AROUND 3,500 people helped raise thousands of pounds on a day of fun and entertainment at Thame’s Music in the Park event in Elms Park.

Young and old danced into the evening and enjoyed activities including zorbing, a bungee run and goes on a mega-slide, as well as more peaceful pursuits including picnics and browsing the colourful trade stalls.

The day was in aid of the Friends of Elms Park and raised about £15,000, which will go towards installing some lighting along the footpath that runs through the park.

Organisers and attendees were blessed with good weather and made the most of it, with roughly twice as many visitors and double the amount of money raised compared to last year, which was the first time Music in the Park has been held.

A variety of music was on offer to suit all tastes across three stages, along with electronic music in ‘the Bubble’ after 5pm, with bars and food stands keeping everyone going.

There were also children’s activities run by Barley Hill Church’s ‘Base’ group, allowing parents to leave those aged four to 12 to enjoy a range of games and craft activities for 45 minutes while they checked out other parts of the event.

And as the day drew to its climax, Ultimate Elton, Hats Off To Led Zeppelin, Muttz Knuttz and headliners the Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band got the crowd on their feet and dancing.

Chairman of the Friends of Elms Park, Alison Champken-Woods, thanked every-one involved in the event and said: “Music in the Park is a wonderful community event.

“It provides a fantastic family day out and also raises funds to help improve this little gem of a park for the people of Thame.”

BEE Gee star Robin Gibb has sadly died aged 62 after a long battle with cancer.

The singer songwriter who has lived in Thame for many years with his family died on Sunday evening at around 10.45pm.

Gibb’s family said in a statement: “The family of Robin Gibb, of the Bee Gees, announce with great sadness that Robin passed away today following his long battle with cancer and intestinal surgery.

“The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this very difficult time.”

Tributes have since poured in on his homepage from hundreds who have been touched by his music.

Messages in tribute to Robin Gibb may be left below.

A BOY has been hailed a hero after he saved his six-year-old sister’s life using first aid.

Nine-year-old Connor White from Hawkslade, Aylesbury, stopped his sister Lara from choking to death using his skills taught to him at the St John Ambulance Badgers group.

The pair’s mother, Shelley, said the siblings were playing upstairs, when Lara began to choke on a raisin.

“I was at work while my husband was at home looking after our children Connor and Lara,” said Shelley.

“He was busy doing some DIY downstairs and the children were playing in Connor’s room upstairs. Lara was eating some raisins and when one got stuck in her throat she started choking. My husband had heard Lara laughing but when her laugh turned into a choke he ran upstairs.”

By the time he got to the top of the stairs, their father Jay found that Connor had already moved Lara from a laying down position and had got her to sit up and given her two back slaps.

The two initial slaps did not work, so Connor gave her one harder back slap which successfully cleared the food from Lara’s airway and allowed her to breathe again.

“We are extremely proud of Connor and grateful for the skills he has learnt,” added Shelley.

“His quick thinking and ability to remain calm averted what could have been a much more serious incident.”

Connor, who attends Turnfurlong Junior School, has been a member of the Badgers group for three years, during which time he has learned a number of different skills, including the vital first aid.

He said: “I really enjoy badgers and I am proud and happy that I saved my sister. Learning first aid at Badgers helped me to think quickly and stay calm.”

St John Ambulance county director Clive Harrington said: “At St John Ambulance we believe that no one is too young to learn first aid as it can be the difference between a life lost and a life saved – as was certainly the case with Connor and Lara.”

THE Olympic torch, which will pass through Aylesbury on July 9, has begun its journey around Britain.

The flame arrived at RNAS Culdrose aboard flight BA2012 on Friday evening, with a short ceremony taking place involving the Princess Royal, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Lord Sebastian Coe and David Beckham.

Around 100,000 people turned out for the first day of the torch’s tour as it travelled from Land’s End to Plymouth.

On the 52nd day of its 70-day journey the flame is expected to arrive at Winslow in convoy from Buckingham, taking to the streets there and in Whitchurch before moving to Aylesbury after 11am.

Along the route through the town and Stoke Mandeville torchbearers will pass locations including Buckingham Street, Market Square, Wendover Road and Stoke Mandeville Stadium.

The flame will then move in convoy to Waddesdon, where it will be paraded on the High Street before moving to Bicester.

Each of the 8,000 torchbearers runs for around 300m before lighting the next person’s torch.

Details of the relay route can be found on the London 2012 website.

‘Aladeen, my friends – welcome to the nation state of Wadiya, I am your benevolent dictator Admiral General Aladeen, and it is I who keep everything Aladeen in this great place.’

The Dictator breaks from the mockumentary style of Sacha Baron Cohen’s previous big screen hits, the hilariously provocative Borat and the amusingly offensive Brüno, and delivers a slick fish out of water romantic comedy with a powerful political subtext.

The story starts off in the fictitious North African country Wadiya where General Aladeen rules with an infantile mind and an iron fist.

His every whim and wish is indulged – including sexual liaisons with nearly every high profile woman (and some men) on the planet.

But even obscene affluence can’t prevent him having to travel to the USA in order to appease the United Nations who are sniffing around his rogue nuclear weapons programme.

In the land of the free the absolute ruler falls from power after being left for dead and usurped by a dim body double backed by a traitorous Ben Kingsley.

Then to make matters worse he meets his love match in an eco-warrior feminist named Zoey (Anna Faris), who owns an over the top green shop staffed by comically stereosocial misfits and oppressed foreigners.

How will the idiot despot survive? Can he possibly get his position back and thwart the plans for Wadiya to be made into a free democracy?

It turns out that the proposed political constitution for his country is simply a front for oil sales – hhhmm, that’s a bit far fetched. right?

Surely no countries are being manipulated by force or politics to part with their natural resources?

Baron Cohen brings a ton of weapons grade cultural critique comedy, including unforgettable scene such as the mother of all misunderstandings during a helicopter tour where a white American couple think Aladeen is planning his own 9/11 attack.

The Dictator is as wildly un-politically correct as we’ve come to expect from Cohen and completely sexist, too – to give you a flavour, Zoey is mercilessly referred to as a hairy little hobbit boy due to her unshaved armpits and lack of boobs.

There are many unnecessary gross out moments, but despite the odd misstep the laughs come thick and fast enough – and pack enough political punch – to make this a worthy addition to Cohen’s canon of films and the new benchmark for comedies in 2012.

THERE may be those who huff and puff about parenting classes being the thin end of the nanny state, but if you ask me the drive to educate tomorrow’s mums and dads about what they’re letting themselves in for should start long before the little one arrives.

Let’s take it as read, for starters, that any government that presides over economic meltdown or is stuffed with chancers who can’t claim out of pocket expenses without filling their boots is hardly in a position of strength when it comes to advising others how to behave. Let’s move on.

There’s a successful project that runs in US jails which you’ve probably heard about – little tearaways are bussed in to maximum security lock-ups where the inmates delight in telling them exactly what they’re letting themselves in for if they don’t wise up.

Getting the cold facts from a shaven-headed sort covered in prison tatts is guaranteed to hold the attention, it seems.

Yes, it’s tough on the teens, but it certainly opens their eyes about the years of misery, anxiety and waiting in vain for visits that is the lot of a long-term convict.

And, let’s be honest, there are many parallels there with parenthood.

That’s why the best people to pass on tips about parenthood are not midwives and other professionals – it’s people who have been there, done that and been thoroughly disenchanted by the experience.

We may as a species be hard-wired to yearn to perpetuate our kind, but most of us who have been through the parenthood experience will confirm that there are plenty of cons to outweigh the occasional moments of joy.

Though we’ll tell ourselves and others that we wouldn’t have it any other way, that’s mainly because we’re stuck with it – you have to look on the bright side and make the most of the hand you’ve dealt yourself, but what if you could turn the clock back?

The easiest lesson to drive home would be an economic one – kids cost an arm and a leg from day one, and you’ve got to accept that all those little luxuries you’ve become accustomed to are going straight out of the window.

Holidays are immediately more expensive, the bill for a meal out balloons and you end up dining in the sort of places where lollipops, not a fine brandy, are the preferred digestif on offer.

But money’s not everything, is it? Personal freedom is much more highly prized, and rightly so.

When you become a parent, you’re shackled for the best part of two decades of your short span. You can’t go where you like, sleep where you like, stay out with friends, lie in on a Sunday morning – all those pleasures are now for your little ones, not you.

So let’s recruit a hard-bitten crew of sleep-deprived, penniless, frustrated and frankly peevish parents to tell it like it is, and discourage would-be mums and dads from venturing down the same road without all the facts at their disposal.

Follow that up with an invitation to sign up for some kind of surefire contraception, and the baby boom and all the problems that come with it could just melt away.

And if that doesn’t work, introduce a baby licence and an annual parent MoT.

THINGS have changed since the last time a silent movie won an Oscar.

First World War saga Wings picked up the Academy Award for best picture in 1929 when the ceremony lasted only 15 minutes as the winners had been announced three months earlier.

The occasion was hosted by Douglas Fairbanks and the 270 guests each paid five dollars for a ticket.

This year the Oscars bash was hosted by Billy Crystal and went on for several hours, much of which was spent handing out gongs to THE ARTIST (PG: Entertainment In Video).

Five awards were presented to this remarkable re-creation of Hollywood’s silent movie era, which is a film buff’s feel-good joy.

Shot in black and white, director Michel Hazanavicius and star Jean Dujardin perfectly capture the period and style.

Dujardin’s charm is successfully harnessed as matinee idol George Valentin, whose career nosedives with the arrival of the talkies.

Meanwhile, vivacious Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), who joins one of his pictures as an extra, finds her star rising as the studios look for fresh talent with attractive voices.

With only the briefest and cleverest dips into sound, The Artist embraces the techniques and look of Tinseltown on the eve of The Jazz Singer. It pays homage to numerous silent classics and Citizen Kane and is a sheer delight.

> Michael Fassbender and director Steve McQueen, who collaborated on acclaimed award-winner Hunger, team up again for SHAME (18: Momentum), the story of a man’s obsession with all things carnal.

Brandon (Fassbender) is a high-flying New Yorker whose real interests are sex and self-loathing.

His computer at work is clogged with porn, he’s an enthusiastic employer of prostitutes and every waking moment is dedicated to pursuing the next conquest.

But when his sister (Carey Mulligan) turns up unexpectedly, complications enter his life, not least the ones of the Oedipal kind.

Shame is powerfully acted and well directed and fans of Fassbender’s naked body, of whom McQueen appears to be the most dedicated, will find much to enjoy.

But lurking at its heart is a puritan priggishness when it comes to sex. Unless one takes a somewhat Victorian view, it’s never explained why he should be ashamed.

> Michael Caine does his best Captain Birds Eye impression in JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (PG: Warner), a pleasant slice of family fare in which Treasure Island meets Gulliver’s Travels.

A teenager (Josh Hutcherson) and his stepfather (Dwayne Johnson) trace the actual location of author Jules Verne’s supposedly fictional island.

After travelling to the South Pacific and roping in a helicopter pilot and his daughter, they crash on the island during a hurricane.There they find Hutcherson’s grandfather (Caine) and discover the truth about the place. As they try to escape, they fight monster lizards, fly on giant bees and uncover hidden treasure.

The plotting is perfunctory, but the scenery is spectacular and Johnson’s pectoral popping and ukulele version of What A Wonderful World are added attractions for some viewers. Possibly.

> The latest addition to the ‘found footage’ subgenre (Cloverfield, Trollhunter) is CHRONICLE (12: Twentieth Century Fox), a teen sci-fi thriller filmed in hand-held documentary style.

Three high school friends become endowed with superpowers after making a discovery in an underground crater. Using their telekinesis, he trio let loose a range of juvenile pranks whenever they feel like it, but find their friendship tested to the limit when the ambitions of one of them take an altogether darker route.

The jaw-dropping smackdown is worthy of a big-budget blockbuster.

> So Tarantino-esque it almost hurts, CATCH .44 (15: Anchor Bay), a thriller with a bad ass attitude, unashamedly wears its influences on its sleeve.

Three women with guns are working for crime boss Bruce Willis. When they’re victims of a double-crossing drug deal that’s more of a set-up than a heist gone wrong, they seek revenge. Co-starring Forest Whitaker and Brad Dourif.

AN AWARD winning Aylesbury gardener says she was ‘quite surprised’ when a mysterious plant sprouted in her garden and started smelling like rotting flesh.

Zelia Norton believes the Dracunculus Vulgaris or Vodoo Lilly sprouted from seeds which she bought in Madeira two years ago.

The 64 year old hospital catering manager said: “It was a real rotten smell, like the smell of dead flesh – well I would imagine anyway.”

Luckily neighbours in Como Road could not smell the plant because she kept her greenhouse doors closed – although she invited them around to have a look and a whiff.

Mrs Norton also remembered seeing a TV program about the plant a few years ago – which prevented her panicking that she had found a dead body in her garden.

The smell only lasted for one day while the plant flowered and now Ms Norton says she is seeking advice on how to look after it – and is writing to an expert at Kew Gardens to see what they recommend.

The Vodoo Lilly, which reaches two feet high, is known for its ‘signature scent of death and decay’ and attracted large visitor numbers when one sprouted in Minnesota Zoo last year.

The stench originates because it is pollinated by flies. When the plant blooms it emits the potent stench to attract insects – who are attracted to the rotting smell and then end up spreading its pollen.

Ms Norton has won a gardening competition in Aylesbury three times.

A KILLER ladybird, which is known to bite humans, has been discovered in an Aylesbury garden.

The bug, called a Harlequin, is not able to fly in cooler temperatures – and was discovered on Tuesday at the start of this week’s forecast heatwave.

Scientists fear the Harlequin ladybirds could damage or wipe out some of Britain’s other 45 ladybird species – and is travelling across the UK at a rate of 60 miles a year.

The bug flew into a woman who had read an article about the species and quickly picked up a jar to capture it.

She said it had ‘big white scary eyes’.

> Have you seen a killer ladybird in town? If so, did you realise what it was?

A BID for a new technical college in Aylesbury will give the town a ‘world class’ facility, district bosses have been told.

Aylesbury College has submitted a bid for a three-storey University Technical College (UTC) building, with space for 600 students.

If given the go-ahead, the UTC would provide specialist techincal teaching for 14 to 19 year olds.

A design statement submitted to Aylesbury Vale District Council states: “It will be a world class UTC within the Aylesbury College campus.

“Buckinghamshire UTC will have an emphasis on technical and vocational skills and specialise in construction and information and communication technology.

“It will also deliver an outstanding academic offer in the core subjects of literacy, maths, science, ICT and modern foreign languages, and showcase the best of the English Baccalaureate.”

And the application document continues: “It will be a place where young people want to learn, with a focus on helping them achieve excellence.

“It will offer a challenging and exciting curriculum, so that young people can benefit from new employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy.”

The UTC would be placed on the northern section of the college site.

MPs have criticised campaigners ‘crude attempts to detract from the real benefits that HS2 will bring’ and backed the coalition’s high speed rail plans, after a three month investigation.

In February Parliament’s all-party group for high speed rail pledged it would ‘end the question marks’ and make ‘100 per cent certain’ that HS2 was a good proposal.

Today (Wednesday) the pro high speed rail group published its findings – saying the rail network is close to being full, the alternatives to HS2 would not meet demand, and local services would not be improved if HS2 was scrapped.

Stuart Andrew, co-chairman of the group and MP for Pudsey, said: “In the last few weeks there have been increased moves to muddy the waters around HS2. These are crude attempts to detract from the real benefits that HS2 will bring.

“The findings of our inquiry serve to reiterate that a major injection of capacity, so desperately needed on Britain’s railways, is the driving force behind building the project.

“Politicians from all parties, including my own, must rally behind HS2 or face the deterioration of the railway network that built modern Britain, further alienating the prosperous South East from the rest of the country in the process.”

In response Penny Gaines, of Quainton, chairman of the Stop HS2 campaign group, said: “It’s no surprise that the All Party Parliamentary Group for High Speed Rail concluded that high speed rail was the answer to the inquiry they set up.”

Ms Gaines accused the inquiry of looking at the issue through ‘a very narrow set of filters’ and said the report remained ‘completely oblivious to the growth in video conferencing’.

>The All-Party Parliamentary Group for High-Speed Rail is a group of 70 MPs. It received nearly 60 written submissions and held two oral evidence sessions with eleven witnesses. The key conclusions of the report were:

• The rail network is close to being full. At the current time, we are hitting passenger projections that were predicted in a decades’ time.

• Growth has continued despite the recession. The railways are seeing substantial growth at over 5% even in the midst of a recession.

• Alternatives to HS2 will not meet demand. These alternatives, known as Rail Package 2 or 51m’s “Optimised Alternative”, are unable to meet peak demand, and would do little to help local services or freight.

• Risk of under-providing is greater than over-providing. The risks to under-providing capacity are severe, and are far more serious than the risks of overprovision.

{http://www.appghsr.co.uk/text.aspx?id=1|To read the report in full visit www.appghsr.co.uk|click here for more}

Men In Black 3

No matter how many chat shows Will Smith appears on being undeniably charming and charismatic, he can’t escape the fact that cinematically he has been treading water for a while.

And this, the first of a run of sequels and prequels he has lined up, is further alarming proof.

Once the most interesting star of his generation and certainly one of the most versatile, it feels like ‘how the mighty have fallen’ watching this sporadically entertaining sequel.

The premise is strong – Agent J needs to go back in time and work with a younger Agent K. The casting is spot on, with Josh Brolin a dead ringer for a young Tommy Lee Jones and clearly having the most fun of all, playing a grumpy, dead- eyed young TLJ.

Sadly, that’s where most of the fun is, with the rest of the film being laboured and searching.

It replaces the arrogance of Men In Black 2 with a lack of confidence, seemingly stemming from being away so long after an underwhelming last venture.

With The Avengers tearing up screens with absolute quality and a strong summer planned, this marginally amusing sequel to a forgotten franchise just isn’t going to cut the mustard. I expected more.

Moonrise Kingdom

Too Wes Anderson-y. Too Wes Anderson-y? What did you expect?

It is the new film from Wes Anderson, one of the most individual, idiosyncratic and visually recognisable film-makers to emerge over the last 15 years.

You know what you are going to get, and that’s usually a brilliant piece of work. His latest is no less strange or unique than The Royal Tenenbaums or Fantastic Mr Fox.

It tells the story of a young boy and girl who fall in love and run away. While they are hiding out, creating their own universe, their families and the authorities try to find them.

A brilliant cast take on this story beautifully, and with Anderson’s trademark style create one of the sweetest, most enjoyable and sumptuous films of the year so far. Wonderful.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting

What to expect from this? I expected it to be a cliché-ridden mess, a patronisingly derivative piece of chick flick, rom com schlock featuring a class of great actresses being absolutely wasted. My expectations were more than met. The story is an ensemble piece following five couples expecting babies, and serves up philosophy that is straight from a ‘Babies for Dummies’ manual. It’s excruciatingly unimaginative and as profound as a dirty nappy.

SATURDAY

Eurovision Song Contest 2012 (BBC One, 8pm)

The mighty Engelbert Humperdinck represents the UK this time round with the song Love Will Set You Free. The tune has a good pedigree – it was co-written and produced by Grammy Award-winning Martin Terefe and Ivor Novello Award-winning Sacha Skarbek. Backing an old-style crooner such as him could either be a disaster or a masterstroke – we won’t know which until the votes are cast on the night.

Sunday

British Academy Television Awards 2012 (BBC One, 8pm)

With regular host Graham Norton helming the Beeb’s Eurovision Song Contest coverage in Azerbaijan on Saturday evening, Dara O Briain has been drafted in to take charge of the proceedings.

Broadcast from London’s Royal Festival Hall, it features the great and the good of Britain’s small screen talent vying for arguably the most prestigious trophy around.

Maggie Smith is in the running for the sixth Bafta of her career as best supporting actress in Downton Abbey, while O Briain himself is up for best comedy performance thanks to his hosting duties on Mock the Week.

Leeading the way with four nominations is Appropriate Adult, ITV1’s drama about serial killer Fred West, although it faces stiff competition from Sherlock and This is England ‘88, which have three nomination each.

Dara says: “I’m delighted and honoured to be taking the reins.

“And if Adele wins anything, I promise I’ll leave her well alone, no matter what time it is.”

Monday

Robson’s Extreme Fishing Challenge (Five, 9pm)

Actor and presenter Robson Green wraps up the last of his current fishing challenge series in Alaska. For a silver salmon-fishing contest at Resurrection Bay 125 miles south of Anchorage, he’ll be taking on an ex-marine.

Tuesday

Prince Charles: The Royal Restoration (ITV1, 9pm)

Dumfries House is a picturesque, classically styled stately home, set in acres of beautiful countryside, and the interiors have largely remained the same for the past 250 years. By 2007 somebody needed to take the property under their wing to ensure its future – and that person turned out to be the heir to the throne. This documentary charts the project’s progress.

Wednesday

Lewis (ITV1, 8pm)

Babysitter Jessica Lake is found dead, but it isn’t the method of her demise that intrigues Lewis and Hathaway, it’s the way her body was treated after her death – Jess was bound in an unusual manner.

The case leads the police into the murky world of suburban swinging, especially after they unearth fetish-inspired photographs of Jessica at the home of smarmy Tom Garland.

The snaps were taken by Marion Hammond, but the plot thickens when Lewis and Hathaway meet the victim’s boyfriend and her flatmates. Could they hold the key to unlocking the mystery of who killed Jessica and why? And what part does Dr Robert Massey, an ethologist at the university’s primate lab, have to play in the whole sorry tale?

Thursday

Britain’s Lost Routes with Griff Rhys Jones (BBC One, 8pm)

In this four-part documentary, Welsh actor and comedian Griff Rhys Jones explores some of the nation’s forgotten routes, recalling a time before the motor car – when journeys were undertaken on foot, horseback, carriage or under sail.

He begins by retracing the route that Queen Elizabeth I took through the Cotswolds and into the West Country.

Friday 01/06/12

Alan Carr: Chatty Man (Channel 4, 10pm)

Alan Carr hits the sofa for the last time in a wee while. He will be joined by comic Michael McIntyre for a chat about his coming arena tour, and the ever-glamorous Kylie also pops by.

AN NHS Trust has hit out at police calls for it to pay for a new neighbourhood van and specialist crimefighting equipment if it gets permission to build more than 80 homes on its land.

Thames Valley Police says the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust should cough up for the kit if it gets the green light to build on the Manor House Hospital site in Aylesbury.

It says the applicants should pay for the van, as well as radios, BlackBerrys and body-worn cameras to help cope with the increased strain the homes would cause.

The trust plans to demolish the Sue Nicholls Centre and existing houses in Manor House Close to build up to 83 homes.

It says cash raised will be ploughed into improved facilities for patients in Aylesbury.

But it claims police calls for equipment funding are ‘not necessary’.

A letter from Phillip Wright, on behalf of the applicants, to Aylesbury Vale District Council, states: “This development does not form a major urban extension which would require police patrol routes and monitoring areas to be extended beyond current boundaries.

“In this respect, there is limited justification for planning contributions outlined ... on behalf of Thames Valley Police.”

But the trust has agreed to reduce blocks to the north of the site from three storeys to 2.5 following concerns about overlooking from neighbours.

The bid will be decided by AVDC.

A PLAY about Paralympic founder Dr Ludwig ‘Poppa’ Guttmann is set to tour around the Vale later this year.

In October the production, which was commissioned by the district council, will debut at the Waterside Theatre.

After that, it will become part of the council’s Theatre In The Villages programme.

Theatre company Karen Simpson Productions was commissioned to produce the play, which will focus on Dr Guttmann, who set up the Stoke Mandeville Games, which later became the Paralympics.

Arts Council England contributed £69,000 for the show.

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after a bag was stolen from the front seat of a van.

At about 12.22pm on Tuesday (22/5), a 58-year-old man was driving his blue Fiat Scudo van towards Princes Risborough on Bradenham Road, under the railway bridge near to Christmas Cottage and just after the Carters Steam Fair, when he was overtaken at speed by a black Audi Estate with silver wheels which pulled in front of him and remained stationary, blocking both lanes of traffic.

It is possible the rear passenger and windscreen windows of the Audi were tinted.

The occupants of the Audi got out of the car and distracted the victim while one of them stole the victim’s bag from the front seat of his van. The offenders then drove off at speed in the direction of High Wycombe.

The bag contained £40 and various bank cards.

The driver of the Audi was a white man with short dark hair.

The man who took the bag was white, aged between 25 and 30, of stocky build and he was wearing a green top.

The man who distracted the victim is described as white aged between 25 and 30, of a medium to stocky build, with dark hair. He was wearing dark coloured trousers, a light coloured T-shirt with a pattern on the front.

Police are appealing for any witnesses to the incident and would particularly like to speak to a woman who was in a car behind the victim’s and who may have valuable information.

Anyone who may have seen someone acting suspiciously in this area or has any information about the stolen property should contact PC Alex Kratky via the new 24-hour non-emergency single number 101.

Dyslexic and sight-impaired children have sung the praises of an Aylesbury-based help group to some of the world’s biggest stars.

Two dyslexic brothers, Joshua and Matthew MacMillan, aged six and nine, have written to 100 celebrities praising Aylesbury-based Calibre Audio charity for helping them discover the power of literature in a bid to gain their Blue Peter badges.

Celebs the boys wrote to included David Cameron, ITV presenter Lorraine Kelly, The Duchess of Cambridge, Bill Gates, Daniel Radcliffe and children’s laureate Julia Donaldson.

And the youngsters have been lucky enough to receive responses from all of the above.

Director at the charity, Michael Lewington, said it was fantastic to know Audio Calibre, which sends out around 1,800 audio books a day, has been able to help the boys so significantly.

“All of this is really great news,” said Mr Lewington.

“The fact that the two boys decided to write all those letters is wonderful – and it’s so heart-warming that celebrities such as Lorraine Kelly could find the time to respond with handwritten letters.

“They even received a response from Downing Street and the royals, who must get thousands and thousands of letters.

“All of this has of course really done well to raise the profile of the charity, and as the boys are from Scotland, it’s raised our profile there, too. It’s all about letting people know we’re out there.

“The aim of the charity is to provide audio books to anyone who is ‘print disabled’, which means that as a result of dyslexia or physical disabilities, they are unable to read books.

“We have around 18,500 members, and more than half of our children are dyslexic.

“As a director here, I ac tually feel like I can personally give back to the community.

“Audio books can be of so much benefit to kids – it’s been proven that it actually improves their academic progress, as well as their general wellbeing. And with older people, who perhaps cannot hold a book because of sever rheumatoid arthritis, it allows them to start reading again.”

Visit www.calibre.org.uk

I AM old enough and wise enough not to take everything I read in the national newspapers without a pinch of salt, but the sad fact is that nowadays the truth can often be stranger than fiction.

If the latest revelations concerning some low grade Government employees being trained in three days for what it takes an Immigration Officer far longer to learn are true, then things have come to a pretty pathetic level.

Has anyone considered that since Government employees have been told to work from home for the duration of the Olympics, how are these new Immigration Officers going to get to work? And how will their change of job affect Government work... or aren’t these people really necessary anyway?

I understand that we all have to work harder (apart from those of us who would like to work beyond our retirement age but are denied), but I just wonder whether or not the authorities haven’t lost the plot.

If it only takes three days to train up these clerks to be capable of doing the job and earn large bonuses, why can’t we retrain some unemployed folk who would be only too pleased to work for £250 a day and pay tax on it?

This would then leave the clerks to carry out their own jobs and thus the Government departments would not be able to claim later this year that they fell behind because they where deployed elsewhere.

It isn’t as if the Government ministers are too busy elsewhere, they didn’t even have time to advise the Queen that is would be best not to invite certain World leaders to lunch at Windsor Castle the other day let alone to be seen shaking hands with them and holding a conversation.

I can’t believe that Her Majesty was expected to take this opportunity to mention to the King of Bahrain that his regime is accused of human rights abuse or inform the King of Swaziland Mswati the Third that he stands accused of allowing his people to starve. Perhaps our Foreign Secretary had other things on his mind.

PS I am given to understand that it has been claimed that the Immigration Officers who used taxis rather than their own cars which where parked in the airport staff car park did save us some money by sharing cabs to Gatwick and Stanstead so there!

PPS My Spaniel ‘Gemma’ only just failed the test to become a ‘Sniffer dog’ a few years ago so can I offer her services to the country at this critical time? Naturally neither her or owner would expect payment for this, well I new ball wouldn’t be refused (By ‘Gemma’ that is).

CELEBRATIONS have been taking place after Winslow Playgroup received a positive result in its latest Ofsted report to complete an impressive turnaround.

Following an inspection in April, the group’s rating has leapt from inadequate to good since the previous Ofsted visit in October.

The latest report rates the playgroup as ‘good’ in all 17 areas inspected.

It says: “The nursery provides a stimulating and exciting learning environment both inside and out.”

Playgroup leader Judith Majaika said: “In six months we’ve turned it round from‘inadequate to good.

“It was the same inspector who came round and did the inspection.

“She was delighted to see how much improvement we’ve made.”

The playgroup, based in Winslow Youth Centre, has now moved into the upstairs of the building, rather than spreading over both floors.

If the town council’s ambition to take over responsibility for the youth centre building goes ahead, the plan would be to carry out minor interior alterations so the playgroup could be self-contained on the ground floor, with direct access to the enclosed outdoor play area.

ARLA Foods, which is set to move to the world’s biggest megadairy in Aston Clinton, has announced a major merger with the UK’s largest dairy farmer co-operative.

The merge between Arla and Milk Link was confirmed by bosses at both firms.

The two companies have a combined turnover of more than £2 billion, and produce three billion litres of milk each year.

Arla’s £150m plant in Aston Clinton, which was approved by Aylesbury Vale District Council in September last year, is due to be open in 2013.

The firm claims it will create nearly 700 jobs.

Peter Lauritzen, chief executive of Arla Foods UK plc said: “The enlarged business will be focused on delivering a sustainable future for our farmer owners.

“It will mean that the largest and most progressive dairy business in the UK will be owned by Milk Link and Arla Foods amba farmers, as well as by Arla Foods Milk Partnership members, through their shareholding in Arla Foods UK plc.”