What is "stopsley"

Stopsley is a ward in the north-east of Luton. Originally a hill-top village settlement, most of the urbanised part of the civil parish of Stopsley became part of Luton when the boundaries were extended in 1933, with the rural areas going to Hyde and Streatley.

After the Second World War, there was a severe shortage of accommodation and to save both time and money new building materials were employed. The majority were BISF Houses, which used sheetmetal for the upper parts of the construction, hence the local name for part of Stopsley being 'Tintown'. Most of these houses still stand today, although in recent years the local council (or private owners) of these houses have covered the original metal with cladding, and only a few of these properties still show the original characteristic painted metal.

The centre of Stopsley is made up of a series of local shops around a village church. From a distance the skyline is dominated by Jansel House, an office block built in 1961 which houses the Luton VAT office over a parade of shops at street level including a Greengrocer, Chemist, Charity Shop. Estate Agent, hairdresser and cafe. One of Luton's two cemeteries, The Vale, is located nearby on the Hitchin Road.

The centre of Stopsley Village contains many shops on either side of the road including a Barclays branch, Co-Operative supermarket, Henderson newsagents, Cafe, Tesco Express, Chemist, Hardware, charity shops, Sandwich stores and Off licences/Wine stores. There are also several takeaways and restaurants such as; Ashuka, Stopsley Surma, May Sek Oriental, Jay Raj Indian Cuisine, Pankaj Sor. The HSBC branch that was based in Stopsley closed its doors in September, 2015.

Many estate and lettings agents are also situated in the Stopsley Village and Jansel House area, Connors, Haart, Taylors and Acorn Residential Lettings.

There are two high schools in Stopsley, Stopsley High School and Putteridge High School.