The bunting is up, flags are flying high and, hopefully, the sun is ready to shine as we look forward to celebrating Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here in Fylde.

I am sad to see that our beaches have received a great deal of unwanted attention over the past week. The sands at St Annes and the estuary at Lytham are among the true natural gems of Fylde and it is important everything possible is done to protect them.

This week we have seen the State Opening of Parliament, an important occasion on which the Government lays out its plans for the future. While it is always a grand occasion this week’s ceremony was touched with sadness as Her Majesty the Queen was unable to attend in person.

This week I had the welcome opportunity to visit Weeton Primary School and to catch up with headteacher Anthony Goth.

A sunny Easter Bank Holiday weekend brought out the best in Fylde with busy beaches, parks and visitor attractions. I took the opportunity to call in at Lytham Hall and was given a very warm welcome, along with hundreds of other visitors making the most of the magnificent surroundings.

It was great to see so many people out and about at the weekend enjoying events being held in our local communities.

It is good to see progress being made on three major roads schemes in Fylde and with spring here, bringing better weather, working on the new Moss Road should get a lot easier for the team delivering this essential new link.

There is no getting away from the fact that prices, whether at the petrol pump or on the supermarket shelves, are rising.

Events in Ukraine continue to dominate not only the headlines but all our thoughts.

Fylde MP Mark Menzies has welcomed plans to start of work on filling and capping fracking wells.