Buckinghamshire Fire Service said it had sent fire engines to the scene - on the northbound carriageway between Newport Pagnell services and junction 15 - after reports of an HGV well alight.
There are currently delays of more than 25 minutes and increasing as emergency services deal with the incident.
Travel speeds are down to about 10mph in the area.
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Property research website Property Detective has revealed the top seven postcodes in Northampton with the highest average annual income, ranked from the highest earning to the lowest. Images are for illustrative purposes.
A cyclist was robbed on a path between Wescott Way and Newark Drive, Corby.
The incident happened between 1pm and 1.20pm on Friday (March 29).
The victim was riding along the path when he was punched off his bike and threatened with a kitchen knife.
The offender then rode off in the direction of Wescott Way on the victim’s bike.
He was white, roughly 6ft, slim and had bright blue/green eyes.
He was wearing a black hooded zipped sweatshirt, black Nike jogging bottoms, black trainers, black sports gloves and a black snood.
Anyone with information should contact Northamptonshire Police on 101.
Alternatively, they can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Two men have appeared in court over an aggravated burglary in Corby.
Corby men Henry Barry, 34, of Whitworth Avenue, and Scott Hargin, 31, of Oakley Road, were arrested by police after an incident in Culross Court at around 7.30pm on Friday, March 29.
Both were charged aggravated burglary and possession of an offensive weapon.
They appeared at Northampton Magistrates’ Court today (Monday) and were remanded into custody ahead of their next court appearance on May 1.
Two other Corby men aged 33 and 34 who were arrested in connection with the incident have been released on conditional bail.
Police investigating a fatal collision at the entrance to the Red Lion truck stop on the A4500 near Kislingbury are appealing for witnesses to get in touch.
Just after 11.55pm on Friday, March 29, a silver Ford Fiesta was in collision with the rear of an unlit stationary lorry trailer, which was being hitched to a yellow Volvo Series 4 tractor unit on the westbound slip road leading to the truck stop.
The man driving the Fiesta was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
A female passenger in the car was taken to Northampton General Hospital suffering minor injuries.
Anyone with information or who witnessed this incident is asked to call the Drivewatch Hotline on 0800 174615.
Six of Northampton’s secondary schools will take in extra pupils to ensure Northamptonshire County Council is able to meet its statutory requirement to provide places
Bulge classes will be added at Northampton International Academy, Abbeyfield School, Northampton School for Girls, Thomas Becket Catholic School , Northampton Academy and The Duston School this September.
The council is creating 200 temporary Year 7 places and has had to negotiate with the academy trusts running the schools in order for them to agree to take on the additional pupils.
Northampton International Academy will take on the most, adding in 60 Year 7 places, with Northampton School for Girls taking on 20 pupils. The other four schools will have an extra 30 Year 7 pupils each.
The authority will spend £2.3m from its 2018/19 budget to pay for the places which include spending £400,000 on improvements at both Abbeyfield School and the same sum at The Duston School. A sum of £1.5m will also be spent at Northampton International Academy to turn a former commercial space into classrooms and also to make a temporary on-site alternative provision permanent.
The £2.3m is coming from a combination of government cash for school places and section 106 contributions from developers.
A report which will go before the council’s cabinet next Tuesday (April 9) has laid out the severity of the situation.
It says: “The deficit of Year 7 places detailed above represents a clear and immediate risk to NCC fulfilling its statutory obligation of providing a sufficiency of Year 7 places in Northampton from September 2019 and immediate action is required.”
A total of 171 places are needed for this September. The council as the local education authority has responsibility for standards and places. As they are part of academy trusts the schools do not need to carry out consultation before they increase pupil numbers.
Councillor Dennis Meredith (Lib Dem, Talavera) said: “These issues have been known by the council for a long time as the scrutiny committee warned the council it was going to happen.
“It comes down to bad planning and is another failure of this administration as far as I am concerned.”
Each of the six schools that have agreed to take on the extra pupils will receive an additional £72,000 for the five years this Year 7 cohort will go through the school.
The report says it will be difficult to prove that value for money considerations have been achieved but it is the only way the council can provide the places.
The extra places are a temporary two-year measure. The council is also working with other partners in a free school bid for the town.
It should be known in the coming weeks whether the Government will approve the bid.
Heading back to dry land after last year’s Peter Pan performance, the theatre is this year hosting the Fairy Godmother of all pantomimes, Cinderella, starring Anita Dobson as the Wicked Stepmother.
Anita has been a household name for over 30 years, since she rose to fame as Angie Watts, the first landlady of the Queen Vic on EastEnders. Over 30 million viewers tuned in to see her served with divorce papers by her on-screen husband Dirty Den on Christmas Day in 1986, a record which is yet to be surpassed by any other UK soap.
She went on to appear in many other television series including Red Dwarf, Rab C Nesbitt and her own BBC sitcom Split Ends.
Her stage credits include Mama Morton in Chicago and Madame Morrible in Wicked, both in the West End, Joan Crawford in Bette and Joan, which toured to Northampton, and an Olivier-nominated performance in Bryony Lavery’s Frozen at the National Theatre.
Cinderella, at Northampton's Royal & Derngate, will feature comedy, 'jaw-dropping special effects', singing and dancing and plenty of boos and hisses from Friday 6 to Sunday 29 December.
There are generous discounts for groups and special rates for schools available for selected performances.
Tickets prices start from £11 and more than 10,000 tickets are available at less than £20.
For more information or to book tickets, call Box Office 01604 624811 or by visiting www.royalandderngate.co.uk.
A charge of £3 applies for all transactions of £15 and over. Does not apply to groups, friends or disabled patrons, and is per-transaction, not per-ticket.
Northamptonshire County Council is predicting an underspend of £100,000 for the 2018/19 financial year - just months after banning new expenditure as it was in a ‘financial crisis’.
The latest, and final, monthly report for 2018/19 forecasts that the council will balance its budget against the odds, and report a £0.1million underspend, which is £1million better than the previous month’s forecast.
Papers, to be seen by councillors ahead of next week’s cabinet meeting, state: “This forecast position of an underspend of £0.1m includes £7.7m of savings assessed as delivered from the Stabilisation Plan.
“Following the audit of 2017-18 accounts, the total deficit brought forward from 2017-18 into 2018-19 of £41.5m has been cleared through the application of capital receipts in accordance with the Capital Dispensation approved by the Secretary of State in November 2018.
“Furthermore, savings have been achieved by the Council through measures taken to reduce costs, increase income and tackle inefficiencies in service delivery.”
The Capital Dispensation from the government allowed the council to use funds from its capital pool, which funds infrastructure and asset projects, for services which depend on finance from the council's revenue stream. The £70m figure was a huge helping hand from the government, as it has also allowed the council to add £20million into its reserves, which had been wiped out trying to fight its debt.
The balanced budget has persuaded the government appointed commissioners, Brian Roberts and Tony McArdle, to lift the Section 114 notice which banned new expenditure when it was implemented in August last year.
Leader of Northamptonshire County Council, Councillor Matt Golby, said: “This is a remarkable achievement for all concerned and I would like to thank everyone for their hard work in making this happen.
“Let’s not forget that our financial challenge stood at £64.4m earlier this year so to be reporting such a positive situation for period 11 is a considerable accomplishment.
“However we still need to be cautious as although this is exceptionally positive it does not mean that the council has made a full recovery. Our financial position remains fragile.
“As such, the council will maintain its robust spending controls, including the continuation of the spending control panels, to ensure all spending is scrutinised to demonstrate best value in fulfilling the council’s objectives.”
A van failed to stop for police after driving the wrong way in the A45 roadworks.
The westbound stretch between Rushden and Wellingborough is currently closed until October with all traffic using a contra-flow system in the eastbound carriageway.
On Thursday, March 28, between 8.30am and 8.40am, a white Ford Transit van drove through Knuston along side roads and then towards the A45 at Ditchford.
But with the westbound slip road closed the van was then driven down the opposite slip road, against the flow of traffic and clipping another vehicle, before going onto the eastbound carriageway at Ditchford into the path of oncoming traffic.
It then continued the wrong way along the A45 towards Wellingborough before coming off on the wrong slip road towards Turnells Mill.
The van failed to stop for officers.
A 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with this incident and released under investigation pending further enquiries.
Anyone with information can contact Northamptonshire Police on 101. Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Councillor Danielle Stone is one of just two female councillors on the 16-member West Northamptonshire joint committee.
The committee - which met for the first time last Tuesday (March 26) - features four councillors each from Daventry District Council, Northampton Borough Council, Northamptonshire County Council and South Northamptonshire Council.
It is the first formal public group in the chain of setting up the new unitary authority that is likely to replace the county and district/borough councils next April.
But Councillor Stone has said that the number of women councillors on the new committee is ‘outrageous’. Councillor Stone, who is representing Northampton Borough Council on the committee, has only one female colleague - Councillor Rebecca Breese from South Northamptonshire Council.
Councillor Stone, who leads the Labour group at NBC but is also a county councillor, said: “I think it’s very concerning. In my Labour group we have a fairly balanced makeup, and my deputy is a woman and half the shadow cabinet are women. If we can do it why can’t everyone do it?
“I think they will be missing out on direct first-hand experience of working, as more women are workers at the council and women are more likely to be a recipient of council services. And yet we are going to be ruled by a group of men.”
Around the West Northamptonshire area, roughly a third of the overall councillors are female. 14 of 45 (31.11 per cent) councillors at Northampton Borough Council are female, while the levels at Daventry and South Northamptonshire are 27.77 per cent and 38.09 per cent respectively.
The figure for the county council overall, including councillors from the north of the county, stands at 35.08 per cent.
But just 12.5 per cent of the new joint committee for West Northamptonshire are women, and Councillor Stone wants to see that improve moving forwards.
She added: “I would expect to see more women being selected. I sent an email around that I was pleased South Northamptonshire Council has appointed a woman and Northampton Borough has as well, but that it’s still not good enough.
“I had Chris Millar [Daventry leader] come up to me and he said he agreed with me, so maybe it’s something that can be looked at further.”
The shelf life of the new joint committee is expected to be short, as it has only a few tasks to carry out before making way for a new shadow executive.
Its tasks included setting up three working task groups to look at a constitution and code of conduct; interim appointments; and members’ allowances.
Neither of the two female councillors on the joint committee were chosen to head up the task and finish groups.
The committee heard that a decision from the government on whether to agree to the unitary proposals will be determined either before April 4, when parliament breaks up for recess or after it returns on April 23.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) is assessing how well they can respond to risks in the county as part of a new 'fire plan' being put to the county council.
But as part of this, the service has revealed the average response time to reach incidents has increased over the past 20 years, in line with how fire stations across the country are being affected.
The average response time to attend any incident is now around 10 minutes and 32 seconds.
The force says this has increased up from less than 10 minutes in 2012 because of increasing traffic volume and how towns and villages are more built up than ever.
Meanwhile, less than two-thirds of on-call fire engines were available in Northamptonshire in a time of crisis in 2017/18.
Since 2009, the availability of on-call fire engines has dropped from over 90 per cent to just 57 per cent.
It comes as a cabinet meeting in February heard at times NFRS only had 12 of its 28 fire engines available, and the newest current appliance was 15 years old.
The service says addressing this is 'a priority', and are aiming to maintain a minimum of 14 fire engines going forward and rethink how they can respond to the needs of housing developments.
The plan goes in front of the county council on April 4 as part of a new 'fire plan' to following the appointment Police, fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold.
It comes following the creation of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner role to bring fire and police services under a single roof.
Under the existing legislation, coroners are obliged to hold inquests only for babies who have shown signs of life after being born.
But a six-year campaign led by Michelle Hemmington of Kingsley could now bring about a major change in the law after she found that hundreds of mothers like her had been left struggling for answers following stillbirths.
She and her friend Nicky Lyon launched the Campaign for Safer Births in 2013 in a bid to make the HM Coroner begin holding inquests for stillborn babies.
Her own son Louie died in 2011 - but she had to undergo a four-year legal battle to prove that errors by doctors had, in fact, contributed to his death.
Now a private members bill that has just passed its third reading at the House of Lords could soon make it law for coroners to investigate all stillbirths, which occur after 37 weeks of pregnancy - or full-term.
Sarah Harper, senior associate at Access Legal Solicitors, which supports the Campaign for Safer Births said: ‘Michelle and Nicky deserve many congratulations on their achievement; they have lobbied hard and effectively for this outcome.
"Their hope now is that the change in the law will help achieve the national ambition to halve the number of stillbirths and make maternity services in the UK world class."
While inquests would not replace investigations by the hospital or NHS agencies, the coroner would be able to consider whether any lessons could be learned and make suitable recommendations to improve safety.
The Government is still consulting on giving coroners in England and Wales powers to investigate all full-term stillbirths without any need to gain consent or permission from a third-party before exercising the new power.
The academy has refurbished a former vacant area - on the same site at Benham Sports Centre on Moulton Park Industrial Estate - which will be home to brand new state-of-art gymnastics apparatus to benefit people of all ages and abilities.
Harvey Smith, Northamptonshire Trampoline Gymnastics Academy (NTGA) performance director, said: “We are very excited to have this opportunity to expand NTGA in what feels like a very natural progression into gymnastics.
"It is something we have been considering for some time as the academy has grown to capacity in recent years and the demand continues to rise with an ever-increasing waiting list.
"We currently have around 1,000 members enjoying trampolining every week with recreational, competitive, pre-school and disability programmes and with the demand for further opportunities it is definitely the right time to expand."
The academy is well renowned nationally and internationally for producing high level trampoline athletes, including Sydney 2000 Olympian Jaime Halsey, from St James, and Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Silver medallist Andrew Stamp. But the new venture will focus on providing opportunities for grass roots participation in gymnastics, six days a week.
He added: "The results at the last two Olympic Games have really propelled the sport to the forefront and we’ve witnessed a massive spike in interest for trampoline alone, so to be able to provide more access to this amazing sport with the extra disciplines on offer is fantastic.
"We are very passionate about what we do at NTGA and our ethos will be the same as we move forward; providing a gold standard service and the opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy gymnastics, encouraging them to be the best that they can be whilst having fun and making friends.”
According to British Gymnastics there are one million people currently on gymnastics waiting lists nationally and the academy will offer a ‘Gymnastics for All’ programme, focusing on participation at fundamental levels while also providing 'improvers squads' for those wanting to progress.
Natalie Laws, British Gymnastics business support officer said: “Participation in gymnastics is increasing rapidly. Growth of British Gymnastics membership has been higher than 12 per cent each year since 2012 and in Northamptonshire we have 15 clubs with a total membership of 5,474, this has increased from 1,264 in 2012.
"This opportunity to offer gymnastics in a dedicated space will allow the club to deliver an excellent service to their existing members and develop their offer to more of the local community and it is something we fully support.”
Northamptonshire Trampoline Gymnastics Academy is a non-profit organisation and with the total project cost exceeding £50,000, the academy were recipients of a £10,000 Sport England grant which helped to bring programme to life.
The academy will begin delivering a full programme of child-friendly gymnastics classes to all members of the community from 13 May.
To register for the gymnastics programme visit www.ntga.co.uk, or contact the academy on info@ntga.co.uk or Northampton 645120 for further information.
A recent planning committee of Northampton Borough Council heard from two separate groups of residents that they felt that the communication from Northampton Partnership Homes (NPH), which manages the housing stock for the council, had been ‘poor’.
Resident Ann Brooks told the planning committee on March 19 she had 'not received any communication’ about revised plans to knock down garages next to her home in Keswick Drive in Boothville. She was backed up by ward councillor Paul Joyce, who added: “I would like to think that some residents have not been a target, but I’m concerned with what has happened in the consultation. The local community feel like they are not being listened to throughout this.”
He criticised NPH at the meeting for failing to keep him informed. He told the planning committee he had heard from NPH once in three months, despite asking to be kept updated on the application.
And residents of homes at Maidencastle in Blackthorn told councillors at the same meeting that NPH, after an initial evening meeting with residents, had gone forward with an application and had only notified a few residents ‘by email’.
Some of the councillors raised concerns at the emerging theme throughout the meeting, but NPH has defended the level of consultation in the two applications.
A spokesman said: “Consultation consisted of letters to garage licensees in the area and residents directly affected living adjacent to garage sites. In the letter we invited them to a consultation event at Eden Close Community Hub in Lakeview. We also included an offer of home visits for anyone who was unable to attend the consultation event.
“We sent a second letter out to residents inviting them to a second event. This also included the offer of home visits if they couldn’t attend.
“Feedback from the events helped inform the development of these plans. For example one of the garage sites previously designated for development was retained for garages. This was due to a concern about parking in the area. We reduced the size of some of the houses in the designs due to concerns about the overall size of the development.
“Anyone who had an existing garage on a proposed development site was offered an alternative garage if they wanted this. We mapped the distance from the garage licensees front door to the alternative proposed garage to make sure they were offered the nearest one. In some cases, these ended up being nearer than the garage they are currently renting.
“Where residents raise concern about highway safety, we followed this up with liaison to the Highways Authority. For example, with Keswick Drive concerns were raised about visibility splay. We made sure this was checked with the Highways Authority who confirmed the proposals were safe.
“One of the channels we have developed further is online, where we are now putting our early plans and designs on our website for pre-consultation before we submit an official plan to the council. This includes an online form that the public can submit direct to us and provide feedback on a development before being viewed publicly on the council’s planning portal.”
Planning officers for the borough council said the Keswick Drive application had been the subject of public consultation ‘in line with the requirements of the council’s adopted Statement of Community Involvement in respect of planning applications’.
On Wednesday, February 27, the woman had finished shopping at Morrison’s supermarket, off Victoria Promenade, and was approached in the car park by a man who asked if she spoke French.
A police spokeswoman said: "He said he wanted directions to Liverpool and then unfolded a map.
"While the woman was distracted by the man, a second man stole her purse from her handbag within her car."
Police believe the woman had been 'shoulder surfed' - where a thief peeks at a victim's pin number over their shoulder - while paying for her shopping, as the bank card she had used to pay was then used extensively to withdraw money from cash machines in the town.
The men pictured, or anyone who recognises them, are asked to contact Northamptonshire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonoymously, on 0800 555111.
Police officers have released CCTV images of two men they wish to speak to in connection with the theft and fraudulent use of a bank card in New Post Office Square, Corby.
The incident happened in a bank on Monday, February 18, between 10.55am and 11.45am, when two men distracted another man in order to steal his bank card.
They then managed to withdraw £500 using the card.
The men in the images or anyone who recognises them should call Northamptonshire Police on 101.
Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
A schoolboy was hit by a car in Desborough.
The incident happened at about 3.40pm on Friday in Harborough Road.
The 11-year-old was taken to the University Hospital Coventry by air ambulance and police say his injuries aren’t thought to be life-changing.
Witnesses should call the police on 101.
A Northampton park is set to come alive with music this spring and summer with the return of the Bands in the Park concert.
Organised each year by Northampton Borough Council, the Bands in the Park weekly performances return this Sunday (April 7) with Moulton 77 Brass Band first up on Abington Park’s iconic bandstand.
Other bands taking part in the concerts include Marsh Gibbon Silver Band on May 5, Fynnius Fogg on June 16, Northampton Male Voice Choir on July 21, and Towcester Studio Band on August 18. Closing the season in style will be Rockin Roadrunner on September 15.
Meanwhile, a full calendar of workshops, events and talks will be held at Abington Park Museum for families to make the most of their days out at the park.
Highlights at the museum include the Spring Food Fair on April 13, the Art in the Park exhibition between May 11 and June 16, performances of the Masque Theatre’s Love’s Labours Lost between July 25 and August 3, Dog Sculpture Workshop on July 30, and Northampton’s Heritage Fair on September 14.
Councillor Anna King, cabinet member for community engagement and safety, said: “We look forward to welcoming the popular Bands in the Park concerts back to the beautiful surroundings of Abington Park this spring and summer.
“We hope that visitors will come along each week to enjoy the varied programme of performances from local bands, as well as the many events and activities that Abington Park Museum hosts each year”.
For a full list of Bands in the Park performances, visit the Northampton Borough Council website.
To find out more about the events taking place at Abington Park Museum and to make a booking, visit the museum's website.
The incredibly dangerous manoeuvre was performed by the driver of a BMW saloon in lane one of the southbound carriageway near junction 16.
Dashcam video footage shot from the car of the astonished motorist shows vehicles having to take evasive action to avoid ploughing into the boy and the BMW, which had a male driver and a woman passenger.
Unable to overtake due to constant traffic to his right, the car with the camera has to come to a complete halt behind the BMW - placing its driver in a vulnerable position.
The driver, who sent his footage to the Chron, said: "I've had to stop in a live lane of the motorway behind this mindless idiot.
"What I saw was beyond complete belief and could have easily resulted in a serious injury or even death. I was afraid the cars behind me wouldn't be able to stop in time."
The BMW then leaves the scene, driving past a turn-off for motorway services just 50 seconds later.
An entire stretch of motorway has been closed this morning due to an ongoing incident.
The M45 is currently closed westbound between junction 17 of the M1 (just after Watford Gap) and the Dunchurch island in Warwickshire due to a bridge strike.
The eastbound carriageway has now also been closed heading towards Northamptonshire and the M1.
The motorway has been closed since earlier this morning after a low-loader lorry transporting a digger hit a bridge.
Traffic has been left stranded at the scene.
A tweet from @HighwaysEMIDS at 10am said: "Update - the #M45 is closed in both directions for a bridge inspection between the #M1 and #J1 #Dunchurch"
Traffic is being diverted via the solid triangle diversion symbol and drivers are being warned to allow extra time.
Continue on the M1 northbound past J17, and exit at J19. Join the free flow lane onto the M6 northbound.
Continue until J2, and then exit onto the A46. Continue passing through the roundabout with the B4082 and the roundabout with the A428 (Rugby Road) and then rejoin the A45 at Tollbar Roundabout.
