An unemployed man from Mead Lane has been changed with attempted murder after a 64 year old man was found with facial fractures and broken hands on a Harlow playing field.

Bradley Burnip (29) was arrested on 2nd February and remanded in custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 16th April.

The elderly victim from Sheering remains in hospital and is being treated for his injuries.

Police are also looking for the victim's car, a maroon Ford Escort with the registration M953 OAN.

Channel Four are currently looking for homes to renovate in the county as part of a new show called "The Renovation Game".

In the show, a professional team of 3 builders and an interior designer to work together with the challenge of carrying out renovation work on a property, with the intention of increasing the value by at least £15,000. The team are given a budget of £3000 and 3 days in which to complete the task. If they fail to meet the target increase, they don't get paid!

The renovation is completely FREE for the home-owner and we could significantly increase the value of their home.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact Hannah Walker on 0117 970 7612.

Dutch rail company Abellio have formally taken over services at Hertford East station.

Immediate changes include the freezing of car parking charges until the end of the year, additional customer service staff and a doubling of safety and securty staff.

Fares and train times are currently unchanged.

There will be few cosmetic changes initially as the franchise is only for 29 months. This means there will be no overhaul of signage or train liveries. 

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A man was seriously assaulted at The StoneHouse in Bull Plain on Friday night.

The incident happened in the smoking area outside of the pub around 11:45 pm.

The victim was a 21–year–old man from Ware, who sustained serious injuries to his face which required treatment at hospital following the incident.

Detective Constable Kirsty Richardson, who is investigating the incident, said: "This was a particularly nasty assault which has left the victim with life changing injuries which required hospital treatment. We believe this attack was unprovoked and we are urging anyone with information to contact us as a matter of urgency."

Anyone with information can contact DC Richardson on 101 quoting crime reference number A1/12/281.

Bircherley Green car park is set for a major refurbishment from Monday 23rd January.

The 190-spaces at the car park, which serves Waitrose and other stores in the pedestrianised precinct, will be reduced to 80 during the £600,000 works.

The restrictions are likely to last until Easter and more of the spaces will be made available to Blue Badge users to ensure shoppers who most need to be close to the shops can continue to use it. More spaces will be opened up for general use as the works progress.

East Herts Council has been in consultation and discussions with Waitrose and the management company of Bircherley Green shopping centre to timetable the car park refurbishment.

Mike Carver, Executive Member with responsibility for parking, said: "We have to carry out this work and, while the easiest thing would have been to close it completely, we're doing all we can to keep the car park open to allow some use.

"This inevitably means the work period will take longer but the finished result will be a lighter and brighter car park which can continue to serve the town centre for many years to come."

The nearest alternative car parks are Gascoyne Way multi-storey and Hartham car parks.

Parts of Mill Road and Railway Street will close from Sunday for overnight resurfacing work.

The closures will affect the length of Mill Road between Ware Road and Hertford East where it passes Tesco; and Railway Street between Villiers Street in the east and South Street in the West.

Alternatives routes will be provided.

Story updated to show work starting on Sunday, not Monday.

Hertford Town Council has frozen it's budget for the third year in a row.

The council's precept for 2012-13 will be £1,059,555, the same as the last and previous years.

Unlike District and County Councils, Town Councils are not required by the Government to freeze their portion of the Council Tax. In contrast to the larger councils, Town Councils do not receive any financial contribution to their running from the Government, so must raise their funding locally.

Chairman of the Finance, Policy and Administration Committee, Cllr Chantal Geall, said: "Good management of our finances has been a priority issue for Hertford Town Council, enabling us to freeze the Council Tax for the second year running. Our budget is a sensible one, maintaining good levels of reserves whilst spending money on services and initiatives to meet the needs of our town and its residents.

Projects and services to benefit from funding for the coming financial year will include a range of projects to improve the town's cemetery in North Road, support for the town centre, including continuation of the Town Development Fund and ongoing funding of the 62 hanging baskets.

The Town Council's popular events programme at Hertford Castle will be maintained, as well as continued support of the very popular allotments at six sites in Hertford, Hertingfordbury, and Bengeo.

The owner of a listed building is facing prosecution if planning officers are given the go-ahead by councillors.

Late last year, the owner of 31 Fore Street installed a dormer window in the roof of the building, removing the many of the original timbers. Despite having conditional planning permission and listed building consent, the removal of the timbers had not been authorised and the installed window is larger than approved.

Planning officers are seeking prosecution as the roof cannot be return to it's original condition and therefore an enforecement notice would not be appropriate.

Hertford's former library could become offices and a design studio if plans by an Enfield company are approved.

Documents submitted to the District Council state: "The planned use of the building is very much in keeping with it's original use as an artists' studio and our designers can benefit from the fantastric quality of light provided in particular on the first floor".

The company is currently based in Enfield but two of it's directors live in Hertford.

There are no plans to alter the interior of the buiilding or change the existing access.

After over ten years in the planning, Hertford's new library opened today.

The new library is accessed from Maidenhead Street and features a children's area, larger stock and more public computers. The floorspace however is the same as the old library.

A formal opening ceremony will be led by Culture Secretary Ed Vaizey on Thursday 19th January.