:00:11. > :00:14.In the programme tonight, a new development in the search
:00:15. > :00:17.as police extend their search of the landfill site.
:00:18. > :00:19.The Liberal Democrats hoping to stage a fightback
:00:20. > :00:22.We report from a hustings in Colchester.
:00:23. > :00:25.And the boatbuilders using the history of the Broads
:00:26. > :00:36.Hello. I'm Susie Fowler-Watt.
:00:37. > :00:38.First tonight, police have announced they are going
:00:39. > :00:40.to extend their search for the missing airman
:00:41. > :00:42.Corrie Mckeague for at least another three weeks.
:00:43. > :00:44.Corrie went missing after a night out
:00:45. > :00:45.in Bury St Edmunds in September last year.
:00:46. > :00:47.Suffolk Police are working on a theory
:00:48. > :00:50.that his body was taken to a landfill site near
:00:51. > :00:53.They started searching the site in early March.
:00:54. > :00:59.Our Chief reporter Kim Riley has the latest.
:01:00. > :01:01.This search was always going to be a massive undertaking.
:01:02. > :01:09.An area roughly one-quarter of an acre has already been excavated
:01:10. > :01:12.3,500 tonnes of waste has been picked over by
:01:13. > :01:20.officers, looking for any trace of Corrie Mckeague.
:01:21. > :01:23.Corrie Mckeague was last seen in the centre of Bury St Edmunds
:01:24. > :01:26.CCTV footage captured him around the town centre,
:01:27. > :01:28.including in an area known as The Horseshoe, where businesses
:01:29. > :01:33.He was recorded going in, but not coming out.
:01:34. > :01:36.The next morning, a waste lorry made a collection and took a bin
:01:37. > :01:41.At the time, data showed the bin was not heavy enough
:01:42. > :01:44.to have contained a body, but in February, it became clear
:01:45. > :01:51.That is when police organised this huge search.
:01:52. > :01:54.Despite the best efforts of the search teams here, no
:01:55. > :01:58.trace has been found of Corrie Mckeague.
:01:59. > :02:01.Originally, they identified a core area on which to
:02:02. > :02:03.But outwith that area, they have also found
:02:04. > :02:05.material relating to the time and location that
:02:06. > :02:11.That is why the search has now been expanded.
:02:12. > :02:16.It was news welcomed tonight by Corrie's mother.
:02:17. > :02:19.I did not expect the search to suddenly stop.
:02:20. > :02:21.But I am obviously really pleased that they are
:02:22. > :02:28.Do you feel, in your heart, that he is there?
:02:29. > :02:32.Given all the information we have got, I struggle, like the police,
:02:33. > :02:37.to believe anything else. They were so confident.
:02:38. > :02:39.The form of words that they used talking to both the public
:02:40. > :02:44.and myself, I really do believe that that is where he is.
:02:45. > :02:46.She expressed the family's gratitude to the officers working
:02:47. > :02:57.As you will have heard, the Liberal Democrats launched
:02:58. > :03:02.They were once the "second party" across much of the region,
:03:03. > :03:05.In 2010, they had 24% of the vote in Norfolk,
:03:06. > :03:08.They had four MPs, in North Norfolk, Norwich South,
:03:09. > :03:20.In Colchester, in 2010, Sir Bob Russell had 48% of the vote.
:03:21. > :03:23.In 2015, he was out, when the Lib Dem share
:03:24. > :03:31.He is now hoping to win the seat back.
:03:32. > :03:33.Tonight, there has been a hustings at the Mercury Theatre
:03:34. > :03:36.in Colchester and our political reporter Simon Dedman was there.
:03:37. > :03:58.It has been a feisty Nate at the feet. Over 400 people attended with
:03:59. > :04:07.questions for the prospective MPs. Many of these questions related to
:04:08. > :04:16.Brexit. I think it is about infrastructure. Colchester has been
:04:17. > :04:25.rapidly growing. Transport, the likes of expanding the two magic.
:04:26. > :04:28.Brexit, although I think that is a done deal. Today, the people of
:04:29. > :04:36.Colchester got the chance to hear what all the candidates stood for.
:04:37. > :04:48.Brexit Was not the only issue which could not, but it was the first. The
:04:49. > :04:53.Prime Minister went to Europe and wanted to negotiate a better deal.
:04:54. > :05:00.said no. This is something we want said no. This is something we want
:05:01. > :05:09.to deal with that the first opportunity. Liberal Democrat Sir
:05:10. > :05:22.Bob Russell once a second referendum on Europe. Labour were pitching
:05:23. > :05:33.strongest on it health. Without immigration, our NHS would collapse.
:05:34. > :05:43.There was one life. People could send in automatic questions. One of,
:05:44. > :05:55.supposedly from the Prime Minister, said that Sir Bob Russell had nice
:05:56. > :06:06.legs! The Conservatives fancy their chances because Ukip I'm not
:06:07. > :06:09.standing, but clearly, the Liberal Democrats are feeling buoyant.
:06:10. > :06:11.Andrew Sinclair is our political correspondent.
:06:12. > :06:14.The Lib Dems clearly have high hopes of taking back Colchester and doing
:06:15. > :06:18.well elsewhere in the region. How easy is that going to be?
:06:19. > :06:22.As you say, until recently, they had the second-highest number of
:06:23. > :06:28.councillors in the region. There are clearly a lot of people in region
:06:29. > :06:33.who would thought for the Liberal Democrats if they had the policies
:06:34. > :06:43.that they liked. But clearly, things have been altered by Brexit. On the
:06:44. > :06:50.doorstep, I have here, I would normally vote for Liberal Democrats,
:06:51. > :06:57.but I do not want any more uncertainty over the European Union.
:06:58. > :07:05.I am going to vote Conservative. Another busy day of campaigning?
:07:06. > :07:11.Yes, the Conservatives focusing on North Norfolk. The Defence Secretary
:07:12. > :07:19.was via today. He said the party had to take the seat. He said it was
:07:20. > :07:23.important that the got the large majority. The Shadow Education
:07:24. > :07:29.Secretary was in Ipswich today. She was visiting a number of schools. As
:07:30. > :07:37.you have seen, the hustings have also started. They were originally a
:07:38. > :07:44.few questions about Brexit about the one I was at. The NHS and the school
:07:45. > :07:46.funding formula were much more popular topics.
:07:47. > :07:49.Unemployment has fallen in the East, for the second quarter in a row.
:07:50. > :07:52.Figures out today show 122,000 people are out of work,
:07:53. > :07:54.a drop of 17,000 on the previous three months.
:07:55. > :07:56.That means the region's unemployment rate has fallen to 3.9%,
:07:57. > :08:02.It's the Chelsea Flower Show next week
:08:03. > :08:05.and among all the flowers and shrubs there will be a very special boat.
:08:06. > :08:08.It's a replica of a vessel found next to the River Chet
:08:09. > :08:10.on the Norfolk Broads four years ago.
:08:11. > :08:12.The original is nearly a thousand years old and made of oak.
:08:13. > :08:14.It's been recreated at the International Boatbuilding
:08:15. > :08:26.It was two years ago that the Broads Authority
:08:27. > :08:28.commissioned the college to create a replica of the Chet Boat.
:08:29. > :08:31.What we discovered, in doing the drawings of it and in
:08:32. > :08:33.reconstructing it, is that it's almost identical
:08:34. > :08:37.So, it was probably used as a little lighter for carrying reeds, eeling.
:08:38. > :08:38.Would have been a one-man boat, really.
:08:39. > :08:41.Sometimes, it would have sailed and, occasionally, it would probably have
:08:42. > :08:52.been pushed along with a pole, which locally is called quanting.
:08:53. > :08:56.It is, kind of, trial and error. A lot of the planks are fitted.
:08:57. > :08:59.You shave a bit of the planks off, you try more modern methods,
:09:00. > :09:04.So it is, kind of, make it up as you go along a bit, but it is
:09:05. > :09:09.The Broadland Boatbuilder's Garden is inspired by the traditional
:09:10. > :09:12.skills, which continue to be taught at the college in Lowestoft
:09:13. > :09:19.and by the ancient landscape of the Broads itself.
:09:20. > :09:21.What you will see at the garden is this
:09:22. > :09:24.little double-ended medieval chet boat under construction,
:09:25. > :09:26.surrounded by natural plants from that period,
:09:27. > :09:36.which are still found on the Broads - some of them very rare.
:09:37. > :09:38.Gary Breeze came on sabbatical to the boat-building college
:09:39. > :09:45.He also a successful Chelsea pedigree.
:09:46. > :09:48.Last year, he won a gold medal and Best Fresh Garden at the show.
:09:49. > :09:50.But for his colleagues, this is a first.
:09:51. > :09:54.My wife is very keen that I get involved, so she can tell all
:09:55. > :09:56.her friends I am involved in the Chelsea Flower Show!
:09:57. > :09:59.And here is the Chet Boat in all its glory,
:10:00. > :10:03.in place at Chelsea, ready for all the visitors next week.
:10:04. > :10:14.Coming up next, the weather, with Alex, but from me, goodnight.
:10:15. > :10:27.Good evening. More pics of rain across the East associated with this
:10:28. > :10:37.area of low pressure. It should become increasingly dry as the night
:10:38. > :10:41.goes on. Overnight temperatures still in double figures. We start
:10:42. > :10:48.tomorrow with just the odd spot of rain. But for most browsers, geese
:10:49. > :10:56.and spills of sunshine and dryly. Best temperatures of 17 Celsius. The
:10:57. > :11:00.National weather is coming up. As we get to the end of the recount into
:11:01. > :11:02.the weekend, heavy rain on Friday at claims.