Crime & Safety
Oxfordshire report warns delay could blow £70m road budget
Work to build a four-and-a-half mile stretch of the A40, new bus lanes, cycle lanes and pedestrian crossings between Eynsham and Wolvercote is set to begin in mid-June.
If it does not, the multi-million-pound budget could be blown, a report states, as it says “the current cost estimate and programme depend on enabling works” by that time.
A meeting to approve the signing of the works contract with builders Balfour Beatty is set for Monday, June 1.
The report adds: “Approving this construction contract is necessary to keep the programme on track and use the Homes England grant before the deadline.
“Any funding not spent by the funding deadline will be lost.”
There have been significant delays to the scheme, which started in 2022, only to be halted because of funding issues.
In recent months, it was held up due to a planning request for environmental information, which the report says “had a knock-on effect on the governance approval process and timings”.
The setbacks have left the 19-acre, £32 million Eynsham Park and Ride idle since its completion in January 2024.
Costing around £10,000 a month in maintenance and security.
Conservative county and West Oxfordshire councillor, Liam Walker, said: “It’s good to see this long-delayed scheme finally moving towards construction.
“I’ve been pushing for the council to get this project going for some time, so it’s welcome that work is expected to begin.”
Mr Walker had marked the second birthday of the unused park and ride with a birthday cake.
He stated: “This whole project really has become a huge embarrassment for the Liberal Democrat administration, with repeated delays and rising costs.”
Dan Levy, cabinet member for finance, said the unused £32m facility had been “embarrassing” for the council, but it had been “the most cost-effective and efficient way to do things”.
The council said the park and ride was completed on time and to budget because of a separate ring-fenced grant, and if it had been delayed with the roadworks, it would have been hit by inflation.
Mr Walker added that he remains “concerned” about “scrapped” A40 dual carriageway plans, saying “this scheme would have been far better aligned with wider improvements to the route”.
He also has apprehensions about traffic lights being used for park and ride access, rather than a roundabout, saying it “risks making journeys past Eynsham even more frustrating for motorists”.
He states: “Let’s hope this project is now delivered on time and ideally under budget.”
Previously, Oxfordshire County Council said the dualling is not included in the A40 improvements because it cannot be delivered within the funding available.
Mr Levy stated: “It’s taken a lot of work to make sure that the scheme that will get approved next week will be one that fits the finance envelope and meets the environment agencies demands for that stretch of road.
“But it will finally happen.”
Daniel Kaveh, 24, Justin Hughes, 25 and Kailan Chadbone, 20, were each sentenced to years in jail at Oxford Crown Court on Friday, May 29 for supplying and dealing drugs on the streets of Oxford.
Kaveh, of Lambourn Road in Oxford, and Hughes, of Woodperry Road, played ‘significant’ roles in an ‘open line’ class A drugs operation in Blackbird Leys between November 2024 and last November, the court heard.
READ MORE: Woman, 28, ‘beat up’ boy, 14, outside BP petrol station
Kaveh was previously in court in 2021 after pulling out a ‘Rambo’ knife in a stabbing incident in Lambourn Road in Rose Hill in November 2020 which resulted in a 12 month jail sentence suspended for two years.
Between them, they supplied around 4.6kg of crack cocaine and heroin to the drugs line.
Police raids on Hughes’ home also found 232g powder cocaine and 2.338kg of cannabis, for which he was sentenced for possession with intent to supply, along with a quantity of cash, drugs paraphernalia and weapons.
Raids on Kaveh’s property found similar equipment and drugs like heroin and diamorphine, with a total street value of more than £100,000.
It was established the two dealers worked for Emman Riasat, who ran his own drug line in Oxford and wholesale supplied drugs to the line operating out of Blackbird Leys.
Hughes received a jail sentence of six years and nine months for two counts of class A drug supply and two counts of possession, while Kaveh was jailed for seven years and six months for two counts of class A drug supply.
READ MORE: Oxfordshire canal footpath closed due to fallen tree
Also working for Riasat was Chadbone, of Bernwood Road, who worked lower down in the operation as a drugs runner.
He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of crack cocaine and diamorphine between August 1 and November 19, 2025, committed while he was serving a suspended sentence for affray.
Chadbone received a total of 45 months in jail for two counts of drug supply and the breach of a previous suspended sentence.
‘Sundays in the Park’ took place in Garth Park on May 31, thanks to a collaboration between Bicester Town Council and Bicester Live.
Visitors enjoyed performances from Ukesnaile, Bicester Concert Band, and Malish, offering a variety of covers from pop to garage.
Food was provided by Garth Park Kitchen, with options like British bockwurst, halloumi buns, and wood-fired cheeseburgers, while others brought their own picnics to enjoy in the sunshine.
The council’s events team said: “We can’t wait to welcome you all for an afternoon of live music, great food, and community fun in the beautiful surroundings of Garth Park.”
The next ‘Sundays in the Park’ event will be held on June 14, featuring Hook Norton Brass Band and local soloists, starting at 12.30pm.
In a Facebook post on ‘Raise the Colours: Oxfordshire’, the principal leader of the group asked campaigners to join the demonstration for ‘justice for Henry Nowak’.
The protest follows days of demonstration outside the police station following the murder of University of Southampton student Henry Nowak.
Protesters hurled bins, chairs and bricks at police as hundreds gathered outside the station.
READ MORE: Nationalist group to protest after murder of student
Activist Tommy Robinson and former actor Laurence Fox were among those who spoke to the crowd.
Speaking to the crowd Robinson said: “I heard someone say this wasn’t about race, this is about race.
“A white boy who done nothing was handcuffed, a murderer in possession of a knife who stabbed someone five times isn’t.”
Demonstrators were heard chanting “Henry, Henry” as large group moved across town and threw object at police in riot gear.
The controversy surrounding the murder of Mr Nowak centres on the initial police response after the 18-year-old student was stabbed in Southampton in December 2025.
A trial heard that officers arriving at the scene were allegedly misled by the killer, Vickrum Digwa, 23, who claimed he had been the victim of a racist assault.
Police initially placed Mr Nowak in handcuffs.
In camera footage Nowak can be heard telling officers that he had been stabbed, with an officer on the scene replying “don’t think you have mate”.
Hampshire police’s Deputy Chief Constable Robert France said that within three minutes of interacting with Nowak they were starting to perform CPR.
He added that: “This is a complete tragedy and I am sorry that they couldn’t save Henry that night and I’m sorry that Henry was handcuffed and arrested as he lost consciousness.”
In a statement to the press outside Southampton Crown Court after Digwa was sentenced, Mark Nowak, Henry’s father, said: “We are calling on the Government to treat knife crime as the national emergency that it is.
“Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.”
A group of Oxford ‘patriots’ are due to protest in Oxford this week as well.
Aiden Noble, organiser of the protests, is calling on the public to stand in ‘justice for Henry Nowak’ on Friday, June 5.
The group will gather at 6pm outside Carfax Tower to ‘demand answers, accountability, and justice for Henry Nowak’.
The protests join other demonstrations in Southampton, Birmingham, Nottingham, Blackpool, Liverpool, London, and Gloucester.
Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years served on Monday for the murder of 18-year-old Mr Nowak in Southampton.
PM accuses Farage of exploiting Nowak case to sow ‘division’ and denies ‘two-tier policing’ claim
‘Bicester has fought too hard to be ignored’, says MP on EWR
Oxford – Faces of three jailed for drug operation revealed
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoWaitrose supermarkets across UK shut due to ‘critical error’
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoMan arrested in connection with rape in Oxfordshire town
-
Crime & Safety4 weeks agoHow to spend a day in Harpsden among UK’s poshest villages
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoBanbury woman jailed after lying to police about kidnapped children
-
Oxford Events3 weeks agoStage Watch: Somerset House enters the comedy arena with major new festival Laughterama
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoStrictly Come Dancing new hosts reportedly Emma Willis
-
Business & Technology4 weeks agoCBI posts 14% revenue rise as payment services grow
-
Crime & Safety3 weeks agoUK Hantavirus update as 22 ship passengers moved to hospital