22/08/2014 BBC Oxford News

at 10.35pm on BBC One. In Northern Ireland,

Good evening. it will begin at 10.50pm.

He caused widespread outrage and ended up being expelled from UKIP

after suggesting back in January that the serious flooding was God's

way of punishing Britain for the legalisation of gay marriage.

But the Henley town councillor David Silvester, who has continued

to serve as an independent, learned today that no further action

is to be taken against him allowing an enquiry into his conduct.

It started with a letter written to his local paper.

But what David Silvester said to the Henley Standard cost him

He claimed the floods which hit the UK were God's punishment

for the government passing the law allowing gay people to marry.

UKIP expelled him, tens of thousands signed a petition calling for him

to be thrown off the Council, and 12 formal complaints were filed.

My wife and I have held confident that things would turn out right

and we are very grateful that this has happened.

I meant what I said and I still mean it.

An investigation decided he was writing in his personal capacity

so the council could not apply its code of conduct.

Despite signing the letter with his counsellor title,

it was the paper which added his party and named the council.

There has been a mixed reaction in the town.

No, I don't think he should be punished.

He will be punished enough because he has made himself look ridiculous.

His opinion is definitely narrowminded and I do believe

I think he should be held accountable for what he said.

It has more serious ramifications than just a flippant comment.

However Mr Silvester has been told he has to bear some responsibility

for any damage done to the council's reputation.

A riding school which helps children with disabilities could

be forced to close if it fails to persuade railway officials to

Staff at Wendelbury Gate Stables say they have already had to cancel

lessons, leaving them thousands of pounds out of pocket

since work started to upgrade the line between Oxford and Bicester.

Horse riding has changed for four`year`old Amelia's life.

Born with a rare genetic condition, she has the mental age

of a two`year`old but she has discovered her balance and even

The upgrading of the railway line through Wendlebury,

part of the evergreen project, has brought noise and disruption to the

This is the level of noise we have that we cannot

It is not safe to teach if a pupil cannot hear an

This used to be a quiet corner of Oxfordshire

The line upgrade will eventually connect North Oxford to London via

Thousands of passengers will see shorter journey times

But the building noise is just the beginning.

Once finished, seven trains an hour will pass here at speed.

In a statement, Network Rail says it is continuing to do its work to

install sound barriers near the stables, saying it is confident the

business will be able to continue but it does admit that sound

barriers will be difficult to install near some fields due to

When we first heard about it, we wrote to them and said geography

dictates these problems, I hope we can work together to minimise them.

Unfortunately their approach has been to minimise

Amelia's mum is backing an e`petition, up online now,

Nearly 1000 people have signed but it may take more than names

for a permanent solution to the noise at Wendlebury.

A woman has been sexually assaulted as she dozed

on an early evening train journey from London to Milton Keynes.

The 25`year`old woke up to find a man sat next to her

She challenged him and moved to another part of the

train before getting off at Milton Keynes and contacting police.

Police are appealing to other passengers to come forward.

A Witney`based factory is set to expand and take on more staff

after striking a ?1.2 million deal with an investment partner.

DFX Technology design and built both low energy lighting

used in commercial premises and also parts for automated drinks

It has seen rapid growth in the past few years.

The cash injection will allow it to add significantly to

We are going to be creating lots of new jobs so it is a very exciting

time. We now sailed over 32 countries around the world and it is

an exciting opportunity to grow our business here and to spread British

in worldwide. A specially created wreath

of poppies marking the centenary of World War I has been touring

our region. Motorcycling members of the

Royal British Legion have spent the past few days carrying the

wreath of remembrance to various An exhibition exploring

the impact of the First World War on people in Swindon has opened

at the town's Steam Museum. A Railway at War follows

the lives of employees at the Great Western Railway, from the men who

left the company to fight, to the I think it is an aspect of wartime

history that people don't realise but the railways played a really

important role in moving troops and munitions around the country,

supplying locomotives, rolling stock, goods and equipment

overseas to the Western front. Thousands

of visitors are heading to Oxford for the biggest contemporary cut

flower event ever held in the UK. ?1 million worth of flowers are

being displayed at Oxford Designers have travelled from

as far away as Hong Kong and Canada 4000 people are expected to attend

the event, which also includes That's all for now,

we're back in BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning but for now, goodnight,

and the weather is next. Good evening.

Things are staying generally dry tonight

but certainly feeling a little fresher than in recent nights.

We have clear spells overhead so we're expecting those temperatures

to head down to 8 or nine degrees. Cooler of course in rural spots.

Some good spells of sunshine first thing.

Generally staying dry though we're not ruling out the

chance of seeing one or two showers cropping up into the afternoon.

Temperatures in the sunshine of up to 16 or 17 degrees.

On Sunday, staying generally bright and fine, perhaps

a little bit more cloud developing. Some rain overnight into

Bank Holiday Monday with further spells of heavy rain at times.

The national forecast is next. cloudier with outbreaks of rain on

Bank Holiday Monday. Good evening. The weekend is upon

us. For many, it is an extended weekend w a bank holiday on Monday.

The weekend itself not looking too bad weather wieds. A good deal of --

weather wise. A good deal of dry weather around. Bank Holiday Monday

could see