Thank you from Mayor Dave

Mayor Dave has thanked local residents in his Christmas message in his weekly email, the text of which is below:

"2021 was a difficult year with COVID-19 dominating and various restrictions and Lockdowns taking place throughout the year.

Sadly 2022 will probably not get off to a much better start with the Omicron variant now being the dominant Coronavirus strain in the UK.

I would like to thank everyone across Bedford Borough for following the restrictions and protecting themselves, their family, friends and each other. We will need to continue this for a bit longer yet.

I would also like to thank everyone who has had their COVID vaccinations and booster. Being vaccinated doesn't just help you but helps everyone in our communities.

If you haven't had the vaccination or booster yet, you can find out more information including where you can receive the vaccination or booster at https://www.blmkccg.nhs.uk/covid-19/.

Not everything is doom or gloom though, during December we saw lots of festive fun across the Borough. We have had three weekends of activities in Bedford town centre and many of our villages held Christmas Fairs and Christmas Light switch-on events.

Bedford High Street has now re-opened to traffic and is looking much nicer and is more accessible to pedestrians. We have seen new shops and businesses open in Bedford town centre and in the last few weeks these included a new B&M in the old Marks and Spencer store and Foxy Wings open in Riverside. We should see even more new additions to the town centre next year."