Lidlington News

Passengers who use London Northwestern Railway (LNR) services on the Marston Vale Line are being offered the chance to have their questions answered as part of a new online Q&A.

This is part of LNR’s commitment to keep its customers informed. Previously, it has held regular face-to-face sessions for passengers at stations across the network as part of its popular ‘Whistle Stop Tour’.

The family of a man who died in a road traffic collision near Marston Moretaine on Christmas Eve have paid tribute to him.

Paul Benson, 53, from Lidlington, died at the scene of a road traffic collision at around 7.30pm on Thursday (24 December), following a single vehicle collision on the eastbound carriageway of the A421.

Following the latest BT payphone consultation, Central Bedfordshire Council received 95 responses regarding BT’s proposals to remove 29 public payphones. BT had identified these payphones as unnecessary.

As part of the process the Council was required to undertake a public consultation and to inform BT of the results. The consultation ended on 6 November. It enabled residents to comment on whether they agreed or objected to the proposals.

Central Bedfordshire Council has said that it has not extended the traveller injunction it gained in 2018. This injunction banned eleven named individuals from setting up unauthorised encampments anywhere in Central Bedfordshire for two years.

It also stopped any unauthorised encampments on specific parcels of land in Ridgmont, Husborne Crawley, Brogborough, Salford, Lidlington, Marston Moretaine and Lower Shelton.

Local environmental charity The Greensand Trust in partnership with Greensand Country is putting the “Green into Greensand” and looking for Greensand Champions.

These are groups or individuals who are doing something amazing for the Greensand Country environment. The Trust wants to hear what people are doing and give them the recognition they deserve as ‘Greensand Champions’.

Central Bedfordshire residents are once again being asked to give their views on BTs plans to remove public payphones. BT has proposed to remove ‘unnecessary’ payphones in Cranfield, Lidlington and Ridgmont.

You may remember that Central Bedfordshire Council conducted a similar consultation for BT at the beginning of this year. This time the list includes 28 phone boxes that were consulted on in January 2020 and one additional payphone in Leighton Buzzard.

As part of the process, Central Bedfordshire Council is required to undertake a public consultation and to inform BT of the results. The consultation runs until Friday 6 November 2020 and enables residents to comment on whether they agree or object to the proposals.

Train services resumed on the Marston Vale Line on Monday 24th August. This is initially only at peak times (three journeys each way in the morning and three in the evening). It is supplemented by a Rail Replacement Bus Service during the rest of the day.

Rail services will resume on the Marston Vale Line between Bedford and Bletchley from next month, operator London Northwestern Railway (LNR) has announced today (29 July 2020).

The operator took the decision to suspend services at the end of March due to the impact of coronavirus on train crew availability, low passenger numbers and reliability issues with level crossings on the route. Rail replacement buses have been running since.

At a special (remote) meeting of Central Bedfordshire Council’s Executive (5 June 20200, Lidlington business owner, Miranda Smythe, asked the Executive to consider home-based businesses when allocating funds from the new Small Business Discretionary Grant scheme.

The new, Government-funded scheme, is aimed to help those small businesses, badly hit by the pandemic which were not covered by the Business Support Grant Scheme or other financial support.

Ms Smythe, who runs a learning and development consultancy, said that she recognised that the Council had to make some tough decisions with limited funding. But she asked them to factor in a group of businesses that she said had been “explicitly excluded” from all other forms of government support

Bedfordshire Police is appealing for information following an incident in which a motorbike was damaged with a chainsaw

At approximately 11am on Monday (25 May 2020) a man was riding an off-road bike in a public field when he was approached by a man who was holding a chainsaw.

The victim got off the bike and ran away. The offender has subsequently used the chainsaw to damage the bike.