Tributes flood in for Daniel Handscome, a 13-year-old who died after being hit by a car in London Colney just before Christmas. His mother Sam Day said: “This has left a massive hole in our lives. Daniel is irreplaceable. We will love and miss him forever.”

Pop band McFly’s Harry Judd said “I do” at St Nicholas Church in Church Green, Harpenden, while fans were condemned for shouting abuse at his bride, Izzy.

The start of the New Year was also a time for campaigners to show their fight against controversial plans for a rail freight depot near Park Street. Thousands of people turned out to sign a petition urging Hertfordshire County Council not to sell the former Radlett Aerodrome site.

Potholes blighted the district, with the Review receiving complaints about various streets in St Albans and Harpenden. Verulam estate resident, Alex Walsh branded the potholes ‘ridiculous’ and started the New Year no longer cycling in to work because of the problem.

Fish and chip shop owner welcomed the New Year with a fight for charity. Daniel Koumi, owner of Ridgeway Fish Bar in The Quadrant, Marshalswick challenged himself to a charity boxing match to raise money for charity after his cousin was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

It wasn’t a white Christmas but winter swept across the district, with heavy snow and winds causing traffic chaos and school closures.

The city paid tribute to Reverend David Brentnall, former vicar of St Peter’s Church for 12 years, who was hit by a train at Harpenden station.