:00:00. > :00:11.on the BBC News Channel. We are back with the
:00:12. > :00:14.on the BBC News Channel. We are back Hello, good evening. Insurance
:00:15. > :00:17.companies have been criticised for delays in helping the victims of a
:00:18. > :00:21.gas explosion, which wrecked homes in Essex. It's three months today
:00:22. > :00:25.since the blast tore through a house in Clacton. It left two people badly
:00:26. > :00:29.injured, and dozens of other homes damaged.
:00:30. > :00:31.Sharon Partridge and her family lived just two doors down from the
:00:32. > :00:37.scene of the blast. This is our conservatory at the
:00:38. > :00:40.back. The roof was blown off. Luckily, her husband was already at
:00:41. > :00:44.work, she was on her way to work. Son Jack, 11, had left for school
:00:45. > :00:48.and daughter Emily, eight, had been dropped off at a breakfast club. The
:00:49. > :00:52.only injury was to the family's pet cat, who is still recovering from an
:00:53. > :00:56.injured leg. The damage to their home was extensive and ever since
:00:57. > :01:00.they have been living in a rented house. It is very difficult to
:01:01. > :01:06.settle in a house that is not your own. We know it is only temporary.
:01:07. > :01:11.We are living out of boxes. We have lost contents in the explosion and
:01:12. > :01:15.to water damage afterwards. All those small things sort of make life
:01:16. > :01:19.difficult. The explosion happened on February fifth and left a scene of
:01:20. > :01:24.devastation across a wide area with homes damaged and debris strewn
:01:25. > :01:28.across roads and gardens. Locals could not believe what they had
:01:29. > :01:32.seen. It sounded like the roof had come off the building. I made some
:01:33. > :01:36.quick enquiries to see if it was anything in the kitchen or boiler
:01:37. > :01:39.room. As I came out the front of the school, I could see, just up the
:01:40. > :01:44.road, there were big flames coming out of the house. This is the site
:01:45. > :01:48.today. The two homes which bore the brunt now cleared. This is Sharon
:01:49. > :01:51.and her family's home. The windows have been replaced, the conservatory
:01:52. > :01:56.rebuilt, but they still have not been told when they can return. To
:01:57. > :02:06.them, obviously, we are a job, a policy number. To us, it is our
:02:07. > :02:08.lives, our home. I do not think they understand. She desperately wants
:02:09. > :02:14.the insurance company to speed things along, but fears they could
:02:15. > :02:16.be renting for some months yet. People living in Brentwood have
:02:17. > :02:20.welcomed the news that a Conservative election candidate has
:02:21. > :02:24.stood down. David Bishop has quit in a row over homophobic and
:02:25. > :02:27.anti`Islamic tweets. He was standing in the Local Council elections, but
:02:28. > :02:37.he's now quit the Tory party, saying it's to "avoid any further
:02:38. > :02:44.embarrassment". Banners in the town centre say what make redwood proud.
:02:45. > :02:49.Cummins posted by the Conservative party ``... Comments were nothing to
:02:50. > :02:56.be proud about. On his Twitter site, he posted Islam was the religion of
:02:57. > :03:02.peace and rape after former them men were found guilty of the offence.
:03:03. > :03:05.Other tweets were homophobic. In a letter he apologised to the real
:03:06. > :03:10.offence that he had caused. He said he let himself and his party down.
:03:11. > :03:13.He said he hoped people from the south Brentwood would forgive him
:03:14. > :03:19.that his lack of judgement. As the local party here, they said they
:03:20. > :03:24.acted swiftly and conclusively and in the interest of the Conservative
:03:25. > :03:26.party. The resignation comes only weeks after David Bishop was
:03:27. > :03:31.selected as the Conservative candidate for Brentwood South. Those
:03:32. > :03:34.I spoke to in the town centre that standing down with the correct thing
:03:35. > :03:40.to do. How can you represent people if you
:03:41. > :03:45.are being prejudiced to a group of people in that community? He said
:03:46. > :03:49.things that can be to `` misinterpreted. He must take the
:03:50. > :03:57.consequences of how a joke is interpreted. He is not very caring.
:03:58. > :04:01.The resignation means there will not be a concerted standing in the local
:04:02. > :04:05.elections for Brentwood South later this month `` Conservative
:04:06. > :04:11.standing. Labour and UKIP will test the board.
:04:12. > :04:13.5,000 people have been running through the streets of Milton Keynes
:04:14. > :04:17.today. The town's annual marathon has been
:04:18. > :04:19.voted one of the best in Britain, by marathon runners themselves. And
:04:20. > :04:24.today many thousands more turned out to watch.
:04:25. > :04:30.The thousands today in Milton Keynes, a relaxing bank holiday was
:04:31. > :04:38.not on the agenda. How you feeling? A little nervous. Very nervous. I am
:04:39. > :04:44.only doing a half marathon. It is the first I have done in many years.
:04:45. > :04:54.You are not running with this surely you? Yes! We are a bit mad. We need
:04:55. > :05:00.new members. Organisers, delighted with the turnout, were concentrating
:05:01. > :05:04.on safety. Their only 40,000 bottles of water on the course. We have
:05:05. > :05:14.Saint Johns everywhere. We medical cover. It was a fun run which saw
:05:15. > :05:17.the biggest smiles of the day. Finally, the pop star Ed Sheeran
:05:18. > :05:20.played what he called a secret gig at a pub in Ipswich today.
:05:21. > :05:26.The audience were only told shortly beforehand exactly where in the town
:05:27. > :05:31.it was being staged. All 50 tickets for the event sold
:05:32. > :05:35.out last week in one minute. We drove from Faversham in Kent and
:05:36. > :05:38.turned up here, looked at the venue, and thought, how many people are
:05:39. > :05:42.going to be able to fit inside? It will be lovely to have 40 people
:05:43. > :05:47.inside there with him. It is awesome to have an intimate venue. You feel
:05:48. > :05:56.quite emotional. Wow, it is so surreal.
:05:57. > :06:04.We have some rain waiting in the wings. A dry start to the evening.
:06:05. > :06:10.The rain is moving eastwards and some could be heavy. By 5am oh 6am
:06:11. > :06:15.most should have cleared. It will not be a cold night because of the
:06:16. > :06:19.cloud and rain. Many of us in double figures. Tomorrow, the last of the
:06:20. > :06:24.overnight rain clears and then we had a few showers. Lots of fine dry
:06:25. > :06:31.weather with some spells of sunshine. Temperatures around 80
:06:32. > :06:36.Celsius or 16 Fahrenheit. Light to moderate south`westerly winds. Some
:06:37. > :06:41.showers, but not for everybody. Wednesday is looking similar.
:06:42. > :06:46.Thursday, a few more showers then some rain in the night. Rain gone by
:06:47. > :06:53.Friday, but Friday will be windy with heavy showers. At least the
:06:54. > :07:09.overnight frost will be gone. Have a good evening.
:07:10. > :07:14.The sunshine today for the bank holiday produced the highest
:07:15. > :07:18.temperature of the long weekend in eastern England today, at 20
:07:19. > :07:23.Celsius. But to the west, the cloud has been gathering. We have seen a
:07:24. > :07:25.bit of rain in Northern Ireland and western Scotland, but the thicker
:07:26. > :07:30.cloud now pushing into the south-west of England is delivering
:07:31. > :07:35.more rain. It will become more extensive over the next few hours. A
:07:36. > :07:40.ragged area of rainfall will move east as the night goes on. If you
:07:41. > :07:44.have yet to make your journey home from the bank holiday weekend, you
:07:45. > :07:51.may encounter sums are a. -- some spray. Temperatures are not too bad
:07:52. > :07:56.. The good news is that most of the rain has gone by the morning. Some
:07:57. > :07:59.may be lingering in the north-east of Scotland and into the Northern
:08:00. > :08:01.Ireland -- the northern