A 31-year-old man was attacked by two would-be robbers who knocked at his door and demanded his mobile phone.

The man answered the door at 9.30pm on May 20 to the pair, one of whom hit him in the face. They left the scene empty-handed.

The future of Dunstable is set to be discussed at the second meeting of a business group.

Councillor Nigel Young, of Central Beds Council, is due to lay out growth plans at Dunstable and Houghton Regis Business Group of Beds Chamber of Commerce.

The meeting will take place at Central Beds College, on June 11. Email paula.devine@chamber-business.com for details.

Bedfordshire’s top 100 companies are being put under the spotlight in a major review of the county’s business scene.

Business advisers Grant Thornton is producing an analysis called Bedfordshire Limited.

Jeremy Read, of Grant Thornton, said the review should make very interesting reading.

Results will be presented in Woburn on June 11. Contact Jacqui Gudgion on 1908 359540 or email jacqui.gudgion@yk,gt.com

Around 60 people have taken part in the EDL’s silent walk through Luton today to honour murdered soldier Lee Rigby.

Flowers were laid at the war memorial outside Luton Town Hall, and EDL deputy leader Kevin Carroll read out a poem he had written about Drummer Rigby.

The event passed off peacefully.

It was one of a number of walks organised by the EDL in towns and cities across the country in the wake of the soldier’s death. A BNP march has also taken place in London.

There has been a rise in reports of anti-Muslim attacks since the killing of Drummer Rigby last week.

Yesterday, in a statement released through the Ministry of Defence, his family urged people to show respect, and said he would not have wanted people to “use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others”.

They added: ”We would not wish any other families to go through this harrowing experience and appeal to everyone to keep calm and show their respect in a peaceful manner.“

Yesterday crowds gathered outside the town hall to lay flowers in Drummer Rigby’s memory, in an event organised by the Luton Council of Faiths and Luton in Harmony.

Zafar Khan, chair of the Council of Faiths, told those gathered that the town would not allow extremists of any type to exploit the tragedy and “sow discord”.

“There is a collective revulsion and grief at what happened last Wednesday – the death of an innocent man at the hands of people who claim to represent Muslims and Islam. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.

“Over the past week I have met many people from the Muslim community and they have all expressed genuine revulsion at the way their faith has been represented.

“In Luton we are all together and at times of diversity we have shown how close we are and how positively we engage. This is such a time and we want to declare here and affirm that we will not be divided.”

The appeal for information about a sexual assault in Dunstable was given national television coverage last week as it was featured on BBC’s Crimewatch.

Information about the incident – which began at 6.55pm on February 21 – provided by the victim made it possible for a reconstruction to be filmed and broadcast on BBC1 last Thursday (May 30).

The victim – in her 20s – was pulling out of the Shell garage in Poynters Road when a man entered her grey 4x4 vehicle through the passenger door.

At knifepoint, he forcedher to drive to Tomlinson Avenue where the attack tok place shortly after 7pm.

Det Ins Ruth Dodsworth of the Beds, Herts and Cambs Major Crime Unit was interviewed for the programme.

Describing the victim’s ordeal, she said: “She’s alone in the car, and the offender takes his opportunity and makes quite a confident approach and is in the car before she’s had chance to do anything.

“He pulled a knife on her, grabbed her by the hair – he had control of her within a couple of seconds.”

The offender is sdescribed as a white man, about 5ft 10ins tall, and of slim-to-medium build. He was wearing dark trousers with fluorescent markings, and short zips at the bottom.

If you have any information about the incident, call officers from the MCU on 01707 355959, or CrimeStoppers on 0800 555111.

Did you help a 53-year-old woman who was robbed in Sundon Park Road?

Police want to trace motorists who went to the woman’s aid after the incident at around 9.15am on May 22. The robber is described as a 6ft tall black man aged between 22 and 24.

The body of Paul Foster – who was gunned down in Lewsey Farm in April – is brought by horse-drawn carriage to his funeral on Friday (May 31).

Family and friends turned up at Calvary Church in Dunstable Road to pay their respects.

Car hire company Budget has invested £19,000 in a new location in Luton.

The new base is sited less than half a mile from Luton Railway Station and has put on a range of offers in advance of the summer holiday period.

The company says it has a “full range of vehicles to suit all budgets and tastes” from people carriers including the VW Sharan, to smaller cars for city breaks including the Fiat 500.

Kaye Ceille, MD of Budget UK, said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of this new Budget rental branch.

“The company has some hugely exciting plans to grow the business in 2013 and we are proud that Luton is part of that.

“We know there is strong demand from families and leisure travellers for affordable and convenient car hire across the region and we look forward to welcoming our first customers through the door.”

A campaign to keep trade local has been boosted by an MP.

Andrew Selous, MP for SW Bedfordshire, has thrown his weight behind the Federation of Small Businesses’ Keep Trade Local campaign.

The campaign was re-launched nationally in the wake of the horsemeat scandal which saw people turn to trusted local butchers’ shops.

Mr Selous said: “Small businesses are the heart of the local community. They generate wealth, employment and opportunity. But with people working longer hours and the growth of convenience, one-stop-shopping and the internet, these places are at risk. Dunstable has lots to offer and I would encourage local people to support their local high streets by using them wherever possible.”

The FSB is calling for local authorities, councils and central government to look at how they can make grassroots economies prosperous once again by working in partnership and helping their independent high street businesses to grow.

The FSB is calling for business rates to be made fairer and small business rates relief to be made permanent and to be indexed to inflation. They want government to think about planning, parking and procurement as a way to boost local trade.

Damian Cummins, who chairs Luton and South Bedfordshire FSB, said: “Once the high street starts to go into decline, it can be difficult to revive. But with the right measures from councils and local authorities the tide can be turned.

“The horsemeat scandal provided a short-term boost to our high streets, but it’s time for a more concerted effort from everybody to keep their local high streets vibrant and alive.”

Mr Selous started his tour at TaxAssist Accountants in Dunstable.

Sixteen unemployed young people have been helped to get into work at Luton Airport.

The Prince’s Trust ‘Get into Airports’ programme is in its 3rd year.

The young people took part in a two week training course run by The Prince’s Trust before embarking on work experience in the airport.

They have joined organisations including; retail and catering leaders SSP, TRG and Benugo, car park operator APCOA, specialist firms Ryebridge Construction and OCS, as well as household brands such as Dixons Travel, Enterprise Rent a Car, Hotel Chocolat, Menzies and Pandora.

Previous programmes have seen 70 per cent of young people secure jobs at the airport after completing the programme.

Following the course young people will receive up to six months’ support from The Prince’s Trust to help them further their careers.

The youth charity The Prince’s Trust helps disadvantaged young people to get their lives on track. It supports unemployed 13 to 30 year-olds.

“Things like this don’t happen in neighbourhoods like ours…”

Welcome to a tale of crime and punishment, a sort of Hunger Games for adults where in a near future the government of the USA has decreed that each year on one day all crime is permitted for a 12-hour period.

Called The Purge, this session of approved anarchy where there are no laws and no emergency services is designed as a release which allows people to channel their murderous dark side and attack whoever they want.

This means that no one is safe and masked gangs roam the streets killing anyone they come across.

Unless you’re lucky enough to afford a full home security system like James Sandin (Ethan Hawke) – who has got rich selling such home defence packages – you’d better hide somewhere or find a weapon with which to protect yourself.

The Purge’s concept is a strong one, if hopefully a little far- fetched, and director James DeMonaco has a lot of fun putting Sandrin and his family – wife Mary (Lena Headey), young son Charlie (Max Burkholder) and teen daughter Zoey (Adelaide Kane) – through a night of hell.

The family think they are safe in their high-tech protected luxury home but when Charlie lets a desperate homeless man (Edwin ‘All The Boys Love Mandy Lane’ Hodge) take sanctuary within their walls, it draws the attention of a group of masked lunatics led by a chilling, polite and ruthless rich kid psycho (Rhys Wakefield).

The violence, when it comes – and it does – is seriously brutal, pushing the limits of a 15 rated movie. There is some wry social commentary at work here, too, which lifts The Purge from just being another nasty low budget effort and adds enough dystopian ‘what would you do?’ dilemma to keep you busy discussing it afterwards.

Everything is well put together and boosted by some nifty additions such as a first-person feed from a freaky radio controlled unit – a one red-eyed doll on tank tracks built by Charlie.

The cast goes about its bloody business with gusto and all are good even if Wakeman steals the show with his icy baddy.

If you can stand the violent content, then The Purge is a strong dark thriller with an interesting premise and decent scares.

The notion of a society with no law, even if it is only for a brief period, is actually is actually a sight more terrifying than any ghosts and ghouls efforts you might see this year.

So, here’s the proof, if any were needed: mobile phones are making us dimmer by the day, and it won’t be long before they take over the world.

The tipping point for me came when I was reading about a sharp rise in pedestrian injuries caused, it would seem, by people so attached to their hand-held communication devices that they’re just not looking where they are going.

They might be texting, they might be surfing the net, they might be engaged in a game or a conversation, but whichever way you look at it those are not practices which should be pursued when you are propelling yourself along a crowded pavement.

All it needs is for you to encounter some other distracted phone addict coming the other way and you’ve got an accident on your hands.

You could call it the modern equivalent of walking into a lamp post or slipping on a banana skin but let’s face it, there are very few banana skins littering our thoroughfares these days and lamp posts and other items of street furniture, while undoubtedly not the sort of thing you want to come into contact with at speed, at least play the game and don’t jump out at you.

With mobile phones, the clue is in the name – everyone’s got one, and everyone’s on the move.

Cue cracked heads, fall injuries and all sorts down at your local A&E.

Now here’s where the human race, with a decent track record in modifying its behaviour when it results in pain, is faced with two courses of action.

Option 1: If I walk around glued to my phone, there’s a chance I could get hurt. Therefore I will keep my phone in my pocket and pay attention to where I am going.

No, that’s far too simple – and, crucially, it might cause a modicum of inconvenience.

Option 2: Get the mobile phone which is causing the problem in the first place to offer a solution. Yes, boffins are already hard at work on a crash alert system which can be fitted to a mobile phone, and which will sound an alarm if it looks like you’re about to collide with something.

The high-tech option will, of course, mean that before too long our High Streets will be resounding with buzzes and bleeps as blinkered walkers, headphones in place and eyes glued to their screens, manoeuvre their way through the crowds like so many reversing dustcarts.

The same sort of system is about to be employed in cars, too. We are promised that collisions on the roads will soon be a thing of the past.

That may all seem very well to you, but ask yourself this: What happens when the mobiles develop their own intelligence, and no longer want to ensure that you don’t end up under a bus? You’ll walk right into it, and their master plan will be achieved overnight, you mark my words.

Jobseekers will be able to find out about opportunities at the new Woburn Forest Center Parcs at a community exhibition.

The Bedfordshire holiday destination will be holding a meet and greet event at The Rufus Centre, Flitwick on Wednesday, June 19, from 10am to 8pm.

As well as an update on progress of construction so far and what the finished village will look lik, job hunters will be able to find out what it’s like to work for Center Parcs and examine specific job opportunities.

Local businesses will also be able to find out about opportunities to supply the new venue. Center Parcs buyers will be around to meet local businesses who have an interest in supplying goods and services to Woburn Forest.

The mother of a man who was fatally stabbed in their home said today that his death has “broken” the family.

Jordan MaGuire, 20, who was killed on May 26 in Thrales Close, had just been on holiday to Benidorm and was about to go to Yorkshire to work fitting aeroplane parts.

His mother, Julie MaGuire, 46, said he was well-known and well-loved.

She said: “Everybody loved Jordan, everybody knew him, he was always smiling. He was so loved and if he was in your life then your life was blessed.

“We are a close family and also he had lots of friends who have been very supportive to me, we have lived here for ten years and I suppose I’m like a second mum to them too. He had so very many friends, they were like brothers and their lives are empty too, just as much as mine is.”

Jordan leaves behind two sisters Zoe, 27, and Kay, 28, and his girlfriend of three years, Laura.

His mother said he loved clothes and going shopping and had hundreds of pairs of trainers. He took care over his appearance although he was quite a humble person.

Julie said: “What’s happened has killed us, it’s killed the community, there is no laughter any more. It’s broken us. He was the only man in my life and I loved him to the sky and back. But I don’t want people to mourn him, I want people to celebrate his life.”

Two people have been arrested in connection with the murder and have been released on police bail with no charge.

Detectives released two clips from the CCTV cameras on the estate showing a third and fourth suspect they would like to question.

Both men are black, one is dressed in jeans and a dark top, pushing a light coloured bike.

Anyone who has information about Jordan’s murder should contact Major Crime Unit Officers on the police non-emergency number 101, or via Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

You do not have to give your name but you could still receive a cash reward for your information.

Planners have been advised to give the go-ahead to a proposed £46million nine-storey university library building in Luton town centre.

Luton Borough Council’s development control committee is later on today (Wednesday) due to be told that the building in Park Street will generate at least 10 per cent of its own energy through solar panels on the roof.

If councillors decide the four-storey Fairview House on the junction of Cumberland Street, Vicarage Street and Park Street can be replaced, building work is due to start in August this year.

The University of Bedfordshire expects the work to be completed by August 2015.

In recommending approval for the new building, council officers were impressed. The report to councillors reads: “The proposed building would create noticeable improvements to the streetscene and the surrounding setting. Its design and scale are appropriate for its location and minimal impact will occur on the adjoining occupiers.

“There remain some highway issues that need to be addressed but this will be done outside of the planning process. The development will be a positive addition to this part of the town and is considered to be acceptable.”

Officials believe the new building, which will have 7,400 sq m of space over seven storeys, will set the standard for development in the town centre.

The new library marks the latest stage in the development of the university. There will be a ground floor cafe, study spaces and a 30 per cent increase in book stocks.

Since 2006, some £90million has been invested in facilities and new buildings at the Luton campus, including a £20million Postgraduate and Continuing Professional Development Centre opened in February.

The new Postgraduate and Continuing Professional Development Centre, in Park Square, Luton, is one of only 10 such centres in the country and was opened by universities minister David Willetts. The centre will enable people to benefit from research and learning in areas including business and management.

Fashion-conscious holidaymakers wouldn’t be seen dead with ordinary luggage. That’s the theory behind a new store at Luton Airport.

The Yellow Line, a new concept store, has opened at the airport – a joint venture from luggage retail brand Rolling Luggage and the VF Group.

The store is aimed at discerning travellers looking for robust yet stylish luggage.

Inspiration for the store’s logo, in-store navigation and branding is taken from the airport, with the use of aeroplane steps and luggage trolley displays.

Rupert Lawrie, commercial director of Luton Airport, said it is part of a major upgrade of retail and catering at the transport hub.

He said: “The opening of The Yellow Line concept store at London Luton, as well as being a world first, is a significant step along our path to a major upgrade of the retail and catering mix at London Luton. The addition of such exciting brands, such as North Face and Napapijri, will have great appeal to our discerning passengers.”

Smith & Son is the story we’re being sold for this week’s big new release – glossy special effects thriller After Earth features both Will and his boy Jaden, both of whom are perfectly bankable names bearing in minds their past successes.

Will has been a bit quiet of late, the third instalment of Men In Black aside, but he’s got sequels for Hancock and I Robot and even Bad Boys 3 in the pipeline.

Jaden, who also shared screen time with the old man in The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006, made a good enough fist of his first big role in the 2010 remake of The Karate Kid that we can dismiss any mumblings about nepotism in the film world.

So what have we got here? Well, think what would happen if the bloke in I Am Legend had custody of a stroppy teenager instead of a loveable dog, add in some Star Trek style and just a pinch of Paper Moon and there you go.

Will and Jaden play father and son, dad’s a top military commander and the lad is trying to follow in his footsteps but not impressing the teachers at space commando college because he takes too many risks, goes his own way, disobeys orders – you know how it goes.

They’re supposed to be spending some bonding time together when an unfortunate accident finds them stranded on Planet Earth, abandoned 1,000 years before because it was just too dangerous for humans.

Will’s crocked but can use high-tech gizmos to keep in touch with the boy, Jaden has to cross territory filled will all sorts of special-effects demons to retrieve a beacon which will send out an SOS so they can get rescued.

The pair don’t actually share a great deal of screen time as Jaden does battle with the green screen and Will lingers back in the crashed spacecraft, offering wisdom from a distance, and it’s a solid enough sci-fi story but for the posturing of director M. Night Shyamalan.

This is the first time in 20 years that Mr Sixth Sense has tackled anything other than his own screenplays, apparently, and there’s a reason – and it’s because most of his other output has failed to hit the mark.

You can see the money that’s been lavished on this big-budget blockbuster in every scene, but that doesn’t mean to say you’re going to fall in love with it.

Elsewhere you’d be well-advised to avoid The Last Exorcism: Beginning Of The End, which sadly doesn’t do what it says in the title.

As its predecessor made a solid enough bunch of change at the box office, we get another 15-rated frightener which puts the wobbly camera motif to one side now it’s so unfashionable but serves up Ashley Bell trying to get back to normal life after the unpleasantness of the first outing. Do you know what, she can’t...

Family and friends of Paul Foster – who was gunned down in Lewsey Farm in April – gathered for his funeral at Calvary Church in Bury Park on Friday (May 31).

His coffin arrived in a horse-drawn carriage.

People can pay their respects to those who took part in the D-Day landings at a service of commemoration taking place in Luton tomorrow (Thursday June 6).

It takes place at the Normandy Veterans and Airborne Division Memorial Garden in Stockwood Park, and starts at 11am.

John Bavister, chairman of the Luton and District Ex-Services Association said: “Members of the public and any surviving personnel are invited to join us for the occasion. We hope people will come along to support the remaining survivors of this campaign.”

The Allied invasion of Normandy, on June 6, 1944, broke through Germany’s defences after five years of fighting against the Nazis.

There were 10,000 Allied casualties on D-Day itself, with the worst fighting taking place on Omaha beach.

Next year will see the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

Mr Bavister said there would be no Armed Forces Day event in Luton this year due to lack of time to prepare.

“This is due to problems beyond our control,” he said. “So much has changed this year we thought it wise to scrap it.”

Mr Bavister suggested that not holding an Armed Forces Day event this year might be “a good thing”, as it was so soon after the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich.

Residents in Round Green who have already been without phone lines for over a month will have to wait another eleven days for repairs.

Landlines for sixteen homes in Hitchin Road have been out since May 4, when a car crashed into a telegraph pole. Resident Jean Taylor contacted the Luton News after repeated calls to BT failed to secure any confirmation of when the problem would be fixed.

“We’ve got no landlines, we can’t use the internet, we’ve all had to have our calls diverted to our mobile phones,” she said.

“It takes about half an hour to get through to BT and I still can’t find out when it will be fixed. I even tried Ofcom but they wouldn’t help me.

“If they could just give us a date that would be something. They’re just not communicating with us.”

When contacted by the Luton News on Thursday, a BT spokesman said: “Due to the location of the incident we are having to carry out detailed surveys to determine the level of traffic management needed to allow safe access. We are doing all we can to get this done and the permissions we need to commence repair work as quickly as possible.”

The following day, Round Green councillor Yaqub Hanif said he had been given a repair date of June 16.

Mrs Taylor said: “That’s an awfully long time. I think it’s a disgrace.”