Houghton Regis News Desk

by Alan D Winter, Houghton Regis News Desk Lidl, a family supermarket that takes pride in providing its customers with the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices, is on the verge of starting work on building its biggest ever Distribution Centre on Houghton Regis' doorstep. Outline plans for the development were agreed under the existing Central Bedfordshire Council consent (CB/12/03613/OUT) and now a reserved matters application has been submitted. The company is now seeking approval for these plans, which could be concluded in March 2020. The development proposals comprise the construction of a Regional Distribution Centre (RDC) of over  1.2 million sq ft of warehouse floor space, 612 associated car parking spaces, 141 HGV stacking spaces, 196 loading docks, 20 E-charging spaces, a drivers lounge, smoking shelters, two bicycle stores with 104 spaces for bicycles, four haulier cabins, three battery enclosures, a generator enclosure, sprinkler tanks, pump ho

HM The Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for 2020 has been announced and includes ten Bedfordshire recipients. Those who have been successful are as follows: Officers of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) Rosemary Frances MAYGLOTHLING (Bedford) For services to Rowing and Gender Equality in Sport Martin James MCELHATTON (Luton) For services to Disability Sport Sabah GILANI (Luton) Chief Executive Officer, Better Community Business Network For services to Young People and to the Muslim community Charles Alan John YATES (Bedford) Head of Threat Leadership, Insights, Partnership and Delivery, National Crime Agency For services to Law Enforcement Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) Peter John SCOTT (Bedford) For voluntary service to the National Trust at Wightwick Manor, Wolverhampton Dr Anne Margaret Stuart GRANT (Bedford) For services to charity in Bedfordshire Councillor Dr David MICHAEL (Luton) For services to the community in Greater Lo

School Admissions CBC The transfer to Secondary and Upper school for 2020 admission closed on 31st October 2019. A total of 989 Secondary and 1907 Upper on-time applications were received. The closing date for late applications is 16 March 2020 and parents will be notified of the decision on 20 April 2020. Allocation and first preference information will be published on CBC's website on 2 March 2020. Starting school and Transfer to Middle school application deadline is the 15th January 2020. Parents are encouraged to apply for a place online via CBC school admission web pages which contain a wealth of information including the deadline dates for applications, school catchment areas, deferred entries, making an application on religious/faith grounds and how places are allocated. CBC continues to monitor and adjust the forecast for school places required as a result of housing development in the north of Houghton Regis. Central Bedfordshire is on the verge of significan

More than 100 people linked to organised crime gangs have been arrested and record numbers of weapons taken off the streets as police continue to crack down on serious violence and exploitation. Offenders linked to organised crime groups (OCGs) in Bedfordshire were sentenced to more than 200 years in prison in the first nine months of 2019. Over the same timeframe Bedfordshire Police disrupted OCGs by: Arresting 101 people and charging 34 suspects Seizing more than five kilos of Class A and two kilos of Class B drugs, as well as six firearms This enforcement action has coincided with a surge in the number of weapons being taken off the county’s streets. In October 1,632 knives were recovered from Bedfordshire Police’s weapons bins; 859 in the north and 773 in the south. As well as these knives, other additional weapons handed in included 11 firearms, nine meat cleavers and a Nunchuk. The previous two times the bins were emptied, in September 2018 and March 2019, 1,20

Is your group of volunteers or community organisation looking for additional funding? Central Bedfordshire Council has allocated £182,000 for distribution to worthy causes. Bidding has now opened and the first bidding round will close on 28 February 2020. Individual organisations can apply for up to £25,000. The Community Assets Grant Scheme aims to help local voluntary and community organisations make projects a reality by offering matched-funding grants to enable them to invest in their community facilities. There are guidelines to follow, for example, the grants must be used for capital funding projects, for such as a new roof for a community hall or to improve access for people with disabilities, or upgrades to other community assets. The grant scheme is open to a range of Central Bedfordshire organisations, including voluntary and community groups, not-for-profit organisations and parish or town councils. To find out more about the scheme visit the CBC website  an

Recently married, local Viva MK Catalogue distributors Stephen Gibbs and Lolly Williams-Gibbs from Houghton Regis asked their customers if they would kindly purchase Toys or gifts selected from their Viva MK house-hold product catalogue, in order to donate them to local Barnardo’s children. Their customer’s truly embraced this idea, in collaboration with Stephen and  Lolly’s team the total value of toys/gifts amounted to a massive £2935. This worked in conjunction with Barnardo’s first-ever ‘Kidsmas’ Christmas campaign for 2019. “We wanted to make a huge difference to Barnardo’s children this year!” says Lolly who also runs her business online, “We came up with the idea of asking our lovely and generous customers if they would like to be involved in purchasing the toys, so we could then offer to Barnardo’s just before Christmas. The results were amazing, we would like to thank our customers for their overwhelming generosity. We feel privileged and humbled by what was achieve

Police officers in Bedfordshire will be carrying out an increased number of roadside breath tests in order to help keep people on Bedfordshire’s roads safe over the festive period. Over the Christmas and New Year period there can be an increase in people choosing to get behind the wheel after either drinking alcohol or taking drugs. Last December, 77 motorists were arrested in December for drink and drug-related offences. Sergeant Ian Trew said: “We’re committed to keeping people in Bedfordshire safe over Christmas and that includes making our roads safer by arresting those who drive under the influence of either drink or drugs. “We’ll be carrying out regular additional patrols on the road network across the county, stopping motorists and asking them to carry out a breath test so we can ensure they’re fit to drive. We’re also urging the public to help us by reporting anyone who they think may be driving while under the influence. “Drink and drug driving can have absolu

In the third year of the SME National Business Awards, Go Houghton from Houghton Regis have been crowned Restaurant of the Year. The SME Business awards are a sought after accolade of achievement and a veritable endorsement of success in business. Go Houghton Bar & Restaurant tweeted, “Wow what a fantastic Christmas present for our GO team & guests, crowned Restaurant of the year at  #SMENationals big thanks to our super team, guests and suppliers.” “Fantastic night at the @eventsandprmk #SMENationals #wembleystadium our GO chefs well chuffed with the achievement, early #christmas #present” “Ingredients that makes GO Houghton National award winners great people & service, clean environment, quality & range of food, lovely guests, management, systems & processes  December 10, 2019 “Come along to share the festive spirit & celebrate election results @ GO Houghton on Fri 13th Dec tables available only for 5pm or 9pm onward. ” What is an SME Award? S

l Bedfordshire Police has welcomed a report which shows the number of children arrested by the force has continued to drop. A total of 682 under-18s were arrested in Bedfordshire in 2018, a reduction of 261 compared with the previous year. This continues a drop which has occurred every year since 2012, according to a report from the Howard League for Penal Reform which campaigns for a reduction in child arrests. Nationally there has been a 71 per cent reduction in child arrests since 2010. In Bedfordshire the number has been more than halved from 1,953 to 682 over this period. Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Sebire said: “We do not want to criminalise children unnecessarily, particularly if they themselves are actually victims of exploitation in drugs lines or similar, so it is pleasing that the number of young people arrested in Bedfordshire has continued to fall. “We recognise the value of alternative ways of dealing with young people involved in crime, and the import

A crackdown by Central Bedfordshire Council on underage sales of nicotine products uncovered three premises who were willing to sell them to a minor. The council’s Trading Standards team undertook checks in Westoning, Toddington, Dunstable and Houghton Regis in five different premises on 28 November 2019, including four general convenience stores and a garage. These premises were chosen as part of the test purchase exercise as they had either previously sold an age-restricted product to a minor or the council had received information about such sales from a member of the public.  The team sent the 16-year-old volunteer into each of the shops and a garage and they attempted to buy vaping products without showing any form of identification. It is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to buy or use them. During the test, the volunteer was sold vaping liquid in three different premises. Following the checks, two of the shops who sold the liquid received a written warning fr

More than four years in jail for two men over Luton burglary Two men have been sentenced to more than four years in prison for a burglary in Luton after being caught using stolen bank cards. Jason Dennett, 31, of Chelsea Gardens, Houghton Regis, and Mark Nicholson, 48, of no fixed abode, were sentenced today (Thursday) at Luton Crown Court after being found guilty of burglary. Dennett received a sentence of two years and six months and Nicholson received two years. In the early hours of 25 October, Dennett and Nicholson entered a property in Goshawk Close, Luton, whilst the occupants were asleep. The pair stole two handbags, one of which contained car keys and bank cards, and subsequently the vehicle was stolen. The investigating team discovered around £420 was spent on the victim’s cards on a number of items including alcohol and cigarettes. Officers worked with the stores to access CCTV of the two men who used the stolen cars. Later that morning, the stolen car was

A local councillor and driving instructor is frustrated by drivers who park outside Tithe Farm Primary School on the Zig Zag Lines. Cllr Pat Hamill told News Desk, “I would like to ask those who park here irresponsibly to think not only of the safety of your children but also of those children whose parents unselfishly park away from school frontage, so all can cross safely.  I will be asking that parking enforcement is increased around schools as a priority.” Signs near the school advise no stopping on entrance markings. Signposts in the area. Ask The Police  is a website set up to answer questions on policing. It says, “Whilst it is not normally an offence in itself to park on the zigzag lines, drivers who do park there could commit an offence of causing an obstruction. In some areas the zigzag lines are accompanied by a traffic regulation order which does make it an offence to park there. There will be signs to indicate this at the location. In some areas the pr