THE birth of quadruplets Jessica, Holly, Georgina and Ellie was hailed as a miracle . The naturally identical Carles babies from Upper Caldecote beat odds of 64 million to one. The smallest, Jessica, weighed only 1lb and was able to lie in the palm of th

THE birth of quadruplets Jessica, Holly, Georgina and Ellie was hailed as a "miracle". The naturally identical Carles babies from Upper Caldecote beat odds of 64 million to one. The smallest, Jessica, weighed only 1lb and was able to lie in the palm of the surgeon's hand.

* Field fires ripped through Comet country as the temperatures soared. The weather made the countryside dry and Bedfordshire firefighters were called to a blaze covering 130 acres of standing corn at Tempsford which was threatening a nearby railway line. Police also gave safety warnings in the heat and urged parents to keep their children away from rivers and lakes.

* Four months after the opening of the Baldock bypass some local shopkeepers were complaining of feeling the consequences. John Aitkins claimed his customer base had fallen 70 per cent. His traditional sweet shop, Truly Scrumptious, eventually shut down.

* Other events during July included Ickleford being crowned 2006 Hertfordshire Village of the Year, Hitchin celebrated becoming the first fair-trade town in Comet country, Mid Bedfordshire District Council refused to house a CenterParcs complex and an amazed cat owner was reunited with her cat three years after it went missing.