Northampton Saints sign South African flanker Shaun Adendorff and loose-head prop Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi.

Image source, Getty Images

Three people have been arrested after a police operation targeting organised crime gangs suspected of being behind the Luton sex industry.

Officers raided a property in the Round Green area of the town on Wednesday and arrested a man in his 40s from Luton, a man in his 30s from Kent and a woman in her 20s from Luton on suspicion of keeping a brothel.

A Romanian woman is being supported as a victim of modern slavery.

Last week raids were carried out at three addresses in the town, which identified six suspected human trafficking victims.

Sgt Fiona Dawson said: "The treatment these women receive is vile and we are determined to root out the criminal gangs carrying out this exploitation.

"People who use these brothels should be under no illusions about the exploitation and human misery they are funding."

A man has died following a crash on the A130 in Essex.

Emergency services were called to an incident involving two cars and a motorbike near South Woodham Ferrers yesterday afternoon.

The road was closed for several hours as a result.

Workers speak out after losing their jobs at one of Britain's largest sandwich-making firms.

Image source, Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service

Two people were taken to hospital following a substantial fire at a guest house.

Fifteen fire crews from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were called to a first floor fire at the Highwaymans in Risby, external near Bury St Edmunds on Thursday night.

An aerial unit and water storage unit helped battle the fire which had taken hold in a first floor living space above a swimming pool.

The two people were taken hospital as a precaution after they breathed in smoke.

A fundraising appeal to save much-loved Wicksteed Park has topped £370,000.

The news comes as the National Lottery Heritage Fund announced it will provide the Kettering-based park an emergency grant of £247,000.

One of the oldest theme parks in the UK, Wicksteed Park had been struggling financially due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The park is owned by Wicksteed Charitable Trust, but was run by subsidiary company, Wicksteed Park Limited.

That company went into administration, with the loss of 48 permanent and 67 part-time jobs, but the Trust has managed to form a new company aimed at getting the park through to next spring when it is hoped it can reopen fully.

The National Lottery grant, added to more than £123,000 already raised by the Trust, will be used to support free access to the park, as well as staffing, security, insurance, utility bills, maintenance, refuse collection and looking after the animals there.

Chairman of the charity, Oliver Wicksteed, said it costs £110,000 a month to run the park, even without its rides and attractions.

He said the response from local fundraisers has been "truly outstanding".

Residents are trying to save a poppy field popular with photographers and Instagrammers from development as an industrial estate.

The field at Keswick, near Norwich, has become a hit on social media with dozens of people sharing photos of it.

Outline planning permission for the scheme was granted in 2018, but some locals want to see it abandoned.

Developer Apex said the scheme would provide 1,000 jobs and that the poppies were allowed to grow to "bring joy to many people during lockdown".

One resident, who asked not to be named, told the BBC: "This development would fundamentally change one of the most beautiful gateways into the city."

Five people have been arrested following an incident involving a knife on the Norfolk coast on Thursday night.

Norfolk Police, external say two men in Mundesley, near Cromer, had minor injuries.

Officers were called after reports of a man with a knife in Munhaven Close.

No weapon was recovered and police say an investigation is ongoing.

Inspectors find serious failings at a Kettering home closed after deaths during the Covid-19 outbreak.

The number of people who died in hospital from Covid-19 in the East of England has increased by eight, according to the latest daily government statistics, external.

The previous day's figures showed 11 new deaths.

The number of new deaths in Thursday's stats, listed by the NHS trust, were:

• Southend University Hospital: 4
• Basildon and Thurrock Hospitals: 3

• Kettering General: 1

The total number of hospital deaths in the region now stands at 3,957, while across the UK it's 43,230.

More than 30 firefighters battled for two hours to control a blaze that destroyed several cars at a yard.

Image source, Essex Fire and Rescue

Fire broke out at the site on Epping Road in Roydon, near Harlow, at about 18:15 yesterday evening.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said "crews worked extremely hard in very hot conditions to bring the fire under control" and stop it spreading to surrounding storage units.

An investigation into the cause of the blaze will take place later.

Image source, Essex Fire and Rescue

A dispersal order remains in place at a popular beauty spot after concerns were raised about people swimming in a river.

Police said they had received "increased reports of people causing anti-social behaviour" in the area of Houghton Mill and Houghton Lock in Cambridgeshire "and most worryingly, jumping into the water putting themselves in danger".

Image source, Cambs Police

The order prohibits entry into the water within 30m (100ft) of the lock and remains in place until 19:00 this evening.

Dale Peter Bates is due to appear before magistrates in Northampton later, police say.

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