If you are approached by a motorists claiming to have run out of fuel and offering a gold ring for cash, walk away.

Despite their weight, and being marked as 18ct gold they are in fact brass.

There have been recent incidents on the A12 and M11, but Essex Police say the con artists could be operating further afield too.

Brenner Woolley
BBC Radio Suffolk sport

AFC Sudbury, external manager Jamie Godbold says there are "no excuses" for his side's current slump.

After racing to the Ryman North Division, external title last season, this time around the Yellows have found life tough in the Premier Division.

Tuesday's 4-1 defeat at Wingate & Finchley has left them fourth from the bottom, on a run of just three wins in 16 matches.

"We've got no excuses, we just have to look at ourselves, we haven't been good enough, we need to learn and we need to learn quickly," said Godbold.

Kate Williams
BBC Local Live

The judge at Ipswich Crown Court overseeing the trial of a man accused of the murder of Peter and Sylvia Stuart from Weybread has referred in his summing up to the discovery of the body of Mr Stuart on the evening of 3 June.

Police found the body in woodland next to the home he shared with his wife Sylvia on Mill Lane. 

He had nine stab wounds, eight of which could have been fatal. The two largest were 15.5 cm (6 in) and 13 cm (5 in) and were consistent with the use of one weapon. 

Mrs Stuart's body has never been found, but a silver Citroen C3 car, found in Dover on 5 June, contained five grey hairs matching the DNA profile of Sylvia Stuart.

The vehicle was registered to Mr Qazimaj and was found to have fingerprints which a forensics expert matched to him, although the defendant says either the prints were the result of a mix-up or that he shares identical fingerprints with someone else.

The court has also heard about automatic number plate recognition evidence linking the Citroen registered to Mr Qazimaj, who lived in Tilbury in south Essex, to a camera at Little Stonham on the A140 in Suffolk on a number of occasions.

As Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith continues his summing up in the trial of a man the prosecution claim is Ali Qazimaj, he referred to a laptop used by Mr Qazimaj from his workplace, which had conducted an internet search for the cottage owned by Peter and Sylvia Stuart, in Mill Lane, Weybread.

The judge at Ipswich Crown Court also referred to events prior to the revelation that Peter and Sylvia Stuart were missing.

Two searches for the couple were carried out after they twice failed to turn up for their line-dancing class.

The couple's daughter, Christy Paxman, asked friends to go to her parents' house to look for them, but when there was no sign, she called hospitals, and then the police.

The defendant denies the murder of Peter Stuart, whose body was found on 3 June close to his home, and Sylvia Stuart, whose body has not been found, on the grounds that he is not Ali Qazimaj.

The A12 is unhappy - an accident southbound has now been cleared, but a fallen tree is still causing problems northbound.

Only one lane is open between Junctions 11 and 12 (M25 and Mountnessing).

This is courtesy of Essex Police who are there to deal with the clear-up:.

Highways are advising the following diversion on its website, external  (although they've spelt Mountnessing wrong):

The judge also reminded the jury at Ipswich Crown Court of the evidence given by Sidney Paxman, who was the uncle of Peter and Sylvia Stuart's son-in-law Steve Paxman.

The prosecution say the defendant is Ali Qazimaj, who was a carer for Sidney Paxman.

Mr Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith said the uncle had told the court Mr Qazimaj could be an "annoying person" who liked to shock people, had English "as good as his" and had claimed to be an interpreter working for MI5. 

The judge reminded the court that another witness Mr Qazimaj had worked with in Essex had been told by Mr Qazimaj that he was planning a robbery at a house in or near Ipswich.

This afternoon, the judge is due to continue his summing up after a month of evidence.

During his summing-up in the trial of the man prosecutors claim is Ali Qazimaj from Tilbury...

Mr Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith reminded jurors of the evidence heard from the dead couple's daughter Christy Paxman.

She painted a picture of her father Peter Stuart as a "workaholic" who worked double shifts at Tate & Lyle, while her mother Sylvia Stuart was a "home-maker".

Ms Paxman and her husband Steve Paxman had been living with the Stuarts in Weybread, but were planning on moving to Leicestershire, where Steve had a new job.

The judge said the Stuarts had also been looking at properties in the Midlands, but had not put their Suffolk home on the market.

Earlier in the trial, Christy Paxman said a mystery man had approached her father in his garden and said "I understand you want to sell up?".

Prosecutors have said Ali Qazimaj had been a carer for Steve Paxman's uncle near Mr Qazimaj's home in Tibury, south Essex.

The defendant denies murder on the grounds that he is not Ali Qazimaj, but he is actually another Albanian national called Vital Dapi, who had never been to the UK until his arrest and extradition from Luxembourg.

The trial continues.

The head teacher at Philip Hammond's old comprehensive has warned that his budget and economic policy risks denying today's students the opportunities he was given by the education system.

The Chancellor was a pupil at Shenfield High in Brentwood, where he had a reputation as something of an entrepreneur, putting on school discos and running a business on the side. 

He went on to study at Oxford and that success continues with the school producing another five Oxbridge students in the past two years alone.

But headteacher Carole Herman says that real funding cuts of 8% and an emphasis on grammar schools risk all that.

"We tell our students you too could be Chancellor of the Exchequer, you too could be Prime Minister and we mean it, you can go anywhere starting in a school like ours.

"But actually if we aren't going to be invested in, those days may be gone."

Earlier this week, BBC Essex reported on Southend University Hospital's apology to a patient who has had a knee operation cancelled four times. 

On the last occasion Lesley Joseph had already been prepared for surgery when she was told it couldn't go ahead. 

The hospital told us that they understood the "frustration and concern" caused by cancelled operations and it was only done when "absolutely necessary".

That may not ring true for Lesley - and now she's just been sent a questionnaire from the hospital asking for feedback on how her operation went. 

She says she's "furious".

Kate Williams
BBC Local Live

The judge at the trial of a man accused of the murder of Peter and Sylvia Stuart (pictured) has told the jury to put emotions to one side in the case of the Stuarts, and consider what has been presented.

Image source, Diss Express

"You will decide this by taking into account which evidence is reliable", he tells jurors. 

"It's quite possible for a witness to be right on some things and not on others... And if you reject one piece of evidence that doesn't mean that the whole case will fall apart."

Jurors were also told they need to consider that the defendant decided to give evidence, which was his choice, and his evidence must be considered equally to other evidence presented to the court.

Kate Williams
BBC Local Live

Closing speeches in the case of the man accused of the murder of Weybread couple Peter and Sylvia Stuart have drawn to a close at Ipswich Crown Court.

The prosecution says a man called Ali Qazimaj, who lived in Tilbury, murdered the couple in the village on the Norfolk/Suffolk border last year. Mr Stuart's body was found in woodland in June. 

Mrs Stuart has never been found. The last time the couple were seen alive was when they were shopping in Pulham Market in Norfolk a week earlier.

The man accused says he is actually called Vital Dapi and denies murder, saying he was not even in the country.

He says he had never even heard of the Stuarts until he was arrested in Luxembourg. 

The jury has been led back into court one for the judge, Mr Justice Jeremy Stuart-Smith, to begin summing up.

Essex County Council has acknowledged its failings in the case of a teenager with learning difficulties who was taken into foster care without consulting her aunt and uncle who were caring for.

The Local Government Ombudsmen says it was both "shocking and unnecessary".

Dick Madden, Essex County Council's Cabinet Member for Adults and Children, said: "We accept that mistakes were made in the way this case was handled. We apologise for any distress caused and are complying with all of the suggested recommendations.

"This case dates back to 2011 and a number of changes have been made to our services since then."

Nic Rigby
BBC News

A Norwich author has said she is "thrilled" to be in the running for the prestigious £30,000  Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction, external , previously known as the Orange Prize.

Image source, Profile Books

Sarah Perry's novel The Essex Serpent (pictured), inspired by tales about a serpent from 17th Century Henham in Essex, is one of 16 on the longlist.

Perry, who grew up in the Chelmsford area, told the BBC: "It's absolutely wonderful to be longlisted for a prize with such a noble history of rewarding women's writing.

"I'm thrilled to be there alongside both women writers I've admired for years, and new writers whose work I've been delighted to see thrive this year."

Image source, British Library

Kate Williams
BBC Local Live

I'm at Ipswich Crown Court, where the defence is presenting its closing speech in the trial of a man accused of murdering Peter and Sylvia Stuart, who lived at Weybread near Harleston.

The couple were reported missing from their house on 3 June and Mr Stuart's body was found later that day in neighbouring woodland. The last recorded sighting of them alive was at a farm shop in Pulham Market on 29 May. 

Mrs Stuart's body has not been found and she is presumed dead.

A man who prosecutors say is Ali Qazimaj, 43, from Albania and formerly of Tilbury in Essex, is in the dock.

He denies murder and denies he is Ali Quazimaj, claiming he is a 44-year-old Albanian called Vital Dapi.

Essex County Council has been told to apologise after a girl with learning difficulties was taken away from her family without any warning. 

Nigel Ellis, chief executive of the Local Government Ombudsman's office, says the girl was "literally picked up from school". 

The teenager was being looked after by her aunt, uncle and grandmother. Despite being a teen - and showing "typical teenage behaviour" - she is described as having the understanding of an eight year old.

Yet when she complained to her social worker it triggered her removal without any consultation with her family.

Image source, Getty Images

The Ombudsman's report, external  says her new placement was "highly inappropriate", she was left unattended in a local park and hitched a lift with an "unknown male driver" back to her old home. She also claims that she was left so hungry she ate cat biscuits.

All this took place over a period of two months in 2011, but the council failed to investigate the family's complaints.

Mr Ellis said: "It dragged on and on and on for approximately four years. 

"What we are saying today is that they really should have been prepared to learn the lessons and make improvements earlier. 

"It shouldn't have been necessary for the Ombudsman to be involved at all."  

Nic Rigby
BBC News

Three writers, who live in Norwich, are in the running for the prestigious £30,000 Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction, external , which was previously known as the Orange Prize for Fiction.

Image source, Getty Images

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride (pictured above), Sarah Perry's The Essex Serpent, and The Gustav Sonatas by Rose Tremain (pictured below), who has homes in London and Norwich, are on the 16-strong longlist for the award.

Image source, Getty Images

Perry (pictured below), who grew up in the Chelmsford area, has also already won the  Waterstones Book of the Year Prize, external . 

Tessa Ross, chair of judges, said: "The judges had an unusually large number of books of extraordinary quality to choose from this year, and so I can’t say that it was an easy process to come up with a list as short as sixteen."

Image source, Profile Books

Image source, Google

This is Plains Farm Close in Colchester where officers from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate carried out a raid early yesterday morning at the home of David Carvel. 

He's been charged with conspiracy to murder Leonard Naylor (pictured below) along with three other men.

Mr Naylor died at the age of 46 after being shot multiple times on the driveway of his home in Gravesend in Kent on Wednesday, 18 April, 2001.

Mr Naylor had been a London taxi driver, but was described as an "unemployed businessman" at the time of his death.

Mr Carvel and two others are due before magistrates in Kent later. The fourth man is next due in court in Maidstone in April.

Image source, Essex Police

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed the name of the inmate whose death came to light yesterday afternoon in a brief statement:

"HMP Chelmsford prisoner Timothy Shaw (DOB 29.01.1983) died in custody on Thursday, 28 February.

"As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman."

Press reports from the time , external suggest that he was a homeless and unemployed man involved in a police chase in Basildon in January 2016.

An inquiry is already under way looking at all recent deaths in custody at Chelmsford - this is the fourth  at the prison in 18 months.

Georgina Burnett
BBC Weather

Today will be dry and bright, with plenty of sunny spells.

It will be breezy through the morning and early afternoon, with winds easing during the afternoon. 

Maximum temperature: 13C (55F).

Nikki Jenkins
BBC Local Live

Hello everyone, hope you had a good evening. 

What's in store for us today? 

We've warnings about a scam operating in the county; we've a worrying story about a girl with learning difficulties removed from her family without warning; and we will have the usual weather and traffic updates. 

Mind you, I was stuck on the M25 for two hours last night so I should heed my own advice. 

Let's do this people!

Image source, Alamy