It's business as usual for high street bank Abbey. Despite a takeover approach from HBOS - situated over the road in Northbrook Street - Abbey is about to install a new shopfront at its Newbury branch. It changed from Abbey National to Abbey earlier this year.

New village hall

The scattered hamlet of Enborne is to get a new parish hall. The Bishop of Oxford has given the thumbs-up to convert two barns at Enborne Rectory - where Jane Austen was a frequent visitor - into a house and a new hall. Parish council meetings and other local gatherings currently take place in the school in Wheatlands Road. The case is before town planners.

Infill continues

The trend to make a pile from homes in Andover Road continues. A detached house in the pretty cul-de-sac at Woodridge could be turned into three houses. Neighbours and the town council are usually vociferously opposed to these developments, which they believe are transforming an elegant suburb into an Essex housing estate.