MORE THAN £4 million – that’s the staggering amount of prize money Mecca Bingo in Luton’s Skimpot Road paid out to customers last year.

Described as “24 for grown-ups”, Homeland has already won a Golden Globe and critical acclaim. As the show begins in Britain on Channel 4, its main star Damian Lewis talks to Shereen Low about portraying a US marine sergeant suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and why he really wants to play Don Draper from Mad Men.

LOCAL designer Lewis-Duncan Weedon is showing his first menswear range at London Fashion Week.

BEER enthusiasts raised a glass to the creme of a bumper crop of locally sourced tipples at a packed Luton Beer Festival at the weekend.

On a Saga holiday with a difference, Lauren Taylor discovers the joys of a safari in the famed Okavango Delta.

t hunger. The Rider’s gonna come out. And when he does, he’ll destroy whoever’s got it coming.”

STAFF at a Luton solicitors firm ditched the diets for the day on Friday as they held a charity bake sale to raise funds for a local baby care unit.

A LUTON dinner lady was highly commended in a competition to find the region’s best school cook.

STAFF at a salon in Luton are celebrating being awarded a four-star rating by the Good Salon Guide.

BLEAK but brilliant TYRANNOSAUR (18: Studio Canal) is so harrowing at times that it’s not for the faint-hearted.

It’s hard to know what to expect from a show entitled ‘Sofa / Bed Double Feature’, but the Breakaway Theatre Company show turned out to be a quirky production with both laughs and powerful acting that kept the audiences entertained at The Abbey Theatre last night.

THE audience gave Save The Last Dance For Me a big thumbs up when it opened at Aylesbury’s Waterside Theatre this week.

A SWEETIE-induced sugar rush left ballet fans at Milton Keynes Theatre on a high following the opening night of Matthew Bourne’s sumptuous production of Nutcracker!

SATURDAY

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to save Houghton Regis Leisure Centre from the axe are delighted that it will now stay open in 2012/13.

A TALENTED new band showcased their music at a Love Luton festival event in The Mall on Valentine’s Day.

AS a ditzy driver who didn’t even know how to pop my bonnet until recently, the Women In Gear event at Hartwell Dunstable sounded like the perfect chance for me to learn some motoring skills.

PERFORM nearly 40 songs of varying quality from the late 50s and early 60s, add a flimsy plot and you get a standing ovation at the Waterside Theatre.

Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close

EARLY spring sees the welcome return of snowdrops and early daffodils.