Madeleine Evans

Witney Town Council has urged people not to move or tamper with life belts and rings after the lifesaving equipment was thrown into trees near the River Windrush at Mill Meadow, leaving it out of reach in an emergency. The council warned that high temperatures increase the temptation to swim in dangerous open water and that tampering could cost someone their life. Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is also warning about cold-water shock, hidden hazards and strong currents, following at least 11 water-related deaths during early heatwaves, including the death of 14-year-old Baltazar L'Quy in the river near Donnington Bridge.

Jeremy Clarkson shared a photograph of the solar eclipse from his home in Chadlington near Chipping Norton, joking that the event was “so annoying” because it was not clearly visible. The eclipse covered about 92% of the Sun over West Oxfordshire, but many viewers struggled to see it because specialist eclipse glasses were scarce and phone cameras could not focus properly. The event lasted nearly two hours, reaching peak coverage at about 7.15pm before ending around 7.50pm.

Prue Leith was taken by ambulance to Harrogate Hospital after her speech became slurred and she lost part of her vision during a holiday in Yorkshire. Her husband, John Playfield, feared she was having a stroke and called 999. Doctors conducted repeated stroke checks and a precautionary CT scan before releasing Leith at 2am; she later said the episode was a familiar migraine attack and praised the NHS staff who cared for her.

Police continued searching for 66-year-old Caroline Heininger after she had been missing from Burford, Oxfordshire, for more than 60 hours. The National Police Air Service assisted with helicopter searches, while Thames Valley Police released a CCTV image believed to show her on Oxford Road at about 5:27 a.m. on August 5. Police appealed to local residents and motorists to review CCTV, doorbell, dashcam and other footage, and asked anyone with information to contact them or call 999 if they saw her.

Five people—Kwesi Appiah, Ellen Peprah, Emmanuel Sanihyiah, Livingstone Augustt and Eric Sam—were charged with fraud and money-laundering offences linked to a suspected romance-fraud investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit of Thames Valley Police. The defendants, who are from Aldershot and Carterton, were summoned to appear at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on August 18. Potential victims are advised to report suspected fraud, contact their bank immediately if money has been transferred, and consult fraud-prevention guidance.

A 60-year-old man, Walter Klen, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court to 19 years in prison for multiple sexual offences against three girls under 13 committed between 2003 and 2010 in Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. A jury unanimously convicted him on 13 counts after a nine-day trial. Thames Valley Police praised the victims for their courage and encouraged others affected by sexual abuse to report offences, noting support is available regardless of whether a formal report is made.