Flooding issues will be on the agenda when the Dacorum environmental Forum meets on Thursday, February 20.

The proposed LA3 west Hemel Hempstead Green Belt land development will also be discussed at the Box Moor Trust, London Road, from 7.30pm.

Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Village leaders are hoping to have a village pub registered as an asset of community value.

Tring Rural Parish Council has applied to Dacorum Borough Council for The Half Moon in Wilstone to be added to the register, which will make it harder for the pub to ever be sold off into private hands.

Parish council chairman Michael Tomlinson said that there are no plans to sell the pub at the moment.

But he said the registration would give the community more of a say about what happens to it in the future.

He said: “It stops somebody from coming along and doing the dirty on us.”

A tractor towing a trailer carrying hay bales caused traffic chaos this morning after the trailer overturned on London Road in Tring.

Police closed the roundabout at the junction with the A41 and the A4251 just after 10.15am while they cleared the hay from the road.

The delay caused tailbacks into the town centre.

Herts Constabulary spokesman Sarah Spence confirmed that paramedics were also on the scene. She said: “Thankfully no one was injured, but we informed highways as there was damage to a street light at the roadside.”

A spokesperson from the East of England Ambulance service confirmed paramedics were called to the scene just after 10am but no one was treated for injuries.

The road was reopened by 11am and traffic is now flowing freely.

A cracking match is in store at Berkhamsted Lawn Tennis & Squash Rackets Club tonight as Berko battle it out with the Nuffield All-Stars for the Harry Faulkner Memorial Cup.

Nuffield are sending over their team of five professional players for the clash but Berkhamsted have added an extra star to their line-up in the form of British U19 champion Angus Gillams.

Gillams’ string 1 game versus Adam Auckland looks set to be a thriller, and spectators are encouraged to get down to the club to watch a couple of stars of the near-future going toe to toe.

With the Berkhamsted five completed by Adam Fuller, Joe Green, Ali Coker and Josh Ryan it’s going to be a top night of squash action, with the match getting under way at 8pm.

There will also be a raffle with a very special prize up for grabs – the winner will be one of the first in the country to get hold of the specially commissioned Harry Faulkner Custom Spark racket.

These are fresh off the production line and due for delivery later this week, and the club thanks Stefan Faulkner for providing them with one of these unique rackets.

All raffle proceeds go to www.c-r-y.org.uk and selected drinks are £2.50 each after 8pm.

For further information about the club, please visit www.bltsrc.co.uk/

Six goals from hot-shot striker Danny Hunter could not prevent Mun City from slipping to a heavy defeat at the hands of Norfolk & Chance in this week’s round of Hemel Hempstead Leisure Leagues matches.

City were only one goal down at half-time, but despite the efforts of Hunter and keeper Callum Wright, Norfolk extended their lead after the break.

Striker Seb Hansen netted an impressive hat-trick and helped secure a 13-6 win for his side.

Meanwhile, 2 Goals 1 Cup were in an action against title holders Chicken Kiev and recorded a 9-6 victory courtesy of a man of the match display from midfielder Tom Davidson.

The Smeagles’ midfield dynamo Jack Samuel helped his team to a 6-2 win over experienced Premiership rivals The Fellowship, while The Jackson 5-a-side were edged out by Puyol Pants Down.

The teams went in level at half-time, and Ben Hawkins’ sublime long range volley gave Jackson hope of taking something from the league leaders.

However, they could not stop man of the match Ryan Jeffrey as he netted four goals for Puyol, who continue their 100 per cent league record.

Cheeseham United’s fixture against Fred West Ham, meanwhile, was close throughout and there was just one goal separating the teams at the end of the first half.

Fred West Ham stepped up a gear after the break, though, and two goals from man of the match Mark Stoker helped to secure a 3-0 victory.

Hemel Elite were without captain Chris Wyatt, but it did not stop them bagging a 14-7 win over Wanderers FC.

Wanderers captain Billy Tolhurst made some excellent saves, but Liam Cowing was on top form on the night and helped himself to four goals.

Elsewhere, Gremio and Jobseekers Allowance shared the points in an entertaining 5-5 draw.

Jobseekers keeper and man of the match Amjad Mahmood was impressive between the posts to keep the two sides level on points in the Championship table.

Championship high-fliers AEK Hemel maintained their 100 per cent points record as captain Jack Evans guided his side to a 10-4 victory against Butterflies FC.

Anyone interested in joining the league as a team or individual player should call regional manager Gary Connell on 07983 225566.

Medical chiefs at Watford General Hospital have been told that improvements need to be made in four out of five national standards by a health watchdog.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) visited in December and said that care provision, cleanliness staffing and standards of management needs to be improved.

Concerns were raised about cleanliness and infection control across four departments that were visited and in one case dried blood stains were found on the floor.

A shortage of staff was discovered in the Acute Assessment Unit and it was found that the records of care provided to patients were not well maintained.

The inspector’s report said: “In two cases we saw that papers in the records related to other people. For example we found blood test results and a request for a scan in the records that were not for the person whose records were being examined.”

The hospital was found to be meeting the standard of treating people with respect and involving them in their care.

Hospital chief executive Samantha Jones said: “We welcome the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) report into Watford Hospital following a routine unannounced inspection. “The feedback we received from the Care Quality Commission highlights many strengths, including that our patients are treated with respect and are involved in discussions about their care and treatment. They also said that our patients are able to influence how services are managed and that the organisation is well run.

“In addition, the CQC reported good feedback from the patients they met, with often very complimentary remarks about the attention and attitude of our staff towards them.

“Unfortunately, the CQC have raised a number of minor concerns, including in relation to staffing, the control of infections, record keeping and the way in which we manage risk.

“As a result, we have recently submitted a detailed action plan to the CQC which will also be shared with our trust board and partners.

“We were already aware of many of the issues raised by the CQC and work was underway to address them. This includes a decision taken by the Trust Board last summer to spend an additional £3.9 million a year to recruit 160 extra nurses.

“We were also in the process of making significant changes to the way we prevent and control infections, with a specific focus on ensuring our cleaning teams meet the highest possible standards. We have also put in place new training for our staff and our senior nurses undertake formal spot checks to ensure our wards and clinics are clean.

“We are committed to providing our patients with the very best care and we will ensure that our action plan is implemented in full and will share feedback with our patients, local people and partners.”

>Read the full Care Quality Commission report by {http://www.cqc.org.uk/node/316215#icon_modal_green|clicking here}

Comets Blues U11 are through to the West Herts Youth League Senior Cup final thanks to a 3-0 win over Sun Postal in the semis.

Harry Bailey put Comets ahead in the first half, before Jude Evans and Louie Potton wrapped up the win after the break.

Luke Wilson was named man of the match after a composed display in the centre of defence.

A beautiful, sunny day and a pitch in surprisingly good condition saw a full-blooded, fast-paced tie with Comets taking control from the off.

Tommy Wadmore, in his usual industrious style, dominated the early exchanges in midfield and it was his pin-point through ball that left Harry Bailey clear to slot home the opener for Comets in great style.

Most of the first half action was in the home side’s half but a rare breakaway saw a hopeful shot from Postal saved by Comets keeper Will Hodgins with his feet.

Another attack saw Louie Potton shoot just over the cross bar before half-time, while the Comets defence was having little trouble containing the hosts with Jacob Wylde assured on the left and Wilson dominating in the centre.

After the restart Postal went on the offensive although everything petered out by the 18-yard box. Lightning counter strikes brought Comets their reward with a great strike from Jude Evans doubling the visitors’ lead.

It wasn’t long before they stretched their lead to three through Potton and Postal were never going to get any real hold of the game from then on.

There was a brief spell when Hodgins made a double save but Comets were always in control and held out comfortably to book their place in the final.

Dacorum’s Seishinkai Shotokan Karate International representatives were firing on all cylinders at the annual U18 kata competition at Hemel Hempstead School.

The SSKI youngsters bagged a fistful of medals, including four individual golds and a number of team prizes.

Clubs attended the event from Basingstoke, Luton, St Albans, Reading, London, Watford, Hemel Hempstead, Bovingdon and Berkhamsted.

The standard was excellent, with competitors going into the event on the back of wins at the World, European and National Championships

Gold medals went to 2013 World Champion Thomas Carson, Eve Messenger, Harry Helliwell, Jey Gnallingham and the kata team of Cristy Nash, Messenger and Christopher Cooper.

Silver medals were won by Nash, Arunar Gaur, April Gilling, Steven Barton and the kata team of Muminah Koleoso, Carson and Petra Ewington, while bronzes were taken by Harvey Graham, Rhea Kandel, Ewington, Hana Gough and the kata team of Ritchie Howlett, Lewis Wilson and Dylan Freeman.

SSKI chief instructor Malcolm Phipps 8th Dan said he was extremely pleased with the excellent standard set by all of the competitors and looks forward to an exciting year ahead.

To find out more about SSKI, please visit the association’s website at www.sski.org for all the news, club addresses and training times. The club can also be found on Facebook.

Tring Swim Club travelled to Hitchin for the second round of the Herts Major League and achieved an excellent second-placed finish.

Hertford took top spot, with Tring beating Watford into third ahead of Potters Bar, Royston and Verulam in fourth, fifth and sixth places.

Tring, sponsored by PRS Office Furniture, achieved 16 first places on the night as well as a number of personal and club bests.

Greg Baxter started the meet with a first place in the 100m open freestyle, swiftly followed by George Thorne taking first in the U12 25m backstroke.

Tring then took first in the boys’ and girls’ 100m breaststrokes, with Emma Killin doing it for the girls and Cole James representing the boys.

Josh Frewin took the gong in the 100m open boys’ backstroke and Marcia Billingham was first in the U12 girls’ 25m breaststroke.

The open boys’ 4x25m medley relay team of Robert Jennings, Tom Frewin, Josh Frewin and Baxter set a new club best time of 59.53s and came first on the night. The same team took first, and set a new club best of 48.76s in the 4x25m freestyle.

The U12 4x25m medley relay team of Callum Bullock, George Thorne, Harrison Bullock and Daniel Chennells also took first place.

Coming home in second place, the U14 boys’ 4x25m medley team of Harry Thorne, Cole James, Peter Kenyon and James Chennells set a new club best with a time of 59.53s.

Bethany Masters achieved a first place, a new PB and a club best with a time of 1m 20.95s in the 100m open girls’ breaststroke and Tom Frewin took first in the boys’ race.

Justin Langford finished first and set a new club best of 59.07s in the 100m boys’ open freestyle and Clem Waterhouse was first in the 25m U12 girls’ freestyle in a time of 16.15s.

George Thorne took first again with his 25m U12 freestyle time of 16.78s and James Chennells bagged first and set a new PB of 1m 17.01s in the U14 boys’ 100m backstroek.

Finally, capping the evening off were the U12 girls Izzy Sansom, Waterhouse, Marcia Billingham and Tilly Beckwith who set a new club best in the U12 4x25m medley race with a time of 1m 17.36s.

The boys’ team of George Thorne, Harrison Bullock, Callum Bullock and Daniel Chennells also took first in the same race in a time of 1m 19.12s.

Tring Swim Club chairman Jo Sansom said: “The Tring swimmers really went for it tonight achieving some fantastic results including six new club best times; they should all be really proud of their achievements.”

A sinkhole expert says the one that appeared in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday should be filled with special concrete.

Seventeen homes were evacuated after it was spotted at about 7.30am. It measures 35 feet wide and 20 feet deep and has now begun swallowing up the road.

Leading sinkhole expert Dr Clive Edmunds visited the Oatridge Gardens sinkhole yesterday and advised the main owner of the housing estate to fill it with special concrete.

Hightown Praetorian and Churches Housing Association – which commissioned construction company the Jarvis Group to build the estate in 2008 – says the work is due to begin on Friday.

There are 24 two-bedroom apartments and 24 two, three and four-bedroom houses in Oatridge Gardens. Twelve houses are rented and 36 homes have been sold through shared ownership.

Hightown spokesman Emma Crump today said: “Once the structural engineers on site are satisfied that the immediate site is stable, the whole of the estate will be monitored and probed.

“Hightown is continuing to support residents by arranging hotel accommodation for households who are unable to stay with family and friends, ensuring they have somewhere to stay until next week, when the situation will be reviewed.

“We have informed six households who will not be able to return to their homes in the short term, that our insurers will be working with them to find suitable temporary alternative accommodation.

“The situation is changing all of the time and we are communicating directly with residents to keep them updated.

“In recent weeks we have been working with Jarvis Group and Affinity Water to investigate a potential water leak which had caused damage to the porch of one of the houses.

“Just before midnight on Thursday, February 13, a second resident emailed one of our staff to notify us of broken paving slabs on his path. We arranged for a contractor to visit the site to address this on Saturday morning.

“This same resident sent an email to a member of staff at 9pm on Friday evening reporting movement within his house. The member of staff would obviously not be picking up work emails until Monday. He did not contact Hightown’s emergency repairs line.”

Plans by Berkhamsted Golf Club to change the location of a practice area came under fire during a meeting of the town’s planning leaders.

Neighbours say the move will harm trees, wildlife and ancient archaeological feature Grims Dyke.

Berkhamsted Town Council’s planning committee objected to the move during a meeting on Monday. Minutes of the meeting say: “There is an unacceptable safety risk with the potential of golf balls being driven into New Road.”

Councillors raised fears about construction traffic transporting spoil with which to build the new practice area.

The golf club says the move will bring the area closer to its clubhouse, making it less remote – so women and children can feel safer using it.

The course is in the middle of Berkhamsted Common.

{http://www.hemeltoday.co.uk/news/local/berkhamsted-golf-club-green-vandals-leave-note-in-hole-that-says-stop-cutting-down-trees-1-5848248|Berkhamsted Golf Course was vandalised last month by people who are not happy about its managers felling trees}

I’m sorry, but this just isn’t a laughing matter. This sort of crude so-called humour is not acceptable in this day and age, and strong action is needed as a matter of urgency.

Vile Twitter trolls rounding on whichever unfortunate finds themselves in the public spotlight? Stand-ups with no self-control going for gags against vulnerable groups? Mrs Brown’s Boys from start to finish? No, none of the above.

I speak, with the pain that is still sharp after years of suffering, about puns in shop titles.

Now a pun is a lovely thing, and I am very fond of wordplay that provokes a knowing smile or a groan of grudging recognition.

But a pun should be like a snowflake – beautifully-constructed, a delight in the right place and in the right measure, but essentially ephemeral.

Which is why puns in shop titles will never be right, and should be discouraged at every turn.

I can see how the temptation can be hard to resist. You’re a small business trying to make an impact, you come up with what you think is a bright idea that will appeal to punters and make you more memorable, and you don’t have the experience of working with words that would tell you how quickly a quirky catchphrase becomes a tedious yawn.

Hair salons have traditionally been the keenest purveyors of the pun above the door – and in the days before the internet and social mobility they could get away with it.

But we all know that there’s no such thing as an original joke, and nor does the original pun exist.

So anyone who thought that calling their business Fringe Benefits or Curl Up And Dye was purely the result of inspiration on their part is sadly mistaken.

Take, for example, the shop which apparently sports the best pun in the country.

That would be Junk & Disorderly, a supposedly shambolic secondhand store on Market Street in Chesterfield, of course – well, it would be according to an online poll after a shortlist was culled from a database of 700,000 businesses.

Presumably that database mining didn’t flag up the fact that there’s a Junk & Disorderly if not in every town then in every other town in the UK.

Others on the shortlist included Pane In The Glass, Abra Kebabra, World Of Woolcraft, Sofa So Good and Heaven Scent. Oh, my aching sides.

To be fair, World Of Woolcraft is a new one on me – but I fear it will return to haunt me.

If you ask me, all business names should have to be registered with a man in a grey suit in a grey office somewhere, and the registration process should involve lots of repetition of the name on the part of the hair salon, coffee bar or fast food outlet concerned in a bid to make them realise that nothing goes stale quicker than a not particularly ribtickling joke.

A vicious killer has had his sentence extended to a whole-life term in prison after an MP argued that his minimum term of 40 years was “unduly lenient”.

Mike Penning, who represents Hemel Hempstead, wrote to the Attorney General after the Ian McLoughlin ruling in October.

McLoughlin’s judge had then said that he was unable to pass a whole-life term following a European ruling that it could be a breach of human rights.

McLoughlin, who had killed twice before, slit the throat of 66-year-old Little Gaddesden grandfather Graham Buck after being allowed out of jail for the first time in 21 years.

He travelled on day release from HMP Spring Hill near Aylesbury to the Nettleden Road home of elderly paedophile Francis Cory-Wright, who he had met in prison, in July.

Mr Buck interrupted the 55-year-old’s robbery of Cory-Wright by coming to the aid of his neighbour after hearing him crying out for help and paid for his neighbourliness with his life.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Penning said: “Common sense has prevailed at last and justice has been served.”

The players and coaches at Northchurch Cricket Club are looking forward to the start of the new season following the installation of new practice mats at the end of the last campaign.

The club had the new mats fitted to its batting nets courtesy of cash donated by Lord’s Taverners, Northchurch Parish Council and Dacorum Borough Council.

As well as this, the club is currently installing solar panels in an attempt to cut down on its electricity bills over the season.

The 2014 captains will be elected at the club’s AGM, with Mark Hobley continuing to look after the first XI, Alastair Fantham keeping charge of the second XI and Thomas Calder taking the reigns of the Sunday XI.

Hobley will also continue to act as the club groundsman, using the same batting friendly wickets for which Northchurch has become well known in cricketing circles.

Subscriptions for the season are priced at £80 for adults and £40 for colts, with the adult price reduced to £60 if it is paid by the middle of June.

The club will be holding its AGM on February 28 at 8pm in the Northchurch Cricket Pavilion. New and returning players are more than welcome to attend.

Tring Athletic pulled off a shock 4-1 away win over SSML Premier Division leaders Ampthill Town to hand their hosts a big blow in the title race.

It was a deserved victory for Tring, who move up to 10th place in the division and open the door for Dacorum rivals Berko to overhaul Ampthill at the top of the table.

Following a goalless first half, Tring went on the rampage after the break and earned the points with goals from Taylor Collins (2), Lee Benning and Chris Vardy.

The home side scored a consolation goal in time added on at the end of the game but by then it was too little, too late.

Overall it was a superb performance from Tring, especially in the second half where the pace of Collins andVardy was a constant threat and could have led to more goals.

Collins’ first strike came one minute after the interval following good build-up play from Adam Toone and livewire forward Vardy.

Collins added his second six minutes later, and the Tring rampage continued as Benning followed up a Jack Seaton shot off the bar to make it 3-0 on the hour mark.

Vardy notched the fourth after 70 minutes following good work from substitute Ryan Sturges, and a last gasp consolation from Ampthill did little to dampen the spirits of the travelling Tring contingent.

Next up for Athletic is a home clash with Holmer Green in the league on Saturday, 3pm kick-off.

Bury Judo Club took seven squad members to the very competitive Southfields Judo Championships and came away with four medals.

Tim O’Sullivan came home with a very good gold medal, winning all of his contests with Ippon scores in the senior Kyu grade category.

Beth O’Connor won silver in the ladies’ Kyu grade, with Liam Trill Green adding a very good silver in the junior U42kg category.

Jordon Duffy from Adeyfield Judo Club, meanwhile, bagged bronze in the junior U73kg event.

The eyes of the nation focused on Dacorum at the weekend with the emergence of the giant sinkhole in Hemel Hempstead, triggered by recent heavy rain. There’s a sense of relief that no one was hurt, nor any homes lost, but the sense of shock and terror for those affected must have been immense.

This sinkhole is one of a number of extraordinary stories related to the recent weather – Valentine’s Day diners disturbed by a waves smashing through a restaurant window, a railway line destroyed by the sea at Dawlish, the Somerset levels under water for weeks.

My constituency has not been immune. In particular, the village of Long Marston has been hit by floods twice – first on January 7 and, more severely, on a second occasion exactly a month later.

I learned of the second flood that Friday morning when the landlord of the Queens Head, Jon Reeves, called my office. I was already due to meet Long Marston residents that afternoon at my constituency surgery in Tring, to find out more about what was going on.

I also arranged to visit Long Marston on the Saturday morning to see for myself the impact of the floods.

Having your home flooded is traumatic, and living with the threat of a flood is a nerve-shredding experience.

Nonetheless, villagers demonstrated a thoughtful, practical approach. In particular, the meeting demonstrated a clear focus on establishing what caused the flood and how we stop it happening again.

One frustrating factor is that the village is not on the flood plain and, apparently, designated as low risk.

Before this year, the last significant flood had been in 2003.

What had struck villagers about the flood was how quickly it happened.

At 2am, there wasn’t a problem. By 4am, some homes were under six inches of water. Not unreasonably, this suggested that there may be a link with a release of water from one of the Tring reservoirs.

I’m certainly not qualified to make a judgement on this, although I have learned more about hydrology in the last few days than I ever thought I would.

However, Herts County Council has begun an investigation and should be appointing specialist consultants to advise on the issue this week.

As MPs, we are not in a position to order executive agencies or authorities to take a particular course of action.

But residents are faced with having to deal with a large number of organisations.

In this case, there is the county council, Dacorum Borough Council, the Environment Agency, the Canal & River Trust who run the reservoirs and Thames Water.

I’ve been in contact with all of them, pressing them all to try to address the immediate problems but also any longer term threats to what is a very lovely village.

In these columns in the past, I have often reflected on the role of the MP.

Sometimes, it is about developing government policy, or arguing the case for your party on the big national issues, whether in a television studio or in Parliament.

But there are other occasions when our role is to ‘bang heads together’ and provide a voice for our constituents.

The Long Marston flood is one of those occasions.

David Gauke is the MP for South West Herts. You can contact his office on 01923 771781 or visit www.davidgauke.com

A hot young prospect from Tring Swimming Club raised his profile even higher as he achieved a national qualifying time in the 100m breaststroke at Wycombe District Swimming club’s open meet.

Cole James, 12, usually trains in a 25m pool and only competes in a 50m pool a couple of times a year so his time of 1m, 22.10s was particularly impressive.

The youngster was just short of achieving a national time for his 200m breast at the same event.

Tring head coach Justin Langford said: “This is a fantastic achievement for Cole and shows all his hard work is paying off.”

Club chairman Jo Sansom added: “The other swimmers were really routing for Cole – they were thrilled when they realised he had achieved a national time.

“Tring is a community club and the swimmers always show great team spirit.

“This is a great result for Cole and it comes at a time when the club is seeing a real upturn in its swimmers’ achievements.”

James’ performance in Wycombe came shortly after an impressive display by Tring at the second round of the Herts Major League where the club achieved a second-placed finish.

For information about the club, visit www.tringswimmingclub.co.uk

A documentary about the UK benefits system was criticised by Mike Penning after he appeared on the show’s live TV debate.

Hemel Hempstead MP Mr Penning represented the Conservatives on Channel 4’s Benefits Street: The Live Debate on Monday night, and said the show was ‘very selective’ about what scenes it chose to broadcast.

He said: “The producers said it was supposed to be all about the community, but that’s a load of tosh – and I told them that. They chose to focus on the benefits and even after 18 months of filming, they didn’t include many of the residents of James Turner Street, such as the pensioners and those who do work.”

But Mr Penning said the show and the debate had highlighted the need to take another look at the welfare system. He said: “I said it on Monday and I’ll say it again now – it has to be fair.”

Calor League Premier Division leaders Hemel Town face the prospect of five matches in the space of 11 days as the fixture backlog starts to catch up on them.

The Tudors have seen a number of games postponed due to waterlogging, the latest of which was a cup tie at Bishop’s Stortford which was due to take place on Tuesday night.

This game will now be played on Thursday, February 27, with Hemel also in action at Stourbridge this Saturday and home to Chippenham on Tuesday.

They travel to Redditch United on Saturday, March 1 before visiting Poole Town on Tuesday, March 4.