Five stories you might have missed in Peterborough

Alesksa Svencika said bingo was harder "than I anticipated, you have be quiet and concentrate on the numbers"

From big changes planned in retail to teenagers going bonkers for bingo, here are five stories from Peterborough you might have missed this week.

Major retailer plans expansion

An M&S spokesperson said the current store was dated and too small

Up to 50 new jobs would be created if plans to extend a Marks & Spencer store get approved.

Peterborough City Council has received an application to build on land separating the existing branch and Tapi Carpets at Brotherhood Shopping Park.

The proposed development comes a year after M&S shut its Queensgate store after nearly 60 years in the city centre.

While former store site to be sold

A marketing exercise to sell the vacant four-storey building will conclude in the autumn

Elsewhere, the council said it hoped the former TK Maxx building on Bridge Street could be turned into a mixed residential and commercial development.

Peterborough City Council's cabinet members agreed to sell the building at a meeting on 15 July, as it was "no longer economically viable".

It was bought by the local authority for £4.1m in 2020 with the aim of using it for a £15m community hub project known as The Vine.

But a feasibility commissioned by Tetra Tech in July 2022 said the cost of the necessary works was about £10.8m, making the project no longer viable.

'Game-changing' rail investment

"This is the cleanest, greenest, and fastest way yet to move freight by rail in the UK," said, said GBRf CEO John Smith

New locomotives that run on electricity and renewable fuels could reduce rail freight emissions by more than half on a typical journey.

A £150m investment was made into Class 99 locomotives, which were unveiled in Peterborough at GB Railfreight (GBRf) headquarters on Thursday.

Once testing was complete, the new fleet could enter commercial service to move consumable goods and materials across the country this winter.

Andrew Pakes, the MP for Peterborough, said it was a "game changer for our city and the national effort to build a greener, more sustainable future".

Ancient site 'heartened' after arson attack

Flag Fen Archaeology Park manager Jacqueline Mooney said the Iron Age roundhouse replica had been much loved

The boss of an ancient site where a thatched roundhouse replica was razed to the ground by suspected arsonists said she had been "heartened" by the support of the community.

Fire crews were called to Peterborough's Flag Fen Archaeology Park, which dates back to the Bronze Age, on Sunday night after local people saw flames.

In 2022, 30 volunteers had spent nine months building the Iron Age roundhouse and a fundraising appeal has now been launched to replace it.

"We're all absolutely devastated at the loss of the roundhouse - so many of our team took part in building it and using it every single day - it was a much-loved thing," said site manager Jacqueline Mooney.

Teens go bonkers for bingo

Lucy Lonnen, 18, says she came to play bingo on impulse with friends but loved the experience of the game

Two teenagers proclaimed that "bingo was not just for older people", as they turned their hand to the game in the last bingo centre in the county.

Lucy Lonnen and Alesksa Svencika, both 18, said they always wanted to play bingo when they legally could and visited the Buzz Bingo hall in Peterborough.

The site has become Cambridgeshire's last dedicated bingo centre following the closure of Winners Bingo in Wisbech.

The National Bingo Game Association said a combination of the Covid pandemic, energy prices and the impact of the recent Budget on employment costs had "made it difficult for smaller independent bingo clubs to survive".

But Dan Shuttleworth, the manager of Buzz Bingo, said the game was "evolving" and would "survive long into the future".

The week in politics

This week we found out auditors said there was a "significant" risk Peterborough City Council may not be repaid a loan it gave to a developer to build the Hilton Hotel.

The authority borrowed the money from the government in 2017 and the hotel is still not finished.

The situation will be discussed at a council meeting on Monday.

Meanwhile, the future of £1 bus fares for under-25s is also up for discussion.

The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority board, which involves the mayor and council leaders, is meeting on 22 July to discuss keeping bus fares reduced for young adults and children.

Papers published this week said the authority wanted to keep the cheap fares for under-25s - but it could come at a price for other bus users.

There were proposals to end the £2.50 fare cap for all bus users in September.

Combined Authority Mayor Paul Bristow has proposed to keep funding a rural bus route from Ramsey to Peterborough, via Whittlesey.

However, it would come at the cost of other routes in the south of Cambridgeshire.

It will be discussed at the same meeting as the £1 bus fares.

The week in sport

Bradley Ihionvien was a hat-trick hero by half time

This week, Peterborough United beat Peterborough Sports 8-1 in a pre-season friendly.

Posh were 4-1 up at half time after a hat-trick from Bradley Ihionvien and a goal from Abraham Odoh.

Max Booth scored the only goal for the Turbines.

The second half saw goals for Harley Mills, Kyrell Lisbie and a brace from Gustav Lindgren.