Norfolk Police have a new recruit - Bobby the Elf.

He'll be spreading safe Christmas messages on social media on behalf of the force from next week.

Ch Insp Craig Miller said Bobby would "help deliver some very important messages around safety in a fun way".

Image source, Norfolk Police

Tips include:

• Do not accept lifts from strangers
• Never leave your drink unattended
• Don't let thieves steal your Christmas - keep vehicles and homes secure

Hugh Blaise O'Neill was investigated after some police recruits said he assaulted them in medical examinations.

A court ruling in Mumbai means four crew members stranded in Great Yarmouth may finally be allowed home, a union official has said.

The India-owned Malaviya Twenty has been detained at the port since June 2016. The original crew of 12 went home in February, but four seamen flown in to man the ship at that point were also left without food, fuel, water or wages - and the port authority has been supporting them.

Paul Keenan, from the International Transport Workers' Federation, said the High Court in Mumbai has instructed the shipping company's liquidators to pay for four new crew members to fly over.

Once that is done, Navigators Insurance, which provides seamen with abandonment insurance, will fly the men home and cover some of their wages.

He said: "I'm quite hopeful this will get these guys back home and the immediate pressure is off."

Rail passengers using services between London and the north east are being told they could face disruption to their journeys until this evening.

Some lines have reopened after a train hit an obstruction on the track near Peterborough this morning and sprung a fuel leak - however, National Rail says the knock-on effect of that could last several more hours.

A number of trains have been cancelled and others are running up to an hour late.

Services affected, external are:

• East Midlands Trains between Liverpool Lime Street and Norwich
• Grand Central between London Kings Cross and Bradford Interchange / Sunderland
• Hull Trains between London Kings Cross and Hull
• Virgin Trains East Coast between London Kings Cross and Leeds / York / Newcastle / Glasgow Central / Edinburgh

Train services near Norwich returned to normal at about 13:00 after an operating incident involving a freight train led to delays and cancellations.

Greater Anglia said the incident took place at about 10:00 and caused problems to its services until about 11:30.

A company spokeswoman said: "Anyone affected by the delays may be able to claim delay repay compensation, external."

Rail passengers travelling between London and the north-east are facing long delays and cancellations after a train hit an obstruction on the track near Peterborough.

The Hull Trains service from London King's Cross came to a halt at Helpston at about 10:30.

Early reports of a fire on board the train have been dismissed by Network Rail which said the driver thought she saw smoke, but it was later confirmed there was none.

However, the train sustained damage and a fuel leak is currently being dealt with.

Image source, Network rail

A Network Rail spokeswoman said passengers remained on board and the train would be towed to a station to enable them to leave.

No-one was injured, but passengers using East Midlands, Grand Central, Hull Trains and Virgin Trains services have been told to expect long delays or cancellations, external.

Disgraced breast surgeon Ian Paterson carried out hundreds of botched operations on his patients.

Norwich City warns fans sections of its ground may be closed if they continue to stand during matches.

A Norwich brewery, which was placed into administration on 4 December, has has been bought by new owners.

Redwell, external, which is based in Trowse, was founded in 2013 by Amy Hancock and Patrick Fisher to make craft beers, but, despite orders from Aldi and Tesco, the company got into financial difficulties in 2016.

A team of local investors led by John Hughes and Warren Thorp made a successful bid to take over the brewery, securing the future of four members of staff, according to a tweet from the company, external.

Ms Hancock said: "It became clear that the only way to continue brewing, save jobs and fulfill customer orders was to place the company into administration.

"I've put everything into Redwell and will walk away with nothing... I'm still massively proud of the brand and felt the most important thing was to protect the jobs of our incredibly loyal staff.

Image source, Redwell

The traditional Christmas dinner has just been battered.

Thousands of festive LED lights create a magical city Christmas lights experience.

An uncle and nephew deny murdering a man at a Morrisons supermarket following a feud over money.

Cath Saunt
BBC Radio Norfolk

An offshore gas worker was fatally injured after an electrical panel toppled on to him, an inquest has heard.

Tyron Jones, 43, from Lowestoft, died on 5 December 2016 at the Norfolk & Norwich Hospital, after being flown from the Indefatigable 23A North Sea gas platform operated by Anglo-French company Perenco.

The Norfolk Coroner's Court in Norwich heard from Perenco team leader Martin Francis, who described Mr Jones as "extremely through and experienced".

Mr Francis told the jury the company had a complex system of risk assessment, but a piece of heavy electrical equipment was not screwed into its crate and the authorised order of tasks was not followed prior to Mr Jones' death.

The inquest continues.

Andrew Sinclair
BBC Look East political correspondent

The Prime Minister has given her support to the campaign to keep open the construction and industry training board in Norfolk.

Its owners are considering closing the site at Bircham Newton which would lead to the loss of 600 jobs.

In the House of Commons local MP Sir Henry Bellingham told Theresa May that with Brexit approaching, the country should be training more people to become builders.

"Now is not the time for the Construction and Industry training board to be proposing to close its site in West Norfolk putting at risk 600 jobs in a rural area" he told Mps.

The Prime Minister replied "I am very happy to support his campaign, I wish him well and I'm very happy to meet with him"

Jill Bennett
BBC Radio Norfolk

The majority of visitors using King's Lynn's new homeless winter shelter for the first time had "been rough sleeping for some time and were quite desperate", according to the shelter co-ordinator.

It's being piloted on Friday and Saturday nights by the Purfleet Trust, external (see below) and the church-led Imagine Norfolk Together.

Andrew Frere-Smith, from Imagine Norfolk Together, external, said it was set up after a sharp rise in homelessness.

"Most years it was four or five people sleeping rough in King's Lynn, but it was 42 last year and we don't want that to happen again," he said.

The winter shelter opened last weekend and its co-ordinator Joanne Dowen said it received nine visitors on Friday night and eight on Saturday who "expressed surprise and curiosity about why we were wanting to help them".

Image source, Google

The RSPCA withdraws charges against a dog breeder when she fails to appear in court.

A Felixstowe man who discovered Anglo-Saxon jewellery and other items valued at £145,000 while he was a student in 2014, is due to receive more than £30,000.

Tom Lucking, who is now an archaeologist, made the discovery at Winfarthing, near Diss.

Image source, British Museum

As well as jewellery, coins and a copper bowl were among the haul found in a woman's grave, thought to date from 630-650AD.

Mr Lucking said Norwich Castle Museum is trying to raise the money to acquire the pendant: "That will be split - the landowner will get 50% of that and then myself and my detecting partner will split the other 50% between us."

A Mitsubishi L200 pick-up truck, which was left at the scene of an attempted ram raid in Rickinghall in the early hours of this morning, had been stolen earlier from an address in nearby Hopton, police have told us.

They were called just before 02:00 to reports a retail premises in The Street had been broken into.

The Mitsubishi had been reversed through the main entrance of the building, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to remove the cash machine from inside.

Three male suspects made off in the direction of the A140 in a silver BMW X5.

Detectives are investigating whether it was the same BMW which was stolen following a burglary at a property in Acton near Sudbury, between Thursday, 16 November, and Saturday, 2 December.

Ipswich Star

Dozens of bird spotters, external converged on the Suffolk-Norfolk border to see rare visitors who had flown in for an East Anglian feast.

The draw was made for the third round of the FA Cup last night.

Here are the ties featuring teams from the BBC East region, in the order they were drawn:

• Ipswich Town v Sheffield United
• Watford v Bristol City
• Aston Villa v Woking or Peterborough United
• QPR v MK Dons
• Stevenage v Reading
• Newcastle United v Luton Town
• Wycombe Wanderers v Preston North End
• Norwich City v Chelsea

Full draw here at BBC Sport. The ties take place over the weekend of 6-7 January.