Shefford

18°COvercast

• Today: 23° / 17° · 74% rain
• Tomorrow: 24° / 15° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:29Sunset 19:25

12h 56m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

24US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Enfield - Bowes Primary School, United Kingdom

51 reported · July 2026▲ 28% YoY

• Anti-social behaviour14
• Violence & sexual offences11
• Shoplifting8
• Drugs4

Neighbourhood team: Biggleswade, Sandy, Potton and Shefford · Bedfordshire

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

510 reported road collisions (2024)

125 killed or seriously injured · 738 casualties · 17.3 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

64 food businesses within 2 miles

• 54 rated 4–5 ★ (45 top)
• 1 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Arlesey (4.8 km)
• 10 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£356,453 average▲ 2.9% YoY

Across Central Bedfordshire · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,249 average monthly rent▲ 3.6% YoY

• 1 bed £864
• 2 bed £1,097
• 3 bed £1,374

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

9.7× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.7 times median annual pay (10.7× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

• Cheapest petrol: 159.9p · Esso (11.2 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 186.9p · ESSO (0.8 km)

8 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

14 charging locations within ~8 km

• 1 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 350 kW
• Nearest: Town Meadow Car Park (0.1 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools5
• Sports pitches21
• Playgrounds10

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

• Record-breaking start for Leighton Leisure and Community Centre as memberships and attendance surge· 10 Sept 2026
• Green Flags flying high at Central Bedfordshire schools· 8 Sept 2026
• Fostering families enjoy summer picnic at Whipsnade Zoo· 2 Sept 2026
• Housing Matters - August 2026· 2 Sept 2026
• Electric cars, e-bikes and energy savings: Free event comes to Leighton Buzzard· 28 Aug 2026

Source: Central Bedfordshire Council

294,252 residents in Central Bedfordshire · 411/km²

• Under 16: 20%
• 16–64: 62%
• 65+: 18%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 264 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£2,516 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (27% of 134,350)

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

136 schools · 49,238 pupils

95 primary · 14 secondary · 27 other

Ofsted: 52 of 59 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (88%)

129inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Central Bedfordshire

221 CQC-registered services

• Care homes64
• GP practices27
• Dentists56
• Homecare agencies56
• Hospitals & hospices3

CQC ratings: 85% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Central Bedfordshire

• In a conservation area (Shefford Conservation Area)
• Not in the Green Belt
• 50 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

359 applications decided

83.8% granted · 301 granted, 58 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Alistair Strathern

Labour

Hitchin

Source: UK Parliament

Independent (minority)

• Lab 4
• Con 20
• LD 8
• Grn 1
• Ref 2
• Oth 28

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

• Schools4
• GPs & clinics1
• Supermarkets1
• Parks & greens6
• Restaurants & cafés11

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

13,830 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

155 jobs advertised · £37,951 avg

e.g. HV Commissioning Engineer, Car Delivery Driver, Become a Computer science Tutor in Shefford – Flexible & Remote

Source: Adzuna

£869 median full-time weekly pay

2.6% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£26,560 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 · 138,501 certificates

8.3% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

87% low-carbon electricity

Wind 59% · Nuclear 21% · Gas 13% · Biomass 7%

58 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 84.4 yrs women · 82 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 60.9 women · 61.5 men

65% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.3
• Feeling worthwhile7.8
• Happiness yesterday7.3
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.2

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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Hitchin:

• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases474 local signatures · 104,741 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership416 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test386 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Do not ban social media for under 16s328 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership319 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide

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

• 
  St Francis' Boys' Home · 0.1 km

  St Francis' Boys' Home in Shefford, Bedfordshire was the longest serving children's home in England.

• 
  St Francis of Assisi Church, Shefford · 0.2 km

  St Francis of Assisi Church is a Catholic parish church in Shefford, Bedfordshire. The church was built from 1882 to 1884 and designed by Samuel Joseph Nicholl in the Gothic Revival style, and includes the remains of…

• Shefford railway station · 0.2 km

  Shefford was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the town of Shefford in Bedfordshire, England. Opened in 1857, it gave more than a century of service before closing in 1962.

• 
  Shefford, Bedfordshire · 0.2 km

  Shefford is a town and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. At the 2021 census it had a population of 7,311. It lies 10 miles (16 km) south-east of Bedford.

• 
  River Flit · 0.9 km

  The River Flit is a short river in Bedfordshire, England. Its name is not ancient, but rather a back formation from Flitton which originally meant that the river was spelt as Flitt rather than Flit.

• 
  Shefford Town & Campton F.C. · 1.0 km

  Shefford Town & Campton Football Club is an English football club based in the town of Shefford, Bedfordshire. The team plays its home matches at Shefford Sports Club on Hitchin Road in Shefford and at Campton Playing…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)