Fire crews in Stevenage dealt with a large blaze in Fairlands Valley Park yesterday evening.

Image source, Herts Fire

It produced a large plume of smoke across the town and prompted more than 60 emergency calls from members of the public.

Image source, Herts Fire

A plastic jetty and trees at Fairlands Lake had caught fire.

Nearby residents were told to keep their windows closed until the flames were extinguished.

Image source, Herts fire

No-one was hurt.

It's a bright start in places, although there is some cloud in parts of the BBC East region.

The forecast though is generally dry and warm with some sunny spells although the further west and north you are, the risk increases of a spot of rain this morning.

Further south, more in the way of sunshine, although there may still be a light shower this afternoon.

Top temperature: 21C (70F).

Watch my full regional forecast here:

Jane Killick
BBC Three Counties Radio

We'll be bringing you the latest from Beds, Herts and Bucks this morning.

We've got more on a large fire overnight in Stevenage and, of course, our regular weather forecast to set you up for the day.

That's it for our live coverage for today. We'll be back from 08:00 tomorrow.

Scroll back through today's feed for anything you may have missed, including...

• The Hemel car meet that made 'homes shake'
• Boy charged over 15-year-old's stabbing
• New Bedford MP says hospital top of agenda

Any breaking news from Beds, Herts and Bucks will appear in the feed overnight.

Have a great evening.

The sister of a murder victim was only 14 when her sibling was killed by her abuser.

Julie Reinger
BBC Look East weather

It'll be a dry night, with clear spells and an odd mist or fog patch across the BBC East region.

For many of us temperatures remaining in double figures, but we can’t rule out 8-9C, (46-48F) in some spots.

Tuesday will be largely fine and dry with some decent sunny spells.

We may just get an odd shower in the north of the region.

Temperatures climbing to around 22C (72F), with light winds and local sea breezes.

Get the full forecast where you are from BBC Weather.

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

An electric-powered wax melting air freshener is believed to be the cause of a serious house fire in Sheridan Close, Dunstable, at the weekend.

Crews across Bedfordshire attended the first-floor fire on Saturday morning, which gutted much of the house.

Image source, Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue

Image source, Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue

Fortunately, no-one was hurt.

Steve Allen, from the fire service, said: "We recommend householders who use electrically-powered air fresheners do so in accordance with manufacturers' safety instructions and be sure to turn them off when the room is vacated.

"All non-essential electrical devices should be turned off whenever unattended and in particular when going to bed."

The sister of a Hertfordshire woman who was aged just 14 when her sibling was murdered by her abusive boyfriend is hoping to raise awareness of the dangers of domestic violence.

Olivia Perrin was a young teenager when her sister Amelia Arnold was killed by Jack Wall in Stevenage in 2012. She was regularly beaten by her boyfriend but was too scared to tell her family.

Five years on, Ms Perrin is raising money and awareness for domestic violence charity Refuge and hopes to begin a career in the police.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Asian elephant Elizabeth celebrated her first birthday at Whipsnade Zoo this weekend - with a new set of footballs to play with.

Elizabeth is named after the Queen as she was born just before Her Majesty's 90th birthday celebrations in 2016.

She - the elephant, not the Queen - likes to use her trunk to dribble an inflatable medicine ball.

Elephant keeper Mark Howes said: "For a little elephant Elizabeth certainly has a trunkful of skills when it comes to dribbling a football; she's somewhat of a natural with the ball."

Someone get Gareth Southgate on the phone...

As a newborn, Elizabeth - again, the elephant - weighed approximately 130kg (20.5-stone), but one year on she is now tipping the scales at just under half-a-tonne (480kg).

Imagine trying to tackle that!

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary Correspondent

Will there be a serious attempt to stop Buckingham MP John Bercow resuming the chair of the Commons, now he has indicated he could seek to continue through the full length of the new Parliament?

Image source, PA

Back in February, five Conservatives signed an early day motion of no confidence, but the attempt to unseat him fizzled out.

Even so, my guess is that the anti-Bercow camp will not be able to resist, if only to make the point that not everyone in the House supports him.

The Commons has to re-elect its speaker at the start of each new Parliament.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Meanwhile, the Queen's Speech - in which the government sets out its legislative programme - has been delayed for a few days, the BBC understands.

Image source, Reuters

It had been due to take place next Monday, but talks are continuing with the Democratic Unionists before details of any legislation in the Queen's Speech can be approved.

Plus, another reason for the delay is also believed to be because the speech has to be written on goat's skin parchment paper - at a specialist works in Newport Pagnell - which takes a few days to dry.

Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps has told the BBC he's not surprised by the delay.

"I'm not sure it's that surprising given the situation where these discussions have got to take place," he said.

"The fact that you then have to delay a Queen's Speech by a few days, even if it is just for the vellum to be printed on, I don't think it's the showstopper it may seem."

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

As Theresa May prepares to face her MPs this evening for the first time since failing to win an outright majority, the former Tory party chairman and Welwyn Hatfield MP Grant Shapps has been telling the BBC the Conservatives ran a poor election campaign.

Image source, PA

"The thing about Theresa May is that she's quite good at being prime minister. What she's not good at at all is the campaigning, and that's what this election showed up," he said.

"And what was crazy was to allow our expectations to run to the point where there was 'May mania' and we would get hundreds of seats and it was just crazy, insane.

"We now have 'Corbyn mania', which is every bit as mad."

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

London Midland services are being delayed between Northampton and Wolverton, as a lorry has hit a bridge in Collingtree Road near Northampton.

Trains are running at a reduced speed on all lines and may be delayed by up to 10 minutes.

Usman Azad
BBC Three Counties Radio

We've just brought you news about a car meet in Hemel Hempstead last night, which caused concern among residents in the Jarman Park area due to excessive noise that made their homes shake.

I have now received a response from Shutter Gang - the group which organised the meet.

Image source, Shuttergang

A spokesman said the group was "extremely sorry to anyone who was disturbed by the event" and it was "not planning another near Hemel any time soon".

"We do understand that this event was quite loud and potentially annoying, especially to people who are not into cars," he said.

"However, we do everything not to get in the way of local residents.

"Also we finish the event at 10pm as we do understand that people have jobs and need to get their sleep."

The group said it had originally planned to be in a location far away from houses, but had to move when one of the superstores closed its section of the car park and people could not fit in.

It also said most of the noise was likely caused by individuals who did not comply to the rules.

"Sadly there isn't much we can do about these people," the spokesman said.

Usman Azad
BBC Three Counties Radio

Police in Hemel Hempstead tried to reassure residents last night after a number of complaints about a "car meet" in the Jarman Park area of the town.

Image source, Google

I've been speaking to people who live on Old Crabtree Lane, who said the Tesco car park was packed full of people making noise at about 20:00 and they could feel vibrations in their homes.

One man, who wished to only be known as William, said there were hundreds people there.

He said he was "outraged", adding: "It's all families who live round here... I don't want to be a killjoy or anything but this sort of thing should have been done in a field somewhere... not bang in the middle of a shopping centre," he said.

We understand the meet was organised by Shutter Gang, external - we have contacted the group for comment.

Hertfordshire Police said there were no arrests, but one driver was reported for having no insurance and their vehicle seized.

The force posted an online message, external last night saying it was dealing with concerns, but a number of people responded saying not enough had been done.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Ex-Spice Girl and former Watford resident Geri Horner is making a comeback with a solo single penned in memory of her friend George Michael.

Image source, PA

Angels In Chains, which will be released on 23 June, is the star's first single in the UK for 12 years. Profits from the song, which also features ex-Wham! backing singer Shirlie Holliman, will go to one of Michael's favourite charities, Childline.

Image source, PA

Horner, who is now married to Milton Keynes Red Bull boss Christian Horner and gave her young son the middle name George, said: "When I first heard the sad news of his passing, I was nine months pregnant with my son Monty and I was full of emotions.

"I didn't know quite what to do with my feelings so I put it in a song, which became Angels In Chains.

"In the process I found how healing making this record had been not only for me but also for everyone involved.

"This is our way of saying goodbye to our friend and music idol, and I hope George's fans enjoy this as much as we have making it."

George Michael, who died on Christmas Day last year, grew up in Bushey and met Wham! band-mate Andrew Ridgeley at school.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Labour MP for Luton North, Kelvin Hopkins, told us this morning he was expecting another election - "rather like 1974".

But what actually happened in that year? Well - two elections, obviously!

Image source, PA

In what sounds quite a familiar situation, Conservative prime minister Edward Heath's decision to call a snap election in February 1974 backfired.

His plea to the electors to "return a strong government with a firm mandate" was ignored as Britain was faced with its first hung parliament since 1929.

Although Labour won fewer votes than the Conservatives, the party took four more seats, 301 against 297. After four days which saw Heath unable to convince the Liberals to lend him their support he had no choice but to resign.

Labour leader Harold Wilson was back in Downing Street for a third time, but now had to deal with a minority administration which could fall at any time.

The second election in October again saw Labour leader Harold Wilson win - but he only succeeded in turning his minority government into a tiny three-seat majority.

Jonathan Vernon-Smith
BBC Three Counties Radio

The newly re-elected Labour MP for Luton North, Kelvin Hopkins, has also told the BBC he expects another general election soon, and that the Labour Party was a "government in waiting".

He said: "There's obviously got to be an election again within a reasonable amount of time, rather like 1974, and on that occasion I would expect and hope that Labour would win and start to rebuild the civilised society that we've been progressively destroying [over] the last 20-30 years."

Image source, Labour Party

Jonathan Vernon-Smith
BBC Three Counties Radio

Former chancellor George Osborne has called her a "dead woman walking" and on my show this morning I've been asking, "do you think Theresa May should stay or should she go?"

Image source, PA

Pollsters originally said the general election result would be a Conservative landslide, but in the wake of a hung parliament Jeremy Corbyn called on Theresa May to quit as prime minister. Well, Theresa May has not stood down - she's formed a new cabinet - and she's told the BBC she intends to see out her full time as PM.

The rather aptly-named Richard Stay, a Conservative councillor in Central Bedfordshire, said he didn't think he or any other commentator would regard the Conservative election campaign as anything other than "a bit of an omnishambles", but Theresa May did win 43% of the vote.

"She has got by far the largest number of members of Parliament... what we need now is stability. I am firmly of the view that Theresa May should remain in position and see us through Brexit, because she is by far and away the most qualified individual to take up through that period."

Kelvin Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton North, said "we want someone who commands more confidence not just amongst the Conservative party but amongst the electorate as a whole", and wanted to see Jeremy Corbyn in 10 Downing Street.

"I think he had a stunning result, even if we didn't win the election," he said.

"I think he would be a superb prime minister and I look forward to that happening."

Koy Bentley, 15, was stabbed in the chest at a block of flats in Watford.