Live updates have now finished for Northamptonshire, but any breaking news will appear here this evening and overnight.

If you're just catching up...

• Stuart Jenkins has been cleared of murdering Arthur Brumhill at a Northampton pet shop in 1993
• Northamptonshire Police says it  intends to stay at Wootton Hall
• The boss of a bus company says cars and vans should be banned from Northampton town centre
• And Northamptonshire's Formula 1 teams have been testing their 2017 cars in Barcelona

Have a good evening and we'll see you tomorrow.

Elinor Cross
BBC Radio Northampton

Kevin Shapland, a former police officer and the chair of a Northamptonshire drugs charity, says legalising drugs is not the answer.

Mr Shapland, who works for Solve It - which tries to stop addictions - said what was needed was "education on the impact... a focus on early intervention and prevention".

However, Mr Shapland said it is "worth exploring" the example of Portugal, where in 2001 the government changed the law to turn possession of drugs into an "administrative offence" - sending those caught with drugs for personal use to a "dissuasion board" rather than face prosecution.

The authorities there say it has "halved" the problem of heroin abuse since the late 1990s, according to Mr Shapland.

A UK government report in 2014 found there was "no obvious" link between tough laws and levels of illegal drug use.

Matt Precey
BBC Look East

A former undercover officer who infiltrated Britain's biggest drug gangs is campaigning to legalise drugs.

Neil Woods, who worked in Northampton, told the  BBC's Inside Out : "I now realise that all the work I did had no benefit whatsoever. It didn’t have any impact on the drugs supply or the situation anywhere in the UK.

"I now campaign for drugs to be legalised in order to prevent the power of organised crime and to prevent drug users from dying."

Mr Woods said when he worked in Northampton more than a decade ago there was an epidemic of heroin and crack cocaine, but in the last three years drug deaths have climbed dramatically.

He believes the only answer is to make these drugs legal.

We'll hear an opposing opinion shortly...

Craig Lewis
BBC News

The decision by current police and crime commissioner Stephen Mold to enter into negotiations to keep the force's Wootton Hall headquarters is the fifth of his predecessor's initiatives to be undone.

The sale of Wootton Hall  to become a school was Adam Simmonds' (right) last act as PCC, with the deal signed the day before Mr Mold (left) took office.

As well as today's decision...

• The  Office for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, external  was one of Mr Simmonds' flagship projects, but Mr Mold  scrapped it in his first month of office, external .
• Mr Simmonds'  large scale recruitment campaign for Specials  with a final target of 900  was axed, external , with Mr Mold preferring to "focus on quality, not quantity".
• Plans for a  full alliance with Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire Police, external  were mothballed, with Mr Mold saying he would look at savings in back office functions and human resources.
• Mr Simmonds made violent crime his top priority - pledging to cut it by 40% in four years. His successor instead promised a  crackdown on burglary , with each incident to be attended by police within 48 hours.

Mr Mold said his intention to stay at Wootton Hall was "a significant milestone in remedying this complex issue".

Stuart Linnell
BBC Radio Northampton

Northampton Borough Council said there is no "silver bullet" to reducing congestion in the town.

Bus company Stagecoach has suggested that cars and vans should be banned from some parts of the town centre.  

While the council won't consider banning cars or vans, it said it was "right and proper" to look at "enforcement" on roads in the town centre, where private vehicles are not allowed.

This Thursday the authority will look air quality, which in some places is illegally poor.

Mike Hallam, the councillor responsible for air quality in Northampton, said the authority would not go back on policies such as free parking, which bring cars into the centre.

However, he said a new park and ride scheme "is an option".

The last park and ride shut in the town in 2003.

Pete Cooper
BBC Local Live

Many have pointed to Northampton's new North Gate bus station, which opened three years ago, as the cause for delays and congestion in the town centre.

Indeed, when it opened, there was gridlock on the town's roads .

However, Steve Burd, the Northampton boss of bus company Stagecoach, said the problem "isn't the bus station", nor the Drapery, where many buses also start and finish their routes.

Image source, Google

Mr Burd said it is "about the rest of the central road system". 

He explained when the town centre becomes busy, private vehicles "use the Drapery and other roads they shouldn't be in, which means our vehicles are simply not able to get out".

Stuart Linnell
BBC Radio Northampton

The managing director of Stagecoach Midlands in Northampton says cars and vans need to be banned from the town centre if air quality and congestion are to be improved.

Steve Burd told me: "The problem is the roads around the central area cannot cope when anything goes slightly wrong, like yesterday where Horsemarket was down to one lane."

Image source, Peter Clarke

Bus users and drivers reported delays of more than an hour in the town centre yesterday due to roadworks at Horsemarket.

Mr Burd said the company "lost more mileage in Northampton yesterday than any other day in the last five years".

I asked him whether the firm could do more to reduce pollution by investing in greener buses, but Mr Burd said they had invested in low emission diesel buses in the last five years and its "average fleet age of 5.5 years is well below the government target of eight years".

Pete Cooper
BBC Local Live

The police and crime commissioner has described the potential retention of Wootton Hall as the police and fire headquarters, whilst keeping the Wootton Park School on the site, as a "win-win" situation.

Stephen Mold said the move to reverse his predecessor's decision to sell the force headquarters was influenced by the police watchdog, HMIC, saying it was viewed as a threat to the "effectiveness of the force" to not have a designated headquarters.

Mr Mold has said the site is "not fit for purpose and will require investment".

However, the force says that a joint headquarters for both the police and fire service will lead to "significant savings".

Helen McCarthy
BBC Radio Leicester Reporter

The building is three floors and much bigger than I expected - it bolts onto the original St Luke’s Hospital wards on the Leicester Road site.

St Luke’s Treatment Centre took it’s first patient just after 08:00 this morning.

The old Market Harborough District Hospital on Coventry Road took it’s last patient at 21:00 last night with everyone’s appointments now booked into the new treatment centre.

It will house X-Ray facilities, physiotherapy rooms, a GP surgery, podiatry and mental health services as well as being a base for the town’s community nurses and admin staff for the East Leicestershire and Rultand Clinical Commissioning Group.

Pete Cooper
BBC Local Live

The police and crime commissioner for Northamptonshire says he is negotiating with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to allow the force to stay at Wootton Hall, alongside the fire service.

The site was sold  to the EFA by the previous PCC Adam Simmonds last May, with the intention of the site being turned into a school. Wootton Park School is currently open, in temporary buildings.

Current PCC Stephen Mold said the intention is for the school to stay on the Wootton Hall Park site, adding the school and the EFA have been "so understanding... to find a suitable solution".

Simon Edens, the force's chief constable, said: "The PCC has promised the investment needed to develop the Wootton Hall site. This option was never offered by the previous PCC."

Northamptonshire Police is in "advanced negotiations" to stay at its current headquarters at Wootton Hall in Northampton, where it will become a joint HQ for the force and the fire service.

More to follow.

A jury finds Stuart Jenkins not guilty of murdering pet shop worker Arthur Brumhill.

Caroline Densley
BBC Radio Northampton sport

I've been to see Northampton Town manager Justin Edinburgh.

He told me defender Gaby Zakuani is having a scan this afternoon on a thigh injury sustained in the Cobblers' 2-1 win over Oldham, but admitted it "doesn't look very promising".

He told me: "It's not the best news, but that's the way it goes sometimes."

Image source, Getty Images

Edinburgh said: "Speaking to the physio if we get him back before the end of the season then that will be a plus."

However, there was good news on the injury to forward Alex Revell, with the Cobblers boss telling me the 30-year-old "could be back for Bolton" on 18 March.

BBC Weather

It will be dry and bright for the rest of the day with some sunny spells. 

It will feel quite cool though, with temperatures only reaching highs of 9C (48F).

Cloud will thicken from the west later in the afternoon and it'll turn breezy.

There are more details on the BBC Weather website .

Craig Lewis
BBC News

The current investigating officer in the Arthur Brumhill case, Det Ch Insp Louise Hemingway, has also been speaking outside Northampton Crown Court.

On the not guilty verdict given to Stuart Jenkins, she said: "I'm really disappointed for Arthur's family. They have waited for 24 years."

Ms Hemingway said: "I think we did everything we could. This investigation started 24 years ago. It is always difficult in those circumstances.

"There was definitely enough evidence to bring it to trial. It was the right thing to do for Arthur, for his family and in seeking justice."

She added: "This was an awful murder... if we do get any opportunities to investigate [further] we will."

Stuart Jenkins was cleared of murdering Mr Brumhill by a jury this morning and told the press he was "relieved" by the outcome.

Craig Lewis
BBC News

Bob Thorogood, who was the senior investigating officer in the original Arthur Brumhill probe in 1993, said the case "was one of the most difficult investigations I undertook".

He said: "It was a huge investigation with 50 detectives and 50 officers."

Mr Thorogood said it is was his only outstanding case.

Stuart Jenkins, 41, was acquitted this morning of the murder of Mr Brumhill at a Northampton pet shop.

Craig Lewis
BBC News

Stuart Jenkins, who has been cleared of murdering pet shop worker Arthur Brumhill in 1993, has been speaking outside court. 

He said: "I'm relieved. It's been a long two years. It's been two years of not knowing where you are."

Mr Jenkins, 41, said Arthur Brumhill, who was found dead in the basement of Denton's pet and garden shop on Wellingborough Road, Northampton, was "a nice old man to work for - he was that pet shop".

Stuart Jenkins' wife Louise told the press the pair send their condolences to the family of Mr Brumhill.

"We hope they do get justice," she added.

Craig Lewis
BBC News

The jury at Northampton Crown Court has found Stuart Jenkins not guilty of the murder of Arthur Brumhill in 1993.

Mr Brumhill was found dead in the basement of Denton's pet and garden shop on Wellingborough Road in Northampton. He had 26 injuries and his body was covered in straw.

Mr Jenkins, 41, was arrested at the time but was later released, and was re-arrested and charged in May 2015.

The former Army sergeant worked at the pet shop for about a month in 1992, aged 17, on a youth training scheme.

Mr Jenkins told the court that after leaving the job he never returned to the shop and found out about the killing on the news.

Stuart Jenkins, 41, of Ossett, West Yorkshire, has been found not guilty of murdering Arthur Brumhill, 76, at a pet shop in Northampton in 1993.

Rebecca Marston
Business reporter, BBC News

A chain of 34 Budgens stores has failed to find a buyer and will close, with the loss of more than 800 jobs .

Image source, PA

The owner of the stores affected, Food Retailer Operations Limited (FROL), was put in administration a month ago after hitting "difficult" trading conditions.

The stores are spread around the UK, and include two each in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Norfolk. They were bought from the Co-op in 2016.

The closures do not affect the remainder of the Budgens chain, which has more than 150 stores.

The branches affected in the region are:

• Norwich, Norfolk
• Rochford, Essex
• St Neots, Cambs
• South Benfleet, Essex
• Watton, Norfolk
• Wisbech, Cambs

The Budgens brand is owned by Wellingborough-based food wholesale giant Booker, which is currently in the process of being taken over by Tesco.