HARRY'S HERE: On the stroke of midnight on Friday, the first copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were handed to partygoers after an evening of spider-counting, quizzes, film-watching and a chance to hold a real owl. The Bookshop at West Street, Chipping Norton was decorated with Hogwarts signs above the door and a lighted sconce outside, where guests spilled out to meet and hold owls brought by staff from the Cotswold Falconry Centre at Batsford Park.

David Emery won first prize of a free copy of the book for his owl costume. Runners-up included David Marriott, Willow Campbell and Jenny Coleman.

Ten-year-old David Marriott reached page 73 of his copy by Saturday afternoon. His large print copy was a special order and mum Gill Marriott thanked The Bookshop. "None of the big chain bookshops I tried would do it," she said. "You can get it from the National Blind Association but it takes about a month. It's great for him to have it the same time as everyone else."

LUCKY TRACY: Tracy Shadbolt of Cotswold Crescent was presented with a cheque for the cost her £150 season ticket for the Lido with her children, Rory, Paris, Devon, Gabryel and Ryan, on Tuesday. The Lido's season ticket draw was funded by a private donation. Everyone buying season tickets before the end of May was entered, to encourage people to buy tickets early.

CRIER'S SUCCESS: Town crier Anthony Church achieved third place in the British Town Crier Competition and addressed the town council meeting to present the town with a copy of the certificate.

There was discussion of the accounts for the Market Charter celebration with VE Day theme in May. The organising committee, chaired by Lynn Sinclair-Barry decided how the lottery grant was spent. No town council money was used and the council was not directly involved in organising the day, although a separate town council account was used to administer the funding.