Weekly news from Bedford, UK

Bos leads with two stories:

Bedford train station was evacuated on Thursday afternoon after an engine fire caused panic among commuters.

All staff and passengers were moved out of the building to the car park while fire crews dealt with the blaze on a Midland Mainline train going to Derby.

Trains were stopped from coming into the station.

Two fire engines attended the scene and the station was opened up after 30 minutes.

No-one was injured but panic set it when commuters saw smoke coming from a train.

"With the London bombings still fresh in our minds, I thought the worse. Thankfully it was nothing like that and everyone was safe," said passenger Mary Coles.

A brain-damaged motorcyclist is claiming damages of 300,000 following a collision with an ambulance.

Andrew Kolodziejczuk, 47, of Bury Hill, Potton, sustained a severe traumatic brain injury, which left him in hospital for two months unable to respond.

Three years on he still cannot use his left arm, suffers with sharp pains in his arm, shoulder, neck and left leg, suffers from a high level of depression and is reliant on a wheelchair to get around.

Doctors have stated they do not anticipate any improvement in his condition and he will never be able to work again.

When we interviewed Mr Kolodziejczuk at 11:30am he was in bed in pain.

He said: "I can't remember a thing. It is all a blur to me. But the one thing I do know is I am suffering."

On September 26, 2002, at 7:25am Mr Kolodziejczuk was riding his motorcyle along the C184 Edworth turn.

At the junction with the Langford fly-over he was in a collision with an ambulance.

Just over six months later the driver was convicted of driving without due care and attention.

At the end of August solicitors acting on behalf of Mr Kolodziejczuk launched a 300,00 claim for damages at London's High Court.

Sian Goodwin, associate director of corporate affairs and human resources for Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service NHS Trust, said: "This incident happened three years ago and has been in the hands of our insurers since that time.

"We have no knowledge of a writ being issued but our insurers may have. There is no further comment we can make."

FAMILIES have been forced to throw away hundreds of pounds worth of carpets and flooring after a flash flood.

Almost every resident of Exeter Walk in Bedford experienced some kind of damage to their house or garden after a torrential downpour last Friday afternoon.

Many of the residents currently rent their homes from Raglan Housing Association and are blaming the association for not ensuring that proper drainage was in place.

They are also annoyed that it took Raglan six days to actually come out and see the damage that had been done.

One resident, who didn't want to be named, said: "We've lost hundreds of pounds worth of flooring and children's toys. When the rain started coming down, the back garden just filled up and started seeping into the house.

"On top of that the drains began to overflow and there was a thick black sludge covering everything. All of the neighbours came together to try and get rid of the water and save people's property."

Another resident, Sam Dyball, said: "We were knee-deep in muck trying to fill wheelie bins with waste."

One elderly couple who live in a bungalow had a river of water run through their house.

As a result the woman had to be moved into residential care while her husband was left to clear the mess.

He said: "We've had numerous problems in the garden with rain water and this is the fourth time flooding has happened.

"They've sent people out before to look at the problem, but all they do is plane the concrete. This has done nothing to help at all."

A Raglan Housing Association spokesman said: "We have comprehensive cover in regard to the structure of a property, including fixtures and fittings.

"It is our residents' responsibility to arrange their own contents insurance. We will be undertaking repairs to the properties affected by the flooding and reviewing any damage to gardens with the loss adjuster.

"We are sorry for the upset and discomfort this flood has caused some of our residents."

A SEX offender was jailed for life on Friday for attacking a woman he knew in her own bedroom.

Thomas Hawkins, 51, has a history of sexual offending including serving a 12 year jail sentence in 1985 for rape.

Luton Crown Court heard how on January 28 this year he went into a small bedroom in a house in Bedford where his victim, a woman in her mid-30s, was working on a computer.

He massaged her shoulders, against her will. When she pulled away he grabbed her wrists and manhandled her into the bedroom.

As she tried to fight him off he told her: "I want to... I want you." As she shouted he tried to gag her with the belt from her dressing gown. She managed to free a hand and but he slapped her in the face, causing a nose bleed.

Hawkins then placed a pillow over her head, before sexually assaulting her. The victim sobbed uncontrollably and Hawkins left.

The police were called and Hawkins, from Cardington Road, Bedford, was arrested.

He was convicted of sexual assault by penetration. He had pleaded guilty to a lesser charged of sexual assault.

The court heard that Hawkins had a long list of previous convictions.

He had been jailed at Winchester Crown Court in June 1974 for ten years for offences that included an attempt to choke a woman who he had tried to drag into a van.

In December 1985 he was sentenced to 12 years at Northampton Crown Court for rape.

Passing an automatic life sentence, because of his previous sex convicitons, Judge Marie Catterson said: "This was a very, serious, sustained and forceful attack by you on this young women."

Art treasure has been found in a charity shop - not for the first time.

Emmaus in Carlton, Bedfordshire, has come up smiling, netting 660 at auction.

Auction house Cheffins was delighted that the charity gained from the sale of two vases for 440 against an estimate of £70-100.

Also from the same charity was an Indian watercolour by Sir Edward Markham, which made 220.

The charity which supports the homeless and unemployed is no stranger to treasure finds.

Cheffins experts discovered a Rembrandt etching in the same shop earlier this year which sold for over £6,000.

A 78-YEAR-OLD man has appeared in court after being charged with making threats to kill.

Dennis Bailey was remanded in custody until Tuesday when he is due to reappear at Bedford Magistrates' Court.

The charge relates to an incident that occurred in Woburn Road in Bedford on Monday morning.

Police were called after one of Mr Bailey's neighbours claimed he was threatened with a knife.

The neighbour called the police and an armed response vehicle was sent to the scene.

A VICTORIAN ice-house is barred from receiving visitors because two organisations are arguing over a hand rail.

In the newly refurbished Castle Mound at Bedford sits an ice-house.

These are underground airless tombs where ice was stored in the winter for use through the summer.

They were a Victorian invention designed to ensure there was always ice to go in the gin and tonic before the days of electricity and fridges.

The one at Castle Mound (pictured) was cleaned out of rubbish and made available to be seen by anybody interested.

Visitors will not be able to go there, however, because health and safety officers insisted that the shallow steps leading to the ice-house could only be walked on using a hand-rail.

English Heritage on the other hand insisted there should not be a rail as it would spoil the Victorian appearance of the site.

One councillor said: "This puts us in a bit of a dilemma. Which organisation do you want to shoot first?"

A Bedford Borough Council spokesman said: "I believe this matter has been resolved but the person dealing with it is away this week."

An English Heritage spokesman said: "The two people dealing with this are away until Monday."

BoS revealed last week that travellers had put young footballers' lives at risk after driving straight over pitches while moving from Mowsbury Park in Bedford to Hillgrounds Road, Kempston.

At Wednesday evening's executive committee meeting, borough councillors decided that this was the final straw and action needed to be taken.

The executive agreed that action at Hillgrounds was essential, but other areas should also be considered for protection.

As a result, councillors voted to erect bridle-path rails at one metre intervals as a pilot scheme to see the effectiveness as a deterrent to travellers.

If the scheme is deemed successful then similar measures could be put into operation in other affected open spaces such as Mowsbury Park and the Oasis Beach Pool.

Cllr Nicky Attenborough said: "Hillgrounds is such an easy area to gain access to and it has been very unfair on the decent, taxpaying citizen who have had to pay for clean up operations.

"We have to make a stand on this issue and the Government needs to as well.

It acts so slowly and doesn't seem to come up with anything definite.

"The French and Irish Governments have both put their foot down on travellers and we need to do the same."

Putting up the rails at Hillgrounds is expected to cost 23,000.

Suggestions for bollards and a mound of earth were discounted for the site, but may be considered for alternative locations.

MUNTJAC deer which escaped from the grounds of Woburn Abbey over 100 years ago are now responsible for the death of Britain's woodlands.

Although elusive to spot, the muntjac is now the second most common deer in southern England and is Britain's fastest-spreading wild-animal.

The muntjac deer was introduced into England in the 19th century by the Duke of Bedford to Woburn Park.

Sometime after this nine young female deers were released into the wild.

But experts now claim that this has had a devastating effect on our woodlands, which have become bleak places with few flowers and no regrowth.

"The muntjac is different to other British deer in that it has a very simple gut," said Arnie Cooke who has been studying the behaviour of muntjac deer at a nature reserve in Cambridgeshire.

"This type of deer is a selective feeder that nips off easily digestible items, such as flowers and fresh leaves. Some of them have even developed a taste for bluebell leaves."

But it is the muntjac's taste for the juicy young shoots of coppiced trees which is having the most damaging effect.

"These trees are home to nightingale birds which likes to nest in the thickets close to the ground," said Rob Fuller, who is studying the effects of deer on breeding birds.

"The nightingale is the one we are most worried about, but these deers are affecting other birds too, including the blackcap, the garden and willow warblers."

According to English Nature, the explosion in the muntjac deer population as reduced the wildlife value of around 25 per cent of woodland sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) in England.

But as the first deer escaped into the wild from Woburn more than a century ago, why are they only now a problem?

Arnie Cook added: "The modern landscape of small woods surrounded by cereals and oil seed rape is a muntjac-friendly environment.

"The deer have food and cover in the woods and can sneak out at dusk to feed on the farmland."

Climate change has also favoured the muntjac as unlike other deers, they do not have a breeding season.

Females are fertile all year round and can conceive again within days of giving birth. Young deers become sexually active at eight months and can live for up to 20 years.

Eradication of the muntjac is impossible, and any attempt wopuld be unpopular, according to experts.

However, they claim it possible to manage the problem.

"At the moment, the main way of controlling it is by shooting, organised by local deer management groups. But as soon as they are killed more move in to replace them.

"Another incentive would be a bigger public appetite for muntjac meat. There is no money to be made from it at the moment.

"One way of learning to live with the muntjac might be to promote delicious venison dishes devised by the likes of Nigella Lawson."

BEDFORDSHIRE'S countryside could completely disappear in the next 30 years if immediate action is not taken to halt large scale developments.

According to a report issued by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) entitled 'Your Countyside, Your Choice', farming in Bedfordshire could be could be virtually wiped out due to new settlements springing up.

Tom Oliver, who heads the campaign's rural policy, said the countryside cannot be a limitless resource and efforts to protect and enhance it are thwarted by the present threats.

But although The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs welcomed report and said there should be a public debate on the subject, it does not share the CPRE's doomsday prediction. The government department claims many of the problems are a result of the countryside attracting hundreds of thousands of people moving there because of the attractive environment and high quality of life which it offers.

The report also highlighted the expansion in the road haulage industry and increasing dependence on the car, airport expansion and a dramatic decline in farming as having an effect on the Bedfordshire landscape.

The report said: "By accident rather than design, much of England has become an anywhere-place, unloved and unloving, a homogenous exurbia, in which everywhere looks the same as everywhere else."

A ROBBER armed with a toy gun attempted to steal the takings from a fish and chip shop.

Bedfordshire Police are appealing for witnesses after the attempted robbery.

Last Saturday, September 10, a man dressed all in black entered the takeaway in Avon Drive in Brickhill and threatened the owner and her daughter with what appeared to be a toy gun.

He was disturbed by another member of staff and left the shop empty-handed.

No one was hurt but the victims involved were distressed by the incident.

The officer in charge of the investigation, DC Colin Richardson, is appealing for anyone with information relating to this incident, or anyone who witnessed a person acting suspiciously in the area prior to the offence to come forward and speak to him.

A TAXI driver was beaten and robbed by three men who then took off in his car.

Bedfordshire Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward after the incident last Saturday night.

The taxi was ordered to collect passengers from outside Londis on London Road, Bedford and when it arrived at about 11.50pm three men got in.

They asked the driver to take them to Kempston Hardwick and when they arrived at the new roundabout on the B530 road the taxi stopped.

At this point the driver felt something tighten around his neck and one of the passengers in the back seat demanded he hand over his money.

The driver tried to use his radio to call for help but one of the offenders got into the front passenger seat and stopped him.

The victim was then punched several times in the face before handing over his money.

The offenders dragged the victim from the taxi, pulled a chain from his neck and drove off towards Bedford.

The stolen taxi is described as a dark blue Peugeot Expert 1.9 diesel registration number S90 DHU. It had a green light on the roof and a 'County Cars' sign on its sides.

The victim managed to flag down a passing motorist who called the police.

The first offender is described as white, approximately 25-30 years of age, 5ft 9ins tall, medium build with short dark hair. He was clean-shaven and wore dark casual clothes.

The second offender is described as white, approximately 25-30 years of age, 5ft 11ins tall, slim build with short dark hair. He was also clean-shaven and wore dark casual clothes.

The third offender is described as white, approximately 25-30 years of age, 5ft 9ins tall, stocky build with short dark hair and was wearing dark casual clothing.

DC Colin Richardson would urge anyone with information relating to this incident, anyone who witnessed three men in the London Road area before the taxi arrived or anyone who knows the whereabouts of the stolen taxi, to contact him.

I do not usually look through obitutiaries, but one name caught my eye.

Norman Thompson, deputy head of Hazeldene School for many years, a much-loved teacher, has died aged 75.

I used to run in-service courses for teachers, and struck up a friendship with two course members in particular. One was Bill Hall, head at Newnham, the other was Norman Thompson, deputy head at Hazeldene.

For a while Norman was acting head teacher, a job he undertook with distinction, but when the post was advertised he was not appointed. I still feel this was rough justice, and know that this hurt him deeply until he retired a few years later.

My feeling is that there will be many who was fortunate to be under the influence of this outstanding and dedicated man, who was 100% dedicated to his school and his pupils.

Finally, and o n a personal note, I apologise for the brevity of this newsletter, and for the delay in posting it. I have been inundated with work of late, and am still desperately trying to catch up! I assure you that my interest in the site has not diminished! As soon as possible I will be out with my camera again!

Wishing you a good week ahead

Week ending 24 September 2005