Kate Bradbrook
BBC Look East

The jury at the inquest of Instiak Yusuf has heard from custody sergeant Matthew Carroll. He booked Mr Yusuf in at Luton Police Station.

He said: "I could smell stale alcohol on his breath, it was enough for me to put him on 30 minute checks."

When asked if he would have altered his assessment had he known class A drugs were suspected of contributing to the alleged offence, he said it may have "prompted me to ask further questions about taking drugs".

Kate Bradbrook
BBC Look East

At the second day of the inquest of Istiak Yusuf, the jury at Ampthill Coroner's Court heard evidence from PC Steve Hunt, a response officer based in Dunstable.

He said he did a "a pat-down search, limited to outer clothing only. I searched down the legs, torso, patted down front and rear".

He said if Mr Yusuf had had a kinder egg in his pocket he would have found it. He agreed when questioned that the search took 22 seconds. He said he had "absolutely no concern whatsoever" that Mr Yusuf was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.

A man who died at Luton police station after taking drugs in his cell was searched for 22 seconds, an inquest hears.

Paul Scoins
BBC Three Counties Radio political reporter

George Osborne has defended the Government's funding of local government on a visit to Red Bull racing in Milton Keynes.

He told me local government has to "live within it's means" and "the alternative is services don't get funded or the council tax goes up."

He was in the area as part of the local election campaign.

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

Hertfordshire Police say the stolen Hertfordshire Puddingstone is "one of the world’s rarest rocks".

Image source, St Albans City and District Council

PC Sean Lannon, external, investigating, said: "It's part of our county’s heritage so we are doing all we can to ensure these stones are returned to the museum."

BBC Travel

There have been two separate accidents close to the A421 in the Milton Keynes area.  

The first one happened at the roundabout at Aspley Guise by Junction 13 of the M1 when a van overturned.

The second, was at at the junction of the A421 south of Milton Keynes as it reaches the new A421 to Bedford. A car went under a lorry.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The MK People's Assembly, external is calling for the council to urgently make one of the empty buildings in the town into a centre for homeless people and to fund four members of staff to support the homeless.

Milton Keynes Council, external has told us only 18 of the 400 plus properties listed by the group, external are directly owned by the council, but added it is "constantly reviewing" how best to make use of its assets and would look at any schemes to free up property for housing.

A spokesman said it had already converted one of the properties listed in Two Mile Ash into three one-bedroom houses, although any projects like this were "always subject to a number of constraints, including the availability of funding".

Jessica Cooper
BBC Three Counties Radio

A Milton Keynes action group is calling for the council to urgently make one of the many empty buildings in the town into a centre for homeless people because it fears more people will die on the streets.

So far this year two homeless people have died in Milton Keynes.

The MK People's Assembly, external says there are a number of properties lying empty which could be used for a well-being centre. It wants the council to commit to giving a building at little or no cost and to fund four members of staff to support the homeless.

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

Hertfordshire Puddingstone is a naturally occurring conglomerate consisting of rounded flint pebbles bound in silica cement, found mostly within the county.

Image source, Chris Reynolds/Geograph

It's thought to have originated from deposits laid down around 54 million years ago and is called puddingstone because the flints resemble the plums in a Christmas pudding.

The stones were taken from the gardens of the former St Albans museum site on Hatfield Road last month and originally came from the site of the seventh Day Adventist Church during the late 1970s.

It seems Chancellor George Osborne has been "impressed" by the headquarters of Red Bull in Milton Keynes. He visited the site this morning...

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

Historic rock dating back 54 million years has been taken from a Hertfordshire museum.

Image source, Hertfordshire police

Police are investigating after 24 rocks known as Hertfordshire Puddingstone were removed from the site of the former St Albans museum on Hatfield Road. 

It's believed the stones were taken from the garden between 3 April and 14 April.

BBC Weather Watchers

It's set to be a warm day with highs of 17C (62F) and some cloud - as these amazing pictures from the Royston area and Welwyn Garden City, sent in by our Weather Watchers, show.

Image source, Vonnie/Weather Watcher

Image source, LouieMurg/Weather Watcher

Kate Bradbrook
BBC Look East

I'm at Ampthill Coroner's Court where the second day of the inquest into the death of Istiak Yusuf, who died at Luton Police Station, is taking place. 

So far the jury has seen 30 mins of CCTV footage showing Mr Yusuf at the station being checked-in by officers. 

A number of welfare checks were carried out every 30 minutes and during a check at 11.54 the officer shouts "are you all right mate?" several times and then raises the alarm.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A man has admitted trying to murder a widowed shopkeeper at the same spot in Luton where her husband was killed nearly seven years ago.

Image source, Google

Tomasz Jaworski, 30, pleaded guilty at Luton Crown Court to the attempted murder of Nirupa Patel, 56, on Christmas Eve. She was stabbed at Moon's Newsagents in Park Street, where her husband Jashbai, 59, was murdered in June 2009.

Jaworski also admitted actual bodily harm to two others at the same time. He will be sentenced next month.

A Polish man has pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Nirupa Patel in Luton on Christmas Eve.

Tomasz Jaworski made the plea via video Link at Luton Crown Court.

Our reporter Paul Scoins is at the headquarters of Red Bull Racing in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes.

He's reporting on the visit of Chancellor George Osborne, but also had time to check out the F1 giants' trophy cabinet...

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

A house in Luton has been left badly damaged after a fire in the kitchen. 

Firefighters from Stopsley and the Luton Community Fire Stations were called to the house just after 17:00 last night.

They say the fire was accidental and left the kitchen damaged. A quarter of the house was affected by smoke.

Paul Scoins
BBC Three Counties Radio political reporter

This morning I'm at the headquarters of Red Bull Racing in Tilbrook, Milton Keynes, where the Chancellor George Osborne is visiting today. 

So far he's met team principle Christian Horner...

Two lanes are closed and there's queuing traffic on the London-bound M1 at junction 7, Hemel Hempstead, because of an accident involving two cars.

Congestion is back to junction 9 at A5 Redbourn.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The station commander at Hitchin and Royston fire stations has nicely pointed out that today is not only Star Wars Day, but also International Firefighters Day.

Lee Hutchinson's tweet, external cleverly puts the two together.