Luton Town have confirmed that several games between early October and mid-January have been chosen for live TV broadcast.

A new round of fixture announcements were made earlier this week by Sky Sports, confirming games they intend to broadcast on TV between October and the FA Cup Third Round weekend in January.

Six of Luton’s games will now have new kick-off times due to Sky choosing them for broadcast.

The Hatters’ trip to Coventry remains on Saturday 26th October but will now be a 12.30pm kick-off.

A home game with West Bromwich Albion will be moved to Friday 1st November and be an 8pm kick-off.

Another home game chosen is the Hatters’ clash with Cardiff City, which will still be on Wednesday 6th November as scheduled but now kick-off at 8pm.

Luton’s trip to Middlesbrough will remain on Saturday 9th November but has now been brought forward to a kick-off time of 12.30pm.

The Hatters’ home game with Derby County will now be an 8pm kick-off on Friday 20th December, and the final game moved is the team’s trip to QPR, which will be an 8pm kick-off on Monday 6th January 2025.

As part of the announcement, Luton also confirmed revised kick-off dates and times for three other games.

The home derby game against Watford remains on Saturday 19th October as planned but will now have a 12.30pm kick-off, while the team’s trip to face Leeds United is now on Wednesday 27th November and will have a 7.45pm kick-off. Neither of these two games will be televised.

The Hatters’ home game against Leeds on Saturday 5th April 2025 now has a 12.30pm kick-off. This however is potentially subject to change down the line, with TV picks for April 2025 not expected for another few months.

Red Bull Racing is set to keep Sergio Perez in one of it’s F1 race seats after speculation he was set to be dropped during the season’s summer break.

Despite the Mexican only signing a new contract with Red Bull last month, speculation had built up that the team were considering dropping Perez from his seat alongside Max Verstappen.

Perez has seen a slump in form, with the 34-year-old failing to score a podium in the last 10 races and not finishing a race higher than seventh since the Miami Grand Prix in early May.

The drop in form has seen the driver fall to seventh in the F1 Driver’s Championship standings, which would have been eighth had George Russell not been disqualified after winning last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.

The form has also seen Red Bull become vulnerable in the Constructor’s Championship. The Milton Keynes-based team enter the summer break still leading but are now 42 points clear of McLaren, having been over 100 points clear in May and having been outscored by McLaren and Mercedes in the last 2 months.

It was widely reported that Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner and motorsport advisor Dr Helmut Marko were planning to meet to review the first half of the season on Monday the day after the Belgian Grand Prix, with one item of review being whether to keep Perez in his seat for when the F1 season resumes after the summer break at the Dutch Grand Prix in late August.

Internal remarks by Horner that were reported by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and verified by multiple outlets including the BBC, Sky, The Race, RaceFans and Autosport suggests that the team have made the decision to retain Perez for at least the next four races in the Netherlands, Italy, Azerbaijan and Singapore.

Horner is quoted as saying, “Checo remains a Red Bull Racing driver, despite all the speculation of late. We look forward to seeing him perform on circuits where he has done well before.”

The decision will also see Red Bull’s junior team RB maintain its current line-up, with Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda remaining there and reserve driver Liam Lawson remaining in reserve. Ricciardo and Lawson had been rumoured at various points over the last month as being linked with taking Perez’s seat.

Multiple criticisms of Perez’s form had emerged from Red Bull in recent weeks, with Horner calling Perez’s form “unsustainable” in a TV interview after he failed to score points at the British Grand Prix and Marko saying Perez “completely collapsed” in his own TV interview after the Belgian round when he went from starting second to finishing eighth, before being promoted to seventh after Russell’s disqualification.

Milton Keynes City Council have announced they are extending an electric car charging trial to help motorists without off street parking charge at home.

In partnership with Kerbo Charge, the city council initially trialled ‘through-pavement channels’ for six families who don’t have access to off street parking.

The City Council have now said that the trial is now being extended for up to 100 electric vehicle users in Milton Keynes, with the council saying that the new method could save electric car drivers more than £1,100 each year.

How the scheme works is that a product is installed in tarmac or stone pavements directly outside a customer’s home, creating a narrow channel (30mm deep, 42mm wide) with a hinged lid in which the user can easily place a charging cable, running it to their car with no trip hazards from trailing cables.

MK City Council have reported those who trialled the scheme fed back it was a success as it gave them the confidence to move from petrol/diesel cars to electric, reducing CO2 emissions.

David Peake, a resident that took part in the initial trial has hailed the new technology as ‘transformational’. Prior to enrolling onto the trial he either needed to trail a cable over the pavement or drive a small distance to his nearest charge point. He and others now have a specially designed polymer channel with a self-closing lid in the pathway outside their house, which they can switch on using an app.

Peake said, “The Kerbo Charge installation has been transformational for me because I can now safely charge my car at home and drive in electric mode every day, saving around 80 litres of petrol every week and slashing my emissions. Hats off to Milton Keynes City Council for leading the way with this new technology.”

Recent data from Zap Map shows that on average, a resident who can charge their car at home spends £680 annually, compared to £1,820 for those using public chargers. This disparity is particularly evident for the 40% of UK households without driveways, where the expense of public charging turns many people away from owning an electric car.

Residents interested in the scheme can apply on the city council’s website.

Cabinet Member for Public Realm, Cllr Jennifer Wilson-Marklew, said, “We have a proud history of supporting innovation and encouraging electric vehicle uptake here in Milton Keynes. We have one of the best public charging networks in the country but want to do more to help our residents. This extended trial enables our residents to home charge when they do not have a driveway, giving them the confidence to switch to a low-emission lifestyle which helps us meet our sustainability targets.”

Kerbo Charge Co-Founder Michael Goulden, added, “Our aim is to make it affordable for residents without driveways to move to electric. We’re delighted that Milton Keynes City Council is making home charging accessible to residents with street parking across the city. Milton Keynes is known as one of the most innovative councils in the UK and they’ve certainly lived up to that reputation here.”

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for potential thunderstorms in England on Thursday (01/08).

Thunder is forecast at the end of a recent heatwave in southern England, with temperatures rising above 25 degrees Celsius in the region over the last few days.

This heatwave is however forecast to run into a thundery patch, with expectations that storms could be seen on Wednesday evening but are likelier to fall on Thursday.

As of 08:20am on Wednesday 31st July, Milton Keynes is forecast potential rain between 1pm and 7pm on Thursday, with the highest risk of rain falling being between 2pm and 5pm.

A risk of rain on Wednesday was initially forecast in some weather forecasts, but current forecasts suggest it’ll remain dry.

Under a yellow weather warning, Met Office advice is that spray and sudden flooding could lead to difficult driving conditions and some road closures, and where flooding or lightning strikes occur, there is a chance of delays and some cancellations to train and bus service.

Power cuts might occur and other services to some homes and businesses could be lost in some extreme circumstances.

In very extreme circumstances, flooding of homes and businesses could happen quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds, while fast flowing or deep floodwater is possible, causing a danger to life.

In a statement, the Met Office’s Deputy Chief Meteorologist Dan Holley said, “While there is often some uncertainty during thundery breakdowns, we’re monitoring several areas that could see some thunderstorms on Wednesday, but more especially Thursday. There is a small chance in parts of south and southeast England as early as Wednesday, perhaps more likely on Wednesday night, with other areas of heavy and locally thundery rain developing across portions of Wales, the Midlands and northern England later on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning.

“In addition, scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms may break out on Thursday afternoon and evening across parts of central, southern and eastern England, along with perhaps south Wales, which may produce gusty winds, large hail and the risk of surface water flooding. The heaviest downpours could produce in excess of 25mm of rain in less than an hour, with disruption possible in some areas. This is an evolving story, so it’s important to stay up-to-date with the latest forecast during the next couple of days.”