Summary

  • Updates on Friday, 12 May 2017

  • Murderer given 28-year jail term

  • Hospital 'up and running' after cyber attack

  • More than 1,600 drivers caught speeding

  • Labour critical of Greens for not fielding candidate in Norfolk seat

  • Skating rink to reopen

  • Canaries captain in talks with news sporting director

  1. Weather: A cold night with the risk of frostpublished at 17:35 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Julie Reinger
    BBC Look East weather

    Cloud will thin and break to eventually leave largely clear skies across the BBC East region.

    Temperatures could fall to freezing in places, and there's a chance of patchy frost.

    Some areas of shallow mist and fog are also possible.

    Weather graphic for Wednesday 05:00

    After a chilly start, Wednesday will be fine and dry with long sunny spells and patchy cloud.

    It'll feel warm in a light south to south easterly wind.

    Inland temperatures could reach 17C (63F).

    BBC Weather has a more detailed forecast for where you are.

  2. Care home to close following inspectionpublished at 17:22 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    A care home in north Norfolk is to close following concerns about standards and safety.

    Pine Heath Care Home in High Kelling, near Holt, was inspected by the Care Quality Commission, external (CQC) in November. During their unannounced visit, inspectors found staff relying on portable heaters to warm parts of the building, not enough hot water for residents to wash and several rooms smelled of urine.

    Norfolk County Council says the owners of the home have decided to close it at the end of this month, and a team of social workers is working to find suitable accommodation for all 26 residents.

    It adds that at no point will anyone be left without the appropriate level of care.

    The home had 15 residents on council contracts, and 11 whose bills were being paid for privately.

  3. Lack of rainfall critical for cropspublished at 16:58 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    After the driest winter for 20 years, and one of the driest Aprils on record, farmers are concerned that another week without rain could be critical for early crops.

    Andrew Blenkiron is the manager of Euston Estate, on the Norfolk/Suffolk border near Thetford. 

    Their 100 acre field of carrots have been in since the middle of January, and already he's had to apply two inches of water.

    Hand holding a small carrot, above soil

    The estate has built two large reservoirs (one is pictured) to help manager water resources - and each takes several years to gain planning permission. 

    "We don't know if we're going to get a dry summer, but if we do and we move in to a second really dry winter, then we have real concerns because we'll have limited ability to fill our reservoirs through next winter."

    Farmers talk of a five year cycle - 2012 saw a hosepipe ban in this part of the world followed by record levels of rain - it was known as the wettest drought in history. 

    Reservoir on the Euston Estate
  4. Eating disorder charity expands its support servicespublished at 16:44 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    In addition to the online support group for dads of youngsters with eating disorders, Beat will be expanding its services.

    From next week, the Norwich-based charity, external will include two groups for those supporting someone with an eating disorder, including one for mothers. 

    There'll also be individual groups for those affected by anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder/emotional over eating. 

    An overweight woman walking down a streetImage source, AFP/Getty Images

    The charity, which was formed in 1989, says eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, with no single cause or reason why someone develops it. It affects at least 725,000 people in the UK, from all ages and gender.

    Eating disorders can be fatal - with anorexia having a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness. 

    The condition is treatable, adds Beat - the sooner someone gets the treatment they need, the more likely they are to make a full recovery.

  5. UKIP: 'Vote Conservative' in North Norfolkpublished at 16:29 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Andrew Sinclair
    BBC Look East political correspondent

    UKIP has decided not to field a candidate in North Norfolk where Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb is defending a majority of 4,043.

    The party is asking the 8,300 people who voted for them last time to "lend" their votes to the Conservatives in order to unseat Mr Lamb.

    UKIP has announced "non-aggression pacts" against certain Brexit-supporting Conservatives like Stewart Jackson in Peterborough and Philip Hollobone in Kettering, but this is thought to be the first time it has decided not to stand in order to unseat an anti-Brexit candidate.

  6. Have you seen the two Ns?published at 16:21 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    You can't fail to spot these big "N's" if you go anywhere near the Forum. 

    They're advertising the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, external, one of the oldest surviving festivals in the UK.

    An orange and a yellow big N outside the Forum

    It's now one of the big four UK international arts festivals, attracting artistes both local and from across the world.

    This year's packed programme of events include circus, dance, theatre, visual arts and the Spiegeltent.

    The fun begins on Friday, and continues at various locations across the city, before drawing to a close on Sunday, 28 May.

  7. Online support for dads of eating disorder suffererspublished at 15:54 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    A weekly online support group is to be launched for fathers of people with eating disorders, by the Norwich-based Beat charity, external.

    Spokeswoman Caroline Price says the experience of caring for a child with an eating disorder can differ for dads compared to mums, adding that often fathers find it easier to speak openly with other dads about the challenges they're facing.

    A young woman standing on a pair of scalesImage source, Science Photo Library

    Nick Pollard's daughter Lizzie, who had an eating disorder as a teenager, was helped by Beat's online support group, but he says there's was nothing specifically for him. 

    Quote Message

    I tried as best I could to understand and help Lizzie, but it was a real struggle... I felt like I was cutting a new path through a dense jungle on my own."

    Nick Pollard

  8. Labour 'to challenge those in charge' on county councilpublished at 15:25 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    The new leader of the Labour group on Norfolk County Council has been speaking about his plans.

    Steve Morphew, who was elected last night, paid tribute to former Labour leader George Nobbs, praising him for his work over the last eight years.

    Following last week's local elections, the Conservatives gained overall control of the county council, winning 55 out of 84 seats. 

    Mr Morphew says Labour will be working hard - getting out to communities, talking to ordinary people and making sure they get a fair deal by challenging those in charge. 

    He said: "If you look at the state of adult services, children's services over a number of years, transport services in Norfolk leave a lot of rural areas isolated, unreliable bus transport, we've not had much change in the way the train system between Norwich and London is working... there's a whole plethora of things that are not right, things we can take up and argue on behalf of the people of Norfolk."

    Steve Morphew

    Mr Morphew took over as leader of Norwich City Council in 2006. Then, he says, it was "pretty dysfunctional" but is now "efficient, effective and prize-winning".

    Quote Message

    The county council has a long way to go... it's stuffed full of talented officers, but as an organisation it's pretty dysfunctional and needs a good streamlining... there's room for improvement."

    Steve Morphew, Labour leader, Norfolk County Council

  9. How dry has it been?published at 15:04 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    We've had one of the driest Aprils on record.... with under half the expected amount of rainfall for the month.

    It follows one of the driest winters for 20 years... BBC East weather forecaster Dan Holley's tweet shows how it compares to average years.

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  10. Power cut affects petrol suppliespublished at 15:01 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    A power cut at the Blue Boar Lane petrol station at Sprowston, meant motorists were unable to fill up their cars earlier this morning.

    Petrol pump at Tesco storeImage source, Ben Debuse

    One customer told us they were asked to leave the forecourt during the disruption.

    Empty forecourtImage source, Ben Debuse

    A spokeswoman for Tesco says the split-second cut in the local area temporarily affected their petrol station, but within 10 minutes they were back up and running... and normal service was resumed.

    Vehicles on the petrol station forecourtImage source, Ben Debuse
  11. Dean of Norwich named as Royal Norfolk Show presidentpublished at 14:19 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Network Norfolk

    The Royal Norfolk Show has appointed the Dean of Norwich, the Very Reverend Jane Hedges as its president for this year, external.

    She said she hopes to unite farming and church communities to improve understanding of the food industry, and to focus on people’s physical, mental and spiritual health.  

    The Very Rev Jane HedgesImage source, Network Norfolk
  12. Weather: Cloudy, cool, with some sunshinepublished at 13:53 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Remaining cloudy and dry, with some bright or sunny spells across Norfolk.

    Feeling cool, with lighter winds than yesterday - and a top temperature of 11C (52F).

    Click here to find out how you can be a BBC Weather Watcher, and share your photos from around the county.

    Sea spray over gropynes
    Dark clouds over farmland
    Cone-shaped flowers with bandstand in a park
  13. Save our town hallpublished at 12:55 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Lynn News

    Council faces £100k repair bill for Hunstanton building - the front page of the Lynn News today, external:

    Front page of the Lynn NewsImage source, Lynn News
  14. Spending cuts 'affect pupil's mental health'published at 12:19 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    On her visit to Norwich yesterday, the Prime Minister made a pledge to provide more mental health support for young people in Norfolk's schools, with trained staff in all primary and secondary schools.

    Stuart Rimmer is the chief executive of Great Yarmouth College, external, where they run a wellbeing scheme for pupils.

    Mr Rimmer says over half of mental health issues start before the age of 15, so to resource primary and secondary schools is a good idea, but more detail is needed on what training people need and how it would work.

    Great Yarmouth College

    His school has spent a lot of money on training staff, but he says this doesn't mean they have sufficient clinicians.

    He adds that spending cuts have affected students' mental health.

    Quote Message

    Since 2010, the austerity measures have affected all sorts of public services so we're starting to find mental health issues coming out of things like inadequate housing, family unemployment rates, household incoming declining and local care issues as well. It's much more complex than saying it's exam pressure."

    Stuart Rimmer, Great Yarmouth College

  15. Council leader's concerns at 'hard Brexit'published at 11:35 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    With one month to go to the general election, the Prime Minister was on the campaign trail in Norfolk yesterday.

    Theresa May visited the new aviation academy at Norwich Airport, which opened a few months ago, to get across the Conservatives' message on jobs.

    Our political reporter Andrew Sinclair tells us over the last year there's been a big push to provide highly skilled training. With Brexit looming there may be a need for less reliance on labour from abroad in the future, as long as there are enough British people with the relevant skills.

    Aviation mechanics is one example of this - we don't train many in this country and have to send our planes abroad to be serviced - if we can become good at it, other countries may come to us.

    The aviation academy ticks the jobs and the Brexit box.

    Norwich was the only place in Norfolk to vote Remain during last year's EU referendum, and Labour say the sort of Brexit the Prime Minister is talking about will actually damage jobs in the city.

    Alan Waters is the leader of Norwich City Council. He says there are lots of residents from the rest of the European Union who've brought their skills and are making a tremendous contribution to the local economy. 

    Alan Waters
    Quote Message

    Those are the sorts of things I'm a bit worried about, because if the prime minister is going for a hard Brexit, I think that jeopardises our growing economy and it jeopardises employment in the city."

    Alan Waters, Norwich City Council leader

  16. Next Norwich boss 'currently in a job'published at 11:00 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Norwich's next head coach will come from a shortlist of managers currently in jobs, says sporting director Stuart Webber.

    Read More
  17. Tories 'not delivering' on children's mental health, says Lib Dempublished at 10:53 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    On a visit to Norfolk yesterday, the Prime Minister said she wants to increase mental health staffing.

    The Tories say this would reduce the number of cases where children end up in custody and misunderstood.

    Norman Lamb is the Liberal Democrat shadow health secretary and he's defending the North Norfolk seat he has held since 2001. 

    He says the Conservatives' approach to mental health doesn't add up.

    Norman Lamb
    Quote Message

    I'm just horrified that the extra money we secured for children's mental health in the final budget of the coalition, the Tories are not delivering that full investment... in the first year, instead of £250m extra investment it was £143m."

    Norman Lamb, Lib Dem candidate for North Norfolk

  18. 'Good water supplies' in the east despite drought fearspublished at 10:37 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Adam Jinkerson
    BBC Local Live

    Anglian Water says water levels in the east of England are "good" and there will be no need for a hosepipe ban come summer, despite the recent record dry weather.

    October to March has been the driest in the UK for more than 20 years and there's been a particular lack of rain in southern and eastern counties of England.

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    Emma Staples from the company said "there will not be any restrictions" on usage this year.

    "Our reservoirs are on average 94% full. That's absolutely ample for this time of year," she said.

  19. Conservatives' pledge to support those with mental health issuespublished at 09:47 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    The Prime Minister says every school needs someone trained in mental health issues to help spot children with problems and ensure youngsters are given the support they need.

    Theresa May made a pledge for it to happen, on her general election campaign visit to Norwich yesterday.

    She was speaking to BBC Radio Norfolk's Nick Conrad, who asked if she thought it was acceptable to send people with mental health issues hundreds of miles away, to get the care they need.

    Theresa May at aviation academy in Norwich

    Mrs May said the Conservatives would raise awareness of the challenges facing those with mental health issues, and ensure that these are treated.

    Quote Message

    One of the things I'm very keen on is seeing if we can find ways of ensuring that we can intervene at an early stage so people don't get to the point of mental health crisis, and perhaps need that bed."

    Theresa May, Prime Minister

  20. Listen: Stuart Webber on future of Norwich Citypublished at 09:34 British Summer Time 9 May 2017

    Phil Daley
    BBC Radio Norfolk sport

    Norwich City's sporting director Stuart Webber discusses the search for a new head coach (the new title for club manager), players' futures and how much money the club has to spend this summer.