The Unite trade union has announced bus worker strikes from multiple Arriva depots, including Luton and Milton Keynes.

The dispute covers workers across Arriva the Shires and Arriva Kent Thameside across five depots. These are Luton, Milton Keynes, Stevenage, Ware and Hemel Hempstead.

Unite have announced 16 days of strikes between late September and mid-October, covering Tuesday 23 September – Friday 26 September, Wednesday 1 October – Saturday 4 October, Thursday 9 October – Sunday 12 October and Tuesday 14 October – Friday 17 October.

The union said, “Arriva have offered a below-inflation increase of just 65p per hour, equating to 3.82 per cent for a bus driver backdated to 1 January 2025. This is despite the fact in the last financial year Arriva – which operates in 11 European countries – was purchased by new American owners I Squared Capital and saw its total revenues reach €2.46bn.”

Around 800 bus drivers, engineers, cleaners and shunters are to take part in the strike action.

It is estimated that Arriva operates around 50 routes a day operate out of their Milton Keynes and Luton depots.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement, “This is a dispute entirely of Arriva’s own making and it is now responsible for the chaos that will hit commuters in the home counties.

“It is completely unacceptable to offer such a derisory pay increase in the current economic climate while making billions in revenue. Our members have the full support of Unite in their dispute.”

The union’s regional officer Jeff Hodge added, “Our members do a stressful and skilled job yet their employer thinks they can be short-changed with this insulting pay offer. Our message to Arriva is stark – make a pay offer that our members can accept or face the chaos of strikes across your network this autumn.”

In a statement, Arriva said, “Unite have voted to strike in Luton, Milton Keynes, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Ware, we are disappointed by this news and remain committed to finding a resolution.

“We will keep our customers updated”.

Former MK Dons star Chuks Aneke has returned to League 2 after signing a deal with Shrewsbury Town.

The 32-year-old had been available after being released by Charlton Athletic at the end of last season, and he has now joined the Shrews on a deal of undisclosed length.

Aneke joined as a free transfer having been without a club, with the deal made in the window where free agents can still other clubs while out of the transfer window.

In his time with the Dons, Aneke scored 33 times in 94 appearances in all competitions, 19 of which came as he helped the team from Stadium MK achieve promotion in the 2018/19 season from League Two.

Aneke had joined the Dons in 2016 from Belgian side Zulte Waregem, having spent two seasons playing with the side from West Flanders after leaving Arsenal.

After leaving MK Dons, Aneke joined Charlton in 2019, spent a year at Birmingham City after leaving South London in 2021, then returned to Charlton in 2022. Across his two spells at The Valley, he scored 27 goals in 138 appearances.

MK Dons boss Paul Warne accepted responsibility for a first-half display that ultimately cost his side in a home loss to Grimsby Town.

The Dons were 3-0 down at half-time against the Mariners, conceding 3 goals in less than 20 minutes and also having Jon Mellish sent off in a difficult opening period.

A second half comeback saw the Dons score at each end of the second half, but ultimately fall short in their aspiration to take a point.

Speaking after the game, Warne took responsibility, saying they had tried out a tactical tweak to try and exploit Grimsby’s formation only for it to backfire.

He said, “I have to own the first half. I went 4-4-2 as I thought if our two centre-forwards put pressure on their centre-halves, the way they play with full-backs that come inside, I thought we could stop them. We worked on it all week so in fairness to the lads, that’s on me.

“It’s just disappointing. They thoroughly deserved their lead at half-time, I’ve got no issues with that. We had to make changes during the half – Offord was on a booking and didn’t feel like he could get close or tackle so we had to change that.”

Warne ruminated that there was more than just the shape behind why Grimsby scored three goals, all of which came from moves down their left and the Dons’ right.

He said, “The goals, the shape was an issue, obviously, but none of the goals have come from a problem with the shape. They’ve come from missed tackles, not defending crosses or not stopping people coming inside. What could go wrong did go wrong in the first-half.

“I just feel like we let everyone down in the first 45 minutes.”

After the break, the Dons were able to improve in a reshuffle, frustrating Grimsby’s attack, scoring twice and playing more to his liking, but with Warne left with things to reflect on ahead of future assignments.

He said, “We were calm at half-time saying you can’t perform like that and need to show some integrity and effort. I just felt that second half, although we were a man down, it’s very difficult to criticise anything any player did. The work ethic and tackles were there. There was a bit more aggression and we weren’t trying to be too intricate and had much more of a goal threat. I leave knowing we have the players to perform but can’t perform at a level below where we should because against anyone in this league, you’re just not going to win.”

The Dons nearly stole a point late on when a Jack Sanders overhead kick narrowly cleared the bar, but Warne admitted it was just not to be.

He said, “Just from a pure keeping a 52 year old happy, if that overhead kick had gone in at the end, that would’ve absolutely ripped the roof off and been great. Not to be.”

Dizzee Rascal will headline a Halloween-themed event at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on October 31st.

The Halloween Junkies event will be headlined by Dizzee, in an event that will run at the arena adjacent to the MK Dons stadium from 7pm to 1am.

Presented by Louder and Project One X, Halloween Junkies represents a brand new event in the UK’s live music calendar, intended to provide spectators with a night-long festival filled with a high-end production and lots of performers.

The promoters have confirmed additional names will be added in due course.

Tickets will go on general sale from 10am on Friday (12/09) through Skiddle, with pre-sale information available through Dizzee Rascal’s website.

MK Dons’ Group CEO Neil Hart said, “We’re absolutely delighted to be hosting Dizzee Rascal’s Halloween Junkies at the world-class Arena MK.

“Dizzee is one of the UK’s most influential artists, and we’re so excited he’s bringing his quintessentially explosive energy and brand-new boundary-pushing show to Milton Keynes.

“As well as football we want to bring as many live music events to our city as possible, and we know the people of MK are going to absolutely love seeing such an iconic artist unleashed!”

Dizzee Rascal has released 8 UK studio albums, in a career that has also seen him be a featured artist or outright performer on 4 UK number one singles, while he also famously performed as part of the 2012 Olympics’ opening ceremony in London.