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Monday, August 21, 2017
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COST: County forced to cough up cash to drivers whose cars are damaged on roads
POTHOLE BILL TOPS £42,000 Nathan Briant nbriant@nqo.com
Allotment visitors in wonderland HEAVY rain throughout August is not always a bad thing, as visitors to a Cowley festival discovered. The allotments that play host to the Elder Stubbs Festival were in full bloom as thousands turned out for the annual gathering on Saturday. And the weather at the festival, organised by mental health charity Restore, even held out long enough for people to enjoy the surroundings, which this year took on an Alice in Wonderland theme. See Page 3
DRIVERS whose cars have been damaged after driving into deep potholes on Oxfordshire’s roads have claimed nearly £42,000 in less than two years.
Last year Oxfordshire County Council shelled out £25,653 and so far this year has paid out £16,043 to affected drivers. In 2016, the authority paid £1,827.91 to a single motorist whose vehicle had been damaged on the B4526 in South Oxfordshire. Other large sums paid out include £1,739 and £1,725 after damage caused on South Oxfordshire roads. And this year’s largest successful claim was for £1,130, caused by a pothole on the A4260, just north of Oxford. An Oxford resident sick of the state of the roads near his home in Blackbird Leys said something must be done by both Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Councils. Brian Chadwick, who has lived in the area for over 20 years, said: “It’s dreadful. It clearly needs some work. They’re really bad.” But he said the number of claims was not representative of how much damage around the county because people will not make a claim. He added: “All of the people cannot be bothered. It’s too much of a rigmarole. Continued on Page 2
Six cars torched in middle of night
SIX cars were set alight in North Oxford in a suspected spate of arson attacks carried out yesterday. Residents were awoken as their vehicles were set alight on driveways or in roads in Summertown, Park Town and Jericho between about 2.45am and 5.20am. Police arrested a 26-year-old Oxford man on suspicion of arson and he was in custody yesterday evening.
See Page 4
Pep stays upbeat despite U’s loss
TIP OF THE ICEBERG: Brian Chadwick with a chunk of the crumbling Balfour Road in Blackbird Leys
Picture: Jon Lewis
PEP Clotet remained positive despite suffering his first league defeat as Oxford United manager. The U’s lost 1-0 to Scunthorpe on Saturday, the winning goal coming just eight minutes from full time. Marvin Johnson, subject of transfer speculation, missed the game with a hamstring problem. See Pages 38-40