Bedfordshire

More than 100 Bedfordians - business owners, residents and councillors packed into Real Coffee on Bedford's High Street last night for a public meeting that laid bare the challenges...

Central Bedfordshire Council has "categorically refuted" concerns made by an action group that it had "indirectly accused" parents of children with SEND of "fabricated or induced illness"...

Starting a business is never a straightforward journey, especially when you’re juggling a full-time job, learning new skills on the fly, and trying to find your voice in a competitive market. For Tilly...

In the 2025 Green Flag Awards, Houghton Hall Park and Rushmere Country Park have once again earned the prestigious Green Flag status. This international award recognises well-managed parks and green spaces. Flitton Moor, Linslade Wood, Studham Common, and Tiddenfoot Waterside Park also received Green Flag Community Awards, highlighting the vital role of local volunteers in caring for these much-loved spaces.

The Green Flag Award, managed by the environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, is the benchmark for excellence in parks and green spaces. It recognises sites that are safe, welcoming, well-maintained, and sustainably managed. The scheme celebrates the efforts of staff and volunteers to ensure these spaces are accessible and enjoyable for all.

With over 1,000 hectares of countryside, 36 play areas, and two skate parks, Central Bedfordshire offers countless ways for residents to enjoy the outdoors. During Love Parks Week, the council invites everyone to:

• explore award-winning countryside sites and enjoy play areas, from woodlands and wetlands to adventure play areas
• visit the Linslade Canal Festival on 26 July at Tiddenfoot Waterside Park for a day of family fun, nature activities, and water safety demonstrations
• get active outdoors with walking football, buggy fitness, or scenic circular walks
• discover local wildlife – look out for butterflies, beetles, and birds, or join a bug-themed event
• volunteer with a local group to help protect and enhance green spaces
• take part in the Summer of Play from 30 July at Dunstable Downs, transformed into a Sports Village with free, self-led outdoor activities including football, cricket, and tennis
• join a Parkrun – free, friendly 5K events take place every weekend across Central Bedfordshire

Councillor Tracey Wye, our Executive Member for Countryside Sites, said:

Our parks and green spaces are more than just places to visit. They’re essential to our wellbeing, our environment, and our sense of community. Receiving multiple Green Flag Awards is a proud achievement and a reflection of the dedication shown by our staff and volunteers. Love Parks Week is the perfect time to get outside, explore somewhere new, and celebrate the incredible natural spaces we’re lucky to have across Central Bedfordshire.

Find out more about events and activities this summer for children and families.

GCH Fishmongers in Bedford is proudly celebrating its 10th anniversary at the end of the month, marking a decade in its location on Newham Street. The business was founded on...

A Bedford Borough woman has launched a national campaign calling for compulsory dog owner insurance after her beloved pet was mauled to death by another dog, leaving her traumatised...

More interesting stuff to look out for in the latest public notices for Bedford.

They include essential features such as a height-adjustable changing bench, a shower, a ceiling hoist, and enough room to accommodate a carer.

Over the past 5 years, we've been working to help fulfil an ambition that people are never more than a 10-minute drive to a Changing Place Toilet (CPT) in Central Bedfordshire.

With a contribution of £170,000 in government grant funding and matched funding from venue operators we have installed multiple Changing Places Toilets across our area, significantly improving accessibility for both residents and visitors. Of the 11 CPTs now sited in Central Bedfordshire, in addition to an installation at Priory House, our head office, 3 have been strategically located at key tourist destinations, Whipsnade Zoo, Marston Forest Centre, and Woburn Safari Park, to support accessible tourism.

For many families, access to Changing Places Toilets is a key consideration when planning days out with these facilities, making it much easier and supporting people’s independence. Visitors to Whipsnade Zoo have said the Changing Place Toilet has made their day much easier, allowed them to enjoy the zoo for the whole day, and was one of the main reasons they chose to visit.

Our Executive Member for Adult Social Care, Councillor Mark Smith said:

Changing Places Toilets are not just amenities, they are essential. They provide dignity, safety, and freedom, and open opportunities for people with disabilities to do everyday things most of us take for granted, like visiting a supermarket, a park, or attending an event.

For many people and their families, access to these facilities can be the deciding factor in whether they can leave the house at all. Without appropriate toilets, families are often faced with the heart breaking choice of staying home.

Kath Pearce, resident and grandparent to Sam who regularly visits the Forest of Marston Vale said:

Most people think of a disabled toilet as just a wider door and a red emergency cord but that doesn’t meet the needs of my 17-year-old grandson Sam. He isn’t in a wheelchair, is almost non-verbal, and has no sense of danger. Since he was three, we’ve had to change him on the floor or in the back of our car because the facilities available just weren’t suitable.

Changing Places Toilets have changed that. With over 2,600 across the UK, and those in Central Bedfordshire, they give Sam and others like him the dignity and equality they deserve.

We’re grateful to Central Bedfordshire Council for caring enough to install them, but more are urgently needed. Disabled people go out, enjoy the countryside, shop, swim, dine, celebrate. Why should they be denied the basic human right of using a toilet with dignity?

Find your nearest Changing Places Toilet on the Changing Places website.

Further Changing Places facilities are planned to open in a range of locations later in 2025 and during 2026.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service (BFRS) has denied claims by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) that the county is facing a “critical failure in risk management” due to dangerously...

Residents living near quarries in Central Bedfordshire should benefit from a community levy while extraction is ongoing, rather than miss out altogether if the digging process lasts for years, a meeting was warned.

A nationwide rescue mission to save Britain’s butterflies has been launched, and people across Bedford are being asked to play their part. Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation has...

Bedford Borough Council has said it will review the government’s new e-scooter plans to see if they would “benefit” the borough.

Central Bedfordshire Council held informal but high-level talks with Universal Studios, pitching them as 'partners' for the potential project, just days after news of plans for the...

The M1 is closed northbound between J11A Leighton Buzzard and J13 Milton Keynes after a serious collision.

Questions about cancer screenings were answered during National Health Service events at shopping centres in Luton, Bedford and Milton Keynes.

Bedford Borough Council has prosecuted three people who abandoned vehicles, as part of a continued crackdown on environmental crime in the Borough. The convictions...

A teenager and his brother have set up an appeal to help children at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) after receiving a life-changing diagnosis.

A Bedford creative agency has launched a free file-sharing platform promising a privacy-first alternative to big-name services such as WeTransfer. SimplyTransfer.uk, created...

Construction is due to start ‘imminently’ on a new building at a business park in Bedford – expected to be one of pallet re-using operator CHEP UK’s largest service centres in Europe.

A spokesperson for HMP Bedford has said that it accepts all of the Prison Ombudsman's recommendations following the death of a prisoner in March 2023. In 2022, Steven Hart...

Bedfordshire Police are appealing for witnesses after a woman in her 20s was hospitalised with serious injuries following a collision on Kimbolton Road on Sunday (20 July)...

Research by the Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed that three of the top five busiest trains in England and Wales are from Bedford to London. According to the data gathered from...

A bombshell independent finance review has sparked a political blame game as Bedford borough councillors clash over the true state of the authority’s finances and the credibility of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).

A basketballer from Bedford is celebrating after achieving a bronze medal for Team GB at the World MaxiBasketball Championships, held in Ticino in southern Switzerland, defeating the home nation...

A woman in her 20s was taken to hospital with serious injuries yesterday (Sunday).