Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

Here's what the local papers have been reporting on today...

The Peterborough Telegraph, external has been looking at some of the inappropriate 999 calls made to the ambulance service last month, including for a sick cat, dandruff and someone who wanted an ambulance crew to do their shopping.

The Ely Standard , external are on the hunt for Ely’s unsung heroes, including the smiliest server and the best parent in the what they are calling "the area’s newest community event", the Ely Hero Awards, external .

But the big news comes from the Cambridge News, external , which says that weather experts are forecasting the hottest weekend of the year, with temperatures climbing to 20C (68F) on Sunday.

Alex Dolan
BBC Look East weather

Staying fine and dry this evening across the BBC East region, with patchy cloud moving in from the north during the night.

It'll stay clear - but watch out - temperatures will drop to 2c (35F) and may even be low enough for a touch of ground frost.

Tomorrow will be another fine, dry day with sunny spells. Light winds - and highs of 13C (55F).

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

Cambridge-based online game developer Jagex has posted record revenues for the second successive year.

The company, situated on the Cambridge Science Park, produced a 28% revenue growth in 2016, to nearly £75m.

Image source, Google

It's a rise on the developer's previous record results which came last year, when it generated £58m.  

Jagex's flagship project is the online role-playing game, RuneScape, which has more than 250 million player accounts worldwide.   

Jeremy Sallis
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Police say they're still looking for anyone involved in an incident on Tuesday where graffiti written in Latin appeared on newly built homes in Cambridgeshire.

The writing is on several new homes on the Reflections development, on the site of the old Penny Ferry pub on Water Street, Chesterton, and is yet to be cleaned off.

Michael Bond, from the Old Chesterton Residents Association, says the graffiti "is completely beyond the pale".  

Image source, Richard Taylor

According to Google Translate, the phrase locus in domos means "room in the house", and loci populum means "local people".

It would appear the graffiti has been written in reaction to the current cost of houses in the city. 

The East of England Ambulance Service has been set a lower target to reach life-threatening calls.

Previously, the NHS trust had to reach 75% of these calls within eight minutes... that's now been lowered to 68.5% within the same time.

Kevin Brown, from the East of England Ambulance Service, external , says it doesn't mean patients are waiting longer.

Orla Moore
BBC Local Live

Mr Mckeague says the police could not have done more to try to find Corrie.

"Everything leads to Corrie being here now," he said. 

"When I'm standing here looking at this and watching these guys rake through this, the police wouldn't be here and moving all these tonnes and tonnes of rubbish if they didn't think Corrie was here."

Corrie's mother Nicola Urquhart and her two other sons have not been to the Milton site, saying the experience would be too distressing.

Some 1,500 tonnes of waste have been raked through in five weeks so far. The search could take up to 10 weeks to complete. 

Corrie Mckeague's father Martin says "everything leads" to his son being buried in landfill.

Orla Moore
BBC Local Live

Martin Mckeague has been camped up in a layby near the Milton landfill site every day for the last two weeks - awaiting news of his son Corrie.

The 23-year-old airman, based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, has been missing since he was last seen on a night out in Bury St Edmunds in September.

Mr McKeague has visited the ongoing search five times now, mindful that at any moment his son's remains could be found.

"It's heartbreaking to think that when you are there, Corrie could be underfoot," he said. 

"As each week has passed, when you're actually going in and physically seeing it yourself, and watching the cell [the area of landfill they're working on] open up, it is just breathtaking - the amount of tonnage that has been removed."

Orla Moore
BBC Local Live

In a poignant Facebook post, external last night, Martin Mckeague paid tribute to the police volunteers working to find his missing son among the tonnes of landfill at Milton near Cambridge.

"Every time Trisha [his partner, not Corrie's mother] and I have the honour of looking into the faces of the team from the Norfolk and Suffolk police forces who are searching for my son there, I can't help but feel completely humbled and indebted to them," he wrote.

"But this is no place for large gung-ho groups – they have no part to play here. And anyone suggesting that more boots on the ground is a good idea clearly has no idea what’s going on or how this works.

"Mine and Trisha’s hearts are in our mouths with every load that’s lifted up in buckets by the incredible efforts of the Jones Brothers excavation team. They are pure professionals, dedicated and concerned.

"As for the police themselves, they have done nothing short of an outstanding job throughout a very difficult and complex situation.

"There are no cameras there. No microphones, no public to mislead, just the true heroes in this horrific process, raking through a little piece of hell looking for my son.

"Let's bring Corrie home together."

BBC Weather Watchers

I'm hoping that I won't be proved wrong, but it looks as though spring is here to stay.

Today is just the latest in a string of beautiful days around the county.

Fortunately, our BBC Weather Watchers have been out and about capturing some of the best sights...

Orla Moore
BBC Local Live

The father of missing airman Corrie Mckeague says he feels "completely humbled and indebted" to the volunteers combing a Cambridgeshire landfill site in a search for his son's remains. 

Martin Mckeague is keeping a regular vigil at the site in Milton with his partner Trish as he waits for any news.

Police have been searching the tip for five weeks now. Corrie, who was based at RAF Honington in Suffolk, disappeared after a night out in Bury St Edmunds in September.

Despite a high-profile missing persons campaign, it's believed he ended up in a bin lorry.  

Mr Mckeague said: "The progress this team has made since last week alone is nothing short of incredible.

"They are managing to move and search through between 80 and 90 tons of material on average each day, and have physically raked through a total of 1550 tons over the last five-plus weeks."

BBC Weather

It's been a glorious day out there already and it's set to continue with variable cloud and some bright or sunny spells.

Winds will be mainly light, and it will feel warm during any sunnier periods.

Highs today of 14C (57F).

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

Fifty farmers from around Cambridgeshire have been part of a survey to find out the most common birds on farmland across the UK.

Farmers from across 14,000 hectares (34,595 acres) of the county's land joined 1,000 others from across the country, noting down the birds they saw.

The Big Farmland Bird Count , external is the only farmer-led survey into bird life.

And the results are in...

The top five most common birds are:

1. Woodpigeon
2. Starling
3. Fireldfare
4. Rook
5. Chaffinch

The list also includes rarer birds such as yellow hammers and brent goose.

Jim Egan, from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust which runs the count, says the presence of the birds is "a good indication of healthy farmland".

Hannah Olsson
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire political reporter

You may have seen over the past few days that the final list of candidates standing in the mayoral elections for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough has officially been published, external  - and there are no surprises. 

The seven candidates are hoping to secure your vote to become the first mayor of the combined authority. 

The candidates are:

• Paul Bullen - UKIP
• Rod Cantrill - Liberal Democrat
• Peter Dawe - Independent
• Stephen Goldspink - English Democrats
• Julie Howell - Green Party
• James Palmer - Conservative
• Kevin Price - Labour

The elected mayor is part of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough devolution deal.

He or she will lead a combined authority, made up of representatives from all of our local councils, and will decide how £800m of government money is spent.

When our BBC Bus toured the county to find out what the mayor's priority should be, some of the big concerns were making sure that rural areas got a fair deal, as well as issues such as housing and infrastructure.

Elections will be held on 4 May, the same day as the Cambridgeshire County Council elections.   

Newmarket Journal

Shaun Whiter, the Essex estate agent who played football for Soham Town Rangers, lost his legs after a car crashed into him near Newmarket.

Sarah Jenkins
BBC Local Live

One year ago it became compulsory for all dogs in England to be microchipped. 

However, new figures from  Dog's Trust, external show that 70,000 dog owners in the East haven't got their pets microchipped and are breaking the law. 

The law was introduced in the hope it would make it easier to reunite stray or lost dogs with their owners.

Image source, PA

When a dog is microchipped, a tiny chip about the size of a grain of rice is inserted under the loose skin on the back of its neck, giving it a unique 15-digit code.

Lee Paris from Dogs Trust says some owners are "nervous" about the process, but he can "assure anyone that it doesn't hurt the dog at all". 

Dog owners who have not had their pets microchipped could face a fine of up to £500 .

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

Image source, Twitter/David Pointer‏

This unusual creature was snapped swimming about in the Great Ouse at St Ives a couple of days ago by David Pointer‏, but can you tell what it is?

If you said a seal, then you've got my seal of approval.

So how uncommon is it to see one in this part of the world? Well it turns out, not very... 

In the past four years, they've been spotted in the same river many times, including:

• Here
• Here
• and here

Adam Jinkerson
BBC Local Live

Council customer service centres in Ramsey, Yaxley and St Neots are set to shut.

Huntingdonshire District Council says more people are accessing services online, like paying for council tax and making inquiries about benefits.

Vulnerable people will be provided with home visits and customers can still get help face-to-face at Pathfinder House in Huntingdon, according to the council.

Dotty McLeod
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

New figures show the number of children being home schooled in Cambridgeshire has more than tripled in the past 10 years.

A Freedom of Information request to the county council shows a decade ago there were 131 primary school age children, and 148 of secondary age, being taught at home.

For the current academic year, those numbers have risen to 411 and 516 respectively.

Image source, PA

Jon Duveen, secretary of the Cambridgeshire branch of the National Union of Teachers, says that home schooling "does have its limits".

"I think you miss out on what you might call soft education, socialisation aspect of working with other kids in order to develop things.

"Whether we like it or not, humans are social animals and they learn by interacting with other humans."

But Robert Rands, who was home schooled in Peterborough, says it was "the best decision I made".

"It was brilliant. The education is not overly different to what you'd get in school."

Sam Edwards
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Lloyds Bank has announced it will close its Gonville Place branch in Cambridge later this year.

The bank says its counters at the branch are 46% quieter than a year ago, external , with only four customers using it on a regular weekly basis. 

Image source, Google

It will shuts its doors on 8 August.

The Gonville Place branch is one of 100 that it plans to close across the country between July and October.