Two vandals who caused thousands of pounds of damage to parked vehicles after a drunken night out have been ordered to do hundreds of hours of community service.

Niall Pearce and Alexander Goodridge, from Aylesbury, were involved in an incident which saw £6,205 of damage done to 17 cars in Tring Road.

The pair pleaded guilty to 17 counts of criminals damage and were given hefty fines and community service when sentenced at Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

Pearce, 19, and 21 year old Goodridge went out with friends to The Bell, Niche and Mirage on the night of Friday, November 16, before walking out of town along Tring Road in the early hours, when the vehicles were vandalised.

The damage, which included broken wing mirrors and kicked panels, ranged in value from £17 to just over £2,000.

As the vehicles were being damaged, five people called the police and Pearce, Goodridge and two other youths were arrested.

Peter Bird, prosecuting, told the court it was not clear what damage was done by which person.

Daniel Martin, defending Pearce, told Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court that before the incident the defendant had feared he had bowel cancer and had gone out celebrating after finding out it was instead Crohn’s disease.

Mr Martin said: “That is a decision Mr Pearce has come to regret.”

Sentencing Pearce, Magistrate Keith Gray said what happened was a ‘very serious matter’ that had affected a lot of people.

Mr Gray said: “We can’t dilute in any way the impact that this has had on those people.”

Goodridge, of Cottesloe Road, was due to be sentenced in the morning but arrived late at court. He was told he must pay £1,551 in compensation, complete 200 hours of unpaid work and was given a community order for a year.

Pearce, of Granville Street, was ordered to pay compensation of £1,541 and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also given a community order for a year.

Two other men charged in relation to the incident have denied being involved and are due to stand trial on August 23.

Sports and activities are being laid on this summer to give youngsters in the district a chance to learn new skills.

South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils, leisure operators and sports clubs are running activities between July 22 and August 30 for people up to and including the age of 16.

The programme includes Olympic and Paralympic favourites such as archery and table tennis, individual sports like golf and horse riding and artistic activities such as performing arts and cartoon drawing.

There are also a range of traditional sports available such as athletics, football and netball, as well as kayaking and sailing.

Free activities will also be provided for parents to take part in.

Bill Service, cabinet member for leisure at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “This year’s summer holiday programme provides the best mix of sports and activities that we’ve ever had on offer. There really is something for everyone, right across both districts, and at very affordable rates.”

Programmes and booking information will soon be available at schools in the districts and online at www.southoxon.gov.uk/holidays or www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/holidays

Police are doing a 24-hour ‘tweetathon’ as part of their summer burglary campaign.

Thames Valley Police will be tweeting about burglaries reported between 8pm tonight (Wednesday) and 8pm tomorrow, as well as about work being done to tackle burglary and support victims.

Police say burglary has fallen 20% across the force area, compared with figures for 2011/2012. This is 1,751 fewer victims of burglaries for the year ending 31 March 2013, including 393 fewer victims in Bucks.

Police and crime commissioner Anthony Stansfeld said: “I highlighted reducing burglary as one of my key priorities and I am delighted that the number of burglaries in the Thames Valley continues to fall.

“The tweetathon is a great opportunity to share some important crime prevention advice as well as inform communities about the work being done by Thames Valley Police to ensure that burglary continues to reduce.”

Assistant Chief Constable John Campbell and Mr Stansfeld will be conducting a live web chat from 12pm on Thursday. To take part in this {https://twitter.com/ThamesVP|follow @ThamesVP on Twitter|take me to the account}.

Follow that account and use the hash tag #TVP_burglary to track the tweetathon.

One of the men convicted of causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to vehicles parked in Aylesbury has apologised for what he did.

Alexander Goodridge and Niall Pearce, both from Aylesbury, were involved in an incident which saw £6,205 of damage done to 17 cars in Tring Road.

At Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court on Monday they were ordered to pay thousands in compensation and must do hundreds of hours of community service.

Speaking to the Bucks Herald after his sentencing, 21-year-old Goodridge said he was ‘ashamed’ of his actions.

Goodridge, of Cottesloe Road, said: “I would like to say to the public that I am very sorry about what happened that evening, those actions were not an accurate reflection of neither my own or Niall Pearce’s behaviour or attitude.

“I understand that our inexcusable drunken actions would have caused a lot of unnecessary stress to households that could have done without it.

“I know that a car is likely to be the second biggest purchase a person makes after their home.

“I know that a lot of people rely on their vehicles to get to and from work, evenings out with the family and the school run, and a lot of people take pride in their cars.

“I send my sincerest apologies to the people we affected.”

Goodridge and Pearce, who both pleaded guilty to 17 counts of criminals damage, went out with friends to The Bell, Niche and Mirage on the night of Friday, November 16, before walking out of town along Tring Road in the early hours, when the vehicles were vandalised.

The damage, which included broken wing mirrors and kicked panels, ranged in value from £17 to just over £2,000.

As the vehicles were being damaged, five people called the police and Pearce, Goodridge and two other youths were arrested.

Goodridge was told he must pay £1,551 in compensation, complete 200 hours of unpaid work and was given a community order for a year.

Pearce, of Granville Street, was ordered to pay compensation of £1,541 and must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work. He was also given a community order for a year.

Two other men charged in relation to the incident have denied being involved and are due to stand trial on August 23.

A man has been charged with burglary after a car was stolen from a Buckland house.

Greg Sickenger, 22, from High Wycombe, was arrested on June 25 and subsequently charged with burglary.

The charge is in relation to a burglary between 11.30pm on June 23 and 6.50am the next day when a thief broke into the house and stole the BMW 520d, worth more than £30,000 new.

Sickenger appeared before High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on June 26 where he was remanded in custody to appear at Aylesbury Crown Court on a date yet to be confirmed.

Lord Mandelson has warned HS2 could be an ‘expensive mistake’, saying Labour only initially supported the project to win votes.

The former Labour business secretary said when proposing the idea his party failed to give proper attention to the ‘massive disruption’ construction would bring to many people.

Writing in the Financial Times, Lord Mandelson said politicians should not be afraid to think again about the project, the price-tag for which has just jumped by £10 billion to £42bn.

He said: “All the parties – especially Labour – should think twice before binding themselves irrevocably to HS2.

“It is not all it seems and has the potential to end up a mistake, damaging in particular to those people that it was intended to help.”

Lord Mandelson, chairman of Global Counsel, said HS2 should not been given an ‘open cheque’ and other options for infrastructure investment should be kept open.

He added that ‘the most glaring gap’ in the Labour government’s analysis was alternative ways of spending the money and that ambitious claims were made about the impact HS2 would have, assumptions which were ‘neither quantified nor proved’.

Lord Mandelson said: “We were on the eve of a general election and keen to paint an upbeat view of the future.

“Such publicly built infrastructure projects seemed to provide so much of the answer to our short and longer-term economic and employment needs.

“We did not imagine that the taxpayer would meet all of the costs; HS2 looked a sure candidate to attract private funds. This is now far from clear.

“But, in truth, this was about the limit of our collective cabinet consideration.

“We were focusing on the coming electoral battle, not on the detailed facts and figures of an investment that did not present us with any immediate spending choices.

“The vision was exciting, a lot of spadework had been done in the transport department and the cabinet adopted HS2 as a ‘national cause’, competing with the then Conservative leadership whose enthusiasm for the project had predated our own.”

A HS2 Ltd spokesman said: “Lord Mandelson does not call for HS2 to be cancelled.

“What he does is call for greater consensus for and stronger evidence of its benefits so that politicians and the public can make informed decisions as to its long term value to the UK.

“We must build on that consensus by providing up to date and detailed evidence of the benefits that HS2 will bring, including the creation of 100,000 jobs and the economic return of £2 for every £1 invested through linking eight out of our 10 biggest cities.

“However, we recognise the challenge that has been laid down and our need to respond.”

David Rowe, 25, of Keates Close, Aylesbury and Dwaine Hesford, 24, of Russell Avenue, Aylesbury have been charged with burglary and criminal damage.

The pair allegedly broke into the garage at 1.30am last Wednesday in Great Lane.

Both men appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates on Thursday.

Hesford was remanded into custody and Rowe was released on conditional bail.

They are yet to be given their next court date.

Two people have been arrested in connection with an attack which left a 51-year-old man with a fractured eye socket and jaw.

Following an appeal on Wednesday using CCTV images two men, both aged 30 and from Aylesbury, were arrested on suspicion of GBH and are in custody.

The assault took place at about 1.30am on June 16.

The victim was walking in the subway underpass in Cambridge Street when he was attacked from behind by two men.

They pushed him to the floor and kicked him in the head before running away.

He required hospital treatment for a fractured right eye socket and fractured jaw.

Around 4,500 Buckinghamshire residents will be asked what they think of transport services in the county when National Highways and Transport Survey envelopes start dropping on to doormats this month.

Buckinghamshire is one of 70 county councils taking part in the survey, which compares residents’ opinions with those of others across England.

Neighbouring Oxfordshire, Northants and Herts councils are also taking part.

Results are expected to be published in early autumn.

The survey, sent to a random sample of residents, enables councils to compare results, share in best practice and identify opportunities to work together in the future.

Bucks County Council says it has been working hard to improve the county’s roads and transport services.

During the past 12 months Transport For Bucks teams have:

• Repaired 32,661 ‘Category One’ potholes, all within 24 hours of being reported

• Treated 178 roads as part of the ‘We’re Working On It’ programme

• Cleared around 80,000 gullies

• Repaired 5,320 street lights

• Completed 81 winter gritting runs

Janet Blake, cabinet member for planning and transport, encourged people to complete the survey.

“Residents have been very vocal about the condition of the roads in recent years, and we have invested £30 million in road resurfacing in the past two years. “We’ve just started the second two-year programme with a further £25m, plus a recently agreed additional £3m.

“But we do much more than road resurfacing, which is why we’d value residents’ feedback across the breadth of the survey.”

Council officer John Lamb, whose job title is ‘service director for place’, said there were ‘clear benefits’ to this kind of public survey.

“This isn’t about producing a league table to champion one geographical area over another.

“It’s about better understanding customer views, and working together to deliver the best possible outcomes for local residents.”

The survey is one of a number of ways the council assesses its performance and decides which services to prioritise and improve.

Residents will be able to complete the survey online or on paper.

It is 12 pages long and covers all aspects of local highway and transport services (e.g. from the condition or roads and footways to the quality of local bus services).

The questionnaire takes 20 minutes to complete.

The new district council chairman has chosen Bucks Stroke Support and PACE as his two charities for the year ahead.

Councillor Michael Rand, who was elected as chairman in May, picked the pair to receive money raised through various charity events.

Bucks Stroke Support offers advice, essential information and emotional support for stroke survivors, carers and family members across Bucks.

A range of services are offered including friendship networks, access to support groups and assistance with access to local leisure and social activities. PACE helps disabled children with disorders such as cerebral palsy. The charity is raising funds to acquire new premises in Aylesbury to expand and improve its early years services and training operation.

Mr Rand said: “It’s been a great honour and privilege to be elected chairman of AVDC. I’m really looking forward to the year ahead and hope that lots of people will get involved in organising events and give support to my chosen charities.”

The previous chairman, councillor Derrick Isham, raised £4,370 for Florence Nightingale Hospice and Ali’s Dream last year.

The chairman is available to attend any event that groups and businesses may be planning over the next year.

To invite the chairman to an event, or to make a donation to his chosen charities, call 01296 585009 or email eclark@aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk

A crash near Dinton this morning (Thursday) left a black Nissan Qashqai on the roof of a blue Mini Cooper.

A woman in her 60s was hurt after the three car pile up in Lower Road between Haddenham and Dinton.

The woman, driving a Nissan Qashqai had to be taken to Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

Another woman and young girl, who were in a convertible Mini Cooper, ended up underneath the Nissan car.

The pair were treated at the scene by paramedics.

A Bucks Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “It was lucky no one was seriously injured.”

A man in another car was also involved in the crash but sustained no injuries.

Three fire crews, South Central Ambulance and Chiltern Air Ambulance all attended the accident at 11.15am.

The scene is now clear.

The Paralympic logo, Agitos, will be installed at Stoke Mandeville Hospital roundabout after being granted planning permission.

The symbol is being put on the roundabout to recognise the hospital’s role as the birthplace of the modern Games.

The red, green and blue strokes of the Agitos (Latin for ‘I move’) are the Paralympic Games’ counterpart to the Olympic Rings.

Councillor David Thompson, Aylesbury Vale District Council cabinet member for leisure, previously said: “Stoke Mandeville played a pivotal role in the development of disability sport and this structure will act as a lasting legacy of the London 2012 Games and a permanent reminder of the achievements of Sir Ludwig Guttmann.”

The first recognised sporting event for people with disabilities was hosted by pioneering neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1948 on the same day as the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games.

The Stoke Mandeville event grew to draw athletes from all over the world and led to the inaugural Paralympic Games, which took place in Rome in 1960.

Vale MP John Bercow has spent almost £100,000 of taxpayers’ money on travel and accommodation expenses in the past three years, according to national reports.

A Freedom of Information request by the MailOnline revealed the House of Commons speaker had racked up a bill of £96,000 since May 2010 for business and leisure trips around the world and UK.

A number of the trips were made after being invited by foreign governments. The most expensive journey was £11,252.81 for the Speaker and two aides to fly to Ottawa.

The Speaker has faced criticism from fellow MPs who have said it should be the Governments inviting Mr Bercow picking up the bill and not the British taxpayer.

Bercow also used his chauffeur-driven car on two trips to his official portrait artist in 2011 and charged more than £100 to the taxpayer.

In total £63,000 was spent on flights and £16,000 on chauffeur-driven trips with £6,200 being charged for train travel, mostly in the UK.

A House of Commons spokesman told the Mail: “These travel costs for the Speaker and accompanying officials span a period of over three years and includes a significant amount of outreach activity throughout the United Kingdom.

“The trips abroad are following invitations from other parliaments and to attend international parliamentary conferences.

“The vast majority of travel is economy class, except for long haul flights and where other classes may be best value for money or match timing requirements.

“In line with the House’s commitment to greater transparency these costs will now be published on a quarterly basis.”

A thousand runners laced up their trainers to take on Thame’s 10km road race on Sunday.

It was the first year the race had introduced high-tech chip readers in its bibs to record finishing times.

Claire Novak, of Thame Runners said: “We had 813 runners who finished with chip times.

“There were some late stragglers who came in after they stopped the chip timing. There were several withdrawals due to injuries.

“Thame Runners expect to allocate between £2,500 to £3,000 to several local charities which will take place around September time.”

James Bolton was the first senior male to finish (32.32) and Jane Ovington the first senior female (38.08).

The town’s largest mass participation sports event started in the 1980s as a charity fundraiser for the Thame Boys Brigade and has grown to be one of the key sporting fixtures.

Thame Runners took over the organisation of the event after the first year but have kept the charities as a priority allocating profits to good causes in Thame.

Last year the race raised a total of £2,375 for various local causes.

The race started at 9.30am at Thame Leisure Centre carried on through town to Towersey and came back along the Phoenix Trail.

Several local charities caught the eye at the race particularly the Supergran Team of around 25 members of an extended Asian-origin family.

The three generations of the late Sudagar Masih family, who live in Oxford, raised £5,000 for Sobell House to pay tribute for the excellent level of care provided to their beloved grandmother in her final days.

Cutting-edge lighting costing £60,000 has been installed in Aylesbury’s Vale Park – and there’s more changes on the way.

Aylesbury Vale District Council says the 20 LED lights along the main footpaths will bring increased energy savings.

The lights will be dimmed during off-peak periods to maximise these savings.

The council secured £60,000 in developer contributions from the redevelopment of the Aqua Vale Swimming and Fitness Centre to install the LEDs.

They are part of the overall redevelopment of the site with a children’s play area and sports zone, larger grassed areas and footpaths, tree planting, and a new main entrance opposite the High Street already completed.

The next stage of the revamp will involve repair work to a section of the footpath that runs along the Bearbrook.

The council is also considering options to improve drainage at the park and putting plans in place to improve the skate park next year.

Councillor David Thompson, cabinet member for leisure, said: “The new LED lights will provide a clean, green source of lighting for people using the footpaths.

“We hope that these improvements also go a long way towards making people feel safer when using the park at night.”

The district council worked with Bucks County Council to install the lights.

Councillor Janet Blake, the county council’s cabinet Member for planning and transport, said: “This is an excellent piece of work by all parties.

“The introduction of the new lighting not only has minimal impact on the environment, but also has maximum impact on the park.”

The amount of noise expected to be created by HS2 has been challenged by David Lidington.

Aylesbury’s MP has questioned the estimates given by HS2 Ltd, pointing to the fact that the average noise level predicted includes overnight times when no trains will be running.

In a letter to HS2 Ltd chief executive Alison Munro, Mr Lidington said: “The average noise maps for the night time cover the period from 11pm until 7am.

“The average therefore presumably includes the hours between midnight and 5am when no HS2 trains will be running.

“If this is the case, then it suggests that the averages shown in your maps are in fact very serious underestimates of what my constituents are likely to experience between 11pm and midnight and 5am and 7am.”

He also asked for clarity on whether the noise maps refer to someone standing outside or inside a building when the train passes.

HS2 Ltd has not released noise maps for peak noise levels, but Mr Lidington says he believes the company does have these figures available.

He adds that he understands HS2 Ltd’s final environmental statement will include an analysis of ambient – or background – noise levels.

Mr Lidington said: “I would strongly encourage HS2 Ltd to test ambient noise levels in different weather conditions and at different times of day in particular locations.

“As I am sure you will appreciate, the noise levels during travel to work times is likely to be very different from that on a Sunday afternoon.”

The European minister recently {http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/news/more-news/updated-aylesbury-mp-defends-decision-not-to-vote-against-hs2-1-5217591|upset some constituents by refusing to vote against HS2|show me the story} in a Commons vote.

The Enterprise Inns pub has had a number of landlords in recent years and its closure follows soon after it was announced that another Haddenham pub, The Red Lion, would be replaced by homes.

Haddenham’s Chinese restaurant Peking Rendezvous has also shut recently.

An Enterprise spokesman said: “We can confirm that the Green Dragon has temporarily closed following the publican’s decision to leave the business.

“The Green Dragon is a beautiful and historic property offering quality food as well as a range of real ales.

“We are now actively recruiting for a new publican to further develop the food offering and drive the business forward. There is huge potential to enhance the outdoor trading area and plans are already underway for Enterprise to invest and build a new patio area for the pub.

“We have already received a good level of interest however anyone interested in finding out more about this pub business opportunity can contact us on 0800 953 0072.”

An education support service for children from military families has beengiven nearly £300,000 to expand its operations.

The Service Children Support Network gives youngsters additional support, recognising the extra pressures they face from the context of Service life – such as regularly moving from one area to another.

It was founded in 2008 by chairman of Halton Community Combined School, Joy O’Neill.

It has been given £280,000 from the Armed Forces Covenant Libor Fund to expand their programme in Buckinghamshire, placing family support coordinators in schools to provide tailored support.

The network has links with Bucks County Council and the authority’s chairman Carl Etholen said: “This signals the very high value placed on the work of the Service Children’s Support Network here in Buckinghamshire.

Mr Etholen, who is is also the county’s official Armed Forces Champion, added: “I’m delighted that Joy O’Neill’s tireless work has won recognition at national level, and that the network is playing a valuable role as a model for similar work in other parts of the country.”

The government created the £35 million fund from fines levied on the banks attempting to manipulate the Linor interest rate. It is specifically for military causes.

Two men arrested in connection with an attack which left a 51-year-old man with a fractured eye socket and jaw have been released on bail.

The men, both from Aylesbury and aged 30, were arrested on suspicion of GBH.

The assault took place at about 1.30am on June 16.

The victim was walking in the subway underpass in Cambridge Street when he was attacked from behind by two men.

They pushed him to the floor and kicked him in the head before running away.

He required hospital treatment for a fractured right eye socket and fractured jaw.

The men are due to answer bail on August 7.

A new £43 million mental health hospital, The Whiteleaf Centre, Bucks Health and Wellbeing Campus will open in November.

Construction is progressing well at the hospital which is based on the site of the old Manor Hospital in Bierton Road.

Under the plans, 40 bedrooms will be allocated to elderly people, with 20 for dementia patients and 20 for people with other illnesses.

A further 40 beds will be for adults and there will be 233 parking spaces, including 12 for disabled people.

The new unit will result in the closure of the nearby Tindal Centre and the John Hampden Unit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.