Mayor Dave Hodgson visited Bedford's Beach and the Gumbles Children's Funzone at Harpur Square this afternoon. Dave met with Gumbles to discuss thier plans for the rest of the summer including hearing about the Funzone at Bedford Park, which will take place between 19th and 22nd August.

There are some high winds expected later this week, so the inflatables may be taken down earlier but the beach will remain. For updates please check Gumbles facebook page.

Today, we are celebrating Jamaican Independence Day by flying the Jamacian flag at Bedford Borough Hall. Jamaica gained their independence on 6th August 1962.

Before the flag was raised at Borough Hall, Mayor Dave Hodgson met with Kingsbrook Councillor Patrick Solomon who is of Jamacian heritage.

There is now under a year until Bedford River Festival 2020, which will take place on Saturday 18^th and Sunday 19^th July next year.

Planning is already well underway for this flagship event, and Bedford Borough Council has announced that the headline sponsor will be Wainwright, by Marston's Beer Company.

Mayor Dave Hodgson welcomed the Maldives Ambassador to the UK to the Mayor's Parlour in The Old Town Hall in Bedford this week, where they discussed the welcome given to the Maldives 2012 Olympic Team while it used Bedford as a base, along with a range of other topics.

Commenting on his Facebok page after the meeting with Dr Farah Faizal, Mayor Dave said: "It was an honour to welcome the Maldives Ambassador-designate to the UK Dr Farah Faizal to the Mayor's Parlour. It was good to hear that the welcome that we gave the Maldives' 2012 Olympic Team as a community is still warmly remembered. They were honoured guests, and it was our pleasure to play our part in a special time by hosting Olympic and Paralympic teams.'

In his July column for the Bedford Indpendent, published earlier this month, Mayor Dave Hodgson wrote about the disruption caused by Network Rail's closure of Bromham Road Bridge. Mayor Dave writes that the works, which will be followed by a rail service downgrade due to the Government's decision that intercity trains should not stop in Bedford, contrast with the Council's congestion-busting scheme for Britannia Road, which is causing disruption but will at least be followed by clear improvements for local road users.

It's Historic County Flag Day today and the Bedfordshire County Flag has been flying high at Borough Hall, with Mayor Dave Hodgson declaring that he's proud that Bedford is the County Town. He also declared that the County's heritage, beautiful and vibrant towns mean there's 'a lot to celebrate' about Bedfordhsire not just on days like today but throughout the year.

Mayor Dave Hodgson has paid tribute to all staff and volunteers who help maintain Bedford Borough's parks, following news that four parks have once again won the prestigious Green Flag Award. This signals that they are among the UK's very best green spaces.

The announcement, made during Love Parks Week, sees Addison Howard Park, Bedford Park, Harrold-Odell Country Park and Priory Country Park all once again been awarded this prestigious mark of quality parks and open spaces. It has been an exceptionally successful year for the borough's wonderful country parks with Priory Country Park winning the award for its 18th year in a row, and Harrold-Odell Country Park achieving scores in the highest categories - its best year yet.

Improvement works to reduce congestion on Britannia Road, a well-known traffic hotspot, will start this weekend as part of the Transporting Bedford project.

Britannia Road runs past Bedford Hospital South Wing, and links Ampthill Road and Kempston Road. These works will widen the road and create extra lanes, providing more space for traffic, and deliver major changes to the road layout to help the traffic flow better.