New crime data published for November 2015

From Police.uk.

Here is a brief summary of the crime information for the past two months:

	October 2015	November 2015
All crime	675	648
Anti-social behaviour	253	238
Bicycle theft	18	15
Burglary	60	57
Criminal damage and arson	63	56
Drugs	4	7
Other crime	3	2
Other theft	50	44
Possession of weapons	4	1
Public order	11	14
Robbery	9	9
Shoplifting	31	26
Theft from the person	5	4
Vehicle crime	83	78
Violence and sexual offences	81	97

Please visit https://www.police.uk/shape/moXeS1/ for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team.

The information and statistics displayed

​is 

for information purposes only and may be subject to change.
Although care is taken when processing and analyzing the data, the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.
While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate.

SHOP LOCAL - Bedford Square Shop Christmas Opening Hours

Support the local businesses in Bedford Square, Houghton Regis. There is still time to check out some of the shops you don't normally go in, for your Christmas Shopping! Nevil's will be even be open on Christmas Day, should you have run out of a certain drink, or sundry grocery items.

Houghton Regis News Desk photographer, Alan Winter, snapped up these photos on Saturday afternoon. "I picked up some bargains, too. Some very nice Royal Doulton plate scenes were on sale at Age UK. They'll help me to check another person off my Christmas present list!"

You'll find these businesses on the top floor:

£poundstretcher

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 7.30 to 5pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, 9am - 6pm

27th open until 4pm

28th, 29th, 30th,  9am - 8pm

31st, New Years Eve 9am - 5pm

1st January, New Years Day, 10-4pm

Hair.comb

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, closes 4pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th, 28th CLOSED

29th, 30th, 31st OPEN

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

Brown And White

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 9am - 2pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th CLOSED

28th, CLOSED

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

D&I Family Butcher

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 3AM - 4PM

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th CLOSED

28th, CLOSED

29th, 30th,  6am - 5.30pm

31st, New Years Eve 6am - 4pm

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

Greggs

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, closes 5PM

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th CLOSED

28th, 7am - 3pm

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

Istanbul Take Away

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, Open from 3pm

Café De King

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, CLOSED

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th CLOSED

28th OPEN

Jewels Arts & Crafts Centre

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, probably open from 3pm

Other days subject to volunteer availability.

JS Homestyle D-I-Y Centre

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, CLOSED

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th, 28th, 29th  CLOSED

Ladbrokes

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, open  to 5.30pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, 8.30AM - 5.30PM

Roger Marsh, Estate Agents

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 9.30 to 1pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th CLOSED

28th, CLOSED

29th, 30th,  9am - 6pm

31st, New Years Eve 9am - 2pm

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

Nevil Food and Wine

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 9.00am to 2pm

25th Christmas Day, 9.00am to 2pm

26th, Boxing Day, 9.00am to 2pm

27th 9.00am to 2pm

28th, 9.00am to 2pm

29th, 30th,  9.00am to 2pm

China House

for times, see picture:

Razor

for times, see picture:

Cinnamon Lounge

times to be confirmed

Post Office

Times to be confirmed.

Other days open for newspapers on all days except Christmas Day 

Age UK

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 9am to 3pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, CLOSED

27th 10am-4pm

28th, 10am-4pm

29th, 30th,  Open as usual.

31st, New Years Eve 9am - 3pm

1st January, New Years Day, CLOSED

TW Carpets

24th Dec until 2nd January,  CLOSED

Lloyds Pharmacy

24th Dec, Christmas Eve, 9am to 6.15pm

25th Christmas Day, CLOSED

26th, Boxing Day, 9am-1pm

27th CLOSED

28th, CLOSED

'Doctors Surgery' Pharmacy

Closed 25th, and 28th, otherwise normal hours.

Houghton Regis Christmas Parade - Sunday 6pm Parkside, Wednesday 6pm Tithe Farm

Santa Claus is coming to town !

On Sunday 20th December, the Santa Crew will be parading from the Polar Bear house in Chelsea Gardens to Bromley Gardens, then up to Go Houghton, and back to base via the Baptist Church.

On Wednesday 23rd December, the Crew will be meeting at the Hillsborough Shops going through Tithe Farm Road to Bedford Square and then back via Sundon Road.

The start time on both days will be 6pm, and donations will be collected for the Houghton Regis Town Mayor's Charities.

Santa will be pushing his big loud music trolley, blasting out carols and Chrimbo music!

Please, do come along and sing and dance with us as we make our way around our hometown. If you want to bring some small sweet treats for the kids please do so.

Ian Laken wrote on his Facebook Page, "It's mostly a fun idea for the grown ups to get dressed up and walk the estate singing carols and handing out sweets to the kids. Everyone is welcome to join in so just come along with or without the kids and be ready to sing out loud to the Community. I'll be be Santa pushing a make shift musical sleigh so please do bring some sweets or other goodies to go in the cart for everyone to share."

Help With Drug and Alcohol Over Christmas with Path to Recovery

It may be a merry season but if Christmas is proving to be a wake-up call when it comes to your drinking then local support is available to help you make a change for the better.

Central Bedfordshire's  shared drug and alcohol support service, Path 2 Recovery (P2R) is open throughout the festive period.

P2R is a new one-stop service which  launched in September and provides advice, treatment and support to adults over the age of 18 in Bedford Borough and Central Bedfordshire whose lives are affected by drug or alcohol use.

The new P2R service includes Hubs in Dunstable and Bedford and residents can choose to drop-in to the Hub most convenient to them, without an appointment or referral, and seek help with changing their drinking habits.

In addition to visiting a P2R Hub, you can also visit the Don’t Bottle It Up website at your own convenience, where you can take a free, quick and confidential alcohol test, which can help identify the signs of harmful drinking, and connect you to local specialist alcohol support services.
You can also make an appointment to talk to your GP about your drinking habits, and he or she can also refer you to P2R.

The nearest P2R hub is located in Dunstable, at 67 High Street North, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, LU6 1JF (tel. 01582 501780) - This is the old building opposite Grove House, next to the Post Office parcels queueing area.

Normal opening hours: 
Monday to Friday 9am to 5.30pm
Late night opening: every Tuesday until 8pm
Saturdays 10am to 2pm
Christmas opening hours
Tuesday 22 December: 9am to 8pm
Wednesday 23 December: 9am to 5.30pm
Thursday 24 December: 9am to 3.30pm
Thursday 25 December to Monday 28 December: closed
Tuesday 29 December: 9am to 8pm
Wednesday 30 and Thursday 31 December: 9am to 5.30pm
Friday 1 January 2016: closed
Monday 4 January: normal opening hours resume

​Celebrating the 60’s at Sandringham Drive

Right Track has been celebrating Christmas this year with a 60's party at Sandringham Hub in Houghton Regis. 

The community group held the themed event last week at Aldwyck's business hub on Sandringham drive. Guests enjoyed vintage style food, music and a quiz featuring questions from the 60's! 

Over 30 people attended the event including Cllr Susan Goodchild, members of Houghton Regis Baptist Church, the over

​-​

fifties

 group,

​'​

My Focus

​'​

employability programme, the Cafe Champions steering group plus, Aldwyck Housing Group

​,​

and Right Track directors.

Right Track is a Community Interest Company run by people with a learning disability in Central Bedfordshire. 

For more information about the HUB Community Café project contact Karen on 07999 859980 or email righttrack@hotmail.co.uk

Church Roof Stripped At Chalgrave - Crowd-Funding Appeal Fund Set Up

In the early morning of 4th December thieves were interrupted in the process of stealing lead from the roof of All Saints Church, Chalgrave. The church is situated off the main road between Houghton Regis and Toddington.

Three men ran off across the fields, leaving behind about half the lead they had stripped off. The other half had already been taken away in a van. The metal was removed from much of the lower roof on the south side of the church. According to the Chalgrave parish web site, an immense amount of damage has been caused to the Grade I listed building. It will probably render the building unusable over the Christmas period. The repairs will be costly and are not entirely covered by insurance.

Photo: http://www.chalgravepc.org.uk/audacious-theft-from-church/

The inside of the roof was photographed, here, in 2013:

Photo: A D Winter, 2013.

Repairs will be costly and are not entirely covered by insurance.

Rosie Cooper and her fiance attend Chalgrave Church and were due to be getting married there in July 2016. She said, "It breaks my heart that the church has been vandalised and may not be back to it's full potential come July. The church will not be able to afford these repairs, so please help!"

Rosie has started a crowd-funding appeal fund - https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/chalgravechurch - please consider donating.

Meanwhile, if anyone has information that might lead to the arrest of the thieves, please contact the police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, the Rector, or a member of Chalgrave Parish Council.

Tithe Farm Road - Driver Failed To Stop - Appeal For Witnesses

This vehicle was parked in a bay in Tithe Farm Road at the junction with Ash Tree Road on Tuesday 1st December 2015 from 12.45 until 15.15.

Substantial damage was caused to the offside rear passenger door and adjacent panel. Unfortunately the driver of the offending vehicle failed to stop or pass on contact details.

If anyone saw this incident or can help with giving further information, would they kindly contact the Police on 101 or the Road Collision Unit on 01438 757171.

Regeneration Fund Could Help Town To Stay Vibrant

alanwinter.lu5@gmail.com

A Market Town Regeneration Fund has been launched by Central Bedfordshire Council. Under the scheme up to £4 million is available across the authority's area, and bids will be accepted between £25,000 and £1 million.

To qualify for the money, the bids have to be matched by 50% funding. On Monday evening next week, Houghton Regis Town Councillors will be deliberating over whether or not to bid for this funding. Clearly they will need to have an objective and need to explain the impact of anything they decide. If they decide to go ahead with a bid, they only have until 29th February 2016 to apply.

Current thinking is that there are things that need doing in the town centre to make it a continued viability, and to keep it a vibrant place that attracts shoppers. Some ideas discussed will have staffing implications. The 50% matched funding could come from banked reserves, or be loaded onto the Council Tax precept.

Ideas that councillors have already discussed in the Town Council Plan include:

• Improving railings outside Roger Marsh estate agents
• A bandstand
• A town clock
• A Town Ranger scheme
• Public Art
• Public noticeboard
• Flower beds, hanging baskets, regeneration of bushes plot in front of Church car park.
• Improving (flattening) disabled parking at Church Square car park.
• Establishment of central refuges in pedestrian crossings.
• Making a disabled access for 1st floor shops
• Creating a small market
• Shop Local campaign
• Improvements to shop fronts, loading bays, and better screening of shop bins

More information about the scheme can be found in the Town Council Agenda, which can be downloaded here: http://www.houghtonregis.org.uk/agendas

Market stall on Fridays.

Regeneration Fund Could Help Town To Stay Vibrant - what would you improve in the town and why?http://www.hrnd.co.uk/2015/12/regeneration-fund-could-help-town-to.html
Posted by Houghton Regis News Desk on Friday, 4 December 2015

New Crime Data Shows Sharp Increase in Burglary, Other Theft, and Vehicle Crime

New data for your area has been published on Police.uk.

Here is a brief summary of the crime information for the past two months:

	September 2015	October 2015
All crime	674	675
Anti-social behaviour	274	253
Bicycle theft	17	18
Burglary	46	60
Criminal damage and arson	65	63
Drugs	6	4
Other crime	0	3
Other theft	38	50
Possession of weapons	4	4
Public order	25	11
Robbery	3	9
Shoplifting	31	31
Theft from the person	4	5
Vehicle crime	74	83
Violence and sexual offences	87	81

Please visit https://www.police.uk/shape/moXeS1/ for more information including outcomes for these crimes and contact information for your local policing team.

The information and statistics displayed  are for information purposes only and may be subject to change.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system.
While the figures shown have been checked as far as practicable, they should be regarded as approximate.

Children Learn About Road Safety From Road Constructors

Team members from the A5 M1 Link Road Scheme a joint venture between Costain and Carillion (CCJV) in Luton have been busily visiting local schools, this week, in support of Road Safety Week.

Road Safety Week is the UK’s yearly flagship event to promote safer road use, supported by the Department of Transport.

Over the course of the week, team members provided an engaging presentation to over 500 children. Pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 years old, from Chalton Primary, Thornhill Primary and Thomas Whitehead Church of England Primary School took part. Topics covered included: identifying the different types of safe crossings (from traffic lights, pelican/zebra crossings), to why the need for a lollipop lady/man, to identifying the various hazards associated with roads. Special emphasis was covered on the three main rules when crossing a road ‘Stop’ ‘Look’ and ‘Listen’.

To assist capturing the children’s attention and to ensure the presentation was not only educational but fun, site team members had the assistance of Ivor Goodsite, the Considerate Constructors Scheme mascot. Ivor clapped and gave the children the thumbs up when they were identifying hazards and answering questions.

All the children were provided with Hi-Vis snap band arm bands to help them be more visible on these darker nights. The armbands were kindly donated by Sian Formwork Ltd a sub-contractor within the scheme.

David Forbes, CCJV Project Manager said, ‘‘Working with schools within the local community is a fundamental part of our engagement strategy. We are pleased that this opportunity has been supported by our supply chain and we look forward to further educational engagements across the lifecycle of the scheme’.

The A5 M1 Link Road Scheme is being delivered under the Highways England National Major Project Framework and constructed via a joint venture of Costain and Carillion (CCJV).

Further information on the scheme can be found at:
http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/a5-m1-link-dunstable-northern-bypass/