AS any East Oxford resident will testify, parking in that part of the city is hellish.

The side streets are choked with parked cars, while numerous anxious motorists circle like vultures preying on those elusive spaces.

The whole thing can be rather stressful, particularly if you have an appointment to keep.

Politicians are always looking for innovative answers and Culture Minister Ed Vaizey, above, struck on one last week.

The Wantage MP had a meeting at the Old Bookbinders cafe and, with no space in sight, he simply leapt out of his moving car...leaving his two aides to circle the back streets with the almost impossible task of finding a space big enough for a Range Rover.

Mr Vaizey strode into the former bindery-turned-guerrilla-arts-centre on time and looking cool.

The aides followed 10 minutes later looking hot and bothered.

The Insider hears that Oxford Students got a dressing down for, err, dressing down this week following some well-documented Alpine high jinks.

Students from Oxford and Cambridge stripped off in front of a crowd of 500 revellers to mark the end of their annual varsity ski trip at French resort Val Thorens.

Some posed for pictures on the slopes, covered in pasta sauce and hot chocolate.

The Daily Telegraph reports that those studying at St Anne’s College were told that more was expected of them and warned about antics that might bring the institution into disrepute.

Oxford students behaving badly...that rings a bell.

In November, undergrads claimed to be the “worst-behaved in Britain”, according to a survey for TV channel MTV.

The future captains of industry and world leaders-in-waiting boasted they behaved more “oafishly” than other students and regularly drank too much.

Perfect prep then.

Isn’t social networking great? In a fix, need a favour or advice? Then simply tweet and wait for your thousands of followers to respond.

It has worked for stranded brides on their big day...but was less successful for city councillor (and Twitter addict) Antonia Bance.

The Labour councillor, who has 1,451 followers, offered to hit the streets and canvass for anyone who could help her with an (unspecified) favour regarding blog software Wordpress.

But unfortunately (for her), the chivalrous knight who stepped forward was Tory county councillor Arash Fatemian. He offered to sort out her hi-tech troubles if she campaigned for him in Kennington.

The Insider doubts if this Big Society solution ever got off the ground.