:00:00. > 3:59:59There is more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel. We are back
:00:00. > :00:14.with the on the BBC News Channel. We are back
:00:15. > :00:17.Hello, good evening. Insurance companies have been criticised for
:00:18. > :00:20.delays in helping the victims of a gas explosion, which wrecked homes
:00:21. > :00:24.in Essex. It's three months today since the blast tore through a house
:00:25. > :00:28.in Clacton. It left two people badly injured, and dozens of other homes
:00:29. > :00:31.damaged. Sharon Partridge and her family
:00:32. > :00:34.lived just two doors down from the scene of the blast.
:00:35. > :00:39.This is our conservatory at the back. The roof was blown off.
:00:40. > :00:43.Luckily, her husband was already at work, she was on her way to work.
:00:44. > :00:47.Son Jack, 11, had left for school and daughter Emily, eight, had been
:00:48. > :00:51.dropped off at a breakfast club. The only injury was to the family's pet
:00:52. > :00:55.cat, who is still recovering from an injured leg. The damage to their
:00:56. > :00:59.home was extensive and ever since they have been living in a rented
:01:00. > :01:03.house. It is very difficult to settle in a house that is not your
:01:04. > :01:08.own. We know it is only temporary. We are living out of boxes. We have
:01:09. > :01:13.lost contents in the explosion and to water damage afterwards. All
:01:14. > :01:18.those small things sort of make life difficult. The explosion happened on
:01:19. > :01:21.February fifth and left a scene of devastation across a wide area with
:01:22. > :01:26.homes damaged and debris strewn across roads and gardens. Locals
:01:27. > :01:31.could not believe what they had seen. It sounded like the roof had
:01:32. > :01:34.come off the building. I made some quick enquiries to see if it was
:01:35. > :01:38.anything in the kitchen or boiler room. As I came out the front of the
:01:39. > :01:43.school, I could see, just up the road, there were big flames coming
:01:44. > :01:46.out of the house. This is the site today. The two homes which bore the
:01:47. > :01:50.brunt now cleared. This is Sharon and her family's home. The windows
:01:51. > :01:55.have been replaced, the conservatory rebuilt, but they still have not
:01:56. > :01:59.been told when they can return. To them, obviously, we are a job, a
:02:00. > :02:08.policy number. To us, it is our lives, our home. I do not think they
:02:09. > :02:10.understand. She desperately wants the insurance company to speed
:02:11. > :02:16.things along, but fears they could be renting for some months yet.
:02:17. > :02:18.People living in Brentwood have welcomed the news that a
:02:19. > :02:22.Conservative election candidate has stood down. David Bishop has quit in
:02:23. > :02:26.a row over homophobic and anti`Islamic tweets. He was standing
:02:27. > :02:29.in the Local Council elections, but he's now quit the Tory party, saying
:02:30. > :02:41.it's to "avoid any further embarrassment". Banners in the town
:02:42. > :02:49.centre say what make redwood proud. Cummins posted by the Conservative
:02:50. > :02:54.party ``... Comments were nothing to be proud about. On his Twitter site,
:02:55. > :02:59.he posted Islam was the religion of peace and rape after former them men
:03:00. > :03:04.were found guilty of the offence. Other tweets were homophobic. In a
:03:05. > :03:09.letter he apologised to the real offence that he had caused. He said
:03:10. > :03:12.he let himself and his party down. He said he hoped people from the
:03:13. > :03:16.south Brentwood would forgive him that his lack of judgement. As the
:03:17. > :03:22.local party here, they said they acted swiftly and conclusively and
:03:23. > :03:26.in the interest of the Conservative party. The resignation comes only
:03:27. > :03:29.weeks after David Bishop was selected as the Conservative
:03:30. > :03:33.candidate for Brentwood South. Those I spoke to in the town centre that
:03:34. > :03:36.standing down with the correct thing to do.
:03:37. > :03:43.How can you represent people if you are being prejudiced to a group of
:03:44. > :03:49.people in that community? He said things that can be to ``
:03:50. > :03:56.misinterpreted. He must take the consequences of how a joke is
:03:57. > :04:00.interpreted. He is not very caring. The resignation means there will not
:04:01. > :04:02.be a concerted standing in the local elections for Brentwood South later
:04:03. > :04:11.this month `` Conservative standing. Labour and UKIP will test
:04:12. > :04:14.the board. 5,000 people have been running
:04:15. > :04:16.through the streets of Milton Keynes today.
:04:17. > :04:19.The town's annual marathon has been voted one of the best in Britain, by
:04:20. > :04:22.marathon runners themselves. And today many thousands more turned out
:04:23. > :04:27.to watch. The thousands today in Milton
:04:28. > :04:37.Keynes, a relaxing bank holiday was not on the agenda. How you feeling?
:04:38. > :04:43.A little nervous. Very nervous. I am only doing a half marathon. It is
:04:44. > :04:50.the first I have done in many years. You are not running with this surely
:04:51. > :04:56.you? Yes! We are a bit mad. We need new members. Organisers, delighted
:04:57. > :05:04.with the turnout, were concentrating on safety. Their only 40,000 bottles
:05:05. > :05:09.of water on the course. We have Saint Johns everywhere. We medical
:05:10. > :05:16.cover. It was a fun run which saw the biggest smiles of the day.
:05:17. > :05:19.Finally, the pop star Ed Sheeran played what he called a secret gig
:05:20. > :05:22.at a pub in Ipswich today. The audience were only told shortly
:05:23. > :05:29.beforehand exactly where in the town it was being staged.
:05:30. > :05:34.All 50 tickets for the event sold out last week in one minute.
:05:35. > :05:37.We drove from Faversham in Kent and turned up here, looked at the venue,
:05:38. > :05:41.and thought, how many people are going to be able to fit inside? It
:05:42. > :05:45.will be lovely to have 40 people inside there with him. It is awesome
:05:46. > :05:48.to have an intimate venue. You feel quite emotional. Wow, it is so
:05:49. > :06:03.surreal. We have some rain waiting in the
:06:04. > :06:08.wings. A dry start to the evening. The rain is moving eastwards and
:06:09. > :06:14.some could be heavy. By 5am oh 6am most should have cleared. It will
:06:15. > :06:18.not be a cold night because of the cloud and rain. Many of us in double
:06:19. > :06:23.figures. Tomorrow, the last of the overnight rain clears and then we
:06:24. > :06:30.had a few showers. Lots of fine dry weather with some spells of
:06:31. > :06:33.sunshine. Temperatures around 80 Celsius or 16 Fahrenheit. Light to
:06:34. > :06:38.moderate south`westerly winds. Some showers, but not for everybody.
:06:39. > :06:45.Wednesday is looking similar. Thursday, a few more showers then
:06:46. > :06:50.some rain in the night. Rain gone by Friday, but Friday will be windy
:06:51. > :06:54.with heavy showers. At least the overnight frost will be gone. Have a
:06:55. > :07:13.good evening. The sunshine today for the bank
:07:14. > :07:17.holiday produced the highest temperature of the long weekend in
:07:18. > :07:21.eastern England today, at 20 Celsius. But to the west, the cloud
:07:22. > :07:25.has been gathering. We have seen a bit of rain in Northern Ireland and
:07:26. > :07:27.western Scotland, but the thicker cloud now pushing into the
:07:28. > :07:35.south-west of England is delivering more rain. It will become more
:07:36. > :07:38.extensive over the next few hours. A ragged area of rainfall will move
:07:39. > :07:42.east as the night goes on. If you have yet to make your journey home
:07:43. > :07:48.from the bank holiday weekend, you may encounter sums are a. -- some
:07:49. > :07:54.spray. Temperatures are not too bad . The good news is that most of the
:07:55. > :08:00.rain has gone by the morning. Some may be lingering in the north-east
:08:01. > :08:01.of Scotland and into the Northern Ireland -- the northern