The deputy director of social care at Ofsted joins the council as the director of children and learning.

Sally Rowe, a qualified social worker, with 24 years local authority experience, will join the team in mid summer.

Ms Rowe said: “Building on the progress that has already been achieved within children services and the excellent partnership working with communities, I want to strive to move the service up to the next level. We must ensure that as a council what we achieve for children is the very best.”

Police appeal for witnesses after two robberies in the town. Two men stole money from a 32-year-old man, who was withdrawing cash from a cash point, on Dunstable road, Bury Park, on Wednesday, May 7, at 3.30pm. In a separate incident, a 36-year-old man was threatened with a knife in an alleyway near Wenlock street and High Town road, at 1.15am, on Friday May 9.

Detective constable Rachel Chandler said: “I am sure that there are several witnesses to the robbery in Bury Park as the area was extremely busy at the time of the offence.

“A member of the public called the police and the victim remembers seeing other people leaving the shops close by due to the commotion caused by the robbery. I would urge these people to contact the police and help trace those responsible for this crime.

“Clearly the second robbery happened during the early hours of the morning but there may be people who can help identify the offenders involved using the descriptions given and I would also urge these people to contact the police.”

Call 01582 394098 if you have any information or text information to 07786 200011.

It’s good news for foreign visitors and travel-weary passengers at Luton Parkway.

First Capital Connect is investing £100,000 in improving information services.

The station is heavily used by airport passengers not familiar with the building or network and survey results show that many find what’s currently available confusing and misleading,

In addition to all-new information screens, directional signs will be upgraded to include several languages. Where space is limited, use will be made of recognised symbols such as trains, buses and tickets to help visitors find their way.

FCC spokesman Keith Jipps said: “We’ll be replacing our screens with new and improved versions that give information at a glance, as well as putting up multi-lingual signs in French, Spanish, Polish, Italian and German.”

He added: “Even though we run six shuttle buses an hour to the airport, people can understandably become anxious about the possibility of missing their flight, so a countdown screen with live information will really help.”

The new screens will show the next train to London and its platform number; an A-Z of all destinations, with the time of the next train and platform number as well as special notices; next train indicators for every platform; and a countdown screen to the next shuttle bus to Luton Airport.

England manager Roy Hodgson said he was “proud to be the driver” of the national team as he announced his World Cup squad at Vauxhall HQ in Luton on Monday.

The nation’s press descended on Griffin House, off Osborne Road, to hear who had made the cut for the plane to Brazil– with Luke Shaw the only shock inclusion.

Otherwise Fraser Forster, Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Rickie Lambert were the only members with less than five caps– while inexperienced defenders Jon Flanagan and John Stones made the standby list.

The squad will fly out to a training camp in Miami from Luton Airport on June 1.

On the squad, Hodgson said: “Do I believe the squad can win the World Cup? Yes, otherwise what is the point of taking a squad to the World Cup. But they are empty words as, if you ask other coaches, they will say the same.

“I hope, with the rest of the country, that the squad chosen will give a good account and will not let the country down in any way.

“We are aware that in this group there are players who haven’t played 50 odd games but I still think that the balance is good.”

England begin their campaign against Italy on June 14.

More than 500 people from all across Bedfordshire come together in a special commemoration at St Mary’s Parish Church, Woburn on Sunday (May 11).

HM Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Helen Nellis, held a service which marked the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War and the 70th anniversary of D-Day and also acknowledged the very significant contribution made by all voluntary organisations to the life of the county.

The service featured music from the Vauxhall Male Voice Choir from Luton and the Fusion Choir from Bedford and included special items to commemorate both anniversaries.

The service, held in the presence of Rt Rev Dr Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, who gave the address, and Rt Revd Richard Atkinson OBE, the Bishop of Bedford, was led by Rev Steve Nuth, Rector of St Mary’s Parish Church, Woburn.

Major Ron Rogers, a D-Day veteran read the poem Normandy by Cyril Crain, while Rosanna Billington, aged 13, read a poem entitled ‘Why do the Poppies Fall’ which she had written herself.

Caitlin Miller read part of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon during the singing of Keep the Home Fires Burning by the Fusion Choir.

The Vauxhall Male Voice Choir sang two anthems – Let There Be Peace on Earth and the Soldiers Chorus.

Readings were given by HM Lord-Lieutenant and by Donald Parsons, Chairman of Bedford Daycare Hospice. A prayer was shared by the Lord-Lieutenant’s cadets; Elisabeth Ackah, Rebecca Brighton, Jarvis Brooks-Lampard, Tim Funnell and Emily Moule.

Bedfordshire dignitaries present included the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, Colin Osborne and Dave Hodgson, Mayor of Bedford. Town mayors from across the county, the Chief Constable and representatives of county wide organisations and armed forces personnel were also present.

Army Cadets, Sea Cadets, Guides and Cadets from the police and fire service were on hand to assist those attending the service, after which refreshments were taken in the church which was beautifully decorated, courtesy of the Duchess of Bedford, with flowers from the estate.

Speaking after the service the Lord-Lieutenant, Helen Nellis said, “I was delighted that so many people from across Bedfordshire were able to share in this special service to commemorate these significant events in our history and in which we also honoured the service and dedication of the many voluntary organisations across Bedfordshire.

“It was a particular pleasure to hold the service at Woburn, one of the most beautiful historic estates in Bedfordshire.

“To have a veteran of D-Day and a young person inspired to write such a thoughtful poem both participating in the service was truly memorable and poignant.

“The music from the Vauxhall Male Voice Choir and the Fusion Choir shows what talented people we have in the county.

“I was pleased to be supported by my Lord-Lieutenant’s cadets and all the other cadets and young people who provided the guard of honour for all those attending the service and who were a credit to their organisations and to Bedfordshire.”

There’s some sort of big football tournament coming up, apparently. It’s in Brazil, I hear, though there hasn’t been a lot about it in the public prints.

That may be something to do with the fact that the England team, although in the Maracana mix, can only choose from a squad of second-string shufflers because all the Premier League’s big shots will be appearing for their own nations, and consequently for once our chances are not being relentlessly inflated beyond all reasonable expectation.

That won’t stop the BBC sending hundreds of staff all the way to Rio and beyond to beam back every second of every game, and fill endless hours of screen time with punditry, piffle and witless shots of keepy-uppy on the beach and gauchos tucking into huge steaks. But I’m not getting tetchy about that – well, not yet.

And even though the general view is that England will do well to progress much beyond the group stages, that won’t stop fair weather fans flying red and white banners from their cars or their bedroom windows for the duration, but I’m not getting tetchy about that, either. The flags haven’t even started to sprout yet, so I can’t really get hot under the collar about something I haven’t even seen – I’ll leave that others.

So what is the grit in my oyster this week, you may be asking?

It’s commonly accepted that the beautiful game is one of the many gifts that we have presented to the world.

The way we play it may rarely have been beautiful, it may now be ruled by a bunch of blazers in Zurich, but we came up with the rules and we exported it all over the world.

And do you know what we called it? With admirable simplicity, the game that primarily involved the foot and the ball was dubbed football. All clear so far?

Now some may lean towards soccer, but they are just wrong. Soccer was only ever used to distinguish the game from rugby by the sort of inbred idiot who insists on claiming that a game that doesn’t involve a lot of kicking and isn’t even played with a proper ball could realistically be described as football. Let’s move on.

More worrying as we head towards the world’s biggest festival of football is the creeping use of a new way to describe the game – a jokey, blokey appellation that immediately marks out anyone who uses it as a Johnny come lately bandwagon jumper who claims allegiance to a Premier League side which plays at the other end of the country and which they’ve never seen play except on a big screen.

So please be on the alert as football fever begins to build.

We may not have much chance of winning, but we can only hold our heads up high if we all resolve to show an immediate red card to anyone, anywhere, who says ‘footy’.

More than 130 charitable and voluntary groups in the area have benefitted from the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation’s community awards programme, funded by London Luton Airport Ltd.

Foundation chief executive Mark West said: “We always ask for feedback and from this we can tell that over 30,000 Luton residents have received a direct benefit – often those who are the most vulnerable in our society with real needs that the local community groups are best placed to address.

“The groups we have supported have given more than 130,000 hours of voluntary time to their projects – a figure we estimate is worth arund £1.5 million to the sector and that is over and above the £500,000 given to us by the Airport.

“What is also really important is that 88 per cent of those we have funded tell us that our money has helped the long term sustainability of their work.”

> If you would like help, fill in a form at www.blcf.org.uk/grants or call 01234 834930.

Sea Cadets, scouts and girl guides joined representatives from Luton community groups to sow poppy seeds at Love Luton’s Poppy Appeal on Friday, May 9 at Wardown Park.

The Poppy Appeal is a four-year exercise to encourage local people to plant poppy seeds in remembrance of those who fought and died in the First World War and other battles.

Trevor Holden, chief executive, Luton Borough Council said: “The Luton Poppy Appeal is an excellent way of commemorating the outbreak of the First World War and gives communities the opportunity to acknowledge the huge sacrifices service men and women made in the war and continue to do so.”

After two years of construction, Center Parcs is now putting the finishing touches to Woburn Forest, which is just weeks away from welcoming its first guests.

The company announced today that the holiday village, its fifth in the UK, will be opening to guests on Friday, June 6.

The new village is home to 625 lodges, a 75-bedroom hotel, Center Parcs’ largest Subtropical Swimming Paradise and a state-of-the-art spa with six luxury spa suites. There are also a wide range of shops and restaurants, including The Shearing House, a restaurant that will be unique to Woburn Forest.

The new village will also be offering a variety of indoor and outdoor activities to guests. Families can create their own unique short break in the forest choosing from adventurous activities such as archery, canoeing and laser combat, nature activities like falconry, bird watching and willow weaving, creative pursuits such as pottery painting and sports including badminton, tennis and fencing.

Martin Dalby, of Center Parcs, said: “We are thrilled to be announcing the opening date of our new village. The opening of Woburn Forest means that the Center Parcs experience is within easy reach of even more families in the UK and will bring something new to Center Parcs with a number of exciting new concepts and designs which we know guests will enjoy.”

For more information call 08448 266 266 or visit www.centerparcs.co.uk/woburn.

Gibbs & Dandy Luton team up with Luton Athletic Club ahead of the club’s track and field season.

The building materials suppliers signed a sponsorship deal, which will fund the club’s activities and contribute to the club’s travel costs.

Jack Walters, club president, said: “The sponsorship will make a big difference to the future of our club. We can buy more equipment for our athletes and plough more investment into the club overall by keeping travel costs down.

“This clearly shows Gibbs & Dandy’s enthusiasm for helping our young athletes develop.”

The partnership will support athletes in gaining work experience and potentially apprenticeships with the Dallow road branch.

Gibbs & Dandy Luton branch manager, Kevin Forder, said: “Luton Athletics has a long established presence in the community, and so was a perfect fit to complement the heritage of the Gibbs & Dandy brand.

“We’re delighted to support the club in encouraging Luton’s focused and dedicated athletes to consistently improve their performance, and in their striving to win.”

You may not realise that Godzilla is one of the most durable monsters in the history of cinema, first striding out of the sea 60 years ago to kick off a slew of successful Japanese features.

History doesn’t weigh heavily with the bigwigs in Hollywood, though – they reckon that you won’t even remember the 1998 blockbuster from Roland ‘Independence Day’ Emmerich, which was widely considered to be a turkey of the first order.

That film had the unlikely figure of Matthew Broderick in a leading role. This time around the best-known name is probably Bryan Cranston, fresh from his success in Breaking Bad.

But really it’s all about the monster – the director at the helm of this big budget blather hasn’t got a marquee name either.

Gareth Edwards made his reputation with the much-admired Monsters, when he conjured up an unsettling sci-fi story with a budget of buttons, a tiny cast and a lot of imagination.

Now he’s been given the whole gold-plated toy box to play with, and the result is a two-hour headache – all the showpiece shouty special effects are in your face, it’s slick and silly and you won’t remember a minute of it 10 minutes after the credits roll.

But the Warner Brothers machine is right behind it, so it’s sure to be a hit.

Godzilla is the big beast this week but worth seeking out is In Secret, which stars Elizabeth Olsen – also in the monster movie – in a period tale of romantic obsession, adultery and tragedy which will familiar to fans of classic French literature.

The story is based on Emile Zola’s Therese Raquin, and if a woman trapped in a loveless marriage and working behind the counter in her mother-in-law’s cramped shop before falling for a dashing artist floats your boat, it’s got great date movie credentials. And it’s all about people, with not a mutant monster in sight.

An 80 year old man joined Team GB athletes at Sunday’s Hercules Aquathlon at Inspire: Luton Sports Village.

Ken May, of Luton, raced against some of the best in the country and finished 18th in the 400m swim and 5km event.

Team GB’s Leigh Pilgrim and Kerry Large won the men’s and women’s races and Anna Fake won the shorter distance, of 200m and 3km.

The Aquathlon was the third in the multi-sport series run by Hercules Events in partnership with Active Luton.

Stuart Trower, group operations manager at Active Luton, said: “Whether a novice or experienced multi-sport participant, the inaugural series of events has provided an opportunity for the local community and others to challenge themselves.”

Director of Hercules Events, Gifty Enright, said: “The multi-sport series has been a fantastic success, giving amateur athletes the chance to compete alongside some of the best in the UK. These events, which we have been running with Active Luton, have been very popular. Given the success of the first three events we can’t wait for the off-road triathlon on 1st June.”

The multi-sport series will finish on June 1, to enter visit: www.herculesevents.com

Barton Le Clay Preschool will create a natural experience for the children to explore, thanks to a donation of land from Ramsey Manor Lower School.

The Preschool, run by volunteers, moved within the grounds of the lower school four years ago.

Chairperson Charlotte Wardle said: “Since being in our new setting our preschool has gone from strength to strength and we are now bursting at the seams with a very healthy waiting list.”

They received a ‘good’ judgement from Ofsted at the last inspection and were recommended to improve natural sources.

Ms Wardle said: “The headteacher and governors granted the preschool use of a bit of land at the front of our building for us to create our very own new natural environment for the children to explore. This really is a fantastic opportunity that we are so grateful for.

“We will soon have a bug hotel, mud kitchen, bird boxes and a natural sensory area where we can encourage independence, explorations and fun in a natural learning environment.

“We rely heavily on donations and we would be grateful for any contributions to further enhance our garden.”

The Coen brothers Joel and Ethan are as deadpan and dry-witted as ever with INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (15: Studio Canal), one of their most soulful films to date.

A low-key, melancholy comedy of sorts, it’s about a singer trying to find a balance between artistic integrity and mainstream success.

The backbiting New York folk scene of Bob Dylan’s 1965 put-down anthem Positively 4th Street is the setting for the film.

Oscar Isaac stars in the title role as a Greenwich Village performer struggling to make it through the winter of 1961 after losing his musical partner.

Llewyn Davis shuttles between friends’ apartments and abuses everyone’s trust, particularly the unsuspecting Jim Berkey (Justin Timberlake), whose wife Jean (Carey Mulligan) he has been seeing behind his back.

But the prospect of an audition in Chicago holds the promise of a new beginning.

A rich seam of sadness comes to the fore whenever Isaac sings and the music alone will ensure this haunting, beautifully detailed film will live a long and lasting life.

>Every member of the stellar cast is given their moment to shine in the sweltering spotlight in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY (15: Entertainment In Video), the screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage smash.

Meryl Streep is pill-popping queen bitc h Violet Weston, who has a strange way of dealing with her poet husband’s suicide.

Her long-suffering family expose festering wounds, rehash bitter feuds and reveal long-buried secrets in attempts to restore stability at the Oklahoma wake.

Sadly, the book’s dark satire on American society turns into a southern-fried screaming match and it’s more histrionic than involving.

Streep and Julia Roberts, who plays Violet’s oldest daughter Barbara, were both Oscar-nominated, but the expected diva fireworks are more of a damp squib.

Chris Cooper’s moving plea over his wife’s shabby treatment of their son (Benedict Cumberbatch) steals the show.

While it’s all very watchable as every crippling emotional issue of abuse, incest and infidelity is covered, it comes across as hollow and over-baked.

> Fantasy adventure I, FRANKENSTEIN (12: Entertainment In Video) is a brain-dead re-invention of Mary Shelley’s classic literary character as a reluctant action hero.

The infamous scientist’s monster roams Earth 200 years after burying his creator and is drawn into an ancient supernatural conflict.

A game Aaron Eckhart is cast as the monster, here named Adam for extra pretentiousness.

Adam has bits of other genre movies (The Matrix, Legion, Van Helsing) grafted on and winds up in the middle of the war between gargoyles and demons.

The latter are led by a shify-looking Bill Nighy as Naberius, who needs the secret to Adam’s immortality for the usual world domination reasons.

Mediocre CGI creatures are engaged in meaningless jumbles of fighting and it all ends in one of those massive wipe-the-slate-clean explosions and horrific hints of an I, Bride Of Frankenstein follow-up.

Albert Hammond OBE, is coming to Luton’s Central Library to perform his Songbook tour on Saturday, May 24.

The English songwriter, who turns 70 on Sunday, May 18, will be performing a collection of songs from the past 50 years.

He said: “I feel great about my upcoming tour, this time I’m bringing my whole band, I’m very excited about playing in Luton for the first time.”

The father-of-three grew up in Gibraltar and he started his music career with Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys.

He said: “My music is worldly I have many classic songs, five decades of nostalgia, it takes the audience through their lives and mine too.”

The record producer collaborated with British singer Duffy in 2008, her album, Endlessly, released in 2010, was co-written and co-produced by Hammond.

His famous hits include It Never Rains In Southern California, The Free Electric Band and one of his favourites, The Air That I Breathe, and his composition with Diane Warren, Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy in 1987.

He believes his greatest achievement is being inducted to The Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2008.

His son Albert junior has followed his father’s musical footsteps, he is a member of The Strokes and a successful solo artist.

Hammond will be touring until December, he then plans to work on a new record, he sums up his career as: “Amazing, happy and thankful.”

The show starts at 7.30pm and tickets are £20, call 01582 878100 or visit www.lutonculture.com/luton-library-theatre.

Five police officers and two detention officers remain under investigation and are “likely” to be interviewed for a third time as the IPCC continues its enquiries into the death of Leon Briggs.

Father-of-two Leon, of Ashburnham Road, died after being detained under section 136 of the Mental Health Act on November 4.

Since then the IPCC has investigated the circumstances of the 39-year-old’s death, taking statements from more than 150 witnesses, more than 25 of whom saw Mr Briggs when he first had contact with police at the junction of Marsh Road and Willow Way.

IPCC Commissioner Mary Cunneen said: “Last week I met with representatives from the Luton Community Cohesion Contingency Planning Group and the Justice 4 Leon campaign to provide an update on our investigation into Leon’s death. 
“This follows a meeting with Leon’s family last month.

“I was pleased to have the opportunity to go through our investigation and answer any questions that they had.

“Death in custody investigations are especially complex and do take time.

“I am grateful for the patience of both Leon’s family and the community as our investigation progresses.

“We will continue to provide regular updates to Leon’s family via their solicitors.”

CCTV from the custody suite and yard at Luton Police Station has also been seized, reviewed and parts of it have been enhanced.
The police van used to transport Mr Briggs to custody did not have internal CCTV equipment, it was only fitted with an external CCTV camera mounted on the roof. 
The IPCC examined the available footage from the CCTV camera with an independent engineer who determined no footage was available from 4 November 2013.

CCTV from a number of shops and premises on Marsh Road and Willow Way as well as from local authority cameras was also seized in the days after Mr Briggs’ death.

A cause of death is yet to have been established, with the next pre-inquest hearing scheduled for October 7.

The family of a man who died five years ago, has received a letter from the Luton and Dunstable hospital offering him a position as a public governor.

Abdul Lateef Kadri Sheikh’s car was hit by a fire engine responding to a 999 call on September, 11, 2009, he died 25 days later at the L & D

His daughter, Sadiyah Sheikh received the letter on Monday.

She said: “The Foundation Trust have been writing to him for over five years and on each occasion I contacted them to tell them my father had passed away, and I was told he was taken off their system.

“I have had enough of it now, it is causing a lot of upset in my family. I was a member of the Foundation Trust, but I have lost all faith, too much has happened.

“I think it is disgusting that they are still sending letters to us, after I have told them he has passed away.

“We are trying to repair our lives and get on with some sort of ‘normality’.

A spokesperson for the Luton and Dunstable hospital said: “We offer our sincere apologies to the family of the late Mr Abdul Lateef Sheik if they received any communications from our Foundation Trust Membership department after they informed us that Mr Sheikh had died.

“We understand that it would be very upsetting to receive post addressed to a family member who has died and we would like to reassure our Foundation Trust members that we are investigating how this could have happened.

“We will continue to carry out checks on our membership database and mailing process to do our utmost to ensure that we send the correct information to current members.

“We do rely on members and their families to keep the Foundation Trust membership team informed of any changes. Our members’ list has to be kept entirely separate from any data about patients, so any changes notified to the hospital about patients’ details cannot be passed on.”

Ms Sheikh added: “It has really hurt us and especially me, reading this letter, I feel it is so disrespectful of them to hurt us in such a way.

“Things like this should not happen, he died at the hospital and I have told them he has passed away, so how can mistakes like this keep happening.”

Police are warning residents in Luton and Dunstable to remain vigilant after distraction burglars claimed a raft a victims in the last week.

Since May 27 there have been seven offences recorded with elderly victims being the primary targets and there currently appears to be two different approaches being taken by offenders to gain access to properties.

The first is an Eastern European man who claims to be from the water board and says that due to maintenance work in the area he needs to check the water supply.

He has targeted two properties in London Road, Dunstable (June 3) where a wallet containing cash was stolen, and Halfway Avenue, Luton (June 2), where he left empty handed.

The same offender is thought to have committed another distraction burglary in Gorham Way,

The second method being used is a white man, aged in his mid to late 20s, who calls at properties claiming to be looking for a missing cat.

This offender has targeted elderly victims in Wellhouse Close, Luton (May 27), where a handbag was stolen; Turners Road South, Luton (May 31), where cash was taken; and Aldhous Close, Luton (June 1), where a watch was stolen.

A further distraction burglary took place in Derwent Avenue, Luton, on June 1, where an offender spoke to the female victim about gardening while a second man accessed her home and stole cash and jewellery.

Detective Constable Nick Foster, who is investigating the distraction burglaries, is keen to hear from anyone who may have information about any of the offences or may have been a target for the offenders.

DC Foster said: “It is highly likely that these offenders have deliberately picked on the elderly in order to take advantage of them.

“The victims are often left extremely distressed by what has happened and we really need the public’s help in identifying the offenders.

“We would also like to remind everyone to be extremely cautious about anyone calling at their home unannounced.

“Always use a door chain or spy-hole to check who is calling before you open the door and if you are ever in doubt, dial 999.”

If you have information relating to these incidents, contact DC Nick Foster or DC Tracey Joyce, in confidence, on 01582 394449 or 01582 394086, the non-emergency number 101, or text information to 07786 200011.

Alternatively contact independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at crimestoppers-uk.org.

One of the many big budget blockbusters that have been battling for a share of the box office in recent weeks should have just held off a bit – this week’s underwhelming new releases would have been there for the taking.

First up is 22 Jump Street, the obligatory sequel to the surprise 2012 comedy hit starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.

In the first film, itself based on a long-forgotten US TV series that never crossed the Atlantic, the chalk and cheese cop buddies had to go undercover as high school students to bust a drugs ring.

21 Jump Street provided a few laughs, though nowhere near enough, but crucially made enough money to make the sequel a certainty.

How could they stretch a thin idea a little further? By sending the pair under cover as college students, of course – after all, they are a little bit older this time round.

Co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller may be riding high on the smash hit success of The Lego Movie but they’re not infallible – they also helmed the original movie, and if they decide to inflict 23 Jump Street on us any time soon questions will have to be asked.

At some stage in the future, when Grace Of Monaco turns up on TV on some backwater channel in a less than prime-time slot, it may be worth tuning in for five minutes just to see if the troubled biopic starring Nicole Kidman is as much of a stinker as everyone says.

But there’s certainly no need to part with coin of the realm to consider what critics have roundly condemned as a train wreck of the first order. Well, unless you just can’t believe Tim Roth is Prince Rainier and want to see it with your own eyes...

Luton Borough Council is making progress on plans for the £20 million regeneration of the central area of Marsh Farm,

Work on the realignment of Northwell drive and the creation of new access for the proposed new retail development on the cleared Purway site has finished.

The scheme includes a new shopping area with overhead residential units on Purway Close, The Moakes and the roundabout, and improved links for pedestrians and vehicles between Futures House, Lea Manor School and the leisure centre next door. The existing Purley centre will be demolished and replaced with new houses and apratments.

It is scheduled to be completed in 2018.