Just one market stall holder made it to Banbury's historic Thursday market this week and he was selling - hats and gloves! The hardy market stall holder travelled from Warwick to set up the stall and despite the small number of shoppers was expereincing a brisk trade!

The picture that tells the story many of us have been experiencing in The Four Shires. Over ten inches of snow has fallen during the last 24 hours. This picture was taken in Hook Norton.

It’s likely that some people’s New Year resolution will be to lose weight - but be careful how you go about it as you could end up losing more £’s than lbs.

Trading Standards Teams at across the country have seen a rise in the number of complaints about spam emails and internet pop-up adverts promoting free trials of acai berry diet pills.

People are encouraged to sign up for a free trial of the pills and have to submit their credit card details to pay a small postage and packaging fee.

It is only later that customers receive their statements and realise they have subscribed to receive the products on a monthly basis at a cost of about £79 per month.

On closer inspection of the terms and conditions consumers realise the trial is automatically followed by a subscription and unless they cancel the subscription within 14 days their account will be debited on a monthly basis.

One Somerset complainant had hundreds of pounds taken from their account by to a company selling acai berries.

Community Safety Councillor William Wallace commented “Somerset County Council takes the issue of fraud very seriously. We would like to remind consumers of the importance of checking the small print and thoroughly reading the terms and conditions when signing up for free product trials.”

Anyone who is concerned about free online trials should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.

The Four Shires has always valued good pictures very highly and one likes to think that they are used well throughout the magazine. We have a vast archive of older pictures here at our offices that date from the late 50's through to the present day. They feature many aspects of Four Shires life (the vast majority were taken by photographer Graham Wilton, who used to work for newspapers in the area). We have previously featured work from this time on the web, but are looking to update the dispay so more Four Shires subscribers have access to this amazing photo library.

Villages in the south of Cherwell will soon be able to start collecting cooked and uncooked food waste when they join the council’s new recycling scheme.
Homes there are set to receive their kitchen caddies, meaning residents can start recycling food waste.
Along with the caddy they will receive a free roll of compostable corn starch liners and an information pack including a fridge magnet outlining what can now go in the brown bin.
The latest villages to join the scheme include Ardley, Upper and Lower Heyford and Weston-on-the-Green. A full list can be found below.
Their caddies will start arriving on 5 January and first food waste collections will take place a fortnight later.
The second tranche of villages including Islip and Shipton-on-Cherwell will start receiving caddies on 19 January and collections will begin on 2 February.
Councillor George Reynolds, portfolio holder for environment, recreation and health, said: “Residents in the north of the district have already welcomed this scheme and we believe their counterparts in the south will be just as enthusiastic.
“All cooked and uncooked food waste can now go in the brown bin. This will then go on to be composted at a new facility in Ardley.
“The government levies hefty fines for every tonne of waste which we send to landfill, so taking part in this scheme is better for both the environment and our pockets.”
Once these 10,000 homes are on board there will be 27,300 taking part in the scheme across the district. A further 13,500 in Bicester will receive their caddies in February.
Oxfordshire Waste Partnership is part-funding the scheme and spokesman, Paul Mocroft, said: "Those living in the south of Cherwell can make the perfect new year's resolution to recycle all their food scraps.
“With the excesses of Christmas out of the way, it's time to put the green bin on a diet and feed the brown one instead."
About 12,000 tonnes of food waste goes to landfill each year in Cherwell but the new scheme should cut this back by 4,000 tonnes next year and 5,000 in 2011/12.
Anyone with an enquiry about the scheme can visit www.cherwell.gov.uk/foodwaste, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 01295 227001.

Rugby players at Winchester House School, Brackleywere lucky enoug to meet ex England rugby raptain, Martin Corry and International representative players, Ben Kay (England) and Geordan Murphy (Ireland) for an afternoon of coaching. The aim of the afternoon was to pass on rugby skills through game situations and just to have some fun. The children certainly did enjoy themselves and were so excited to have these famous players to play against. It was quite a treat for the members of Staff also!
Geordan Murphy gave a one to one clinic to the 1st XV full back Charlie Purton and general advice on lines of running and attacking options to the 1st and 2nd XV threequarters. Martin Corry prepared the U11 teams for their up coming 9’s tournament at Cokethorpe  which they ended up winning and Ben Kay mentored the 3rd XV and U11 C and D teams.
At the end of games, all the boys and girls gathered in the sports hall for a question and answer session. The children asked some intelligent and interesting questions. The afternoon was rounded up with the presentation of school colours to 1st XV and 2nd XV players by Martin Corry himself. Something I’m sure the recipients will never forget.
The afternoon was a huge success and the children certainly were thrilled. A massive thank you to Martin, Ben and Geordan for taking the time out of their busy schedules and making this so special for the children.
Winchester House in Brackley is an independent co-educational school for children aged 3-13.