Challney is a district in

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, in the

district, in the ceremonial county of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England, off the main

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

leading from Luton into

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the north. Dunstable is the fou ...

. The area is roughly bounded by Rodheath, Stoneygate Road, Roman Road, and Beechwood Road to the north, Hatters Way to the south, the M1 to the west, and Waller Avenue and Chaul End Lane to the east.

History

''Challney'' was originally just another name for Chaul End up on the hill to the south of the district. Challney was a sleepy residential area until the extension of the nearby

M1 motorway The M1 motorway connects London to Leeds, where it joins the A1(M) motorway, A1(M) near Aberford, to connect to Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle. It was the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the UK; the first motorway in the count ...

on the west side which was built in the early 1960s. The Luton and Dunstable Hospital is also situated nearby in neighbouring

Lewsey Lewsey is a suburb of Luton, about west north-west of the town centre, and a ward of the Borough of Luton, in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The suburb is roughly bounded by Leagrave High Street to the north, Dunstable Road to ...

. Challney is still a relatively residential area with good schooling and local amenities. One of Luton's large retail parks for DIY and electronic goods is located in the area and attracts visitors from all over the county.

Leagrave railway station Leagrave railway station is located in Leagrave, a suburb in the north of Luton in Bedfordshire, England. Leagrave station is situated on the Midland Main Line 33¾ miles (54 km) north of London St Pancras International. The stati ...

is close by for residents wishing to commute to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Challney has separate high schools for boys and girls, Challney High School for Boys and Challney High School for Girls, both of which are located on Stoneygate Road. Challney Community College is also based in Stoneygate Road. The High School has recently been designated as a Leading Edge school and Challney is the Business Studies Spoke School for the elearning centre in Luton.

Politics

Challney is within the larger Challney ward, which also includes Skimpot and part of Maidenhall. The ward is represented by Cllr Khtija Malik ( Labour), Cllr Tahir Malik ( Labour) and Cllr Tom Shaw ( Labour). The ward forms part of the

parliamentary constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

Luton North Luton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Sarah Owen, of the Labour Party. Constituency profile Luton North was created in 1983, primarily from the former seat of Luton West. It c ...

, whose MP is

Sarah Owen Sarah Mei Li Owen (; born 11 January 1983) is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton North since 2019. She is the first MP of South East Asian descent and the first female MP o ...

( Labour).

Local attractions

Local newspapers

Two weekly newspapers cover Challney, although they are not specific to the area. They are the:
Herald and Post

Luton News

Notes and references

{{Luton Wards of Luton Areas of Luton