The Bedford Times is an independent news and information site for Bedford and the towns and villages around it. We read the public record and publish what is in it, and we keep the practical local pages accurate.
Our patch, and who runs it
Bedford and Kempston, with the borough’s villages around them, come under Bedford Borough Council, a unitary authority run by a directly elected mayor. Biggleswade and Sandy to the east are in Central Bedfordshire, a separate unitary. Both authorities have covered their own patch since Bedfordshire County Council was abolished in 2009, and neither is part of the reorganisation happening elsewhere in England, so these boundaries should stay put. When a story crosses the line we name the council responsible.
What we report
Planning applications and decisions, committee papers and budgets, licensing notices, police.uk crime data, HM Land Registry sold prices, Food Standards Agency hygiene ratings, Environment Agency flood warnings for the Great Ouse, and company filings in The Gazette. In a town built along a river that floods, the official warnings matter more than the version going round, and we report the former.
How we work
Every fact is tied to a named source and linked, so you can read the original instead of trusting us. Where a record is ambiguous we say so. Plain British English, no press releases printed as reporting, and no photographs taken from other outlets.
Tips and corrections
Email hello@bedfordtimes.co.uk with anything we should be looking at, an event worth listing, or a correction. Tips are treated in confidence, and corrections go up quickly and are noted on the page.
The Bedford Times is part of the GOB Media Group. We are independent of the council and of everyone else we cover.