10/09/2014 BBC Oxford News

here in Edinburgh. That is all for tonight. Newsnight

More than 1,300 taxi drivers in Milton Keynes are to unddrgo

police checks, after a convhcted rapist was granted a licencd.

The former mayor had given the driver a character reference

Liberal Democrat councillor Derek Eastmen is to take over the role.

Although his predecessor stood down, he is still working as a cotncillor.

A scandal that has shocked the region and rocked

Last month, it emerged that a convicted rapist

The revelations led to Milton Keynes' mayor, Subhan Shafiq,

who vouched for him during his application,

He has so far refused to speak to the BBC.

Following a council meeting, more than 1,300 taxi drivers will

It was agreed that in the ftture all applications from drivers whth

convictions for sexual or vholent offences will be refused unless

How can there be any excepthonal circumstances when somebody has

How can there be any exceptional circumstances?

If they are checking it agahn, that is fine.

They have to do their job properly, as the law says.

People have become much mord cautious about us,

even though the majority of us are decent people who have been checked

Now, the public has different mis`concepts, I would call ht.

It is not controlled and it is wrong.

This is a strong message to the council,

please do something about it ` look into it, before the worst h`ppens.

The authority will employ two extra enforcement officers to cope

Licence applications will also take longer.

The reputational damage dond to the taxi industry has been severe,

but we now have to build brhdges and work together to make the taxi

We have over 1,300 drivers hn Milton Keynes.

They play a vital part in delivering the local economy

The leader of the council h`s called on those responsible

for granting the offender a licence to examine their consciences.

There remains no legal way to force them to stand down.

Waseem Mirza, BBC South Tod`y, Milton Keynes.

A homeless man has been charged with attempted murder,

after another man was stabbdd in the neck in a shop in Aylesbury.

The 25`year`old remains in a critical condition

after he was attacked on Monday in the Babs Food and Wine Store

63`year`old David Clarke has been remanded in custody.

First Great Western has the highest level of overcrowding of anx train

company operating in and out of London, according to latest figures.

Last autumn, some services were running with 70% more passengers

It has increased the number of seats on some trains this year.

Eight men and two boys have been questioned on suspicion

Police received reports of what appeared to be people chasing hares

The ten arrested have been released on police bail.

Oxfordshire has become the first area in UK to offhcially

be recognised as a big supporter of businesses run for community

?100,000 of funding has now been invested into the county's

Oxfordshire has more than 140 companies that are putting `ny

profits back into community projects ` including one which is recycling

The Randolph Hotel in Oxford used to throw awax 15

But with the help of a new business, they are now being recycled.

We wanted to identify as many ways as possible to recycle

One of our staff members highlighted that soap is retsable.

Businesses like this are ond of dozens across the county

which have a community focus, rather than a financial one.

The work being done in Oxfordshire has now been recognised

on a national level, as the first area in the UK to

Oxfordshire is a hotbed of social enterprise activity.

It is fascinating to see wh`t universities, local authorities

civil society organisations, and private businesses can do together

to tackle some of these entrenched social problems that exist here

It means community`focused businesses ` like this rest`urant

in Oxford, which also provides food to the homeless ` will be offered

New projects will be now able to apply for help from ?100,000

of funding from the local social enterprise group.

This kind of work is also a valuable opportunity to those

in need of a job or trying to overcome addictions.

We get people from the community to be involved

Learning to do the process, but also the business side of things

` where they actually learn to keep figures, budgeting, turning profit,

Today's announcement has bedn backed by the Prime Minister David Cameron,

who says the work being dond in Oxfordshire plays a vital role in

People near Wantage say motorists are making

a narrow country road dangerous by avoiding diversion signs.

Traffic is being routed awax from the A417 at Challow

for three months while the bridge is being rebuilt by Network Rahl.

But residents say drivers are still ignoring the signs and some say

The cars are flying along the on the verges and on the gr`vel

They are slipping and they `re going so fast that it means the btsiness

We have to be careful going out on the road.

We need to have more people to make it safe for the horses to go

With the weather, here is Alexis Green.

We are back in BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning, but,

It was a lovely day today whth a high of 21 Celsius,

The skies will be clear tonhght but it will stay dry.

There is a risk of mist and fog like last night.

There is low cloud as well, especially over hilltops.

Temperatures in the towns and cities of 9`10 Celsius `nd

It will be a dry start to the day tomorrow.

There will be sunny spells hnitially in the morning, but with more cloud

feeding in through the afternoon turning the sunshine hazy.

There will be more cloud tolorrow than today and a high

A look ahead to the rest of the week including the weekend ` high

pressure is remaining in ch`rge of the weather with varying amounts of

around, more breeze as well. Still dry.

rest of the United Kingdom? English MPs would want to

Plenty to talk about by day and by night. The mornings are distinctly

chilly. A lot of clear sky out there today on the satellite picture, a

bit of fair weather cloud. The thicker, rain-bearing cloud is still

kept well at bay. There seems to be some sort of force field keeping

that thicker cloud away from the UK. That is provided by a block of high

pressure and these blocks take some shifting. For the time being, the

wetter weather will be kept at bay. A largely dry outlook. Some subtle

variations from day-to-day and from night to night. Tonight, a bit