Latest news with #Dunstable
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Girlfriend still feels guilt after Lockerbie crash
On 21st December 1988, Tim Burman, 24, boarded a plane to New York, where he was planning to meet his girlfriend. He never made the other 259 passengers on Pan Am 103, he was killed when the flight was blown up over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 11 more people on the girlfriend at the time, Rose Grant, who has remained close with his family decades later, still blamed said: "I think of Tim with love and gratitude, but also guilt. Because he was coming to see me. If he wasn't coming to see me, he wouldn't have been on the plane." Tim Burman was born in Dunstable in 1964, and his sister Rachel Robertson described him as "the baby of the family".She recalled her brother's love for nature and being outside and said: "He was super smart, athletic, and his passion was the great outdoors. He climbed, he ran, he did road races."She added that a Scouts unit where he lived in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, launched a scheme every year "that enables someone else to follow the passions he has". "It's a bit of a family tradition now not to mourn death and loss but to remember birthdays and happy times instead," she banker was sat in seat 38G on Pan Am 103. His ashes were now in Scotland, where his family lives. Ms Grant, who has lived in Australia and America, still regularly visits her former boyfriend's family in the UK."I was welcomed into the family with absolute open arms in such difficult circumstances," she to BBC Three Counties Radio, she admitted she had never come to terms with the loss."You get on with your life, you do, you don't think you're going to initially, life has a funny way of pulling you back into the now," she said."But inside it's always been there."Although she has had three children since Mr Burman's death, she still speaks often of him with her added: "My daughter has a picture of Tim on her fridge with all her other important photos... They do know about Tim." Both women are included in a new documentary for BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer called Lockerbie: Our follows a six-part drama commissioned by the BBC and Netflix called The Bombing of Pan Am 103."The family members of everybody on that plane are getting older with time," Ms Robertson said."In the not-too-distant future, who's going to be around to tell that story?"In the drama, Tim is played by Cameron Mullane, who coincidentally is the same age the banker was in actor, making his television debut, is from Luton - a town between Dunstable, where Tim was born, and Harpenden, where he lived for a said: "I feel very privileged to give that performance to Tim."To think that he's my age and his life was cut short is really quite sobering." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Motorway delays caused by lorry fire
Drivers were warned to expect delays after a lorry caught fire on a motorway. Traffic reporting service Inrix said two lanes were closed heading southbound on the M1 between junction 11 for Dunstable and junction 10 for Luton Airport. According to the AA's live traffic map, the incident was first reported at about 05:00 BST and smoke was blowing across the carriageway. National Highways told drivers to expect disruption to continue until 08:30 BST. Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue has been approached for comment. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
M1 delays in Bedfordshire caused by lorry fire near Luton
Drivers were warned to expect delays after a lorry caught fire on a reporting service Inrix said two lanes were closed heading southbound on the M1 between junction 11 for Dunstable and junction 10 for Luton to the AA's live traffic map, the incident was first reported at about 05:00 BST and smoke was blowing across the Highways told drivers to expect disruption to continue until 08:30 BST. Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue has been approached for comment. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
19-05-2025
- BBC News
Sisters call for law change after man's fatal crash in Dunstable
The family of a moped rider who died in a collision are calling for driving licences to be revoked from anyone when they are arrested on suspicion of serious motoring offences. Bobby Smith, 29, from Markyate, Hertfordshire, died on the A5183 on the outskirts of Dunstable, Bedfordshire, at about 05:40 GMT on 3 March.A man in his 40s was arrested at the scene and has since been released on police bail, pending further Smith's five sisters have started a petition for a law change and told the BBC: "Something needs to change." The family want police to have the power to remove the driving licence of anyone under investigation until any criminal proceedings have sisters have been warned by police it could be two years before any case reaches court. They said their petition had been started in Mr Smith's sister Kylie Fury, 35, said: "Knowing that Bobby's life has stopped but that person's life is continuing, however long it takes to come to court , they are still able to drive a car. "We want driving licences to be suspended or revoked when someone is seriously injured or killed in a motor accident, or if you fail one or all of the toxicology roadside tests and then you go to the police station and you fail them as well."His sister Leanne Westlake, 33, said the family was grateful for the support their petition had received. "We got his picture on our vans. People come up and talk to us about Bobby, and tell us their stories. We're not the first family to go through this and we won't be the last," she said."Something needs to change." Ms Westlake described her younger brother as "the funniest person you've ever met". "He would be the one that would pick you up on your bad days. Whenever we would have an argument he would always be the peacekeeper. He wanted us to be happy," she sister Carolanne Smith, 20, had a close bond with her brother. "We used to hang out together all the time. He was the light. He made everyone laugh. It's not the same at home without him," she said. Mr Smith had just been promoted to team leader at courier firm 4PX in Dunstable and loved his job, regularly working six shifts a week."He was supposed to be on leave that week," said Carolanne. "But he got a call from his manager on Sunday, and, being Bobby, he agreed to go into work that morning. "We all told him not to go."Mr Smith was working towards passing his driving test and had a theory test booked for two days after his death, his family revealed. Sister Kylie Fury, 35, added: "He had so much to do. He got his passport at the start of this year because he wanted to go abroad for the first time."His life was work, his dogs and family in that order", the family has said. The BBC has approached the Department for Transport for comment. Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
