Two cars had their windows smashed by vandals in what police believe were targeted attacks.

In the first incident, on Wednesday, February 5 at around 8.30pm, the windows of two cars parked on a driveway in Rant Meadow, Bennetts End, were smashed.

Then on Wednesday, February 19, just before 10pm, windows to one of the same vehicles were broken again.

PC Michael Ball said: “These appear to be targeted acts and we are investigating the incidents fully.

“I would ask anyone who was in the area around the stated times to think back and see if they remember anything out of the ordinary.”

Anyone with information can contact PC Ball via the Herts Police non-emergency number 101, quoting crime reference D1/14/750. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A petition calling for a road safety review of a busy village has now attracted almost 300 supporters.

The online call for action was launched by Kings Langley neighbours living in Hempstead Road who have seen a string of accidents over the years and most recently, just last month, there was a crash that claimed a man’s life.

Now they want Herts County Council to look at what can be down to slow down motorists travelling through Watford Road, High Street and Hempstead Road.

So far 291 people have signed the petition on Change.org.

Among them is dad Simon Pilling said: “Living on Watford Road I see the speeding motorists everyday. I have three boys under seven and want to keep them as safe as possible.

“I campaigned for speed reducing measures a few years back and a temporary speeding activated sign was installed, but only for a couple of weeks.”

Herts County Councillor for the area Richard Roberts has now pledged to do everything he can to ensure the safety review happens.

Ashridge Business School has scooped one of the top honours in a ceremony that showcases the best achievements of the year in education.

The Learning Awards 2014 accolade paid tribute to its web-based learning resource Virtual Ashridge which saw off competition from blue chip names like McDonalds, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deutsche Post to win the Learning Technologies category.

It was the first time Ashridge Business School had entered the awards, run by the Learning and Performance Institute.

They were presented during a red carpet ceremony at London’s Dorchester Hotel, hosted by television presenter Natasha Kaplinsky.

Virtual Ashridge’s platform and approach were accredited by the judges as an outstanding example of the way in which learning technologies can transform an organisation’s business model.

Ashridge director of learning services Tony Sheehan said: “This is a magnificent result for our team of experts, which repeatedly pushes forward the boundaries of learning technology.

“Currently, we provide customised e-learning solutions to nearly one million learners worldwide and we’re looking forward to developing further innovations during the year ahead.”

Virtual Ashridge’s content stems from more than 50 years of Ashridge experience in developing organisations, managers and leaders across the world, through qualifications, development programmes, consultancy and coaching.

One half of a top cooking duo based in Potten End made an appearance on BBC Three Counties Radio at the weekend.

Chef Hoops Anderson - who runs catering company Main Ingredient with Flip Woods - chatted on air with presenter Nick Coffer about two dishes she’d brought in.

She joined Russell Bateman – head chef at Collette’s Restaurant at The Grove in Watford – and Alec Goodhand, who is in charge of the kitchen at That Little Place in Harpenden, and together they tasted and discussed all the dishes that were brought forth to the DJ decks.

Hoops served up simple spicy pork ragu with fettuccine and a lemon and ricotta cake to finish.

Both recipes can be found on the {http://www.mainingredient.co.uk/|Main Ingredient website} if you want to try them for yourself.

{http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009f192|If you want to listen to Hoops in action, listen to the show on iPlayer here}

They’re off! The search for the best businesses across Hertfordshire has hit the ground running.

Companies across Dacorum have been challenged to show the rest of the county how good they are by entering the easy-to-enter Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Hertfordshire Business Awards.

The contest is for all small businesses, not just members of the FSB.

Herts FSB chairman Pam Charman said: “These awards are a challenge to those great businesses in Dacorum to prove how good they are.

“We urge them to put their heads above the parapet and get noticed.

“We expect there will be friendly rivalry from across the boroughs, towns, city and districts to win the accolades in this free-to-enter contest.

“The Herts branch of the FSB is the biggest in the country with 3,000 members. This is an excellent chance for them to put their case for glory in front of our independent panel of judges.”

Awards organiser Damian Cummins said: “Our awards remain free to enter and are easier to enter than ever.

“We’ve streamlined the whole entry process this year, adding helpful hints to our entry forms to help busy entrepreneurs make the best entries possible.

“For small businesses looking to market their goods and services to a county audience, it could be the most effective marketing exercise you’ve done this year. Awards are also a fantastic networking opportunity.”

The awards are open to any sole trader or company employing up to 250 employees in Hertfordshire.

Categories include Dacorum Business of the Year, sponsored by Dacorum Borough Council.

Entrants can go for glory in up to three different categories, with the general ones being Best New Business, Employee of the Year, Business Person of the Year, the Training & Development Award, Young Business Person of the Year, the Business Innovation Award, the Green Business Award, Service Excellence Award, Real Life Entrepreneur, Retailer of the Year and Community Business of the Year.

From all these award winners will emerge the overall county winner.

To find out more and to enter, visit www.fsb.org.uk/hertsawards.

Entries must be received by April 24.

Firefighters were called to a flat fire in Bayford Close, Hemel Hempstead at lunchtime today.

Two emergency crews, who were called just before 1pm, used a hosereel to extinguish the flames.

No-one was hurt and the cause of the fire was logged as accidental.

Firefighters had left the scene by 1.10pm.

The A41 had to be closed this morning after a two-car smash close to the Bourne End southbound exit sliproad.

Police were called just before 7.30am and paramedics also rushed to the scene.

A man aged in his 30s was taken to hospital.

The road, which was closed from the Berkhamsted junction, was reopened by police just after 9.15am.

The vehicles involved were agrey Skoda Fabia and a red Renault Megane.

Oxfam in Berkhamsted is celebrating faritrade Fortnight - running until Sunday, March 9 - with 20 per cent off its regular food lines.

The discount marks 50 years of Oxfam supporting Fairtrade, which guarantees a fair price for producers.

Easter eggs are not included in the offer.

The town’s Fairtrade group is hosting an afternoon tea with local schools in the Court House on Tuesday, March 4 from 2pm to 4.30pm when the mayor will judge a decorate a banana competition.

Work to replace the A41’s battered road surface in Tring will begin next week.

Starting on Wednesday, March 5 there will be full road closures from 8pm to 5am between the A4251 London Road junction to the B488 Icknield Way junction.

The £320,000 project is expected to take 10 nights to complete, and alternative routes will be signposted.

Herts County Council’s cabinet member for highways Terry Douris said: “These works form part of our ongoing commitment to maintain and improve our roads for the benefit of all road users in Hertfordshire.

“We appreciate that this is a major and busy route and understand that these significant resurfacing works are likely to cause disruption and inconvenience to motorists.

“We apologise for this and would ask everyone for their co-operation while the work is in progress.”

{http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/highways/hhonlineservices/roadworksinfo/|Further details about the works can be found on the Herts County Council website.}

Royal Mail has been awarded high marks for the service it provides to the Hemel Hempstead postcode area.

Latest figures show that in the HP postcode area between April and December 2013, 94.6 per cent of first class mail was delivered on time, the next day after posting. Nationwide, Royal Mail met its first class letters and parcels quality target after the first three quarters of the 2013/14 financial year, according to independent research.

For first class mail, the target of 93 per cent delivered the following working day was achieved, and for second class letters and parcels this was exceeded, with 98.8 per cent delivered within three working days. The target is 98.5 per cent.

The target beating performance is put down to new technology, better equipment and changing working practices. A spokesman said: “The quality of our service to customers is key to our success.”

Sorry, but the pained protestations of the bigwigs at WH Smith that their punters just can’t be trusted don’t wash with me.

You may have heard that honesty boxes at selected branches of the all-purpose purveyor of greetings cards, stationery and the odd book or newspaper have been scrapped because customers were using them more as litter bins than receptacles for the correct change if they wanted to buy a paper but didn’t want to queue.

The tutting about falling standards of honesty and integrity was widespread, but misplaced.

If people are picking up newspapers and walking off without paying, who can blame them?

I’m afraid large sections of the population have little or no idea that newspapers actually come with a purchase price, and you can understand why.

If you travel by public transport in London or many other major cities, you can pick up a free paper to pass the time.

If you’re staying in a hotel, there’s usually a pile of papers for you to peruse – and these are the same titles that expect you to cough up if you want a copy elsewhere.

You might be travelling by air, and once again there’s usually a stack of papers piled up and just asking you to take your pick – and again these are papers which you’d be expected to pay for anywhere else.

And that’s without taking into account free newspapers that are delivered to your door, or available to pick up from supermarkets or other locations, and the huge amount of information that is available for free online.

Sometimes it seems that the only publication that comes with a purchase price is the Big Issue.

So you can understand why, confronted by an inviting display of national papers on a WH Smith stand, some people just help themselves to a copy and wander off.

But that’s not the real reason for many of these honesty boxes to be banished, is it?

Like any commercial organisation, WH Smith has a keen interest in squeezing as much cash out of customers as it can.

And that means it has no real interest in letting punters escape from the premises having only shelled out for one item.

If you have to join the queue to pay for your paper, there are opportunities galore to flog you more.

You may have only popped in for a paper, but they’d much prefer it if you also picked up a bottle of water, a packet of mints, a book of stamps, a birthday card for your nan, perhaps even a magazine or cut-price paperback – and that’s all before you finally reach the till to be offered giant bars of chocolate and other sundry special offers.

That makes an honest box an opportunity to maximise income missed, and that’s the honest truth.

A hospital trust has recruited 12 midwives in its battle against a national shortage of people wanting to do the job.

The West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Hemel Hempstead, Watford and St Albans hospitals, says fewer people are applying to train for the demanding profession and this area is less attractive to prospective employees because of the high price of housing.

Interim chief nurse Jackie Ardley said: “Like many other NHS trusts, we do currently have a shortage of midwives.

“Unfortunately, there are fewer people currently applying to train as midwives and, as midwifery is a seven-day-a-week profession, trained midwives will often leave to become health visitors so that they can work more sociable hours.

“Our hospitals’ locations on the fringe of London, and the high cost of housing in the area is an additional challenge for us when recruiting and retaining midwives.

“Currently we have 25 permanent midwife positions vacant, from an establishment of 170. However, we are pleased to report that we have recently been successful in recruiting 12 newly qualified and experienced midwives from across the UK and Europe who will be shortly joining the team.”

The trust covers any staff shortages with often more expensive bank and agency staff to ensure that ‘safe’ and ‘high quality care’ is provided to all mothers using the maternity service.

Firms which want to do more work with local schools now have a tailor-made opportunity.

Business and community link organisation Connect Dacorum is setting up a pilot project with Hemel Hempstead’s Longdean School to help students at the campus in Rumballs Road, Bennetts End, develop their employability skills.

Connect Dacorum’s Cindy Withey has devised a half-day session for business volunteers to coach teenagers in the skills of CV writing, tackling application forms and interview techniques.

She said: “I am looking for 30 people from a variety of business experiences to work in pairs with a group of eight children.”

You can find out more by emailing Cindy.Withey@dacorum.gov.uk.

A police chase in Tring involving the force’s chopper and dog unit resulted in two car thieves being arrested this afternoon.

Herts Police scrambled its helicopter to help cops on the ground to track down the two crooks, who are suspected of stealing a BMW vehicle from the Dunstable area last night.

The pursuit played out around in and around the Christchurh Road area of Tring from 4.15pm.

A pony-tailed builder who duped a lonely widow out of half a million pounds has gone on the run.

When John Jenkins, 70, failed to turn up for the last day of his trial at St Albans Crown Court, Recorder Simon Sterling issued a warrant for his arrest.

Police searched two addresses in Berkhamsted and two in Aylesbury where he had lived previously, but there was no sign of him.

The judge ruled that the case could continue in Jenkins’ absence and the jury of eight men and four women found him guilty of fraud.

He has now been sentenced to six years imprisonment, but is still at large.

The judge revealed later that Jenkins had called his lawyer on Sunday in a distressed state.

It was reported that he went out on Sunday night and had not come back, and might have left the country.

Over 31/2 years, a total of £532,695 passed from 67-year-old Josephine Stubbings to Jenkins for work a surveyor said should have cost no more than £60,000.

Jenkins spent tens of thousands of pounds of his victim’s money on holidays to Spain and the United States and on shopping trips.

Prosecutor Michael Speak said: “He relentlessly spent the money. He went on the most extraordinary spending sprees day after day.”

Mrs Stubbings had a modest two up two down home in Berkhamsted and lived a frugal existence, but through investments made by herself and her late husband she had managed to “salt away” well over £500,000.

Giving video evidence via a pre-recorded interview with the police made in February 2012 Mrs Stubbings said: “Although he swindled me. I don’t bear him any animosity. He swindled me out of a lot of money.”

Mr Speak said: “She said Jenkins did not give her any invoices or receipts. She thought she had paid out about £150,000.

“Mr Jenkins realised this was a golden opportunity to make money dishonestly. He persuaded Mrs Stubbings to have an endless succession of work on her house.

“He invented preposterous charges, amounting to thousands and thousands of pounds. She trusted him and did not have a clear grasp of the situation.

“Sadly, she thought he was friend – in reality he was anything but.”

A Gazette source who tipped off police about his concerns more than two years ago – but wished to remain anonymous – said that more should have been done to stop him: “There’s only one word for people like him – disgusting. The police and the banks should have done more.

“I knew what he was up to, so why didn’t they? The banks would have seen her drawing out £30,000 at a time, so why didn’t they do something?”

Speaking after the sentencing, assistant investigator Deborah Newsham said: “I would appeal to anyone who has seen Jenkins or knows of his whereabouts to contact police immediately.”

If you can help, call 101 quoting crime reference D2/12/239.

Dacorum Borough Council is proud to be supporting local businesses by sponsoring categories at two local awards ceremonies in the coming months.

We are sponsoring the Best Business in Dacorum category at the annual Federation of Small Business (FSB) awards and also the Tourism category in the Inspiring Hertfordshire awards.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the excellent businesses in the borough to show off how good they are to the wider Hertfordshire business community and put their name on the map.

We are proud of the small businesses in the borough and I encourage all of you to enter, even if you haven’t done so before.

I’m very excited to announce that this year’s Dacorum: Look No Further business showcase will be on Friday, July 11 and will be aimed at promoting the local produce available within Dacorum.

Local suppliers will be invited to hold a stall in the dedicated local produce area, hosted in conjunction with the Dacorum Local Food Initiative, to give visitors a taste of just what Dacorum can put on the table.

Tring Together, Berkhamsted Chamber of Commerce, Berkhamsted Farmers Market, Sunnyside Rural Trust and Tring Farmers Market are among those taking part in the day.

If you are a business in Dacorum and would like to register your interest in having a stand at the business showcase event please contact Pennie Rayner on pennie.rayner@dacorum.gov.uk or call her on 01442 228000.

For more information on these events please visit www.dacorumlooknofurther.co.uk or find us on twitter for regular updates @DacorumLNF

You won’t need me to tell you that it has been a very difficult time for people who live in Hemel Hempstead’s Oatridge Gardens, evacuated from their homes as a result of the large sinkhole that opened up under one of the houses and the road. I really feel for them all and the difficult position they find themselves in.

Several Oatridge Gardens residents who had been in the process of selling their share of their flat have contacted me – this sinkhole has caused them real problems.

It is heartbreaking for those who had already arranged new homes to go to and new schools for their children.

We are desperately trying to find a solution to this problem.

Having said that, the response of the local community has been wonderful and I have nothing but praise for the emergency services, council staff and utility companies who have been working round the clock.

Some local organisations are also worthy of particular mention. Both Tesco and Asda stores have offered residents clothing and school uniforms free of charge.

Adeyfield Free Church organised a free Sunday lunch event for the residents. The team at homelessness charity DENS have provided food and other local groups have been giving help. I’m sure I don’t even know about all the help being offered.

I was particularly impressed by the help offered by Appledown Kennels in Eaton Bray who have offered to help look after pets.

For those who have asked me about an appeal, I have contacted the chief executive of Dacorum Borough Council and I understand an announcement will be made shortly.

You don’t think of all the support people will need until something like this happens and it is really heart-warming to see the community coming together.

The sinkhole is now being filled in and geo-technical tests carried out. Once that is complete a new gas main will need to be laid.

This means that the houses will be without proper heating for a few weeks and, of course, residents whose homes are directly affected will sadly be living in hotels for some time to come.

In my role of minister for disabled people I have had the honour of meeting several truly inspirational athletes – as well as having the opportunity of trying out new sports.

I joined Paralympic swimmer and gold medallist Ellie Simmonds at the launch of Active Kids for All, which is sponsored by Sainsbury’s and aims to encourage the inclusion of young disabled people in PE and school sport within mainstream schools.

At the launch of a new fund to support disability football, I took part in a penalty shootout on Speaker’s Green with England blind team players Lewis Skyers and Dan English and their coaches.

The ball has a bell inside so the players know where it is. The MPs wore blindfolds and I have to admit I didn’t do particularly well!

Finally, if you’ve enjoyed supporting the medal-winning Team GB contestants in the Winter Olympics curling contests, look out for wheelchair curling when the Winter Paralympics get under way in Sochi.

Mike Penning is the MP for Hemel Hempstead. You can contact his office on 01442 251126 or {http://www.mikepenning.com|visit his website by clicking here}

Police have recovered a number of satellite navigation devices which they believe to have been stolen from the Tring and Berkhamsted area over the past year.

Now they are asking victims of the thefts to come forward in a bid to reunite them with their stolen gadgets.

If you think you can identify your device – either by serial number or a distinctive feature – contact DC Ben Freeman via the non-emergency number 101, or email benjamin.freeman@herts.pnn.police.uk.

This appeal follows a rise in the number of recorded car crimes in Tring since Christmas.

For more, visit www.herts.police.uk

A neighbour who challenged raiders escaping from a Hemel Hempstead house after snatching a safe and its cash contents had a mystery liquid thrown in his face, police revealed today.

Luckily the man was not injured by the liquid, but police have now appealed for help in tracking down the three crooks who escaped from the scene with a large amount of cash.

They say that the trio forced their way in through the back door of a house in The Horseshoe in Leverstock Green just after 8pm on Thursday night.

As they were leaving, taking with them the safe and its contents, the neighbour stepped in.

They threw the liquid into his face before getting into a waiting car and making their getaway.

The offenders are all described as white men, and one was aged in his mid-40s and wore dark clothing.

The getaway car, believed to be a silver Mazda saloon, drove out of The Horseshoe and along Malmes Croft before turning left onto Leverstock Green Road and away.

Assistant Investigator Lisa Walsh said: “I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at this time and saw a vehicle matching this description to contact me with any information they may have.”

Anyone who was in the area on Thursday night and saw a vehicle matching the description should contact the Herts police non-emergency number 101 quoting crime reference number D1/14/1118.

You can also call Crimestoppers, the independent charity, anonymously on 0800 555 111.

A husband who raped his estranged wife as she cuddled their four year old daughter on a bed has been jailed for six years.

The 42-year-old father had gone to the home of his ex following the breakup of their marriage and looked after the child while the mum went out for the evening.

But when he discovered that night she had been out seeing her new boyfriend, he flew into a rage, Luton Crown Court was told.

First he bombarded her with a torrent of abusive and threatening text messages, even threatening to kill her.

But when she returned to the house in Hemel Hempstead he attacked her in an upstairs bedroom.

The court heard the mum had gone to comfort their four year old her daughter who had woken and was crying.

She ended up laying on a bed with the youngster who drifted off to sleep.

But the father was still angry and as his ex lay comforting the child, he got on the bed beside her and raped the woman.

Sentencing the man, Judge David Farrell QC told him: “It was an act of punishment and power over her, This was pure and utter rape.

“You are a bully who sought to dominate your ex wife.”

The man was found guilty by a jury of rape and assault by penetration.

The judge said “mercifully” the child had remained asleep while her father attacked the mother on May 1, 2011.

The offender, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was also made the subject of a restraining order and told his name will go on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.