BBC Local Live: Cambridgeshire

The parents of Matthew Birkinshaw said their son's death has left a "space no-one else can ever fill".

It follows the conviction of Natasha Gordon for encouraging his suicide in a car park at Rutland Water.

Birkinshaw familyCopyright: Birkinshaw family

They said: "It is impossible to put into words the effect the loss of Matthew has had on our family.

"He was everything to us and he has left a space no-one else can ever fill."

They added: "It has become clear to us during this process how many people consider suicide without ever displaying any signs even to those closest to them. It has been heartbreaking to hear how when Matt needed kindness and support, he met someone who wanted to do him harm."

A model winter wonderland will open its doors later at Walsoken, near Wisbech.

The village - which features a fairground, harbour, farm, skiers and skaters - took Jane Gilmurray and Eileen and John Grainger a month to build.

John Gilmurry said his wife Jane had built up the collection of Lemax models over 10 years, which is worth more than £8,000.

He said: "Last year we used our dining room, but there is so much stuff our neighbours the Graingers offered their double garage as its home this year."

The village will be opened to the public from 18:00 to 21:00 from today until 10 December.

All donations received will go the forces charity SSAFA and the Magpas Air Ambulance.

Lynn BrosnanCopyright: Lynn Brosnan

Lynn BrosnanCopyright: Lynn Brosnan

For the last five weeks, anyone caught drinking in public has had their alcohol confiscated - but from Monday drinkers could be slapped with a £75 fine.

Two men escaped apparently unhurt after their car plunged into a freezing river at Whittlesey.

The car was completely submerged in the River Nene after the accident at about 19:10 on Thursday, as the Cambridge News reported.

Cambridgeshire Police received a report that the grey Citroen C4 was attempting to overtake another vehicle on North Bank when it went into the water near Millennium Bridge.

"Two men were seen to leave the car and run away from the scene," a force spokeswoman said.

"The helicopter was deployed to locate the men due to the freezing conditions and that they would be wet through."

The men have not yet been identified or found, she added, but the car was recovered at about 22:40.

A man has been killed in a crash between a car and a van in Haddenham.

Cambridgeshire Police said it happened on the A1123 at about 07:50.

The ambulance service, air ambulance and fire crews all attended.

The road remains closed between Earith and Haddenham in both directions.

Prehistoric women had rather powerful biceps, a Cambridge University study has found.

Scientists at the Department of Archaeology scanned the bones of Neolithic women and found that grain grinding and working the land gave them thicker and denser arms than their modern counterparts.

They compared women from 7,000 years ago to the current Cambridge University Women's Boat Club squads, and found their arm bones were 11-16% stronger.

Science AdvancesCopyright: Science Advances

Lead scientist Dr Alison Macintosh, said: "This is the first study to actually compare prehistoric female bones to those of living women.

"The repetitive arm action of grinding these stones together for hours may have loaded women's arm bones in a similar way to the laborious back-and-forth motion of rowing."

The findings are published in the journal, Science Advances.

A developer has warned time is running out to get a £100 million regeneration of a gateway to Peterborough off the ground.

Young people growing up in some parts of Cambridgeshire face a major struggle to make something of their lives, a report has revealed.

Raiders targeted a Co-op store overnight, smashing through the front window before making off with cigarettes.

Three men wearing dark clothes and with their faces covered used a hatchet to smash their way into the shop on High Street in Linton at about 03:30 before making off in a dark-coloured vehicle.

Les RedheadCopyright: Les Redhead

Resident Les Redhead, who came across the scene this morning, said police had shut the High Street.

"It looks like a sledgehammer through the front window," he said.

It was affecting rush hour traffic and the school run, resulting in "travel carnage", he added.

Road policing officers were pleased not to encounter snow on their dawn patrol through the county... but not so happy to discover a "covering of blue bags" along the A428 at Cambourne.

Luckily most seem to have blown into the central reservation area, but police said some had been seen as far away as Histon.

It's thought a lorry or van shed its load of bags. South Cambridgeshire District Council says it is working with highways officials and police to "work out the best way to move them".

Council workers will need to pick them up by hand, so they need to work out when that can be done safely.

BBCCopyright: BBC

The city council in Peterborough is to trial free bulky waste collections in a bid to cut down on flytipping.

It's part of a wider #lovepeterborough campaign - and will take place between 11 December and 9 March.

Binmen will make more than 1,000 free collections in the first month, with a daily limit of 52 households.

That will be halved for the next two months but will be monitored according to demand, the council says.