There are severe delays on the M1 northbound following an accident.
The M1 from J12 for A5120 Harlington Road to J13 for A421 Salford Road Bedford is affected.
Three lanes are closed and queuing traffic on M1 northbound from J12, A5120 (Flitwick) to J13, A421 (Bedford).
To report traffic and travel incide
nts dial 0330 123 0184 at any time
Thames Valley Police is releasing a CCTV image of a man officers would like to speak to in relation to a theft in Pitstone.
Between 11.30am and 11.50am on Thursday 13 September, a silver Saab car which was parked at the College Lake Nature Reserve on Upper Icknield Way was broken into.
A blue purse containing bank cards and a leopard print cushion was taken. Two of the stolen bank cards were used later that day in shops in Tring.
Investigating officer PC Laurie Twine, based at Aylesbury police station, said: “I am releasing this CCTV image as I believe the man may have vital information that could help with my investigation.
“If you recognise this man, please let me know either using our online form, quoting reference number 43180292631, or by calling 101. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Actually, he was wrong - it didn’t taste that good!
My wife and I are aboard the Scenic Crystal, a luxury river cruise ship owned by Scenic River Cruises, on a 14-night epic adventure from Budapest to Amsterdam.
On this trip however, I am not just here to report on the ship and the destinations. No, my journalistic brief is much more calorific: to identify and experience some traditional food and drink from a number of the places we visit.
Some of them are memorable for all the right reasons, others however, like the ‘smoked beer’, I will try to forget and definitely won’t be sampling again.
Our sanctuary for this culinary challenge, was a sumptuously comfortable air-conditioned stateroom. It was spacious, bright, modern with a giant double bed, luxury toiletries, fluffy white towels and robes.
Additionally, there was a complimentary mini bar with drinks and snacks; a safe; large TV; plenty of storage space; an ingenious and stylish balcony and a very smart bathroom. We also had our own personal butler, though in truth I couldn’t think of what I needed him for. Two weeks sleeping here was positively decadent. Why would we ever want to leave our cabin?
Despite the temptations of our accommodation however, I had my ‘food and drink’ mission to accomplish.
It wasn’t difficult to get started, because as we sailed away from Budapest, the Scenic Crystal’s executive chef was keen to show off to his 130 dinner guests, with Hungary’s most famous dish… ‘Beef Goulash’. It was of course served with dumplings and the Hungarian magic ingredient, ‘sweet paprika’. In Hungary they are prone to add paprika into whatever they can!
A gentle and scenic cruise along the Danube, past Bratislava brought us to Vienna, a city famous for its stylish coffee houses and pastries. Perhaps the most well-known is the ‘Café Sacher’, where they serve the ‘Sacher Torte’, a rich chocolate cake with a hint of apricot.
With a delicious cup of Wiener Melange (a special coffee), the torte was even better than I had hoped. I would publish the recipe, if it wasn’t a trademarked secret. I did ask for it, but my request was declined with an inscrutable smile.
Another food highlight in Austria, occurred during our visit to Salzburg and a special private ‘Scenic Enrich’ event. This time a ‘Sound of Music’ concert high up in the mountains where Julie Andrews sang the famous title song.
Here we listened to the wonderful tunes from the movie and of course ate a generous portion of traditional ‘crisp apple strudel’. That was my journalistic food tasting for the day accomplished. In that setting it had never tasted so good.
Given that I was on a quest to find some weird and wonderful food and drink items, I was intrigued to be told, that in Durnstein a small village in the magnificent Wachau Valley, I would have the opportunity to sample what they called ‘Rabbit S**t’!
Yes, you read that right. Let me explain: Durnstein is famous for its apricot products, including very small apricot balls covered in chocolate. Despite the name, quite delicious.
When we weren’t out and about eating and drinking, we were onboard, pretty much doing the same thing. Nobody goes without food on a Scenic cruise and the temptations are always available. Wander into the very smart lounge, with its bright, airy modern and relaxing feel and you can pretty much indulge yourself in as many cakes and ice creams as you want.
One of the highlights of the day of course is dinner. The multi-course choices, with appropriately accompanying wines, served up beautifully by table staff who remember your name and preferences is very much a masterclass in restaurant guest service. It is worth mentioning too, that those with vegetarian tastes and other dietary issues are also incredibly well looked after.
There are no formal evenings. All meals are served together with open seating. You can sit anywhere and with whomever you want for any meal. After dinner there would usually be some sort of onboard entertainment.
During our two weeks we enjoyed a classical violinist; a leading zither player, folk dancers and we always had the Scenic Crystal resident musician and singer who would perform.
Cruising through Germany, I was still on the look out for things of special food interest and when we stopped to explore Nuremberg, I discovered what the city is famous for. Gingerbread! Yes, Nuremberg is one of the world’s largest exporters of this. For those who were interested, there was even a special Scenic trip to learn how to make traditional Gingerbread.
A little further west in Rudesheim, home of the amazing Siegfried’s Musical Museum, we sampled what is known as the famous iconic specialty ‘Rudesheim Coffee’. This little diabetic inducing cocktail, is served in specially shaped white and maroon mugs with no handles.
It contains three sugar cubes onto which is poured a double shot of the local Asbach brandy. This is then lit to make it hot and caramelise the sugar. Strong coffee is then added and the whole drink is topped off with vanilla sweetened cream and chocolate shavings. I won’t be trying it again!
Finally, two weeks after we started and no doubt several pounds heavier, we arrived at our final destination of Amsterdam. Well, we all know of the city’s fame and reputation for tulips, bicycles and ‘red lights’, but what about the food? Believe it or not, it is the special Dutch fries that both the locals and tourists alike are standing in long lines to buy.
However, these are not just any fries. They are thick juicy cut fries called ‘patat’, which traditionally come in a paper cone with a huge choice of tasty topping options. If you fancy giving them a try, ask for a dollop of peanut satay sauce, mayo and onions, or a 'patat speciaal' for a mix of curry ketchup, mayonnaise and onions.
As I sat on the plane for our 40 minutes flight back to London, planning my diet after all the quirky food and drink I had tried, a profound thought struck me. That travel and food are actually inseparably intertwined, and that what we eat and drink is very much a pathway into the culture, history, traditions and social dynamics of the places we visit.
FACT FILE
Scenic River Cruises' 15-day Jewels of Europe cruise between Amsterdam and Budapest are priced from £3,495 per person based on twin sharing Standard Suite. It includes amongst other things, return flights with transfers; all food and drink everyday; Scenic Enrich / Freechoice excursion options; personalised butler and gratuities.
2019 Sailing Dates: March to November.
For booking information call 0808 301 4521 - or go to https://www.scenic.co.uk/
Full Itinerary available at https://www.scenic.co.uk/river-cruises/river-cruises-europe/stc/7861-jewels-of-europe
Café Sache: https://www.sacher.com/en/hotel-salzburg-en/culinary-en/cafe-sacher-salzburg-2/
The band announced a European stadium tour this morning and the Milton Keynes venue will be their only stop in the UK.
In September, Rammstein announced on their website the follow up to their 2009 album Liebe Ist Für Alle Da was almost complete and the record is expected to be released next year.
They will headline Stadium MK on Saturday, July 6.
Tickets go on sale on Thursday, November 8 at 10am via Eventim.co.uk/Rammstein, AXS.com/Rammstein and Ticketmaster.co.uk/Rammstein.
A charity which provides vital respite and daycare for Bedfordshire families with disabled children has announced that it is in “grave danger” of closing soon.
Families United Network (FUN) will host consultation events about the possible closure on Saturday, November 10, from 11am to 1pm; Monday, November 12, from 7pm to 9pm; and an emergency general meeting on Monday, November 19, from 7pm to 9pm. All events will take place at FUN’s premises at Unit 5 Britannia Estate, Leagrave Road, Luton, LU3 1RJ.
In a letter to members, chair of trustees Jo Stuart said FUN’s organisers were “devastated” by news that the charity could close by December 21.
She said: “Sadly a perfect storm of events and circumstances have led us to where we are now. Our costs have significantly increased following the sale of Britannia Estates.
“The new landlord, Petchey Holdings, have doubled the costs of the building which has been a devastating blow to our otherwise financially healthy charity. Our funding forecasts for the next two years have dropped with the withdrawal of local government support and other key grants.
“These two issues, along with our requirement to sign a new long-term lease at a much higher cost, means that it would be irresponsible and unethical for the board to commit FUN to the building longer term, without having a confirmed income source to support these costs.”
Ms Stuart said that at the time of writing, the landlord had refused any concessions and an appeal for assistance from Luton Borough Council had as yet gone unanswered.
Anyone affected by FUN’s closure can call the following numbers during normal office hours: Diane Rhodes (Charity Manager) 07880 404333, Jo Stuart (Chair of Trustees) 07815 913320 or email diane@familiesunitednetwork.org.uk.
Three more organisations supporting young people in Leighton Buzzard have been awarded funding by the town council,meaning a grant pot totalling £150,000 has been allocated ahead of time.
Twelve grants have now been awarded in total since the launch in winter 2017 of Leighton-Linslade Town Council’s Youth Promise Grant fund, ranging from £2,270 up to £30,000 and all groups have until March 31, 2019 to deliver their activities.
1st Leighton Buzzard Scouts, Leighton Buzzard Fire Cadets and Leighton Buzzard Canoe Club are the last organisations to receive grants.
Cllr Steve Cotter, chairman of the Cultural and Economic Services Committee overseeing the fund, said: “No grant money is left to allocate. I am delighted that we have successfully allocated the £150,000 to worthy local organisations who work very hard to make sure our young people have positive activities to engage with.”
The last three applications were considered by committee on October 15. The awards were reduced to 32.67% each of the remaining funds so that all three applicants would get something.
“Awards have been considered on a ‘first come; first served’ basis so the grant pot has been reducing. Committee considered all three applicants were worthy of receiving funding,” continued Cllr Cotter.
“All three said they would accept a reduced grant so we set to and ensured their targets remained viable before finally awarding the funds.”
Applicants have financially invested too, a minimum of 10% of their grant activity costs, with one group investing 14.2% to ensure they secured a grant.
All recipients had to have been in existence for a minimum of two years as the investment aimed to support existing dedicated organisations who need a bit more support to help expand their activities, improve the quality of what they do, develop capacity to deliver and to increase membership where viable.
These four aims were embedded in the application criteria and whilst not all applicants had to respond to all four aims, many of them did and will work to achieve their delivery targets to these ends.
Cllr Cotter added: “Committee very much looks forward to seeing the results of our investment.”
Staff from Room No 9 in Leighton Buzzard wore pink to work and raised £1,800 for Breast Cancer Now.
The ladies in the gift shop and cafe on the High Street wanted to support the charity that is dedicated to funding research into breast cancer.
The owner of the shop, Caroline Gates, is currently having treatment for breast cancer.
Sam Mardlin works at the shop, and said: “The day went really well and the weather was lovely, it was great to raise money for a cause that is close to us here.
“We raised just over £1,800 for Breast Cancer Now. All of the Room No 9 staff dressed up in pink and got lots of attention from passers by and regular customers!
“We had a fantastic raffle, lots of pink treats for sale, a second hand rail of kids and ladies clothing and a bric a brac sale, we also received lots of donations.”
Buckinghamshire’s district councils say they are “disappointed” by the Government’s decision for the county to adopt a single unitary authority from 2020.
The group of four councils - which includes Aylesbury Vale District Council - spent thousands of pounds to research their preferred unitary model - which was two authorities for the county.
But on Thursday, Secretary of State for Local Government James Brokenshire announced that a single ‘super council’ - the model put forward by Bucks County Council, would be the chosen option.
The statement from the district councils (Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe) said the authorities did not rule out appealing the decision.
It read: “We are disappointed that the Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, has announced he is supporting a new single unitary district council that will cover the whole of Buckinghamshire, excluding Milton Keynes.
“The Secretary of State has previously stated there was a need to ensure broad consensus and we do not believe this has been achieved with the new single unitary district proposal.
“All four district councils, as well as many key stakeholders, firmly believe that the two unitary authority approach, based on the two different economic geographies in Buckinghamshire, is the best option for protecting, delivering and transforming the services needed both now and in the future.
“We will now be considering our position, seeking further advice and reviewing the options available to us.”
County council leader Martin Tett has hailed the decision as ‘historic’.
He said: “The announcement paves the way for a brand new council, fit for the future, created by combining the best of both county and district councils. This new council will be simpler, better value and more local to our residents.”
The Black Lion was delighted to receive an award from Leighton Buzzard charity KidsOut to mark staff and punters’ fantastic fundraising.
Pub landlords Nikki Brodin, Stev Stipanovic and their team were thrilled to be given the KidsOut Community Supporter of the Year trophy when the charity visited the High Street pub this October to make the surprise announcement.
Nikki and Stev have been at The Black Lion for nearly five years, having supported the charity for disadvantaged children ever since they moved to the town, and couldn’t believe they had won.
Nikki said: “We have always supported KidsOut, which is literally round the corner from us, and we have been raising money doing raffles, auctions and always had the pots on the bar.
“We don’t support any other charities - we have always focused on KidsOut.
“We chose them for personal reasons really. I think when we were children we had the same sort of issues that KidsOut represents, but there wasn’t a charity like that around at that time.”
Nikki admires the work the charity does, from providing refugees with toys to organising fun days out for children, and supporting families from a range of backgrounds, including those living with critical health issues, in economic hardship or with a disability.
Nikki added: “I think over the years we must have raised £10 to £15 thousand.
“It was also one of the reasons we took on the pub. When we Googled ‘Leighton Buzzard’, this charity came up, and we said ‘ this is meant to be’ - it’s on our doorstep.
“We couldn’t do it without our customers and I couldn’t believe we had been chosen - the award is out of the whole country!”
Independent traders’ group LB First has joined the campaign supporting a much-loved Waitrose car park attendant whose role is feared to be under threat by the installation of ANPR cameras.
In recent weeks the LBO has been inundated with calls from readers about Keith McAngus and have vowed to boycott the supermarket if his role is made redundant.
The supermarket has decided to install cameras at its town centre branch due to customers increasingly outstaying the free parking limit, but say his employment is a matter for Britannia Parking as he is their employee.
To keep the pressure on, LB First chairman Gennaro Borrelli has now written to both companies, highlighting his group’s concerns that Keith is set to be replaced by a camera.
He said: “We would urge you strongly to seriously reconsider this decision for a number of reasons. Firstly Central Bedfordshire Council tried to introduce a similar system in the multi-storey car park and after many months of problems it had to be scrapped and the old system reintroduced.
“There were many issues such as wi-fi problems and bad weather generally meant the system struggled to read the number plates amongst other things.
“Secondly many customers have said that cutting down the time allowed to one hour is simply not long enough when doing a weekly shop let alone at busy times of the year such as Christmas.
“Thirdly and most importantly Keith does the most amazing job of running the car park with great efficiency, finding people spaces, helping elderly customers back to their cars with their shopping, and moving cars on.
“He has excellent customer skills, always friendly and polite with a smile on his face in all weathers. He has become very well known by local residents and is liked and respected by customers. He is without doubt a great ambassador for your company going above and beyond his job role and a real asset for our town.
“With the prospect of a second and much larger Aldi store opening on the Grovebury Road retail park alongside M&S Food the backlash could be immense with customers opting to go there where parking will not be an issue.
“I would therefore respectfully ask you to please reconsider your decision as I fear the negative impact could be huge on Keith and our town centre.”
In their response, Waitrose agreed that Keith was “very popular” but pointed out he was a Britannia employee.
The supermarket said: “We understand they are looking into the possibility of him relocating to another local site. We have also invited him to apply for a position with us.
“Cameras are being introduced in all our car parks. We’re sorry we’re having to make these changes however some users have been exceeding the time limit of free parking we provide and it’s become increasingly challenging for us to manage.
“This has resulted in it being difficult for our customers to find spaces because of the pressure car parking has come under, especially during busy trading periods, and we have needed to take steps to address this. The new system is designed to ensure we continue to look after our customers, while still providing free parking for other shoppers visiting the area.”
Two weeks on from the original letter, Britannia, however, has not responded to LB First, which Mr Borrelli described as “not very professional”. He added: “I think they are trying to duck the issue, we’ve heard rumours nothing will be happening until after Christmas now.”
When previously approached by the LBO on the matter recently, Britannia remained tight-lipped.
A spokesman said: “Britannia Parking takes its responsibilities as a car park operator and manager very seriously. It is our policy not to comment on individual staff and their personal circumstances.”
In the wake of such massive public support, the LBO approached Keith but he stated he did not wish to comment at this stage.
The A5 is closed in both directions at Hockliffe from Eastern Way to Woburn Road after a serious accident, while the A6 is closed at New Bedford Road in Luton.
A Beds Police spokesman said: “Due to a serious incident on the A6 New Bedford Road, Luton (near the BP Garage) please avoid the area entirely if possible,
“If you do need to travel near to this location, please use Icknield Way.”
Town reached the quarter final stage last season, but two second half goals from the UCL Premier Division side saw them eliminated at the second hurdle this time around.
The first half passed without much incident, with neither side deserving to lead into the interval.
Leighton began to get on top early in the second half, but chances in front of goal continued to evade them.
And it showed when Cogenhoe took the lead on the hour mark when Jack O’Connor headed the home side ahead at the far post.
Leighton’s only chance of the game fell to Lewis McBride after Curtis Donaldson’s ball across, but it was routinely saved by the keeper.
Cogenhoe put the game to bed with 17 minutes remaining when Matt Long found the corner of the net through a crowd of people.
Leighton Town return to action in the Bucks Senior Cup on Tuesday Evening at Bell Close, as they face Unite MK. Kick off at 7.45pm.
What a six months it has been and what a privilege and pleasure to represent the Town at such a wide variety of events and occasions. I trust that the profile of Leighton-Linslade had been maintained, even enhanced, by my (and my wife’s) attendance at a large number of such occasions as Civic Services throughout Central Bedfordshire (and even slightly beyond), the Anglia in Bloom Awards and numerous receptions, be they those of the Lord Lieutenant, Willen Hospice or other Mayors.
Perhaps the greatest pleasure, however, has been joining the celebration of the activities and successes of people and organisations in the town. These are far too numerous to mention all but the Best Bar None Awards, the Air Training Cadets, the Naval Cadets, celebrating our young schools’ golf champions, the student awards at Dunstable College, and the performances of Gilbert Inglefield students and pupils at the Leanne Hughes School of Dancing have all been on my itinerary and great examples of the good side of what is
happening around us.
Then, it has been marvellous to join in the “set piece” events organised in the Town over the past half year for residents and their families (and some from beyond!) to enjoy. These have
included the Big Lunch, the Band Concerts in the Park, the Carnival, the Truck Convoy (now wasn’t that quite something?), the Living History Event, and I would also include here the
Retroplay Exhibition which I was invited to attend. To judge by the very large number of people who have turned out and were clearly enjoying themselves immensely, such events continue to be great advertisements for Leighton-Linslade.
Of course, I have also been closely involved in raising money for my three charities – Kids Out, Macmillan Cancer Support and Autism Bedfordshire. My thanks to all who have helped here
including the Leighton-Linslade Concert Band for the superb concert which began my efforts. I do hope that I will see as many of you as possible at some of the future events to support these worthy causes. There will be a coffee (and cakes!) morning in Pizza Express on Saturday 1 December and do come along (with the family) to the Carol Service in All Saints Church on 8 December. But, before these events, we have Remembrance Day, and I hope to see a huge turn out from our Town at the commemorative events on Sunday 11 November. We owe it to those who sacrificed so much for us and our children’s future.
Boy, what news to come back to.... Grovebury Road’s new retail park, possibility of Aldi moving in instead of Wickes, and Cllr Berry apologising to Wickes’ national management for misleading information on social media and being critical of Victoria Harvey for seeking a court review of the permission granted for this development – a bit rich coming from the current vice-chairman of CBC’s planning committee.
As one who voted against that permission and lost against the Tory majority, aided by the portfolio holder Cllr Nigel Young, I accept we have to make the best of a bad deal.
But another Aldi and a KFC!
We have a McDonald’s just on the bypass and far too many town fast food outlets already. I can settle in the circumstances for a M&S food hall, a Wickes, a BM store and a Pets at Home but please, not another Aldi in there and all the parking problems that would bring.
It would require a change of use permission anyway, which I could not support.
It was interesting to hear that Dunstable’s new centre hub, leisure centre etc will shortly open at a cost of £20 million, almost the same amount that we Council Tax payers contribute to CBC from Leighton Linslade.
Yet what do we get in return?
Not forgetting the massive housing expansion due, a big fat ZERO and as we all now know, re-development of the south side of our High Street is far away.
Interestingly, current town CBC councillors have made no comments, just keeping “their heads down” till next year’s elections when they will promise the earth but, of course, won’t deliver!
Now that winter has arrived we can look back on a fantastic summer with all the events that have been held in town, so credit to all those involved in organising them.
Despite the gulf in form, Leighton took the lead early on. From an attacking line-out Mike Lynch and Jacob Murtagh successfully undertook a well-worked move to allow Murtagh to score in the corner. The difficult conversion was missed to leave Buzzards 5-0 ahead after just six minutes.
Oundle bounced back with two tries in the next 15 minutes though, first when their big pack drove over and then the backs put together a fine move from inside their half, moving 14-5 ahead.
Buzzards were still competitive with breaks by captain Jack Whitehouse giving encouragement. Leighton were hampered by an injury to scrum-half, Graham Magill, causing a reorganisation after half-an-hour but they cut the lead to 14-8 with an Ollie Taylor penalty after 33 minutes.
Late in the half Buzzards had the opportunity to kick the ball dead for half-time. Perhaps unaware that it was the last play of the half, they attempted expansive rugby from deep in their half. With the ball turned over, Oundle scored again to leave the half-time score 19-8.
It took Oundle just three second half minutes to add to their tally with another fine try following slick handling in the backs. The conversion plus a penalty five minutes later made the score 29-8.
Gradually the big Oundle pack was exerting increased control - three tries in six second half minutes came from good ball retention and relentless pressure took the score to
48-8.
Playing only for pride, the Buzzards played some of their best rugby, retaining the ball through phases without ever seriously threatening the Oundle line.
Unfortunately, despite this increased effort, Oundle scored their eighth try with the final play of the game to leave the score 53-8.
Next week Buzzards play away at Biggleswade in the Beds Cup.
Friends of Leighton-Linslade in Bloom are determined to not let vandals win after the Linslade Community Garden was trashed last week.
The community garden in Linslade Recreation Ground was created by the volunteers at Friends of Leighton-Linslade in Bloom just over a year ago.
On Friday, November 2, a volunteer for the group was walking to town and noticed that large area of the garden had been trashed.
Rosie Palmer, from Friends of Leighton-Linslade in Bloom, said: “They had chosen the quietest spot furthest away from the path and pulled up plants and torn others to bits generally throwing them around a wide area.
“But worst of all they had, obviously with great force, broken the substantial stakes that supported our two standard roses. The plants were bent over and flat on the ground but hadn’t been pulled up. The thorns may have put them off doing that.”
Volunteers tidied up the mess, pruned some of the damaged plants and replanted some bulbs.
Pages Park Community Garden, also cared for my Friends of Leighton-Linslade in Bloom, was vandalised twice in a matter of days in March last year.
Rosie added: “The garden will survive and flourish again. We are going to plant some wallflowers to fill any gaps. This is all down to the volunteers again and we are grateful for all the messages of support.
“We realised that vandalism might happen after our garden in Pages Park was damaged before the one in Linslade was even developed. This will not stop the group. Why should the actions of a few prevent so many enjoying this garden?”
The incident has been reported to the police and CCTV in the park is being checked.
Nearly £8,000 profit was made for good causes as the residents of Leighton Buzzard turned out to enjoy the town’s annual fireworks display.
Saturday’s event at Brooklands School was organised by the Rotary Club of Leighton Linslade, with gates opening at 5.30pm.
Families enjoyed the refreshments and rides, before the lighting up of the bonfire at 6.45pm, ahead of the main display. The event went smoothly and a Rotary spokesman said: “There is always a bit of tension among club members around about midday on our firework night. Will the weather hold? Have we got everything in place? Will people come? There is a lot riding on it being a successful night since there is a big cash outlay up front as well as the wish not to disappoint the town.
“Fortunately everything went well and it was such a pleasure to see the families coming along Brooklands Drive to the school. Afterwards the mood of people coming out told us that they had enjoyed the show.”
President Nick Inwards said that many local businesses had helped the club and thanked Future Signs, Jewsons, Wilkinson Estate Agents Redlands Tiles and Marshalls Coaches.
The spokesman added: “It looks as if our profit will be just shy of £8,000 which will go mainly to local charities.
“The principal recipient will be Keech Cottage Hospice and it was good to have their representative Banita there to light the bonfire. The bonfire was topped with the winning guy from our “make a guy” competition from Southcott School Early Birds Club who receive £100 prize.
“Given the statistics released on Monday about firework injuries it is good to know that our event went off without any incidents.”
Kerbside collections of household garden waste will be suspended across Central Bedfordshire over the winter months.
The collections will be suspended from Monday 10 December 2018 until Friday 1 March 2019 inclusive. Residents are encouraged to check their last collection date for their area, which will be either the week commencing Monday 26 November or Monday 3 December.
The decision to stop the kerbside collection service during the quietest time of the year for garden waste was made as part of the council’s financial planning process and comes as a result of Government funding cuts. During the winter season, up to 80% less garden waste was collected in past years, compared to the spring and summer.
During the suspension, garden waste can still be recycled at the council’s four Household Waste Recycling Centres. A council scheme to encourage composting offers all Central Bedfordshire residents discounted compost bins and accessories.
Councillor Budge Wells, Deputy Executive Member for Community Services, said: “We know that the kerbside collection of garden waste is important, but to ensure we can continue to provide this service during times of high demand, we will be suspending the service in this period of low use. After this short break, we will resume the normal fortnightly collection, which is available free of charge to all Central Bedfordshire residents throughout the rest of the year.”
For more information about changes to your garden waste collection please visit www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/garden-waste
A Leighton Buzzard man had his wildest dreams come true when he was chosen to spend an entire day munching sausages.
In September, the LBO featured a competition from Meat Management Magazine and Linslade master butcher, Keith Fisher, who were looking for one passionate food fan to help judge the best bangers of 2018 for UK Sausage Week (Oct 29 - Nov 4).
With his eyes on the prize, Leighton Buzzard local, Tom Rouse, 32, wrote a witty poem about why he would be best, and was chosen from hundreds of applicants across the British Isles to join the judging panel at the Regional Food Academy, Shropshire, on October 3.
Tom, who works in oil operations and lives with his fiancé Kathryn and their two pugs, Lenny and Derrick, said: “I really enjoyed the whole experience! I enjoyed the huge variety, really good quality, and exciting flavour combinations. There were a lot of first time tastes.
“I particularly liked the chicken, chicken liver, and leek and stilton sausage I tasted. It was such an original idea and a really special and different flavour.
“I also enjoyed the experience of the innovative products like beef and horseradish.
“I learnt that there are some spectacular ideas in the UK for sausages and that the variation in a traditional sausage alone is huge. I should be more adventurous as I’ve missed out on so many previously.
“I would absolutely recommend the sausage judging to everyone. Rarely would your get to try so many high standard and quality sausages - in my 32 years, I tried more in one day than I had in my whole life.
“Everyone was so friendly and happy to talk about their experiences, what they liked and what they weren’t so keen on, their backgrounds and what they had been trying.”
Tom’s winning poem, which gave him the edge over the other applicants, was as follows:
Sausages and bangers, wursts and franks;
A substantial part of our history, these meaty snacks amount!
Pork or beef or chicken, lamb or kangaroo;
Spices, herbs and peppercorns; pink and black and blue!
With cheese or veg or sweet treats, variety is the key;
We all love a tasty sausage, so leave me one or two, or three!
Head judge Keith Fisher, Institute of Meat CEO, interviewed Tom for the winning role.
He said: “It was a real pleasure to meet Tom. What he doesn’t know about sausages isn’t worth knowing. He may even have taught me a thing or two!”
To find out which sausages were crowned champion bangers of 2018, visit: https://uksausageweek.com/
A young man has been killed in a three-car collision on the A5 at Hockliffe this morning.
Emergency services attended but a 22-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Sergeant Michael Macleod from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Roads Policing Unit, said: “We would appreciate help from anyone who witnessed the collision, or saw the cars prior to the incident, to get in touch with us.
“We’d especially like to hear from any drivers who may have dashcam footage of the area at this time today.”
The road was closed for investigations to be carried out, but has now reopened.
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or visit Bedfordshire Police’s online reporting centre, quoting Op Goodison.