• It has been an exciting few months for Carterton town councillor Adrian Coomber, pictured. He became mayor earlier this year and now, we are pleased to announce, he is about to hit a new record on a computer game.

This column reported in March that Mr Coomber had reached a score of 657,608 escaping demon monkeys in the game Temple Run.

Mr Coomber’s latest score is 3,919,160, according to his Twitter account.

Who says that politicians have too much time on their hands?

  • THE public hearing into the planned Barton West housing estate has left no stone unturned (and they haven’t wasted a penny on hi-tech modelling either).

At Tuesday’s heated session on whether to lower the speed limit along the A40, Oxfordshire County Council officer Martin Tugwell suggested that those taking part in the hearing observed a minute’s silence.

This was not to mourn the passing of Oxford City Council’s vision of creating an urban boulevard, but to prove how frustrating it would be for drivers to be stuck in traffic for an extra sixty seconds as a result of the proposed speed limit change.

Given that some members of the audience were making the most of the Barton West hearings to catch up on some much-needed sleep, perhaps it’s a good thing the suggestion wasn’t acted upon.

  • What do Oxford’s finest legal eagles do when the wigs come off? Go and play rock music in a pub, of course.

The Crooked Pot in Abingdon Road was perhaps an unusual venue in which to find more than 20 of the city’s lawyers and court staff last Friday, but so it proved.

The band, the Dodgy Briefs, brought their ‘Murdering the Classics’ tour to the venue formerly known as the Berkshire House to be judged by their peers.

Musician-turned-barrister Alistair Grainger starred on bass while fellow advocate James Reilly thoroughly cross examined the highest of high notes.

When asked for a verdict, The Insider’s source replied: “The jury’s still out.”

  • The Insider fears Oxfordshire’s robbers could soon be swapping the old stocking over the head for a full on Cabbage White or Red Admiral disguise.

Why? Well, West Oxfordshire’s top cop Colin Paine has revealed on Twitter that he has a real fear of butterflies.

The not-so-fearless crimefighter added: “Look at their faces. Creepy.”