Kate Griffin freelance journalism and editing

It’s been reported extensively elsewhere, but I’ll add my own voice to the joyful chorus: the Cogges Link Road is dead!

The long-anticipated report arising from the public inquiry found that the scheme did not meet the test of “overwhelming public interest” that would have justified compulsory purchase of the land from the Mawle Trust.

I wrote recently about the poor reporting of the Cogges Link Road inquiry. Now Oxfordshire County Council have begun work on the road without waiting for the outcome of the inquiry, and the Oxford Mail ran a story on it today after local anti-road campaigners Witney First protested on site yesterday.

Last autumn I spent an unexpected amount of time in Witney Methodist Church. No, I hadn’t suddenly become religious; I was reporting a public inquiry into a local planning issue and the Methodist Church was where it took place.

Jeremy Hunt has now announced plans to give out licences for local television stations. Ofcom has identified 65 towns and cities where local terrestrial TV is technically possible and these places will be invited to bid for licences.

I popped into the Witney branch of Robert Dyas today. Yeah, maybe I am a glutton for punishment. I found the can of WD40 I was looking for within minutes, so this isn’t another thrilling tale about my epic search for something-or-other.

“I liked The Stig. He came round my house, he had drinks... and all the time he was writing a book.” For the first time since “Stig-Gate” unfolded, Jeremy Clarkson publicly shared his feelings of betrayal. But the interview wasn’t with a national paper or broadcaster. He was talking to Witney TV, an online news station that didn’t exist six months ago.

Welcome to the first in an occasional series of anecdotes about usability problems. It sounds a bit grand to call them case studies because they’re really just stories, so I’m calling them Real Life Tales of Usability Fail.