Eastern Daily Press

Here is the front page of today's Eastern Daily Press, external:

Image source, Archant

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

An additional £5.1m has been allocated from central government to spend on road and transport improvements in Norfolk during the 2017/18 financial year, it has been announced.

The county council, external has already set aside £38.8m for major highway works such as resurfacing and repairs and the new money will be added to this. 

This funding could support schemes to cut congestion at key locations and upgrade or improve local routes, the council said. 

Martin Wilby, chairman of the environment, development and transport committee, said: "Reducing journey times and congestion on our road network and continuing to improve safety for all on our roads is a priority."

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

The Queen visited the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich this lunchtime to have a private viewing of a Fijian art exhibition. 

At the University of East Anglia, external, she entered the world of Fiji, with two warriors guarding her red carpet and others beating out a rhythmic welcome on drums.

Image source, Chris Jackson/Getty Images

It was her first major public engagement since falling ill over Christmas. 

Fiji was one of the first countries visited by the newly-crowned Queen in 1953 when she received a ceremonial whale tooth which she saw included in the displays. 

The Duke of Edinburgh was scheduled in error to attend the event, Buckingham Palace said, and it is understood he was out and about on the Sandringham Estate instead. 

Fiji: Art & Life in The Pacific, external showcased the Commonwealth country's sculptures, textiles and ceramics, alongside ivory and shell regalia. 

Exhibition curator Steve Hooper said among the objects on show are cloths which were also presented to the Queen on her first visit to Fiji.

BBC Sport

Welsh midfielder Louis Thompson, 22, has damaged his Achilles tendon quite severely and has gone for surgery, Canaries manager Alex Neil has announced. 

He is likely to be out for the rest of the season, but the manager declined to reveal any more details.

Image source, Getty Images

To add to Alex Neil's woes before Saturday's home game with Birmingham City (who are two places below them in the Championship), he said right-back Steven Whittaker, 32, is touch and go and winger Matt Jarvis, 30, will not be ready to play.

The problems affecting overheard wires on the line between Norwich and London Liverpool Street are continuing, with news that further damage has been identified.

Disruption now predicted to continue for several more hours  - check out the latest, external from Greater Anglia: 

The man arrested today by Cambridgeshire Police in their ongoing investigation into abuse in football is Michael Sean Carson, better known as "Kit". 

He has worked extensively as a coach and scout for clubs including Peterborough United, Cambridge United and Norwich City.

Police have confirmed they have arrested a man in his 70s.

Norwich Evening News

Here is the back page of today's Norwich Evening News, external:

Image source, Archant

Phil Daley
BBC Radio Norfolk sport

Norwich City are hosting their regular Friday press conference ahead of Saturday's match at home to Gianfranco Zola's Birmingham City.

Caroline Kingdon
BBC Local Live

"Pimp my Zimmer" is not the sort of phrase you'd expect to hear mentioned in a care home.

But for residents of the Bowthorpe Care Village, external in Norwich, a project encouraging them to decorate their walking frames has proved a success.

The more colourful the better, as it helps older people connect with their own frame and makes it easier to see. There's also less risk of the wrong frame being picked - if it's the wrong height, there's a greater risk of falling. 

The project has proved a great success, and training will be rolled out at 30 care homes in north Norfolk, Norwich and south Norfolk in spring.

Louise Mcreevy, of Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCH&C), says the project is a simple idea with a very strong impact.

Nick Conrad
BBC Radio Norfolk

A decision by six parish councils with beaches between Hunstanton and Wolferton Creek not to contribute to a flood defence scheme has limited the amount of funds that could have been raised, the leader of West Norfolk Borough Council says.

The parishes have said that raising money for the scheme was the responsibility of the Environment Agency and paying out from their limited funds would deprive funding for other amentities such as libraries.

Brian Long from the borough council said the scheme - which is supported by local businesses, holiday parks, landowners and individuals - had raised £200,000 and this had attracted another £300,000 from the regional flood defence committee.

A further boost of about £0.5m has come from central government.

More contributions from parish councils would have further boosted matched funds whatever they raised, he said. 

"Every year it costs about £150,000 to recharge the beaches along the coast line after they were damaged by winter storms. 

"About every six or eight years a major project costing up to £1m is needed."

Having said earlier the disruption on train services on the Norwich-London Liverpool Street line is likely to continue until about 14:00, Greater Anglia have just tweeted that the finish time has been put back by an hour.

The line was closed between Witham and Shenfield earlier, but it reopened and we're waiting for services to catch up with the timetable:

Tim Addicott
BBC Radio Norfolk

A 24-year-old man from London has been charged with two counts of possession with intent to supply crack cocaine and heroin and six other people have been arrested in the past few days in Norfolk as part of a campaign to stop drug dealing codenamed Operation Gravity. 

The man and a local woman in her 30s, later released on bail, were arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs after a raid on a property in Saffron Square in Norwich yesterday. 

Three people were arrested this morning in a campaign targeting criminals coming into the county to deal drugs.

Officers were called to reports of suspicious activity in Middle Market Road in Great Yarmouth at 00:40 this morning. A property in Swirles Place was raided and officers discovered a quantity of Class A drugs and cash. 

A man in his 30s from Great Yarmouth, a male in his late teens from the London area, and a woman in her 30s from Great Yarmouth, are in police custody being questioned. 

Another man, also from London, was arrested for suspected drug dealing in Ordnance Road in Great Yarmouth yesterday. 

And on Wednesday, more class A drugs were found after searches in Netherwood Green in Norwich and Apsley Road in Great Yarmouth. 

Two men from London were arrested, as well as a man from Norwich, and another from Great Yarmouth.

Jill Bennett
BBC Radio Norfolk

Six parish councils in West Norfolk are declining to pay towards a community flood protection scheme. 

 An East Wash community interest company, regulated to ensure assets are used as intended, was set up by businesses, landowners and individuals, external to pay for protection schemes after budget cut backs hit the Environment Agency. 

In the past 12 months, more than £200,000 has been raised through voluntary contributions, which is topped up with national funding. 

James Johnson, mayor of Hunstanton, one of the six not taking part, said flood defences should not be up to them. 

He said it would be a burden on small communities to raise the money, but with 170,000 residents in the West Norfolk area, a small amount on the council tax precept could raise a lot more.

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

During a visit to the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, external in Norwich, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh will see the ceremonial whale tooth, or tabua, which was presented to her during her first visit to Fiji in 1953. 

After touring the Fiji: Art & Life exhibition, the royal couple will also meet Fijian students studying at the University of East Anglia and other Fijians living in the UK.

Image source, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

The exhibition is the result of a three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council, external-funded project. 

Research project leader and exhibition curator Professor Steven Hooper said: "Examples of exceptional Fijian creativity on display are not presented as 'ethnographic specimens' or 'illustrations' of Fijian culture, but as works of art in their own right. 

"Remarkable creative imagination is applied to the making of ancestral god images, ritual dishes and regalia, and to the decoration of enormous barkcloths." 

It's estimated disruption on the trains will last until between 12:00 and 14:00 today, so here's where you can find updates:

BBC Travel website keeps a regular check or you can log on to the Greater Anglia webpage, external, or stay across their Twitterfeed, external.

All lines are open now, but it will take some time for the Norwich-London Liverpool Street main line to return to normal again, says train operator Greater Anglia.

As we look forward to a weekend of FA Cup action, watch some of the best goals from the FA People's Cup - the UK's biggest free five-a-side tournament - and what it means to those who lifted the trophy.

You can get involved in the 2017 FA People's Cup, in one of 16 categories, now! Find out how to sign up here.

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will today visit an exhibition in Norwich celebrating the culture and art of Fiji.

Image source, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts

They will tour the attraction at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, external at the University of East Anglia where Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific is being staged. 

Displays feature sculptures, textiles, and ceramics alongside ivory and shell regalia chronicling the history of the South Pacific nation. 

Fijian artworks and a European response to them are presented in paintings, drawings and historic photographs from the 19th and 20th Centuries.

This morning's problems on the Norwich-London mainline could have been caused by a number of factors, a spokeswoman for Network Rail has explained.

The cause is still being investigated, but she said: "In the past we've had trees and the like fall on the line, so we had to close it and turn all the power off, and then put the line back up again. 

"Once the work is carried out on the line we have to make sure it's all working and then send a test train down at a low speed. 

"The first few trains after that go down at the low speed, just to make sure that everything is OK and then things will start to get back to normal again."

This morning, she said, the test train was sent down the track at 08:00 and once it was declared safe Greater Anglia would need to work from there to get the service running again.

Patrick Byrne
BBC News

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, external in King's Lynn has declared an "internal critical incident" because of a large number of patients presenting at the accident and emergency department.

Many of those arriving overnight are frail, elderly and acutely ill, meaning they're being admitted to wards, the hospital said. 

Because of a high number of medically fit patients occupying beds, but having nowhere to be discharged to, the hospital is at full stretching point. 

Extra medical and nursing support has been called in as the hospital has said patient safety remains its top priority, the hospital said.

Chief executive Dorothy Hosein said that unwell patients would not be turned away but rather than making A&E their first call, people should also consider other medical help from GPs, pharmacies and NHS 111 phone services, external.

Train company Greater Anglia says all lines are open but spokesman Jonathan Denby has told us that "disruption is expected until midday":