22/05/2014 BBC Oxford News

Oxfordshire County Council. They refer specifically to local

authority, or state schools, and not academies. So 383 newly qualified

teachers were recruited in Oxfordshire in

confidence to speak up to Ofsted, even if they are struggling.

Next tonight, a man on a mission to bring back wildlife to a river. Last

year, sewage leaked into the River Thame near Aylesbury. Now one

environmentalist says the area must be restored to once again become a

haven for fish and other wildlife. Tom Turrell has the story.

The River Thame, near Aylesbury. Not just a beauty spot, but a home for a

wide range of wildlife. I found dead fish on the river and subsequently,

I noticed the dragonflies had disappeared. And the river was

looking quite dark. Subsequently, I was told by the Environment Agency

there had been a major pollution incident. The source of that

pollution, here, a few miles upstream at the sewage works in

Aylesbury run by Thames Water. Here, they process waste from the

surrounding area, but at some point before last July, some of that

sewage leaked out into the Thame. Almost a year on and it is not a

case of water under the bridge for Doug. He is organising a meeting to

encourage local people and the authorities to discuss the problem.

We need to see long`term improvements, which means the

community has to get involved and start taking an interest in the

river. Monitoring it perhaps and taking an interest in what Thames

Water are doing to help them maintain their standards so the

river improves and gets to where it should we.

As for Thames Water, they told me. We already work closely with the

River Thame Conservation Trust and have agreed to attend Mr Kennedy's

meeting as we understand how important it is for us all to work

together to take care of local rivers.

So for Doug, it seems further safeguards need to be put in place

to avoid a repeat of last year's sewage leak that may include other

locals joining him in keeping an eye on the river Thame.

In a first for the town, a block of flats in Reading has been bought up

by a Middle East investor, before the building is finished. Once

largely limited to the London market, overseas speculators are

hunting for sites to invest in, further afield. And that could have

consequences for local first time buyers, as Joe Campbell explains.

Months of completion and this block of flat is something of a landmark.

You have got 184 flats under construction. The firm cast with

selling them says the first sold was to an overseas investor, a sign

Reading is just another London suburb. We have seen it with the

block behind, we are attracting investors from wider afield. Most of

the investors tended to be local until a few years ago. We have now

seen `` sold a tower to a Saudi `based investors so people are

beginning to see the merits of Reading and a lot of that is around

the access to London. The losers in this first`time buyers. Now it is

claimed they are finding it almost impossible to get on the property

like a `` ladder here. We have made offers on approximately five or six

houses at the asking price. We first`time buyers, not in the chain,

with ?100,000 deposit to put down. We do not know where we are going

wrong. We do not understand. Such is the demand, this former office block

will soon be turned into flats. The builder behind it has launched it 40

years ago, turning houses into commercial property. There was great

demand for nice modern office space. Ironically, within that period, they

are now generally reverting back to residential use. They are going the

full circle. For now, it seems, demand for housing means prices will

continue to rise to dizzy heights. For those looking for a home in

Reading. A word that appeared in a story we

covered could make it into a new online dictionary. The word is

fatberg, defined as a large mass of solid waste and grease which clogs

up the sewage system. It is one of nine words that could go in to

Collins' new dictionary for Twitter`related expressions, its

Twictionary. A much smaller fatberg than this one was removed from a

sewer in Oxford earlier this year. Heavy rain and thunder storms caused

disruption Oxfordshire this afternoon. `` in Oxfordshire. This

photo was taken by David Davidson, of fork lightening hitting Chinnor.

Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Witney's High Street.

I think there is more rain on the way tomorrow. Alexis has the

forecast. That is it from us for tonight.

Goodnight. Good evening, we had a lively day

with the thunderstorms and there could be more, and is pretty heavy

showers through the first part of the night. Regular easing, but rain

about first thing tomorrow and temperatures down to ten, 11 Celsius

`` gradually easing. Rain first thing but it is an improving pet

chat and the showers will eventually clear North `` texture. Brighter and

drier periods. In the sunshine, temperatures up to 16, 17 Celsius.

Showers are pushing up from the South. Into the weekend, thundery

showers possible. afternoon. Feeling cool. I leave you

with afternoon. Feeling cool. I leave you

through the bank holiday weekend.