Emmerdale actor Freddie Jones and the late playwright David Halliwell are among the contributors to a new anthology of poems about Charlbury.

Does Nothing Rhyme With Charlbury? is the brainchild of local publisher Jon Carpenter and was edited by resident Rob Stepney.

Poems by Charlbury actor Mr Jones, who plays Sandy Thomas in the ITV soap opera, and Little Malcolm author Mr Halliwell, who died in March, feature in the anthology, alongside work by other residents.

Mr Stepney said: "This is a collection of poems about Charlbury by anyone, and by Charlbury people about any- thing.

"It is remarkable that you can get such a strong and varied body of work from a very small town."

Subjects covered in the anthology include love, loss, seasons, beer, cricket and anger.

One poem, written by Frank Dunn in 1973, celebrates Charlbury's annual street fair. It reads: Lords and ladies, lads and lasses!

If the weather should be fine Throng the Charlbury street in masses On September twenty nine.

Another poem, by Mr Halliwell, is a dialogue between two lovers who imagine All Saints Church, in Shorthampton, near Charlbury, as the scene of their wedding.

The extract was reproduced with permission from his sister Liz Antcliffe and brother Roger.

Mr Stepney added that the popularity of the anthology had inspired Mr Carpenter to look into publishing a series of books featuring other towns and villages in Oxfordshire.

Does Nothing Rhyme With Charlbury? costs £8.99, £2.50 of which goes to the All Saints Church appeal. It is on sale at Evenlode Books, in Market Street, Charlbury.