Culture minister Matt Hancock has pledged to "bang the drum" and "trumpet the success" of brass bands as he lent his support in the Commons. 

The West Suffolk MP also revealed he was a cornet player in a brass band in his youth.

Kettering Tory Philip Hollobone had praised Youth Brass 2000, a band for young people in his constituency who have been crowned national champions five years in a row. 

In reply, Mr Hancock congratulated them on their success, and said: "I myself played the cornet in a brass band when I was a boy, but I never rose to the dizzying heights of the national champions that he represents, and I send them all congratulations."

Tory backbencher Jake Berry poked fun at Mr Hancock, saying: "The minister is certainly not known for blowing his own trumpet." 

Amid laugher in the chamber, Mr Hancock replied: "I never got to the point of playing the trumpet, I was a mere cornet player, but I do want to bang the drum for all of the brass bands that he mentioned."

Graeme Mac
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

Just days after scoring a hat-trick for the Ipswich Town under-23 team in an 8-0 demolition of Watford at Portman Road, striker Monty Patterson is off on another loan spell at Braintree Town.

Image source, Getty Images

The 20-year-old (pictured here playing for New Zealand) spent two months with the National League side earlier in the season, and he'll be part of their squad until the summer. 

"Spending time with them is what's helped him get in the under-23s and play like he did the other night," said Town boss Mick McCarthy. "He'd not been doing that before he went to Braintree. 

"Going out and playing games has been of real benefit to him and he'll struggle to get that here at the moment when you bear in mind that he plays in Tom Lawrence's position."

National League side Braintree Town re-sign Ipswich Town forward Monty Patterson on loan until the end of the season.

Richard Smith
BBC Essex

This was the scene a short time ago on Coleman's Bridge, where the lorry was travelling yesterday before it crashed on to the A12 near Witham.

It's chilly out there... but should we be expecting some of the white stuff?

Our weather forecaster Dan Holley has the answer:

A man who swallowed 100 packages of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle them into the UK through Stansted Airport has been jailed for four years and four months.

Samuel Odinaka Onyekwere Okoye, 38, a Spanish national of Abbey Street in Birmingham, was stopped by Border Force officers shortly after 22:30 on 15 December when he arrived on a flight from Amsterdam.

He was given away by swabs of his shoes, which gave strong positive readings for traces of cocaine.

The drugs he'd swallowed had an estimated street value of £100,000.

Image source, Home Office

Stuart Woodward
BBC Essex

Essex Police is warning that the A12 is likely to remain closed between junctions 25 and 20B while work goes on to try and recover the wreckage of the lorry involved in yesterday's fatal crash.

Specialist recovery equipment is needed to deal with the lorry's load of batteries. Fire crews are continuing to hose the wreckage to cool them.

The lorry crashed off a bridge and on to the dual carriageway where it caught fire.

Essex Fire and Rescue says it is taking the lead in trying to recover the lorry that went over the side of a bridge on to the A12. The 40ft container was carrying batteries at the time.

Assistant divisional officer Danny Patridge said: "As there are 26 tonnes of batteries, all wired in series, inside the container, it is vital that we continue reassessing the situation and work alongside police, Highways England and the load owners to determine the safest way to move this."

The container is being sprayed with water to cool the batteries after the fire. The Environment Agency is also there to minimise any environmental damage.

The southbound carriageway will remain shut until the container can be moved safely. The bridge above is also closed while work is under way.

Richard Smith
BBC Essex

Work is continuing on the southbound carriageway of the A12 where a lorry crashed yesterday.

The delicate work to recover the lorry is continuing behind screens which have been put up to shield the scene of this fatal collision from northbound traffic, where the flow of vehicles is lighter than might be expected.

The bridge from which the lorry fell is also closed to traffic, with many police vehicles parked on it, and a cordon across the footpath.

Fire service hoses stretch out of view towards the place where the lorry left the bridge yesterday afternoon.

The driver died at the scene when his lorry crashed off a bridge and on to the road below.

Dinner ladies at a school in Harlow are wearing body cameras to help them do their jobs better, it's been revealed.

Midday assistants at Passmores Academy, external, featured in fly-on-the-wall series Educating Essex, external, are wearing the cameras to help make sure pupils are sticking to break-time rules. 

Principal Vic Goddard (pictured) said the technology was still being piloted at his school.

"We've had some success," he said. "You have to separate people who want to play with footballs and people who want to sit and read - and we've had young people in the wrong places and it's helped us resolve that."

Two unnamed schools in England yesterday confirmed they're allowing teachers to use body cams.  

A man has died after driving into a stationary lorry on the A13 at Corringham. It happened on the Southend-bound carriageway at about 20:45 yesterday.

The man, who was in his 40s and from the Canvey area, was pronounced dead at the scene. He was driving a black Mercedes E280.

Police have asked for witnesses to come forward.

Essex Police is appealing for drivers who may have witnessed yesterday's fatal crash on the A12, or who may have dash cam footage, to contact the force on 101.

The lorry driver, a man in his thirties, was declared dead at the scene. The clear up is continuing and likely to take until lunchtime.

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

There has been no routine orthopedic surgery at Basildon Hospital at all so far this year. That means all hip and knee replacement ops to date have been cancelled.

Suitable patients have been moved to private hospitals to have their surgery, but higher risk patients have had to wait.

It's because of the huge demand for beds which has seen wards for routine surgery taken over to cope with emergency admissions. Deputy chief executive Tom Abel told me that the hospital has been on black alert since Tuesday, when more than 100 patients were admitted as emergencies. Black alert means there are no spare beds.

Discharging patients who no longer need hospital care is making the problem worse. 

These screens behind me show the current situation. There are 28 patients in accident and emergency who are awaiting beds, but there is only one trolley left so only one more patient can be accommodated.

Simon Dedman
BBC Essex political reporter

I've spent the morning at Basildon General to try and understand the pressures facing the NHS at the moment, and how they are juggling to try and create space during the current acute bed shortage.

The hospital is full after what the deputy chief executive Tom Abel called a "difficult day" in A&E on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, 103 patients were admitted as emergencies but only 84 were discharged.

Yesterday, 84 patients were admitted and 62 discharged.

The knock-on is affecting routine surgery, with orthopedic surgery wards being taken over to cope with the backlog.

Colchester Academy has described 15-year-old Jayson Gibson as "a kind hearted, honest and hardworking student".

Jayson died after a collision with a vehicle in Clingoe Hill on Saturday lunchtime. A man in his 50s, who was arrested for careless driving, has been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Fiona Pierson said she was proud to have had a student like Jayson represent the school. "Always smartly presented, he was a mature and conscientious young man," she said.

Image source, Google

The A12 has been closed to through traffic southbound from Marks Tey to Boreham,  junction 25 to junction 19.

There's been confusion after reports that some traffic was joining at Witham South (junction 20). Traffic officer Colin Shead has confirmed on Twitter, external that local traffic is able to join at junction 21, effectively south of the crash site.

Police are urging drivers to avoid Witham and follow the diversions via Basildon.

Police say the A12 is likely to be closed all morning as teams work to recover the lorry which crashed yesterday. 

The driver, a man in his 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene by the ambulance service. 

The road is closed southbound, between Marks Tey and Witham South.

A man in his 30s who was driving the lorry which crashed on to the A12 near Witham yesterday has died, police have confirmed.

The HGV came off Coleman's Bridge and landed on the southbound side of the A12. It then caught fire.

The driver was pronounced dead shortly afterwards by the ambulance service. His next of kin have been informed.