August saw the Lister Surgicentre change hands, Gazza in court and an epic swimming challenge.

The Comet: Paul GascoignePaul Gascoigne (Image: Archant)

• The privately-run Lister Surgicentre in Stevenage was taken over by the NHS following an earlier inspection found patients’ health and welfare was at risk.

The Comet: Andy Nation after reaching Dover on July 26Andy Nation after reaching Dover on July 26 (Image: Archant)

The centre was bought from Clinicenta Ltd for in excess of £53 million.

• Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was fined £1,000 after pleading guilty to assault while drunk at Stevenage Railway Station.

Gascoigne admitted grabbing the neck of guard Jack Sherrington when he got off the train on July 4 and another charge of being drunk and disorderly in a public place.

He was ordered to pay a further £145 court costs and £100 in compensation to Mr Sherrington.

• A planned lane expansion of the A1(M) was scrapped and replaced with a scheme described as a ‘backwards step”.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced last October that a section of the hard shoulder would be opened to traffic at junction 6 heading northbound to Stevenage from 2014.

However, the Highways Agency revealed it will instead be undertaking a £2.2m government-funded project next year in a bid to ease congestion – without using the hard shoulder.

• A grandfather who broke his neck the previous year was forced to halt his attempt to swim across the English Channel as part of a 147-mile challenge.

Andy Nation, 63, had to pull out only 10 miles from the French coast due to pain in his neck, which was broken in a fall at his home in Knebworth.

His feat was in aid of Herts MS Therapy Centre in Letchworth GC and Herts Air Ambulance.