In August, a moped rider who cut off a teenager’s hand was convicted of GBH.

Che Ambe, 21 of Caractacus Cottage View, Watford, attacked Tyler Stevens after he fell while trying to run away from his attacker in Abbots Langley on February 10.

The court had heard how Mr Stevens, then 18, and his friend, were walking home from a Spar shop in School Mead when Ambe bike approached them and began chasing them on his moped armed with a machete or large knife.

Mr Stevens tripped as he tried to escape and curled up on a grass verge in Long Elms to protect himself before he was struck six or seven times by the knife.

The hand was found later in the street by a police officer. Doctors tried to reattach it, but their efforts came to nothing.

A pub and live music venue that has hosted legendary bands says high running costs and dwindling weekday trade have left it struggling financially.

The owners of The Horns in Watford town centre called on the community for support.

The mother and daughter who run the Hempstead Road pub, Jan and Jane Giles, said bands continue to queue up for a chance to play there.

Manager Jane said: “At the weekends we are really busy but it is a different story during the week."

Watford Borough Council was notified of plans to turn Mothercare’s headquarters in Watford into homes.

It had been announced earlier this year that Mothercare had sold its office building in Cherry Tree Road for £15m as part of a cost-cutting drive.

An application was submitted to the council to change the use of the site from office to residential.