Northampton Town have announced the double signing of Elliott List and Dean Campbell.
List will join on a free transfer from Stevenage, with the attacker signing a two year contract at Sixfields.
Midfielder Campbell has also signed a two year deal with the Cobblers, with the 24-year-old joining the club from Barrow.
Campbell was the first signing Northampton confirmed today (19/06), with the Cobblers confirming the midfielder had rejected a deal to stay with Barrow and offers from other clubs to join up.
He had been with Barrow for two years after joining from Aberdeen in 2023, making 86 appearances in two seasons for the Cumbrian club.
Cobblers boss Kevin Nolan hailed Campbell’s decision to choose Northampton as his new club, with Nolan telling the club’s official website that he was happy to bring him to Sixfields.
He said, “Dean is a player we identified very early as having the attributes we want to bring in and we have had some really good discussions with him.
“We believe his career is on an upward curve, he has had two really good years at Barrow and we believe he is ready to make the step up to League One to continue his progress.
“Given the players who we released and the injury to Liam Shaw, I wanted to make sure we added a senior player into this position before the start of pre-season and Dean is that. He is experienced, he knows the position and what is required.
“He is good on the ball, he looks after it well and he can make us play. He can also handle the physical side of the game and he is a player we think we can work with to help make him even better. Being a midfielder myself, hopefully I can pass on my knowledge and experience to help Dean do that and that is something we look at with every new signing, whatever age or experience they may be.”
Attacker List, who can play out wide or up front, moves to Northampton after five years with Stevenage. He made 39 appearances for the Hertfordshire club last season, while a career that has seen him also play for Colchester and Gillingham has seen him play over 250 times in all.
The deal saw List become Northampton’s sixth new arrival ahead of the new season, with Campbell the fifth confirmed new face for the Cobblers.
Nolan said about List, “Elliott brings something different. He is a dynamic forward who can play in a number of the attacking positions and brings real energy and attacking threat.
“We want pace down the sides next season and he fits that template perfectly. He is adaptable, he can fit into both a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-3 which we used a lot last season given the personnel we had available and I want us to be adaptable.
“He’s someone who can stretch defences out wide, he can score goals, and create opportunities for others but I also like that he works very hard off the ball.
“He is the type of player who can excite supporters, he will get us up the pitch but I want him to be doing most of his work in the final third of the pitch where I think he can be a real threat. We want teams to be wary of us and the threats we can pose and he helps with that.”
Fire crews have had to attend grass and field fires in the Milton Keynes area as a heatwave continues.
Temperatures in the area have been warm this week, with temperatures regularly staying above 25 degrees Celsius and forecast to peak at 32 on Saturday.
With this coming on the back of a dry spring that had little rainfall, it has lead to some grass fires being reported in the area.
Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they had attended a field fire in Newport Pagnell last night (18/06) that affected an area that affected approximately 75,000 square metres of land. The fire broke out just after 2:40pm.
Two crews from the Newport Pagnell and Broughton stations attended the blaze, with attending firefighters using two hose reels, beaters, a wildfire unit from West Ashland, a water carrier from Towcester, and a thermal imaging camera as apparatus to deal with the situation.
Farmers on the site also used 3 mechanical vehicles with cultivators to create a full perimeter of the affected area, which was inspected by firefighters. In their analysis, firefighters found no further hotspots.
A further grassland fire was then reported by the fire service in an area adjacent to a dual carriageway in central Milton Keynes. The fire was reported around 12:15pm this afternoon (19/06).
The area by Marlborough Street in the city centre measured approximately 20 metres by 7 metres, with Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue confirming the affected area was alight on arrival.
One crew from the West Ashland station attended the blaze and were able to extinguish the fire.
Northamptonshire Police has apologised to the family of Harry Dunn after an independent review criticised their conduct in the case after his death.
Harry died after his motorbike was struck by a car that was driving on the wrong side of the B4031 road near RAF Croughton in south Northamptonshire on 27th August 2019. He was 19.
The car was being driven by an American woman called Anne Sacoolas, who was the wife of an American government employee working at the base and who returned to the US less than a month after the collision.
This incident and her exit from the UK prompted Harry’s family to launch of the Justice for Harry campaign, which eventually led to Sacoolas being convicted of causing death by careless driving in December 2022.
An independent review into Northamptonshire Police’s handling of the case finished in the publication of a 118-page report earlier this week.
The report documented what has been described as “a failure of leadership around the investigation, including the decision not to declare it as a critical incident, the lack of a so-called Gold Group structure around it which would have better enabled a more effective approach to co-ordinating police and partner activity.”
The report also criticised the decision not to arrest Sacoolas at the site of the crash and, later, not to have informed the family that Sacoolas had left the UK in September 2019 until some 10 days after the Force was notified that she had left the country.
There was additional criticism of the forensic recovery process following the collision which led to the discovery, more than four years later, of human tissue on Harry’s clothing which led to the grieving family holding a second funeral in March 2024.
The independent review was also very critical of former Chief Constable Nick Adderley. This was in regard to comments at a news conference in October 2019 that prompted a breakdown of relations with the family, along with the posting some days later of a subsequently deleted post on X (then known as Twitter) that further damaged the relationship. Adderley has since left Northamptonshire Police after being dismissed for gross misconduct in 2024.
The post led to the family calling for his resignation and was the subject of a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
ACC Emma James, the Force’s Head of Protective Services, who has overseen the delivery of the report, said the review would make very difficult reading, but hoped it would provide some answers for the family.
She said, “First and foremost, on behalf of Northamptonshire Police, I want to apologise to Harry’s family for what is now clear was a failure on our part to do the very best for the victim in this case, Harry, and his family who fought tirelessly in the years that followed to achieve justice for him.
“It’s no surprise that Harry’s mother Charlotte was so deservingly honoured just this last weekend with an MBE for her campaigning work in road safety.
“It was vitally important that Northamptonshire Police conducted this review into the most high-profile case in the Force’s history, a case where clear and significant shortcomings have now been properly and independently unearthed.
“The picture which emerges is one of a Force which has failed the family on a number of fronts, and we hope the findings, which are troubling in several respects, will provide some answers to questions which the family will have wanted to know in the years that have passed.
“I hope some good comes out of this. Much of the learning which the Force has taken from this has already been put in place and we make a number of specific recommendations for best practice at a national level.
“We have taken a deep look at ourselves and hope the transparent way we have identified failings of the past will go some way to re-building the confidence of Harry’s family and friends going forward as well as the wider public at large.”
Harry’s parents, Charlotte and Tim, met ACC James and the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, at a private meeting at Wootton Hall HQ on Monday when they were presented with the report’s findings for the first time.
MK Dons have announced the signing of Aaron Collins from Bolton Wanderers.
The 28-year-old joins the Dons for an undisclosed fee and has signed a deal of undisclosed length to move to Stadium MK. Some reports have suggested the fee is a club record deal, although MK Dons themselves have not confirmed this.
Collins is the Dons’ fourth new signing ahead of the upcoming season, following the previously announced arrivals of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing, Rushian Hepburn-Murphy and Gethin Jones.
The deal sees the Dons sign a player who impressed for Bolton in League One last season, with Collins voted as the Lancashire club’s Player of the Year. He scored 19 goals for the Trotters last season.
Collins had joined Bolton from Bristol Rovers in 2024. Before then, he had made his EFL debut with hometown club Newport County, while he also spent time playing for Morecambe and Forest Green Rovers.
He was also contracted to Wolves but failed to make a first team appearance for the West Midlands club, spending time out on loan with Notts County, Tranmere, Newport and Colchester.
Collins told the official MK Dons website that he was excited to work his new boss Paul Warne.
He said, “I’m really looking forward to playing for MK Dons! It’s an unbelievable project with loads of potential.
“I can’t wait to work with Paul Warne, we get on really well and I’m sure he’ll get the best out of me as a striker. He’s a top manager at this level and shows the ambition of the owners. The club is definitely heading in the right direction, and I’m excited to be part of it!
“I feel refreshed and ready to go ahead of the new season. I’m really looking forward to meeting the lads, getting out on the grass, and pushing for the promotion the club deserves.”
Milton Keynes City Council have launched a consultation on a Sustainability Strategy to bolster ambitions to be net zero by 2030.
The City Council is inviting residents, businesses and community groups to have their say on the draft Sustainability Strategy which aims to make MK one of the world’s leading sustainable cities.
The city council’s new strategy describes how the whole city and all council operations could be net zero by 2030, which is 20 years ahead of the legal deadline set by the UK government.
MK City Council said, “This goal – while ambitious – is built on years of progress including the city council cutting carbon emissions by tens of thousands of tonnes and reducing its energy use by 80%. Milton Keynes Waste Recovery Park is now generating enough energy to power 11,000 homes and the city council has secured funding to make 1,500 council homes more energy efficient, with some tenants already benefitting from lower energy bills. Over 8,000 trees have been planted in recent years, including ten forest gardens.”
The draft strategy outlines how the city will tackle climate change and reduce emissions, and how the community will benefit as a result. Collaboration is a key part of the strategy; residents and businesses have a vital role to play in making Milton Keynes fully sustainable.
The strategy has five key themes:
- Economy – Encouraging green jobs, supporting local businesses to seize the opportunities of net zero, and driving a circular economy
- Energy – Supporting renewable energy use and plans for a city-wide District Heating Network
- Emissions – Investing in sustainable public transport and decarbonising council vehicles and homes
- Environment – Protecting and enhancing the city’s green spaces and biodiversity
- Engagement – Working hand-in-hand with communities
Cabinet Member for Planning and Placemaking, Cllr Shanika Mahendran, said, “This draft strategy not only gives us the foundations to protect our environment, but also creates real opportunities for everyone in our city. From green jobs and better homes to cleaner transport and healthier communities, this is a plan for the future. The only way we can make a real difference and achieve our sustainability goals is if everyone comes on this journey with us.”
The consultation is live on the MK City Council website.
