Shortstown

19°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 23° / 12° · 58% rain
• Tomorrow: 22° / 17° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:29Sunset 19:26

12h 56m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

21US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Northampton Spring Park, United Kingdom

49 reported · July 2026▼ 50% YoY

• Anti-social behaviour16
• Violence & sexual offences14
• Criminal damage & arson6
• Shoplifting5

Neighbourhood team: Wilstead, Shortstown, Willington · 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)

96 food businesses within 2 miles

• 76 rated 4–5 ★ (61 top)
• 3 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Bedford St Johns (3.5 km)
• 10 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 (3.7 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 186.9p · ESSO (10.9 km)

4 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

47 charging locations within ~8 km

• 14 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 300 kW
• Nearest: The Barns Hotel (1.5 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools1
• Sports pitches8
• Playgrounds18

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

• Not in the Green Belt
• 42 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

Richard Fuller

Conservative

North Bedfordshire

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)

• Schools2
• GPs & clinics1
• Pharmacies2
• Parks & greens10
• Restaurants & cafés4

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

8,350 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

12 jobs advertised

e.g. Online Maths Tutor - Part Time, Online Arabic Tutor - Part Time, Online Maths Tutoring Job in Shortstown – Flexible Schedule

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

85% low-carbon electricity

Wind 58% · Nuclear 19% · Gas 15% · Biomass 8%

66 gCO₂/kWh · low 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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in North Bedfordshire:

• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases619 local signatures · 104,741 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership428 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test354 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office353 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
• Do not ban social media for under 16s323 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide

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

• 
  Shortstown · 0.3 km

  Shortstown is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Bedford, on a ridge above the River Great Ouse, originally called Tinkers Hill. The ridge overlooks Harrowden to the north and Cotton End to the south. The…

• 
  Cardington Airfield · 0.4 km

  Cardington Airfield, previously RAF Cardington, is a former Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, with a long and varied history, particularly in relation to airships and balloons. The station was formerly…

• 
  Cardington railway station · 0.7 km

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

• 
  Cardington, Bedfordshire · 1.0 km

  Cardington is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England.

• 
  Harrowden, Bedfordshire · 1.1 km

  Harrowden is a one-street hamlet in the civil parish of Shortstown, Bedfordshire, England. Its name comes from the Old English Hearg-dūn, meaning "Temple Hill".

• Cardington Workmen's Platform railway station · 1.2 km

  Cardington Workmen's Platform was a railway station on the Bedford to Hitchin Line which served the Royal Air Force station near the village of Cardington in Bedfordshire, England. A short-lived halt, it opened during…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)