CCD-photometry and low-resolution spectroscopy of the bright supernova SN 2000E in NGC 6951 are presented .
Both the light curve extending up to 150 days past maximum and the spectra obtained at 1 month past maximum confirm that SN 2000E is of Type Ia .
The reddening of SN 2000E is determined as E ( B - V ) = 0.36 \pm 0.15 , its error is mainly due to uncertainties in the predicted SN ( B - V ) colour at late epochs .
The V ( RI ) _ { C } light curves are analyzed with the Multi-Colour Light Curve Shape ( MLCS ) method .
The shape of the late light curve suggests that SN 2000E was overluminous by about 0.5 mag at maximum comparing with a fiducial SN Ia .
This results in an updated distance of 33 \pm 8 Mpc of NGC 6951 ( corrected for interstellar absorption ) .
The SN-based distance modulus is larger by about +0.7 mag than the previous Tully-Fisher estimates .
However , possible systematic errors due to ambiguities in the reddening determination and estimates of the maximum luminosity of SN 2000E may plague the present distance measurement .