Anglia Northamptonshire

Police are appealing for potential CCTV footage after a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted near Kettering.

The victim, who was wearing school uniform, was walking home from Greys Park Field in Barton Seagrave after visiting friends. She walked along Polwell Lane before entering an alleyway which leads into Henleys Close, off Gotch Road.

As she entered the alleyway, a man who was loitering in the area, asked her to remove her clothing before following her down the alleyway and then grabbing her shoulder. The victim managed to escape.

Police say details of the incident which happened on Thursday, July 20, between 6.45pm and 7pm, have only just been brought to the attention

Work to revamp Northampton market has begun.

It involves replacing current stall coverings as well as widening one of the aisles.

The changes come following suggestions and consultations with traders and a National Association of British Market Authorities review, which supported ideas to brighten the area.

They hope it will open up the centre of the market and make it a more attractive environment for traders and shoppers.

They are hoping the work will be done by mid-October.

Thames Valley Police are appealing for information after a highly corrosive substance was left on the M1 near Newport Pagnell forcing the closure of the road for most of yesterday.

Hundreds of cars and lorries were trapped on the motorway while the bomb squad investigated a container filled with acid-like liquid found under a bridge near Newport Pagnell.

There is no suggestion the incident was terrorist related but the police want to know how it got there.

Thames Valley Police have confirmed that the suspicious package on the M1 is not terror related.

However they say it is a corrosive chemical and the southbound carriageway will stay shut while an extensive clean up goes on.

The M1 northbound has finally reopened after more than eight hours.

It was closed while police and emergency services investigated a suspicious object under a bridge at Newport Pagnell.

The object was discovered not to contain explosives.

Thousands of drivers were stationary in queues for hours. The southbound carriageway is still closed.

Frustrated travellers played football, frisbee and touch rugby on the M1 after police closed the motorway for hours.

Thousands sat in gridlock from at least 8am, when Thames Valley Police closed the three-lane motorway between junctions 14 and 15 because of a "suspicious object".

Liz Searle, chief executive at the Keech Hospice in Luton, said she had been impressed by the good humour of everyone trapped on the side of the road.

"Everybody was being so helpful and chatty and high-spirited," she said, "which is lovely to see despite the circumstances."

Mrs Searle escaped the gridlock when police began to turn traffic around.

A spokesman for Highways England said the amount of traffic trapped was "down to about three or four kilometres" from a previous high of six kilometres, but could not comment on the details of the "suspicious object".