Central Beds Council is on the verge of cracking down on motorists who park badly.

The council introduced a district-wide ban in 2014 aimed at stopping drivers parking on verges and pavements, but is aware it is widely flouted.

However a council report has now warned: “Officers will be introducing the necessary measures to enable enforcement action, focusing on those streets where the safety threat from inconsiderate and asocial parking is considered to be most acute.

The council says the ban was introduced in recognition “that the damage caused places an additional strain on limited maintenance budgets and that obstructive parking directly compromises the safety of vulnerable road users.”

A CBC spokesman added this week: “We do have a CBC-wide prohibition of parking on verges and footways which was brought into operation in 2014. However, it is only enforceable when the correct regulatory signs have been installed.

“It has proved difficult to use that restriction for various reasons, such as migration of parking to adjacent streets and lack of support from local people.”

> Is parking a problem in your part of LBO land? Email news@lbobserver.co.uk

Award-winning pianist Jinah Shim will join Aylesbury Symphony Orchestra for their next concert, taking place this weekend.

The concert has an American theme and will include George Gershwin’s instantly recognisable Rhapsody in Blue, performed by Jinah, who was the winner of the 2015 Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Concert

Artists.

Jinah began learning the piano at the age of five and entered and won competitions and festivals during her school years.

She studied with Professor Malcolm Wilson at the Birmingham Conservatoire on a full scholarship as a junior student.

Continuing the American theme, the weekend concert will include Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 From the New World.

Written while Dvorak was in America, this piece includes the popular Largo, which is often seen as an expression of his desire to be back home in his native land.

Readers may recognise the music from the famous Hovis bread television advertisement in the Seventies, where a young delivery boy was seen pushing his bicycle up a very steep cobbled street.

Completing the concert programme Jinah will join the orchestra on piano for Marquez’s Danzon No. 2 which

celebrates a dance style with its origins in Cuba, but which is a part of the folklore of Mexico.

Written for full orchestra, the piece features solos for clarinet, oboe, piano, violin, trumpet and piccolo and will be sure to have everyone tapping their feet.

The orchestra will be conducted by Ben Palmer, acclaimed for his innovative and imaginative programming, who is gaining increasing recognition around the world as an inspiring and versatile conductor.

The concert takes place at St Mary’s Church in Church Street, Aylesbury, from 4pm on Sunday, May 7.

Tickets are £12 for adults and £10 for concessions and are available from the orchestra website at www.aylesburyorchestra.co.uk.

Students under 18 accompanied by an adult pay only £5 to get in.

The Leighton Buzzard Observer is joining forces with local and regional titles across the UK to support a campaign to oppose fake news.

Major publishers have come together with the industry representative body, the News Media Association, to launch ‘Fighting Fake News’, which will run throughout May.

Fake news is a trend that’s becoming a global problem in the fast-paced digital world of the internet and social media.

Sometimes you’ll easily spot these made-up articles maybe hosted on websites set up entirely for satire, but at other times the material can be manipulated to look like credible journalistic reports that are easily spread online to large audiences willing to believe the fictions and spread the word.

Take one Bedfordshire-focused spoof news website. They’ve been ‘reporting’ on fires, crime, the arts, and local council matters, among other subjects.

Tucked away in the ‘About Us’ section is the clue that you’ve got to take their articles with a huge pinch of salt... They state: “A spoof news website. Our content is a load of old fictitious phoney. Just to clarify its all made up and not to be taken factually.”

However, that caveat can be easily missed and proof that the public can be taken in by fake news comes from the calls received at this office in recent months asking for us to verify if what a person has heard or read about from other sources is true - invariably it isn’t.

Back in the real world there’s only one place to come for a reliable source of news – your Leighton Buzzard Observer.

Our newspaper – established in 1861 and still going strong – and website is a respected and trusted source of news.

We employ professionally-trained journalists to collate and write news articles, demonstrating the difference between what our journalists and brands have to offer against the unregulated world of the internet and social media.

We will report and explain the issues in an entirely neutral, honest and balanced way.

In recent times we have drawn attention to long-running concerns about the policing of Leighton Buzzard, extensively covered the controversy over the retail parks planned for the town, and thrown the spotlight on a variety of community issues which are important to you, our valued readers.

Readers turn to us to ensure their voice is heard, when they want to shout proudly about their achievements, publicise their events, or when they want us to investigate a perceived injustice and seek to hold those responsible to account for their actions.

Our news is the genuine article. Fact - not fake.

This article originally appeared in The Conversation

If you’ve heard an interview with any Conservative politician during the current election campaign, you’ve probably heard the phrase “strong and stable leadership”. Theresa May used the phrase three times in seven minutes on the day she announced the vote.

It was clearly a key slogan – and therefore a key aspect of the campaign – right from the start. Since then, Buzzfeed has tracked May’s use of the phrase (giving up at 57 times in ten days). It even featured in the political cartoon for the first edition of the London Evening Standard under its new editor.

It would be easy to dismiss this as just one of those irritating political hooks that are part and parcel of any election. Political history is littered with some far worse campaign slogans (remember the Conservatives’ 2005 “Are you thinking what we’re thinking?” – an obscure slogan, to which the public’s answer was a clear “no”). But everything we know about leadership tells us that language is central, so we have to take this careful repetition seriously. What does Theresa May mean by “strong and stable leadership” – and why is it important?

Constructing a reality?

Linda Smircich and Gareth Morgan, two of the world’s most prominent and insightful analysts of organisation, argued in the early 1980s that “successful” leadership (that is, persuading someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do) depended on a leader persuading people of a specific reality. This process of social construction happens mostly through language. That makes language central to politics, as a means of persuasion as much as a means of communicating ideas or policies.

“Strong and stable” tells us that the Conservative party strategists want us to think of all other options as weak and unstable. Social theorists have been telling us for a long time that the meaning we derive from language is relational. The idea of “strong” is therefore understood in relation to an implicit idea of “weak”. Conservative-sponsored adverts in this election and the last in 2015 are keen to tell us the parties and leaders who are weak and unstable.

There’s usually a hierarchy in this way of constructing meaning. The implication here is that strong is better than weak. This is especially true of the idea of leadership. We are bombarded daily with implicit and explicit messages that strong leadership is the ideal. You don’t have to be a believer in “servant leadership” to doubt the idea of strong leadership. There’s plenty of evidence of the damage that strong leaders, in politics and in workplaces, can do.

The strong man?

There’s another factor at play here, too. The repetition of “strong and stable” is becoming important because it carries a series of assumptions with it. Who do you think of when someone talks about strong leadership? Someone tall, able-bodied, probably white, speaking in a deep pitch – and probably male. This ideal is reinforced by corporate commissioned leader portraits and by the representation of leaders in popular culture.

The promotion of this leaderly ideal by a Conservative party led by a woman at the moment isn’t especially surprising. We’re in the midst of a significant fourth wave of feminist activism and theory and political representation is one of the key areas of activity. British politics, with the honourable exception of the Labour party, is notoriously resistant to structural change through positive discrimination schemes such as quotas. In representing their woman leader in this way, the Conservatives emphasise their contribution to that wider social movement, but without really questioning it.

This election campaign will see a lot of discussion about whether we can trust political party leaders. Laying claim to being “strong and stable” shouldn’t mean unthinking followership. When any of us hear a politician, or someone with leadership responsibility in a workplace, tell us what kind of leadership they think we need – ask why they need to use language in this persuasive way, what they’re not saying, and what associations the linguistic images bring with them. Then maybe we can avoid following leaders without thinking. That can only end badly.

The RSPCA is asking dog owners to control their animals in public places after a swan was killed at Tiddenfoot Lake.

The swan was found by Ross King when he was walking his puppy on Thursday, April 13. She was rescued by the RSPCA and taken to Tiggywinkles, but sadly died from her injuries.

Ross found the injured swan on her nest near Tiddenfoot Lake. He said: “I was walking my puppy with my children, we decided we would explore the area around the lake, we found the swan badly injured, still sitting on her nest protecting her eggs.

“The RSPCA rep suspected that the injuries had happened a couple of days before, judging by her condition. She was taken to Tiggywinkles.

“I called them on the Tuesday and they told me the mother swan had died on the Saturday, but all seven eggs were incubated in the hope they hatch.

“I think it must have been a big dog and the attack must have taken a while for it to cause that much damage to the swan.

“People should be aware of where their dogs are at all times, especially when there out in public places.”

The RSPCA want people to control their animals when they know there is wildlife nearby.

A spokesperson for the animal charity said: “We were called on Thursday 13th April after a swan had been attacked by a dog at Tiddenfoot Lake. The swan was collected by the RSPCA and taken to a wildlife centre, however very sadly the swan was so badly injured that she did not survive.

“It would have been very distressing for people to witness this attack, and the message here is clear - please keep your dog under control when you know you are near wildlife.

“Remember that a wild animal may be nearby, but not instantly obvious, so make sure you keep a watch out.

“Legally dog owners should have charge and control of their animals in a public place.

“We are asking dog owners to act responsibly to ensure sad incidents such as this are prevented.”

Mamma Mia! really is the ultimate jukebox-style musical and, while this latest touring production opened in Milton Keynes on Tuesday night to rapturous applause, that adulation will surely be repeated at each and every show right up until it closes at the new city's theatre on 20 May… that's judging on last night's performance.

With a soundtrack penned by Abba's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus being woven into a rather fanciful and somewhat bonkers storyline by playwright Catherine Johnson, the Mamma Mia! musical was actually the brainchild of theatre producer Judy Craymer after she met the two Swedish superstars when they were working with Tim Rice on his masterpiece, Chess.

Set on a sun-baked Greek island, it's the story of 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan (played by Lucy May Barker) and the search for her real father ahead of her wedding to fiancé Sky (Phillip Ryan).

But as her mother Donna (Helen Hobson) had flings with three likely candidates in a carefree period spanning just 15 days some 21 years earlier, even she's not sure which of the dashing trio is her daughter's true father!

However as Sophie is keen that her dad walks her down the aisle, she discovers the three names after reading one of her mum's old diaries and, unbeknown to mum Donna, she secretly invites them all to come to her wedding… and that when the fun really starts!

All the best-known Abba songs – including Thank You For The Music, Voulez-Vous, Dancing Queen, S.O.S., Money, Money Money and, of course, Mamma Mia! – are sung at the appropriate time (and on the right occasion) while those familiar with the show (and film) will know the rest.

I saw the original show in London's West End shortly after it opened and then again while visiting friends in Germany several years later. On that occasion all the dialogue and even the songs had been translated into German, yet amazingly, it didn't detract from the enjoyment and energy of this fun stage production. In fact my wife and I both sang in our best English at the top of our voices during the finale… as did our two German hosts!

Shortly after that the Mamma Mia! film was released starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Julia Walters and Colin Firth with Amanda Seyfried – who played Cosette in the Les Miserables film – in the role of Sophie, and that added a yet new dimension to what is a true blockbuster show. In fact I know we've got the DVD somewhere and I've seen that at least half a dozen times!

It really is a show full of energy and enthusiasm. It's tacky, quirky, sometimes emotional and romantic while being foot-tappingly brilliant. Those 1970s and 1980s numbers will live forever, especially among those of us old enough to remember watching the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest and enjoying Abba's superb winner, Waterloo!

I loved Helen Hobson's portrayal as mum Donna. Her excellent timing and tuneful voice, while not quite in Abba's Agnetha Fältskog or Anni-Frid Lyngstad range, still allowed her to recreate some of those memorable classics even though the orchestra sometimes tried to overpower her.

Helping get Sophie ready for her wedding, she was superb in singing the memorable and charming 'Slipping Through My Fingers', see also received rapturous applause for her brilliant rendition of 'One Of Us' and 'The Winner Takes It All'.

Meanwhile her two comical sidekicks – Rosie and Tanya – had the audience in raptures as they added so much to the humour of this superb touring production. Gillian Hardie (Rosie) had a tinge of a Liverpudlian accent while bringing shades of Julie Walters' film character to the role, her 'Take A Chance On Me' number bringing the house down.

Meanwhile Emma Clifford (Tanya) was slightly straighter but just as funny – 'Does Your Mother Know' was great! – and together with Donna, the trio giggle and sing their hearts out.

And then there's those likely fathers, Sam Carmichael (played by Jon Boydon), Bill Austin – I'm sure his film surname was Anderson! – is taken by Christopher Hollins while Harry Bright's actor is Jamie Hogarth, all three being far more melodic than the Mamma Mia! film trio of the aforementioned Brosnan, Firth and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård!

Also full marks to the lovely Lucy May Barker who makes the role of Sophie her very own with some cracking vocals, her 'I Have A Dream' number both opening and closing the show.

Full marks also to gymnast Louis Stockil as Sky's sidekick Pepper who is infatuated by Tanya. His individual dance routine and acrobatics are very clever indeed. I also loved the stag party beach scene when all the lads dance in flipper while wearing goggles and snorkels.

One of my Abba favourites is 'Our Last Summer' which is performed by Harry (James Hogarth) and Donna while another, 'When All Is Said And Done' (the solo Pierce Brosnan sings in the film), is missing as is the anthemic 'Waterloo'.

However while 'Waterloo' doesn't actually featured in the storyline, once the curtain rises on the show's colourful glitzy, glamourous, boots and lycra finale, the whole audience is up on its feet, clapping, stamping and dancing to 'Dancing Queen' before finishing off with the song that made Abba a household name back in the day!

In the pit are six tremendous band members under the direction of the keyboard-playing Richard Weeden while the whole cast and production is of the very highest quality.

It really is a cracking show so 'Why Not Take A Chance On Me' and get yourself a ticket for Mamma Mia! by calling the Box Office on 0844 871 7652 (7p per minute and booking fees apply) or online at www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes.

Mamma Mia! plays Milton Keynes Theatre until Saturday, 20 May

For foodies it is a sad fact that Aylesbury Vale is not exactly awash with top notch dining destinations, but Oakman Inns are doing their damnedest to change that.

Sure the Vale has some great pub-restaurants dotted around but you generally have to travel that bit further to escape the usual chains which now dominate most modern towns.

Nestled away in the Vale countryside over in Swanbourne is the Betsey Wynne, a relatively rare thing in that it is a new(ish) build pub-restaurant, but one with plenty of history behind it nonetheless.

Surrounded by patios, manicured gardens and 1,300 acres of farmland, The Betsey Wynne was taken over by Oakman Inns - founded by Tring entrepeneur and restauranteur Peter Borg-Neal - in January last year. Named after the Swanbourne Estate’s 18th century owner, the traditional home farm venue has become a prominent destination in the village thanks to its striking views, 50-seat restaurant, extensive bar and lounge area, and specially designed function room.

It is fair to say the Betsey had lost its way somewhat before the Oakman takeover and while it is yet to have its impending makeover it is very much an example of just what the growing company can do when it gets its hands on a venue.

Previously, a visit to the Betsey Wynne could be very much hit and miss, but now it is very much hit.

With affable and passionate general manager Jack Ashmore overseeing the operation and head chef James Norie utilising and sourcing ingredients from the Swanbourne Estate to produce some fantastic fare, it is easy to see why the venue is popular again with not only locals but people from Aylesbury, Milton Keynes and beyond.

The new Spring/Summer menu has just launched and includes the interesting option to ‘Build Your own’ salad.

The menu boasts some trademark Oakman dishes which will be familiar to anyone who has eaten at their other restaurants in the Vale and nearby Hertfordshire including the Akeman Inn on the Bicester Road, the founding pub-restaurant the Akeman in Tring, the Kings Arms in Berkhamsted and the Red Lion in Water End between Leighton Buzzard and Hemel.

From the delicately prepared pumpkin ravioli to the mouthwatering saltimbocca giant scotch egg and haloumi sticks there is something familiar for Oakman regulars.

But to eat at the Betsey Wynne and not sample the specials, given the fact most are prepared with locally sourced ingredients, would be remiss.

The lamb in particular is a must, whether it is the sumptuously cooked loin or shank. You can have it cooked to your preference but service recommends medium to appreciate the flavour fully.

You would go a long way to find a better sirloin steak too. Cooked in the Josper grill, the Aubrey Allen steaks are dry aged for enhanced flavour and it delivers on taste.

The pumpkin raviloi is finished off with sage, chilli and lemon butter and pangrattato while the aforementioned triumph that is the saltimbocca Scotch egg features a deliciously soft-boiled free-range egg, sage, prosciutto and sausagemeat with a creamy hollandaise.

There is an extensive drinks offering as you would expect from an Oakman with a host of wines to suit your dishes, proseccos, cocktails and beers including Peroni, Budvar, San miguel and Guinness.

The overall dining experience is top drawer and it is exciting times for the Betsey with the impending refurb on the horizon.

What promises to be one of the biggest games of the year so far launches this Friday as Prey hits the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

The first-person action-adventure game has been developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda - the firm behind giants such as Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom.

With that pedigree expectations are understandably high and early gameplay videos and beta access to Prey has only served to ramp up the anticipation.

The player controls Morgan Yu while exploring the moon-orbiting space station Talos I, where research into a hostile alien collective called the Typhon is performed - yes I know sounds like a familiar storyline doesn’t it?

As the Typhon escape confinement, the player uses a variety of weapons and abilities derived from the Typhon to avoid being killed by the aliens while looking to escape the station. The station is presented as an open world to the player, with progression through the world after obtaining key items or abilities - the foremost turning into objects to access areas of the game that would otherwise be impossible.

This adds a massive layer of intrigue to Prey, in the gameplay walkthrough I have seen, the player takes on the form of a coffee cup to roll under a gap into a locked room - how cool is that?

Rather than a sequel/prequel this is more a re-imagining of the original 2006 Prey developed by Human Head Studios after Prey 2, a sequel to the 2006 game, fell into development hell following transfer of the intellectual property from 3D Realms to Bethesda Softworks, and was eventually scrapped in 2014.

According to reports Arkane’s version does not use any of the planned sequel assets, and only incorporates the name and the broad theme of the protagonist being hunted by aliens from the previous games.

Another interesting thing to note is that Prey takes place in an alternate timeline where United States President John F. Kennedy survives the assassination attempt in 1963 and directs more funding into the space program, allowing it to flourish. This is not without consequences, though, as the human activity in space attracts other lifeforms and provokes attacks on Earth.

Prey can go one of two ways, flop after all the hype or live up to it and put itself in the frame for game of the year. With Bethesda’s pedigree I’m banking on the latter.

A popular range of tumble dryers has been recalled by Curry’s following safety fears.

The electrical retailer has discovered that the heating element in a small batch of Logik LVD7W15 dryers may pose a safety hazard.

The heating elements in machines manufactured between March and April 2016 can overheat which may lead to a fire.

Customers who believe they may have an affected unit are advised to STOP using the tumble dryer immediately, switching it off and unplugging it at the mains.

They should then contact the company as soon as possible by calling Knowhow on 0344 561 6202 - lines are open Mon-Fri 9am-8pm, Sat 9am-6pm and Sun 10am-5pm.

Customers will need the serial number of the tumble dryer (it’s on the inside of the door or on the rating label on the back of the tumble dryer), as well as the postcode at the time of purchase.

Curry’s will arrange for a technician to visit customers with an affected appliance in order to change the heating element free of charge.

If a heater element replacement is not possible and a product exchange is required, this will be done via Sheffield.

A spokesperson for the company said: “Although this risk is very small, as a responsible manufacturer we’re contacting customers to make them aware and check if their product is affected.

“Customers are being contacted directly by email or letter in the first instance.”

With school term just restarted, frustrations are already starting to show as parents have revealed their top school run gripes.

Bad parking by other parents is the number one concern during the school run with one third of parents citing is as their biggest bugbear, according to a new study from online parenting resource www.familiesonline.co.uk.

Indeed, 84 per cent of parents believe more needs to be done to tackle the growing problem of disrespectful and dangerous parkers.

More than a third of parents say they would be in favour of a school traffic warden scheme (made up of both parents and teachers) who volunteer to issue ‘school parking tickets’ to fine bad parkers – with the money being donated to the school PTA.

Almost another third believe it is appropriate to name and shame bad parkers in school newsletters and on school noticeboards.

In an ideal world, 16 per cent of those questioned say they would ban people who live within a two-mile radius of the school from driving when they can easily walk.

However, a further 16 per cent say there is little point in doing anything about the parking problem, as they believe that things won’t change.

Bad parking wasn’t the only thing that got parents hot under the collar - the second biggest complaint was the growing numbers of parents setting a bad example to children by smoking outside the school gates during drop off and pick up times.

Another major irritation for parents, ranking in the top three, was dog mess left on the ground outside school, ranking in the top three concerns.

Mother of two and Marketing Director at Families, Faye Mingo said: “Bad parkers continue to be a problem for parents and schools during the school run but what is interesting is the number of parents that want to take action to do something about it.

“The numbers of parents smoking outside school despite the education geared towards young people around the dangers and health issues associated with cigarettes is also worrying.”

Top pet hates at the school gates

Bad parking

Parents smoking outside school

Dog mess outside school

‘Cliquey’ mums gossiping

Groups of parents chatting and blocking surrounding pathways

Toddlers on scooters

Teachers lurking at the gates to shame late arrivals

Eating half an avocado a day helps to shed the pounds and stave off heart disease and diabetes, say scientists.

A study of almost 30,000 people found those who regularly consumed the fruit were a third less likely to be overweight.

They weighed more than half-a-stone (7.5lbs) less on average, had a waist that was more than an inch slimmer and a BMI (body mass index) that was one unit lower.

Dr Carol O’Neil, of Louisiana State University, and colleagues said avocados may be associated with an overall better diet and higher consumption of essential nutrients.

She said “Avocado consumption was associated with better dietary measures and weight parameters than seen in non-consumers; consumption should be encouraged as part of an overall healthy lifestyle.”

The fruit is rich in vitamins, minerals, healthy fats and fibre - making people feel full for longer.

Unlike other fruits 77 per cent of their calories come from fat but these are mostly oleic acid - a monounsaturated fat found in olive oil.

This is the staple food of the Mediterranean diet which has been shown to decrease inflammation and lower the risk of heart disease.

In the study of 29,684 adults aged 19 and over avocado eaters had higher intakes of fibre, good fats. vitamins E and C, folate, magnesium, copper and potassium.

They also had lower consumption of carbohydrates, added sugars and salt compared to those who didn’t eat the fruit.

There was significantly reduced incidence of metabolic syndrome - a combination of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.

The avocado group also had lower levels of a chemical called homocysteine that can be a sign of hardening of the arteries, blood clots and other forms of cardiovascular disease.

Dr O’Neil said: “Avocado consumption was associated with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables.

“This is noteworthy, since consumption of fruit and vegetables is important for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.

“These findings suggest a role for avocados in improving nutrient intakes and may be a strategy for getting Americans closer to meeting the fruit and vegetable

recommendations.”

The study funded by the Hass Avocado Board and published in the journal Internal Medicine Review said a healthy intake was about half a medium avocado a day.

Nikki Ford, Hass Avocado Board director of nutrition, said: “These findings indicate incorporating avocados could be one way for Americans to meet the recommended fruit and vegetable intake and potentially improve physiologic measures.

“As we fund additional clinical studies investigating the relationship between fresh avocado consumption and weight management and risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, we continue to encourage healthcare professionals to remain committed to recommending avocados as part of an overall healthy diet.”

In recent years the avocado has become popular among the health conscious and often referred to as a superfood.

It can weigh anywhere from 8 ounces (220 grams) to 3 pounds (1.4 kg).

It is often called ‘alligator pear’ - because it tends to be shaped like a pear and have green, bumpy skin like an alligator.

Since they were first introduced to the UK over 40 years ago avocados have become a staple of the British diet eating more than 35 million each year.

Multiple scientific studies have linked avocados with health benefits ranging from anti-ageing to warding off heart disease and even cancer.

A man has been arrested following a fatal road traffic collision in Ivinghoe earlier today (Sunday).

Thames Valley Police is appealing for witnesses after the crash at around 6.40am on the B488 Station Road.

A blue VW Golf and a white Mercedes Citan van were in a collision.

As a result of the collision, a passenger in the VW Golf, sustained serious injuries and died at the scene. Her next of kin have been informed.

Investigating officer Sgt Mark Ashby, of the Roads Policing department based at Amersham police station said: “I would like to speak to anyone who may have seen a blue VW Golf driving from the direction of Bletchley and the Stoke Hammond by-pass towards Ivinghoe prior to the collision.

“If you have any information please contact me via the Thames Valley Police non-enquiry centre 101 quoting reference number 43170131352. Alternatively, if you have information but wish to remain anonymous please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drink or drugs.

Smokers across the UK are being warned about new rules on cigarettes and tobacco that will come into force this month.

By the end of May, cigarettes and tobacco will no longer be sold in bright, glitzy packs, but in drab green packages.

The packages will have large graphic images, warning people about the health effects of smoking, on the front and back of them.

Health warnings will also be appear at the top of all packs.

The new laws came into effect in May last year but shops were given a one-year transitional period for the sell-through of all old stock.

The law changes are part of the EU Tobacco Products Directive which was brought into force on May 20 last year.

The legislation will fully come into force on May 21 – almost a decade after the original smoking ban.

Under the new laws, ten-packs of cigarettes which are “particularly appealing to young age groups with limited spending power” will be banned.

Hand rolling tobacco will also only be sold in a minimum of 30 gram packets and, by May 21, the cheapest packet of cigarettes will cost £8.82.

The new laws will also require combined picture and text health warning to cover 65 per cent of the front and back of cigarette packs as well as roll-your own tobacco packages.

Promotional or misleading descriptions on packaging, including “light” “natural” and “organic” will also be banned.

Menthol cigarettes are also set to be phased out with it being completely prohibited from May 20, 2020.

Some flavoured cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco, with appealing flavours, including fruit and chocolate will also be banned.

However, the new law does not ban e-cigarettes but, for the first time, certain safety and quality requirements have been introduced for e-cigarettes containing nicotine.

A new law has been passed which could mean ten years in prison for those using their Kodi box to watch illegal streams.

The Digital Economy Act received Royal Assent last week, which means it has now officially passed into law.

The changes now mean the maximum prison sentence has been increased from two to ten years.

The act will also cover broadband speeds, access to online pornography and government data-sharing.

Matt Hancock, the minister of state for digital and culture, said: “I’m delighted the Digital Economy Act has become law.

“This legislation will help build a more connected and stronger economy. The Act will enable major improvements in broadband rollout, better support for consumers, better protection for children on the Internet, and further transformation of government services.

Talking to the Mirror, chief executive of FACT Kieron Sharp said the copyright measures included in the bill are primarily targeted at those committing a serious offense. Anyone “making a business” out of selling illegal content could potentially face up to ten years rather than two.

He also stated that It is extremely unlikely those who casually stream a couple of movies every once in a while would prosecuted to such extremes.

What is Kodi?

Kodi is a free, open-source hub which was originally created for the Microsoft Xbox originally called Media Center.

The system gives any device from smartphones to TVs the ability to stream files from the internet using third-party apps.

Home improvement and DIY chain B&Q has recalled a pair of heaters due to safety concerns.

The 3000W convector and industrial fan heaters have both shown excessive heat build-up in the plug, leading to scorching or deformation of the plug itself.

According to a company statement, a “precautionary decision to recall this product” has been taken “due to a potentially serious nature of the risk and our commitment to safety”.

The affected items are the Electric 3000W white turbo convector heater with timer, model DL 18A and with product barcode number 3663602910930, which was offered for sale between August 2016 and March 2017.

Also subject to the recall is the Electric 3000W red industrial dan heater, model: D030Y01, product barcode number 3663602911098, which was offered for sale between August 2016 and March 2017.

Anyone having purchased either product should stop using it immediately and contact the helpline - UK: 0300 303 4482 ROI: 1800 946 327*

*Monday to Friday 8.30am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 10am to 4pm.

Dirty cops, stolen drugs and kidnapping are the order of the day for ‘Sleepless’ – a flashy but dim remake of the 2011 French thriller ‘Nuit Blanche / Sleepless Night’.

Meet Vincent Downs (Jamie ‘soon to be in Baby Driver’ Foxx) an estranged family man and tough Las Vegas cop, whose partner Sean Cass (T.I.) just might be crooked. When the duo are tipped off about a huge drug stash being moved they decide to steal the $8 million package and get rich quickly.

Cue violent death and recriminations as the cops take down the drug runners and assign themselves to the case in order to cover their tracks. Things just aren’t that easy though and get worse for Downs when it turns out the drugs he stole belong to dangerous crime family, the Novaks, who promptly kidnap his son Thomas (Octavius Johnson) and demand that he returns them for his son’s life.

Another complication is that Internal Affairs are sniffing around the pair – and the determined Jennifer Bryant (Michelle ‘Source Code’ Monaghan) wants to takes Downs erm, down after he lies to her. Also on the scene is Down’s nurse wife Dena (Gabrielle ‘Bad Boys 2’ Union) who thinks (rightly) that he’s not being straight about the whereabouts of their son…

As the night ticks on the tension ramps up and other players become involved including Casino boss Stanley Rubino (Dermot Mulroney), Bryant's partner, Doug Dennison (David Harbour) and the ruthless Robert Novak (Scott McNairy) who is liable to kill everyone to get his drugs.

Director Baran bo ‘The Silence’ Odar does an OK job with what feels a lot like a throwback to the fast moving '90s cop thrillers of Bruce Willis or Arnie. Alas there are some pretty massive plot holes and acts of stupid coincidence that undermine what would otherwise be a solid B movie.

The action kicks along nicely, the violence is pretty brutal and James Foxx holds it all together with a great lead performance. The cinematography is straight from the textbook crime-em-up catalogue as used by films like Collateral or Run All Night, everything works well and but Sleepless won’t be remembered as a classic.

For a fun, disposable dose of dirty cop thrills Sleepless delivers an hour and half of cool looking action.

Selena Gomez has announced there will be a second series of 13 Reasons Why, her controversial programme about teenage suicide.

The US singer and actress - who co-produced the Netflix programme with her mother - posted a short video on social media confirming the new series, writing: “Their story isn’t over.”

13 Reasons Why is based on the 2007 novel by Jay Asher and tells the story of a teenage boy who is sent a box from a classmate who committed suicide, containing 13 tapes explaining the reasons she ended her life.

It drew criticism from some mental health experts who suggested it could glamorise suicide.

Netflix later added additional warnings about graphic content.

Gomez, 24, had planned to play the part of Hannah Baker, the girl who commits suicide and who appears throughout the show in flashbacks after her death, but ultimately decided to stay behind the camera.

The role instead went to Australian actress Katherine Langford.

Political opinion polls have taken a bit of a battering in the past few years. There was wide agreement on the eve of the last UK general election that the outcome would be a hung parliament. Few pollsters saw Donald Trump winning the 2015 presidential election in the US. And almost everyone agreed that Brexit would not happen. So are opinion polls worth the paper they’re written on any more?

Polling made its entrance onto the political stage in the United States presidential election of 1936, at a time when various prominent American newspapers were confidently predicting victories for Republican Alf Landon on the basis of polls of their (rich, unrepresentative) leaderships. George Gallop realised that he could achieve much more accurate predictions reasonably cheaply by taking a random sample of the population, and by doing this successfully forecast a landslide victory for Franklin D Roosevelt.

The key words in this statement are “random sample”, and this is where modern day polling is running into trouble. When Gallop began building his market research empire, gauging public opinion was a complicated business. It involved sending trained interviewers out to randomly selected addresses to interview a specific named person. If they couldn’t get hold of them, they were asked to go back again and again until they found them. What pollsters call “response rates” – the proportion of people agreeing to be interviewed – were very high. So was the cost. You had to train your interviewers, send them out, and tabulate the results, which in the BC years (before computers) was done by hand using punched paper index cards.

However, overwhelmingly, results were good, politicians came to rely heavily on poll predictions, and newspapers got into the habit of using them in order to report politics as entertainment about who was winning.

Polling today

These days technology and changes in the ways political opinion polling is done allow market researchers to get answers much more quickly and cheaply. Polling can also be done by post, online, or by phone. Rather than genuinely random samples, it’s usually cheaper for market researchers to use what are known in the trade as “quota samples”. Interviewers talk to certain numbers of people in different demographic categories (by gender, income, social class, ethnic group and so on).

However, they face several increasingly difficult challenges. Some kinds of people are just harder to reach than others, especially people who work full time – a group who are still a bit more likely to vote for conservative parties. We are now asked our opinions about so much so pointlessly that response rates for polls are desperately low at around 25-30%. We all suffer from poll fatigue.

Respondents are also self-selecting. People who are interested in politics are more likely to be willing to share their views with a stranger, and also are more likely to be left wing. All of these factors mean that the samples used by the pollsters to make their predictions simply aren’t as good as they used to be, and they all tend to err in the same direction.

This doesn’t mean that polls are now redundant. Well-constructed surveys which are properly carried out still get representative results. For example, the sample used by the British Social Attitudes survey, carried out via face-to-face interviews and requiring revisits where the randomly selected individual was unavailable for interview, correctly forecasted around a six point lead for the Conservatives in the 2015 general election.

However, these high quality polls are expensive, and take a long time. Given that the mass media mostly wants poll numbers rapidly, and for entertainment, it hardly seems likely that they will want to make the extra investment.

Parties’ own internal polls do take the time and trouble and do get accurate results, ones which will no doubt have been part of the prime minister’s decision to go to the country. Current published polls show the Conservative Party has a 20 point lead over Labour, if not more. Is the true situation in the country likely to be anything other than a large Tory lead? Absolutely not: even cheap polls are not that inaccurate. As it stands, you’d be most unwise to take the 12:1 odds currently offered by some bookmakers on Labour being the largest party on June 8.

This piece originally appeared in The Conversation

An afternoon tea with entertainment and a summer buffet with dancing are on the menu for Leighton-Linslade’s U3A 25th anniversary celebrations.

The afternoon tea takes place at Astral Park Community Centre from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Friday, June 2, with entertainment by Razz.

The summer buffet will be held at Leighton Rugby Club from 7pm to 11pm, on Friday, July 7, with dancing to Carnaby Street.

Both events are ticket only.

The 750-strong group was founded in 1992 and is open to anyone no longer in full-time employment.

Run by its members for its members, it is based on the principle of shared interests and expertise.

But its real strength is in its raft of more than 70 specialist groups which cover a wide spectrum of interests including the arts, science, computing, music, physical activities, outings and theatre visits.

Members also have access to the national U3A movement with its annual summer schools.

Monthly meetings are held at Brooklands Residents Association, Garden Leys, Leighton Buzzard. They normally take place on the third Wednesday of the month.

They start at 2.15pm.

Potential members are welcome to go along to listen to the talk and meet members over a cup of coffee or tea.

For more information visit https://u3asites.org.uk/leighton-linslade/contact

Former Vandyke student Katie Smith read marketing and psychology at university, but found working in the industry boring and heartless.

Six years ago she got a loan from her mum and set up Rascals of Woburn. And she’s never looked back.

“I love it,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else. Every day is different, every day is fun and challenging. And you can’t help but love all the doggy customers who come in.”

Katie, 31, worked for two years as a volunteer at an animal shelter in Orange County in the States, and that’s what gave her the idea of starting her own business.

“I came back with no money but set up in a small outbuilding in Woburn Sands,” she recalled. “My original plan was to sell niche products like dog biscuits and designer collars but a government business adviser said I’d also need to provide a service.”

She did an intensive six week grooming course and worked nights pulling pints at the Star to pay the rent.

“Grooming is far more technical than you think,” she said. “You have to learn the health and safety aspects, the anatomy of a dog and all about parasites and other problems before you get on to basics like bathing and drying.

“Then you start clipping – the standard cuts for each breed – followed by scissoring of heads, tails, feet, ears and skirt.”

There’s such a demand that Katie has taken on four extra staff and has just started grooming classes.

> Visit www.woburnvillage.co.uk/rascals.html