THE talented young cast has been announced for the Grove Theatre’s fifth summer musical project.

Following impressive auditions at the Court Drive, Dunstable, venue, the production team have listed who will play each of the main parts in the Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber musical The Likes Of Us.

The show tells the story of the life of Dr Thomas Barnardo and his evangelical crusade to rescue children living on the streets.

Jason Homewood will play Barnardo for three performances, and Daniel Faehndrich will take the part for one show.

The role of Syrie will be split between Ellis Jenart and Natalie Spence

James Clark has been named as the narrator and auctioneer, and will be understudied by Alex Mustoe.

Ashley Bryant will play Walker and the auctioneer assistant.

Bradley Adams takes the part of Johnny and Oliver Spence will be the Prime Minister – the pair will understudy each other.

Anna Pridgeon and Abigail Parry will share the role of Jenny, and Chloe Badham and Emma Lack will both play Rose.

Emma will also be the narrator understudy.

Michael Murray and Charlie Spalding will split the role of Man of the World and Chloe McGuire and Kerenza Killingbeck will do the same with the Girl of the World part.

Grove Theatre are still looking for youngsters aged 12 to play orphans, boys aged 14 to 19 to play Downing Street members and girls aged 16 to 19 to be Rose’s Girls.

If you would like to join the cast, contact Teresa Jones at Grove Theatre on 01582 884185 or email groveeducation@leisureconnection.co.uk

The show will run from August 11 to August 13.

Tickets, priced £10, are available now from the box office on 01582 602080.

POLICE have charged a 28 year old man with Grievous Bodily Harm after an incident in Althorp Road on May 4.

Steven Hardacre, 28, of Connaught Road appeared before Luton Magistrates Court on May 6 and was remanded in custody.

He was also charged with failing to stop a vehicle when required by a constable, aggravated vehicle taking, driving a motor vehicle when alcohol level is above the limit, driving whilst disqualified and using a motor vehicle without insurance.

He will reappear at Luton Crown Court on July 25,

A LUTON resident has been handed a community order after fraudulently claiming more than £2,500 in benefits.

Sally Tshabalala, 52, of Lambert Close, was sentenced to a 12 month Community Order with a 70 hour unpaid work requirement and ordered to pay £110 costs at Luton Magistrates Court.

Tshabalala pleaded guilty of fraud by dishonestly giving the Council false information to obtain housing benefit.

The Court heard how the Council’s Audit and Investigations Team investigated Tshabalala’s benefit claim and discovered she failed to declare on an application form that she and her partner were working. Tshabalala has now repaid the £2,596 to the Council.

If you suspect someone you know is claiming benefits illegally, call the fraud hotline in total confidence on 0500 500 777 or email fraud@luton.gov.uk

A YOUNG mum is hoping a new website will help bring mothers in Luton together.

Paula Fazekas, of Devon Road, is the Luton community manager of www.madeformums.com and is hoping to encourage new users to join the site.

The 25-year-old mother-of-two began using online parenting forums when her daughter was born in 2008, but believes that a Luton-based site will enable mums to discuss their local area and even meet up in the flesh, which a national website cannot do.

Paula said: “It’s easy for mums to feel quite isolated if they are at home with the children all day, so this website is really good for chatting to other mums and getting to know people near you. It’s nice to talk to other grown-ups sometimes.

“I’m hoping we might be able to arrange days out, too.”

Paula, who is mum to Kayleigh, two, and Ethan, 11 months, will be updating the Luton site with information about classes, groups and things to do, and welcomes contributions from other mums.

“Sometimes it can be a bit daunting at playgroups if all the other mums already know each other or if they are a different age from you,” she said

“This way if you’ve already met people online you can all go together and recommend places to each other. Just come and have a nosy.”

She said the website is really simple to use but if anyone is having trouble they can email her and she will help them.

Editor Susie Boone said: “This is just the beginning of the neighbourhood. We are continuing to develop it and plan to offer mums truly innovative ways to become involved in their local communities.”

Email luton@madeformums.com for information or to advertise or visit www.madeformums.com and click on Luton.

A 19-year-old-boy has been seriously injured after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a car yesterday evening (Thursday).

Paramedics were called to Markyate Road close to Woodside Animal Farm at 9.45pm. Ambulance crews from Hemel Hempstead and St Albans attended the scene.

Ambulance service spokesman Gary Sanderson said: “The boy received significant injuries to his legs and pelvis. Due to this, a doctor from the L&D Hospital was brought to the scene to assist the paramedics by a Luton based ambulance crew. Paramedics worked to treat, stabilise and immobilise him at the roadside before he was conveyed to the Luton & Dunstable Hospital.”

POLICE have charged a man with murder following the discovery of a body at a flat in the centre of Luton on Tuesday.

Officers say Barry Lees, 43, died from head injuries. Paramedics were called to his flat in New Bedford Road, opposite the Galaxy Centre, at about 11am, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wayne Ellis, 33, of Hampton Road, Luton, has been charged with murder and is due to appear at Luton Magistrates Court today (Friday May 13).

Readers responded in their droves when launched our first ever photo competition on our Herald&Post Facebook page.

The fantastic weather that the Luton and Dunstable area has enjoyed over the past few weeks provided the perfect backdrop for your spring snaps.

Photos featuring flowers and animals were the most popular, with everything from dogs to geese featuring in the colourful images.

Herald&Post photographers Jane Russell and Joanna Cross were given a very difficult task in picking a winner.

But eventually they decided on George Walsha’s image of a busy bee flying between blossoms.

He will receive a framed print of his winning photograph.

Jane said: “The composition was lovely and it was a very tricky subject to photograph. We felt George really captured the essence of spring.”

The runners-up were Sarah Thompson’s ‘Bluebell in the Bluebells’, and Peter Ford’s ‘Springtime Tulip’.

You can view all of the photos submitted in a gallery by clicking on the ‘SPRING PHOTO GALLERY’ link to the right of this story.

A TEN-year-old boy had his mobile phone stolen at knifepoint as he cycled in Spinney Woods on Saturday (May 7).

The incident happened at around 5pm when the victim was cycling home from a BMX park.

He was stopped by a man and threatened with a knife before the offender forced the victim to hand over a mobile telephone.

The offender is described as skinny and he spoke with a deep voice. He was wearing a light weight black hooded jacket with the hood pulled tightly around most of his face. The victim believes this jacket was made out of an ‘airtex’ type material.

The man also wore lightweight black jogging bottoms and black training shoes.

Det Con Jo Bosson said: “The young victim was very scared and handed over his property to the offender before making his way home.

“I am keen to trace anyone who saw this man in the area on Saturday or anyone who may know where the victim’s phone is now. The phone is a black Samsung Tocco which has a dent to the bottom left hand side and a small chip in the glass.”

Anyone who has information relating to this crime should contact Det Con Bosson at Luton Police Station, in confidence, on 01582 394145, text information to 07786 200011, or contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

SHOES representing each person killed in road traffic accidents over the last five years in Luton were displayed in St George’s Square yesterday.

Luton Borough Council’s road safety team created the display called ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ to raise awareness about the importance of being a responsible road user.

Visitors to the square had a go on the Batak machine, a new piece of equipment which shows how dangerous it can be to use the roads or pavements when under the influence of drink or drugs, or when trying to do two things at once such as using a mobile phone.

Council road safety manager Christine Davy said: “We feel that by physically representing each death caused by road accidents that we can really get the message across to road users.”

Ms Davy said that in the past five years there have been 20 fatal accidents, 269 serious injuries and 3,066 minor injuries in Luton.

The event is part of Decade of Action. For more information visit www.makeroadssafer.org.uk.

A FATHER-of-three shaved his hair off to raise money for a Scouts group in Luton.

Jason Zielinski, who works for the Post Office, was the star of a hairy show which also included brave volunteers having their legs and chests waxed.

The evening raised nearly £1,300 for the Leagrave Scout Group, where Jason’s son Jayden, seven, is a Beaver Scout.

Jason said: “I reckon I’ll get a lot of leg-pulling when I get back to work but it was worth it. It’s going to be some time before I will need a comb.”

Michelle McBane and her team did the deed, with Jason’s daughter Melissa, a trainee hairdresser, completing the cut with shaving soap and a razor.

The evening was organised by Scout leader Gary Sturrock.

He said: “It was a terrific evening and the money we raised will mean we can continue the adventure of Scouting for all these young people for another 12 months at least.”

LUTON’S director of public health has said diabetes is being treated as a ‘priority issue’, after local health authorities were told they needed to do more to tackle the disease.

Luton has higher than average rates of diabetes, with the highest rates in the Dallow, Biscot and Saints wards, where the town’s Asian communities are concentrated.

Diabetes costs Luton around £4.5million a year, but this figure does not include the cost of prevention work, or of resulting conditions such as cardiovascular disease or kidney failure.

People of south Asian descent are among the groups at high risk of the disease, as are people living in poverty, with being overweight and lack of physical activity being key risk factors.

Ethnic minority groups are up to six times more likely to develop diabetes than white British people, and people in deprived areas are up to 2.5 times more likely to develop it.

Bangladeshi men are four times more likely to develop the disease, and Pakistani and Indian men are three times more likely.

About 6.4 per cent of Luton’s population is living with the disease, according to NHS Luton director of public health, Gerry Taylor.

But she said figure could actually be up to 2.5 per cent higher due to cases going undiagnosed.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) yesterday set out recommendations for preventing type 2 diabetes, a long-term chronic condition that occurs when not enough insulin is produced by the body for it to function properly, or when the body’s cells do not use insulin properly.

As well as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and renal failure, it can result in foot problems such as ulcerations and gangrene, and even blindness.

NICE’s recommendations include recruiting people from the at-risk communities to work on diabetes prevention, something that is already happening in Luton.

Ms Taylor said: “In 2010 we rolled our our Health Trainers programme – these are people who work in the most deprived communities where life expectancy is lowest. They look at whether people want to go on weight management programmes and give them peer support and advice.

“We have tried to employ people from the areas that they are going to be working in.”

Also being used to combat the rise in diabetes in Luton is the Health Checks programme, where health workers offer checks on risk factors such as weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and family history to people aged 40 to 74, often in a community setting,

“There is a lot of prevention work going on which we try and make sure is suitable for the different communities,” said Ms Taylor.

“We need to make sure south Asian people have access to weight management programmes.”

RADIO LaB 97.1FM, the University of Bedfordshire’s on-site community radio station, hit the national spotlight when it was featured as the Student Station of the Week on BBC 6Music.

Presenter Steve Lamacq interviewed one of Radio LaB’s station managers, Laura Heaney, live over the phone and then played a specially made trailer for the university’s station.

Laura talked about how Radio LaB is run by the students and its status as a community radio station.

She said: “I was completely shocked when I got the phone call from BBC 6Music asking if Radio LaB could be featured – it’s my favourite radio station.

“I was very nervous but also excited when I was interviewed live and keen to make a good impression as I was representing Radio LaB and the university.”

Another station manager, Simon Catt, put together the 90-second trailer for the Steve Lamacq show – which took him two days to produce.

Radio LaB 97.1FM is based at the Luton campus and is run by five student managers with principal lecturer Dr Janey Gordon acting as the project leader. It is staffed mainly by students from the university with additional help from community volunteers.

“As a community radio station we offer students and members of the local community the opportunity to get on air. We welcome and want members of the community to come in and contribute,” explained Laura.

“We want local people to use it as a platform to air their own work whether this is poetry, drama or comedy. We also want to promote local bands and musicians, so please get in touch.”

Find out more at www.beds.ac.uk/radiolab, and get involved by calling the station on 01582 703020 or emailing radiolab@beds.ac.uk.

THE decision to close Luton’s Jobcentre Plus office in the next 12 months has been branded “deeply flawed and dangerous” by union leaders.

The Public and Commercial Services union has slammed the Department for Work and Pensions decision to close a fifth of its benefit processing offices and call centres at a time when thousands of public sector workers are set to lose their jobs.

The closures will lead to 2,400 jobs being lost across the country.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This is a depply flawed and dangerous plan that will remove vital support to jobseekers and people claiming welfare at precisely the time the government’s ideological cuts will throw more people out of work.

“Instead of cutting jobs, the government should be investing in public services like these to help get people back to work more quickly and help our economy to get back on track.”

The move comes as ministers are reviewing the Jobcentre network as a whole and the union fears there is a risk they will decide to close more Jobcentres, particularly in rural areas.

An Office for Budget Responsibility report prepared for the budget in March forecast unemployment will be higher throughout 2012 than it was at the beginning of the year.

WITH the sunny weather and another bank holiday later this month, the Luton & Dunstable Hospital is urging people not to come back from a long weekend with more than a suntan.

Did you know some sexually transmitted infections have no symptoms and can cause pain and infertility?

Bernie Rigoulay, the L&D’s Senior Sexual Health Adviser, said, “We would advise people to have regular checkups. If people need advice, or are worried that they may have an infection they can book a confidential appointment at our GUM clinic or attend one of our regular walk in clinics at the hospital.” Both options are available at various times throughout the week.

For a full list of clinic times and for more information please visit our website at: www.ldh.nhs.uk

Condoms are the only form of contraception that prevent both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. The L&D offer a full range of free contraception including condoms.

At the L&D the GUM clinic offers confidential advice and a comprehensive range of tests for sexual health. There is no need to be referred by your GP, just call 01582 497 070 for more information or to book an appointment. 

The service is welcoming, sensitive, non-judgmental and ensures total confidentiality to anyone, of any age, from anywhere.

DETECTIVES in Luton are appealing for witnesses and information after a man was stabbed in the town centre and another assaulted in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The assaults took place between 4 – 4.30am and involved two victims. The first assault on a man in his 20s is believed to have followed an argument outside Legends nightclub in Church Street in which the victim was first hit with a belt, knocked to ground and stamped on.

A man was arrested shortly afterwards at 4.13am for this offence, however, a phone call came in from medical staff at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital reporting a second man of the same age had been brought in with stab wounds. His condition is described as serious but stable. It quickly became established that the two offences were linked, however the offender responsible for the stabbing has not yet been identified.

Park Street and Church Street were cordoned off since the early hours and remained closed for the majority of Sunday. Worshippers to St Mary’s Church were allowed through the cordon for the morning service.

The stab victim has not yet been spoken with officers so there is no description of the offender but police are appealing for anyone who was in the town centre between 4 and 4.30am and may have seen the assaults to contact them in confidence on 01234 841212, Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111 or text 07786 200011.

SCHOOLS in Bedfordshire are taking part in Green Britain Day on Wednesday.

The third annual EDF Energy event celebrates and showcases green projects, and more than 1,350 schools are taking part nationally, including four in Luton.

Putteridge High School, Slip End Lower School and Oakwood Primary School are showing off their green achievements and pupils at Pastures Way Nursery School will be wearing green clothes and planting sunflower and wild seeds in their wildlife garden.

Other activities include tree planting, litter-picking and outdoor lessons.

EDF Energy schools’ manager Robyn Broughton said: “It is fantastic that schools in Bedfordshire are joining others to showcase their efforts to become more suistainable.”

NURSES at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital celebrated International Nurses Day by dressing as nurses from 1939, the year the hospital opened.

International Nurses Day on May 12, Florence Nightingale’s birthday, recognises the important role of nurses in patient care and is a chance for people to show their appreciation.

At the L&D, there was a photo exhibition from the hospital archives, a nurses’ lunch and an awards ceremony presented by chief executive Pauline Phillip.

Director of nurses Carmel Synan-Jones said: “The costumes are fantastic, it’s been a lovely day. It’s so important to recognise the work of nurses.”

A special award was made this year in honour of Erma Bristol-Miller, a matron at the L&D who died earlier in the year.

The award for outstanding contribution to nursing was presented to Karen Stokes, a children’s ward healthcare assistant.

>Don’t miss our video of the nurses at www.lutontoday.co.uk

TAKEAWAYS and restaurants in Barton have been panned by food hygiene inspectors in the latest round of the ‘Scores on the Doors’ ratings.

Three premises in the village received a zero star rating for their food hygiene from Central Beds Council, which publishes the results online so that the public are aware of hygiene standards at eateries.

A total of 150 food establishments were reviewed in the latest round of inspections, the results of which have just been published.

A new Thai restaurant, Sawadee, which opened at the end of last year, received just one star, meaning it had achieved basic standards of food safety.

Those which received zero stars were the Meedou Chinese takeaway, the Passage to India restaurant and Gio’s Italian restaurant.

The news wasn’t all bad, as The Bull received three stars and the Waggon & Horses received two.

None of the establishments has so far been available to comment on their ratings.

A BENEFIT fraudster has been ordered by magistrates to pay back the £8,000 he stole from taxpayers.

Takesure Makotose, 41, of Cardigan Street in Luton, was investigated by Luton Borough Council’s audit and investigations team who found he had not declared that his partner had started work.

This meant he fraudulently received £8,160 in benefits, to which he pleaded guilty at Luton Magistrates Court on May 12.

He was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 80 hours unpaid work, and was also ordered to pay £100 towards the Council’s costs.

CHILDREN are invited to see a brand new musical production of Elmer the Elephant at the Luton Library Theatre on Saturday May 28.

The show tells the story of Elmer, a multi-coloured elephant, and his quest to find his true colours.

It is based on best-selling children’s book by David McKee.

Tickets are £4.50 per child with one accompanying adult going free and can be purchased from the box office on the first floor of Luton Central Library, or by calling 01582 547474 or online at www.lutonlibrarytheatre.com.

Elmer the Elephant is part of the Dragon Club, for 2 to 12 year olds which is free to join, ask at the box office for more details.