Updates for Thursday, 11 February 2016
News, sport, travel and weather updates resume at 08:00 on Friday
That's all from us today. Join us again tomorrow for the latest news, sport, weather and travel for Beds, Herts and Bucks, between 08:00-18:00.
Tomorrow we'll bring you more about the Royal Masonic School for Girls, external' link-up with British astronaut Tim Peake, and you can listen live to it on BBC Three Counties Radio just after 18:00 this evening.
Alex Dolan
BBC Look East weather
There will be clear intervals this evening, turning quite chilly with the risk of a frost and icy patches. Lows of -2C (28F).
Tomorrow will be another cold start with the risk of a frost first thing.
There will be a few brighter intervals but it will turn cloudy, with the risk of scattered showers merging to longer spells of rain. Highs of 6C (43F).
Lee Agnew
BBC Three Counties Radio
The latest headlines:
Dani Bailey
BBC Local Live
A public consultation will begin next week into plans to improve Town Hall Square in Watford.
Hertfordshire County, external and Watford Borough, external councils are proposing a new civic square with better access for pedestrians and cyclists, along with new seating and a new town hall entrance.
Image source, GoogleQuote MessageIt would be wonderful to have our civic square brought up to the same high standard as The Parade. This is a great space and I'd love to see it more widely used."
Dorothy Thornhill, Elected mayor of Watford
BBC News Magazine
New figures show about 10% of rail delays in Britain over the past two years have been caused by staff shortages - and some of the worst-performing operators serve Beds, Herts and Bucks.
Image source, AlamyThe Office of Rail and Road said Govia Thameslink Railway, which operates Southern and Thameslink services, was the worst offender, with a staff shortages accounting for 13.59% of delays.
London Midland and First Transpennine Express were the next worst on 13.53%.
Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live
The British Heart Foundation, external has expressed its sadness at the death of John McCafferty - the oldest surviving heart transplant patient, who died 33 years after his operation.
Image source, McCafferty familyAssociate medical director, Dr Mike Knapton, said: "Unfortunately this isn't the case for many... There is an urgent need for people to register to become organ donors in the UK so we can provide hope to people like John.
"Thanks to research many people can now go on to live a long and healthy life after a successful heart transplant."
Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sport
Watford manager Quique Sanchez Flores (pictured) has been explaining in more detail his decision to drop captain Troy Deeney to the bench for last week's defeat at Tottenham.
Image source, Getty ImagesTiredness was cited at the time and the skipper is expected to return to the side for Saturday’s match at Crystal Palace.
"The players need to understand we are a group," said Flores. "We don't have individual targets, we are always on the side of the collective targets and Deeney is the first player in the group who understands."
A bomb squad has carried out a controlled explosion on a World War Two grenade handed into Bedford Police Station yesterday.
The grenade was destroyed in a field next to the police headquarters in Kempston.
Bedfordshire Police has asked people who find any more suspicious objects not to move them and call 999 instead.
Dani Bailey
BBC Local Live
A social media campaign highlighting the dangers of child sexual exploitation, external has been unveiled by Luton Borough Council.
Image source, Luton Borough Council"Is This Love?" looks to highlight the signs, external that can be mistaken as acts of kindness.
New research shows 93% of parents have heard of child sexual exploitation, but 29% say they know little about it, while over a third believe it will not affect their family.
The Bishop of St Albans said "libraries are vital" during a discussion in the House of Lords about library closures.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe closures due to pressures on local government funding came under fire today, but culture minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said it was too soon to determine the impact of this year's financial settlement for councils.
Rt Rev Alan Smith, the Bishop of St Albans, said libraries were an important source of internet access, especially in poorer and rural areas.
The church bells at St Andrew’s in Biggleswade turned silent, external this week as they were taken down for refurbishment.
A man's attack on his ex-girlfriend to kill their unborn baby was described as "a cowardly, vile, callous attack" by the judge passing sentence.
Image source, PAMalorie Bantala (pictured), 22, was ambushed outside her Peckham home by Kevin Wilson, 22, of Bermondsey, and a teenager on 15 June 2015. The pair had started dating upon meeting at the University of Bedfordshire in Luton.
Ms Bantala, who was 32 weeks pregnant, suffered life-threatening internal bleeding and a fractured hand. The baby boy was delivered stillborn.
A man who killed his unborn son in an attack on his pregnant ex-girlfriend has been sentenced to life in prison.
Image source, Metropolitan PoliceKevin Wilson, 22, of Longfield Estate, Bermondsey, London, met Malorie Bantala when they were both students at the University of Bedfordshire. But when she fell pregnant, he ambushed her with an accomplice outside her home in Peckham, killing the unborn child.
Wilson was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 16 years at the Old Bailey. His 17-year-old accomplice was sentenced to 10 years in detention with a further four years on extended licence.
A former University of Bedfordshire student who deliberately attacked his former girlfriend to kill their unborn baby has been sentenced to life in prison.
More details shortly.
Roberto Perrone
BBC Three Counties Radio
I'm live from the Royal Masonic School for Girls, external in Rickmansworth this afternoon, where students will have a live link-up with British astronaut Tim Peake later.
Here I am with headteacher Diana Rose who is definitely getting into the spirit of things!
She said it's a tremendous honour for the school. "It demonstrates how important it is for us to encourage girls to become associated with careers in science and technology," she added.
BBC Entertainment and Arts
The production company behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens is being prosecuted over the accident in Buckinghamshire, in which Harrison Ford broke his leg.
Image source, APThe actor was struck by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood set of the Millennium Falcon in June 2014.
The Health And Safety Executive has brought four criminal charges against Foodles Production (UK) Ltd - a subsidiary of Disney. Read more here.
It will stay cold this afternoon but should be dry. The best of the sunshine will be towards western parts such as Leighton Buzzard.
Maximum temperature: 8C (46F).
Dani Bailey
BBC Local Live
A van driver fled the scene of a crash in which a woman was left trapped in her car, police have said.
Image source, GoogleThe crash between a black Seat Ibiza and a white Vauxhall Vivaro happened on the junction of Crescent Road and Crescent Rise, Luton, at about 08:30 yesterday.
Police want to speak to the van driver, described as an Asian man in his late 20s, and any witnesses. The woman's injuries were not serious but she was taken to hospital.
Carol Abercrombie
BBC Three Counties Radio
An HMIC report, external says Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire police forces must improve key areas of their operations.
The report into Hertfordshire says the force is not yet compliant with the Home Office's best use of Stop and Search - it found the last training was run in 2013.
Bedfordshire was found to need improvement in its public engagement and understanding of local communities.
A woman was stopped by a white van last night and told by the driver to get in the vehicle, external.
The 18-year-old was driving along the A421 from Buckingham to Milton Keynes when she noticed a white van join from Warren Road. It tailgated her and flashed its headlights.
When she stopped in a lay-by just after the Windmill Hill roundabout, a man got out and shouted at her. The young woman returned to her car and drove off.
