08/02/2014 Look East - East

Much more throughout the evening on the BBC News channel. We are

Hello. I'm Tom Williams. Part of the centre of Bedford was

sealed off today as crews tackled a big fire. It broke out in an office

block and took firefighters nearly ten hours to put out, as Ben Bland

reports. 30 firefighters worked through the

night to tackle this fire in the old town hall in Bedford. They were

called at 3am. By then, it had spread across three floors. Some

surrounding streets remained closed into this afternoon. The fire was

fairly quickly knocked down from the outside of the building but because

of the size and complexity of the building, and the fact that it

presents some risk to us because it is under demolition, progress was

then slow and cautious to make sure the fire was fully out. The 1960s

office block is derelict and due to be demolished. But if the fire had

not been brought under control, it could have damaged neighbouring

buildings. Yes, I mean either side of this building we have really

important buildings that we are keeping, they're not being

demolished. And thank God for the firefighters who put their lives on

the line and put themselves in harm's way to make sure that it was

put out safely and no one was hurt. These buildings were protected. The

building has no electricity or gas connected. An investigation will now

look at whether this fire was started deliberately.

A man wanted over the shooting of a traveller near Stevenage has been

arrested in Denmark. The victim, Thomas Ward, died from a gunshot

wound to the chest at a caravan site in Dyes Lane last April. His second

cousin, John Boy Ward, was arrested near Copenhagen on suspicion of

conspiracy to commit murder. There are still 25 flood warnings in

force in the region, with the prospect of more rain to come

overnight. Rivers in several areas, including here on the Suffolk`Essex

border, are still swollen. The Environment Agency says it's keeping

an eye on water levels. The Suffolk MP Tim Yeo says the

Conservative party is increasingly dominated by activists with extreme

views on Europe and gay marriage. The member for South Suffolk was

deselected by his local party this week. He's told the Daily Telegraph

that the Tories should not be letting UKIP dictate their agenda.

And there'll be more on this in Sunday Politics tomorrow morning on

BBC One at 11am. In the football today, an unexpected

but excellent point for Norwich against Manchester City. It ended

goalless at Carrow Road. Gary Hooper had a first half goal disallowed for

Norwich and while the visitors dominated possession, the Canaries

had two phenomenal chances to win it late on. But neither Ricky van

Wolfswinkel nor Anthony Pilkington could convert. Norwich remain two

points clear of the Premier League drop`zone. We are playing a team

that can score goals as readily, almost, as what they want to. But

also, I think it's the manner in which we finished the game. It

wasn't one where we sat back didn't look for opportunities ourselves. We

ended up getting into two very good positions very, very late in the

game and of course, positions that could have seen us win the game.

In the Championship, Ipswich scored twice in the last ten minutes to

earn a draw at Barnsley. Christophe Berra on 81 then David McGoldrick's

free`kick three minutes later means Town close the gap on the play`off

places to just three points. Result of the day in League One for

Peterborough. Britt Assombalonga and Tommy Rowe scored twice in the final

three minutes to claim a 2`1 win. Posh back in the play`offs.

Colchester and Stevenage's games were off.

While MK Dons claimed a much needed win at Walsall. Izale McLeod scored

twice. Not a good day in League Two.

Defeats for Southend and Northampton. Ryan Leonard scored the

Blues' goal. The Cobblers now cut adrift at the

bottom, seven points from safety. Just underway in the rugby `

Northampton playing Exeter. Saints could go top of the

Premiership tonight after leaders Saracens slipped up at home to

London Irish. No score just yet. Bedford lost in the Championship,

going down 32`19 against Bristol. Time for the weather, with Georgina

Burnett. Good evening. I'm afraid it's going

to be a wet and windy night for some of us tonight. We have got some of

those heavy showers but also a strong south`westerly wind

continuing. So these showers pushing north eastwards through the night.

For some of us not so bad but fairly heavy in parts. In those strong

winds not particularly pleasant, with temperatures down to four or

five Celsius. Now tomorrow, not so much in the way of sunshine. We are

fairly spoiled in some parts today. The best of the sunshine will be in

the afternoon. We've also got some more showers and the strong winds

continue. Temperatures reaching six or seven Celsius tomorrow. Now,

Monday morning ` ice may be an issue as it is going to be a cold start to

the day, particularly with saturated ground. Tuesday and Wednesday, we

have got some more wet and windy weather on the way.

That's it from me. We're back tomorrow at 5:50pm and 10:15pm. Till

then, have a good night. Good evening. Unfortunately I don't

have much good news in this forecast. There may be a brief

respite later tomorrow with the wind and the rain but it will not be long

enough and we have today's storm withers, pounding many coastlines in

the south and west, hence the Amber wind warning from the Met Office. It

is a windy day across the board and it is not just the wind that is a

concern.