Jeremy Ball
Social affairs correspondent, BBC East Midlands Today

About 50 suspected modern slavery victims have been found in Lincolnshire in three years, a Freedom of Information request from the BBC can reveal.

The figures show many were targeted because they were sleeping rough.

Victims are often controlled by fear and debt, and forced to work for a pittance.

Most of the perpetrators were British, but many victims were foreign nationals. The oldest was 72.

They include Vietnamese nationals, detained at Morton Hall, who said they'd been trafficked to grow cannabis.

Others were Polish women, who'd been trafficked for sham marriages.

Some even signed over their homes to criminals who were controlling them.

BBC Weather

It's going to be largely dry and warm today, with some good spells of sunshine. Some cloud may develop for a time this afternoon.

Here's Lisa Gallagher with our region's forecast:

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

Good morning from sunny Lincoln, Hope here today. I'll be bringing you news, sport, weather and travel updates from across the county until 18:00.

Got an event going on near you? Or something you think we should know about? You can get in touch by email, Facebook , externalor Twitter, external.

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

That's all from me today, we'll be back tomorrow from 08:00 with all the very latest across the county.

News, sport, weather and travel updates will continue through the evening.

Until then I'll leave you with five things we've learned today:

• Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance has unveiled its newest air ambulance
• Lincolnshire's ambulance service still requires improvement, according to the Care Quality Commission

• More than 2,100 have signed a petition to save Lincoln walk in centre, external
• RAF personnel from Lincolnshire and troops from nine NATO countries are carrying out a major training exercise in Romania
• A man has been sentenced to 12 weeks in prison for after pleading guilty to stealing a charity box from Myers Bakery in Horncastle last month.

Have a good evening.

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

A petition has been launched to save Lincoln's only walk in centre, external from closure.

Lincolnshire West Clinical Commissioning Group has opened a public consultation, external about plans to shut the centre and instead provide seven days a week GPs and encourage people to call 111.

They say the vast majority of patients who use the building on Monks Road don't require treatment.

But the new MP for Lincoln, Karen Lee (Labour) says people are already struggling to get appointments and she'll fight to keep it open:

Dean Graham, from Lincoln, who started the petition says over 2,100 people have signed it since it was launched:

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

Over 1,500 people attended the two-day event at Canwick Village Hall where they had the opportunity to discuss the bypass scheme and better understand what goes into its construction.

Hundreds also took part in tours of the Washingborough Road site where over 80,000 artefacts from up to 12,000 years of the county's history have been unearthed.

Image source, Lincolnshire County Council

Katie O'Halloran
BBC Radio Lincolnshire

Artistic pupils from Ancaster Primary School have brightened up Sleaford station footbridge to create a permanent piece of art for the station.

Image source, Lincolnshire County Council

Children at the school created pieces of artwork, which were then brought together by local artist Louise Hill into a final design.

She then led a series of half day workshops with the pupils to put the mosaic together.

The unveiling of the art comes as the whole of the Seaflord footbridge is being refurbished this summer.

Gemma Dawson
BBC Look North

Alfredo the robot is on show at the University of Lincoln today.

He's been designed to help older people stay in their homes for longer by recognising changes in their mood and helping with everyday tasks.

It's part of an international project and in the next few weeks Alfredo will be moving in with an elderly resident in Lincoln.

Richard Madden
BBC Radio Humberside

A new pilot scheme in North East Lincolnshire to tackle alcohol-related crime could eventually save the British taxpayer up to £13bn every year.

Image source, Getty Images

The Humber, Lincolnshire & North Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company has chosen Grimsby as one of the locations for a new project using monitoring technology to track offenders who commit crimes under the influence of alcohol.

It's thought 50% of all violent incidents are caused by alcohol.

Amy Gilbert is helping to lead the project and says the so-called 'sobriety tags' are just the starting point.

BBC Humberside Sport

Grimsby Town has announced that Young's Seafood have extended their shirt sponsorship deal for the 2017/18 season.

Image source, Rex Features

Young's have now supported the club for over a decade, with the Mariners sporting the Young’s Seafood logo on shirts since 2004.

Last summer saw the upper and lower Stands at Blundell Park renamed the 'Young’s upper stand' and 'Young’s lower stand'.

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

More about the NHS Lincoln Walk in Centre and the consultation that started yesterday, external on whether it should be shut down.

The trust which runs it says patients could go to their GPs instead, use an out of hours service, the local pharmacy or call 111.

But Dr Phil Williams from Nettleham Medical Practice says he is concerned if the walk in centre closes without a viable alternative patients will have to turn to their GPs who are already overstretched.

And people across Lincoln have been expressing their disappointment at the news.

BBC Weather Watchers

Thanks to our weather watcher The Stables in Hannah for sending in this cracking photo of Alford from this morning.

Image source, The Stables in Hannah

And if you want to join the ranks of our Lincolnshire Weather Watchers click here.

BBC Radio Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire Police are appealing for witnesses following an allegation of a suspicious incident in Chapel St Leonards.

Between 16:15 and 17:00 yesterday a woman was walking with her two children and a pushchair along Trunch Lane when the male driver of a dark coloured Landrover is alleged to have approached one of the children, a 2-year-old girl.

If you were in the area at the time or have any information please contact the police on 101.

Emily Unia
BBC reporter

A few months ago, some of the Typhoons from RAF Coningsby made their way to Romania where they'll based this summer, helping the Romanian Air Force do patrols.

But this week, they've got some company out there as 4,000 troops from nine NATO countries, including 150 from the RAF, are carrying out a major training exercise to work out if they are ready to deploy at short notice.

It's all part of a NATO drive to bolster defences on the eastern boundary of the alliance because of continuing tensions with Russia.

North Lincolnshire showjumping teenager Holly Truelove won third place in the Children’s Grand Prix at the Dutch Youngster Festival in the Netherlands at the weekend.

Image source, Barrie Truelove

After three days of competition Holly rode two clear rounds to win the bronze medal.

Holly from Worlaby and her 11-year-old horse Golly Girl jumped clear in the first round to qualify for the last 11 from an initial field of 70 young riders.

Joshua Cook
BBC Radio Humberside

Neighbourhood watch groups in Northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire have formed a regional Humber Watch Association today

Image source, Humberside Police

Melvyn Prior
Presenter, BBC Radio Lincolnshire

Today Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance has unveiled its newest recruit.

I've been down to have a sneak peek...

Hope Bolger
BBC Lincolnshire

A Lincoln company has got a £500,000 contract for survey work on part of the Triton Knoll Offshore Wind Farm.

Allen Archaeology will carry out surveys along the route of a 30-mile-long cable across the Lincolnshire countryside to see if any archaeology on the route needs to be preserved.

It will take electricity from a windfarm near Skegness to the national grid at Bicker Fen. Work will start later this month.

Corazon Garcia
BBC Radio Lincolnshire

The top stories so far today from our Lincolnshire newsroom:

• Lincolnshire's ambulance service still requires improvement, according to the Care Quality Commission
• Some patients who use an NHS Walk In Centre in Lincoln say it's a vital service and should stay
• RAF personnel from Lincolnshire and troops from nine NATO countries are carrying out a major training exercise in Romania

Melvyn Prior
Presenter, BBC Radio Lincolnshire

The new Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Air Ambulance has been unveiled at RAF Waddington today.

The new ambucopter has a top speed of 190mph (305kph) and can stay in the air for up to four hours.

The team hope more lives will be saved with this bigger and faster helicopter, and have paid tribute to the fundraisers who've made it possible.