Ian Poulter has hit the rough on his first three tee shots but somehow he is yet to drop a shot.

Alongside him, Scotland's Russell Knox is on the same mark as he started the day, four over, while Sweden's Alex Noren has given one back to the scoreboard to drop to one under overall.

As far as I can see, 18 of the 156 in the field are under par.

Image source, Reuters

BBC Sport

At The Open Golf Championship at Royal Birkdale, Watford's Calum Shinkwin, who finished second in the Scottish Open, had a disappointing second round 78 to leave him +12 and missing the cut.

Wycombe's Tyrell Hatton is in a similar position finishing on +11 after his second round.

Meanwhile Woburn's Ian Poulter tees off about now, -3 par.

Image source, Getty Images

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

Today is the last day of term for most schools, so that means the summer holiday rush has begun.

This weekend more than 83,000 passengers are set to jet off from London Luton Airport, with more than 29,000 travelling today, about 26,000 on Saturday and more than 28,000 on Sunday.

That's an increase of 4.5% compared with the same weekend last year.

New figures from the airport show passengers from Beds, Herts and Bucks have increased steadily over the past few years:

• From Buckinghamshire, 900,000 passengers used the airport in 2016, compared to 750,000 in 2015.
• Most travellers in this county are from Milton Keynes.
• From Bedfordshire, 1.66m passengers used the airport in 2016 compared to 1.21m in 2015.
• Bedford travellers make the most journeys from the airport in the county, followed by Luton.
• Meanwhile, from Hertfordshire 1.95m passengers used the airport in 2016, compared to 1.5m in 2015.
• St Albans residents are the most frequent Hertfordshire users.

Image source, London Luton Airport

League One side MK Dons sign Southampton striker Ryan Seager on a season-long loan deal.

BBC News Travel

Emergency services are currently dealing with a lorry fire on the M40, by junction 4 for High Wycombe.

The southbound exit slip road is now open again, but the main carriageway is still blocked.

There are long delays in the area.

Image source, Highways England

Image source, TVP Roads Polciing

Justin Dealey
BBC Three Counties Radio

The view of the white lion has been synonymous with the Dunstable Downs for decades, but did you know...

• The carving was completed in 1933
• The outline of the lion is 250m (820ft) long
• The lion, which is not an outline but a solid shape, was designed by artist R B Brook-Greaves
• It was manually dug out using picks and shovels

Justin Dealey
BBC Three Counties Radio

A white lion cut into the Dunstable Downs is a well-known local landmark, but I've been hearing from people that it's been looking a little shabby of late.

I've been told by one resident "it's nowhere near what it was 10 years ago", with another saying "it's almost invisible from Ivinghoe now".

Image source, George Mahoney/Georgraph

Miki Mitchell, from Berkhamsted, said: "It's one of those things that's just for the area and it really ought to be cleaned up."

Image source, Colin Smith/Geograph

Owen Craft, the general manager of Whipsnade Zoo which is responsible for the lion, stressed it was important to the attraction, adding that every year it gets a deep clean.

"The last month or two we've seen an unprecedented level of weed growth, but our horticulturalists are regularly de-weeding it.

"Over the next few weeks we are looking to continue this so it will spruce up again for the summer."

He explained the zoo was looking to lay fresh chalk on top in the long term to make it look whiter.

"Rest assured we at Whipsnade are committed to improving the visibility of the lion," said Mr Craft.

Ray Dare dies while trying to set a new national record for his age.

BBC News Travel

There are currently delays on the M1, northbound between junctions 5 and 6, after a collision between a car and a HGV.

The good news is the debris has been cleared and all lanes have now re-opened.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

People living in the Biggleswade area have been voicing their objections to plans for more houses, which are being proposed by Central Bedfordshire Council.

The draft local plan, external, which outlines possible areas for development, is touring the area, gathering local views before it's finalised.

Simon Denchfield from the town has said the houses would be in the wrong place.

He said: "Biggleswade has already taken large scale development over the last five years and now they're proposing to put another 3,000 to 6,000 dwellings in and around [the town]."

Councillor Nigel Young said "no decisions have been made".

"This is the first stage of a consultation, at this point no sites have been allocated," he said.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Woburn's Ian Poulter has made a good start at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Image source, Getty Images

He will start day two at three under par after shooting a first round of 67 yesterday.

He tees off just after 13:00 - with the big question on everyone's lips - what trousers will he wear today and how did yesterday's bright white pair manage to stay white?

Meanwhile, Watford's Callum Shinkwin and Marlow's Tyrell Hatton are already out on the course for round two.

Shinkwin teed-off at 07:19 and was four over after four holes; Hatton started at 07:52 and was five over after two holes.

You can follow the action on BBC's live reporting page featuring text and video clips.

Elizabeth Rizzini
BBC Look East weather

Most parts of the BBC East region should see a dry day with sunny spells.

Cloud may thicken later, with the chance of a few showers for some.

Temperatures will reach 23C (73F).

BBC Weather will have more details for where you are.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A 91-year-old cyclist who was killed on the A41 near Aylesbury on Wednesday was riding in a time trial to try to set a new national record for his age, it has emerged.

Ray Dare died when he was in a collision with a van on the Ashton Clinton bypass at about 14:45.

The Kingston Phoenix Road Club, external, of which he had been a member for more than 60 years, posted a statement on its website expressing "huge sadness and shock".

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Hello and welcome to Friday's live updates for Beds, Herts and Bucks. We'll be here until 18:00 with the latest news, sport, weather and travel.

Today is due to be fine for much of the day with spells of sunshine but it looks like rain will arrive by this evening. I hope this beautiful looking cow - in a BBC Weather Watchers picture by Val - gets the memo and lies down to warn us of impending showers.

You can get in touch by email, Facebook, external or Twitter, external.

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

That's it for the day from all of us here at the Local Live news feed for Beds, Herts and Bucks.

We'll be back with more news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Friday.

If you missed anything, you can scroll down through the page and catch up on all the day's news.

Although it's been a mixed day of weather, with sun and rain, we couldn't resist sharing this stunning picture by BBC Weather Watcher carlas garden with you.

The opening day of four at Royal Birkdale is coming to a close, so here's a quick check on our local competitiors:

• Woburn's Ian Poulter finished on -3 with 67 and looks likely to finish the day in the top ten
• Callum Shinkwin of Watford finished on +4
• Tyrell Hatton of Marlow was +4 after 17 holes

Follow the latest with BBC Sport's live reporting page from The Open.

A dad-of-two was hit by a car while carrying two bags of presents for his children.

A multi-brand electric car showroom claimed to be the UK's first aims to "dispel myths" about the vehicles.

Alex Dolan
BBC Look East weather

A fine end to the day with some late sunshine across the BBC East region.

It'll stay dry overnight with temperatures dropping to 9C (48F).

Tomorrow will be fine and dry, with sunny spells. Cloud will increase later, with outbreaks of rain overnight, heavy at times.

Temperatures reaching 22C (72F).

You can find a more detailed forecast on BBC Weather.

Alex Pope
BBC Local Live

As we reported earlier, the government today announced that the electrification of the Midland Mainline (London-Sheffield) north of Kettering will no longer be going ahead.

They said it was "no longer necessary" because new modern bi-mode trains, will run instead.

At the moment the line between Bedford, Kettering and Corby is being electrified and this work is set to continue.

Whoever the wires will now stop just north of Kettering, at the junction for Corby and will not continue to Leicester, the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

Image source, Alan Thrippleton/Geograph

Sim Harris, editor of Railnews, external says the announcement means "new trains through to Sheffield on the Midland Main Line will be welcome, as they will be faster and offer more seats, but they won't be as good as the fully electric trains which were promised a few years ago".