Chief Constable Nick Adderley's pledge to turn the cameras back on cannot happen yet, the force says.

The company that runs Wicksteed Park, external has gone into administration, with the loss of more than 100 full and part-time jobs.

The park in Kettering - founded in 1921 - claims to be the oldest theme park on the UK mainland.

News of its demise has prompted outpourings on social media, with local vicar and BBC Radio 4 broadcaster Rev Richard Coles calling it a "sad, sad day".

Meanwhile, BBC Radio Northampton presenter Bernie Keith offered his help to a fundraising effort to help the park navigate the financial threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Full story: Wicksteed Park enters administration after 99 years

The owners of Wicksteed Park blame "months of uncertainty and difficulty" from coronavirus.

The Duke of Cambridge spoke with Leanne and her five-year-old-son, who has cystic fibrosis.

• The Northampton Chronicle and Echo reports, external there are long queues on the town's main shopping street at non-essential retailers reopen this morning
• Meanwhile, the Northamptonshire Telegraph, external writes on the latest Covid-19 cases at Kettering General Hospital

Tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of flavoured gin has been stolen from the back of a lorry in Northampton.

Image source, Google

The HGV trailer was parked in Stone Circle Road on the Round Spinney Industrial Estate between 18:15 on 8 June and 06:30 the following morning when 1,729 bottles of Masons Rhubarb and Pink Gin were stolen, worth more than £34,500.

Northamptonshire Police said officers would like to speak to anyone who may have seen any suspicious vehicles or activity in the area between the stated times, or who may have been offered the alcohol for sale in unusual circumstances.

Northampton Town will have the backing of more than 900 supporters in their League Two play-off semi-final first leg on Thursday... albeit in cardboard form.

Amid restrctions relating to the coronavirus pandemic, the club are one of a number giving supporters the chance to be at matches in virtual form.

The Cobblers finished seventh after their league was curtailed and final standings settled on a points per game ratio.

They will face Cheltenham Town over two matches for a place in the play-off final at Wembley on 29 June, with Colchester facing Exeter in the other tie.

• BBC Sport: Northampton Town

Katy Lewis
BBC News Online

A virtual tour through the history of what is thought to be Northampton’s oldest house, is to be screened on YouTube on Sunday.

Image source, Geograph/Roy Hughes

The Grade II listed Hazelrigg House, on Mare Fair, is one of the few buildings to survive the 1675 Great Fire of Northampton, and is thought to date back to the late 16th Century, when it was more than twice its current size.

Viewers will see the various rooms brought to life by actors from the town’s Looking Glass Theatre Company, external, alongside photographs and documents charting the building’s fascinating past.

Theatre director, James Smith, said: "Many interesting inhabitants and visitors have passed through the house, and research has revealed its connections to Northampton Castle and the Hazelrigg family themselves, not to mention a ghostly presence that many people have felt."

More history about the house can be found on the council’s website., external

Homeless people living in hotels during the pandemic will be helped to move into permanent shelter.

BBC Sport

Shaquille O'Neal is one of American sport's biggest-ever stars. The basketball legend has had his own video game, released albums and even had a go at being a professional wrestler.

But on 18 June, he will be in the crowd for a League Two play-off game in Northampton - in cardboard form.

Image source, Northampton Town Football Club

A cut-out of the former Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic centre will be in the Northampton Town stands for the club's semi-final first leg against Cheltenham Town.

O'Neal's love for Northampton goes back a few years and stems from his business association with Cobblers chairman Kelvin Thomas.

With supporters unable to go to games in person because of social distancing rules relating to the coronavirus pandemic, Northampton are one of several football clubs giving supporters the chance to be at matches in the form of a cardboard cut-out.

Basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal will be "supporting" Northampton Town during the League Two play-offs - in cardboard form.

An appointment-only mobile testing site for coronavirus is operating in Corby today until Sunday.

The eligibility criteria for tests, external have been extended to include anyone with coronavirus symptoms (new, continuous cough; high temperature; loss of or change in sense of smell or taste).

Essential workers will be given priority.

Location details for the testing site are provided to applicants after they complete their online booking.

Image source, Getty Images

Thirteen staff and three children at a Northampton home have tested positive since mid-May.

A Football League club's grandstand remains unfinished after contractors left the site in 2014.

Image source, Getty Images

Northampton Town’s chief executive James Whiting says the club always expected the League Two play-offs would take place, but it's a relief to be officially in them.

The Cobblers will face a play-off against Cheltenham after it was voted to end the League Two season uncompleted with the final table based on a points-per-game formula.

Town finished sixth in the table, just one point and 0.03 points-per-game ahead of Port Vale.

The first leg of the play-off will take place at Sixfields on 18 June, with the away leg taking place four days later.

If Keith Curle's side overcome Cheltenham, they play-off final will take place on 29 June at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Mr Whiting said players had returned from furlough and to training at the start of June in anticipation of the decision.

"We’ve been planning this for a while," he said.

"There’s a significant cost to getting players back which is obviously why a number of clubs felt it wasn’t viable to finish the season."

Image source, BBC Sport

Colchester play Exeter in the other semi-final, with the first leg at the Community Stadium on Thursday, 18 June.

How would League Two have ended without coronavirus? Experts at the University of Reading predict the 'final table'.

The League One and League Two seasons are both ended early after a formal vote by clubs on Tuesday.

BBC Northampton

The possibility of awarding the Freedom of The Borough to the NHS is being considered.

Northampton Borough Council will bring forward a motion with cross-party support, to a virtual meeting of the council next week.

The honour has previously been awarded to Diana, Princess of Wales, the composer Sir Malcolm Arnold, and organisations like the police, the military and the fire and rescue service.

Image source, Northampton General Hospital

Alex Pope
BBC News Online

Police riot shields that have been gathering dust in a police cupboard unused for nearly 20 years have been given to the NHS so they can be turned into plastic screens.

Image source, Northamptonshire Police

Northamptonshire Police , externalsaid it bought 30 Armadillo shields in 2002, to provide police support if requested by HM Prison Service.

They were never used and have just been discovered after a recent audit.

The shields, along with 20 others, will be used to create plastic screens in the reception and clinical areas of Northampton and Kettering hospitals, Corby Urgent Care Centre and other community outpatient clinics.

Insp Steve Freeman said: "As we do not use full-length static shields for public order training, they were placed in storage.

"With clear plastic material in such high demand, we didn’t want to just throw them away."

Dental practices across the region are reopening for the first time since all routine dental care was suspended on 25 March.

Image source, Getty Images

NHS England said dental surgeries could resume as normal as long as they put appropriate safety measures in place.

Dentist Alisdair McKendrick said people attending Anterior Dental Care in Kettering will have their temperatures taken as they enter and there will be no waiting room system.

He said dentists will be dressed in visors, masks and goggles.

"It's not going to be the same, but hopefully these things will relax as things flatten out," he added.

Elsewhere, Morne Williams, a dentist at We-Care Dental in Peterborough, said allowing 15 minutes between patients to clean dental rooms would mean the surgery would be seeing four to eight patients a day, rather than 15 to 20.