Bedford

11°COvercast

• Today: 20° / 11° · 36% rain
• Tomorrow: 21° / 14° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:26Sunset 19:30

13h 4m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

25US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

1030 reported · July 2026▲ 32% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences367
• Shoplifting164
• Anti-social behaviour128
• Public order83

1 stop & searches · mostly controlled drugs

Neighbourhood team: Queens Park and Castle · Bedfordshire

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

288 reported road collisions (2024)

55 killed or seriously injured · 366 casualties · 15.5 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

500+ food businesses within 2 miles

• 399 rated 4–5 ★ (318 top)
• 10 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency · split of the nearest 500

• Nearest station: Bedford St Johns (0.6 km)
• 66 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£329,830 average▲ 4.4% YoY

Across Bedford · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,170 average monthly rent▲ 3.4% YoY

• 1 bed £798
• 2 bed £1,027
• 3 bed £1,256

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

9.1× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.1 times median annual pay (9.3× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

• Cheapest petrol: 165.9p · Morrisons (1.4 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 187.9p · Morrisons (1.4 km)

3 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

45 charging locations within ~8 km

• 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 300 kW
• Nearest: Duck Mill Lane Car Park (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports centres9
• Gyms4
• Sports pitches56
• Playgrounds31

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

185,227 residents in Bedford · 389/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 63%
• 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Around the average in England

Ranked 156 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

4% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£2,472 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (25% of 80,810)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

85 schools · 35,894 pupils

54 primary · 13 secondary · 18 other

Ofsted: 35 of 38 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (92%)

75inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Bedford

272 CQC-registered services

• Care homes73
• GP practices34
• Dentists50
• Homecare agencies84
• Hospitals & hospices8

CQC ratings: 82% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Bedford

• In a conservation area (Bedford)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 118 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

221 applications decided

72.4% granted · 160 granted, 61 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Mohammad Yasin

Labour

Bedford

Source: UK Parliament

Conservative majority · directly-elected mayor

• Lab 12
• Con 14
• LD 13
• Grn 4
• Oth 3

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools21
• GPs & clinics11
• Pharmacies10
• Supermarkets15
• Parks & greens14
• Restaurants & cafés206

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

8,350 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

2,674 jobs advertised · £39,559 avg

e.g. Roadside Vehicle Mechanic, Mobile Mechanic, Mobile Vehicle Technician - Stevenage

Source: Adzuna

£780 median full-time weekly pay

4.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£24,626 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

54% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 90,060 certificates

9.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

75% low-carbon electricity

Nuclear 41% · Gas 25% · Solar 22% · Wind 10%

101 gCO₂/kWh · moderate intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 83.4 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 62.7 women · 62.5 men

73% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.5
• Feeling worthwhile7.7
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

14 GP surgeries · 9 pharmacies in MK40

• Queens Park Health Centre
• The De Parys Group
• Goldington Avenue Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Bedford:

• Do not ban social media for under 16s386 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership319 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership215 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide
• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office192 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test184 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

• 
  Town Bridge, Bedford · 0.0 km

  The Town Bridge is located in Bedford, the county town of Bedfordshire in England. Spanning the River Great Ouse, it connects the town centre of Bedford with St Johns, historically a separate settlement but now a subu…

• 
  Shire Hall, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The Shire Hall is a municipal building in St Paul's Square, Bedford, Bedfordshire. The shire hall, which was the headquarters of Bedfordshire County Council from 1888 to 1969, is a Grade II* listed building.

• 
  Swan Hotel, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The Swan Hotel is a historic coaching inn in the town of Bedford, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The building is located next to the Town Bridge over the River Great Ouse. Historically known as the…

• 
  St Paul's Church, Bedford · 0.1 km

  St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church located on St Paul's Square in Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Formerly a medieval collegiate church, the large building of cathedral proportions with its later ad…

• 
  Statue of John Howard, Bedford · 0.1 km

  The statue of John Howard, in St Pauls's Square, Bedford, is a bronze of John Howard, erected in 1890, the centenary of Howard's death. The statue is "clothed ... in the travelling dress of the time to denote he was a…

• 
  Bedford Rowing Club · 0.1 km

  Bedford Rowing Club is an amateur rowing club in Bedford, England, founded on 15 March 1886.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)