Summary

  • Police in Northamptonshire say they have rescued 11 people from modern slavery so far this year

  • Northampton Borough Council to push ahead with £500K plan to claw back £10.25 Cobblers loan

  • Three constituency Labour parties vote to back Jeremy Corbyn in leadership election

  • Cobblers sign winger Emmanuel Sonupe until the end of the season

  • Weather: Sunny and dry, peaking at 26C (79F)

  • Updates for Friday, 12 August

  1. Labour leadership candidate visits Corbypublished at 15:19 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Sam Read
    BBC Radio Northampton politics reporter

    Owen Smith, who is challenging Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership, has arrived in Corby on the campaign trail.

    He's visiting the town's Urgent Care Centre and meeting prominent local party members and health staff.

    Constituency parties in Northampton, South Northamptonshire and Wellingborough have voted this week to support Mr Corbyn, although their selections don't count towards the final outcome.

    Owen Smith meeting local labour members
  2. More on Cobblers' new signingpublished at 14:59 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Joe Townsend
    BBC Radio Northampton sport

    As we reported earlier, Northampton Town have signed the winger Emmanuel Sonupe until the end of the season.

    He's spent most of the pre-season period with the Cobblers after being released by Tottenham in June.

    The 20-year-old is the 12th player to be signed by the Northampton manager, Rob Page, and is available for tomorrow's League One fixture against Charlton.

    Emmanuel SonupeImage source, Getty Images
  3. Labour member: Jeremy Corbyn has 'principles and integrity'published at 14:02 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Martin Heath
    BBC Radio Northampton

    As we mentioned earlier, three of Northamptonshire's constituency associations have thrown their weight behind Jeremy Corbyn in Labour's leadership Contest.

    The votes in Northampton, South Northamptonshire and Wellingborough won't count towards the final result, but they provide some indication of the way local members feel.

    Anjona Roy (pictured), a party member in Northampton, voted for Mr Corbyn, saying: "People I speak to say Jeremy is a complete breath of fresh air in politics. He's a man with principles and integrity."

    Quote Message

    People want honest, straight-talking politics - people who look you in the eye and tell you exactly what they think."

    Anjona Roy, Labour Party member

    Anjona Roy
  4. Modern slavery victims in 'living hell'published at 13:45 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Stuart Linnell
    BBC Radio Northampton

    The woman in charge of the Salvation Army's anti-trafficking and modern slavery, external unit has told me the "onus is on all of us to keep an eye out" for workers who might be being exploited illegally.

    Anne Read

    Anne Reid spoke to me earlier as it was revealed that 11 people have been rescued from conditions of modern slavery in Northamptonshire this year.  

    The Salvation Army supports all trafficking victims across the country, through a network of safe houses - and Maj Reid told me the victims can be "highly traumatised" by the "living hell" of their trapped and exploited existence. 

  5. The joy of growing whopperspublished at 13:34 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Martin Borley
    BBC Radio Northampton

    A celebration of glorious flowers, fruit and veg is taking place tomorrow in Titchmarsh, near Thrapston.

    It's the 40th annual produce show at the village church and dozens of locals have spent months lovingly tending their garden goodies.

    Brian "Jet" Jeffries is hoping his massive marrow will catch the judges' eye.  

    Jet Jeffries with his marrow
    Quote Message

    If you look at the old marrow now, he looks like a crocodile, don't he? It's the ugliest thing you could ever see."

    Brian "Jet" Jeffries, Gardener

  6. Heatwave next week?published at 13:07 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Dan Holley
    BBC Look East weather

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  7. Local Labour members back Corbynpublished at 12:38 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Martin Heath
    BBC Radio Northampton

    Labour party members in Wellingborough, Northampton and South Northamptonshire have all voted to back Jeremy Corbyn in the party's forthcoming leadership election.

    They have made their choices at local meetings held this week but their decisions do not count towards the final result.

    Some of the party's leading members in the area have expressed their support for Mr Corbyn's opponent, Owen Smith, who will be speaking in Corby later.

    Vicky Culbard, a Northampton borough councillor, says Mr Smith has come up with strong policies to take the party into the next election.

    Jeremy Corbyn
  8. Council leader confident plan to claw back £10.25m Cobblers loan will workpublished at 11:44 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Sam Read
    BBC Radio Northampton politics reporter

    Mary Markham, the leader of Northampton Borough Council, says she stands by her commitment to the people of the town to "pursue the people responsible for mishandling £10.25m of tax payers' money", loaned to Northampton Town FC.

    Mary Markham

    The Conservative councillor spoke to me after the council's scrutiny meeting last night, which approved a plan to put aside a further £500,000 of council reserves to chase up the missing money in addition to £450,000 already spent on the council's claw-back plan.

    Labour councillors had opposed the move - but Mrs Markham told me: "Yes, I am confident that we will recoup the full £10.25m and I hope to realise maybe a bit more through the development of the Sixfields land."

  9. Northampton sign winger Sonupepublished at 11:43 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Northampton sign former Tottenham winger Emmanuel Sonupe until the end of the season after a successful trial.

    Read More
  10. Council's £10.25m Cobblers loan claw-back plan condemned as 'good money after bad debt'published at 10:21 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Sam Read
    BBC Radio Northampton politics reporter

    Northampton Borough Council's plan, external to set aside hundreds of thousands more pounds in its bid to get back the £10.25m loaned to Northampton Town FC has been condemned by Labour councillors.

    Headlands ward councillor Arthur McCutcheon told me he questioned if it was "worthwhile sending more good money after money that is probably going to be a bad debt".

    Northampton Town FC's new east standImage source, Northampton Town FC

    At last night's scrutiny committee meeting, the Conservative administration agreed to spend a further £500,000 of council reserves to chase the cash, despite Labour councillors challenging the decision - having already spent £450,000 on the claw-back plan.

  11. Council to push ahead with plan to claw back £10.25m Cobblers loanpublished at 09:25 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Sam Read
    BBC Radio Northampton politics reporter

    Northampton Borough Council's Conservative administration has agreed to set aside a further £500,000 to try to retrieve millions of pounds of missing public money loaned to Northampton Town FC.

    The council has spent £450,000 already in its bid to get back the £10.25m loaned to the Cobblers to redevelop the Sixfields Stadium.

    Northampton Town groundImage source, Getty Images

    Labour councillors had challenged the decision to use a further £500,000 from council reserves to chase the cash - but last night a scrutiny committee decided the administration could carry on with its plans.

    Not that I was allowed in to hear the debate - I spent the evening waiting around in a corridor to hear the result.

  12. Police rescue 11 people from modern slaverypublished at 08:53 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    It has been revealed that 11 people have been rescued from conditions of modern slavery in Northamptonshire so far this year.

    Police want to hear from anyone who suspects a business could be exploiting workers illegally.

    Det Sgt Ash Turner said modern slavery has been seen around the country in manual labour sites and food distribution factories, but it can "happen everywhere" and is often "hidden in plain sight".

  13. Friday's weather: Dry, sunny and warmpublished at 08:06 British Summer Time 12 August 2016

    Alina Jenkins
    BBC Weather

    Any early cloud will soon clear leaving plenty of sunshine during the day, although there may be some high cloud at times. Top temperature: 26C (79F).

    Watch my regional forecast:

    Media caption,

    Alina Jenkins has the outlook for the East of England on Friday, 12 August 2016.

    Cloud will thicken overnight, but it should remain dry for most. Lows of 15C (59F).

    You can get a more detailed forecast from BBC Weather.

  14. Welcome to Northamptonshire Livepublished at 08:00

    David Keller
    BBC News

    Thanks for joining us for another day of live news, sport, weather and travel updates for the county. 

    In the news this morning - it's been revealed 11 people have been rescued from conditions of modern slavery in Northamptonshire so far this year. We'll bring you more on this soon.

    If you want to get in touch, email us, send us a tweet, external or message us on Facebook, external.

  15. T20 Finals Day semi-final draw madepublished at 22:49 British Summer Time 11 August 2016

    Yorkshire will face Durham and Nottinghamshire will play Northants in the semi-finals of the T20 Blast on Finals Day.

    Read More
  16. Our live coverage across the daypublished at 18:05

    That's it for our regular live updates until 08:00 tomorrow, but any major new stories will be posted here overnight.

    Tomorrow we reveal the extent of modern slavery in Northamptonshire, we'll have more on our local competitor in the Olympic sailing and we'd love to get your reaction to everything that's happening in Rio.

    Have a good evening.

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  17. Weather: A dry night aheadpublished at 18:00 British Summer Time 11 August 2016

    Alex Dolan
    BBC Look East weather

    It should stay dry overnight but rather cloudy in light to moderate winds with temperatures 14-16C (57-61F).

    Weather map

    Tomorrow will be a dry day with any early cloudy thinning and breaking to bring long spells of sunshine. Turning cloudy from the west later in the day with highs of 25-27C (77-81F). 

    Get more on the forecast where you live from BBC Weather.  

  18. Saints lock Courtney Lawes says he's confident his ankle surgery will 'pay dividends'published at 17:36 British Summer Time 11 August 2016

    Graham McKechnie
    BBC Radio Northampton sport

    To a different type of agility.... and Courtney Lawes, who's been struggling with an ankle injury for the last three years, has told the BBC that an operation carried out during the summer break seems to have been a success.

    He damaged his foot during a Six Nations game against Scotland and it's been troubling him ever since. Previous attempts to rectify the problem have not been completely successful.

    He's also been fighting pain in his shoulder.  He says he's been spending the break getting his body back "into really good nick".

    Northampton Saints have their first pre-season match this weekend - they're in France to face Castres on Saturday afternoon. 

    Courtney LawesImage source, Getty Images
    Quote Message

    The operation during the summer was the right decision, the right timing and I'm sure it's going to pay dividends going into this season."

    Courtney Lawes, Northampton Saints

  19. Rescued dog bids for agility glorypublished at 17:21 British Summer Time 11 August 2016

    Martin Heath
    BBC Radio Northampton

    When Sam Leakey, from Wellingborough, first saw Zola his owner was trying to sell him on the street for £20.

    She rescued him, made sure he wasn't lost or stolen and then adopted him. Sam hasn't looked back.

    Zola the dog on agility courseImage source, Facebook

    Over the next few days, Zola will be competing alongside nearly 3,000 other dogs in the world's biggest agility festival of its kind at Rockingham Castle near Corby.

    More than 200 hundred classes will be judged in 16 showrings.

  20. Workers in Northampton urged to leave their cars at home to tackle pollutionpublished at 17:00

    Sam Read
    BBC Radio Northampton politics reporter

    Politicians in Northampton say workers should help tackle pollution by cycling or walking to work.

    Northampton Borough Council's latest strategy, external to cut pollutants in the worst-affected parts of the borough stops short of a ban on high-emission vehicles.

    But it says people should be encouraged to buy cleaner vehicles or find alternatives ways of getting to work.

    Cyclists on busy road

    I challenged a group of staff at Spacevac, external on the Rothersthorpe Industrial Estate to leave their cars in the garage this morning.  

    Billy accepted the challenge and told me that his four-mile journey normally takes about 15 minutes by car but it took a "horrifying" 55 minutes on foot this morning.

    Suzanne planned to get to work by bus, but discovered that it would have involved a 05:00 start and a three-hour journey on three different vehicles.

    Ryan told me that he couldn't use a bus because he drove a company van to make deliveries, so it wasn't possible to use an alternative means of transport.

    My experiment suggested that, for many people, the car is the only practical method of getting to work.