Bedfordshire

A late Will Maisey penalty ensured the Blues picked up maximum points in round ten of Champ Rugby, as Bedford beat Cornish Pirates for the fourth consecutive season at The Mennaye on Friday night...

Police are appealing for information after a total of 20 incidents of theft from vehicles have been reported in Brickhill and Putnoe since the beginning of November. Five incidents were...

Our contractor, which treated recycling waste, suspended its service with extremely short notice, after asking us and taxpayers to pick up the millions of pounds of additional cost, after the contractor suffered a fire at its facility. The short notice left us with no time to make alternative arrangements and needing to temporarily pause collections from Monday, 8 December 2025.

Our officers have been working at breakneck speed to put alternative arrangements in place, using their own back-up plans.

Without these speedy contingency plans in place, a re-tender of such a large contract would have taken months.

Despite the inconvenience and disruption to residents, securing a new contractor is the better long-term option for the public.

Councillor Zerny, Leader of Central Bedfordshire Council, said:

I am extremely grateful to residents for their patience during this disruption. I am delighted the council has managed to put a new contractor in place so quickly and is able to announce the resumption of recycling collections.

Extra weekend collections have been arranged to ensure that by the end of Christmas week, every household will have had at least one recycling collection since the resumption of service on Monday.

Read the latest advice if your bins were not collected during the 5 days, 8 December to 12 December. All will receive a collection by 27 December.

Residents are encouraged to check Christmas collections online because their next collection may be on a different day to normal over Christmas.

A Bedford Borough Council consultation on town centre alcohol licensing attracted only four responses – none from the public and none from police. This prompted concerns at Thursday’s (11 December)...

Pupils are now settling into newly refurbished classrooms at Larwood School on Beech Road in Dunstable, delivered by us, while the former Pulloxhill Lower School is refurbished to permanently provide up to 50 much-needed placements.

Demand for specialist provision continues to rise and in the last 2 years specialist places in Central Bedfordshire have grown from 1,069 to more than 1,167. The new interim provision is part of our wider strategy to improve SEND provision across the area, ensuring children and young people receive the right support in the right setting.

Pierre van der Merwe, Executive Headteacher at Larwood School, part of the Brighter Futures Education Trust, said:

I would like to thank Central Bedfordshire Council for getting this project over the line. We are now able to provide desperately needed placements for pupils who have been without an appropriate SEN offer or out of education entirely.

This work has made a meaningful difference to children and families who have been waiting far too long. We greatly look forward to working even more closely with Central Bedfordshire Council in the future and sincerely hope there will be further opportunities to collaborate with MGBC Construction again.

Councillor Steve Owen, our Executive Member for Children’s Services and Community Safety, said:

We know how critical it is to provide timely and appropriate support for children with SEMH needs. Opening this interim provision means we can help children who have been waiting far too long for a suitable placement. It’s a key step in delivering our commitment to expand and improve SEND provision across Central Bedfordshire, so every child can thrive.

Our long-term plans include creating more specialist school places and investing in facilities to meet growing demand for SEND support and, since last year, additional resource provisions (ARPs) have been delivered at Stratton School (24 places in Biggleswade), Shefford Lower School (8 places in Shefford), Sandy Secondary (24 places in Sandy) and Brooklands Middle School (12 places in Leighton Buzzard). 50 additional places have also been delivered at The Chiltern School (Houghton Regis).

In 2026, we will be inviting schools that are interested in having an ARP to submit an expression of interest, so that more schools can support local needs in their area and provide an inclusion education experience for local children.

A Bedford borough councillor has bought four sets of bike lights with her own money and placed them at the council’s customer service centre as Christmas “stocking fillers”...

A Bedford borough councillor has bought four sets of ‘stocking filler’ bike lights to help promote winter cycle safety.

One of Bedford borough’s flood defences is currently below standards set to protect homes and businesses, according to new data.

Latest figures have shown the number of passenger journeys taken at rail stations in Bedford has increased.

Bedford Town's Tyrone Marsh has scored 17 league goals and counting this season, but the in-form striker has now swapped his goalscoring boots for Italian sportswear, as he fronts Kappa's new...

Your weekly what’s on guide for Bedford and the surrounding area from The Bedford Clanger. Never miss a thing in Bedford ever again. From theatre to film, live music to art exhibitions, The Bedford...

Neighbours, Bedford Town and Real Bedford are in line to face each other in the semi-final of the Bedfordshire Senior Cup after winning their respective quarter-final ties against Biggleswade opposition...

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has raised the rating of Hepworth House from inadequate to good and removed it from special measures.

New plans to redevelop Bromham Mill have been approved by Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee, despite objections from residents who warned of harm to heritage, parking...

We’ve watched the team behind Dadaji’s evolve their offering over the years, and it really feels like they’ve found their sweet spot with this one. Right in the heart of town, Dadaji’s isn’t...

New plans to redevelop Bromham Mill have been approved by Bedford Borough Council’s planning committee, despite objections from residents who warned of harm to heritage, parking pressures and wildlife.

The council’s Sports Development team celebrated the 30th Bedford Sports and Physical Activity Awards at a special anniversary ceremony.

Bedford borough councillors has accepted a developer’s request to drop affordable homes at the former Rushmoor School site, with one stating it “beggars belief”.

It looks like Storm Bram is going to steer clear of the county which is good news.

Bedford's Embankment could gain seven self-contained flats – if plans are approved.

A fire at a waste operator’s treatment facility has left a local authority facing uncertainty over its dry recycling collections across Central Bedfordshire in the run-up to the...

It is hoped this will only last for a few days.

This is due to issues outside of the council’s control.

The council has two contractors; one which collects household waste in the bin lorries, and another firm that treats this waste.

The firm that treats our recycling waste has suspended their service with just one business days' notice and no time to make alternative arrangements.

Residents are asked not to put their orange-lidded and green-lidded bins out for collection as of Monday 8 December.

Central Bedfordshire Council’s Executive Member for Sustainability and Climate Resilience, Councillor Tracey Wye, said:

The council is working flat out to try to resolve this as quickly as possible, to minimise the impact on residents.

We will update the council website, and social media, as soon as there is more information.

Residents who sign up for email bulletins will also receive an update as soon as all is back to normal.

Read more about the recycling pause.

In the meantime, residents can book a slot at their local Household Waste Recycling Centre where they take cardboard, paper, tins and cans for recycling. If that’s not possible, please store recycling at home until normal collections resume.

Food waste collections and residual waste (black bin with black lid) collections will continue as normal.

Here’s one to mark in your diaries, people.

Bedford’s Embankment could gain seven self-contained flats – if plans are approved. Bedford Borough Council has received an application to convert a former house in multiple occupation...