From Friday, fully vaccinated people travelling to the UK no longer have to take any Covid tests.

The musicians have practising together after moving into a country house before lockdown.

Jarrold has a department store in the centre of Norwich and celebrates 250 years of trade this year.

They star in a new work by poet Jude Simpson, who looks ahead to a post-lockdown UK.

Aerobatic pilot Mark Jefferies says he wants to inspire a new generation as the industry struggles.

Thanks for joining us to find out how the East of England is reacting to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.

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A university has come together with a Bedford-based company to try to improve the testing method for Covid-19.

Image source, University of Bedfordshire

Life Science Group Ltd has been awarded £50,000 to complete research into a process that "inactivates the virus" immediately after swab samples are taken from patients.

The University of Bedfordshire, external is the academic partner for the project, providing technical support.

The funding, from Innovate UK, aims to stop the virus in samples from "being infectious and will therefore reduce the risk to workers from when the sample is taken, through transport, to testing in laboratories", the university said.

Dr Robin Maytum, principal lecturer in biomedical science, said: "It should eliminate the risks in handling otherwise potentially infectious samples and reduce the number of false negatives in current testing.

"This will be increasingly important as reliable testing within communities becomes the cornerstone of controlling the spread of the virus."

Image source, Keith Edkin/Geograph

A number of Essex shopping areas are to be altered, starting on Monday, to get them ready for retail reopening a week later following further relaxation of lockdown rules.

Officials are hoping the changes will give people more room to practice social distancing.

In Chelmsford, pavements will be widened and an area around the railway station will be made one-way.

In Colchester (pictured), people will be asked to keep on the left-hand side of pavements and hand sanitiser would be available next to parking machines.

The deputy leader of Essex County Council, external, Conservative Kevin Bentley,said public safety was a top priority and he wanted to see people better segregated from traffic.

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

More than half the 455 jobs at Fairline Yachts, external in Northamptonshire are under threat.

The luxury boat builder has blamed plans for the redundancies on a fall in demand following the outbreak of Covid-19.

The firm has announced 240 jobs are at risk at its factory in Oundle.

Image source, Fairline

Peter McNulty, chief operating officer, said: "Whilst we have continued to sell boats throughout this challenging time, this is unfortunately not in the volume we'd expect under normal circumstances.

"Regrettably, 240 employees from across the company will be affected.

"The first consultation meeting will be held with employee representatives next week."

West Suffolk Council, external has given £154,300 to the firm which runs its leisure centres to try to help it cope with the loss of income due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Abbeycroft Leisure, external runs gyms and leisure centres in Brandon, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Newmarket and Mildenhall.

Image source, Abbeycroft Leisure

Staff there, and at the company's leisure centres in other council districts, have been furloughed and the finance will help Abbeycroft meet the costs for April, May and June.

John Griffiths, Conservative council leader, said: "Like other leisure operators, their income has stopped while costs continue, and we have worked with them to get them government support.

"The support will be reviewed in mid-June, when further measures for lifting lockdown are rolled out and we can work on recovery."

His wife says she thought he was going to die after he was put into a coma with coronavirus.

Richard Bond
BBC Look East business correspondent

The owners of a roller skating rink that claims to be the largest in Europe said it was in danger of closing for good with 27 staff facing redundancy, after its doors were shut at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown.

Jason Khan, a joint owner of Rollerworld, external in Colchester which has hosted a number of skating championships, said money was running out.

Image source, Rollerworld

"We did have some reserves but we had to use them to pay our overheads. It has been very tough and whether we or not we can make it through is under debate," he said.

"It could definitely close if we can't get some infusion of cash or help."

The government has said leisure venues could reopen on 4 July and Rollerworld has been preparing by ordering PPE and introducing other safety measures.

Joint owner Anne Khan said: "We'll be about 25% capacity so it's going to be tough to get the amount of revenue we need to run a building this size and pay our staff."

Any personal or fitness trainer is being reminded to register with a council first if they want to use open spaces for training sessions.

Bedford Borough Council said they will need to submit a Covid-19 risk assessment, external explaining how social distancing will be maintained.

Charles Royden, portfolio holder for environment, said: "I know that our parks have been a real lifeline for local people, and as lockdown starts to ease we have seen more people start to gather, and more and more training sessions taking place.

"If you are running a training session in a park or open space and have not registered, or are not abiding by government guidelines, you may be asked to leave."

As film production at Pinewood Studios begins to resume after lockdown, independent film maker Rizwan Wadan from Luton said he had helped secure enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to try to ensure film sets are safe.

Image source, Rizwan Wadan

He worked with volunteers from the Loft 25, external project, which has provided PPE to the NHS, and agreed to donate £25,000 worth of PPE to the film industry.

He has just delivered the kit - including overalls, hand sanitisers, face masks, visors and foot coverings - to the medical facility at the Buckinghamshire studios.

"Within the film industry, as soon as I knew that they were going to get back up and running again, it was important for me to make sure that I played my part to make sure that I can help them [to do this]," he said.

"People need to know that Pinewood, the medical teams, and the industry has got the guidelines and they are going to be moving forward.

"It's going to be a new normal, but we're getting ready for the industry to start moving again."

Sarah Jenkins
BBC News

A theatre has started an emergency fundraising appeal to help it reopen when lockdown eases.

The Theatre Royal, external in Bury St Edmunds said in a statement that the coronavirus pandemic had "delivered a devastating blow" and it hoped to raise £50,000 in order to welcome visitors back.

The statement said the theatre had received "crucial" public authority funding from Suffolk County Council and West Suffolk Council, but that was a "small percentage of what is needed to survive".

"Reopening a theatre is not straightforward – we need time and money to programme and promote the season," the statement said.

"For our own shows we need to cast and rehearse – our income will not simply leap back to what is what before the crisis."

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

Cambridge University Botanical Gardens, external has announced it is to reopen to the public on Tuesday, 16 June, but with new procedures and rules.

Entry will be by pre-booked tickets only (including for Friends of the gardens) in order to control the number of visitors on site.

Social distancing and hygiene measures will be put in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Image source, CUBG

Tickets will be released at 10:00 each Thursday.

"We know there will be a high demand and you may be disappointed if tickets are unavailable for your preferred day," the website said.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Schools across Hertfordshire are seeing a "great deal of variability" in the numbers of children who have returned to the classroom this week, councillors heard.

On Monday, children in reception, year one and year six were allowed to rejoin children of key workers.

At the council’s special cabinet panel, external, Labour group leader Judi Billing said one school in Hitchin had welcomed back 90% of eligible pupils, but another school had seen less then a third come back.

The county council said it did not yet have full data on the number of children who returned this week.

Operations director, Simon Newland, said there was "a great deal of variability between schools", but the council was waiting for further information from the Department for Education.

Councillor Terry Douris, who is responsible for education at the Conservative-run local authority, praised school staff for their commitment and preparations, and hoped that at some stage parents who decided not to send their children back may reconsider.

Crews from one station have attended 21 outdoor fires in Luton in just a few days.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue is asking people not to light fires as it is "putting a strain on our resources".

It is reminding people to "dispose of waste" now that recycling and tidy tips have reopened.

Registration of births is to resume in Cambridgeshire from Monday - prioritising babies born in February and March and asking parents of younger ones to delay.

The county council's customer services said it was already being swamped with registration phone calls.

The service said: "Our team are doing their best to answer your call, we thank you for your patience and apologise for any delay."

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

Thieves have targeted a hospital car park to remove catalytic converters from staff already having to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

Two vehicles have been damaged in attacks at West Suffolk Hospital, external in Bury St Edmunds.

Image source, West Suffolk Hospital

"The suspected vehicle involved has been identified by the hospital security team and the relevant information has been given to the police," said head of security Darren Cooksey.

"It is disappointing that, particularly at a time when our staff are serving their community in their time of need during this pandemic, thieves have targeted our hospital car park."

He said extra patrols were in place and the site does have security cameras.