Luton Hoo has won Tripadvisor’s Certificate of Excellence for the seocnd year running.

General manager Matthew Long said he was “proud and delighted by the recognition of our hard work.”

A mother of two from Luton is going to trek around Burma in November to raise money for Keech Hospice.

Zoe Mitchell, of Poynters road, is hoping to raise £3000 for the charity that looked after her grandad before he passed away.

She said: “The hospice staff were fantastic for my grandad and my family, we have always supported the charity because they do such amazing things for people.

“What really touched me was that 75% of Keech’s £5 million it needs, comes from sponsorship and people fundraising for them.”

The 31-year-old took part in Race For Life two weeks ago, but admits this task will be a much bigger challenge.

Mrs Mitchell said: “I have always wanted to do something like this, to really push myself, I climbed Snowden with my family to practice and I really enjoyed it.

“I want to raise as much money as I can, I am doing a raffle, people can buy tickets from me for £5, we already have a lot of prizes, donated from local businesses.”

She will be hosting a family fun day at Lewsey Learning centre on Saturday, July 26, and a Charity night on at the Celtic Club on Saturday, September 13, tickets will be £10.

She told the Herald & post: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/zoetrekforlifeburma

Police are appealing for witnesses to come forward after a 30-year-old woman was dragged from her vehicle in Handcross Road, Luton, on Saturday morning.

The incident happened at around 6:05 am when the victim was getting into her vehicle on her way to work.

A man, who was known to the victim, dragged her from her vehicle, forcing her into his own.

The woman screamed, which alerted a neighbour, who came to her assistance.

A 32-year-old man has been arrested but police are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen the vehicle, a black Ford Galaxy, between 6.03am on the A505 Luton and 7.42am on the A1 northbound at Astwick.

It is believed it may have been using false number plates and displaying the index number of E058 VFT or FG09 POA.

If you have information relating to this incident, contact the non-emergency numer 101, or text information to 07786 200011.

Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or online at crimestopper-uk.org.

Transformers: Age of Extinction is an adventure 65 million years in the making – and one that feels almost that long to watch.

I’m sure that the shady aliens referred to only as the ‘Creators’ had little idea just what they were unleashing when they used special ‘Seeds’ to alter Earth with their transformable metal.

The epic Battle of Chicago (detailed in Transformers: Dark of the Moon) saw the heroic Autobots led by Optimus Prme fighting to save us from the evil Decepticons.

Now the transformers of all shapes and sizes are in hiding – being hunted by the government having been deemed a threat to the planet. One day plucky inventor Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg) obtains an old truck to strip it for parts, but it’s not just any old truck. It’s actually Optimus Prime!

Cade repairs the boss Autobot but unwittingly ends up becoming a target for a shady government kill team backed up by a terminator-like Transformer bounty hunter called Lockdown. The few remaining Autobots, namely Bumblebee, Hound, Drift, and Crosshairs, band together to try and thwart Lockdown and fight the renewed threat of man-made transformers led by Galvatron – who is harbouring the personality of Megatron.

The plot always takes a back seat to the action in Transformers films, but Age of Extinction is the weakest and most laborious yet.

Alas the action is pretty lacklustre too for the most part, only really redeemed (for Transformers fans at least) by the climax that sees Dinobots thrown into the chaotic mix. It’s hard not to be impressed by the sight of Optimus riding in to battle on the back of metallic fire-breathing dragon – gigantic sword in hand.

Director Michael Bay though seems to have lost some of the love he has previously shown for his spectacular robotic heroes. Sure they still look superb and occasionally even draw gasps as the special effects kick in with things we’ve never seen on screen before.

The Transformers franchise shows no sign of slowing down, and Age of Extinction delivers some heavy metal action thrills, but let’s hope that Part 5 makes amends for the overblown familiarity on screen here.

To commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Lealands High School hosted an enriched curriculum day for their Year 8 students.

Students carried out variety of cross curricular activities including tasting sessions on the First World War trench and rationed food. A soldier drill training assault course, led by Harlequin History. Handling of First World War artefacts bringing history to life, led by Lest we Forget. The impact of the war on Luton, led by Luton Museums. Bringing the First World War to life through creative writing and finally the comparison of First World War uniforms to modern day soldier uniforms.

The students thoroughly enjoyed the experience of the day which helped bring to life the reality of the First World War and life in the trenches.

Rothesay Nursery is celebrating after Ofsted inspectors judged the school as no longer requiring special measures.

Inspectors judged that all areas for improvement identified at the last inspection were addressed successfully and that the children’s behaviour was good and attendance had improved.

Janet Brownjohn, headteacher, said: “The nursery has made rapid improvement which is due to staff, governors, children and parents all working together. We have worked extremely hard on improving children’s behaviour including implementing rewards and sanctions as well as developing a home-school agreement, which has had a positive impact on their progress and we have seen their attainment rise.

“We still have a lot of work to do and will continue to drive our school forward and raise the quality of teaching.”

Ofsted found that the school have improved the quality and variety of resources used to support children’s learning.

Councillor Waheed Akbar, executive member with responsibility for children’s services, said: “Well done to Rothesay Nursery for coming out of special measures within a year. This is testament to the school’s dedication and commitment to tackling challenges head-on and the determination of staff and governors to raise standards in the school.”

An increase in production of Vauxhall’s Vivaro van means 250 jobs will be created in Luton, it has been announced.

Fears that the town’s plant would close were quelled in March 2011, with the decision to build the new van at the Kimpton Road site.

The move safeguarded 1,100 jobs, with a further 250 now created to add a second shift and increase output.

The new positions will be phased in over the first quarter of 2015.

Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plant in Cheshire will also take on 300 new employees ahead of production of a new Astra model.

The recruitment drive is the firm’s “first significant new-hire programme for a decade”, according to Vauxhall.

Tim Tozer, Vauxhall’s chairman and managing director, said: “This is great news for Vauxhall and for British manufacturing.

“Both of our UK manufacturing plants have won long contracts with all-new products and as the business strengthens, we now need to take on more people to build these exciting new Vauxhalls.”

Making the announcement, General Motors Europe president Karl-Thomas Neumann said that the move is an ‘incredible turnaround’ after concerns about both plants.

A man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, for selling wheel trims with fake logos, following an investigation by the council’s Trading Standards service.

Nigel Furr, 55, of Clinton Avenue, had been warned by in 2008 and 2010 about selling fake branded goods, including Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Nissan and other brands.

His home was raided by Trading Standard officers, following a complaint by Vauxhall motors and undercover test purchases in 2011.

Nigel and his son Thomas Furr attended court and pleaded guilty to offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.

Thomas Furr received a suspended 8 months prison sentence and 180 hours of community service.

Ireckon the time is right to give Town Centre Dead Pool another go, don’t you?

It’s an idea I had a while back but failed to exploit in such a way that I was able to retire on the royalties. It’s still got legs, though, even though spectacular big chain crashes seem to be a thing of the past as our economy continues to make a faltering recovery.

It’s really only based on the existing Dead Pool game, which you may already know about, even if you frown at its tastelessness.

It works like this – the participants all stick a few quid in the pot and pick the name of a celeb from a hat.

Some may be a bit long in the tooth, some still young but careless in their habits, and some are picked at random.

If you’re playing the long game, you can decide that the winner of the pot will be the holder of the name of the last celebrity still breathing, however long it takes.

Or you can be a little more callous about it, restrict the runners and riders to those who either look a bit peaky or have had one too many trips to the Priory, and run the game over a calendar year.

My variation sees a cold commercial eye passed over your town centre and a list drawn up those shopfront concerns which you reckon are hanging on by a thread.

Even when times aren’t tight every town has shops and High Street businesses which must struggle for custom.

It’s not just fashion salons for ladies of a certain age with window displays that haven’t changed for 30 years or shoe shops stuck in a time warp where you haven’t ever seen a customer cross the threshold.

There are businesses which have been coshed by the internet, like travel agents, and ‘nine day wonder’ efforts – remember those short-lived fish spas?

So draw up a list, get everyone to ante up, and see what happens. You can pick outlets of local chains, but not national concerns – they may go belly up through no fault of their own, despite their popularity with local punters.

And it can be any sort of business that has a street-level presence, whether it’s an arty pottery workshop, a gift shop full of candles, cards and codswallop or a parlour peddling tenuous therapies to the credulous.

No restaurants and cafes, they’re too vulnerable to the vagaries of fashion, but anything else should be fair game.

Then you’ve got more of a reason to spend time in your town centre, checking out who is still soldiering on and ticking off those who have handed back the keys.

At the end of the year, the pot is shared out among all those representing the firms which have survived to fight another day.

Oh, but there is one thing – you can only spend the winnings in those surviving businesses, rather than in out of town outlet malls, giant superstores or snapping up online bargains.

A Luton nursery has been rapped by Ofsted after staff failed to make a child protection referral.

Inspectors visited Beech Hill Nursery and Children’s Centre, Dunstable Road, in April after concerns arose over the safeguarding practice at the nursery.

The schools watchdog found that a further child protection referral had not been made to the council after concerns arose for a second time over a child’s safety.

The incident “compromises children’s safety and well-being”, according to the Ofsted report published on Friday.

It added: “This means that, despite other areas of practice being strong, leadership and management is inadequate.

“Safeguarding procedures in the nursery are not sufficiently robust to ensure all staff consistently follow agreed processes for gathering and reporting information.”

Due to the failing Beech Hill Nursery and Children’s Centre was given an overall ‘inadequate’ rating, a drop from its previous ‘good’ report in August 2011.

Despite the incident inspectors found that staff at the nursery “do not ignore concerns and continue to seek the involvement of the relevant agencies to safeguard children.”

Nursery operator Amtiaz Munir told Luton News the child protection referral failure was an ‘isolated incident’.

She added: “We have worked very hard with the local authority to make improvements.

“These were well received by the Ofsted inspector who carried out a monitoring visit last week and we hope to be out of the (inadequate) category later this year.”

Quantities of illicit tobacco and cigarettes were seized from local retail shops on Monday, June 30, thanks to sniffer dogs trained in tobacco detention. The visits are part of Operation Henry, reducing the supply of illicit tobacco, it is running from April till September.

The partnership exercise involves the council’s Trading Standards services, the Trading Standards Institute and HM Revenue and Customs.

The dogs discovered concealed tobacco stashes at several premises, including a case of tobacco in a hidden compartment in the shopkeeper’s chair and inside a vacuum cleaner.

The seizure included non duty-paid cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco, which cannot be legally sold in the UK.

Councillor Aslam Khan, portfolio holder for Trading Standards, said: “Those involved in dealing in illegal tobacco may be encouraging children and adults to smoke by providing a cheap source. The detection dogs can find tobacco and cigarettes hidden in the most unlikely places. Offenders face consequences such as prosecution and removal of their alcohol licence if they deal in illegal products.”

Luton senior citizen Doreen Steinberg is a woman with a mission.

She’s determined to overturn the council’s decision to close three of the town’s libraries and has even taught herself to use social media in her quest for justice.

“I never knew how to Tweet but now I can,” she claimed, adding with obvious pride: “We’ve also got a website – www.librariesoflutonarise.com – and a Facebook page, Luton Libraries Arise.”

Doreen, 74, of Saywell Road describes herself as “a child of Churchill.”

She said: “I was born in London in January 1940 during the Blitz and I remember everything, right from when I was tiny.

“I can remember Churchill’s speeches. He fought for democracy. He never gave in and never backed down. And that’s exactly how I am.”

She’s absolutely incensed at what she sees as the council’s intransigence and economy with the truth regarding the closures earlier this year.

The charity Luton Culture, which runs the libraries on behalf of Luton Borough Council, shut down Wigmore, Sundon Park and the mobile library after the council faced a funding cut of £1.5m.

A Freedom if Information request revealed that money received from the Airport Trust was specifically earmarked for libraries during the period 2011- 2015, a fact later denied by the council (check).

Doreen fumed: “It’s unethical, it’s shocking, it’s a disgrace.”

She’s particularly cross about Wigmore and said: “We presented the council with a petition containing 10,000 signatures. But Maggie Appleton of Luton Culture (check) dismissed it as ‘just signatures.’

She added: “During this whole sorry saga of misinformation and denial, we have met with nothing but arrogant disdain for democracy and complete indifference.

“They are discriminating against children, the elderly and the disabled as well as the unemployed, who are left without an internet service with which to look for work.”

Sundon Park mother-of-two Claire Lee, 43, is also fighting the closures.

She said: “Doreen wants to get the Wigmore library reinstated but our campaign has changed tack.

“The Sundon Park library has been here for 54 years and it’s an iconic building. We’ve joined forces with another community group and put an ‘asset lock’ on it. This has triggered a moratorium which means the council cannot sell it.

“We’re trying to raise funds to run the building as part library, part community centre and we’ve asked Luton Culture to support us in any way they can.”

> What do you think? Our contact details are on page 2.

The young daughter of one of Luton’s bravest and best – murdered policeman Jon Henry – has received a posthumous award for bravery on her father’s behalf.

The eight-year-old was presented with The Queen’s Commendation for Bravery at a special ceremony at Luton Town Hall on Thursday. She was told by Lord Lieutenant Helen Nellis that PC Jon Henry would remain in the hearts of the community as a “courageous and noble man.”

It was a proud and poignant moment for the family of the fallen officer. His widow Mary had requested that the award be given to their daughter, who was less than a year old when her father died after being stabbed by paranoid schizophrenic Ikechukwu Tennyson Obih in 2007.

The Commendation was presented by the Lord Lieutenant who said it was a great privilege to do so on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen.

She added: “PC Henry attemped to apprehend an armed suspect in order to protect the public and paid the ultimate price. He demonstrated extreme bravery and will remain in the hearts of our community as a courageous and noble man.”

The ceremony was also attended by Bedfordshire High Sheriff Colin Osbourne, Chief Constable Colette Paul,

Ray Reed of the Police Federation and Luton mayor Cllr Mohammed Farooq.

The Chief Constable said: “Today is important not just to me but to all Bedfordshire police.

“Jon was a very special part of many people’s lives and Her Majesty’s recognition of his bravery in the face of grave danger is a fitting tribute to somebody of whom I remain immensely proud.”

PC Henry, 36, had been on duty less than half an hour on June 11, 2007, when he was stabbed twice in the chest in Luton town centre.

He had been trying to disarm a knife-wielding man who had just stabbed a window cleaner in the back.

His widow said at the time: “Jon was my husband, my world, my best friend . . . there are a million words and none.”

Nigerian immigrant Ikechukwu Tennyson Obih was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 25 years.

Royal Mail has agreed on the relocation of Waller Avenue Post Office, Luton– which will be moved into AKS Food City convenience store round the corner at 49-51 Waller Avenue.

The present branch, which is on Beechwood Road, will close on Monday August 18 at 5:30pm.

The new service, which launches on Tuesday August 19 at 1pm, will be provided at two open-plan combination counters in the store, where the Post Office terminals will sit alongside the retail tills.

Post Office services will be available seven days a week during the store’s opening hours, 7am to 11pm.

The branch will be open 61 hours a week more than currently offered.

Will Russell, Post Office Regional Manager, said: “This new-style branch with tremendous opening hours will make it far easier for customers to get their cash, send and collect their mail and do their banking because we know how important these services are to local residents.

“We are confident that this will be popular.”

Two Islamic faith schools in Luton were given snap inspections to investigate if governors had too much control over day to day running, according to Ofsted chief Sir Michael Wilshaw.

Giving evidence to MPs on the education select committee this morning, Sir Michael said that across the country there was no evidence of extremism in pupils but there is “promotion of a culture which would have made children vulnerable to extremism because of disconnection to a wider society.”

Olive Tree Primary and Rabia Girls’ and Boys’ schools were both given inadequate ratings by inspectors, who were summonedto visit by the Department for Education.

When asked if there is evidence of governors running schools instead of setting policy, Sir Michael said: “We’re looking at schools where this might be happening, we’ve been looking at schools in Bradford and in Luton, and where we receive information that this might be happening elsewhere we are conducting unannounced inspections.

He added: “Where we see serious problems with governance it affects our decision and our judgment.”

Council tenants in 750 homes are to benefit from warmer homes and cheaper bills.

The project is the council’s single largest investment in energy efficieny and will cost £7-m.

The scheme will improve tenants’ lives in the Spandow and Essex Court tower blocks as well as those in the Lewsey Farm, Marsh Farm and Hockwell Ring areas.

Oh, if only we could be sure that the title was a guarantee – this week’s big blockbuster release is Transformers: Age of Extinction, and we can only hope they will keep their word.

But as long as punters rock up to buy tickets and popcorn, this franchise will keep pumping out the metal mayhem.

Mark Wahlberg, Kelsey Grammer and Stanley Tucci are among the human beings overshadowed by the shape-shifting robots in Michael Bay’s latest migraine-inducing movie, the plot is peurile and the dialogue dreadul – but fans don’t care.

They want to see incredible CGI-generated machines bashing each other to bits, and Mr Bay is only too happy to meet that need even if he falls short in every area that could contribute to credible cinema.

Keira Knightley goes low budget and romantic in Begin Again, in which her expat singer/songwriter is talent-spotted by washed-up producer Mark Ruffalo in a New York bar.

He hatches a novel plan to record an album and overcome complications in her private life – her ex (Adam Levine of Maroon 5, making his acting debut) is already a chart-topping star.

It’s billed as a witty, moving and romantic hymn to the healing power of music from John Carney, the writer/director behind cult hit Once, which covered the same sort of territory.

Inevitable sequel time: the first instalment was a bit of a charmer and much-praised as well as profitable, so here comes How To Train Your Dragon 2.

Voice talent includes Gerard Butler, Cate Blanchett, America Ferrera and Jonah Hill, and we pick up the story as our hapless hero Hiccup the Viking and his less than terrifying dragon sidekick have to go on the front foot to tackle a new villain and his ice cave full of menacing wild dragons.

There are few surprises in this amiable animation, cranked out in time for the summer holiday market and a fair follow-up to the Oscar-nominated original.

Little learners swapped caps for mortar boards at Barnfield Moorlands Free School when they graduated (right).

Each was given a diploma scroll by principal Carrie Matthews.

Work to soundproof the £90m Luton and Dunstable Busway has made “!ittle or difference at all”, according to South West Beds MP Andrew Selous.

Luton Borough Council spent between £5,000 and £6,000 on soundproofing work last Tuesday and Wednesday, after a series of noise complaints from residents living close to the track.

Gaps between the beams of the track were filled in to address the problem, though according to Mr Selous the work has had little effect

He told Herald & Post: “I’ve been told that there has been little or no impact.

“I’ve met with residents on Ludon Close (Dunstable) who are having sleepless nights through the noise and the vibrations which can shake through their entire homes.

“It has become a serious problem and it would be best if it could be solved without the need for compensation or the track to be relayed.

“The council has put in effort on this but it is time to go back to the drawing board.”

Before the work was undertaken councillor Dave Taylor said that if successful, soundproofing would be rolled out across other sections of the busway.

This would cost an additional £10,000.

A council spokesperson said: “The works were undertaken overnight on 1-2 July and 2-3 July, and at this stage it is too early to state whether the works have been effective.

“Noise levels were monitored before and after the noise reduction joint fillers were installed and we are awaiting a report from our consultants, which we expect to receive within the next fortnight.”

Police are searching for a motorist who pulled into a slip road before getting out to commit a sexual act in front of a woman on Saturday.

The 24-year-old victim was walking along the A6 from Barton towards Luton between 5.20pm and 5.40pm when a silver BMW – possible a Three Series with the number 33 in the registration plate - pulled up in a slip road ahead of her.

As the woman approached the car, the offender got out of the vehicle and appeared to be committing a sexual act.

The man then made several sexual comments towards the victim who became extremely scared and ran across the carriageway.

When she looked back, the offender had got in his vehicle and driven off towards Luton.

Officers are keen to speak with anyone who may have passed the incident as it took place or may have seen the offender who is described as being a white man, 34 to 38 years old, around 5ft 10ins tall, solid build and with a shaved head and receding brown hair,

He was wearing a white shirt, black trousers and black sunglasses.

If you have information relating to this incident, contact PC Jamie O’Leary, in confidence, on the non-emergency 101 number, or text information to 07786 200011.

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