Five Peterborough stories you may have missed

The sale of a temple site, tributes to a Peterborough City councillor and people being invited to have their say on plans for a city's new swimming pool are among the stories that have been covered this week.

A police force said it would deploy an extra 70 officers to "make people feel safe" on so-called Black Eye Friday.

The last Friday before Christmas is traditionally busy with people going out to begin their celebrations, but the night is also known to put pressure on emergency services.

Cambridgeshire Police has urged people to be "respectful" when out celebrating, adding that it would be "cracking down hard on drink driving" over the festive season.

Supt Ben Martin said: "We encourage people to go out and have a good time. But be respectful to each other and think about implications you might have on others."

Residents can have their say on plans for a new swimming pool in the city.

The facility could be built in Peterborough with the help of a £20m contribution from the government after the Regional Pool closed in 2024 because of structural issues.

Peterborough City Council's cabinet approved plans for the 25m pool and fitness centre, which is likely to cost £38m to build, in October.

Now that the plan is in the design phase, the council has been running polls on social media to get people's views on the scheme.

Peterborough City Council has selected a bidder to buy a community building that currently houses a Hindu temple and a soup kitchen.

The sale of the New England Complex in Millfield forms part of the authority's ongoing efforts to reduce debts by selling its assets.

The council confirmed it received two offers from bidders named A and B, and on Tuesday night the cabinet approved the sale to B. The winning bid has not been named, but the temple told the BBC it believed it had missed out.

Mohammed Jamil, Labour's finance cabinet member for Peterborough, said the sale followed a "competitive best and final offer process".

At a time when the news can often seem like it is only filled with stories of doom and despair, residents of Peterborough where a mural preaches the importance of hope are offering a different viewpoint.

Thousands of vehicles drive past a mural of Atiq Rehman every day.

Now 40, the brightly coloured image of the motivational speaker and charity campaigner is part of Peterborough's Hello My Beautiful People.

It depicts him hugging a homeless man, alongside the motto with which he begins his social media videos.

A council that sold a college building worth £4.6m for just £1 hopes changes would "make sure nothing like that ever happens again", a meeting was told.

Peterborough City Council officers were "concerned" its disposal of the John Mansfield Centre (JMC) – occupied by City College Peterborough – to a charity in 2020 and "associated financial transactions were unlawful".

Cambridgeshire Police has said three people had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. The charity is yet to publicly comment.

A council cabinet meeting on Tuesday approved recommendations, including that the authority assist the police investigation and undertake a comprehensive constitutional review.

This week we heard Peterborough City Council was set to write off about £100,000 in "irrecoverable debt", about half of which was due to housing benefit overpayments.

A report presented to Tuesday's cabinet meeting said the council was committed to taking any action it could before considering writing off the debts. However, the authority added, it was inevitable that a small percentage of debt would remain uncollected.

At the same meeting the council agreed to sell the former TK Maxx building on Bridge Street. The sale price was not made public, but the council said the figure was lower than what it paid for the site in 2020.

Tributes have been paid to councillor Nick Thulbourn who died on 13 December . The Labour member for Fletton and Woodston was described as "a man of principle" and a "one-off".

Thulbourn served as a ward councillor from 2012 to 2016 and was then re-elected in 2023.

Peterborough United moved out of the League One relegation zone with a 2-1 win over local rivals Northampton Town. Harry Leonard scored either side of half-time to secure all three points. Northampton were reduced to 10 men after just 10 minutes after Jack Perkins was sent off.

Peterborough Sports were knocked out of the FA Trophy after a 5-0 defeat at Scunthorpe. It was a repeat of the scoreline from last season when both sides met at the same venue in the National League North.

Peterborough United Women crashed out of the FA Cup against higher league opponents. The match was all square after 40 minutes but National League side Burnley scored twice before half-time. The game ended 7-0.

Peterborough Phantoms made it four wins from four against Solway Sharks this season with a 4-2 victory at the Bretton Rink. Phantoms are fourth in the National Ice Hockey League standings.

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