A FORMER Downing Street employee was appointed as the new High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in a makeshift 'digital' ceremony.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, Amanda Ponsonby from Sarsden Glebe, Chipping Norton, was sworn in for the voluntary role at her kitchen table with only her husband and three children as official witnesses.

The planned ‘Declaration’ at the Oxford Crown Court would have been before a High Court Judge the government-enforced lockdown meant that this annual historic occasion had to be cancelled.

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Since moving to Oxfordshire, Mrs Ponsonby has been involved in a large number of local community organisations in North Oxfordshire and has run the family farm enterprise.

She said: "The plans for the start of my year in office are changing fast.

"A diary which was full of events is now almost empty but I am keener than ever to support the many excellent community and voluntary organisations in the county which are rising to the challenges posed by the current crisis.

"Oxfordshire is full of wonderful people doing their best to care for all those in desperate need."