Oxfordshire weekly round-up: 20 April - 26 April 2024

A story about silhouettes representing almost 1,500 servicemen who died on D-Day being installed in France was among our most read this week in Oxfordshire.

A variety of local issues were featured on the BBC News website, BBC Radio Oxford and South Today.

We have picked five stories to keep you up to date.

The owners of a much-loved cake shop inside a historic indoor market say they are having to move out because the location is no longer viable.

The Cake Shop is to move from the Covered Market in Oxford to new premises in the town of Witney.

In a statement it said the site "does not offer traders of our type the same benefits as it did in years past".

Oxford City Council said it was sorry to see the shop go but was searching for a trader "offering a similar use".

Rain, flooding and high winds have "obliterated" Oxfordshire's county flower, a wildlife trust have said.

Just over 6,000 snake's head fritillaries were counted by Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) this year.

That is down from 43,000 last year - and the lowest figure since 1993.

The count is held annually at Iffley Meadows nature reserve on the River Thames in Oxford.

Silhouettes representing almost 1,500 servicemen who died on D-Day have been assembled at a French museum.

To commemorate 80 years since the Normandy landings, the figures travelled from a workshop in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, to the British Normandy Museum.

The figures overlook Gold Beach, one of the key landing points.

They were transported via Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire and Fort Nelson, near Fareham in Hampshire.

The 80th anniversary of D-Day falls on 6 June.

The results of a test into the water quality of the River Thames are "devastating", a wild swimmer has said.

Bangor University analysis, commissioned by television naturalist Steve Backshall, recently found high levels of potentially harmful bacteria in the river.

Kit Yates, who swims in the Thames in Oxford, said the results were "disappointing, but not surprising".

Thames Water said it was taking action to improve the rivers health.

The first steps in an agreement that will see a council lease land to a football club for a new stadium have been agreed.

Oxford United hopes to build a 16,000-capacity stadium near Kidlington.

Oxfordshire County Council approved the lease in principle in September, but further negotiations have led to "heads of terms" being agreed.

But the authority said while it was an "important milestone" it was "only one step in a wider process".

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