Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

This week's most popular reads included a man who had to climb a tree to escape an angry cow, a community that is plagued by sewer issues and a school accepting girls for the first time in its history.

We have picked five stories from the past seven days across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

"It's bizarre when you see it - it's so shocking most people just cannot believe what's going on," says Adam Faulkner.

He has filmed countless vehicles driving up and down a river that is one of the world's rarest habitats, but is legally classed as an unclassified road.

There are only about 260 chalk streams on the planet, but in one section of the River Meon in Hampshire you can expect to see motor vehicles driving along it.

Local residents and experts want the ancient byway closed, saying 4x4s are causing serious damage to the precious habitat.

But green lane enthusiasts say the right to drive along the 200m section of the river must remain and it is vital that access to the countryside is for everyone.

Residents have raised concerns after water from sewers was pumped into a stream to prevent flooding.

Water from sewers in Cerne Abbas, in Dorset, has been discharged by Wessex Water into a stream that feeds the nearby River Cerne.

The firm said it was removing rain and groundwater from the sewers and that the practice is allowed by the Environment Agency when groundwater levels are "exceptionally high".

But resident Robin Mills said it demonstrated that the area's drainage infrastructure is "not fit for purpose".

A man had to be rescued after climbing a tree to escape from an angry cow.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (HIWFRS) said he had been walking his dog on a public footpath through Whiteley Bank on Wednesday morning when he encountered the animal, apparently feeling protective towards its calf.

Fire crews and the cow's owner managed to coax both the cow and the calf back into their field and the man was able to climb down after more than an hour in the tree.

HIWFRS warned people walking in the countryside to "keep your distance" from livestock which can have strong maternal instincts to protect their young.

One of the UK's most prestigious independent schools will accept girls into its main student body for the first time in its near five-and-a-half-century history from next year.

Magdalen College School (MCS) in Oxford said it would be welcoming girls into years three and four from 2027, and then into year seven in 2030.

The school was founded in 1480 and was this year included in the Sunday Times' Top 20 Independent Schools list.

Its move to co-educational comes 15 years after the school's sixth form first began accepting girls.

A council has asked the government for a £30m emergency loan to help it stay afloat.

It is the second year running West Berkshire Council has applied for exceptional financial support to balance its books.

Council leader Jeff Brooks said: "Even if council tax rises in line with the limits set by government, this still leaves us with much less money to spend on essential local services - that isn't fair on our residents and it isn't sustainable in the long-term."

The government has said its financial settlement for the next three years is "fairer" and "targeting the places and services that need it most".