After a three month search an historical mayoral chain was found in a desk drawer in September. The Mayor of St Albans Mohammad Iqbal Zia and his wife Farhat said they were “ecstatic” after finding the £3,000 civic chain under a pile of papers in a desk drawer.

A musician from St Albans who made his first instrument from a tea chest was honoured by the University of Hertfordshire. Jim Rodford, 76, who has played with the Kinks, Argent and The Zombies, was made an honorary Doctor of Arts for his contribution to the music industry at St Albans Abbey.

Clare Fooks, the mother of an 11-year-old girl who lost her battle with a rare and aggressive type of brain tumour, paid tribute to her “beautiful and unique” daughter. A donation page for a family whose father died in a motorcycle crash has reached more than seven times its target. Darren Thompson, 36, of St Albans, was killed in a road accident.