This page is relevant to all villages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nottingham Knockers

A great deal of people, especially the lone elderly, do not like opening their front door to be face to face with a young man selling what most households already have in their possession. If anything, the Nottingham Knocker call is more akin to menacing begging based on some of the Facebook posts regarding this activity. Often, a Facebook post raises the alarm for locals so that they can be more wary of opening the door. Stickers on doors stating 'No doorstep Selling Zone' do not deter these people. Most of the time the Facebook alarm is too late and so a simple Whatsapp group for an instant alert would work better. A simple statement of Road and Village will quickly highlight where these activities are taking place.
If you want to be notified by and/or notify your neighbours of activity in the areas covered by these pages follow the instructions below.
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Shop Local this Christmas and enjoy festive perks across Buckinghamshire

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Buckinghamshire Council is encouraging residents to support local businesses this festive season through its long-running Shop Local campaign. The county’s market towns and high streets offer a wide range of independent shops, boutiques, markets, and local services. Shopping locally helps sustain jobs and strengthens the local economy. For more information and ideas on where to shop, visit our website.

 

Free Parking on Selected Dates

 

To make festive shopping even more convenient, Buckinghamshire Council is offering free parking after 10am on Saturday 13 December and Saturday 20 December in council-owned car parks serving our high streets.

 

•    Aylesbury: Coopers Yard, Exchange Street, Friarscroft, Hale Street, Upper Hundreds, Walton Green, Walton Street, Waterside (Levels 2 & 3), Waterside North, Whitehall Street, Friars Square Shopping Centre

 

•    Amersham: Amersham Multi Storey, Sycamore Road, Amersham Old Town

•    Chalfont St Peter: Church Lane

•    Chalfont St Giles: Blizzards Yard

•    Chesham: Albany, Catlings, East Street, Star Yard, Water Meadow

•    Great Missenden: Buryfield, Link Road

•    Little Chalfont: Snells Wood

•    Beaconsfield: Altons, Penncroft, Warwick Road

•    Gerrards Cross: Bulstrode Way, Packhorse Road, Station Road

 

A full list is available here

 

Bucks Skills Bootcamps exceeding national performance benchmarks

 

 

Buckinghamshire Council’s Skills Bootcamps programme is successfully supporting an ever growing numbers of residents, helping them to gain vital skills for employment, targeting skills gaps in local communities and helping to drive economic growth within the county.

 

A report presented to Buckinghamshire Council’s Cabinet today (Tuesday 16 December) outlined the success of the programme which has exceeded national targets for the past three years.

 

Skills Bootcamps offer up to 16 weeks of free, flexible training in areas such as digital, construction, creative industries, green skills, childcare, hospitality, catering, and leadership. They form part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, first started in 2021, providing learners with a guaranteed job interview or confirmation of career progression upon completion.

 

Since taking responsibility for delivering Skills Bootcamps in Buckinghamshire in July 2023, the Council has secured £7.5 million in national funding across three waves of bootcamp delivery. The most recent full year of successful bootcamps achieved exceptional results:

 

• 98% of places on their bootcamps were filled (national target: 75%)
• 86% of those who enrolled completed the training (national target: 70–75%)
• 72% of participants secured employment (national target: 70–75%)

 

Of the 405 learners tracked after they completed their training, 249 have successfully gained employment, including roles in cutting-edge fields such as Artificial Intelligence and cyber security. The programme has also enabled people to become self-employed and to progress in their current career, reinforcing the role of Skills Bootcamps as a driver of Buckinghamshire’s Economic Growth Plan.

 

Feedback demonstrates how the programme is helping individuals to build confidence, gain relevant skills and take meaningful steps towards employment. One learner shared: “The course has given me the tools and motivation to pursue a new career path – I feel much more confident now”. Another commented: “The tutor was incredibly supportive and knowledgeable. I’ve learned so much in a short time and feel ready to apply for jobs in the field.”

 

Skills Bootcamp courses are running now; to qualify you simply need to be aged 19 or over and live in Buckinghamshire. For more information and how to apply, visit here.

 

Have your say on proposed changes to Bucks Council Tax Reduction Scheme

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Buckinghamshire Council is seeking views on proposed changes to the eligibility criteria for its Council Tax Reduction Scheme.

 

The scheme helps working-age residents on low incomes by reducing the amount of Council Tax they need to pay, helping nearly 14,000 working-age households in Buckinghamshire each year. This currently means the council collecting £20 million less in council tax each year.

 

The proposals being put forward by the council aim to simplify how its Council Tax Reduction Scheme works. The majority of local authorities have reviewed their Council Tax Reduction Schemes resulting in a 3.9% national average reduction in claimant numbers between 2020 and 2024, while Buckinghamshire has seen 7.6% more claimants during the same period. Eligible recipients would be ‘banded’ in a move to make applications quicker by accelerating claims processing from 29 days to 10 days, and simpler and removing ‘volatility’ in the system where households have changes in income levels.  The council’s Cabinet has reviewed the proposals and agreed to consult on them at a meeting this week.

 

To read full details of the proposed changes to the scheme and to take part in the consultation, visit the council’s website

 

The consultation is now open and runs until 11.59pm on Monday 2 February 2026.

 

 

 

 

Operation Grotto Update

 

Operation grotto patrols have been continuing, specifically in towns and parishes in the South Buckinghamshire region where we continue to see the most reports of burglary. The units have been carrying out their burglary prevention patrols, attending burglaries in progress and stopping suspicious vehicles nightly.

 

We are pleased to see that burglary rates across Bucks has seen a 30% decrease in November, with this reduction being consistent across all areas, hopefully proving that the prevention efforts have been effective.

 

Please assist us in ensuring this number continues to be reduced by following the "Going away" checklist each time you leave your house:

 

• While we understand burglars use other means of breaking and entering, avoid making it easy, make sure all door and windows are securely locked, never leave keys in the door and be cautious about leaving spare keys out and hidden in places that are easily accessible
• Check that garden gates, sheds or garages are also locked and that tools and ladders are not accessible, there is evidence of many burglars utilising what they can find at the property to break in rather than bringing their own tools
• Do not leave any keys or valuables out in plain sight next to doors or windows
• Avoid leaving your home in total darkness, leave a light on or use a timer switch - often times burglars do not want a confrontation, if you can make it difficult to guess whether the house is empty or not that may be enough to deter them

 

 

👮For more burglary prevention tips, please visit: Crime prevention advice | Thames Valley Police

 

Quishing Fraud

 

Please find below a revised TV Alert confirming the correct email address to report suspicious emails to as report@phishing.gov.uk (not as previously stated).

 

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

 

Thames Valley Police are urging the public to remain vigilant to fraudulent QR codes which can easily turn from convenience to con.

 

‘Quishing’ or ‘QR Code Phishing’, involves tricking someone into scanning a QR code which once scanned, will take you to a bogus website where you innocently input your details thinking you are paying for a service or visiting the genuine site, when in fact, you are unknowingly sharing all your personal details with criminals, which could lead to Identity fraud

 

QR codes are often found on things like parking machines, charging points, emails, even restaurant menus.

 

Detective Inspector Duncan Wynn, Head of Central Fraud Unit at Thames Valley Police said:

 

“While QR codes offer a convenient option for saving time, they can lead to fraud if they have been tampered with by fraudsters.

 

I encourage you to take a moment to stop! think fraud when reaching to scan a code.

 

• If the QR code is on a poster in a public area, always check whether it appears to have been stuck over the original. If the sign or notice is laminated and the QR code is under the lamination or part of the original print, chances are it is more likely to be genuine.

 

• If in doubt, download the app from the official Google or Apple store or search the website on your phone’s internet browser, rather than scanning a QR code to take you there. It may take longer, but it is more secure.

 

• Check the preview of the QR code's URL to see if it appears legitimate. Make sure the website uses HTTPS rather than HTTP, does not have obvious misspellings and has a trusted domain.

 

• Use your phone’s built-in QR scanner (available in most Camera apps) rather than downloading third-party QR scanning apps, which can sometimes be risky.

 

• Trust your instincts. If something does not seem right, do not scan, alert the owner of the QR code and police by calling 101 to report. “

 

Quishing can also occur on online shopping platforms, where sellers received a QR code via email to either verify accounts or to receive payment for sold items.

 

Fraudsters may impersonate banks, or other UK government organisations such as HMRC. If you receive an email with a QR code in it, and you are asked to scan it, you should be cautious due to an increase in these types of 'quishing' attacks.

 

If you receive a suspicious email, report it by forwarding it to report@phishing.gov.uk

 

Find out how to protect yourself from fraud

 

If you have been a victim of fraud, report it at Guide to reporting - Report Fraud or by calling 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, contact Police Scotland on 101.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Council calls for more community tree planting
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Buckinghamshire Council is celebrating National Tree Week by announcing plans to expand the scope of its Bucks Tree Mission project - which has planted over 216,000 trees on council-owned land during the past four years.

Last winter, five new woodlands were planted across the county, from Billet Field Wood, by Black Park in the south, to Roddimore Wood, near Winslow in the north. This took the total number of new woodlands established under the Bucks Tree Mission to nine.

The next phase of the Bucks Tree Mission will provide new opportunities outside of council-owned land to encourage individuals and organisations to get involved with tree planting and help to achieve the ambition of planting over half a million new trees by 2030.

The council is already working with over 25 partners across the county to plant more trees including environmental groups, charities, and parish and town councils.

Find out more about Bucks Tree Mission at: Tree planting schemes | Buckinghamshire Council