Bedfordshire police have asked motorists to "bear with us" as they try to reopen the A421 in both directions by the Black Cat Roundabout.

An accident between three lorries shut the road at 15:00.

They hope it will re-open by about 18:45.

Daniel Wainwright
Data unit - English regions

Campaigners for equal pay for men and women highlight today as the point in 2017 when a woman on an average wage stops being paid relative to their male counterparts.

But it's not the same across all areas of the UK.

In some areas the gender pay gap is so wide, it is as though women work unpaid from September, BBC News reports.

The clickable map shows the gap is not that wide in Cambridgeshire, where the gender pay gap of 8.5% is the equivalent of women working unpaid from 29 November.

However, the gap in Peterborough is significantly higher than the rest of the county.

At 19%, it effectively means women in the city are working unpaid from 22 October.

Vivienne Hayes, chief executive of charity the Women's Resource Centre, said: "Even though we have had a law since 1970 outlawing the practice of sex discrimination in pay, our progress is probably not even at a snail's pace."

Drivers stuck on the A421 by the Black Cat roundabout say they haven't moved for "hours".

Lisa Roerig has been stationary for several hours and says: "Looks like I won’t be going to the England vs Germany game. "Stuck on #A421".

She added: "If you are on the #A421 towards Black Cat Roundabout, get off if you can."

Highways England, external says the road remains closed westbound between the A1 (Black Cat Roundabout) and hte A4280 because of an accident between three lorries.

Drivers are being asked to exit the A1 at the Black Cat roundabout and continue southbound on the A1 to its junction with the A603.

Then continue westbound along the A603 via Moggerhanger to re-join the A421 at the Cardington Cross Roundabout.

Bedfordshire police say the A421 by the Black Cat Roundabout will remain closed for "some time" after an accident involving three lorries.

They were called at 14:45 and closed the road at 15:00.

There are long delays near the Black Cat roundabout at Wyboston in Bedfordshire because of a crash between three lorries.

Police have confirmed the A421 has been closed.

There are reports that four fire engines and the police are in attendance.

The East of England Ambulance Service says "two rapid response vehicles, an ambulance and a unit from our Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) are at the scene".

It's affecting traffic between Bedford and St Neots just over the border in Cambridgeshire.

Drivers have taken to social media to say they've been stuck for more than an hour and are not moving.

The boxer from the travelling community vented his fury over comments about "unvaccinated" traveller children.

Flying Scotsman will be steaming through the east of England on Saturday, much to the delight of locomotive fans.

Its journey was cut short last month after it broke down in Peterborough.

Image source, PA

The famous locomotive will make its way from Norwich to Ely, then on to London via Cambridge.

British Transport Police is warning fans to stay off the tracks and only watch or take photographs "from a safe vantage point".

The company that operates the locomotive stopped publishing exact timetables for Flying Scotsman's journeys after several incidents involving trespassers on the tracks.

Flying Scotsman was built in Doncaster in 1923 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER).

In its time the locomotive set two world records for steam traction.

It became the first steam locomotive to be officially authenticated at reaching 100mph (160.9km/h) on 30 November 1934, and then set a record for the longest non-stop run by a steam locomotive when it ran 422 miles (679 km) on 8 August 1989 while in Australia.

It was retired from regular service in 1963 after covering 2,076,000 miles (3,341,000 km).

Image source, PA

A doctor has pleaded not guilty to two sexual assaults at NHS hospitals in Oxford and Cambridge.

Anandagopal Srinivasan, 26, of Sandfield Road, Oxford, is accused of a sex assault at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, on 6 October 2016.

A second assault is alleged to have taken place at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, on 24 October 2014.

He entered the not guilty plea at Oxford Crown Court earlier. The next hearing is due on 21 May 2018.

Anandagopal Srinivasan, 26, is accused of two sexual assaults at hospitals in Oxford and Cambridge.

A woman who died in a two-vehicle crash in Murrow, near Wisbech, has been named by police as Jade Green.

The 24-year-old, of Beechwood Road, Wisbech, died when the Vauxhall Astra she was driving crashed with a Ford Transit van on Black Drove at about 07:10 on Thursday.

Miss Green's family has described her as "a much-loved sister and daughter" who would be "sadly missed by all who knew her".

Image source, Family photo

Two passengers in the car - a man and a woman - were taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge where they remain in a "critical, but stable condition".

The male driver of the van sustained minor injuries.

Officers investigating the crash are trying to trace a fourth person who was believed to be in the Astra, but left the scene. The man is described as white, in his 20s, with dark curly hair and a beard.

Tranmere Rovers host Peterborough United in an FA Cup first round replay - follow BBC Radio Cambridgeshire commentary and in-play highlights.

Hunts Post

Church bells that fell silent more than six months ago are set to ring out again in time for Sunday's Remembrance commemorations, the Hunts Post reports, external.

The bells at St Thomas a Becket Church in Ramsey couldn't be used while major repairs to the roof of the historic building were carried out.

Police have confirmed that a woman in her 20s died in a two-vehicle crash in Murrow, near Wisbech, on Thursday morning.

It happened on Black Drove at about 07:10.

The victim has not yet been named, but was the driver of a Vauxhall Astra that collided with a Ford Transit van.

Two passengers in the car were airlifted to Addenbrooke's Hospital.

On Thursday evening Cambridgeshire Police confirmed they remained in a "critical, but stable condition".

The male driver of the van suffered minor injuries.

Officers are continuing to appeal for witnesses.

Hunts Post

Developer Urban & Civic has submitted outline plans for almost 3,000 new homes and a business park in St Neots, the Hunts Post reports, external.

The mother-of-four died after being found engulfed in flames at a mental health facility.

The wetland bird was extinct in the UK, but this year numbers are up across the UK.

River users in Cambridgeshire are so concerned about an invasive weed taking over the waterways, they have written to Michael Gove, the Minister of State for the Environment.

The chairman of the Great Ouse Boating Association, external is urging the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to "push" the government's Environment Agency to clear swathes of floating pennywort, which are covering parts of the River Cam and River Great Ouse.

The weed is an invasive plant that arrived in the UK in the late 80s and has since "caused havoc in the environment", according to the agency's website, external.

It spreads "like a lush green carpet [and] is one of nature’s enemies, growing up to 20cm a day and suffocating native plants and fish".

The boating group has told the minister that navigation is "suspended" on parts of the Cam and Great Ouse and the agency has not acted fast enough to clear it.

They've not yet had a reply from the minister, but a Defra spokesman told the BBC they were "taking a robust and comprehensive approach to tackling [invasive species] and protecting the areas they blight".

"In the coming weeks the Environment Agency's six weed harvesting boats will be out again targeting floating pennywort on the River Cam [and] that work continue until the end of the year," he said.

"The agency has been combating floating pennywort on the Great Ouse since 2003 and has removed many thousands of tonnes, but it is an ongoing battle and the recent mild winters, warm summers and low river flows have created ideal growing conditions."

The show's head judge says Aston Merrygold should not have been in the bottom two last weekend.

It's been a booming year for bitterns at a Suffolk reserve.

RSPB Lakenheath Fen, external, close to the Cambridgeshire and Norfolk borders, has recorded eight males - which live among reeds and can often only be recorded by their distinctive booming call which can reach more than 100 decibels.

This is an all-time high for the reserve, which was created from fields 20 years ago, when there were no bitterns there.

The creation of a freshwater reedbed habitat has seen numbers increase steadily over the years.

Image source, Andy Hay/RSPB

It's not such good news for the wetland bird across East Anglia... there's been a slight drop in overall numbers on the Broads, The Fens and the Suffolk coast.

The RSPB believes this is the result of a drier than average winter.

This led to some reedbeds being too dry in the spring when the birds, which belong to the heron family, would be looking for nesting sites.

Image source, Ben Andrew/RSPB

Nationally, it's been a good year for the species, with at least 164 counted at 71 wetland and reedbed sites.

The RSPB began surveying the numbers of bitterns in the early 1990s.

Cambridge News

Looks like this feral fowl has seen the film Chicken Run too many times.

She's taken it to heart and is on the loose in Soham, the Cambridge News is reporting, external.

Image source, Cambridge News

Apparently she's been wandering around for about two weeks now, and no-one knows why.

"Anything can happen in Soham," one resident told the News.