25 years ago

LIVES are being put at risk by a shortage of volunteer firemen in Henley. Vital minutes are being added to fire calls because the town is the worst manned in Oxfordshire. The fire station is so undermanned that only one of its two engines can be sent out during the day. That means Townlands and Borocourt hospitals, which should have two engines from Henley and another from Watlington or Goring covering them, are often left with just the one.

More than £8,000 worth of designer sunglasses have been stolen from Henley opticians Graeme Bunker. The thieves stripped the Friday Street shop bare of big names such as Ray-Ban and Hugo Boss in the early hours of Wednesday. The owner, who lives above the premises, was out at the time. It was the second raid on the practice in nine months.

The controversial closure of Henley’s Crown Post Office is just over a fortnight away. Post Office Counter staff will serve their last customers in the Reading Road building at lunchtime on Saturday, August 17, when the business of the post office will transfer to an agency — Martin Newsagents in Hart Street, which will take on the full range of post office services.