased to support the development of new features for the PNP, which will strengthen local democratic engagement.
“PNP is a fantastic example of innovation from the local news sector, which is finding new ways to serve audiences with local news and information.
“The Google News Initiative is very pleased to support this important work.”
The PNP is an online database for all public notices which appear in printed local newspapers. It harnesses local news media’s massive online audiences – 42 million people every month in print and digital – to deepen engagement with public notices.
News Media Association chief executive Theo Bamber said: “Local news media serve communities by protecting the public’s right to know.
“These titles ensure that vital information about local decisions remains transparent, visible, and open to scrutiny by professional journalists and the public alike.
“The new features on the PNP make the workings of local government more accessible than ever, upholding critical elements of the UK’s social and democratic fabric at a time when this kind of transparency is under threat.”
The number of PNP registered users – who have signed up for alerts about particular types of planning notices, notices relating to a specific geographic area, or to search the site directly – has nearly doubled over the past year and now stands at 43,000.
In addition to creating the PNP, the local news media sector has also boosted public notices by adopting new guidelines to better publicise public notices, including regular editorial coverage in print and digital, and clear signposting in paper.
Crime & Safety
Jeremy Clarkson ‘ignored’ doctor’s advice amid health scare
Lisa Hogan, the partner of the former Top Gear host, commented that he did not follow medical advice after an emergency that saw him taken to hospital.
Towards the end of 2024, the 66-year-old revealed that he underwent emergency heart surgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford after suffering pains.
READ MORE: 17-bedroom manor with ‘world-famous’ room up for £12m sale
It would result in him having a stent fitted, says The Mirror, with the medical episode covered in the upcoming fifth series of hit Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm.
Commenting on it to the national title, Ms Hogan said that her partner did not take the advice to rest and recuperate.
Clarkson’s Farm series five. (Image: Prime Video / PA)
She said: “Jeremy was advised to rest for a couple of weeks, and that lasted about a day and a half.”
In the trailer for the new Clarkson’s Farm series, Mr Clarkson is seen in hospital after which he explains his condition to Kaleb Cooper.
He said: “You’ve got three arteries that feed your heart to keep it pumping. My heart wasn’t getting any blood.”
Lisa Hogan. (Image: Ellis O’Brien / Prime Video)
A woman then tells him: “To be fair, my mother dropped dead of a heart attack at 67.”
“Cheery news,” replied Mr Clarkson.
Initially debuting back in 2021, the 66-year-old’s farming documentary has found global success.
Set at his own Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire, the series also covers his Cotswolds pub, The Farmer’s Dog, which opened in Asthall back in 2024.
Clarkson’s Farm series five. (Image: Prime Video / PA)
An official date for the new season was confirmed earlier this month by Prime Video, with the first episodes set to be released on Wednesday, June 3.
Appearing recently on the Heart Radio Breakfast show, Mr Clarkson spoke to his Cotswolds celebrity neighbour Amanda Holden about the new episodes.
READ MORE: Iconic BBC show’s legendary £45m Oxfordshire lakeside mansion up for sale
“It’s the most dramatic of the shows we have done so far, and it gets more and more and more dramatic towards the end,” said the 66-year-old.
“Yeah, I’ll say no more than that because we’re not actually doing any PR for this series at all.”
The new season will follow its predecessors in that it comes with a staggered release, as episodes are set to roll out weekly until June 17.
-
Crime & Safety4 weeks agoMajor UK firm collapses in administration with nearly 700 jobs at risk
-
Crime & Safety2 weeks agoMan arrested in connection with rape in Oxfordshire town
-
UK News4 weeks agoWoman murdered sister and took her Rolex watch
-
Crime & Safety2 weeks agoBanbury woman jailed after lying to police about kidnapped children
-
Crime & Safety2 weeks agoWaitrose supermarkets across UK shut due to ‘critical error’
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoHow to spend a day in Harpsden among UK’s poshest villages
-
Crime & Safety2 weeks agoStrictly Come Dancing new hosts reportedly Emma Willis
-
UK News4 weeks agoThousands taking part in Belfast City Marathon
