Weekly news from Bedford, UK

Just a summary this week....

It's the silly season, when there is little news of interest to expats. This week BoS leads with a report that police have been told to take their shoes off and not use sniffer dogs when raiding Muslim homes.

An 18-point guide issued by Bedfordshire Police lists dos and don'ts when dealing with Muslims who are suspected of terrorist or drugs offences.

A pub quiz team tackled a pair of armed men to the ground after they attempted to rob an off-licence.

Two men entered the Threshers store on Castle Road, Bedford, on Thursday evening at around 9.55pm, just minutes before the shop was to close.

The offenders, armed with a screwdriver, told staff they had a gun inside a plastic bag - although this was not seen. They ordered the two male workers into the back of the shop and told them to unlock the safe.

But while this was going on, customers taking part in a quiz in the Gordon Arms pub on the opposite side of the road had alerted the police after they had seen the robbers preparing to enter the shop.

Gordon Arms landlady Lesley Mansfield led a group of her customers across the road to try to block the front door to stop the robbers escaping.

However, the robbers kicked the door open and ran away, despite being followed down Bower Street, disappearing in the Russell Park area.

One of the robbers was white, 5ft 11 ins tall, aged mid to late 20s and was wearing light blue jeans and a grey hoody with trainers.

The other man has been described as being of Asian appearance, 5ft 10 ins tall, aged mid to late 20s with stubble on his face. He was wearing a blue hooded Nike Athletic top, jeans and trainers.

Robbery squad detective DC Colin Richardson can be contacted on 01234 275333.

An inquiry is underway into claims that people being admitted to Weller Wing are being exposed to illicit drugs and alcohol.

The probe by mental health bosses comes after two female patients made formal complaints after spending time in Weller Wing during April and May this year.

The first, a middle aged woman who didn't want to be identified, told us that she had been offered "A special cup of tea" to help her sleep by another patient. The woman said:

"I was only getting about three or four hours of sleep every night and I was desperate. None of the medical staff were helping to remedy the problem so I accepted the drink with brown bits floating in it and had a good sleep thereafter.

"No one would tell me what the brown bits were, but the next day I discovered that it was 'wacky baccy'. I must admit that I did have a few more cups to help me sleep, but I wasn't at all happy about the situation."

The second patient, who is in her thirties, claims that she went into Weller Wing suffering from depression but came out as a crack addict. She told us:

"As soon as I got onto Bronte ward I was offered crack and told that it would make me feel happier. I was highly tranquilised at the time and I really didn't know what was going on.

"When I was first admitted to Weller Wing I was on Keats ward and nothing like this ever happened. People were searched for drugs and alcohol and no one got anything in. In Bronte ward I was offered everything; crack, heroin, cannabis, temazapam and valium. I was also taught how to smuggle spirits onto the ward.

"It's ridiculous.

"I ended up spending thousands of pounds in the weeks that I was in Weller Wing and I'm scared to go back in case it all happens again. I am slowly fighting my addiction and I want to get my life back on track."

There is no suggestion that Weller Wing staff are involved.

(At the time of writing the hospital had uncovered no evidence whatsoever about this, and it needs bearing in mind that the patients may have been unstable mentally.0

Rail passengers trying to get information were alarmed to read on the rail network's website that the call centre had been evacuated due to severe weather conditions.

What had not immediatlely occurred to them was that the centre is in India.

The main call centre for Midland Mainline railways is in Mumbai and is suffering flooding due to the monsoon.

The weather is the worst for many years and several hundred people are feared dead from the floods.

Tickets for Midland Mainline trains, which run between Bedford and London can be bought over the phone, or on the Internet. Also queries as to price need to be asked over the phone.

This week, on the company's website, www.midlandmainline.com, a notice has been posted across the page. It read:

'Due to severe weather conditions and the subsequent evacuation of our main call centre, we are currently experiencing difficulties in handling the usual level of calls.

Relocating call centres abroad, especially in India, has become increasingly popular with companies, as foreign labour costs are low. It is unpopular at home, both with workers who fear for their jobs and customers who often find the level of sevice not so good. A spokesman for Bedford Commuters Association said:

"We have long had concerns that the relocating of call centres to other countries will result in a deterioration of services for rail users, although we did not envisage this.

"People living thousands of miles away will not have the local knowledge to deal with questions and problems that arise."

According to Bos, asylum seekers at Yarl's Wood detention Centre are receiving better health care than UK patients

They do not have to wait longer than 24 hours to see a GP and are visited by a dentist every week, according to a Government report.

The services on offer at Yarl's Wood, which houses 400 immigrants waiting to be deported, would be the envy of patients waiting for treatment.

But despite having better health services than most British citizens, the Yarl's Wood detainees are unhappy.

A survey carried out by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons found four out of every ten detainees asked rated the heath care as 'bad' or 'very bad'. Less than a quarter said it was good.

The centre's healthcare unit is staffed by a manger and ten nurses. Three local GP's are on call.

A dentist visit's the centre once a week and treats four to six patients. The waiting list is no more than ten days.

A person needing emergency dental treatment is taken to a local dental practice during the weekdays.

Conservative borough and county councillor Peter Hand said:

"If asylum seekers can see a GP within 24 hours, all well and good, but at the same time we should be providing that for the British people who are already living here. I would say ordinary people are not looking for special treatment - they are looking for fair treatment."

Fast food leftovers on Bedfordshire's streets are creating overweight 'super pigeons' that rely on waste to survive.

The birds are becoming reliant on scrap food thrown on the pavement by late-night revellers who can't be bothered to use a bin, according to anti-litter campaigners from the Keep Britain Tidy charity.

Now, not only are the pigeons becoming fat, the birds are going through a population explosion and the council could be forced to cull hundreds of them to keep numbers under control.

Pigeons have made such an impact in Bedford that Church Square is more commonly referred to as 'Pigeon Square' due to the large number of birds that congregate in the area.

Alan Woods, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy said yesterday,

"Seven out of the 10 bits of litter we find on our pavements and roads are food related. And with all this trash to choose from, the pigeon population has spiralled.

This isn't fair on the council who is left to control the pest problem and is cruel to those animals which are scavenging in unnatural environments for food that isn't good for them."

The problem is worse during the summer months when warm weather encourages people to sit in Church Square and feed bits of their sandwiches to the pigeons.

A 17-year-old girl has committed suicide while staying at a hostel.

Police have confirmed that they were called to The Bedford Foyer, in Conduit Road on Wednesday July 20. Soon after they arrived officers discovered the body of Christine Wheeler.

The Bedford Foyer is a Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association project that offers affordable accommodation and training for 16 to 24-year-olds to help them get back on their feet. Staff are on hand 24 hours a day. As yet it is not clear why Miss Wheeler took her own life.

Ray Boycott, executive director of operations for BPHA confirmed the details of the incident. He said:

"The police were immediately called and we have done everything we can to help with their investigation since then.

"We understand it is now in the hands of the coroner.

"This tragic incident has left everyone concerned in a state of shock. Our thoughts are with her family."

SIR - I write to express three concerns I have at the suggestion that Bedford move to a unitary authority status by abolishing the county council.

• The borough as a geographic area is too small to strategically advise on matters such as transport, health and education. Major transport initiatives such as the duelling of the A421, the East-West rail link or the delivery of the NIRAH project affect an area bigger than the borough alone.

Similarly to decide education or health policy at a borough level could cause disparities in services offered between residents in close proximity (eg Barford and Blunham) which would be in different authorities.

• Local Government responsibilities may be divided between the two authorities but they are not duplicated.

Merging the responsibilities is likely to produce integration costs not savings.

This would mean a rise in council tax which is exactly what happened when this proposal was implemented when I was living in Berkshire.

• Local democracy is not perfect and it is fair to say the county council's record is not great.

However when a tier of our democratic system does not work well it is imperative to improve it not abolish it.

This would further decrease the accountability of government in general, particularly when we now have a regional assembly that is unelected.

Cllr Shan Hunt claims that cost-savings would be achieved by abolishing the county council. Her case would be strengthened if she could back this up with an assurance that this would result in a guaranteed reduction in council tax for the residents of Bedford.

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• SIR - Can we manage without the county council?

Most certainly we can - provided the people who take over the duties are capable, understand the necessity of co-operation and communication, and are mindful that the highest professional and common-sense standards are expected from them.

The wastefulness and inefficiency of the present two-tier system is very apparent - trying to deal sensibly with issues that might involve the county and district councils can become a nightmare. Economic development and promotion are quite inadequate.

We welcome the opportunity to register our views and we would strongly support any overhaul of the system designed to increase overall efficiency and the well-being of the county.

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SIR - Nationally the HBS saga is unfortunately by no means an unprecedented case, reflecting what seems to be an increasing trend in private sector attitude towards public sector contracts.

The private sector appears to face no repercussions when it falls short of expectations apart from the inevitable loss of contract (although even this is not always certain).

The taxpayer having funded private business profits is once more faced with a reduction in the quality of local services, while in some instances entire services are lost.

It comes as no surprise therefore that the public is becoming ever more disenchanted by politics at every level, especially when local councillors place 'commercial confidentiality' over and above 'public interest'.

Perhaps in this instance the contractual requirements were being met by HBS, although it is being implied that this may not have been the case.

It is possible that HBS's contractual goals and their attainment was not being monitored sufficiently well, allowing the situation to spiral out of control.

Perhaps the targets set out by the county council fell short of public needs.

Whatever the case, it is evident that the county council has to review and readdress the issue of awarding contracts to private business, along with how it can implement a mechanism which will endeavour to ensure that targets and expectations are well understood and met by the contractors.

Perhaps contracts could be devised such that contractors would reap rewards (in the form of profits) if and only if the contact goals are achieved on time and within budget, ie a sort of bonus payment scheme on successful completion.

Furthermore failure to meet the goals which contractors had accepted at the onset could result in them breaking even financially or making a financial loss in a manner which would reflect this failure in a justifiable manner.

This would ensure that contractor bids were well thought out before being put forward to the county council, making the tender procedure fairer for all, rather than the current process of 'who bids least wins'.

This may also start to restore public confidence in our councillors.

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SIR - Graham Wright refers to Patrick Hall's support of a directly-elected Mayor and says: "and look what we got".

Yes, do: new markets, the prospect of Castle Lane being developed, more police in the town centre; more street rangers, extra police community support officers; the one-stop shop for voluntary services after 14 years of gassing about it; tight budgeting; refurbishment of Castle Mound; graffiti being cleaned off as quickly as it is reported, cleaner streets, a business improvement district, Nirah, moving the western bypass to the starting blocks after 50 years of inaction,river festival returned to local people, buildings on the south side of St Pauls Square cleaned up after more than 20 years, progress on the bus station and town centre redevelopment, all in less than two-and-a-half years.

And there'll be more.

Schools face 'disruption and uncertainty' as the county starts to examine whether it should scrap middle schools.

Bedfordshire County Council operates a three-tier education system, with lower, middle and upper schools. It is one of the few remaining local education authorities to do so. Most other education authorities operate on the 'primary and secondary' model.

It was decided earlier in the month to launch a review, with a view to bringing the county into line with others.

At a meeting on Wednesday, councillors heard that the review will take a year. They also heard that it will cost a large - but unknown - amount of money.

One of the reasons offered for the move was that a child's performance suffers when he or she changes school.

Director of education David Doran told councillors:

"There is a known dip in pupil performance when a pupil transfers.

Are we helping that when we make children transfer twice?"

The council has also put together a business plan, which aims to target poorer areas of the county first of all.

It is still unclear how much disruption and uncertainty schools can expect.

Councillor Phyllis Gershon is a long-serving representative with a special interest in education. She said:

"Parents are very concerned about this move, and I think it's justified.

Children have only one chance at education in their lifetime.

We had a two-tier system to begin with. Why did we go for three-tier in the first place?

All this fiddling around. Education across the country is in a state of flux - they can't leave anything alone."

Gardeners and parents are being warned about giant 'Eurowasps' colonising the region.

Their football-size nests are being found in garden shrubs and bushes and each contains about 20,000 insects.

Pest controllers say the huge insects started flying across the North Sea from the Continent 15 years ago.

They are bigger than home-grown wasps, carry more venom and nest in the open where youngsters can disturb them.

Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service has been a three star status for the fourth consecutive year.

This makes BHAPS only one of five Ambulance Trusts in the country to receive three stars and the only NHS Trust in Beds and Herts to achieve this rating for four years in a row.

The stars are awarded to Trusts who met key targets, such as emergency call out performance and the financial balance.

Will Hancock, chief executive of BHAPS, said:

"I am very proud that our Trust was able to maintain its three star status, especially during a year in which we saw a significant increase in demand for our services.

"This has made our achievement even more noteworthy and shows our team effort."

My thanks to Rod Graham, who responded to someone who is leaving Bedford and hates it. (See here). Reminds me of Lincoln, who reputedly said that if one looks at anything in life expecting to find fault, he/she will certainly succeed! I hope that John finds somewhere where he can settle. It would have been great to have a seaside like Bournemouth, I have to admit, but I have seen comments by residents there who yearn to go elsewhere!

Tomorrow - and I have yet to get to it (other than behind the barrierss!) the yearly Prom in the Park takes place. If the wind it right we shall enjoy the music, and actually the fireworks show is usually better observed from a distance anyway!

The roundabout near the swimming pool, yesterday afternoon

I had originally intended to have a break during the school holidays, but now please bear with me as I really need a rest! All being well, I'll be back in the first week of next term.

Week ending 6 August 2005