James Hildreth and Azhar Ali hit half-centuries as Somerset battle against Surrey, but the county champions remain in control.

Warwickshire openers Will Rhodes and Dom Sibley put on 140 for the first wicket to bat Sussex out of the Division Two game at Hove.

The trio said they were involved with house clearances in Germany when they were intercepted.

Detectives have named a man who was found dead in Rochester.

Peter Beale, 39, from Sittingbourne, was found on the side of the High Street bridge on 18 September.

A man in his 30s, from Rainham, who was arrested in connection with the death, has been released without charge.

A further two men who were held have been freed, pending further inquiries. Inquiries are continuing into the cause of death.

A man tells the BBC why he resorted to "sex-for-rent" after being made redundant and becoming homeless.

The Turkish-built Victoria of Wight can carry up to 178 cars and more than 1,000 passengers.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

A teenager who lost her twin sister in a car crash and her mother a few days later says it has not sunk in that her relatives have gone.

Casey Hood, 18, died when a car she was in crashed at Denne Hill near Dover on 14 September.

Another woman, 27-year-old Lucy Leadbetter, who had been driving, died later in hospital.

Tributes have been laid at the scene of the tragedy.

The same weekend, Casey's mother Natalie Hood was found dead.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct says it's investigating the crash in which the women died.

It says the evidence suggests a police van followed Lucy's Toyota Yaris on the A2 after it was spotted being driven at speed near Canterbury police station.

Both vehicles are believed to have pulled into a layby on the B2046, but the Yaris drove off, followed by the police van, before colliding with a tree.

Image source, SECAmb

South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is introducing 101 new ambulances to its fleet over the next 12 months.

The Mercedes ambulances are replacing the trust’s oldest vehicles.

John Griffiths, head of fleet and logistics, said: "When we looked into the running costs of our fleet, we established that it was costing approximately an extra eight pence per mile for every year of a vehicle's life.

"I’m looking forward to taking receipt of each and every new vehicle and I know that this investment will be very much welcomed by our staff."

The RMT union announces further action over train guards on the South Western and Northern networks.

Phil Morley was found dead days before he was due in court to face fraud charges, an inquest hears.

Image source, RMT

The RMT Union has announced workers on South Western Railway will carry out a fresh 48-hour strike from 5 October.

Piers Hopkirk
Reporter, BBC South East Today

Image source, Family handout

The trust which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton was berated by the coroner after sending out what was described as a ‘misleading’ letter to Trust stakeholders ahead of this inquest.

The letter, signed by the hospital’s chief nurse, was sent out earlier this month to a range of people including local politicians to offer reassurance about standards at the Royal Sussex.

However Mrs Blaber’s legal team said that it contained a number of potentially misleading details - and that this had caused great distress to Mrs Blaber’s family.

Coroner Veronica Hamilton-Deeley described some of the content of the letter as ‘unacceptable’ and the language as ‘disrespectful’ and that it ‘denigrated the inquest process’.

She said it gave the misleading impression that the trust had acted immediately after the incident - in actual fact the police were not notified until two days after Mrs Blaber’s death - eight days after she had drunk the cleaning liquid.

In the letter it was also stated there were daily checks on the storage of chemicals - the inquest heard in fact that these checks were not carried out at weekends.

Miss Hamilton-Deeley also objected to the language in the letter which described her as “hosting” an inquest and that the trust was “being asked to give evidence”.

She said it sounded more like she was ‘hosting a tea party’ rather than an inquest on behalf of her majesty the Queen.

She also said that inconsistencies in the evidence given by the Trust - on three separate occasions during the inquest process - had been hurtful to the family.

She said: “Once may be considered a mistake, twice may be a coincidence but three times looks like enemy action.”

The barrister acting for the Trust apologised to the coroner for the language of the letter and for any distress it may have caused the family.

It’s intention she said was to offer reassurance to stakeholders in preparation for the bad publicity which would surround Mrs Blaber’s inquest.

The CQC are carrying out an inspection at the Royal Sussex next week (26 September).

It remains in special measures.

Inspectors will be looking at a variety of aspects of the hospital including patient care and management.

The findings of that CQC report are not likely to be published until the start of next year.

The Met Police says 25 post-mortem examinations were conducted during a three-year investigation.

Matthew Harrison is given a suspended prison sentence for assaulting the woman at a bistro.

Kent seal promotion to Division One after thrashing Glamorgan by an innings and 172 runs at Canterbury.

A hearing into the Guildford IRA pub bombings is delayed due to an imminent Appeal Court ruling.

Network Rail is introducing speed restrictions tonight because of a forecast of 60mph winds and heavy rain.

A spokesperson said: "High winds can blow trees and other debris onto railway. These restrictions will mean train drivers are better able to bring trains to a halt if any obstructions are spotted ahead."

Restrictions between Weymouth and Bournemouth start from 20:00, and those on all routes south of Woking, such as Portsmouth, Weymouth and Crewkerne, from 22:00.

Dan Maclaren
BBC Live reporter

Commuters at Brighton Station have been reacting after a report said "no-one took charge" during the timetable chaos that caused severe disruption on Britain's railways in May.

The Office of Rail and Road blamed everyone involved for the problems including the Department of Transport, Network Rail and Govia Thameslink.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

A motorcyclist was taken to hospital with serious injuries after an accident in Ditton, near Aylesford.

His Suzuki GSX-R 600 collided with a Volkswagen Beetle in Station Road around 20:00 BST on 14 September.

He was taken to a London hospital with leg and chest injuries, where his condition was described as stable.

Bob Dale
BBC Live reporter

Police are looking for a driver who drove off after knocking a 13-year-old girl off her bike.

She was hit by a dark blue saloon, which it's thought could be a BMW, as she used a crossing on the A259 Littlehampton Road, opposite the Yeoman pub.

The driver stopped and got out of his car, then shouted at the girl before driving away.

Police are keen to speak to a woman who was driving a silver car, as she stopped to help the girl.

The incident happened about 08:05 BST yesterday, and the girl was treated for minor injuries when she arrived at school.