17/05/2017 Look East

In the programme tonight, a new development in the search

as police extend their search of the landfill site.

The Liberal Democrats hoping to stage a fightback

We report from a hustings in Colchester.

And the boatbuilders using the history of the Broads

Hello. I'm Susie Fowler-Watt.

First tonight, police have announced they are going

to extend their search for the missing airman

Corrie Mckeague for at least another three weeks.

Corrie went missing after a night out

in Bury St Edmunds in September last year.

Suffolk Police are working on a theory

that his body was taken to a landfill site near

They started searching the site in early March.

Our Chief reporter Kim Riley has the latest.

This search was always going to be a massive undertaking.

An area roughly one-quarter of an acre has already been excavated

3,500 tonnes of waste has been picked over by

officers, looking for any trace of Corrie Mckeague.

Corrie Mckeague was last seen in the centre of Bury St Edmunds

CCTV footage captured him around the town centre,

including in an area known as The Horseshoe, where businesses

He was recorded going in, but not coming out.

The next morning, a waste lorry made a collection and took a bin

At the time, data showed the bin was not heavy enough

to have contained a body, but in February, it became clear

That is when police organised this huge search.

Despite the best efforts of the search teams here, no

trace has been found of Corrie Mckeague.

Originally, they identified a core area on which to

But outwith that area, they have also found

material relating to the time and location that

That is why the search has now been expanded.

It was news welcomed tonight by Corrie's mother.

I did not expect the search to suddenly stop.

But I am obviously really pleased that they are

Do you feel, in your heart, that he is there?

Given all the information we have got, I struggle, like the police,

to believe anything else. They were so confident.

The form of words that they used talking to both the public

and myself, I really do believe that that is where he is.

She expressed the family's gratitude to the officers working

As you will have heard, the Liberal Democrats launched

They were once the "second party" across much of the region,

In 2010, they had 24% of the vote in Norfolk,

They had four MPs, in North Norfolk, Norwich South,

In Colchester, in 2010, Sir Bob Russell had 48% of the vote.

In 2015, he was out, when the Lib Dem share

He is now hoping to win the seat back.

Tonight, there has been a hustings at the Mercury Theatre

in Colchester and our political reporter Simon Dedman was there.

It has been a feisty Nate at the feet. Over 400 people attended with

questions for the prospective MPs. Many of these questions related to

Brexit. I think it is about infrastructure. Colchester has been

rapidly growing. Transport, the likes of expanding the two magic.

Brexit, although I think that is a done deal. Today, the people of

Colchester got the chance to hear what all the candidates stood for.

Brexit Was not the only issue which could not, but it was the first. The

Prime Minister went to Europe and wanted to negotiate a better deal.

said no. This is something we want said no. This is something we want

to deal with that the first opportunity. Liberal Democrat Sir

Bob Russell once a second referendum on Europe. Labour were pitching

strongest on it health. Without immigration, our NHS would collapse.

There was one life. People could send in automatic questions. One of,

supposedly from the Prime Minister, said that Sir Bob Russell had nice

legs! The Conservatives fancy their chances because Ukip I'm not

standing, but clearly, the Liberal Democrats are feeling buoyant.

Andrew Sinclair is our political correspondent.

The Lib Dems clearly have high hopes of taking back Colchester and doing

well elsewhere in the region. How easy is that going to be?

As you say, until recently, they had the second-highest number of

councillors in the region. There are clearly a lot of people in region

who would thought for the Liberal Democrats if they had the policies

that they liked. But clearly, things have been altered by Brexit. On the

doorstep, I have here, I would normally vote for Liberal Democrats,

but I do not want any more uncertainty over the European Union.

I am going to vote Conservative. Another busy day of campaigning?

Yes, the Conservatives focusing on North Norfolk. The Defence Secretary

was via today. He said the party had to take the seat. He said it was

important that the got the large majority. The Shadow Education

Secretary was in Ipswich today. She was visiting a number of schools. As

you have seen, the hustings have also started. They were originally a

few questions about Brexit about the one I was at. The NHS and the school

funding formula were much more popular topics.

Unemployment has fallen in the East, for the second quarter in a row.

Figures out today show 122,000 people are out of work,

a drop of 17,000 on the previous three months.

That means the region's unemployment rate has fallen to 3.9%,

It's the Chelsea Flower Show next week

and among all the flowers and shrubs there will be a very special boat.

It's a replica of a vessel found next to the River Chet

on the Norfolk Broads four years ago.

The original is nearly a thousand years old and made of oak.

It's been recreated at the International Boatbuilding

It was two years ago that the Broads Authority

commissioned the college to create a replica of the Chet Boat.

What we discovered, in doing the drawings of it and in

reconstructing it, is that it's almost identical

So, it was probably used as a little lighter for carrying reeds, eeling.

Would have been a one-man boat, really.

Sometimes, it would have sailed and, occasionally, it would probably have

been pushed along with a pole, which locally is called quanting.

It is, kind of, trial and error. A lot of the planks are fitted.

You shave a bit of the planks off, you try more modern methods,

So it is, kind of, make it up as you go along a bit, but it is

The Broadland Boatbuilder's Garden is inspired by the traditional

skills, which continue to be taught at the college in Lowestoft

and by the ancient landscape of the Broads itself.

What you will see at the garden is this

little double-ended medieval chet boat under construction,

surrounded by natural plants from that period,

which are still found on the Broads - some of them very rare.

Gary Breeze came on sabbatical to the boat-building college

He also a successful Chelsea pedigree.

Last year, he won a gold medal and Best Fresh Garden at the show.

But for his colleagues, this is a first.

My wife is very keen that I get involved, so she can tell all

her friends I am involved in the Chelsea Flower Show!

And here is the Chet Boat in all its glory,

in place at Chelsea, ready for all the visitors next week.

Coming up next, the weather, with Alex, but from me, goodnight.

Good evening. More pics of rain across the East associated with this

area of low pressure. It should become increasingly dry as the night

goes on. Overnight temperatures still in double figures. We start

tomorrow with just the odd spot of rain. But for most browsers, geese

and spills of sunshine and dryly. Best temperatures of 17 Celsius. The

National weather is coming up. As we get to the end of the recount into

the weekend, heavy rain on Friday at claims.