[speaker001:] Class dismissed. Head sends children home because of teacher shortage. No surrender. Surrounded by a sea of mud, a mother and her handicapped son refuse to move. And local hero. Home grown success at Cheltenham
[speaker002:] Parents are protesting at a headmaster's decision to send home an entire class because there's no-one to teach them. The children will have no. The education authority says there's a national shortage of teachers, but the parents say their youngsters' education is suffering. The class has been without a regular teacher for eight weeks and now parents are demanding extra help. Kim Barnes reports.
[speaker003:] Parents of fourth years at Falconhurst school reacted angrily at being told to keep their children at home today and tomorrow. They say it's the final straw in a two month saga of staff sickness and lack of supply teachers which has meant vital gaps in their children's schooling.
[speaker004:] I'm very disillusioned with the whole thing now and I just think that things are going from bad to worse. This is not going to disappear overnight, it's going to affect her for a long time, and she's never going to catch up on the work that she's missed over the last couple of months by having seven teachers in six weeks.
[speaker005:] We're told that he's not falling behind or there's no real problem with it. We know there is. As parents we see the change in our children. They no longer want to go to school.
[speaker002:] The class teacher has been off ill since mid-January. The education authority say they've tried everything and it's a national problem.
[speaker006:] Well, the crisis has arisen because we have both locally and nationally a shortage of teachers, both permanent teachers and supply teachers.
[speaker003:] Isn't is rather a drastic response to send children home?
[speaker006:] Yes, this is done as a last resort.
[speaker003:] So today it was lessons at home for some of the class provided by parents who'd had to take time off work.
[speaker007:] It isn't so much the two days that they've had off, this is just the last straw that breaks the camel's back really. It's the last three or four months erm the lack of education they've had over that time. Because they've been split between school, between young classes, my daughter's been in with the eight year olds.
[speaker003:] Do you think she's falling behind?
[speaker007:] Yes. I think she must be. I mean the statement made today was that they're not falling behind but that they're not progressing. But to me that has got to be the same thing.
[speaker008:] If I took her out of school I would be prosecuted, I'm sure. I have thought about it. But they can send a letter home sending her home. You know. Just out of the blue. And not teaching her.
[speaker003:] Isn't the education authority failing in its duty though, when it has to send children home?
[speaker006:] It's certainly our responsibility to provide education, but this is an issue of shortage of teachers, and so we're faced with that major problem.
[speaker003:] The education authority says they've launched a major recruitment drive but with the children due to start secondary school in September parents are now writing to local councils and M Ps. Some say they'll take over the children's education completely as they try to help their youngsters make up for lost time.
[speaker002:] A woman in her thirties has been found dead at her home after a man walked into a police station and said he wanted to talk to detectives. The body was discovered when police broke into the house. Tim Hurst reports.
[speaker009:] The body was found in a terraced cottage in Cheltenham shortly before lunch time. Number 21 The Burgage is the home of Mr David Schofield and his wife Caroline. The dead woman has been identified as Mrs Schofield, a self-employed fabric designer who worked from home and who was in her thirties. The Burgage is close to Cheltenham race course and race goers heading for the first day of the Cheltenham Gold Cup meeting were diverted away from the murder house. Neighbours say the couple kept themselves very much to themselves.
[speaker010:] I only know that he is a very kind and gentle person. I didn't know her at all, other than to see her go into the house and out of the house.
[speaker009:] Relatives of the family who live nearby were escorted to the house by detectives before Mrs Schofield's body was taken to Cheltenham mortuary for a post-mortem examination by a home office pathologist. Before the police receive an interim report from the pathologist, they're not even sure exactly how Mrs Schofield died. Apparently there are no obvious signs of injury. The body was found after a man walked into a London police station this morning and made a statement. It's understood that his name is also Schofield, and he's being taken to Cheltenham for further questioning.
[speaker002:] Gloucester city council meets tonight to decide on the fate of it's controversial plans to raise council house rents by 45 per cent and to close Gloucester law centre. Protesters have been out in force as the council makes its second attempt to set its annual budget. The first meeting at the end of February was abandoned on a point of order. Since then the Conservatives have lost control of the council because of the election Dr Patrick Lush, a Democrat, to the Westgate ward. The balance of power on Gloucester City Council is held by a former Tory councillor who now votes as an independent. A hunt has begun for a bogus policeman who followed a driver along the A 413 near Wendover in Buckinghamshire. The driver became suspicious when the man, dressed in a dark uniform approached him and asked him if he'd been drinking. The driver stayed in his car and the bogus policeman eventually drove off. Thames valley police are cracking down on bad driving. Last year there were nearly eight and a half thousand road accidents in Oxfordshire. Two hundred and eleven people died. The police believe we drive too fast and at a special motor racing exhibition later this week they'll be demonstrating how to handle modern, high performance cars. This report from Cathy Alexander.
[speaker001:] If this has ever happened to you then Thames police are offering a golden opportunity to improve your driving. Their top instructors are holding a one day campaign to sharpen up the County's road sense.
[speaker002:] The road is sweeping round to the right and there's the start of the dual carriage way. Just hold in third gear in anticipation of an overtake on the vehicles in front. Waiting for the hatchings to finish, checking the mirror, the vehicles are some way behind now. Just closing a little bit on the vehicle in front, waiting for these hatchings to finish then gently accelerating through after checking in the mirror again.
[speaker001:] That was police instructor Sean Corty demonstrating one hundred percent road concentration.
[speaker002:] People don't follow through on what they can see, erm and what erm might be there. We must expect there to be danger in every obscured section of road. After all, we're certainly not driving erm any better than we used erm and possibly worse.
[speaker001:] He lays much of the blame on technology. Today's sophisticated motor vehicles need special handling, otherwise they can, and do, run away with their drivers.
[speaker002:] They have four-wheel drive, they have anti-lock brakes, they have power steering. They may be front wheel drive, they may be rear wheel drive. But the average driving school car, the average car that the person learns to drive in has none of these things at all. And we feel that people do need to be trained in these erm cars which have these erm special erm adaptations.
[speaker001:] So, Thames police are sharing their skills with the public. This Thursday evening at Exeter Hall in Kidlington, visitors will be able to go out on a demonstration with top traffic patrol drivers, and have their driving skills assessed by an advanced instructor. They can also have a go at this. Ideally, all drivers should know how to handle a skidding car. Take a lesson from the experts. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] An elderly woman and her son are living in squalor, surrounded by a sea of mud, because a council can't rehouse them. The woman has turned down the offer of a caravan, and an attempt to buy her a seventy thousand pound house has been stopped by a public outcry. This report from Simon Harris.
[speaker003:] Amelia Davis, born into a gipsy family, has known hard times before but never quite like this. At the age of seventy five she has to wade through a sea of mud to get to her council home at Cinderford in Gloucestershire. The bungalow is literally sitting in the path of progress, surrounded by redevelopment and waiting to be bulldozed. Conditions are appalling. The rooms are damp, even the carpets are soaked.
[speaker004:] I don't like it at all. Its modernization, those are the motives, it wouldn't be much of a life.
[speaker003:] Mrs Davis shares the misery of life in the bungalow with her thirty eight year old son Peter. They've encountered problems before. They once lived on a housing estate, but the council was forced to move them to the isolated bungalow after complaints from neighbours. When the builders moved in, the authority found another house, and was ready to buy it for seventy thousand pounds, but again there were protests and the plan was scrapped.
[speaker005:] I, I don't think anyone's instance. Mrs Davis seems to be caught up in this in this situation. You know, its, I feel very sorry for her.
[speaker003:] The council, you say, has done everything it can.
[speaker005:] Yes, we would like to do more, I mean, we would be prepared, and the money is available.
[speaker003:] The latest plan was to provide a temporary mobile home but Mrs Davis has refused to return to caravan life.
[speaker004:] It will bring all the memories back, you know, of when my husband was alive. When I had a caravan and he was alive we was living in woods.
[speaker003:] For the moment, Mrs Davis appears to be trapped in her decaying home, surrounded by builders. The council says it's tried everything but so far has been unable to grant the old lady her wish.
[speaker004:] They keep saying they're going to find me a house and say they're going to buy me one. And now they've changed their mind and want to put me in a caravan. Well that's not right. Well if I could have a bungalow the same as I've got now I wouldn't care. I'd be happy in a bungalow I be happy now.
[speaker002:] It's Cheltenham Gold Cup week, the highlight of the national hunt racing calendar. Our reporter Tim Musson is at Cheltenham with all the news of today's racing and doubtless some tips for tomorrow.
[speaker006:] Welcome to Cheltenham on the first day of the national hunt festival. You know when racing folk talk of the festival they describe it as three days of magic and madness, glory or grief. We'll be taking a look around the scene here in a few moments, but first let's see how the people and town of Cheltenham prepares for the biggest invasion of the year. Martin Dawes reports.
[speaker007:] [recorded jingle] [pre-recorded blurb] Well it's Tuesday the fourteenth and the start of Cheltenham's three day hunt festival and just in case you hadn't heard, you can keep up to date with all of the latest racing news and results here on Severn Sound. Top trainer Martin Pipe will be fielding eighteen horses with champion jockey the Cotswolds' Peter Scudamore saddling two of them.
[speaker008:] Cheltenham prepares for its festival like a bride. It's a Cotswold marriage between sport and money where the organist flips and plays an Irish jig. It's a firm favourite with the racing set. A good place to be seen. Make sure you're noticed. The gathering hoards are a headache for the police. There's pick pockets about and thousands of cars.
[speaker007:] When you put those eleven thousand vehicles with the fourteen thousand or so vehicles that travel the roads around this course every day, that is a difficult problem. erm the roads are really not, not made to cope and so we have to try to get people coming in from different areas and different directions so that we don't get everybody on one road and nobody on another.
[speaker008:] Bet you wish they'd come earlier.
[speaker007:] I wish they would, yes. If only they would come an hour earlier, and erm spend erm a pleasant time in their cars erm on the car park having a picnic before they go in, they would save themselves an awful lot of, of, of hassle.
[speaker008:] Cheltenham festival is loved by the Irish. At their traditional headquarters for the duration, the going is already getting heavy.
[speaker009:] I'd sooner come to Cheltenham than to go to a holiday abroad. I mean, I think it's a fantastic meeting. We meet great people. English, Irish, Scots, Welsh, it doesn't matter. Come down here, we have a good time. We all mix up together, and we've erm, it's a fantastic meeting.
[speaker010:] Well basically it's the people, like we get on so well with the English over here and as they say back home the. The beer is cheaper, and erm the women are pretty over here as well. I hope the wife isn't watching tonight. Cheers.
[speaker001:] Each year it seems to get busier and busier. I'm not quite sure where the people come from, and where we're going to put them.
[speaker008:] What kind of people actually come? Are they your usual clientele?
[speaker001:] No, slightly different. I think one thinks of Cheltenham as refined ladies drinking tea and retired colonels. These are professional punters and professional drinkers. In that order I think.
[speaker008:] The crowds are here, the atmosphere's good. The only question-mark now is the weather.
[speaker006:] Today all roads have led to Cheltenham. Forty thousand people, eleven thousand cars and nearly five hundred coaches have piled in here to Prestbury. The first race was off at two fifteen but on race day Cheltenham is up and running at first light. The Irish have been so busy praying for the winners that they must have forgotten to ask for the right weather. At dawn it was grey clouds and rain over the racecourse, but there was no lie-in for the true racing fan. They huddled together on the gallops to watch and assess today's runners. Finding a winner is a science. Binoculars and the latest form forecast are compulsory. The first to rise on the racecourse were the chefs. The ovens were lit at five o'clock. Thirteen thousand meals take some cooking.
[speaker002:] On the menu are cold salmon, roast fillet of beef with béarnaise sauce, erm supreme of chicken with a crab and lobster sauce, things like that.
[speaker006:] Cheltenham has to cater for everyone from burger to banquet. This year eight tons of prime beef, four tons of fresh salmon and four tons of fresh strawberries will be gobbled up. To wash it down, fifteen thousand bottles of champagne, twenty five thousand bottles of wine, and a quarter of a million pints of beer. Whatever the weather Cheltenham always looks good. The local nurseryman was finishing off as most started their day. Ten thousand flowers and a hundred trees have grown overnight. The wintry weather rather spoiled the opening day's fashion parade. Too cold for frills and fancy dresses, more a time for furs. As race time approached, people poured in. The cars queued but the helicopters beat the jams. On budget day and in pouring rain, nobody had the blues, not even the bookies, as the favourites fell. The chance for a local winner came in the second race, the Arkle Challenge Trophy. David Nicholson from Condicote near Stow-on-the-Wold was saddling Waterloo Boy, with another local man, Richard Dunwoody in the driving seat. The race turned out to be a battle between Peter Scudamore on and Waterloo Boy, number thirteen. It was lucky for some as Dunwoody squeezed home a twenty to one winner. It was cheers all round in the winners' enclosure and for Nicholson, the man they call the Duke, it was time to feel like a king.
[speaker003:] Unbelievable, I mean I've always looked upon the horse as a nice horse not as the winner of an Arkle. And he did it the right way, he did it the hard way, always in the first two, always having a cut at and jump, jump, jump, you know.
[speaker006:] And some celebrations tonight?
[speaker003:] I always go berserk. You do anyway but we shall.
[speaker006:] In the big race, the champion hurdle, the favourite, was well beaten. The winner, a fifty to one outsider, Beech Road. One horse that stands proud and wins year in year out is old Arkle here. I wonder whether any of today's winners will ever be as famous. Tomorrow the highlight and the big race is the Queen Mother Champion Steeplechase. Her Majesty will be here to watch and present the trophy. Who will win? Why not join us again here at the Cheltenham festival on Central South tomorrow.
[speaker002:] Now, we continue our reports from John Kane and the army in Northern Ireland with the padre's tale. Not every regiment can boast having a padre. The Gloucesters are lucky. And the Reverend Steve Parcell is with them for their tour in Northern Ireland. Captain Parcell hasn't always been in the army. He used to be a vicar in Bournemouth and before he got the call he was a salesman. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Eleven o'clock on a Sunday morning and the Reverend Steve Parcell is tending to his flock.
[speaker005:] as we look for his coming in glory, we celebrate with this bread and this cup his one perfect sacrifice. Accept
[speaker004:] Steve Parcell might look like any other vicar but to the Gloucesters he's Captain Parcell and a man of the cloth.
[speaker005:] I'm the padre chaplain with the Gloucesters here in Ballykelly.
[speaker004:] How can a man of the cloth equate being a padre with the army?
[speaker005:] I think very easily. I think that the first thing that one would have to say is that we work for the Ministry of Defence, and not the Ministry of War and therefore we are about defence, we're about the maintenance of peace, erm this you know maintaining of justice etc etc. If anything it's very easy for a padre to slip into that slot.
[speaker006:] He's a man that anyone can talk to. The soldiers can talk to. He's not directly in the chain of command. I mean, obviously we pride ourselves as officers on our man management. But on the other hand, a soldier wants someone who he can talk to in complete confidence and I think the padre fulfils this sort of, if you like, avuncular, presence in the battalion.
[speaker005:] My main job as I see it is that I'm the exactly the same as a vicar in a civilian parish. My job is for the spiritual welfare of the people in my charge.... Let us therefore confess our sins in penitence and faith, firmly resolved to keep God's commandments and to live in love and peace with all men.
[speaker004:] The padre believes in getting about to see his flock. Today he's hitched a ride in a Wessex helicopter with a group of soldiers who are doing random vehicle checks. The padre goes with them as they leap out into a very boggy field. So, as he's an officer, does he carry weapons?
[speaker005:] Not at all, no padre in the British army is allowed to carry arms by the Geneva convention. So when a chaplain goes to war as he did for example in the Falklands, he goes with his men erm and he's erm not armed at all.
[speaker004:] The sea crashing on to the rocks by the Giant's Causeway is the only similarity for Steve Parcell with his last parish, Bournemouth. Striding over this beautiful coastline, it's hard to believe that Belfast and its atrocities is just an hour's drive away. So, can the padre of the Gloucesters offer any explanation why some of the Irish are hell bent in wanting to shatter the tranquillity of this land?
[speaker005:] Well of course that's not quite true. Most Irishmen are very proud of what they have here, of the Giant's Causeway and all along the Irish coastline. It's a very small minority of people who just feel they want to inflict their political will upon others.
[speaker004:] And how can you as a Christian perhaps forgive them?
[speaker005:] I think forgiveness is extremely difficult and I think you have to have something done against you to be able to forgive. I would find it extremely difficult to forgive somebody who killed deliberately a member of my family. The vast majority of people here, Catholics and Protestants, want to live together side by side. There are a lot of religious people in Ireland but there aren't perhaps so many Christians.
[speaker004:] Tomorrow night we bring you the army wife's tale.
[speaker002:] Now, if you were out and about at about ten o'clock last night you may have seen a greenish glow in the sky. And you probably wondered what was on fire or were the spaceship had landed. But it wasn't anything calamitous or extra-terrestrial. It was actually the Northern Lights. Scientifically known as the aurora borealis, the lights, as their name suggests are normally only seen in very northern areas. The photographs which show them at their most dramatic were taken in Alaska. Well, Dr Jim Crawford, you've written a thesis on the subject of the Northern Lights. Is it very unusual to see them down here?
[speaker007:] This far south, yes. Very unusual. The display we've seen over the last night would have been quite average for Scotland and Northern Ireland but this far south in Oxford it was quite spectacular.
[speaker002:] Why did it happen?
[speaker007:] Well, the aurora's caused when particles from the sun interact with the magnetic field of the earth and are deposited into the atmosphere and they bombard the atmospheric gases and cause them to glow.
[speaker002:] So for experts like you, is it something you could have expected last night?
[speaker007:] erm for people who are getting information from various centres, yes, they would have known erm quite a long time in advance. But for the man in the street of course or anything doesn't give you any such a look ahead information.
[speaker002:] Well now, you're an expert, on the Northern Lights, but you live in Oxford. How often have you actually seen them yourself.
[speaker007:] Well, I always look north on a dark night and I think that twice in the last twelve years.
[speaker002:] And this was a good example?
[speaker007:] This was and excellent example.
[speaker002:] Well now, a lot of people will have missed them and heard a lot about them today, is there any chance at all that they'll appear again tonight?
[speaker007:] Well it's raining tonight, but if they keep a good look out over the next year, because the sun's particularly active now, then they may get a chance of seeing another display.
[speaker002:] Right, but that that may have been a once in a lifetime thing.
[speaker007:] Those who saw it were very lucky.
[speaker002:] Thank you very much indeed. [recorded jingle] Well, there's little chance of a sight of the Northern Lights again tonight because there's a lot of cloud about. When we run the satellite sequence, you can see all the cloud that moved in from the west overnight and the good news is that the back edge is not too far away. So, that cloud will move out of the way but yet another lump of thick cloud is just appearing on the left of the screen to pose more problems for tomorrow. This evening's heavy rain will clear away with the winds dying but it will stay pretty cloudy with the odd shower. Not too cold though, with the temperature down to four or five Celsius, that's about forty Fahrenheit. Still plenty of cloud tomorrow morning, with a chance of a shower but a little bit of sunshine. There'll be thicker cloud moving in from the south west. And that looks like bringing rain along for the afternoon. There won't be much wind but it will be cool with a temperature near eight Celsius, forty six Fahrenheit, and possibly cold enough for some sleet on the Cotswolds. Well, the Chancellor's budget was fairly low-key in general but there were significant changes aimed at helping the labour shortage in the region. Yesterday on Central News we met Graham Cooper, the managing director of a major printing company in Wantage, and one of the employees, Vic Marshall. Well, today's budget means that Graham will be around six pounds a month better off. Vic, however, will be better off by about twenty pounds a month. With me now to discuss what the budget means for more people in our area is Paul Sampson from Deloitt Hawkins and Sells. Paul, erm, are there any specific advantages to this sort of area?
[speaker008:] Well, as you said, the area got problems with labour, shortages of labour and the Chancellor has done something to help that. In particular he's helped with the National Insurance and what we can the income trap or poverty trap. At the lower end of the scale for unskilled labour there is now an incentive for those people to do more part-time work. Also pensioners, there's now more of an incentive for them to come back on to the labour market. So, that's at the unskilled end. At the skilled end, people who have more experience, he's done a lot to help erm companies give shares to their employees and companies that are prepared to be innovative erm there's quite a lot in this erm for them.
[speaker002:] Mr Sampson, thank you very much indeed.
[speaker008:] okay.
[speaker002:] And if you've just come in, here are the main headlines from the budget. The basic and forty percent income tax rates remain unchanged. Road taxes for car drivers are also unchanged. But the tax on company cars goes up by a third. Corporation tax remains unchanged at thirty five percent. Unleaded petrol will be fourteen pence cheaper per gallon than leaded. The tax on two and three star petrol comes into line with four star. There will be no change in taxes on cigarettes and alcohol. Income tax thresholds and allowances go up by six point eight per cent. The single person's allowance goes up by a hundred and eighty pounds. The married man's goes up by two hundred and eighty pounds. Age allowances go up taking sixteen thousand senior citizens out of the tax bracket altogether. Duty on life assurance policies is to abolished from the beginning of next year. And that's it. Well leave you now to go home, or stay at home and sort that all out for yourself and try and work out how it affects you. That's all from us. We'll be back tomorrow of course with more news from Cheltenham Gold Cup and with our second, third report from John Kane in Ireland. Goodnight.
[speaker009:] Goodnight.
[speaker001:] Licence to sell. Rover's big drive to convert sterling to dollars. A mother's campaign to prevent more road accident. And a fence too high. An MP is judged to be over the limit
[speaker002:] Good evening. The Rover car group which employs more than twelve thousand people in the Central South region, has announced its best results in ten years. But the company said tonight there'd be no reprieve for Cowley's South Works. It's still due to close in the nineteen nineties. The company, which is now owned by British Aerospace has made a spectacular recovery from the heavy losses of the mid-eighties to announce pre-tax profits of sixty five million pounds last year. That's a rise of two hundred and thirty three percent of the nineteen eighty six figure. This report from Kim Barnes.
[speaker003:] The Rover Group's success, largely due to the high-tech Cowley-made Rover has contributed to heavy profits for its new parent, British Aerospace. The astonishing pre-tax profit of sixty five million pounds is the best in ten years. The Group says, production, home sales and exports have all been outstanding for Austin Rover and Landrover vehicles.
[speaker005:] They've now got the quality right, they've got good models and it'a very good sales and marketing strategy. I mean if you go round the motorways, every other car is a Rover car. So, it's all coming good.
[speaker003:] World-wide sales are dramatically up at five hundred and twenty five thousand units, the highest in ten years. At their lowest in nineteen eighty one sales dropped to four hundred and thirty five thousand. The Group says the results are due to better business strategies over the last three years, new models, better use of plant and good labour relations. But the plan announced last year to close the South Works at Cowley in the nineteen nineties will not be withdrawn. In the light of this, reaction at the plant to today's figures was mixed.
[speaker005:] I don't think anybody's taking much notice of it.
[speaker007:] disgraceful. It just a joke.
[speaker009:] It's much more improved. Obviously you've look as though you've got more of a future, hopefully.
[speaker003:] But parents, British Aerospace, say no change of heart.
[speaker010:] The new technology requires less space really. And as a result of that we really have got overcapacity which we've declared publicly so, you know, we're not saying anything different today than what we said when we first purchased the business in July and August. It doesn't seem at this moment in time that a reprieve is really on the cards.
[speaker003:] The South Works employs fifteen hundred. The company said today that the number of redundancies isn't yet known. The successful Rover eight hundred range will be made at Cowley's North Works. Meanwhile, hopes are high that plants at Cowley and Swindon will benefit from links with Honda which the company says it will build on.
[speaker002:] Part of the reason for the Rover Group's success is its record on exports. But far from resting on its laurels the company now plans to make major inroads in the American market. It's about to launch a Hollywood-style marketing campaign costing millions of pounds. Wesley Smith has been to the company's American headquarters to compile this special report. [recorded jingle]
[speaker010:] Austin Cars in North America are thirty million pounds into advertising over the next few month. They've even bought the rights to the James Bond theme for T V advertising. The company imported eight thousand nine hundred cars in the eight hundred range from Britain to the States last year. But they the Prestige Sterling as it's known over here could have been more successful. The Group brought in a new President at its Miami headquarter to coincide with a massive publicity launch.
[speaker001:] One thing really is erm absolutely essential is that you do have a consistent and uniform marketing plan. One of the problems that we've suffered from in the past was some level of inconsistency which we've now put to bed. We've researched our forward marketing platform over the last seven months. We've it, researched it and what we've found is that there is a niche for the best of British.
[speaker010:] The cars are built in Cowley and sell at up to fifteen thousand pounds each. They used to be marketed jointly by Rover and a company called Brayman who own sixty percent of Rover's American outfit. Rover bought Brayman's shares so that they could have total control. They claim their new car, launched this month, the eight two seven, is the answer to winning over the Americans who were unimpressed by problems with service and with getting spare parts for the original eight two five launched two years ago. The new car comes in a basic or super luxury version. There are also seven hundred and fifty limited edition cars. There are three hundred improvements on the old eight two five. They include a two point seven litre engine and a new transmission. Rover have faced very tough competition from other European manufacturers like B M W which can be seen for sale alongside the Sterling in some areas. There are also scores of other companies, especially American and Japanese who are pointing to the dollars.
[speaker001:] Basically, erm it is a very demanding market. It's very competitive. There's a lot of erm different manufacturers over here. Also, it's not just one market, essentially you have to treat it as fifty, fifty one markets. Each individual state requiring different things under state and federal law.
[speaker010:] The typical American buyer will live in an area which the advertising world calls the American smile which stretches from New York via Florida and Texas to California. The Sterlings are aimed at middle aged male high wage earners who are willing to pay for the status the British luxury car can bring.
[speaker001:] We've got to deliver the right product, a good quality product. And they're not forgiving from that point of view. It's got to be competitively priced, you've got to market it well and you've got to position it well, and then you've got to service it well. We've learned a few hard lessons in this market. It teaches you a lot of hard lessons but erm if you recognize those and build on them erm then you can succeed in this market place.
[speaker002:] A Gloucestershire man has appeared in court charged with murdering his wife. Thirty two year old Richard Schofield from Prestbury remained in silence throughout the short hearing at Cheltenham magistrates court. The prosecuting solicitor applied for Mr Schofield, described as a departmental manager, to be remanded in custody. No application was made for bail. Mr Schofield was arrested on Tuesday after walking into a police station in London. As a result of what he told the police, his wife Caroline's body was found in their home in The Burgage in Prestbury. She had been strangled. Schofield was remanded in custody until April the fourth. A woman has begun a lone traffic patrol in her village after her best friend was killed and her son badly injured. She's warning that more lives will be lost because cars and lorries are racing through the main street at up to eighty miles an hour. Simon Harris reports.
[speaker003:] Lesley Taylor isn't a natural protester. As a mother of two she has more than enough to do without standing around. But Lesley has seen two of her friends killed. Both lives claimed by the A 48 at Ulvington near Lidney in Gloucestershire. A main road where there are no street lights and no pedestrian crossing. Just a forty mile an hour speed limit.
[speaker001:] Well, I've been complaining about this for about three years now and the county council continues to think the forty mile an hour speed limit is perfectly alright. But as I said, they haven't lost anybody.
[speaker003:] Isn't forty miles okay?
[speaker001:] Yes, if they went forty miles an hour, but they don't. I mean they're going at seventy and eighty miles an hour.
[speaker003:] Hazel Guest was Lesley's best friend and the mother of five children. Now she's dead. Her husband John is still trying to come to terms with what happened three years ago.
[speaker002:] We were both crossing the road from the public house and erm had the wife by my side and I didn't see it
[speaker003:] What affect has it had on your family and your life. Lesley Taylor's son David is one of the luckier victims of the A 48. He survived being knocked over, but only just after fracturing his skull and breaking a leg. You're obviously more cautious than you were before, and erm a lot of kids now they tend to stand back for a while just in case 'cause you can never judge how fast they're really going to go through there. Lesley Taylor is prepared to brave any weather to make her point. With like at stake, she doesn't think it's asking too much for a reduced speed limit, crossing and street lights. So far Gloucester County Council has said it will investigate the points she makes. In the meantime she fears it won't be long before Ulvington is again in mourning.
[speaker002:] In one of the biggest about turns in city politics, six thousand council house tenants have been told that their rents won't after all be going up by forty five per cent, and their homes won't be sold to a private landlord. Tim Hurst reports.
[speaker009:] Gloucester City Council reversed its most radical decisions on council housing at a marathon session dominated by the casting vote of a solitary independent councillor. The Tories lost control of the council when they lost the by-election, and last night they lost their housing hopes. Rents will go up by almost ten percent instead of forty five, and houses themselves won't be sold to a housing association.
[speaker004:] I'm very pleased about it, definitely very pleased. I'm glad it's all, you know, we've won. we've finally won and got what we wanted. We can all just about afford ten percent, but not forty five percent.
[speaker009:] Would you have voted in favour of the sale of the house if you'd been given the chance.
[speaker004:] No, definitely not.
[speaker006:] We don't want our houses sold off, do we? We want council to keep them. And rents are going up terribly. People just can't afford it. It's a bit too much, forty five per cent.
[speaker009:] But you can manage just over nine percent?
[speaker006:] Yes. Just.
[speaker009:] The Conservative plans for housing were beaten by a coalition between Labour, Democrats and the independent who now has the casting vote on all council business. The Tories say they're philosophical but not angry.
[speaker002:] Anger doesn't get you anywhere in this world. erm disappointed, but as I said at the beginning it was almost inevitable, erm with the results of the Westgate by-election, which were very disappointing. erm I don't deny that for one moment. erm no doubt there'll be lots of inquests as to why and what and everything else but we did lose that and we lost it badly and from then onwards the outcome was pretty inevitable bearing in mind the erm views of the independent.
[speaker009:] Rates in Gloucester were due to fall under the Tories. Now they're going to be pegged at last year's level. No great hardship according to Labour.
[speaker006:] Quite clearly what it meant to the average rate payer was seven pound a year. That's what a rate reduction meant in real terms and that had to be weighed against the vicious cuts which were being posed in order to achieve it.
[speaker009:] Protesters at last night's meeting fighting to save the city's law centre were also successful. The centre's hundred and ten thousand pound grant will continue in spite of Tory opposition.
[speaker002:] Swindon's Conservative MP says he's feeling got a because planners on the local council have discovered his new garden fence doesn't have planning permission. Thamesdown council is Labour controlled. MP Simon Coombes says he's suspicious the issue's surfaced now seven months after the fence went up. Martin Dawes reports.
[speaker008:] The new fence is just eight centimetres higher than the previous one. That was rotten, now Mr Coombes feels there's something rotten about how it's been picked up by the planners. He's a Tory who's criticized Thamesdown council over its finances and about statues they've approved around the borough. He described them as quite unbelievably unattractive. Not wishing to come down on either side, the planners say it's a nice fence but high fences near roads need permission.
[speaker004:] We have a very record in Thamesdown of treating every application on its merits. And what we will do here is give a erm totally objective analysis of what the fence is. It is erm on a highway and we have to be very sensitive to the erm not treating anybody whether erm it be a member of parliament or a councillor in anyway which would not to the authorities.
[speaker008:] The MP says his suspicions are aroused because he's recently in the Commons criticised Thamesdown's finances. Is this a witch-hunt?
[speaker004:] Well it certainly isn't a witch-hunt. And I would think it's perhaps rather foolish of Mr Coombes to actually raise this issue. erm With regard to the finances of course that is a totally different issue and record on financing.
[speaker008:] Mr Coombes isn't at home but says if there's a technical breach he'll apply for permission. Thamesdown say there shouldn't be any problem.
[speaker002:] A fifty bed cottage hospital is under threat as G Ps have been told to spend more time in their surgeries. They say they may have to stop working at the hospital and it can't survive without them. Simon Harris reports.
[speaker003:] With a busy practice at his surgery at Stroud in Gloucestershire, Dr Gordon Horner finds himself working a fifty hour week. Not that he complains, most G Ps earn over thirty thousand pounds a year. But despite his workload he still manages to spend two afternoons a week at Stroud's cottage hospital. Without G Ps like Dr Horner, the fifty bed hospital would grind to a halt. It has no full time consultants and now the G Ps are warning they may be forced to give up the hospital work because the Department of Health is planning to put them all on new contracts from next year.
[speaker005:] The proposed new contract for general practice is trying to force general practitioners to spend far more time sitting in the surgery waiting to consult with patients. It would, for most G Ps, mean several more hours a week in the surgery and that time has to come from somewhere. In Stroud it has to come from hospital time.
[speaker003:] The role of the visiting G Ps at Stroud isn't underestimated by the full time staff.
[speaker007:] There are patients here looked after by their own G Ps especially on the medical side and of course they know their G Ps. The G Ps know them and their backgrounds and their relatives can come.
[speaker003:] But it's more than just a question of who the patients prefer to be treated by.
[speaker006:] If there aren't the doctors to run it, it's not much of a hospital.
[speaker003:] Stroud has a potential seventy thousand patients in its catchment area. If the hospital closed, most would have to travel to Gloucester.
[speaker008:] erm it's a terrible thing to do. 'these people that use it.
[speaker010:] Well it's very close to us, it's very convenient. It's a nice friendly hospital. erm James was born here and it's it's just very convenient.
[speaker007:] I just don't want it to close.
[speaker002:] Temporary classrooms are being built at two schools in Stroud for children who at the moment don't have a school. They'll provide places for nearly three hundred pupils whose classrooms were destroyed by fire. The first rooms are being installed at Green School. Others will go onto land at Primary School destroyed by fire last week. Two men are awaiting trial accused of arson. Elizabethan musicians and dancers have been taking to the streets to publicise a meeting between queens from the sixteenth and twentieth century this weekend. The Oxford story is a heritage project which tells the story of the University through the ages. Oxford's Lord Mayor, Queenie Warley will travel through time to meet Queen Elizabeth the First accompanied by the dancers and musicians. Now, Harwell laboratory is best known for its contribution to nuclear research but the scientist there have revealed a secret life. They're keen bird-watchers and their best sightings have been from the laboratory windows which overlook very special conservation areas. Nuclear physicist Mike Wilkins gets a breath of fresh air in his lunch hour and scans the tree tops for the latest arrivals. He's a keen bird watcher and can indulge his hobby anywhere on the seven hundred acre site. There are over three thousand mature trees within the five mile perimeter fence and they are literally the only trees for miles around. Large scale farming has ripped out hedges and woods to make way for arable crops, leaving Harwell as an oasis in the middle of the fields.
[speaker008:] I think it's rather an island in in the middle of the ermerm cultivated land so if you stand on top of the Ridgeway and look down you can see the Harwell site standing out as a a green treed area erm compared with the corn all round it.
[speaker002:] And how important is that for the birds of the area.
[speaker008:] I think it's very important.
[speaker002:] The largest rookery in Oxfordshire dominates a high security storage area, and owls are moving into nesting boxes around the sight. The perimeter fence keeps out predators and limits the spread of chemicals the farmers use on the surrounding area. Now Harwell has decided to help nature along with an active policy of land management for wildlife. Grass, which used to be mown, is left to revert to meadow, and native trees planted between the nuclear reactors and the accelerators. Growing schemes take account of the seeding of wild flowers. These rare bee orchids will look like this in the summer. Head groundsman Ted Neville has relished the challenge of working for wildlife.
[speaker009:] Well, we're gardeners obviously trained to provide a nice working environment. But erm along with that I'm a naturalist and erm the place is big enough, we can we have scope for leaving area to revert to nature, which we're tying to do.
[speaker002:] But while Harwell's bird-watching boffins revel in the habitat around them there's just one snag. Because it's a high security area, they're not allowed to use binoculars. Good thing there were no restrictions at Cheltenham race-course because today all roads have led to the race-course. There thousands of people have led into the gates of Prestbury Park. Joining us from there with the story of today's action is Tim Russell.
[speaker010:] Welcome to Cheltenham on day two of the national hunt festival. It takes a year to organize this grand event and it says something for the racecourse when the only thing that went wrong yesterday was the weather. Today I'm glad to say it's been dry and we've even seen the sun. Today we've had great racing again and first we're going to have a look again at the world away from the races.
[speaker001:] radio. You've found us on 1584 kilohertz that's 189 metres in the medium wave band. We're broadcasting to you between ten and twelve every day this week, Thursday erm being our final day of course. Gold Cup day tomorrow. erm today the feature race is the Queen Mother Champion chase at
[speaker010:] This is the other Cheltenham complete with its own radio station. Alongside the last jump stands the largest tented village for any annual sporting event in this country. The racing festival is now bigger business than Wimbledon or the Open golf championship. And here hospitality is the name of the game. You can dine in comfort and watch in luxury. The who's who of the business world is in town this week and many a deal will be struck between races. Chris Coley from Cheltenham is one of the main organizers of this part of the festival.
[speaker002:] The caterers told me yesterday that they've got thirty thousand people being wined and dined here in this tented village over the three days. And at nine thousand today with tomorrow being the big day.
[speaker010:] So tell me, how much does it cost somebody to come, a businessman to bring a party or
[speaker002:] On average the cost here would be, in this particular marquee, it's a hundred and ten pounds a head for a party for the three days, and that's exclusive of drink.
[speaker010:] Apart from the hospitality tent the festival has its own shopping arcade. What can you buy? All the kit you need for a day at the races. Hats are part of the uniform here. For the real enthusiast there's riding equipment and for those who are happier watching from the grandstand a pair of binoculars. A for those lucky ones that hit the jackpot at the festival there's plenty of goodies for him and her. There's quite a gala atmosphere at Cheltenham this year with one or two circus acts doing the rounds.
[speaker003:] The winner wins a lovely little mahogany table down there.
[speaker004:] No, I shan't be endeavouring to win it.
[speaker003:] sir?
[speaker010:] The arrival of the Queen Mother heralded the racing proper. And Her Majesty was in the parade ring to assess the runners and riders for the big race, the Queen Mother Champion Steeplechase. For Gloucester jockey Peter Scudamore a few moments of solitude and silence. Money was piling on for his mount. Could the champion jockey do it? In the first circuit he was leading the field and looking good. But as they came into the finish it was the seven to four favourite,, running home to victory. The best local winner of the day was former baker's roundsman Arthur Whiting from Dursley in Gloucestershire. His horse, Lad, won the first race. So, just one day to go but what a day. Tomorrow the glittering prize is on offer, the Cheltenham Tote Gold Cup. Can Desert Orchid the champion bring the house down and win. And can Gloucestershire champion jockey Peter Scudamore do it on? Can the Condicote team of David Nicholson, Richard Dunwoody and last year's champion do it again? If you can't make it, join us for Central South tomorrow.
[speaker002:] Two hundred wives have gone to live in Northern Ireland to be with their husbands serving there with the Gloucestershire regiment. For the women it's not a pleasant posting. Certain areas of the province are out of bounds to service families because it's too risky. And their which are guarded round the clock. On day three of his reports from the province, John Kane tells the wife's tale.
[speaker004:] [recorded jingle] Being a soldier's wife here in Northern Ireland is definitely not glorious. The Gloucesters have brought with them over two hundred families and although they're not confined to barracks there's certain areas of the province which are definitely out of bounds. They live in an area which is heavily fortified, guarded by soldiers with armed weapons. For Sue Poole, whose husband Nick is a Sergeant, living here is somewhat different from the family's home town of Tewkesbury. She does her weekly shopping not in a huge supermarket but in the camp's NAAFI and in an effort to actually go out and meet people Sue has got herself a day job.
[speaker005:] Gloucesters, can I help you? erm Monday through to Friday, nine to five Basically we're a shop for the soldiers to buy erm clothing, any sort of items they need for everyday life in the army.
[speaker004:] Is it bad for the wives here.
[speaker005:] It is really yes. erm they feel isolated. erm they're frightened to go anywhere just in case something might happen.
[speaker004:] The Gloucesters are half way through their two year tour. Sometimes the soldiers can be away for up to five weeks at a time. Living in quite appalling cramped conditions often working up to eighteen hours day after day. So why did Sue and her three children come?
[speaker005:] I came to be with my husband. I didn't want two year's separation.
[speaker004:] But do you see him much?
[speaker005:] No.
[speaker006:] Most of the company wives don't see their husbands for about sixty five per cent of the year, which is actually a very long time when you're living in these sort of conditions. If they were living in England they could probably cope a lot better. But living here with all the dangers and the threat and everything else, it's very very hard for them. As two of the three Poole children return home from school, they pass the armed sentry, a grim reminder of the ever present threat of terrorism. But does their mother think they get a hard time at school from the locals?
[speaker005:] I think they do to a certain extent, but the teachers try and erm brush it away, they try and forget that they are soldiers' children and try and help them mix in with the civilian children.
[speaker004:] Is there rank in the wives?
[speaker005:] Yes. There is to a certain extent but it's, I think, I hope it's starting to die out now.
[speaker006:] I think there probably is, yes. I think it comes from below rather than from above. I think perhaps the younger wives feel she's a sergeant's wife, can I go and talk to her?
[speaker004:] Really?
[speaker006:] erm it certainly doesn't come from us.
[speaker004:] I mean would you have the C O's wife round for coffee?
[speaker005:] I would invite her. I don't know if she'd come, but I'd invite her.
[speaker004:] Have you been round there?
[speaker005:] No.
[speaker004:] I mean would you have a sergeant's wife round for coffee here?
[speaker006:] Yes, yes, quite happily. And I do.
[speaker004:] Would it be embarrassing for her if she invited you back?
[speaker006:] No, I don't think so. No, it certainly doesn't worry me, the rank structure at all. But I think it probably does worry some of the other wives.
[speaker004:] Well what all the wives do agree about living in their fortified compounds guarded round the clock is that the end of this tour can't come soon enough. Most are counting down the days. Tomorrow night the soldier's tale. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Well, this morning's satellite picture shows clearly yesterday's nasty weather out there in the North Sea and as we run the sequence through the day you can see a lot of showers coming towards Scotland and there's some more threatening cloud coming across southern parts of England and Ireland. This should stay to the south of us though. Any showers will soon die out this evening as clearing skies with very light winds will lead to a widespread frost overnight. Some icy patches are likely on roads as temperatures drop as minus two Celsius, twenty eight Fahrenheit. So a cold sunny start tomorrow morning with only very thin cloud about. And there'll be a few showers coming along in the afternoon and there'll be plenty of sunshine about and it should feel reasonably pleasant with temperatures around nine Celsius, forty eight Fahrenheit. [recorded jingle] The Chancellor has rejected criticism from health groups who wanted cigarettes to go up in the budget. A Wiltshire vicar's three young daughters died in a fire at their home in Chilmark. It was probably caused by an electrical fault. An American diplomat has been expelled from Moscow. The Russians say he was spying. A Muslim school in Yorkshire has been refused state funding despite staff protests that Christian, Catholic and Jewish schools are funded. The FTSE index is down four point two at two thousand one hundred and twenty one point two, and the pound is worth one dollar, seventy two cents. Well special report on tonights programme from Wesley Smith, we erm have got also some other reports coming up later on in Central South from Wesley Smith in America. Of course tomorrow's Gold Cup day at Cheltenham and this time tomorrow we'll be back with the results and of course all the highlights. That's all from us for now. Goodnight. [recorded jingle] Roof-top confrontation as protestors try to save a hotel. The Mappa Mundi getting into millions but there's concern about a share plan. And the mile-high fuel club topping up over the North Sea. Good evening, first tonight demolition work on a Cotswold hotel has been halted after fighting broke out between building workers and demonstrators. Attempts are now being made to get protected status for the building. The hotel's owners are furious that they weren't told it may be listed. Simon Harris reports.
[speaker003:] The police were expecting a peaceful demonstration, the demolition contractors weren't expecting one at all. But when they arrived to start pulling down the George hotel at Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, they were confronted by two hundred angry protesters. The front door blocked, the men climbed onto the roof and then things got out of hand. The demonstrators knew something the demolition workers didn't. That the local council was attempting to get the building listed. For several minutes the rooftop scuffles continued. The police called for reinforcements but by then the workmen knew they were outnumbered and decided enough was enough. The police said to begin with they were powerless to intervene, until disorder broke out the only offence being committed was trespass.
[speaker005:] I was told as it's a generally responsible bunch of people and I'm afraid that erm today wasn't, in my view, a very responsible action to take.
[speaker003:] There's been an inn on the site for more than two hundred years, though the present George was only built in 1938, more than anything else it's a landmark.
[speaker004:] I think by the demonstration this morning that people are not prepared to see the building fall down and I think that, erm if necessary, people will do everything within their power to prevent the erm the contractors moving in.
[speaker003:] But the police say you are breaking the law in doing this.
[speaker004:] erm yes, obviously it has to be an individual decision on people's parts, how you know whether they feel they're prepared to do that.
[speaker003:] With calm restored the police and the protestors were left waiting. The next step is in the hands of the hotel's owners, a construction firm from Halesowen, which wants to build an old-peoples' home on the site. Eventually a senior official arrived for talks with the police, somewhat annoyed that he hadn't been told of the attempt to list the building.
[speaker005:] They're awaiting further information on the planning situation and until that is made clear we will suspend the demolition work today.
[speaker003:] Stroud District Council say they believe the hotel is of little architectural importance but they've agreed to see if it should be listed because of the public concern. They say they didn't tell the owners because it's their policy not to do so. It has been known for developers to move in virtually overnight to demolish a building once they find out attempts are being made to list it. Whether the hotel is spared from bulldozers should be known by Wednesday. For the moment the protestors have only won a temporary stay of execution.
[speaker002:] A lawyer says he is prepared to go to court to force an enquiry into the water contamination still affecting Swindon and South Oxfordshire. More than a hundred victims have now approached him for legal advice and doctors are still seeing new cases six weeks after chryptosporidium was first identified in the Farmoor reservoir. Martin Doors reports.
[speaker008:] Claims lawyer Leslie Perrin is wading through more than a hundred cases of people who say they've fallen victim to the virulent chryptosporidium bug and he believes that's just a small percentage of the number who could eventually seek damages. Doctors in Swindon alone have now seen two hundred and sixty cases, people like six year old Ian Humphries; he's suffered extreme stomach cramps and diarrhoea. He ended up on a drip in the Princess Margaret hospital. After the illness, Ian weighed just three stone. The people coming to see Leslie Perrin are angry.
[speaker007:] I think, for the future, people are very confused. They don't know when they're going to be able to drink their water without boiling it again. And they don't really know what the effects of what they've drunk is going to be. Looking back into the past, people are eager for an explanation to be given to them by Thames and I do think that people don't feel that's what they've had so far.
[speaker008:] You've had about a hundred people come to you, are you looking for damages?
[speaker007:] Ultimately I'm sure that's something that people will want. erm I have to say that people are just as interested in having a proper explanation brought out and one that's brought out from independent questioning of Thames's explanations.
[speaker008:] The bug was traced back to the Farmoor treatment works which only started supplying Swindon from last August. Thames Waters say the organism occurs naturally, the damages claim said a spokesman would be like suing nature and that, he said, was an interesting idea.
[speaker007:] Well, it's not one of those things in any other water area, as far as I know. As far as I know, the Farmoor system of water is the only area where a substantial problem with chryptosporidia has ever been erm experienced anywhere in the world.
[speaker008:] There's a lot to be done if cases are to be taken to court, but the last thing Thames Water will want during the run up to privatisation is a long, drawn out damages claim where the point at issue is the safety of the water in the tap.
[speaker002:] An all-party delegation of MPs from the area met transport minister Peter Bottomly to express their fears about traffic chaos around the new M 40 link. Their concern follows the announcement of a twelve month gap between the opening of the northern section and the completion of the remaining route, the Wendlebury to Waterstock section, was confirmed last week. The MPs talked of an impending disaster of total traffic chaos. They urged the department of transport to complete the motorway as a matter of urgency. They also asked for footpath improvements to protect pedestrians and other measures to minimize disruption. A spokesman for the department said they were studying the consultants' report on new signposting, highways improvements and restricted access to prevent motorists taking shortcuts through residential areas.
[speaker006:] Well, the M 40 extension from Oxford to Birmingham is supposed to solve most of the region's traffic problems. But now motoring organizations are warning that the congestion and traffic chaos will get much worse before it gets better. The AA says fourteen thousand extra drivers a day will be using the existing motorway and its link roads by 1991. That's when the final Oxford end of the new motorway, the Waterstock to Wendlebury section, opens. Many hundreds of Londoners have moved out into the central south region, opting for a cheaper home at the cost of the long journey to work. But do they realize just what they're letting themselves in for. Martin Graham- Scott joined a commuter who travels each day to London from his home in Long Crendon in Buckinghamshire. The distance is just over fifty miles but it can take him three hours to get there.
[speaker008:] Tim Clifton starts his day at six o'clock in the morning. With a quick breakfast and already with thoughts on the work ahead. Tim is the director of a London advertising agency, he commuters there each day on the M40 from his country home at Long Crendon in Buckinghamshire. He's been doing the journey for fifteen years because he says he loves living in the country. This morning he's on the road by six-thirty hoping to be at his desk an hour and fifteen minutes later, at seven forty five.
[speaker009:] The erm the first part of the erm the journey which I take every morning as you can see even on a nice spring morning fortunately, half past six, nothing on the roads. I can't promise it will be like that for the rest of the journey. London, here we come. Let's see what little mysteries we have.
[speaker008:] Having driven thirty miles and for fifty minutes, he is forced to slow down for the first time. The M 40 reduced to a crawl. Roadworks near Denim.
[speaker009:] We are now coming into a situation where at the end of the motorway the three lanes are now running into two purely because of the roadworks on the right of the Uxbridge roundabout.
[speaker008:] After twenty slow minutes he's clear.
[speaker009:] We're now beginning a fairly and relatively trouble-free run erm because there are now a series of under and over-passes until we get back to nearer London.
[speaker008:] But before long traffic clogs up again at Hanger Lane. It's now ten past eight, he's been on the road for an hour and forty minutes, increasingly late.
[speaker009:] No matter how much you speed up the entry into London at some point in time you are going to have to create a jam. I think what is going to happen here is that you're just going to get one mega-jam round about this region from about Hanger Lane onwards because there's nothing really you can do about it.
[speaker008:] Tim's destination is New Bond Street. He eventually gets there at eight forty-five. Two and a quarter hours after setting out. He admits he's already exhausted before starting a twelve hour working day.
[speaker009:] It's getting worse every Monday and conversely every Friday more and more is going out of London.
[speaker008:] And a full day's work ahead of you now.
[speaker009:] Yup, till about seven or eight o'clock tonight.
[speaker008:] And the same story tonight?
[speaker009:] And the same story tonight.
[speaker008:] Tim will be making his return journey in the next couple of hours. Tomorrow at six-thirty it starts all over again.
[speaker006:] The new city of Milton Keynes is to get its second aqueduct after a gap of one hundred and seventy-eight years. It will carry the Grand Union canal across a new stretch of road at Stonebridge, the concrete structure will cost Milton Keynes Development Corporation nearly two million pounds and should be finished by mid-1991. The first iron aqueduct was built at Wolverton in 1811.
[speaker002:] The supermarket firm, Gateway, is taking legal action against a Northampton firm which it alleges is selling fire-damaged Gateway foods. Thousands of pounds worth of tinned food was sold by loss adjusters after being damaged in a fire at the Gateway supermarket in Wheatley in Oxfordshire last month. Now some of the tins have been sold in Northampton still with Gateway labels. Gateway has issued a writ because a condition of sale was that all identification should be removed if the goods were resold. Fewer women in Britain return to work after having children than in other E E C countries. And one of the reasons is the shortage of state nurseries. A new survey by a firm called Nurseries at Work also says that with booming European trade, firms are having to consider providing child-care for working mothers. Oxfordshire County Council is trying to encourage companies to do just that. The company creche at Spencer's corsetry is a shining example of the work-place nursery. Mums pay fourteen pounds a week for their two to five year olds to be cared for by trained nursery nurses in a sunny room just next door to the main factory. Spencer's, who were established in 1927, now employ just over two hundred at their factory in Banbury. Eighty-five percent are women, all highly-skilled sewing machinists. It was in a desperate attempt to woo them back to work two years ago that Spencer's established its nursery.
[speaker007:] Our offices had expanded very rapidly from 1986 onwards and we had to increase our production capacity here and we were finding it very difficult to recruit trained sewing machinists.
[speaker002:] It is actually financial viable for the company?
[speaker007:] Oh, it's been extremely cost-effective, yes. erm we decided from the start that erm the mums who have their kids in the creche should make some contribution towards the costs; we're providing them with a benefit erm but the company picks up the major part of the bill erm but in terms of the output from the additional sewing machinists that we've got, it's very, very cost-effective, yes.
[speaker002:] With the prospect of increased trade after the lifting of common market restrictions in 1992, combined with labour shortages at home, British employers are having to re-assess their attitude to women with children. And in response to a growing shortage of skilled workers in Oxfordshire the county council recently held a seminar for employers to discuss child-care at work.
[speaker009:] We'll certainly be putting firms in touch with others so that they can learn quickly from other experiences as quite a network of firms grew up at the seminar. And also with our under-fives advisers, we will be seeing that specific advise is given. There's no financial help, however.
[speaker002:] Certainly working mums at Spencer's find arrangements there ideal.
[speaker007:] Before we had we bought a house and so I really had to come back to work because we needed my wages and erm the creche was just being brought out so I knew there was a chance of coming back.
[speaker008:] When I was ill or anything like that then your on hang cause they just come over, well they phone over, and off you go.
[speaker002:] The county can already boast eleven work-place nurseries. If attitudes change and, with the need to attract people back to work, they may have to, then company creches could soon be as common as canteens.
[speaker006:] Four hospitals in the central south area are to carry out a pilot study in running their own affairs, a first step towards opting out of the National Health Service. The Radcliffe Infirmary and the John Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, the Northampton General and Milton Keynes General are among fifty hospitals which will test out new government proposals for independent hospital management. The idea is to give consultants the chance to run their own departments and to be in charge of their own finances and staffing. It's being seen as a first step towards opting out of the N H S. Oxford Regional Health Authority is already one step ahead of the government. It's been running a similar pilot scheme at the Radcliffe Infirmary for the past eighteen months and says consultants are enthusiastic about the results. Well, in the studio tonight is Andrew Moss from the Oxford Health Authority. Andrew, how far exactly has the scheme which you've been running gone?
[speaker010:] Well, we've been going for, I should think, about eighteen months in hospitals in Oxford, looking at ways in which we can give better information to consultants to help them to be more in charge of their own destiny. I think I ought really to say that it's not something that's particularly associated with opting out, it's something we were already doing anyway as an aid to better management.
[speaker006:] And are you now going to take that any further or are you going as far as the government wants you to go as this stage?
[speaker010:] Well, what the government has said today is that they're giving us some money to help us to take it and boost it a bit further and we're very pleased to see that. There's a long way to go yet before full-scale resource management comes into the health service in Oxford.
[speaker006:] Well now, you're saying your consultants are enthusiastic about what they've seen so far, we're hearing a lot of doctors, G Ps, being very critical, why that ambivalence?
[speaker010:] Well, I think we're talking here about hospitals in particular and not GP practice but we're also saying that this is something which the enthusiastic and bright and very capable people we have in our health service are very keen on because they believe it will do better for their patients.
[speaker006:] Thank you very much for coming in and I'm sure we'll be following that story. Thank you.
[speaker002:] Poet Pam Ayres has been in Gloucestershire to open a new lambing centre. Lambing pens are the latest attractions at the Cotswold Farm park. From today members of the parleg public will be able to learn all about the lambing process and they'll even be allowed to watch as some of the rare sheep kept there give birth. Pam Ayres joined a group of school children as they toured the centre which has played a leading role in saving rare breeds of sheep and pigs. This tiny Shetland pony was found two weeks ago wandering in a field of pitchum near Stroud but so far no one has come forward to claim him. R S P C A officials think the pony was probably a child's pet and are surprised that no one is missing him. He is now being cared for at a farm in Dersely. Well still to come in part two we have all the sporting action including the weigh-in for the boat race. And the fuel stations in the sky, we're out refuelling with the R A F. Welcome back. The saga of Hereford Cathedral's Mappa Mundi has gone a stage further. It's been revealed that multi-millionaire Paul Getty is donating a million pounds for a building to house the map and the famous chained library. The National Heritage Memorial Fund say they're prepared to match his gift with a further two million pounds on the understanding that a public appeal be launched to raise a similar sum. From Hereford, John Cane sends this report.
[speaker007:] Well, the feeling here in Hereford this afternoon is that maybe the National Heritage Memorial Fund may have slightly jumped the gun with their offer. Although the Dean in Chapters says they prefer the option of selling shares in the Mappa Mundi they've yet to make a firm, final decision. So this afternoon's news that Paul Getty is prepared to give a million pounds to help construct a building to house the mediaeval map and chained library has presented the townfolk here with yet another opportunity of keeping their heritage intact.
[speaker010:] Yes, it's fantastic news that somebody else is interested in the Mappa Mundi and the problems of Hereford's Cathedral.
[speaker007:] And how do you react to Paul Getty out there in America agreeing to put a million pounds into the pot?
[speaker010:] Well, absolutely delighted quite naturally. erm it isn't a problem just for Hereford or for this country it's an international problem which has evoked interest over the whole world.
[speaker007:] The Dean in Chapter of Hereford Cathedral have yet to vote for the privatisation scheme although I do believe they might just vote for it. who do you think would buy the shares?
[speaker010:] I can't imagine I can only say that from my knowledge of Herefordshire as a Herefordian myself, I can't imagine for the life of me that there are seven thousand people locally who could remotely afford a thousand pounds per share. So I can't see very many of them coming to local people.
[speaker007:] Will you be getting your cheque book out?
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] No I shan't be getting my cheque book out on that basis because as far as I'm concerned the thing would still not belong to the city.
[speaker007:] So what's the Cathedral's reaction to this afternoon's rather confusing news? A short time ago we spoke to the presenter.
[speaker002:] an endowment of seven million in order to further the work of the Cathedral.
[speaker007:] So that sounds as if you favour the idea of selling off shares.
[speaker002:] That certainly is a very hopeful suggestion which we're most interested in because it does look as if the P L C will succeed and if it does then we shall have our full seven million pounds.
[speaker007:] So still the future of the Mappa Mundi still hangs in the balance.
[speaker002:] It yes, certainly at the moment we're not quite sure what the future will bring and we're waiting until after Easter before we make our final decisions and announcements. But we very much hope that the map will stay in Hereford and that we shall have the money we require for the Cathedral.
[speaker006:] It's going to be an exciting end to the soccer season in the second division for Swindon Town and their fans. On Saturday, Town made it four wins in a row with a three-two victory at Bournemouth. Here's how the top of the table looks now. The top two go up, the next four fight it out in the play-offs. It's going to be touch and go but Swindon are in form. Town hit Bournemouth with all guns blazing and took the lead after twenty-nine minutes. A stunning strike from Steve Fowley. How the Swindon fans and players love to be beside the seaside. Just before half-time, Town got their second sheers break and Fowley bungled the ball home. Swindon looked winners all the way, the only heart-stopping moment came just after break when Linford Blisset got a goal back. Could Town hold on, that was the question now, no problem, when we've got players like Tom Jones around. Newson got a goal back for Bournemouth near the end but it was Swindon's game by then. Next stop is the county ground and West Brum on Saturday. And what with Swindon chasing promotion and Gloucester playing in the cup semi-final we've got quite a week ahead but the biggest crowd will be on the banks of the River Thames for the boat race. Oxford and Cambridge came face to face for the first time today when the scales were set for the official weigh-in. Cambridge were left high and dry for a time this afternoon as Oxford followed in the footsteps of many a champion boxer and left the opposition waiting at the official weigh-in. When the dark-blues did turn up the fun started but as expected the Cambridge crew were carrying far more weight. And history was made when the light-blues Toby Backhouse, a giant of a man, stepped onto the scales. He weighed in at sixteen stone, eleven pounds, which makes him the heaviest man ever to row in the boat race. Cambridge also have the lightest in their cox, Leigh Vice, she tipped the scales at just seven stone, six. In the past, Oxford have been the heavier but this year, on average, they're nearly a stone a man lighter. Cambridge reckon the weight will be to their advantage although some experts reckon the light-blues may be too heavy. Oxford's heaviest oarsman this year is their number five, Harry Gillam, fourteen stone, twelve. Apart from being one of the largest blue boats in years, it is also one of the youngest, with only one American he's the boat club president, Mike Aspel.
[speaker001:] We're coming along very well and erm working hard as coach and erm things have really been picking up we've been very pleased with the way it's gone.
[speaker006:] Now this year you've a lighter crew than usual, how will that affect you?
[speaker001:] erm It won't. I mean, it's like the change of a crew one way or the other, it was fat or heavy it's, you know, it's the eight guys that are there and those are the eight best men that Oxford have and I think we have the best crew with those eight people.
[speaker006:] The boat race always draws a lot of attention and this year is no exception. Millions will be watching around the world and the word at the moment, Oxford are favourites.
[speaker002:] Full preview of that on Thursday. The R A F base at Brize Norton provides many of the backup services vital to the airforce, none more so than the air refuelling squadron which keeps the jets going. The skill of swapping fuel in mid-air is a delicate operation and scores of pilots depend on the flying tankers from Brize. Well, Kim Barnes joined them to see how it's done.
[speaker003:] The early morning greeting session decides where the gas station in the sky will go today. One-o-one squadron at Brize Norton is dedicated to keeping the R A F in the skies with the skilled and tricky business of air refuelling. Today's customers, Phantoms and Harriers.
[speaker004:] We only have a limited number of fighter aircraft available. By using air- to-air refuelling you can keep them airborne far longer than they would normally be able to using our own internal fuel. For example, a Phantom may only be able to stay airborne for something like an hour and three-quarters, two hours using it's own fuel but with a tanker there we can keep them topped virtually well, obviously until we run out of fuel and for much, much longer. Where the skill comes really is when you get a large number of aircraft, and it's using your aircraft the most efficient way you can in the shortest possible time, so you haven't got people hanging around wasting good fuel, you want them ideally plugged in and taking fuel.
[speaker003:] The jet lines up at the tanker's serving carriage and drives the hose back in to open a valve. Just like at the garage, it will lock off when it's full. Air refuelling has come a long way from the first attempts in the thirties where the co-pilot literally popped out and grabbed the hose. Even now, it can be hit and miss. One-o-one squadron originally set up in 1917, was reformed in 1984 as one of only two refuelling squadrons, after the Falklands had shown a strategic use of air-to-air refuelling. During the conflict, a Vulcan had to land in Brazil after running out of fuel. Now they run nine DC10s, each carrying seventy- four tons of fuel, taken out of civil use because they were too noisy; they're loaded and ready to go at any time.
[speaker005:] We'll always be able to get a tanker airborne within an hour if needed.
[speaker003:] Well what does that mean then are you likely to get called out at the middle of the night?
[speaker005:] Can do, yes. Happens.
[speaker003:] You don't mind being on call around the clock?
[speaker005:] No, you get used to it.
[speaker003:] So you're the rest of the R A F airborne.
[speaker005:] Oh yes indeed.
[speaker006:] This evening will be clear and cold; temperatures falling to below freezing. Tomorrow morning will begin cold and bright with a fair amount of sunshine and the afternoon will turn dull. Maximum temperature, eight Celsius, forty-six Fahrenheit.
[speaker002:] Finally, the FTSE index is down nineteen point five at two thousand and fifty three point six.
[speaker006:] And that's it from us for the moment, Ann Lucas will be here at ten-thirty with the late news but from us for the moment, goodnight.
[speaker002:] Good evening. First tonight, a man who specialises in rescuing young people brainwashed by religious sects, has been arrested in Switzerland on kidnapping charges. Martin Frears from Cheltenham was arrested in Lugano while trying to de-program a young Italian man. A member of the Hare Krishna sect. He'd been hired by the man's parents but still faces up to 20 years in gaol. Martin Frears has been working as religious mercenary since he himself was rescued from the Moonies by his father. In a moment we'll be speaking to him about his son's plight, but first we go over to Switzerland where our reporter, John Marshall, has been following the story. Now, John Marshall, what's the background to Martin Frears' arrest?
[speaker003:] The parents had invited him and two other members of Martin Frears' alleged gang. The young man know as Sandro appeared at the house and his parents said 'we don't want you to go back to the Hare Krishna movement'. Sandro said 'no, I'm going back', and with that the police claim that Martin Frears and the other two members of the gang set about Sandro by using gas, tear gas, then handcuffed him. They took him away in a car to a secluded house in the Swiss alps.
[speaker004:] Well, what do you know about Martin Frears and his operation in Switzerland?
[speaker003:] Well, this is the first time we've heard of him here in Switzerland. He has a place in Cheltenham in England which he set up some years ago, and he also has a retreat in the French alps in St Claude, and his aim, apparently, is to de-program people who have been through religious sects such as Scientologists, Moonies and now the Hare Krishnas.
[speaker004:] And we understand that he is paid up to £500 a day to carry out those services.
[speaker003:] I think it was a little lower. It was about £400 to £450 a day to each member of the gang.
[speaker004:] Now he has very emotional reasons for carrying out this work. He himself was once a member of the Moonies sect, wasn't he?
[speaker003:] Yes he was. He was the leader of the Canadian set of Moonies. He became very dissatisfied and he came back to the U K. He set up an organisation there to try to help those who'd been in the hands of the Moonies. He apparently has done quite a lot of good work in the past. I am rather surprised that Martin Frears has found himself in this predicament.
[speaker004:] Under Swiss rule, what's likely to happen to him now?
[speaker003:] Well, he's charged with kidnapping. He's charged with a number of other offences. He faces a prison sentence of up to twenty years if found guilty. Not only is Martin Frears arrested and the other two members of the gang, but also the parents of Sandro are now under arrest in Lugano prison here in Switzerland, southern Switzerland.
[speaker004:] John Marshall in Switzerland, thank you very much.
[speaker003:] Thank you.
[speaker004:] Well in the last hour reporter Claire Lafferty has been speaking to Martin Frears' father in Cheltenham. For him it's like déjá vu, having rescued his son from the Moonies in Canada several years ago.
[speaker005:] We sent Martin over to operate our North American office because we produce a magazine that goes all over the world, and based in Canada he ran the office for us there and was doing a very good job. Then, all of a sudden, he didn't come into the office any more and we discovered that he had been recruited by the Moonies over there. He neglected all his duties and so there was nothing for it, either we had to wipe him off as a son, which is an impossible thing for a parent to do, or we had to decide the only other course open to us which was to kidnap him and have him de-programmed. When we got him out and he felt refreshed and better about it, he also felt worse because he realized the harm he had done to other youngster and he set about, therefore, trying to help other parents rescue their youngsters out of it.
[speaker004:] Now Martin has actually been arrested and accused of a crime, what's your reaction to that?
[speaker005:] Well, first of all, I've heard that — it's not the first time he's been arrested, and it's not the first time de-programmers have been arrested. Martin would go to help any parent if he could, to talk to their youngsters, and I think that is the situation. I know nothing about this Swiss business, but it's falling into a pattern. These cults are very adept at using the law for their own ends and parents, I'm afraid, in their desire to rescue their youngsters from the cults, will have to cross a line. As you would imagine, if you saw your youngster tottering towards Beachy Head and was about to fall off, and if there was a notice there that said you mustn't cross over this fence as you are guilty of trespassing, but you saw your child falling, what would you do — stay this side of the line because it was the law? [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Doctors in Swindon say they've seen three cases of a rare illness normally associated with Third World countries. It's called Jardea and is often found in water. The revelation comes as Thames Water is trying to isolate the cause of contamination that led to an outbreak of illness caused by a germ called cryptosporidium. Parents of young children are still being advise to boil water six weeks after that organism was found at a treatment works supplying Swindon and South Oxfordshire. Martin Dawes reports. Mmd:— There's nothing wrong with Jamie Thurley's appetite now. He's a fifteen month-old making up for lost time. He was ill for a month with a swingeing combination of Jardea and cryptosporidia. The cryptosporidia was bad, the Jardea was much worse. Fa: During that week that he had that he was in absolute agony and night time seemed to affect him more than during the day. Two or three nights on the run we had him downstairs — at two o'clock to six o'clock I sat here one morning. He was just rolling round the floor in agony. He wouldn't let me pick him up, comfort him, do anything with him at all and I just didn't know what was wrong with him. I suspected it might be tummy pains, but he hadn't had it up until now.
[speaker008:] The cryptosporidia has affected hundreds of people. The contamination was traced to a water treatment works near Oxford. Jardea is a similar type of organism. Both bugs are microscopic animals. Doctors in Swindon have seen three recent cases of Jardea. That's not enough to draw any conclusions about the cause.
[speaker005:] Jardea's a funny thing. It can be spread person to person. It can be in contaminated food. It can be contaminated drinks, in other words water or other types of drink. It's fairly widespread. The problem with it is that a lot of people are asymptomatic and you don't know whom may or may not be carrying Jardea.
[speaker008:] How many would you normally hear about?
[speaker005:] It's very difficult to put a normal limit on this. You know, you may go for a long time and not see any, then you'll see two or three in possibly a week.
[speaker008:] Thames Water says it's unfortunate some people have Jardea and cryptosporidia, but that's not surprising given the number of people tested. Jamie's father is helping to organise a protest group, which may yet take Thames Water to court for damages over the cryptosporidia contamination.
[speaker004:] Well the whole problem of tropical diseases is one which doctors are facing more and more these days, especially with people travelling to distant and exotic locations for their holidays. Health officials are so worried that they are asking people to double check that they have the correct vaccinations before leaving the country. Mark Huckstep from working with a mission clinic in Kenya with malaria. As a doctor he knows how serious the disease is. It killed five people in England last year. The symptoms are most unpleasant.
[speaker007:] You have a high fever, you feel sick, wretched, nauseated. Your body aches, your limbs ache, your joints ache, you have a headache, and when the fever becomes highly rigour, which means that the muscles contract, you begin to shake. So it's a very unpleasant all told and the treatment is as unpleasant as the disease itself.
[speaker004:] What is the treatment?
[speaker007:] High dose Quinine, which makes you sick and also gives you a loud ringing in your ears.
[speaker004:] There are precautions and Dr. Huckstep thought he's followed the rules.
[speaker007:] You take Chloroquin every week and Proguanin every day, and you do so a week before leaving England and six weeks after returning. If you don't you have quite a good chance of getting malaria if you've been bitten.
[speaker004:] And what happened to you? You actually forgot to take some later on?
[speaker007:] I forgot to take a couple when I got back to England. I don't think that caused malaria — I was bitten by a lot of mosquitoes while I was in East Africa. The mosquito net I was using was less than perfect and my limbs touched the net at night, so the mosquitoes lined up on the net and bit me through it.
[speaker004:] Exotic holidays are within easy reach. There's fierce competition between the travel companies to tempt the holiday-maker bored with Spain and Tenerife to Africa, the Far East and South America. But don't be fooled — they may make riveting holiday snaps, but adventurous travellers can, and do, catch all these tropical diseases. Over the last twelve months there have been 51 cases of dysentery in Oxfordshire. Twenty-one people came back from abroad with malaria.
[speaker009:] One of the problems, I am sure, is that they are going on package tours which are very well organized, a lot of things laid on, and they think, fair enough, that most things have been taken care of. Travel agents are more conscious of the risks and usually give travellers a list of vaccines or medicines that they should obtain before they go.
[speaker004:] The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford holds fortnightly vaccination clinics. Is it really worth having all the injections to go?
[speaker006:] Oh definitely. I wouldn't like to catch some of the diseases that are out there.
[speaker004:] Has it been a nuisance having them?
[speaker010:] Yes, I suppose so, having to come all this way out and there are not many clinics.
[speaker007:] It's been horrible because I don't like needles at all. I really had to decide that I was going to, you know, it was really worth going. It's for 15 weeks, so it is worth it I suppose.
[speaker004:] A surprising number of holidaymakers still don't bother, but the penalty could be fatal. [recorded jingle] Police are hunting a sex attacker who left a young woman scratched and bleeding after she fought him off. The attack happened on a footpath at Pinfarthings near Nailsworth in Gloucestershire. The eighteen year old woman was grabbed by a man in his thirties as she walked down the isolated track. She struggled, but he scratched her face and body and then ran off. Police have been conducting house to house enquiries at homes nearby. The former Chairman and Accountant of Aylesbury Town Football Club have been committed for trial on tax fraud charges. Charles Docherty, who was Chairman of the club, and Nigel Ramsden, who was the club's Accountant, face five charges brought under the common law of cheat. It's alleged that details of payments to players between 1984 and 1987 were not fully revealed. Both men were granted unconditional bail. A total of 103 beds, including a unique ward, are being closed for good because of a shortage of cash. Members of Oxfordshire's Health Authority say they simply cannot afford to maintain the beds which are mainly for elderly patients. The decision has been attacked by Health Service watchdogs who say care for the elderly is now chronically underfunded. Martin Graham-Scott reports.
[speaker005:] For three and a half years the Beeson Ward at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary has been looking after elderly people — those who need specialist care after major surgery. The ward is the only one in the country where nurses and not doctors admit and discharge patients. Now the ward, which has sixteen beds, is closing down. Oxfordshire's Health Authority says it cannot afford £200,000 each year to keep it going.
[speaker008:] I think it's an awful shame. Why don't they give them the money to carry on and do all the good work they've done, which is well worthwhile.
[speaker010:] It's wonderful work they do, wonderful. They're kind, patient. It's clean. Good food. There's nothing you can complain about, nothing.
[speaker005:] The patients on Beeson Ward will be transferred to other hospitals in the next few weeks. As for the staff, they're going on to new jobs. The vacancies have been appearing on the notice board.
[speaker007:] I'm very disappointed indeed. Not only for myself as it's been a particular project close to me for many years, but for the break up of a team, a team that has a long time to build up and a team that worked very well together and who were very committed.
[speaker005:] In the past the ward received funding from charities. That money has now dried up. The Health Authority says that it simply has no extra cash from its £136 million budget.
[speaker001:] It has been supported by a number of outside bodies previously, but the Authority were not able to find it from their base allocation this year in order to continue.
[speaker005:] The Authority is permanently closing more than a hundred beds around the county. They include ten at Wallingford, sixteen at Witney, fourteen at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford and twenty-two at Littlemore and Warneford Hospitals. The Community Health Council says care for the elderly is now desperately underfunded. There will now just be more pressure on the bigger hospitals.
[speaker003:] When we are old we take longer to recover and because we can't discharge them to nursing kind of beds then there'll be back up in the John Radcliffe Hospital and extra pressure there.
[speaker005:] So there'll be a bottle-neck.
[speaker003:] There'll be a bottle-neck. There already is a bottle-neck — it'll get worse.
[speaker005:] But the situation may change. The Health Authority is now talking about a new nursing unit. A decision on that will be taken next month. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] A crowd of angry demonstrators were given the slip today by a building expert who'll decide the fate of a hotel facing demolition. The protestors turned up in force to confront the man, but he'd already been and gone. His decision on whether the building should be given listed status still hasn't been announced.
[speaker005:] Day two of the seize of the George Hotel at Nailsworth at Gloucester, and the protestors were in a confident mood. After rooftop scuffles yesterday, they forced a halt to the demolition work. The hotel's owners want to replace it with old people's homes, but they've agreed to hold back the bulldozers while the building's inspected by an official from English Heritage.
[speaker002:] He will make a recommendation which goes back to the Department of the Environment, who will make the final decision as to whether the building should be listed.
[speaker005:] The George Hotel is deemed of little architectural importance by the Council, but the protestors say it's a historic landmark. They were determined to confront the English Heritage inspector, but it soon became clear he'd given them the slip.
[speaker006:] All the indications are that he's been, that he does not wish to be involved with any disputes. He certainly doesn't like publicity and we've been unable to track him down.
[speaker005:] For the demolition team, it's been a frustrating wait. They won't be paid until they start work.
[speaker006:] Why is it that this country puts money before anything else? I don't give damn about building contractors not being paid. That's too bad. I didn't hire them. I don't want them to pull the building down anyway.
[speaker005:] The hotel's owners have made it clear they are not obliged to wait for the outcome of today's inspection.
[speaker004:] It is their property and they can do with it as they please. At the moment there are no plans for them to do any more work on the building.
[speaker005:] Until a decision is made on whether the building gets listed status, the protestors say they're staying put.
[speaker004:] We've just heard in the last few minutes that the application for that hotel to be listed has been turned down. Still to come in part two, for sale on Tuesday, Des man Friday. And if Fido's chewing the carpet, then put him on the couch. [recorded jingle] Hello again. Now, if you've got the odd spare weekend, a boat and £55,000 to spend, we may have found just the thing for you a fantasy island all of your own, and it's up for sale right here in the heart of the Central South region. Gary Cottrill has been seeing what you get for your money.
[speaker006:] Near a village called Wyre Piddle, with no gas, electricity or mains water, and a fifteen minute boat ride to the nearest pub, shop or church, there's a lot not very attractive about Osier Island. In reality is a rather basic timber shack on a small, unkept plot of land, surrounded on all sides by the river Avon. But, if you use your imagination, it could be a glorious retreat a place to go and hide, a nest for lovebirds, an island of Eden, and on a sunny afternoon, lazing around in your own private kingdom beats life on a busy housing estate. What sort of person do you think would be interested?
[speaker005:] Oh, I think a wide variety of people are already showing interested in fact. From the business man getting away from the stress of modern life, through to the naturalist, bird-watcher, fisherman, all sorts of people.
[speaker006:] What's on offer then here?
[speaker005:] Well, we have an island which is three-quarters of an acre approximately in size, with a lot of a mature trees, and in the centre of the island, as you can see behind me, there's a timber chalet.
[speaker006:] The current owner, Dennis Smith, bought the island thirty years ago for £259. Now it's worth £55,000. What's your best memory do you think?
[speaker007:] Well, it's been... all the members are good, sort of thing, it's a job to pick out one, but
[speaker006:] You'll be sorry to see it go
[speaker007:] Yes, yes, sorry to see it go, but it's got to go, so that's it.
[speaker006:] The cabin consists of living room, two bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen, and the view's not bad either — perfect for birdwatchers. And when the time comes round to return to the office, it's just five miles to the M 5 motorway. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Environmental Minister, Nicholas Ridley, has forced Councillors to put off a decision over the building of a controversial holiday village in his own constituency. Demonstrators lobbied Councillors over the plan, put forward by Granada Leisure for a 600 chalet resort in the Cotswold Water Park near Cirencester. That last minute instruction from London said that planners could only form a view. Mr Ridley may take the matter out of the local Council's hands and decide the issue himself. The application was deferred until June. Protestors say the scheme is too big and that it will swamp neighbouring villages. The villagers of Tingewick near Buckingham have been carrying out their own traffic survey as part of their campaign for a bypass. They've been calling for an alternative route to the A 421 since World War Two. The road links Milton Keynes with Oxford and villagers say the road is too narrow for the amount of traffic that passes through. A charity which provides homes for disabled ex-servicemen has a luxurious bungalow standing empty, but it can't find a suitable occupant. The bungalow, in a pretty Worcestershire village, has been empty for nearly a year. Tina Monahan reports.
[speaker008:] The Hudson family have lived in the Manor House in the picturesque village of Wick for centuries. Thirty years ago they built seven homes in the village for war veterans, in memory of the present owner's great uncle, who was killed during the First World War. One specially adapted bungalow is ideal for a disabled ex-serviceman. It's got special wide doors and passageways to cater for wheelchairs, and the bathroom has been specially adapted. More importantly, it's practically rent free. The trouble is, no-one seems to want it.
[speaker006:] It's a little bit of a puzzle. One knows that disabled people from the War are getting older and there possibly aren't quite so many of them, but we felt as a Trust that there were still a number of people about who would benefit from having this sort of accommodation.
[speaker008:] Does it have to be a man?
[speaker006:] Up until very recently, it was for men only, but we did persuade the Charity Commission that times were changing and that if perchance there was a lady who was disabled, she would also be able to qualify.
[speaker008:] The other tenants say that life for them has never been better.
[speaker001:] every year. No worries, no noise, no hassle whatsoever.
[speaker004:] It's a shame really that no-one has come forward to apply for it, because it's such a lovely, wonderful bungalow. Just peace for us, peace. You know, the countryside and the animals, the wildlife — it's just beautiful.
[speaker008:] The prospective tenants don't have to belong to any particular regiment or come from any particular part of the country. The only thing they have to do is find the rent. All of £1 per week. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Now, if your dog's been behaving in an unusual way, don't despair, you can now call in the experts. Dog therapy is apparently the latest way to beat those awkward pet problems like chewing the carpet, or even the postman. A mobile psychologist will now be available at a vet's surgery in Oxfordshire, promising peace of mind for both Rover and his owner. Kim Barnes found out what's involved on the canine couch.
[speaker003:] These dogs look happy enough, but they could be riddled with canine complexes. So when Fido needs Freud, help is at hand. This bruiser's called Tyson — that's quite a lot to live up to. Would you consider going to a doctor if he developed any mental instability?
[speaker009:] If he did, but he's sound at the moment.
[speaker003:] In the waiting room at dog help clinics it's hard to keep cheerful. There'll be a two hour consultation, setting owners back up to £60, plus a calm voice on the end of a phone after that if needed. Luke is a depressed Doberman, with a difficult childhood.
[speaker010:] He sort of got down on his back legs. His teeth were showing and his mouth was wide open.
[speaker001:] He's obviously a very sensitive dog. One can see that by the way he's behaving now.
[speaker003:] What sort of problems has he got?
[speaker010:] Well, I mean, really what he does is, apart from being a puppy and chewing things, you can't tell him off for doing it, because if you do then that's when he shows, you know, his teeth come back and really he makes you frightened.
[speaker003:] So its a case of who has the nervous breakdown first, you or the dog?
[speaker010:] Well, I think it's more likely to be me than the dog!
[speaker001:] They fall into several major categories. Obviously, there's the area of aggression, which can be split into various sub-sections; fear aggression, dominance aggression, territorial behaviour, livestock chasing, aggression towards other dogs. One thing we don't do is put the dog on the couch. What we must do is see what the problems are from the owner's point of view and analyse exactly what is going on.
[speaker003:] And the softly, softly approach has the backing of orthodox medicine.
[speaker002:] I think it's very good, because we as vets probably don't spend anywhere near enough time with problem owners, problem dogs rather, and on that basis he is able to spend an hour and a half to two hours with each owner.
[speaker003:] And the head to head method could have wider appeal. We have a psychotherapist here for dogs. Do you think the same thing should be available for cats? No, I don't think so. Not this one — she's twelve years of age and she's her own mistress. But perhaps she could do with some mental help. I think what she's got at the moment is toothache... Well despite that Freudian slip there, no they don't take problem owners! [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] A look at the satellite sequence shows that the reason for the cold weather we've been having. A long, narrow band of cloud has been moving down over the country and will continue to do so throughout the night before it moves away eastwards tomorrow, being replaced by clear skies to the west. And notice speckled cloud further north — that's given snow to parts of Scotland today. Tonight will be cloudy, with light rain or drizzle in most places. Temperatures overnight will fall to 7 Celsius, 45 Fahrenheit, so remaining reasonably mild, although the winds will pick up a little later. Tomorrow morning will be mild, with rain or drizzle in places, but heavier rain will move quickly across the region in the morning. As we go into the afternoon, the heavies rain will move eastwards, and brighter, showery weather will soon follow. Tomorrow's top temperatures, 10 Celsius, 50 Fahrenheit, but it will drop off to a cool 7 celsius, 45 Fahrenheit, accompanied by quite a strong north westerly wind. [recorded jingle] And now a look at tonight's financial news. The FTSE 100 Index is up 18.6 at 2,072.2 and the pound is worth one dollar seventy-two cents. And the main national stories — a major investigation is underway into how the I R A knew the movement of two senior Ulster policemen murdered in an ambush. Transport Secretary, Paul Channon, has been explaining his actions over Lockerbie to MPs. One newspaper has accused him of lying. The Nuclear Waste Executive NAREX are to carry out tests at Sellafield and to select the best site to build a dump for nuclear waste. Electricity charges are to go up by at least 5.8 per cent from April 1st. And Archie the cat, mascot, is the hot favourite to land the role of the Coronation Street cat. Well, good luck Archie! And that's it from us for the moment, a very good night. Later this evening, we've a true story of an American ex-con who decided to fight organised crime by himself. One man against the Mafia is at 9.00. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] This is Central. The time, six o'clock.
[speaker006:] Tonight, a remand prisoner sets fire to himself. The Governor speaks out. Unique research centre to close because of Government cuts. And an open door for the boy whose idea of fun is a lock out. Good evening. A 22 year old prisoner is critically ill in hospital tonight after apparently setting himself on fire in his cell. His life was saved by his cell mate, who has also been treated for burns, but is now back behind bars. This report from Simon Harris.
[speaker003:] Staff at Gloucester Gaol say the prisoner probably owes his life to his cell mate. He woke in the early hours of this morning to find the 22 year old man engulfed in flames.
[speaker007:] It was fortunate indeed that we had put him in a cell with another person. At the very worst it's someone to talk to, and in this case it probably saved his life. The other person in the cell tried to smother the flames and suffered superficial damage to his hands as a result of that. He also raised the alarm.
[speaker003:] Both men were taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol. The cell mate was treated for burns to his hands and later returned to the gaol. The 22 year old man, who comes from Worcester, is still at the hospital. He is said to be in a critical condition. Staff at the gaol said there had been no indication that he might try to take his life.
[speaker007:] His behaviour hasn't been odd and speaking to his cell mate this morning it seems that he didn't speak to very many people either. He didn't seem to have very many friends amongst the other prisoners.
[speaker003:] The prison authorities are refusing to name the man. He'd been in custody since early February accused of attempted robbery. There is still no date set for his trial. His parents have travelled from Worcester to the hospital in Bristol.
[speaker007:] Clearing having someone brought before the courts is sufficient in itself. Having this on top is a obviously a great shock for them.
[speaker003:] Are you satisfied that everything could have been done to prevent this man doing this sort of thing.
[speaker007:] In the final analysis, if someone wishes to injure himself it's almost impossible to prevent.
[speaker003:] Tonight an investigation is underway at the prison. It's still not clear how the man set fire to himself, but as a remand prisoner he was allowed cigarettes and matches in his cell. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] A unique laboratory, which offers special advice about plant diseases to farmers is being closed by the Government. Agricultural Minister, John MacGregor, says that the work at the laboratory in Worcestershire can be done more efficiently elsewhere. But fruit and vegetable growers in the area are furious. They say they could now lose thousands of pounds without expert advice on their crops. Martin Graham-Scott reports.
[speaker005:] The laboratory, at Evesham in Worcestershire, has been operating for more than forty years. A research and advice centre on plant diseases on pests, it has been described as a doctors' surgery for farmers. 500 use it each year to get specialist information about their crops. Now the clinic or agricultural development and advisory service is being closed. The Government says that the work can be done just as efficiently at a bigger office in Wolverhampton, 50 miles away. This morning the staff were ordered not to talk about the closure, but they were clearly shocked. They only heard about the decision yesterday afternoon. It's thought most will be transferred to Wolverhampton, or to other Government departments. Fruit and vegetable growers in the area are furious about the decision. In nearby Offenham they are worried they'll lose thousands of pounds producing crops because they'll no longer have specialist advice on their doorstep.
[speaker008:] We get first hand information at the moment and we can take our problems to them. We can get a quick reaction back. I don't see any other way we are going to get over that problem. We haven't got them.
[speaker009:] In the long run I think it will be a loss to the Government, for the very simple reason we have got to meet this competition and if we don't in a few years time the housewife possibly will be paying a lot more money for the produce.
[speaker010:] We are being faced with ten million pounds worth of cuts in research and development over the next three years, so anything what this Government comes up with doesn't surprise me, but I am a little bit devastated. It will have a serious affect on local growers.
[speaker005:] The laboratory carries out work for three counties; Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Herefordshire. The growers are unhappy they'll soon have to travel a lot further than the Vale of Evesham to get help.
[speaker001:] The Evesham Laboratory was set up to serve growers in the Vale of Evesham and it's been taken away and Wolverhampton is quite out of the question. We can't afford to run up to Wolverhampton with plant problems from day to day.
[speaker005:] The staff have been told that the Laboratory will shut in exactly twelve months; the farmers intend to say plenty more before then. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] A pregnant woman says she's deeply concerned about the health of her unborn baby after drinking tap water from the germ infected Farmoor reservoir, which serves thousands of homes across the region. She's picked up the cryptosporidium organism, which has been found in the reservoir and causes stomach pains, sickness and diarrhoea. It means regular trips to hospital for checks on the baby's health. Gary Cotteril reports.
[speaker006:] For Julie Crew what should be a time of joy has become a time of pain and misery.
[speaker003:] The pain is unbearable. I just can't stand it at times, but they can't give me anything for it.
[speaker006:] Her first baby is due in six weeks time. That means six more weeks of extreme discomfort. Julie's problems started when she drank water originating from the Farmoor reservoir near Oxford, which has been found to contain the cryptosporidium organism.
[speaker003:] I went to the doctor on the Saturday and he said it was gastroenteritis and prescribed tablets for me for it and told me just to keep up my fluids so I didn't get dehydrated. So obviously I kept drinking the water and the next day, on the Sunday, the pain was so bad we called the doctor again and he found out I was in labour and he sent me to the hospital and they found out not until the Thursday that it was actually the cryptosporidium that had caused it.
[speaker006:] How is all this affecting the baby? Do the doctors know?
[speaker003:] No, they can't really say anything at the moment. They are just doing tests etc. on it. I have to go up to the hospital twice a week to day assessment unit, where they are doing test on the baby just to monitor its progress and see if everything is going okay.
[speaker006:] How worried are you, because it's your first baby, isn't it?
[speaker003:] Very worried [LAUGHTER].
[speaker006:] And Roy, the soon to be proud father, what do you think of all this?
[speaker005:] We think it's bad enough just my wife being pregnant, but with this it just takes it near enough unbearable. It's very bad at times.
[speaker006:] Cryptosporidium was diagnosed three weeks ago, but doctors are convinced it's now died off and Julie's current problems are the result of something else. In any case, they say the organism poses little threat to the unborn baby.
[speaker005:] No side effects, no effect on the baby, no spread to other organs and very limited local effect on the bowel only.
[speaker006:] Whatever the cause, and whatever the outcome, the pain and uncertainty continues for Julie and Roy. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] An eighteen year old arsonist has been gaoled for eight years for starting a house fire in which a four year old girl lost her hand. Bristol Crown Court heard that Jason Levy from Cheltenham set fire to a house in the town after breaking in, while Chloe Robinson was asleep upstairs with her parents. She was so badly burned that surgeons had to amputate her left hand. Most of the skin on her head was destroyed, and she now faces years of plastic surgery. The judge told Levy no punishment was severe enough for what he did. And a man has died in hospital less than an hour after being rescued from his blazing bungalow. Thomas Carey was pulled from his home at Coffee Hall in Milton Keynes after being overcome by fumes and smoke. Six firemen took more than an hour to bring the fire under control. Mr Carey died in the Accident and Emergency Unit at Milton Keynes General Hospital.
[speaker002:] Protestors, fighting to save a hotel from the bulldozers, have scored a major victory. Demolition work has been postponed indefinitely and tonight thee are new moves to give the building protected status. Here's Simon Harris again.
[speaker003:] As local residents packed a meeting of Nailsworth Town Council in Gloucestershire, it looked as if they'd lost their battle to save one of the town's landmarks. They'd just been told the George Hotel wasn't important enough to be listed, but the protestors vowed to physically stop the demolition team if necessary and it looked as if they had the backing of the Planning Authority.
[speaker007:] I think it's very important that the developers appreciate the volume of public concern over this building.
[speaker003:] Before dawn this morning the protestors were again out in force, ready and waiting for the demolition men.
[speaker009:] We've got a rota system and that started at four this morning and is now full for the rest of the day, so there will be a strong presence around the building all day long.
[speaker003:] How far are people prepared to go to stop the demolition workmen?
[speaker009:] I think they will risk arrest. I think they will risk putting themselves in front of contractors.
[speaker003:] By mid-morning it was obvious the vigil was unnecessary. The demolition men weren't coming. The developers had called off the bulldozers. There'll be no more work on the site until their plans to replace to hotel have been passed. The George sits just yards from a conservation area, and tonight, when Stroud Council Planning Committee meets, an attempt will be made to extend the zone to include the hotel. If successful, the George will be saved. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Worcester Juvenile Court has been hearing how three teenage boys wreaked havoc when they went to play on a building site. The boys started up dumper trucks, a J C B and a caterpillar tractor at the site, and in just one hour they had caused nearly £50,000 worth of damage. Two of the boys admitted taking the diggers without consent, and the third admitted damaging a digger and a farmhouse. They'll be sentenced in April. More than 60 pigs have been killed in a fire. It happened on a farm at Winson near Bibury in Gloucestershire. The 12 sows and 52 piglets were trapped in a shed which was destroyed in the blaze. Clerical staff in Oxford's hospitals are to take strike action in support of their campaign for better pay. Their decision means the region's Health Service will lose its vital office staff, including those responsible for patient admissions, for one day on March 30th. Well over a hundred of Oxfordshire's lowest paid and angriest health workers attended a mass meeting to hear that almost all the region's clerical staff had voted for a one day strike. The longest serving clerical workers, whose responsibilities include juggling patient admissions with spare beds, can only expect £6,235, that's even after 25 years' experience. The region's 600 clerical staff want at least another £700 a year.
[speaker010:] There's obviously frustration on the part of low paid women members of NALGO and some of our NUPE colleagues, and we are pleasantly surprised that they felt and I wish now to express frustration at that response of management to break off local negotiations on their grading structure.
[speaker004:] NALGO's members, who are mostly women, are bitter that they've been pushed to take industrial action.
[speaker005:] Well all the nurses and the doctors, every time there's pay rises they all seem to get it. The secretaries have got it this time, and we are just left at the bottom of the ladder again.
[speaker006:] We're just being ignored basically.
[speaker007:] I've worked in for 30 years and lots of us have worked for over 25 years and we do know that they are bringing in trainees in on higher salaries than ourselves, which obviously is quite upsetting when you've worked a long time.
[speaker004:] The Health Authority say they are waiting for the results of national pay talks before coming to an agreement with their clerical workers. Meanwhile, the women are to walk out en masse next Thursday. Patients shouldn't be affected, NALGO say they'll be providing emergency cover. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] One of Gloucester's most famous landmarks, the cathedral, has a new cross. It was put in place and then dedicated by the Dean of the Cathedral during a unique ceremony high above the city. Tina Monahan reports.
[speaker008:] It turned out to be one of the windiest days of the year for the delicate process of winching the three ton cross to the west end of the cathedral nave. Once the cross was in place, the Dean of the Cathedral held a service of dedication.
[speaker001:] We dedicate this cross to be to all a symbol of his suffering and his victory. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[speaker008:] The original cross had been in place since the fifteenth century, but finally fell victim to the elements.
[speaker001:] It's just erosion over the years. Wind, rain, chemical erosion gradually wear into it and the stone that they used for some of the repair of the cathedral in the years gone by hasn't worn as well as we would have hoped.
[speaker008:] How much did it cost?
[speaker001:] I don't know that we can cost each individual item, but the whole work of reglazing and doing the parapet on the west front has cost us £80,000.
[speaker008:] And you're pleased with the result?
[speaker001:] Very, indeed, yes.
[speaker008:] The new cross was made by a specialist team of cathedral stone masons and has used up the last of the cathedral's restoration fund. Any further work is now dependent on a new £4 million appeal, which was launched at the end of last year.
[speaker001:] A rather different way of looking at the term high church, I think. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] After the break I'll be speaking to the Gloucester rugby player, Mike Teague, about his selection for the British Lions Tour of Australia. Also, the peacock that landed right on time and the key to a bizarre hobby for one security minded youngster.
[speaker005:] Welcome back. The countdown to Gloucester Rugby Club's semi-final got off to a flying start to day with the news that forward, Mike Teague, has been selected to go on the British Lions seven week tour of Australia this summer. I'll be talking to Mike in a minute. First, a look ahead to the cup game with Bath on Saturday, which Mike won't be able to take part in because of a recent injury. Tim Russon has been to the King's Home ground to preview the match.
[speaker010:] Well King's Home looks quiet enough at the moment, but Saturday this will be a cauldron of cup rugby. Ten and a half thousand fans will pack in here for the Pilkington Cup semi-final. It's a sell-out and in Gloucester a ticket to the match is worth more than gold.
[speaker005:] Gloucester versus Bath is the crunch game that everyone hoped was safe for the final at Twickenham. Matches between the two teams produce stirring football. Some think Bath unbeatable. Not the whites. They are one a few sides that have beat them this season, 18:12 the score, music to the Gloucester fans' ears. So what plans have the King's Home men got for the cup?
[speaker010:] Well plans as such, I think, will revolve round the forwards because every time we've done well against Bath we've done well up front and at this moment in time the Gloucester pack is going extremely well. I think the key to it has been in the past that if we can establish a platform with the front five and get our back row really involved with the support play that they can produce, Bath going backwards certainly don't look as strong as when they are coming at us.
[speaker005:] Bath have already put pay to two Central South sides; they demolished Oxford 82:9 and then hit Hereford for 48 points. This has been their trail to the semi-final, Bristol being the hardest test, but a look at the Bath cup record shows you what great cup campaigners they are. The white burst into real form at the right time for the cup. This new year win at Pontypool set the ball rolling. Gloucester's cup record is one of the best in the country. And here's how they made it to the semi-finals; not an easy run, Wakefield was their last step. Is there a feeling that this could be Gloucester's year?
[speaker007:] There's a definite feeling amongst the players. It's strange that there are an awful lot of our team who have never played at Twickenham, because the traditional Harlequins fixture at the beginning of the season has now been taken over by League fixtures and they are now played at the Harlequins ground The Stoop. So a lot of them have never played at Twickenham and that's a big incentive for them together.
[speaker005:] The bad news is that England forward, Mike Teague, is ruled out through injury, but the good news top tri-scorer Nick Price will be fit as the Whites reach out for Twickenham and the Cup Final.
[speaker009:] Well Gloucester aren't the only Central South hoping for cup glory. Hereford United are just two steps away from Wembley and the final of the Sherpa Van trophy competition. Tonight, at Edgar Street, they tackle Wolves in the regional semi-final. We should have some goals; the leagues top two goal scorers are on show. United's Phil Stant has hit 28; Steve Bull of Wolves has cracked 40.
[speaker010:] And some game in prospect. We'll have a report on that match in our late bulletin, but from Gloucester now goodbye.
[speaker005:] And we'll wish Gloucester well. Now in our Gloucester studio is Mike Teague. Mike, you've only just made a come back really this year on the England side and everything. It must be something of a surprise today the announcement?
[speaker008:] Well obviously it is erm it is a surprise, but I'm obviously delighted to be erm to be selected.
[speaker005:] You're still looking a bit rough after the accident on Saturday. How are you recovering from that?
[speaker008:] Well, not too bad really, it's erm I can only describe it has having erm a huge hangover, which erm which I'm used to anyway, so erm you know I'm obviously a bit disappointed with the way things went, but erm you know that's party of Rugby.
[speaker005:] Mhm. So, hopefully things are going to work out well in Australia. What sort of competition do you think you're going to be up against there?
[speaker008:] I think obviously erm as they've already shown when they came over last year, that they are very very big, very physical, and erm there are there are erm a fast pacy outfit, but erm I think erm obviously with the players that are selected, that we can obviously cope with that.
[speaker005:] I'm sure the England side are going to be just as tough though, aren't they? I understand today that you've been celebrating with tea. Why not champagne?
[speaker008:] Well erm according to erm Ben Gil the R F U doctor, he's told me erm no alcohol and he stressed that and said that erm in your case no alcohol for a while. So I presume that means about a week. So I'll have to have a belated erm celebration.
[speaker005:] And I hope we'll be seeing you back on the field soon.
[speaker008:] Thank you very much.
[speaker005:] I wish you all the best in Australia. Cheers for now. Thanks very much.
[speaker008:] Thank you.
[speaker002:] An unholy row has blown up over a derelict house and a garden within Hereford Cathedral Close. Local Conservatives want to sell to a property developer so he can erect two shops, but lovers of Elgar's music say the builders would be destroying the peaceful haven where the composer wrote his Enigma Variations. This report now from John Kane.
[speaker004:] The local Conservatives bought the old Organist House in 1930, and apart from holding the odd meeting, they haven't used the building much and it's now derelict. In 1898 the then organist, Dr. George Robert Sinclair, entertained his friend Edward Elgar, and while he was there he wrote his famous Enigma Variations. Now the Conservatives want to sell off the building and develop part of the land.
[speaker001:] Now the Conservative Club realize that the can't afford to do it up. They've had an independent survey. So they've got to do something with it and at some time have a suitable return to the club and their forefathers who left this property.
[speaker004:] Elgar historian, Jacob O'Callaghan, isn't too pleased with the suggestion that two shops should be built on the site. He says the house in steeped in history.
[speaker009:] The house that you see behind belonged to Dr. Sinclair, organist of Hereford Cathedral and one of Elgar's best friends, and he had a dog called Dan, who was quite a character in his own right. He used to be at the Cathedral at rehearsals and growl if some things were out of tune. Elgar wasn't allowed a dog by his wife at the time and he sort of adopted Dan and was fascinated by him. One day they went for a walk with Sinclair along by the river. Dan fell into the water and paddled out and Sinclair said 'could you set that to music Elgar?'and Elgar went ahead.
[speaker004:] And with the help of Dan the dog, Elgar wrote his eleventh Enigma Variation. You can hear the dog paddling in the river Wye. He comes out, he shakes himself and gives a growl. [recorded jingle]
[speaker009:] This garden's so important I am sorry to see people coming here and hearing instead of the silence which inspired some of the world's greatest music the jangling of cash tills in shops.
[speaker004:] So you just don't want anything commercial; it should be the way Elgar knew it?
[speaker009:] I think it should be left as a tribute to Elgar and his music.
[speaker005:] Ask most people the time of day and they'll usually look at a watch or a clock. The exception is a Warwickshire shopping centre where they look at a peacock when they want to know the time. Frazer Shepherd explains more.
[speaker010:] Here he is, keeping a watchful eye on the crowds at the Royal Priors shopping centre in Leamington Spa. Like some distant cousin of Emu, he stands majestic against a background of Warwick Castle, the home of his real- life counterparts. It look craftsmen in Cheltenham a year to build the peacock, who is valued at nearly £100,000. He has a computer brain, controlling the pneumatics inside that bring him to life. There's an ordinary clock on his pedestal, and you'll see why in a moment. Every hour we're treated to a view of his striking feathers, all fourteen feet of them. And just to help you tell the time there are these unidentified flying objects in little nests with numbers on. The trick is simply to add up the numbers. Doesn't time fly? [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Now obsession with locking up has led to a very special door opening for a seven year old boy with a very unusual hobby. He spends all his pocket money on padlocks, and for a birthday treat for him today the red carpet was laid out for him at the Chubb Lock Factory in Wolverhampton.
[speaker002:] Jack Dow is seven years old today. Not for him a trip to the cinema, or a visit to the local zoo. When asked what he wanted for his birthday, he said a visit to the lock factory. No sooner said than done. Jack has had a fascination with locks ever since he was four. At his home at Tackley in Oxfordshire, his parents have given him a special shed to play in, with his own lock and key of course. So far, he's collected a total of 25 locks and more than 100 keys, and while his family and friends are slightly bemused by his hobby, there have been times when it's caused them a little more than amusement.
[speaker004:] Well often I might see somebody waving out by the gate frantically trying to get in where he's put one of his different size padlocks round the gate, the back gate and the front gate, and often if we need to feed the cat he's padlocked all the different padlocks round the kitchen cupboards erm we've been unable to get the cat food out, so we've had to go off in the car and bring him back from a friend because he's the only one who knows which key goes with which padlock to undo all the cupboards.
[speaker002:] Despite these minor domestic headaches, it was decided to give him a special birthday treat of a guided tour of the Chubb Factory to decide exactly how all those interesting little gadgets actually work and no doubt to take away a few tips as well.
[speaker006:] Put the spring in there, right, in that way, right. Get your levers, right, put it in the bottom, right, then that one, then that one. Well, Mr Davis, you've given Jack some fairly difficult tuition today, what do you reckon?
[speaker004:] I think that erm he's almost there, we shall be able to award him his proficiency badge for his locksmithing after a few more tests. He's done extremely well, beyond our expectations.
[speaker002:] The real key question of course was what did Jack think of it all.
[speaker001:] It was great.
[speaker002:] Tell me what you want to be when you grow up.
[speaker001:] Lockman.
[speaker002:] Jack's parents are now hoping his obsession with locks and keys will eventually open the door to a career which is both safe and secure. [recorded jingle] Today's satellite pictures show just why it's felt so cold. And we're promised more winter weather tonight. The sequence shows the partly clear skies that moved into central England this afternoon as the earlier band of rain cleared away eastward, but that large area of speckled cloud northwest of Ireland will bring wintry showers tonight. It'll be cold, with a widespread frost and some isolated show showers. The temperature will fall to minus one Celsius and that's 30 Fahrenheit, so if you're out driving tonight beware of icy patches on untreated roads. Tomorrow will start frosty, but the mostly sunny skies will soon make it feel warmer. There'll be some cloud later, although it will remain dry. As we move into the afternoon, the cloud will spread across the region, giving some rain later, with the best of the weather along the east coast. Everywhere will feel cold with a top temperature of 8 Celsius, 46 Fahrenheit.
[speaker004:] Victim of arson. Her parents say the man who did it should have been gaoled for life. All clear, our water can now be drunk without boiling. And the new arrivals, just in time for Easter. Good evening. First tonight, a couple have criticised the gaol sentence handed out to an arsonist, whose attack on their home left their five year old daughter maimed and disfigured. They say he could be a free man within five years, while their daughter's injuries have changed her life. This report from Simon Harris.
[speaker003:] Five year old Chloe Robinson will never have a normal life. Her left hand has been amputated and for the rest of her childhood she faces painful plastic surgery. A year ago Chloe was a pretty little girl and she would be now but for this man, eighteen year old Jason Levy. In May last year he broke into the family's him in Cheltenham, but he found nothing he wanted, so he set the house on fire. Chloe and her mum and dad were trapped in a bedroom. By the time Chloe was rescued she'd been horribly burned.
[speaker007:] She didn't look like Chloe. She was just covered in dressings and things. Very black crystal. We couldn't believe it. It was awful.
[speaker003:] Surgeons couldn't save Chloe's left hand; her right hand is badly disfigured and her face is literally having to be rebuilt. Jason Levy finally admitted what he'd done and in court pleaded guilty to arson. The judge, Mr Justice French, gaoled him for eight years. Chloe's parents say it's a sentence that's totally inadequate.
[speaker007:] Well I just feel no matter sentence he serves he's always going to be that he's left my daughter with a life sentence. The anger's gone really, I suppose. Time's gone on. My husband still feels very cross. erm we just want to go forward now, push it all behind us.
[speaker003:] How do you cope?
[speaker007:] Chloe makes us cope. Because she's such a happy child and she copes with all the thing she has to have done. She keeps us going.
[speaker003:] The plastic surgeons have warned the Robinsons that Chloe can never look as she did. She has to wear an artificial arm and mask to protect the skin on her face. But despite her appalling injuries, her parents have fought to send her to an ordinary school. You've been a very brave little girl, haven't you?
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker003:] Do all your friends know you've been brave?
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker003:] Chloe's courage is matched by that of her parents. They in turn say they've had tremendous support from hospital staff and the people of Cheltenham. What's the hardest part for you?
[speaker007:] Seeing my daughter like this. Especially when she's in bed. You go to tuck her up and you see what she has.
[speaker004:] The water from your taps is now safe to drink, and that's official. After a month-long pollution scare, Thames Water Authority says it is no longer necessary to boil water. A germ found in Farmoor Reservoir near Oxford has resulted in dozens of cases of stomach pains and diarrhoea and led to an order for all drinking water to be boiled before use. This afternoon the order was lifted. Gary Cotterill reports.
[speaker006:] Experts meeting at Thames Water's Oxford Headquarters today are about to give Farmoor Reservoir a clean bill of health.
[speaker005:] Because of the reduction in the cases of cryptosporidiosis, we are able to withdraw the notice that we previously given in respect of boiling water.
[speaker006:] So as far as everyone is concerned at home, that's as you were.
[speaker005:] That's absolutely true, we are back to our normal situation now.
[speaker006:] Last month, though, it was a different story. The saga started in early February when medical experts noticed an increase in illness, especially in the Swindon area. Then on February 21st the presence of the organism cryptosporidium was confirmed at Farmoor Reservoir and 600,000 customers were told to boil all drinking water. The next day cryptosporidium was also discovered at nearby Swinford Treatment Works. On February 28th the issue was raised in the House of Commons and an independent enquiry was launched. By March 10th the situation seems to be improving, with the number of recorded victims down 75 per cent. On March 20th victims were advised to take legal action against the Water Authority, and now today the boiling order is removed. Water is back to normal. The reservoir now, you are saying, is clear?
[speaker005:] Absolutely so.
[speaker006:] Can you tell us anything about the enquiries that are going on?
[speaker005:] Yes. There are two enquiries. One which was initiated by Thames Water, which Mr Dick is carrying out. That one will be completed I imagine within the next couple of weeks. The other one is in fact initiated by the Department of Health and that one, inevitably, will take longer.
[speaker006:] So, for the first time in nearly four weeks, 600,000 Thames Water customers can drink direct from their taps. The Water Authority says the situation will continue to be closely monitored, and there will be full liaison with local Health Officials. In a statement this evening, Thames Water apologized for the inconvenience caused, but said they must always give the welfare of their customers the highest priority.
[speaker004:] The man accused of murdering Marie Wilkes has gone on hunger strike in prison. Twenty-two year old Marie, who is expecting her second child, was killed on the M 50 motorway near Twinning in Gloucestershire last June. Thirty-six year old labourer, Edward Browning, is on remand at Winsone Green Prison in Birmingham awaiting trial. He's on hunger strike in protest at the Home Secretary refusal to move him to Cardiff gaol near his home at Treorky in mid-Glamorgan. A construction company says it may sue a local authority which is trying to prevent its demolishing a hotel. Local people at Nailsworth in Gloucestershire were celebrating today after Stroud Council extended a conservation area to include the building, the George Hotel. Protestors have successfully prevented the demolition men from starting their work, but the firm which owns the hotel MacCarthy and Stone, says its angry that, despite months of consultations with the Council, it was never told the buildings might get protected status.
[speaker008:] A nature lover who created a lake on land to attract wildlife has been ordered to destroy his project after angering Lord Hanson. The millionaire boss of The Hanson Trust, who lives downstream from the lake, claimed it ruined the flow of the river through his land. Ann Lucas reports.
[speaker003:] David Allen was so devoted to his project he dared take Lord Hanson to court, where the judge ordered him to destroy the weir he built on the river Winterbourne in Berkshire. He has spent thousands creating a lake to attract wild birds.
[speaker004:] Many, many species of different birds have come; Kingfishers, Teal, Widgeon, Tufted, Patchog, Mandarin, wild duck, wild geese, swans, the lot. Its unbelievable; the pleasure is absolutely fantastic, one doesn't realize it. It's a miniature Slimbridge.
[speaker008:] But he admits he didn't follow the correct legal procedures before diverting the river. Now he has six months to set things right, which at least gives the ducks time to hatch their eggs and raise their families.
[speaker010:] One of the most famous names in British sports car history is being reborn. Despite legal battles over the use of the name, the Healey lives again; twenty-two years since the last one was built. This report from Tim Hurst.
[speaker009:] The builders of the new car are confident they'll win. They have the backing of the Healey family, and the new car, the Healey 3500, does look remarkably like its ancestor, the Healey 3000, last produced at Abingdon in 1967. The 3500 and its sister, the Healey Silverstone, have been developed at Slimbridge in Gloucestershire. Donald Healey, who designed and built the first Healeys in the 1940s, also worked on the new design details. His name was associated with sports cars for 20 years, and when he died last year his son became head of the family and a director of the new Healey Company.
[speaker006:] I think current motor cars will become you know sort of erm boxes all looking sort of the same, nothing outstanding. I suppose you except such motor cars as the Jaguar from this and Ferraris and Rolls Royce, but the majority of cars available to the public are very dull. I am sure they provide very economical motoring, but no-one gets much enjoyment out of it shall I say. But they will be expensive; somewhere between £24,000 to £35,000. For that 200 new owners every year will get V8 power, 0 to 60 in 6 seconds and a top speed of 140. Thirsty though, around 23 miles to the gallon. It's an all British car erm except for the Japanese tape deck, and the makers believe there are enough people around who still want to drive with the top down and the wind in their hair, people who are prepared to risk the weather, as well as an overdraft, to get behind the wheel of a Healey again. Hundreds of enthusiasts maintain their old Healeys in showroom condition because they feel that there's never been another car like it. Well, now there is, as long as they're allowed to go on calling it a Healey.
[speaker007:] It looks a bit chilly, and a team of balloonists have been feeling rather chilly today and have been spending most of the day in a fridge. They are trying to prepare themselves for a flight to the North Pole. The ironic thing is that the flight is to publicize damage to the ozone layer and it's gas from fridges that causes most of that damage. This report from Martin Dawes.
[speaker008:] It may be spring outside, but inside this cold storage shed it's permanently Arctic. The balloonists will need the clothes that make them resemble the Michelin man. Already experienced in flight, next month they'll be going over the North Pole. Something no-one has done in a balloon before. It's minus 20 in the shed; it will be three times worse at the North Pole.
[speaker001:] It's going to be much colder at altitude than on the ground, but one help is the fact that you move with the wind, so you don't get so much of a wind chill factor as you are on the ground, and we'll be putting on extra layers when we actually take off, so we hope we'll be warm enough. The flight is the publicize the threat to the earth's ozone layer. Many aerosols are now atmosphere friendly, but refrigerators are still using damaging chemicals. There's a certain poetry for the couple in using a giant refrigerator to boost their adopted cause.
[speaker003:] The ozone layer, as an environmental issue, is the most essential at the moment, and can be fixed tomorrow if everyone wanted.
[speaker001:] On the Arctic flight it won't be the air temperature that'll be the main danger. Landing in the sea could kill in seconds.
[speaker006:] In part two soccer action on the pitch, and behind the scenes the police operation to control the crowds. And remember this lot? We'll be monkeying about with them after the break. [recorded jingle] Welcome back. Well Easter traditionally brings lots of sport, and tonight we're off to the River Thames to preview one of the big events of the year, the University Boat Race. Tim Russon is down there and he sends this report from the banks of the Thames.
[speaker010:] On Saturday lunchtime people will be standing six and seven deep here as the crews from Oxford and Cambridge take to the Thames for the 135th University Boat Race. In a few moments we'll be joined by Dan Topolski, a man who did more for Oxford rowing than anyone else. But first let's go out onto the river to see how the Oxford Blue boat has been shaping.
[speaker004:] Oxford ready. On your marks, go.
[speaker010:] The hard work has been done. Muscles have been stretched and strengthened. The stamina has been topped up and tactics have been taught. All that's needed now is the finishing touches. This morning it was starts from the state boat; many a race has been won in the first hundred yards or so, and Oxford, as always, are coached and prepared for everything. On Saturday thousands will line the riverbanks. Around 12 million more will tune in to watch or listen to the Boat Race. Both crews have been training for months. Every stroke they make has been monitored. Perfection is the name of the game.
[speaker009:] The training has gone well all year and erm they are coming on just right for the race.
[speaker010:] Is the even in weights, age, experience?
[speaker009:] It should be a close race on paper, but when it comes down to it we'll see what happens.
[speaker004:] I think we're coming together well now and feeling pretty confident about the whole thing. For the last two weeks we've been sort of fine tuning and now everything's going to plan. It should be a good race.
[speaker010:] So, who's going to win? Well, Oxford have been the favourites for months; they always are, but as the tide changes so do their chances. Watching on for the past few weeks have been a small handful of experts, among them Jim Railton of The Times, who's been following the Boat Race for twenty years.
[speaker005:] I think Oxford have the better stride, but quite clearly they lack the power that Cambridge have. I think much will depend on the weather, but Cambridge really have a very big chance of winning this boat race.
[speaker010:] If the wind blows and the water's rough, Oxford are fancied to win. Some reckon Cambridge could even sink. But if the sun shines and the water's calm, Cambridge could swing the race their way. Well the Boat Race has been livened up this year with the publication of True Blue. It's all about the American mutiny of two years ago, written by Dan Topolski, who was chief coach then. Dan, could I ask you first of all how much the mutiny livened the old Boat Race up?
[speaker003:] There's always, you know, through the years there's always been something, some bit of drama, and particularly in the last ten years.
[speaker010:] Who do you fancy this year?
[speaker003:] I think they are very even crews. erm They are even in terms of age and experience erm Cambridge are considerably heavier erm but the erm a lot of the weight is very young erm so there's sort of inexperience there. I would tip Oxford because they look pretty charged up and tough.
[speaker010:] Thanks very much indeed, Dan. While the Boat Race fans are on the Thames towpath here, the soccer supporters will be out on the terraces this Easter, and no-one will be shouting louder than at the County ground, where Swindon are taking on West Bromwich Albion. Here's a round-up of all the soccer news. Starting with Hereford's dreams of reaching Wembley in the Sherpa Van trophy which were blown away last night by the Wolves. The third division leaders took the lead after 35 minutes, Andy Much the scorer. Minutes later the Wolves struck again, with the amazing Steve Bull scoring his 31st goal of the season, not one of the better ones though with the Hereford defence in a tangle. United put up a brave fight and a little more luck in the second half might have brought them a goal. Even in the dying minutes Phil Stand was still fighting hard to give them a goal. It's a busy Easter for all our soccer sides. The big game is at the County Ground. The Swindon win over Bournemouth found them the performance of the week award. Gavin Barnes has gone to Bournemouth for £100,000 today, but Swindon will be at full strength on Saturday. And from soccer to speedway, the season starts tomorrow and there's plenty of racing this weekend. Another Easter highlight is Gloucester's cup semi-final against Bath. I wonder what price the bookies would give us for a Central South treble; that's Oxford to win the Boat Race, Gloucester to reach the Cup Final and Swindon to beat West Brom. We're back on Tuesday. Hopefully to count the winnings.
[speaker003:] Well, as Hereford United were battling against on the pitch, behind the scenes West Mercia Police were mounting a major operation to control the crowd and prevent battles off the pitch between rival fans. John Kane joined them before the start of the match.
[speaker006:] A seven forty-five kick off. Wolverhampton Wanderers would have been visiting Hereford United in the semi-final of the Sherpa Van Trophy
[speaker004:] Two hours before kick off Chief Inspector Tony Judge briefs some of the 100 or so officers.
[speaker006:] So please, ladies and gentlemen, when you speak to the supporters, as I know you always do, let's keep it on a friendly basis. We're not expecting trouble from them and we're there to help and direct them into the areas where they can get into the ground.
[speaker004:] Tonight's operation will be the biggest mounted by West Mercia Police at the Hereford ground. Wolves' fans are coming with not the best of reputations. Already there have been reports of ticket forging and some Wolves fans have been drinking in the city since lunchtime. So what kind of result would the police like.
[speaker006:] Yes, well, being local men we're obviously there to protect but erm as a police officer sometimes it is advantageous if those who have the strongest following win.
[speaker004:] And by now the strongest following are pouring into the ground and the area known as The Cage is almost solid. To stop potential troublemakers extra lighting has been installed and officers keep watch from afar using high powered video cameras. So the club think the police do a good job?
[speaker010:] Oh yes, smashing, I mean its a combination between police and stewards and erm
[speaker001:] cos in a way they're to nothing aren't they. If there's too many policemen here people say waste of ratepayers' money
[speaker010:] Yes, yes, a total no win situation.
[speaker004:] And sadly last night Hereford were in a no win situation as Wolves beat them 2:0.
[speaker002:] After the match the police managed to keep the fans separated and there was very little trouble, but 28 were arrested and this time Wolves' fans can't really take the blame.
[speaker004:] Yes, of the 28 it looks at the moment as if there are only 4 from the Wolves area. Tell me about some of those incidents. Well, the most serious one, I suppose, is that there were some people in a car driving down the bottom end of Commerical Street and they had their windows broken by stones thrown by Hereford lads. [people talking] Often police at the match never really get a chance to see the game. Did Chris Fairburn know the final score?
[speaker007:] Yes, I know that Wolverhampton won, but I can't tell you the actual score.
[speaker004:] Police had to abandon a car chase after a serious of blunders. Several officers set out when a car was stolen from Gloucester City centre when a pedestrian had his foot crushed by a police car, then another vehicle crashed into the stolen Rapier. Finally, two officers were mauled by their own subject. A suspect escaped on foot. Well, with the Easter holidays now upon us our feathered friends in the countryside have decided to make their seasonal contribution. Hundreds of chicks and ducklings have been hatching out in plenty of time for the seasonal cheer, as Martin Graham-Scott found out.
[speaker005:] Easter is always a busy time at Folly Farm at Bourton-on-the-Water. All of a sudden there's a lot of noise activity. 50 chicks and ducklings have decided it's time to make an impression on the world. This morning Tom Bartlett, the farm's owner, proudly showed off his new arrivals to some fascinated visitors.
[speaker008:] We've got a little chick here look. There you see all the feathers down his leg. That's what we call a little chick erm and it comes from in China and don't feel him too tight; just feel how warm he is, do you see, isn't he lovely?
[speaker009:] What's he like to hold? Is he cuddly? What do you like about him?
[speaker004:] erm I like his head because it's all soft.
[speaker009:] Very cuddly. Tom has about 140 rare breeds of ducks and geese altogether. Thankfully none of them will end up on the table. They're produced exclusively as pets. A lot of these breeds come from Britain; they are mostly British, and when you think of seeing the mull, as we do around the countryside, coming back to their proper standard, it gives me considerable pleasure.
[speaker004:] Glad to hear they are not going to end up on the table. Now then, you don't have to admit your age, but hands up if you remember these lads: [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] Freezing off [LAUGHTER] [people talking]
[speaker006:] Monkees, welcome to Gloucester, some of the Monkees, yes you're not all here.
[speaker007:] Davy we can't find.
[speaker008:] Actually Davy is underneath the picture here, he's lost he [people talking]
[speaker009:] He's stuck in the traffic. from Gloucester, he thought it meant Glasgow. Only a minute 45 [people talking] it's hard enough.
[speaker010:] Stop talking about it and we might have more time.
[speaker001:] The seconds are ticking away. I'm sorry it's raining, it's a bit miserable isn't it?
[speaker002:] Terrible. My life is fading before my eyes.
[speaker001:] How is the show going down?
[speaker005:] Very well, very well. I mean you're in Gloucester in about an hour's time
[speaker007:] Can we make a joke on that, how can you
[speaker009:] They love us [people talking] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker010:] And what are the Monkees fans like now. Are they a new generation of Monkees fans?
[speaker001:] Well, they've usually got, you know, two ears, a couple of eyes
[speaker002:] Humanoid, usually humanoid
[speaker006:] We don't have too many
[speaker004:] A few reptiles, some amphibians
[speaker005:] We do have some pre-natal fans, however. There's some very large bellies.
[speaker006:] Are there old people?
[speaker001:] No, very large bellies. In the bellies, pre-natal.
[speaker004:] Young kids, old kids? [people talking] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker009:] Your parents, your mother in fact, is going to love our show tonight.
[speaker010:] Is that the problem, or is that the success, that the Monkees just appeal to everyone?
[speaker001:] Yes, yes, yes.
[speaker002:] Vegetables, we have lots of vegetables. Broccoli in the audience. I am sure... [people talking]
[speaker004:] You're in Gloucester tonight, in Oxford on Sunday, aren't you? Are you going to do another world tour?— I know that time's ticking away.
[speaker005:] We're going to Japan, Holland and America.
[speaker006:] Mars.
[speaker005:] Yes, we're going to open up a resort on Mars. Yes.
[speaker010:] We've got to rush back to the studio in Abingdon now. Thank you very much indeed for talking to us.
[speaker001:] Bye. Thank you. Farewell. Here we go. Bye, bye.
[speaker004:] Bye, bye. Well they haven't aged a bit, but maybe that's because I have. [pre-recorded jingle] The satellite picture gives us a good indication of what's to come this weekend. You can see from the sequence that cloud has spread over most of the region today, with just the occasional break letting the sun shine through. The thicker cloud out in the Atlantic will bring rain to all parts of the region tonight, but the clear skies further west will replace the cloud and rain tomorrow. Tonight thunder cloud will thicken and a band of rain will move steadily across the region. The minimum temperature tonight will be 5 Celsius, 41 Fahrenheit, with a strong south-westerly wind. The rain will have cleared by tomorrow morning, giving a bright sunny start to the day, although it will be a while before it warms up. The afternoon will remain partly sunny, but temperatures will only rise to 9 Celsius, 48 Fahrenheit and their could be an occasional shower. [recorded jingle] Now the main national news. There's evidence of a new breech of security at Heathrow as airlines are warned of an Easter hijack threat. There are to be new rules for lorries carrying explosives following yesterday's explosion at Peterborough. Cocaine Roy Garner gets a 22 year sentence for smuggling £100 million worth of drug into Britain. The Scottish M P, Robert MacTaggert, has died. He was MP for Glasgow Central for nine years. A church minister has called for the death penalty for terrorists at the funeral of an Ulster policeman. The inflation rate is up to 7.8 per cent, dashing hopes of an early cut in interest rates, and the FTSE 100 Index is up 8.6 at 2,057.2. Well, if you're about to set off for your Easter weekend, do take care on the roads. There are long tail backs on the M 4 and the M 40. Also, don't forget on Saturday night to put your clocks forward. It's this weekend that they go forward. That's it from Cathy and I for now. The late news is at 10.30, but for now goodbye, we'll be back on Tuesday. Bye, bye. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Daughter of wealthy farming family found dead in double shooting. Top army college is at risk from terrorists say villagers found in a gypsy camp. And the Swedish firm that's using paper to make their offices green.
[speaker004:] Good evening. First tonight the daughter of a millionaire farmer has been beaten and shot to death. Her boyfriend is also dead, killed by a shotgun. Their bodies have been found in a secluded house with a shotgun lying nearby, and detectives are trying to piece together how they died. As Tim Hurst reports, they don't believe anyone else was involved.
[speaker009:] A 999 call brought police and ambulancemen to an isolated house at Upton St. Leonards near Gloucester shortly after 2 o'clock this morning. They found the body of Lucy Chamberlain in the grounds. She was 19, the daughter of one of the county's leading farming families. She was a student studying at Oxford. At a nearby door, half in the house and half out of the house, they found the body of her boyfriend, Jamie Saunders, who was 22 and who lived at the house with his mother. A shotgun was found by his body.
[speaker004:] Absolutely shocked and devastated.
[speaker009:] Lucy Chamberlain was a member of the Gloucestershire family which owns Ashleworth Court near Tewkesbury. She lived there with her family, some of whom are on a skiing holiday in Europe. They're being told by Lucy's father, who flew out to see them this morning. Lucy's grandfather is well known in the county. He's the leader of Tewkesbury Borough Council, and today too upset to talk of his granddaughter's death. Lucy was well know in Ashleworth, where she was a regular in the local pub.
[speaker005:] She used to come in here drinking. I think she is a very nice young lady, very nice.
[speaker009:] Did she come in on her own, or with friends?
[speaker005:] With friends. She used to come in with friends, occasionally, to have a drink and that all together. I think she was a very nice girl. I'm very surprised it happened.
[speaker009:] Police have spoken to both families and to friends of the couple. They want to know the background to Lucy's visit to Upton St. Leonards last night.
[speaker005:] An inquest into the deaths of the couple was opened this afternoon. There the police said that Lucy Chamberlain had been identified after the shooting by documents in her handbag and by her distinctive clothing; clothing later confirmed by her father in a telephone call from the police. Lucy Chamberlain had died by blows from a blunt instrument, as well as from a shotgun wound. Jamie Saunders was identified after the shooting by a neighbour. He had died from a shotgun would. The inquest was adjourned until next month.
[speaker007:] Oxfordshire is the most violent county in England when it comes to rural violence. Berkshire comes a close second. The figures are published in a Home Office Report out today. It was commissioned because of the increasing number of gang fights involving so-called lager louts in country towns. Debbie Kelly reports.
[speaker010:] Fights between rival gangs of lager louts were turning town centres into no-go areas on Friday and Saturday nights, so a report was commissioned. Its findings: more violent crimes were committed in Oxfordshire per head of the population than anywhere else in Britain. Berkshire comes a close second. Few of Oxfordshire's towns have escaped the violence. Two policemen were hurt when 40 youths fought in the centre of Wallingford. On New Year's Eve in Witney another two officers were injured in a fight. Thames Valley Police Force says it needs 800 more officers to cope with rising crime, starting with 200 this year. They've been given 44. But the Home Office report suggests other ways of tackling the problem: more low and non-alcohol drinks on sale. Already many Oxfordshire pubs run an identity card scheme. Youngsters have to prove they're over 18 before they're served. But the report says schemes should be treated with caution because troublemakers just go and buy alcohol elsewhere. Many landlords feel the pubs have done their bit.
[speaker009:] I don't think it's the publicans. I think that maybe the magistrates are not using enough deterrent shall we say.
[speaker010:] The report suggests a major problem is that young people are bored, with nowhere to go.
[speaker006:] They're not old enough to go to the pubs, or they don't seem old enough, so they just go down the park and get drunk. People just go wild and that because there's nothing to do. The Council are not prepared to build something, even sports centres and that are not open late nowadays and people can't go in.
[speaker010:] Well the Government's paper recognizes the lack of facilities which those youngsters were talking about and the link with late night violence. House of Commons leader, John Wakeham, who's heading the committee that's looking at the problem says it's an issue which must be tackled locally.
[speaker001:] What we want local communities to do is to get together and look at the situation on the ground, that is to say the council, the police, the magistrates, the brewers, people who run fast food shops, the planners. All of them have got a part to play, because we believe there are erm it's a national problem, but the solutions are in each community different and we need the community to look at a situation and see what can be done on the ground, and I can give many examples of the sort of thing one has in mind.
[speaker010:] Are we talking about more facilities, or more controls on the
[speaker001:] What sort of thing — for instance, one of the problems in some areas might be that the buses erm don't erm that there is an insufficient bus service late in the evening, so a lot of kids hang about waiting for a bus and get into trouble waiting. In another area it may be that all the fast food shops are all close to each other and so there is bound to be a congestion when the pubs empty. If they could be spaced out a bit, then it would probably be easier and less likely to be trouble. Another place, for example, it might be a good idea to stagger the times of closing of late night discos and so on so that everybody doesn't come out all at once. But we don't believe that those sort of problems can be solved centrally, we believe that local communities can look at their own areas and see what they can do to lessen the problem.
[speaker007:] A Cheltenham man has been sent to gaol for two months after breaking a policeman's nose. Gloucester Crown Court heard that 24 year old Michael Jones headbutted and punched PC Kevin Frost as he tried to arrest him on suspicion of damaging a burger bar in Cheltenham. Jones pleaded guilty to unlawfully wounding PC Frost. Judge Gabriel Hatton said anyone who assaulted the police must go to gaol.
[speaker001:] Villagers believe that a proposed gypsy camp could serve as a base for a terrorist attack on a military college in Oxfordshire. County planners are looking at two fields near Watchfield. Both are within a quarter of a mile of the Royal Military College of Science. The college is attended by military personnel and civil servants, and frequently visited by V I Ps and politicians. The parish council say they're all potential targets. Cathy Alexander reports. The two sites earmarked as possible gypsy camps are within easy view of the college. They are also close to the homes of staff and their families. The college trains civil servants, Ministry of Defence staff and military personnel in both technical and military matters. It attracts many V I Ps, high ranking serving officers and politicians. All this, say people living in the nearby village of Watchfield, make the college a prime terrorist target.
[speaker002:] Not 30 miles away from here, at Chippenham, they erm three members, believed to be from the I R A, attempted to assassinate the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King. They used as the base for their attack a campsite in the vicinity. Is it any wonder that we are nervous about having a campsite, to which anyone can come, located so close to members of this community.
[speaker001:] The villagers are not alone in their concern. The College itself has warned the County Council that such a camp could undermine security because the I R A could use it as a cover while surveying the staff and premises. Oxfordshire already has permanent sites for long-stay gypsies in the district. The Watchfield camp would be for travellers passing through the area. The Council say it would only be temporary, five years maximum, until another permanent site is found. They also stress that the gypsy families would be registered, minimising any security risk. They'll make their final decision on the site later this year.
[speaker008:] River pollution across the region has reached record levels, and a Government Minister has warned farmers who dump their waste in the waterways to clean up their act. He has told them there's no excuse and tough new action will be taken against those who persist in damaging the environment. This report from David Watson.
[speaker002:] Today's 48 page report on the state of water pollution paints a depressing picture. Despite a concerted Government-initiated campaign to encourage farmers to clean up their act, the number of reported cases of pollution has risen to record levels. Dairy and beef farming continued to be the biggest culprits. There's concern too about pesticides, silage effluent and slurry waste. The report was issued on the day the farming industry began its two-day annual event for effluent management. The downpour seemed to add further to the depressing conclusions of the report.
[speaker006:] We believe that farmers should take an increased interest now in these matters because the erm general public are concerned about the rising instance of pollution and I think that farmers owe it to the remainder of the community to come to places like Muck '89 and see for themselves exactly what new machinery is available to combat pollution.
[speaker002:] The Minister announced increased anti-pollution grants available to farmers, but wouldn't be drawn on their likely success.
[speaker006:] Speak to me in a year's time and I'll tell you.
[speaker002:] With water privatization looming large, and with prosecutions against farmers for pollution continuing at an arguably pitiful level, concern naturally focusses on the future accountability of water companies to keep water courses clean. But the Minister promised tough new legal penalties for all polluters.
[speaker006:] I think the court should take a far tougher attitude towards those people who break the rule.
[speaker004:] Even though it's bad news overall that the total number of incidents have increased again, there is good new in that there seems to be this increase in awareness and realization and commitment on the part of The Farming Union, the farmers and the water authorities to take the problem seriously and tackle it.
[speaker002:] It was a depressing start to Muck '89, farming's annual event where the latest technology to cope with pollution is on show. Among the hi-tech solutions reminders of the consequences of the problems.
[speaker005:] The is the organic to take out all the oxygen from the water. The more serious type of pollution, which is the silage liquor or farm slurry, that has such a immediately, it dies straightaway.
[speaker002:] Amid the disillusionment felt by some, that the minority of farmers are spoiling it for the rest in not keeping the environment clean, one manufacturer at least, hopes not dampened by the weather, felt there was room for optimism.
[speaker006:] Two barrels of chemicals felt off the back of a lorry without the driver noticing. The barrels of sodium hypochlorite, which is used to clean beer bottles, fell onto the side of the A 40 at Witney in Oxfordshire. The Fire Brigade's Chemical Unit was called out to identify the substances. They were found to be harmless and the drums were removed.
[speaker010:] And concern over highly toxic chemicals released during the bleaching of paper is having a big spin-off on a locally based company. It's been known for some time that dioxins are created when chlorine is used to make paper white, but in many situations it's been difficult to find substitutes. Now the Swindon based offshoot of a Swedish company is ready to exploit a new process. It'll be the first in the country to offer unbleached office paper. From Sweden, Martin Dawes reports.
[speaker008:] The paper industry is one of Sweden's biggest and most profitable. At the Hulsta Mill, near Stockholm, thousands of trees are brought in and stripped of their bark every day. But scientists began to realize that the industry was giving birth to a serious pollution hazard.
[speaker001:] It was the fishermen who first realized something was seriously wrong. The fish they were pulling out of the Swedish lakes were badly deformed. Chlorine used in the bleaching process was releasing dioxin into the lakes. It's one of the most dangerous substances known to man.
[speaker008:] In Sweden consumer pressure has a history of forcing changes on industry. At supermarkets there is now a range of unbleached paper goods, not just nappies. Milk cartons inside are a natural brown. They are only brown outside because they're printed. But one of the most lucrative markets, the office, has been untouched. It's worth millions. Computer printers everywhere are turning out miles of paper, but until recently the right quality of environment-friendly couldn't be made. At Hulsta they've developed a new process. They pulp all the wood, not just part of it; bleach it with hydrogen peroxide. The result, no dioxins and double the amount of paper produced from each tree.
[speaker007:] This paper saves forests. It uses mechanical pulp which has a high yield.
[speaker008:] But the Swindon company that'll be marketing the paper know the green issue won't be the top priority for their customers.
[speaker004:] Businessmen are fairly hard and they will want to make sure that the financial issues are covered, and I think those are the first interesting areas for them.
[speaker008:] Do you think the green issue will help?
[speaker004:] I believe that everybody in the world is becoming more conscious of the green issue.
[speaker008:] The paper has taken 20 per cent of the Swedish market in just four months. The Swindon company doesn't think it'll do anything so dramatic in Britain, but managers believe they are in a market with a huge potential.
[speaker009:] Strange to see Swindon in the snow and Sweden in bright sunshine. One of the most maligned concrete shopping centres is to get a facelift at a cost of £60 million. There'll be new shops, a new roof and better access. Local residents say about time too. Ken Barnes reports.
[speaker003:] Developers, councillors and shoppers all agree it's an eyesore. Friar's Square in the centre of Aylesbury is outdated and ugly, but a facelift is at hand although it'll set developers, Unilever and Friends Provident, back £60 million. Money well spent according to Aylesbury Vale District Council.
[speaker010:] Essentially it's 280,000 square feet of shopping; variety stores, a major departmental store. All covered over and providing an exciting theme shopping environment for the public, one that we think, when it's finished, will be comparable with any other shopping centre in the south east, any of the latest modern shopping centres.
[speaker003:] Friar's Square was opened in 1969, one of the early concrete town centre experiments. Lessons have been learned, but conservationists have long campaigned for a rethink.
[speaker001:] Architecturally it's not a pleasing sight. It's really a legacy of the Sixties. Shoppers don't like it. It doesn't complement the conservation area and I don't think it really attracts trade any more. It's really had its day.
[speaker002:] This place here is diabolical, it's terrible.
[speaker003:] Why?
[speaker002:] Well there's no amenities, nothing. It's open, you walk along and there's rain dripping down. Terrible.
[speaker003:] I just don't like the greyness, that's what I don't like.
[speaker006:] I don't know, I just don't like it. There's nothing here, is there?
[speaker004:] No, I suppose it isn't very attractive. There's no grass area. Just a few flowers would brighten it up a bit.
[speaker003:] Do you think it's an attractive building? What, Friar's Square? No, certainly not, do you? It's a very expensive patch-up, isn't it?
[speaker010:] It's not a patch-up. It's a major attack, if you like, on a 1969 shopping centre.
[speaker003:] The market will return to the cobbles on Market Square, and shops will stay open when construction starts early next year, with Friar's Square Mark Two ready for business in spring 1991.
[speaker004:] And plans have been revealed for a £16 million shopping market as part of the redevelopment scheme for Gloucester Docks. It'll be known as the Southgate Arcade. Designers say that while still reflecting the nautical air of a Victorian dockland, the new development will incorporate a number of American ideas, based on the festival markets found throughout the United States. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] Still to come, another of our special reports from Florida and the enlightened council that's collecting lamp posts. Find out why in part two. [recorded jingle] Welcome back. A night of second division football brought double success for our two Central South sides. Oxford Manager, Brian Houghton, was delighted to see United beat his old team, Hull City, 2:1. And there are no complaints either from Swindon's Lou Macarie as his side boosted their promotion hopes with a 1:0 win over Bradford City. Tim Russon reports.
[speaker010:] Oh to be at Swindon Town in springtime. Luckily it takes more than swirling snow and an Arctic wind to blow Swindon off course these days. After 10 minutes Town were ahead, Jones the maker, Duncan Sheerer the taker. Bradford were no pushovers and with the snow settling mistakes were always going to be made. Fortunately, Town were let off from this one. As always, Swindon piled on the pressure, racing, chasing and challenging for every ball, and shooting when they had the chance. A second or so before half time Bradford should have been dead and buried as Tommy Jones hit the post. In the second half, Swindon were again on top whilst Maclaren fired them up with a free kick. Now for those who think they know better than the rest, watch this tackle coming up. Would you have given a penalty? Watch it again. The referee turned away, leaving 6,000 Swindon fans, including Steve White, shaking their heads in disbelief. Mind you, Swindon only had themselves to blame for not getting more goals. One of these days some team is going to suffer when Town really get their shooting boots on. In the dying minutes Bradford had Lee Sinot send off for arguing, but by then Swindon were home and well almost dry. And three more points takes them right back into the battle for the promotion play-off.
[speaker004:] And now to the third of our special reports to find out what businesses from our region are learning from the Florida experience. Marconi Electronic Devices of Swindon have no real market in the U K for one of their most important products, an electronic tag used to keep tracks of people on remand or probation as an alternative to imprisonment. Florida was the first place in the world to try out the scheme, in spite the cynics who said it wouldn't work. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] Electronic tagging has proved successful in both the remand and probation services in West Palm Beach, Florida. For the defendant it means a life without the restrictions and overcrowding of prison, where the only contact with the family is at visiting times. It's helped many people start on a new life away from crime and that's good news for Marconi Electronic Devices of Swindon who design and manufacture the electronic tags. Originally they were cumbersome, but Marconi have now designed a lightweight model. The idea has had opponents who claim its an easy option for people who would otherwise be behind bars. Nevertheless, Judge Edward Garrison went against the general feeling of his colleagues and gave the idea its trial run.
[speaker003:] I don't believe the programme has taken off here as rapidly as it possibly could have had all the judges been as enthusiastic as I was in the beginning, but I would say 5 to 10 per cent of the sentenced people now are at least given that option. I started it basically on my own initiative and I said that for six months I would use it on people that I was going to sentence just to maintain a one judge control over the project and see how it was going. Before the end of the six months was up the other judges were trying to steal the devices and put their own people on it.
[speaker005:] For what sort of offences would you recommend it?
[speaker003:] We started out on a pilot project here in late 1984, with very minor offences. We were using it for drunk driving offenders and repeat traffic offenders, not so much because I felt they were the only people who were appropriate for it, but because we wanted to make sure we started with a group who were not likely to get into major trouble should the project not work out. As a sentencing judge you are always looking for options erm a variety of options to impose so that each individual sentence that you impose on a defendant is tailored to either the rehabilitation or the punishment ends of sentencing. From a practical standpoint we are suffering from some jail overcrowding problems here and certainly this was one option to take an offender who doesn't really belong behind iron bars and punish them at home, and from a personal standpoint I was sort of intrigued with the novelty of it all and the technology aspects of it.
[speaker005:] The scheme was extended to more serious offenders. A woman from Texas saw that there was a growing for advice for the police, probation service and private monitoring companies about in-house arrest, the American name for electronic tagging. It's her job to point out ways the system can be used to everyone's advantage.
[speaker006:] probation officer with the state in Texas and they decide they want a trial at monitoring and they ask if I would be interested and so we begin the programme, the first in-house operative programme in Texas, and we set up our programme from scratch and started just kind of working on trial and error trying to make the thing worked. What I have always said is that way you set up supervision behind the programme is the most crucial, so therefore if I can sit down and help them to set up the most strenuous type of supervision to go along with the equipment, then they feel safe and the community feel safer that none of them will go out and commit another crime.
[speaker005:] The British Government is eager to try out new methods for dealing with remand prisoners. The go-ahead has already been given to build privately run remand centres. Home Office officials from Britain went to West Palm Beach to see how electronic tagging systems are working there before introducing a trial run for people on probation in Nottingham later this year. If the Nottingham test proves as successful as the system seems to have worked in Florida, it could mean even better business for Marconi in Swindon who promise more jobs.
[speaker006:] In Swindon we are obviously delighted because all of the production of the equipment, all the design and the research, is all carried out at Swindon except for the software, which is provided by C S I. We actually believe that our dedicated production line will require expansion later in the year.
[speaker005:] Tomorrow night we hear about another business success story from the region, but again they sell most of their products in the U S A. The story of Oxford Medical tomorrow on Central News South. [recorded jingle]
[speaker007:] Gloucestershire's ambulance service is giving itself a new look. The traditional red stripe, common to all ambulance fleets, is to be replaced by a striking green and yellow design. It is thought that the old style ambulances are becoming indistinguishable from many normal commercial vehicles and that something more eyecatching was needed. Gloucestershire is the first of many ambulance services intending to adopt the new livery and they hope eventually to have it on their whole fleet. Sooner or later it seems everything becomes collectable; old telephone boxes, ancient park benches, and now the hunt is on for... lamp posts, from all over the world, as Richard Hudson-Evans reports.
[speaker004:] The visitors are beginning to tie up in Stratford. Another tourist season is underway, but a vintage lamp post from Dublin is hardly very Shakespearean and yet it's all part of an illuminating plan. These are the first fruits of a beginning letter to all the London embassies. Too large to go in the diplomatic bags, the first monster packing cases containing old lamp posts have started to arrive in Warwickshire County Council's Highways Depot on Dunchurch.
[speaker008:] Just put it down on the side there.
[speaker009:] Don't drop it whatever you do.
[speaker004:] The old street lamps of the world are on their way to Stratford. Where's this one from then?
[speaker010:] I think this one's from Portugal.
[speaker004:] Wouldn't it be nice if overseas pilgrims to Shakespeare's town had something to remind them of home, and there's nothing quite so familiar as a lamp post just like the one on the corner back home in Lisbon perhaps.
[speaker001:] We started off by writing to the embassies in London and all of the embassies that we tried were very enthusiastic, but we were surprised a the first country that actually supplied a column was Hungary. Apparently in Hungary Shakespeare is very well read and very well thought of. So that was the first one to arrive crated up to the London embassy. We haven't as yet had one from America, or indeed from Japan, but we're hopeful. We hope that when the others are erected that they will consider themselves left out and perhaps join in.
[speaker004:] So, the appeal to visitors from Texas or Tokyo is 'send Stratford your old lamp posts to complete the set'.
[speaker007:] I should think the dogs of Stratford-upon-Avon are delighted with the council's collection! [recorded jingle] Well, yesterday's forecast promised you snow, and this was the result. Drivers faced a tricky journey to work. Snow settled across the countryside and bitter winds forced those in exposed areas to take shelter and dream of summer and the tropical temperatures of last week. You can see the cloud that brought today's snow has been feeding up into the country from northern France and it will continue to do so for at least the next day or so. Tonight will see most of the rain and snow die away, with only occasional showers over the higher ground and in the east of the region. It will feel rather cold, with temperatures falling to a minimum of 2 Celsius, 36 Fahrenheit. Tomorrow morning will be mostly dry, with any thicker cloud in the east of the region and only light rain or drizzle over the Cotswolds. Everywhere is still very chilly, with temperatures slow to pick up. There'll be very little change in the afternoon, with again any light rain or drizzle confined to the higher ground. Top temperature 6 Celsius, 43 Fahrenheit, but feeling colder in places exposed to a fresh northeasterly wind. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] And now a look at tonight's main stories. South Africa has threatened to stop Namibia's independence process after clashes with nationalist rebels. The director of public prosecutions has given the driver in the Purley train crash limited immunity from charges. The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, will arrive in London tonight to begin talks with Mrs Thatcher. 2,000 extra security officers have been brought in. Work has begun to refloat the oil tanker which caused pollution off Alaska. David Gower is the new England cricket captain. And the FTSE 100 shares index is down 4.6 at 2,078.2 and the pound is worth 1 dollar and 70 cents. The end of quite an international edition of Central News I'd say.
[speaker007:] And I see you've got the longest trip to the sunniest country [LAUGHTER]. We'll both be back tomorrow night, so please try and join us then. Goodnight.
[speaker002:] Goodnight. [recorded jingle] 240 jobs to go at rocket research plant that pioneered Blue Streak. Hunger striker by the pub philosopher who wants Gorbachev to have him returned to Czechoslovakia. And the brothers who are getting all steamed up about their driving test. [recorded jingle] Good evening. First tonight 250 jobs are to go at the Royal Ordnance Rocket Research Plant which pioneered the infamous Blue Streak project. The losses are blamed on the lack of research cash and the need to reorganise, but union leaders says the cuts are cosmetic and unnecessary and they may consider industrial action. Kim Barnes reports.
[speaker003:] The Royal Ordnance site at Westcote near Aylesbury has been at the forefront of rocket research and development since it was set up in 1946. It's design teams were behind the Blue Streak rocket in the 60s, followed by the Blood Hound and Sea Wolf. Now Ordnance say 250 jobs will go as part of reorganization, blaming lack of funding for research. They say Westcote will remain a centre of excellence for research, design, development and production of liquid engines, but solid fuel powered motors will be moved to Summerfield near Kidderminster, while the Waltham Abbey plant will close. Staff who'd long feared redundancies were on the cards hear the news at meetings today.
[speaker005:] We're very expensive they tell us.
[speaker003:] What was the reaction of the unions to that.
[speaker005:] Very calm this morning. I don't think it sunk in much. We'll protest, but whether it will get us anywhere I don't know.
[speaker003:] Ordnance, owned by British Aerospace since 1985, says there's duplication and under-use, but union leaders are sceptical that job losses are the answer.
[speaker005:] I find it difficult to understand how they are going to carry on experimental work at other depots that aren't really equipped to carry out experimental work, and so for that reason, I mean, there's a great deal of concern that these cuts aren't rather more cosmetic that they've been made out to be.
[speaker007:] Although British Aerospace are saying that all the work is going to be carried out, one begins to have some doubts and fears as to whether or not that's 100 per cent true.
[speaker003:] It's not yet known how the job losses will be distributed amongst the 440 staff. Some may be offered jobs at other sites. Negotiations with the unions are just beginning as to how the blow will fall.
[speaker009:] The Russians are obviously impressed by the standard of schools in Cheltenham. An exact replica of one of them is being shipped to Armenia, right down to blackboards and chalk, but it's taken top level agreement between Mr Gorbachev and Mrs Thatcher to make it happen. Tim Hurst reports. 400 Armenian schoolchildren are being taught in tents since earthquakes destroyed their school in Lininecarn killing 52 children and 6 teachers. Next month work will start on the levelled site, building a new school with a complete construction kit from England, a replica from a primary school in Cheltenham. It's based on a design that's earthquake-proof. A steel frame, bolted together, which can be finished in a matter of months, before the Armenian winter sets in with temperatures of 40 degrees below freezing, it's the brainchild of a school consultancy from Gloucester, but it's taken agreement between Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher at today's Downing Street talks to make it happen. And that agreement follows advice from the design consultants in Gloucester.
[speaker010:] Our system of construction has been used for many years all over this country, by the sponsoring authorities and others, and erm we don't have the earthquake requirements, but we do need many high value schools both quickly and on time, and we've completed something like 2,000 projects similar to this over many years.
[speaker009:] So the school's package has been used widely used in Britain, but this time the designers had to switch to Russian to get their ideas across. It could be the first of dozens of identical schools in Armenia, and the five million pound cost is being partly met by the British Armenia Appeal. All the contractors have agreed to do it at cost. They'll take no profit from this deal to get Russian children back to school.
[speaker002:] President Gorbachev's visit has promoted a Czech dissident to go on hunger strike. Dr. Julius Tomlin made international headlines when he was appointed the Philosopher in Residence at a Swindon pub. He started his ten day fast to try to get his Czech nationality papers back so he can visit his homeland. Here's Martin Dawes.
[speaker008:] An Oxford bedsit is home for the philosopher who took on the Czechoslovakian secret state. It cost him his papers, the Czechs bounced them in 1981 while Dr. Tomlin was visiting fellow academics in Oxford. His refuge for the hunger strike will be the Swindon pub that pays him to lecture to punters on Plato. His contract for five talks is the only paying work he's got. Dr. Tomlin has written a letter to Mr Gorbachev explaining about his hunger strike, and asking for support to help make him a Czech national again. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] The News at One. Mrs Thatcher gives Mr Gorbachev the warmest of welcomes as they start their talks at Number Ten.
[speaker008:] While Mrs Thatcher and the Soviet leader settle down to a lunch of veal glazed with mustard and rosemary, washed down by Chateau Margot, Dr. Tomlin only allows himself French water and sea salt. He sees the visit and his ten day denial of food as a way of focussing attention.
[speaker005:] It's a unique opportunity to do something really strong for the sake of the restoration of my citizenship, while at the same time by that of course I'm doing something for the human rights of every single citizen in Czechoslovakia.
[speaker008:] Do you think Mr Gorbachev will take any notice of you?
[speaker005:] Well I would like to hope that he would take notice of my letter even if I wouldn't get any support from British Press.
[speaker008:] In an upstairs bedroom earmuffs will help Dr. Tomlin to rest and pray during his fast. As a philosopher he says he doesn't know if God exists. His prayer is 'God if you are, give me strength'.
[speaker001:] A motorist has been killed in crash with a lorry in Oxfordshire. The accident happened on the A 43 near Baynards Green. The dead man, who hasn't been named, had to be cut free from his car. And a seriously injured motorist was airlifted to hospital by helicopter after a head-on crash at Shipton-under-Wychwood. Emergency services were called to clear oil and diesel from the road. And wet roads have made driving conditions treacherous in many parts of the region. In Gloucestershire a woman was trapped by her legs after a two-car collision on the A 46 at Cleeve Hill near Cheltenham. She was cut free by firemen and is now recovering in hospital.
[speaker006:] Staff and patients have finally been moved out of a unique hospital ward. The Beeson Ward at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford has pioneered a new type of nursing, but it's being closed down because the local Health Authority says it doesn't have enough money to keep it going. Cathy Alexander reports.
[speaker001:] Nursing staff at the famous Beeson Ward had hoped for a last minute reprieve, but the Health Authority stuck by its decision to close down the only ward in the country where nurses, not doctors, have the responsibility for admitting and discharging patients. The last few patients, mainly elderly, have now been moved to other hospitals and today staff were sadly clearly up after a farewell party, three and a half years after the research ward opened.
[speaker007:] I've been here since the start, three and a half years, and it's just so sad. It was here when it started and the ward was empty and I've watched it fill up, and now I'm watching it empty again.
[speaker001:] How did the patients react when they were moved out this week?
[speaker007:] Very upset, very upset indeed.
[speaker008:] I think the atmosphere is certainly lost and the environment is different today without the patients, and their attitude was that this was more like a family than a hospital ward and they were treated as family. And that was very special to them, but also special to us as well.
[speaker001:] When it opened the ward was heralded as a new way forward in nursing care. It was unusual because specialist nurses did much of the doctors' work. Patients were those in need of primary nursing care and rehabilitation. There was much more teamwork between nurses and doctors than normally takes place in hospitals. Qualified nurses were therefore able to extend their knowledge and build close relationships with their patients. But the ward's life as a teaching an research place is now over. It's 22 staff are being redeployed. Oxford Health Authority says it cannot afford the £200,000 each year to keep it going. There is one ray of hope, though. The Authority is talking about a new unit, similar to Beeson, with 16 new beds. A decision will be made on that later this month.
[speaker010:] 200 hospital clerical workers from all over Oxfordshire, who are working to rule, have voted to suspend their action. The Health Authority has agreed. The Health Authority has agreed to hold further talks about regrading and pay. At a mass meeting today members of NALGO agreed to work normally until the results of that meeting, on April 17, are known.
[speaker002:] A man accused of killing stamp dealer failed to appear in court because there weren't enough prison officers to escort him. Timothy Spencer, who's 21, is accused of murdering 60 year old Willy Day at his home in Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. The court was told there's a shortage of officers at the prison where Spencer is being held. He's due to appear before the court tomorrow. Police investigating the death of the Gloucester teenager, Kirk Douglas, say a car chase may hold a vital clue to the case. Kirk Douglas died last month after an alleged stabbing incident as his home in Bridge Street. Police are now appealing for witnesses to a daytime car chase through the Tredworth area of the city. It's believed four vehicles were involved in the chase; a white pick- up truck, a red Datsun Cherry, and two Saabs. Two men are being held in police custody, charged with Mr Douglas's murder. [recorded jingle]
[speaker007:] Still to come in part two, the stage revival that even the wicked old witch won't be able to stop. And the brothers who are going flat out to lose their L-plates. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] Hello again. A firm from Oxfordshire has just launched the latest equipment to help doctors find out more about heart and brain illnesses, but much of it won't ever be used in Britain. Oxford Medical has fought off worldwide competition for a major slice of the lucrative American market where health is big business. [recorded jingle]
[speaker006:] Oxford Medical, whose headquarters are in Abingdon, are world leaders in the field of instruments for research into cardiology and neurology. The specialise in equipment which monitors the heart and sleep. All the company's research, development and manufacturing takes place in Abingdon, but less than 10 per cent of their products stay in the U K. The bulk are sold in the U S A and Oxford recently won a Queen's Award for export achievement. The company has made huge advances by introducing solid state and microchip technology, which means they can process results faster than ever before.
[speaker004:] Traditionally, 24 hours of heart beat would be recorded on a device using a cassette tape, which works perfectly well, but it has the obvious problems of mechanical parts, moving parts, it makes a noise that might keep you awake at night. But over the last year or so we've developed a solid state equivalent, which has no moving parts at all. The replacement for the cassette is a bank of memory chips and that twenty four hours of your heart beats.
[speaker006:] Oxford Medical's work in sleep monitoring is also said to help people suffering from epilepsy or sleep disorders.
[speaker005:] The subject will actually come into the sleep laboratory in the afternoon, would be wired up to the small box, would go home, essentially carrying just a normal briefcase, a businessman from the office or whatever. When they get home, when they go to bed, they put the briefcase on the floor beside the bed and we will be taking into here signals from their brain, from their eye movement and also from their chin, because when people sleep we actually move the different stages of sleep.
[speaker006:] The results are recorded on a tape which the doctor can playback to monitor brain signals, eye movements and breathing.
[speaker005:] One can actually see on this trace a period here where there was no airflow, so in this particular period the subject would not be breathing. The body's mechanism takes over because the logical consequence of that would be to die, and we can see here that there is an arousal of something like eight to ten seconds, and during that period the patient would wake up, probably not sufficient that they would know about it in the morning, and we can see here that the breathing starts again.
[speaker006:] Once the equipment is ready, it's packed for export to Oxford centres all over the world. The company's North American headquarters is in Clearwater, Florida. They also look after sales for Latin America and the Caribbean. Competition is fierce and this is where American marketing methods have to be used to help British products compete. One of the biggest differences is telemarketing, where a group of specially trained sales people ring doctors and hospitals all day long to try to encourage them to buy Oxford Medical's products. And who would ever dream of putting sex appeal into a campaign to sell medical instruments in the U K?
[speaker003:] and we put a little sex appeal into it and turn it into what I thought was a very contemporary, viable and graphic arts piece that would be very broadly hung on the wall and used. That particular model is the result of two different casting calls. We saw probably a total of 24 different young men from a professional model agency. Everything was very legitimate and above board, but we had very specific requirements of what we wanted this representation to be, because it is life size.
[speaker006:] So how does the team in Clearwater cope with being so far from the Abingdon headquarters?
[speaker003:] One of the most difficult things is not being able to have the impromptu meetings with your colleagues. We do rely very heavily on the telephone and the fax. Many of us are in here at seven o'clock in the morning because that is noon time over there and so we only have about half a day to work together.
[speaker006:] In spite of the distance from home, this little bit of Oxford appears to have a bright future in the U S A, in spite of the competition from 35 other companies and there are plans for special videos to be made so that the employees in Clearwater can learn something of what life is like for their counterparts in Abingdon. Tomorrow night on Central News South we meet the Rover Group's man in America, Graham Morris, and there's new about what might lie in store for British people thinking of emigrating or setting up business in this. [recorded jingle] The first opera ever to be staged in England is to be recreated to celebrate its 300th anniversary. Dido and Anaeas by Henry Purcell, was originally performed in 1689 to commemorate a world coronation. Now a school choir from Oxford is performing it using period costume to reflect the era in which it was written. Martin Graham-Scott was at the dress rehearsal.
[speaker005:] Purcell's Dido and Anaeas is a singing and dancing production of the tragic mythological tale. Dido is the Queen of Carthage, Anaeas is the King of Troy, but their love is to be destroyed by a wicked sorceress. Now Oxford Girls Choir is putting on England's first opera to celebrate its 300th anniversary, with performances at Abingdon, Oxford and London. To recreate Purcell's era, the director has chosen to use the dance and costume of the seventeenth century.
[speaker001:] It's been a bit difficult because we are used to doing the things that choirs do, having music and hiding behind it, and of course getting the girls to be uninhibited has been a bit difficult, but they've taken to it very well actually and having the costumes for today's rehearsals has been a great help. Richard Vendome invited musicians from the Royal College of Music and the male voices from Tiffin School in London. The age of the cast ranges from 12 to 19 and the whole production has been put together in just three months. [singing]
[speaker005:] Anaeas is in love with Dido but is told that he must leave in order to save trial. So he has to go back home and leave her and in telling her of course he breaks her heart. [singing]
[speaker004:] There's not a great deal for me to say, but I seem to spend most of my time on stage. I have to stand there, like some sort of statute I think, and let everybody act around me.
[speaker006:] She's a woman in love, so she's very melodramatic and a bit neurotic and there's lots of to do, but it's good fun. You can really get into the part if you have to play somebody upset. [singing]
[speaker004:] We leave the second part to the sorceress who's the really strong character in the whole play to spoil this love match and she sends the spirit of herself in the form of the God Mercury to deceive Anaeas into saying he's got to go away, so he goes and tells Dido he must leave and of course Dido's heartbroken and she commits suicide and of course this is celebrated with the famous lament at the end of the opera.
[speaker005:] The first performance takes place here at the Unicorn theatre in Abingdon tomorrow. Then it's on to Oxford and Crosby Hall in Chelsea, where the opera is thought to have been originally performed.
[speaker009:] Well worth having a look at. Three drivers will be burning their L-plates tonight after passing their driving tests first time, but, as John Kane, reports besides needing good road sense the men had to be pretty nifty with a shovel full of coal.
[speaker010:] Any driving test is a nerve wracking experience. There's just time for a quick flip through the Highway Code and then your, but the test is even more daunting when you're taking it on a 15 ton steam roller. Today two brothers and the engine's owner are hoping to convince the man from the Ministry of Transport that they're confident to drive on public roads. Were they worried?
[speaker001:] Well, no not really. We'll just do our best and see how we get on.
[speaker002:] We ain't going to fast today and giving some hand signals and just see how we get on.
[speaker009:] I've got the Highway Code in front of me and it says that at 30 miles an hour the stopping distance is 75 foot. Do you know what the stopping distance is for 4 miles an hour? You're going to be talking about, on a steam engine, about 25 yards I should think. That augers well for the emergency stop. Don't tell the 3 L-drivers this, but in all his 10 years of examining, Barry Silk has never tested anyone on a steam roller. But, are the vehicles safe?
[speaker004:] They're safe provided they're driven safely. Unfortunately on the main roads nowadays, because of the faster traffic, they've got to be very aware of what's going on around them.
[speaker009:] First to go was a rather nervous Richard Crout with Jesse, a 1908 steam roller, belching out smoke he gingerly took to the roads. The course was simple; from the layby, up the road, a three point turn then back again. So was examiner Silk going to throw himself in front of the roller for the statutory emergency stop?
[speaker006:] Most certainly not.
[speaker009:] A wise man. Well, after answering questions on the Highway Code, Barry Silk told Roger he's passed. Then it was brother Alan's turn to get behind the wheel and he passed. Finally, after 180 gallons of water and three hundredweight of coal going through Jesse, Gerry Williams made it third time lucky. Now all three drivers would be zooming around Gloucestershire's roads. Look out for them.
[speaker005:] No such luck I'm afraid for a car swindler who's been gaoled for two years after he was caught boarding the same holiday flight as his victim. Windsor Crown Court heard that Carolyn Fellowes from Redditch tipped off the police after getting the man's name from a baggage label as he tried to board the same flight as she was from Birmingham Airport. The judge said that he didn't know what the odds of such an event were, but it was bad luck for the man and good luck for justice. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] The cloud is quite a bit thinner than yesterday, but the sequence still shows movement from east to west, which isn't good news when the north sea is cold. So a cloudy night with further light rain at times and some sleet on the Cotswolds. Misty as well, with hill fog, but the temperature no lower than 2 Celsius, 36 Fahrenheit. Friday will start off grey and misty, still with some light rain around. The temperature will struggle to rise and it will start to brighten, especially in the south. The slow improvement will continue into the afternoon with the prospect of quite a bit of dry weather. There may even be a few glimpses of the sun with the temperature up to 8 Celsius, 46 Fahrenheit and with very little wind. To summarise then; tonight will be cloudy with light rain or mist, tomorrow starting wet or misty, but brighter in the afternoon. Well last night's arctic weather didn't just cause chaos on the roads. Many people wisely stayed at home, and that left one theatre in Cirencester without and audience. Tina Monahan reports.
[speaker008:] The latest production of Terence Rattigan's In Praise of Love has everything; passion, intrigue and humour. The only thing it didn't have last night was an audience.
[speaker003:] It was very odd. It was like being in a sort of ghost theatre and it was terribly forlorn. Nobody appeared. Of course we were very disappointed because we were geared for it, and we were prepared to play even to two or three people in the audience.
[speaker008:] The bad weather is being blamed for the empty seats, but now it's cleared up they are confident of full houses until the run ends on April 15th. [recorded jingle]
[speaker006:] A look now at tonight's main headlines. Mr Gorbachev and Mrs Thatcher met at Number Ten for talks described as deep, wide-ranging, and very friendly. The Trade Secretary, Lord Young, and the Soviet Deputy Prime Minister have signed an agreement to increase Anglo-Soviet trade by 40 per cent. Scotland Yard is investigating Buckingham Palace security after the apparent theft of private letters from the Princess Royal. The tanker which ran aground in Alaska, spilling millions of gallons of oil, has been refloated. There are fears of further leaks as it's towed away. The FTSE 100 shares index closed down 25.27 at 2,052.5 and the pound is worth one dollar and seventy cents.
[speaker004:] And that's Central News South tonight. Please join us again tomorrow evening. Goodnight.
[speaker006:] Goodnight. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] Home Secretary speaks out against rural violence as judge calls for special reforms on lager louts. Low tax transport, the way to beat those high tide blues. And the flying mattresses, the R A F looks back 50 years. [recorded jingle] Good evening. Once again rural violence is the main story in our programme. A crown court judge calls for an enquiry into lager louts as he was trying two 18 year old men for affray after a pub fight. Judge Clarke said he was very concerned at continuing violence in Oxfordshire. In a moment we'll be hearing the Home Secretary's comments on the problem. But first Martin Dawes from one of the towns that has put Oxfordshire top of the league table for violence in England.
[speaker008:] Wallingford, picturesque and affluent; a starter home here costs £70,000. It's the kind of place that's put Oxfordshire at the top of the lager lout league. Today's case came out of a fight hear at the Coachmaker's Arms, but the landlord says the days of Wallingford's louts are numbered. Police and publicans have united to solve the problem.
[speaker007:] The guys know that if they come in here, if they do cause any problem they get banned from here and they get banned from every other pub in the town. It's quite a nice little town, everybody knows everybody, and they don't like to feel that they're going to be outside of the sort of social circle that they move in, so it does have that effect in keeping them under control.
[speaker008:] If a youth is banned, the message is telephoned that night from pub to pub. Senior police officers in the last nine months have made alcohol related crime a top priority. From the police point of view we feel it's been solved and solved quite well. We've had very since the trouble, certainly over the past month since Christmas. And that's a situation that's been welcomed by Wallingford's drinking public.
[speaker009:] I think it's because erm a lot of the pub such as ourselves are just fed up with them we're all as one now and we think well you know we won't have it in our pubs.
[speaker008:] Wallingford had a bad reputation for louts. They may have solved it. Other towns in Oxfordshire are still grappling with the problem.
[speaker006:] The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, was in Bicester to plant a tree on the site of the new headquarters for Thames Valley Police. He says the force has started to crack down on rural violence and he blamed much of the trouble on young people drinking too much.
[speaker007:] Well the first thing is to make sure that the magistrates and the police use their licencing powers to crack down on illegal drinking, that is to say under age drinking, and to crack down on unruly pubs and the hours that discos are open and that's beginning to happen. I think there's been a bit of improvement this year compared to last.
[speaker006:] In a speech at today's tree-planting ceremony, the Chief Constable of Thames Valley, Colin Smith, repeated his force's demand for more officers to fight the increasing level of crime. The force wants 800 officers of the next four years; they've only been given 44 this year. But Mr Hurd says there could be more available.
[speaker007:] Next year I'm working out, or will soon be working out, with the Treasury a further substantial programme of increases and the Thames Valley bid will of course be looked at as part of that programme. But it will never be solved simply by having more police officers. I mean even if you double the size of the Thames Valley force you wouldn't have a police officer outside every pub. It's got to be done by actually tackling the people who are going to be violent by preventing them being violent.
[speaker006:] And how do you do that?
[speaker007:] Well, preventing them filling themselves with drink.
[speaker009:] As Britain's major ports teeter on the brink of a national dock strike, one of the smallest ports in the land has stopped work. Sharpness on the Severn estuary normally handles hundreds of ships and thousands of tons of cargo a year, but that all stopped at lunchtime when the dockers walked out. Tim Hurst reports. When the dockers walked out at Sharpness, responding to the Government's plants to scrap their jobs for life guarantee under the National Dock Labour Board Scheme, they surprised their own union officials as well as the management.
[speaker010:] It's quite surprising really, because you see the dockers at Sharpness are not a militant bunch anyway and the last thing I anticipated was a walk out by their guys this morning. Normally they would have waited until such time as the national ballot had been held and then they would have taken the appropriate action afterwards.
[speaker009:] There are just 47 registered dockers at Sharpness, and the port handles hundreds of thousands of tons of cargo each year. Timber is the fastest growing import underlined by the arrival last month of the largest timber carrier ever to dock at Sharpness. The port's proud of its expanding operations and senior staff expected work to continue normally, pending a national strike ballot.
[speaker001:] There was a lot of reluctance to take the action they have, at the same time the scheme has been in being since 1946. It is important. It is a major move in the dock industry. They are obviously concerned about their future.
[speaker009:] Shipping agents are alarmed at the consequences of any strike. They've been trying to find alternative berths for incoming cargoes and negotiating the release of ships waiting to sail on the night time.
[speaker002:] We can supply a reasonable dispute. As a company, as a port, well you must ask the Port Authority.
[speaker009:] Dockers at Sharpness are expected to return to work on Monday, although they've been reluctant to speculate on any future action.
[speaker007:] An inquest has been told that a five year girl chocked to death on a plastic bottle plug. Emma Osterfield from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire had been drawing sketches while drinking from a bottle. The court heard that she showed the picture to her father, Geoff. Seconds later he heard her choking and was unable to revive her. The Coroner recorded an accidental death verdict.
[speaker008:] The man accused of killing a pregnant mother on the M 50 motorway has petitioned the House of Commons for a prison transfer. Edward Browning is accused of murdering Marie Wilkes on the motorway in June last year. Browning is being held on remand at Winsom Green Prison in Birmingham, but he says his defence is being prejudiced because his solicitor to travel for five hours from Wales to see him. Browning wants a transfer to Cardiff prison.
[speaker002:] A £10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the capture of the gang involved in the Sulgrave Manor antiques raid. Thieves broke into George Washington's ancestral home in Northamptonshire a week ago and escaped with a haul of historic antiques worth up to £3 million. Police say they hope the reward will encourage people to come forward.
[speaker005:] As thousands of bargain hunters queued up to two hours for a sale of stock damaged by a fire at Dickens and Jones in Milton Keynes, the store announced it's to halt the sale of animal furs. The site was gutted by a blaze in January and it's believed animal rights protestors were involved. A spokesman said the fur ban had been introduced purely on commercial grounds.
[speaker009:] A man who suffered a massive heart attack in a pub garden returned today to thank the ambulancemen and others who saved his life. He was resussitated by a new heart monitor, bought for the ambulance by a local fir. Cathy Alexander reports.
[speaker001:] Ray Hughes collapsed while having a lunchtime drink at his local with his wife Pat. It wasn't his first heart attack, but certainly the worst.
[speaker004:] The paramedics turned up within ten minutes and as they turned up I passed out, so they applied the defibrillator to my chest and the next thing I knew from one minute to sitting talking to them I knew I was on the ground and they'd brought me round.
[speaker001:] And the team who saved him returned to meet the family again today in rather happier circumstances. Even the most experienced paramedic could have done little to help Ray without this up-to-date portable heart fibrillator.
[speaker005:] These new ones obviously, five years on from the other models, they offer a lot more technology. With the microchip they are able to do a lot more. The good thing about having the machines on the vehicle are that we can give him that electric shock as opposed to taking him to the hospital to have that electric shock.
[speaker001:] Such monitors cost around £5,000. An appeal is well under way to buy one for each of the county's 30 ambulances. The equipment which saved Ray was bought by the Thame business United Biscuits, and some of the staff who contributed were also at the pub today to meet the man who owes his life to their generosity.
[speaker007:] George Waldron, the MP for Buckingham, says he's shocked by the loss of 250 jobs at the Westcote Rocket Research Plant. Mr Waldron was visiting the site as unions and management continue negotiations about cuts. The Royal Ordnance says they are due to a shortage of cash for research. It hopes some workers can be redeployed at other sites. Mr Waldron says the company should now offer generous redundancy terms.
[speaker010:] They have gone through privatization and ceased being Civil Servants and gone out into the cold and now they are suffering this blow, so they do, I think, deserve the most generous possible treatment.
[speaker009:] To the progress, the most expensive contract ever agreed. Construction are building the Banbury bypass section of the M 40. The seven miles of road will cost the government £52 million.
[speaker010:] A stone barn has been demolished in spite of protests from people living nearby. There was an in Swindon have managed to get the work delayed by threatening to lie down in front of bulldozers.
[speaker001:] They claim the building was 300 years old and should be restored, but Thamesdown Council decided the building was unsafe and had to go. R A F Benson in Oxfordshire celebrates its 50th anniversary this week. No doubt there'll be many reminiscences in the Officers' Mess, but some parts of its history may never be told. The top secret unit based there in the war worked directly under orders from Winston Churchill.
[speaker002:] R A F Benson's birthday party will last well into this summer, with a series of events and special Royal guests. V I Ps gathering for tonight's anniversary dinner brought memories of all the station's finest hours. Air Chief Marshall Sir Neil Wheeler, for example, was Flight Commander of the Fairy Battle aircraft, the first to fly at the new airfield. Their task was to train pilots, observers and air gunners, men only recently signed up and grateful for any preparation, however basic. They learn to aim at miniature planes. We all know the result of the R A F's careful training methods, a wonderful of record of enemy planes shot down. The British plan being a scientific destruction of military targets, as opposed to the Nazi's indiscriminate methods, our personnel go through a course of instruction taking several months. By 1941 Spitfires arrived at Benson and the base became to the top secret photo reconnaissance unit. Their solo missions over enemy territory were critical to the war planning and they often worked directly with Winston Churchill and the Cabinet.
[speaker006:] They were absolutely vital. I mean I don't think there was a major military operation, land, sea or indeed air, that wasn't the result of pre- planning using our photographs.
[speaker002:] After the Dambusters raid on the Mona and Ida dams the photo- reconnaissance pilots were despatched to the dangerous airspace above them to assess the success of the mission.
[speaker004:] Aerial reconnaissance attend an amazing picture of the actual breech in the dam. Here it is, a breech at least a hundred yards long and the power station has been swept away.
[speaker002:] Their photos were a morale boost and a propaganda coup to the allies. And the Bismark, launched as the unsinkable battleship by Hitler, was destroyed after the Reconnaissance Unit spotted her at sea. After the War the King's Flight reformed at Benson, now of course the Queen's Flight, and the station has welcomed all the Royal pilots at various stages in their flying careers. Today Benson is a major station within number one group of strike command, with duties ranging from servicing the R A F's Andover and Wessex aircraft, to flying Andovers to all military airfields here, in Germany, Cyprus and Belize, to calibrate radars and landing approach aids. Tonight they'll be toasting 50 active and important years, raising their glasses to a nostalgic fly- past by a lone Spitfire. [recorded jingle]
[speaker003:] Now a story just in. Three people are to sue health authorities after contracting the H I V virus in local hospitals. It's been that more than 100 people are now H I V positive after treatment at Oxford hospitals. Kim Barnes reports. Three haemophiliacs have issued writs against the Oxfordshire Regional Health Authority and the Oxford District Health Authority alleging negligence between 1984 and 85. They need regular injections of Factor 8, some of which came into this country infected with the AIDS virus. Since 1986 all blood has been heat treated and there have been no cases since then. The Haemophilia Society say they support the cases. A spokesman said infected haemophiliacs wanted compensation for the damage done. Patients from all over the area come here to the Regional Haemophilia Centre at the Churchill Hospital at Headington. It's now known that more than 100 people are H I V positive following treatment here. The Regional Health Authority tonight described it as a tragic story. They are still considering their response to the writs. With law cases pending throughout the country, it remains to be seen how many more patients infected at the Churchill decide to take legal action. [recorded jingle] Still to come, we look ahead to the greatest horse race in the world. What odds would you give for a Central South winner. And riding along on the crest of the A 48, join us in part two. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] So who's going to win the Grand National? That's the question they'll be asking in the pubs and clubs tonight. Just about everyone flicks through the racing pages and either studies the form, thinks of a lucky number or name, or just plunges in the pin. Tonight we'll devote all our time to the National as here in Central South we have eleven horses running at Aintree, in what's regarded as one of the greatest horse races in the world. Meet Dixton House, the favourite for the Grand National. The folk who live at nearby Ross-on-Wye have never had so many callers. The early morning sun of Herefordshire has shone like a beacon to the racing world this week. They've been coming from afar to pay homage to the king of Carradock Court Stables. On the gallops they've huddled in against the hedgerows to watch and study the form. John Edwards is the trainer. He's sending out two National horses this year. Bob Tistall also has a good chance, but it's Dixton House everyone is talking about.
[speaker006:] I would love to win the race. Obviously I think every trainer would.
[speaker001:] Dixton House is very well handicapped. He's a class horse. I think the ground will suit him. He's a good jumper and must have a very, very good chance. We'll have to have a lot of luck in running.
[speaker005:] While Dixton House has been lapping up the attention, his jockey, Tom Morgan, has been having a hard time. As you tuck into your tea tonight spare a thought for him. This week Tom has been living on a glass of water, half a cup of tea and just one small dinner a day. Three year old son Andrew's been eating more as Tom's been ordered to lose weight.
[speaker006:] I'd say 7 pounds for the frame daily. I'm just trying to keep my strength up.
[speaker005:] Dixton House has a history of leg trouble. He's only run twice in the last year, but he couldn't have better owners. Here's two of them, local businessman Terry Collett and Peter Hill, Chairman of Hereford United Soccer Club.
[speaker004:] So what's it like to be an owner on the eve of the Grand National?
[speaker009:] Oh, a tremendous feeling. It really is exciting and something which it's difficult to express and even better if we can do something for Herefordshire and bring back a winner. All three of us, we have another partner, Michael Roberts, who isn't with us; actually he's up at Aintree at the moment watering the course [LAUGHTER] but all three of us are highly excited.
[speaker004:] And this your lucky brown Derby.
[speaker009:] I bought it last week at Cheltenham and we came home and it's already polished ready for Aintree on Saturday.
[speaker004:] So let's hope it's raised in the air on Saturday afternoon.
[speaker009:] Absolutely right [LAUGHTER].
[speaker004:] It'll be hats of to this man if Dixton House does win. He bred him. Michael Scudamore, a man rich on race memories, father of champion jockey, Peter. Mr Scudamore has his very own place in Grand National history. His record of sixteen consecutive rides at Aintree still stands and he's one of the lucky few who've won the national.
[speaker010:] Away they go. It's a field of 34, including a strong contingent from Ireland.
[speaker004:] It was exactly 30 years ago, on a horse called Oxo.
[speaker008:] It's a thing you just dream about all your life. I mean erm going to school I used to dream about it and then it came true, you know, I mean. I think the National but when you win its your fairy tale come true.
[speaker010:] A terrific finish to four and a half miles of the world's greatest steeplechase. A very close thing, but it's Oxo's National by a length and a half.
[speaker004:] If you want a fairy tale finish this year, here's the horse to follow, Gala's Image. Home is Kingsley Stables in Worcestershire. Home for seventy years to the Rimer family. Five National winners have come from here, great names too such as E S B and Nicholas Silver. Four were trained by the late Fred Rimer. His widow, Mrs Mercy Rimer, has carried on the tradition these past few years, but this season will be her last. The lease runs out in May and on Saturday the Rimers will send out their last Grand National horse. I've been raising all my life. I mean it has been my life, and it's obviously the most enormous wrench when you've suddenly got to do something entirely different. I don't know what. The National has something about it. I think Aintree has a sort of charisma. I don't know what it is. I can't explain to you, but it's different to any other meeting. So what thoughts will be going through your mind when you send out the last Grand National runner? I suppose lots of happy thoughts of, you know, when we won it, and sad thoughts that I haven't Fred to share it. If Gala's Image wins, and he has a great chance, the tears of celebration will flow. A racing legend will have waved goodbye with greatness. Another romantic winner would be Numerate's jockey, Tania Davis, the only lady riding in the National. Believe it or not Numerate arrived at the stables of Tania's father, Peter, yesterday. He bought the horse for his daughter to ride at Aintree. Now before you bet your penny or pound, here's the Central South Guide to the Grand National. Can any of our horses conquer the Aintree course, Beecher's Brook and all? The going will be heavy. John Edwards has two bites of the cherry. Recent form is on the left. A warning, only four favourites have won since the War, Dixton House, though, is still being heavily backed. The money's been pouring on to Gala's Image, odds have come down from 25 to 1. A late entry for Worcestershire is Numerate, the only lady jockey is on board. The only woman trainer to have won the National, Jenny Pitman, has two horses to watch. Gainsay is owned by pop star Errol Brown. From Banbury way comes Smart Tar. Four years ago this horse was saved from the knacker's yard. The only previous winner running is good old West Tip. Fourth the last two years, no horse knows Aintree better. From Stratford way comes Queensway Boy, back after breaking a pelvis. Lambourn trainers are used to winning big races. Oliver Sherwood is sending. It's being ridden by the owner. David Murray-Smith and Graham Bradley could be two men to watch, recent form is good. And finally, if you want to follow a local jockey, Gloucestershire's Peter Scudamore is the man. A winner at Aintree would round off a fabulous season. So come Sunday morning will another National winner be riding home in triumph to Central South? One thing's for sure, they're working on it. [recorded jingle]
[speaker001:] On Central News this week we've seen how firms from the region are surviving in the American market place. On the last day of my visit to Florida I met Graham Morris, the Rover Group's American President, who told me that whether it's work or play if it's in America it's got to be big to survive. [recorded jingle]
[speaker002:] American life is dominated by cars. To make life even easier, shopping is often based around the car culture. As well as the customary drive-in restaurants, there are now drive-through banks and even drive-through florists. Drive-in cinemas are disappearing because of attacks on families. The streets of Florida, like most other States, are crammed with hundreds of dealers all trying to persuade people as young as sixteen to buy their models on credit. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] It's a tough market for the British to try to take a slice of. Graham Morris came over from Britain to work at Rover's North American headquarters at the same time as the company launched its newest luxury car, the 827. Well here is the story. It's built at Cowley in Oxfordshire. [recorded jingle] There's no expense spare in this campaign. They're spending £30 million over three months on advertising. That includes the rights to the James Bond theme. It's not only Austin Rover's buildings here which seem a far cry from Cowley. The whole American lifestyle offers all sorts of new challenges for Graham Morris.
[speaker005:] Everything here is dynamic and very competitive; hotels, restaurants, theatres, which beach you go to, and that drives down the prices and car prices unfortunately. For instance, you can look round this place and be very impressed but it probably costs less to stay here than a two star hotel in England. The shopping malls are actually a social event. People go for hours and mainly. They go Saturdays and Sundays. They are open from 9 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at night and actually they are incredible.
[speaker004:] But of course there are disadvantages too.
[speaker005:] I went looking at a house the other day and it backed on to a lake. There was a sign there saying beware of alligators in the lake; you don't get that in Home Chapel where I come from.
[speaker004:] Nevertheless, Florida is full of Brits attracted by the warm climate and promise of a luxurious lifestyle. It really is true that everything seems bigger and sometimes brasher over here. The television too is very different to England. W P T V Channel 5 T V in West Palm Beach is typical. A diet of news, game shows and soaps. It may sound a familiar recipe, but not on 30 different stations. We've seen this week that there's a demand for products from our region in the States. Success appears to lie in finding out where that demand lies and not being too shy about using traditional American marketing techniques to make sure you survive the Florida experience. [recorded jingle]
[speaker006:] The Severn bore caused havoc again today. Police had to close some Gloucestershire roads and in some places depths of three feet were reported. John Kane donned his waders to bring us this report.
[speaker004:] Although today's bore wasn't that high, coupled with the recent rains a massive volume of water surged down the River Severn. Police had to close the A 38 at Broadegg, and in some parts the water was three foot deep. Undeterred, some motorists tried to drive through. Lorry drivers in a transport cafe enjoying their breakfast were marooned for a time and really the best form of transport was by canoe.
[speaker007:] So how many times have you canooed down the A 438?
[speaker005:] It's the first time for me.
[speaker007:] What's the reaction from motorists?
[speaker005:] Quite good really, smiling.
[speaker007:] Have you got a road fund licence for your canoe?
[speaker005:] Unfortunately not. I'm hoping the police won't stop me.
[speaker004:] Meanwhile, further upstream, there was more flooding.
[speaker006:] And this is Gloucester's latest attraction, its new water park. Here the River Severn has burst its bank and acres and acres of grass are now under two foot of water.
[speaker007:] People living on the riverbanks can't remember it being so bad for many years and if there's rugby here tomorrow, then the players will be in for an early bath.
[speaker008:] As we run the satellite sequence, you should be able to see a curved band of cloud edging away to the north. That's yesterday's grey weather. And during the day speckled shower clouds have moved in from the west. There'll still be a few showers around this evening, but they'll die out later. There'll be a widespread frost with mist and one or two fog patches. So a chilly start to Saturday, but any mist and fog will soon go. There'll be some bright sunshine, but cloud will build up. During the afternoon there'll be a scattering of showers, but still with spells of sunshine. The temperature should reach 12 Celsius, 54 Fahrenheit, and it'll feel pleasant in the light breeze. [recorded jingle] The headlines are dominated by Mr Gorbachev's visit. He's invited the Queen to the Soviet Union, and in London he announced that two nuclear reactors making weapons will close. The FTSE 100 shares index closed down 6.8 at 2,045.7 and the pound is worth 1 dollar and 69 cents. That's all from us this week, but Don't forget Central Newsweek on Sunday at half past twelve with Ann Davis, but now for tonight Goodnight. Goodnight.
[speaker002:] The bookie who's offering £500 a month to make the buyer odds on favourite. The old bill that bounced back like a bad penny. And the perfect pastime guaranteed to cut Ben down to size. Good evening. First a man has become so desperate to sell his house that he's offering cash help with the mortgage. Michael Gannon says he'll give the buyer £500 a month for a year. His special offer comes as estate agents say it's a good time to buy but high interest rates are making it difficult to sell. Here's Martin Dawes.
[speaker008:] Michael Gannon is a former bookie who knows about odds and they're adding up to a housing market where the buyer is king. His house has been on the market for six months. He's knocked off £5,000 already. The price is £182,500. But he needs an edge, that's why he's offering a mortgage subsidy of £6,000.
[speaker005:] It is mainly the interest rate. It causes problems to people that come to the house. They would perhaps like to buy it, but they can't sell their property and also if they can sell theirs and they look at the cost of the property and they work out how much they've got to pay for the mortgage then they find they can't afford it.
[speaker008:] Isn't it better to reduce the price by £6,000?
[speaker005:] No. I mean the main thing is people can borrow on the true price of the house and then they can have an 80 or 90 per cent mortgage and when they come to pay the mortgage they have the £500 subsidy for twelve months or take them into the next twelve months.
[speaker008:] Close by more executive homes are being built. It's been a slack selling time for developers too. Mr Gannon isn't the only one in the subsidy game. Swindon's got a name as a town where the bubble hasn't burst, but high interest rates are giving those in the market place food for thought.
[speaker005:] The actual state of the market is that it's flooded with property, so we have a case where supply has increased, demand is still at a fairly low level, so we're having to be very honest with our clients, our vendors, and let them know that the situation is that their property has to be of good value in the market place. The market place dictates the price. So at the right price a property will sell.
[speaker009:] Mr West's company is preparing for zero growth over the next two years. If interest rates go up further that may be an optimistic forecast.
[speaker004:] And while the house market has ground to a halt, you'll have to move quickly if you want to become a pub landlord. The freehold pub market is booming, with prices continuing to rise in the Central South region. It seems for many the idea of setting up behind the bar is even more powerful than the interest rates. Kim Barnes reports.
[speaker003:] It's a popular dream, your own country pub full of friendly locals, but it's becoming more and more elusive as prices continue to rise despite the dive in the house market. Stephen and Jennifer Dixon are finally installed in The Bell at Shennington near Banbury, after a an eight month search.
[speaker009:] Hard work. Quite frightening. It's difficult, yeah. We looked at a lot of pubs. We looked at about 25 or 30, but this is about the nicest we saw.
[speaker010:] I think we travelled the length and the breadth of the country looking. We knew what we were looking for and we knew if we looked long enough and hard enough we would find it, but there were times when we thought perhaps it isn't out there.
[speaker003:] The freehold pub market rose by nearly 40 per cent last year, while residential prices ground to a halt. Experts say plenty of would be Dirty Dens are the explanation.
[speaker010:] Basically it's down to supply and demand. There are lot of people looking to buy pubs. They all want to own their own free house and that is keeping the market going when the residential market is depressed.
[speaker003:] Pubs like these in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire are going for record figures. Neither interest rates nor the Budget have had much effect. Prices have held and that looks set to remain the trend.
[speaker007:] We see no reason to believe that the market won't continue to steadily increase. We don't anticipate the same rate of increase that we saw last year, but we'd be expecting probably somewhere in the region of a 10 to 15 per cent increase over the coming year.
[speaker003:] The Bell set the Dixons back £325,000. They'd advise anyone still chasing their claim stick in.
[speaker009:] I think if they really want to do it they should go ahead and do it because it's not going to get any easier. I don't think prices will drop and I think it will be a nice way of life once we get used to it. I hope it will.
[speaker002:] So an optimistic note for the pub trade, but a pessimistic one for Oxfordshire's only two-man brewery, because it's struggling to survive against tough competition from the major breweries and the are concerned that the Government proposals to shake up the brewing industry won't really help them. Debbie Kelly reports.
[speaker010:] Brewing will never be big business for the Glennie Brewery. The two men just want to brew their traditional beers and make enough money to live on, but as things stand it's becoming more and more difficult. At the moment the brewery produces 50 barrels a week. They could easily produce 70. They know the demand's there, but they can't get landlords to take on their brew. Most pubs in the country are owned by the big six breweries, so Glennie Brewery can only sell to freehouses. Recently, even those outlets have been drying up because they too have been selling the big breweries' beer in return for cheap loans.
[speaker009:] We've lost over the past two years or, two or three years we've lost about 60 per cent of our biggest trading accounts through soft loans from the big brewers.
[speaker010:] When you find a free house, and there are precious few of them in this part of the world, they are usually supported in a big way financially by a brewer. We can't give them a new car park. We can't refurnish their home for them. We can offer them very good bear and nothing much more. The Monopolies and Mergers Commission agrees that the existing system restricts customers' choice of beer. It wants a limit on the tied house system and pubs given the chance to sell different types of beer. Exactly what Glennie Brewery wants. But Paddy Glennie doesn't believe it will work because the big boys will retaliate.
[speaker001:] Cheers. I am sure, unless it's very, very, very carefully worded, the brewers will find all sorts of loopholes and ways of continuing to persuade freehouse licensees to sell their beers, at the expense of the small brewers. I am sure that there's ways they'll find they can cut their prices dramatically.
[speaker010:] The Witney team want safeguards in any new legislation to protect small companies. Only then, they say, will more of us get the chance to taste their brew.
[speaker004:] Three youths from the Forest of Dean have appeared before Hereford magistrates, charged in connection with an incident in which two policemen were beaten up near Ross-on-Wye. Paul Jones of Lidbrook and Mark Weaver and Peter Barkett of Coleford are accused of serious assaults on police, after a sergeant was said to have been headbutted and punched. They also face charges of criminal damage and driving while disqualified. The three were remanded in custody.
[speaker006:] Three people died and a fourth was critically injured in a two car crash in Oxfordshire last night. The 26 year old driver of the Ford Escort and his woman passenger, aged 23, were killed. Both were from Witney in Oxfordshire. A 46 year old Worcestershire man, who was driving the second car, also died. His wife is in intensive care at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The accident happened in heavy rain on the A 424, three miles north of Burford, just a hundred yards from the spot where a couple were killed in December after their car was in a collision with a coach.
[speaker007:] Registered dockers at Sharpness on the Severn Estuary have returned to work after Friday's walk-out. They were protesting at Government plans to scrap the jobs for life guarantee under the National Dock Labour scheme. Management say they expect cargoes to be handled normally pending any national decision by the Transport and General Workers Union.
[speaker008:] Twelve months ago a 41 year old man suffering from Parkinson's Disease underwent a revolutionary operation. Doctors injected cells from aborted foetus into Rob Davies's brain to help him regain control of his body. Today Mr Davis is happy with the results and runs a cafe at Worcester. His family say he is a changed man. Richard Lutts reports.
[speaker002:] This is how many Parkinson's Disease patients suffer. They have lost the ability to control their own frail bodies because of a chemical deficiency in their brains. And this is Rob Davies, a year to the day after his revolutionary operation to cure him. He is now healthy enough to get behind the wheel of a car.
[speaker003:] I tell you, a few years ago when I was lying in my hospital bed, one of the things that went through my mind was whether I would be able to drive again. It's great. A year on I actually can. To have your independence took away completely must be absolutely terrible.
[speaker002:] Mr Davies, who's now 42, suffered from Parkinson's Disease for three years. Then he volunteered to know to the Midland Centre for Neurosurgery in Smethwick to undergo a pioneer operation. Professor Edward Hitchcock took cells from an aborted foetus and he injected them inside Mr Davies's brain. They released a natural chemical called Dopamine, which Mr Davies lacked. Slowly, he regained control of his frail body. Today, on the anniversary of the surgery, there was time to reflect on its success.
[speaker003:] Before the op I was on 1,000 milligrams of the Dopramine drug a day, which is what the brain is lacking, which is substitute the drug for, which is. I was on 1,000 grams of that a day, now I'm on 187, so although I'm still on medication it's a very minute amount of medication to what I was on before, and I'm existing on that, so for me it's worked.
[speaker002:] For his mother, it's the little improvements that have meant so much.
[speaker010:] Well the first time when he found it could comb is hair straight back with his right hand; he could dry himself under his arms properly instead of just sort of wiping at it with a towel; wash his teeth better, instead of using his left hand with difficulty because he's never been really left handed.
[speaker002:] Those are the little things and to a mother they must mean so much.
[speaker010:] Well they do, definitely. I mean its as if he's sort of living again, you know, coming back to life.
[speaker002:] The controversial foetal cell transplants are carried out in other parts of the world too. Surgeons in Smethwick are now evaluating their own results. Well there's 12 been completed. There is now a pause for some evaluation work to be done. This is the leading edge of medical technology and therefore it has to be done at the proper pace within the ethical considerations and I think the team's decision to pause and look at evaluation is the right one. As for Rob Davies, some small problems still exist. The act of writing can be difficult at times, but he predicts that he'll soon become the first Parkinson's Disease patient to abandon drugs altogether as he slowly leaves a life of disability behind him.
[speaker007:] That was Richard Lutts reporting there. An investigation has begun into an arson attack on a school. Vandals tried to burn down the school in Milton Keynes at the weekend. The school has been shut because the damage is so bad. Fire investigators say arsonists built a bonfire with desks and chairs and tried to smash the burglar alarm at the Penwood First School. Teachers have been clearing up the mess and the headmaster says some lessons will be held in a nearby school later this week. The site of the old Baptist Tabernacle in Swindon has been cleared ready for redevelopment. There was an outcry when the old building was demolished ten years ago. A new Baptist Church, along with shops and offices, are now planned for the site. It was being used as a car park. A 230 ton barge has been encountering a few problems on its journey up the River Wye. First its propeller blade broke off after it hit a rock, then it got caught in currents so strong it couldn't move in a straight line. Now its stuck on a bank in Monmouth. The owners of the 124 foot Silver Cloud are tonight towing her off the bank ready to tackle the famous Symonds Yatt Rapids on Friday.
[speaker003:] A widow had the shock of her life when she opened a letter from her local council and discovered that she was in arrears with her rent. Doreen Wranklin couldn't understand it as she had always paid up on time. John Kane reports.
[speaker004:] Doreen couldn't believe it when the letter popped through her letterbox from the council. Signed in pen by Mrs S Harrison in the tenancy and accommodation section, it said 'Dear Mr and Mrs Wranklin, I must draw your attention to the small balance on your rent account. Please make early arrangements to pay at a council office or post office'. And there with a written in biro by Mrs Harrison was that small amount, 1 pence. And just to add insult to injury, Doreen's husband, Mike, had died two years ago. Not surprisingly, she's very annoyed. I just thought how stupid. Could you believe it? No, I really couldn't. Have you ever been in arrears in your rent at all? No. Not surprisingly, Malvern District Council are embarrassed by the whole affair. They say it was a computerised letter which got through and they apologise in advance to any other tenant who might have got one. Meanwhile Mrs Wranklin has been told she doesn't need to pay up. [recorded jingle]
[speaker006:] And from unfriendly rates bills to environment friendly homes in part two. Sport includes sidecar racing, as well football with Swindon and Oxford and there's a model that looks set to out chime News at Ten. [recorded jingle]
[speaker001:] Soccer, sidecar racing and hill climbing in sport tonight, which we kick off with the fight for promotion to the first division. We've the goals from Swindon's game, but first Oxford United who proved they can shine when they want to as they beat Stoke 3:2 at the Manor.
[speaker002:] United got off to a flyer with Richard Hill giving them a lead after just eight minutes. There was more to celebrate moments later. A real beauty of a goal, just watch the pass from Mustoe and the finish from John Derning. United's luck changed then as Martin went off with an ankle injury, to be followed a few minutes later by Stoke defender Chris Hemming, a clattering tackle on Derning brought the red card out of the referee's pocket and boos for Hemming. Two up and playing only ten men you'd think Oxford would have walked it, but then Dave Bamber bustled through to score. In the second half United came bouncing back thanks to Richard Hill. What a inspiration he was. At 3:1 United were cruising again and the Manor Ground fans must have been thinking what could have been this season if there had been more games like this. Oxford though can be their own worst enemies when they let in soft goals like these, Tony Henley the scorer. Mind you Oxford should have won by an avalanche. When they're on song they're a treat to watch and if they can play like this all the time Richard Hill and co may take some stopping next season. Well here's how the top of the second division looks. Swindon Town's still in the promotion race, despite going down 2:1 to Manchester City at Main Road on Saturday. In front of over 22,000 fans Town got off to a great start, taking the lead after 34 minutes, Duncan Sheerer the scorer. Swindon's celebrations didn't last long, the equalizer coming seven minutes later. Wayne Biggins went down in the box. If he was at the County ground a penalty probably wouldn't have been given, but there was no arguing about Andy Hinchcliffe's finishing. The Manchester winner came after seventy two minutes; Swindon will be kicking themselves as they watch how substitute David Oldfield, a £6,000 signing from Luton, got the deciding goal.
[speaker006:] And Swindon back in action tomorrow against bottom of the table Birmingham at St. Andrews. Well the summer sporting season is gradually getting underway and yesterday we had two top events in Central South; sidecar racing and hill climbing. First to the sidecars.
[speaker004:] The motorbike men were out in force at Bletchingdon in Oxfordshire for round one of this year's British Sidecar Cross Championships. After a few days' rain the course was just right for the spectators anyway, plenty of mud. That's what they like. It was non-stop action too, with eleven races in the afternoon. The rider to catch was Paul Millard, number one. He's been the British Champion for the past three years.
[speaker005:] I think he's quite a lot happier now he's in the 500 ccs which is the solo motorcross machines. It's getting more easier to get bikes and get bits. Before you used to have specialist machinery, but now you can go to a shop in your own town and pick up spares so a lot more people are going over.
[speaker004:] It looks very high off the ground.
[speaker005:] Yeah lot faster tracks the same circuit and.
[speaker004:] And it was a good start to this year's championships. Local riders Roy Humphrey and Jason Peters from Finstock were going well too, but the only winner once again was the reigning champion Paul Millard from Trowbridge. He was way ahead of the rest of the field and battled on through the afternoon trying to win those valuable championship points.
[speaker006:] And speeds were even faster for round two of the Midland Hill Climb Championship. This was over in Gloucestershire, at Prescott Hill, home of the Bugatti Owners Club.
[speaker001:] You can feel the G-force by just watching the cars roar up the famous Prescott Hill. The real speed machines here can go from nought to sixty in just two and a half seconds. Prescott is 1127 yards long, full of twists and bends, and on the fastest stretch the cars can hit 100 miles an hour, every one electronically timed to one thousandth of a second and, quite simply, the fastest up the hill wins. The reigning Midland champion is this chap, Adrian Hopkins. He's an optician from Stow-on-the-Wold and in his purpose built Sark Adrian is also the record holder on the hill.
[speaker004:] So what's the pleasure of just roaring up a hill?
[speaker005:] Getting it right first time [LAUGHTER]. It is, above all, something where you have to be utterly precise and there's no warm up, you just go out there and do it and that's very challenging.
[speaker004:] And so what's the secret, just foot down and away you go?
[speaker005:] [LAUGHTER] Up to a point. On the whole it is a matter that you have to learn the hills, you have to be very committed to the corners so that you get the thing right and as fast as possible, and you don't have that much chance to learn.
[speaker004:] Adrian Hopkins was on form again at the weekend. He won his class by two seconds in a remarkable battle at these speeds and leads the Midland Championship after two rounds. Also well with him is Tony Tewson from Leamington Spa. He won his class in the Pilbeam. There are still seven rounds to go, and the championship could well be decided back here at Prescott in September in the last meeting of the season.
[speaker009:] And still with motor sport. Jaguar from Kidlington finished fifth in the opening round of the World Sports Car Championship over in Japan yesterday. Mercedes took one and two. Ann.
[speaker004:] Thanks Tim. Well I don't know if any of those cars run on lead free petrol, but we found a builder who claims to have constructed the first house in the country which is friendly to the environment. He's particularly concerned about the threatened tropical rain forests and has used materials which are either in abundance, or which have been recycled or reclaimed. Now he's launching a pressure group to encourage other builders to protect their environment while they're building new homes. Martin Graham-Scott reports.
[speaker005:] Twelve and a half million acres of tropical rainforest are destroyed every year. An area the size of England, Scotland and Wales. As a result, many varieties of tropical hardwood are becoming endangered, like mahogany and teak. Now a builder at Eastington near Stonehouse in Gloucestershire is trying to slow down the decline of valuable trees. Keith Hall has built a four bedroomed house which he claims is the first in the country to be environment friendly. All the timber used, like fine oak in the kitchen, comes from forests which are in no danger. Many of the bricks inside are reclaimed from old buildings, and all the paper and cardboard rubbish is saved for recycling.
[speaker006:] I've been quite frightened by what is happening in many areas of conservation and environment problems, and I decided that the best, one of the best, courses that I could take was to incorporate conservation in my work. The most frightening is rainforest destruction, and being a carpenter and joiner by trade anyway I have used many threatened species in my past and it seemed a good thing to start with.
[speaker005:] Out in the garden Keith has built dry stone walls to provide a natural habitat for thousand of insects, and in many of the trees bat and bird boxes. The project has impressed the building workers.
[speaker010:] I think it is a very good idea. I think the more people who are aware of the alternatives that are in the building industry we could improve on this. I just hope people sort of sit up and take notice of it.
[speaker001:] A lot more sort of individual builders and self-employed people like me and Chas will be more aware of things like this and that there are alternatives to it.
[speaker005:] Do you think there'll be more houses like this in the future?
[speaker001:] Hopefully, yes. There's got to be some sort of hasn't there?
[speaker005:] Now Keith Hall is setting up a pressure group to encourage other builders to think more about the environment. He says he's already had a good response.
[speaker006:] We are aiming, I think, for disaster, certainly as far as the Amazon basin is concerned. That it's likely, very likely, to vanish as far rainforest is concerned within the next ten years.
[speaker005:] The house, which will cost £300,000, goes on the market next month. Keith insists that's no more than any other home the same size, but he's hoping the new buyer will care as much about the property as about the world's threatened rain forests.
[speaker003:] Well now to another village. The one in Worcestershire made famous by the Archers radio programme. They're holding an emergency meeting tonight to discuss a plan to build up to 2,000 homes there. Residents in Hambley near Droitwich say the plan by Barrett homes will destroy the area's character. Local farmers have been paid for giving the developers the right to buy their land if the plan is approved. I wonder if the Archers' script writers will be at that meeting looking for ideas? Now time rules our lives, most of us have at least one, if not two, clocks in every room. But one local craftsman has gone one stage better and has made is own time piece. The problem is it's over seven feet tall. Stand by for a special edition, four hours early, of News at Ten presented by John Kane. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Charlie Bennett builds a model of Newint's parish church. He's also done one of the market house at Ledbury. And now he's made Big Ben and he hasn't even been to London to see it.
[speaker007:] No, I have never seen Big Ben at all.
[speaker004:] So how did you manage to do this?
[speaker007:] Well, just photographs went to London and took some photographs, brought some postcards back.
[speaker004:] Would you like to go to London?
[speaker007:] No.
[speaker004:] Why not?
[speaker007:] I don't like the place.
[speaker004:] Do you think it should be taller?
[speaker007:] It's just the top piece, it wanted to go up.
[speaker004:] You need a bigger room don't you? You're wife won't let you kind of gouge out the ceiling? Now he's built Big Ben, Charlie's not too sure what to construct next. Maybe the Palace of Westminster? John Kane for Central South in Mayhill, Gloucestershire. I could just about cope with Big Ben in my living room, but the miniature Alastair Burnett would worry me a little I think. [recorded jingle]
[speaker005:] The satellite pictures shows a lot of cloud just to the east of us, but you'll see that it is moving away. During the day much more broken cloud has spread across and was responsible for the sunshine and showers. More cloud's coming in from the west, however, so it doesn't look too promising. Even so, any evening showers will disappear, bringing a fine start to the night. Quite chilly in the east as well, but the temperature picking up as cloud and occasional rain spread from the south west. That light rain will soon clear away tomorrow morning and it'll brighten up for a time. However, cloud will quickly thicken and yet more rain will move in from the south west. So, a wet start to the afternoon with some heavy bursts of rain, and windy as well. Brighter conditions should arrive during the afternoon, though, with the temperature managing 11 or 12 Celsius, the low 50s Fahrenheit. To summarise then, a chilly showery night. Tomorrow, rain but some bright spots.
[speaker006:] Now a look at the main national and international news. In the legal battle for Harrods the Law Lords said Lonrho was in contempt of the House of Lords with highly improper behaviour. Dock Workers Union leaders have been meeting to consider a national dock strike over Government plans to scrap the jobs for life scheme. Tanks are patrolling the capital of Georgia after the latest outbreak of ethnic unrest. The Russian Government has banned tourists from the area. In Namibia U N soldiers, including British troops, are escorting fighters back to their bases in Angola. The FTSE 100 index closed at 20.7 and the pound is worth one dollar seventy cents.
[speaker005:] It's the accepted rule.
[speaker004:] What's the secret of growing a good leek?
[speaker005:] It must be grown early and erm, and then just erm down, plenty of muck up in the ground, and erm they'll grow. But erm it's all time and it's erm, you know you don't know until the day what you've got, you can only hope and pray it's there and erm go to the show, enjoy it and erm if there's a trophy — very nice, then you can enjoy that as well. But erm you can always come second.
[speaker007:] Well Tom you've picked the best and this is it — how did the judges make out?
[speaker005:] Reasonable, we didn't win on the collection, but erm we — we're quite happy really. It could have been a lot worse.
[speaker007:] What about when you arrived here and you saw all the competition, what did you think of it?
[speaker005:] The arrived erm we're here and erm let's have a go and that's it, you know, as long as we erm take part, that's all that matters.
[speaker007:] The competition's been pretty tough this year has it?
[speaker005:] Oh yes they some real, real good stuff here this year, yes.
[speaker007:] I've got all the judges markings here, did you agree with what they said? Ten out of ten for the cauliflowers
[speaker005:] Yes, basically, yes
[speaker007:] nine out of eighteen for the cucumbers.
[speaker005:] Yes I suppose I've had ten points behind anybody else, but erm that's not too bad, you know, out of a hundred it's reasonable.
[speaker007:] Of course the thing is at the end of the day, you can always eat 'em can't you?
[speaker005:] Of course, yes — no problem, no problem.
[speaker007:] Share one of these with you later — a spot of cheese, and a pint of beer — go down a treat wouldn't it?
[speaker005:] That would be lovely, yes.
[speaker007:] [LAUGHTER] Alright Tom — back to the studio. And we'll see Bob just a little later on. Well just down the road from the Shrewsbury Flower Festival there's a very different kind of celebration taking place. The town of Telford has attracted a new £65,000,000 car components factory which will create 450 new jobs. Building will start in October with full production planned for two years' time.
[speaker008:] The new town is literally blooming with the growth that foreign investment has brought. Japanese money alone has so far created 4 12 thousand new jobs. Today's announcement that yet another firm from Japan is on it's way was made with a great deal of pride and enthusiasm.
[speaker001:] In the long run I think this is probably the most exciting investment that we have been privileged to have in the town, and this really confirms Telford's position as number one Japanese investment in the United Kingdom; we now have 20 companies here.
[speaker008:] The £65,000,000 factory will be built by Japan's biggest name in the automotive parts industry. Nippon Denso has bought a 53 acre green field site on the edge of rural Shropshire; by 1995 a brand new plant should be producing 400,000 car heaters and the same number of air conditioners per year. The company set up a joint venture with Magneti Marelli the Italian firm which has already taken over two big Lucas plants in the Midlands. Today the man in charge outlined the sort of people who'll make up the bulk of the 450-strong workforce.
[speaker002:] Young with vigour because erm not skill, we will cater erm employee, so not need the skill, but erm young people with erm maybe better.
[speaker008:] The new development has attracted a £2and14; million grant from the department of trade and industry; a regional spokesman says foreign investment has made a huge impact on Telford.
[speaker006:] Unemployment has fallen by 70 per cent since the mid-eighties in Telford but it's about more than just the number of jobs, it's the quality of jobs, the skills that erm are offered in terms of the training that's available in the area, and the whole atmosphere of the town has been completely transformed by moving from an older and established industrial climate to one that encompasses a wide range of modern and high tech industries.
[speaker008:] Nippon Denso already has an impressive list of European and British customers including B M W, Ford, Fiat, Porsche, Jaguar and Rover. But Japanese car maker Toyota is its biggest, it's hoped their huge new factory at Burnaston near Derby will lead to extra demand in Telford and the possibility of more jobs and more prosperity for people wishing to work there.
[speaker007:] This is the Central Television Percy Thrower Trophy, very handsome trophy it is too and it's going to be presented to the best gardener around here; that's after the break. [recorded jingle] Welcome back to Shrewsbury Flower Show, I'm joined by Central's Gardening expert Howard Drury, clutching the Central Trophy which we are about to present in a moment, but erm your impressions of the show?
[speaker004:] Phenomenal because it's been such a difficult year, and this is erm a prize that's given to the gentleman or lady that accrues the most points in the whole of the amateur section. It takes a lot of doing you know, to grow some good flowers, some good fruit, some good vegetables, especially in a year when water's been so short.
[speaker007:] erm last year it went to Manchester didn't it?
[speaker004:] It's nice to say this year its come back home to Shrewsbury, literally a stone's throw down the road.
[speaker007:] And it's coming into the hands of local gardener Norman Thompson, congratulations Norman.
[speaker008:] Thank you
[speaker007:] Do accept that trophy
[speaker004:] There we go.
[speaker008:] Thank you very much.
[speaker007:] With all our best wishes and congratulations.
[speaker008:] Don't want to drop it, thank you
[speaker004:] Well done.
[speaker007:] And indeed it was erm it was vegetables wasn't it?
[speaker008:] Mostly veg. yes.
[speaker007:] What sort of vegetables really caught the eyes of the judges do you think?
[speaker008:] Well erm the potatoes I did most erm mostly on, you know. There's some good leeks there though, which I didn't have anything there
[speaker007:] [LAUGHTER]
[speaker008:] And erm also celery I thought was good.
[speaker007:] What's your favourite one to grow?
[speaker008:] Oh onions! I like to grow the big onions, although I didn't exhibit those this time here.
[speaker007:] In fact has it been a very difficult year for you or have you been able to have some control, because it's all down to the watering I guess
[speaker008:] Well it's been
[speaker007:] Or a lot of it is.
[speaker008:] It's been difficult in thing that you had to go home at night and keep watering like, your not doing anything else but watering, watering
[speaker007:] So it's down to hard work at the end of the day?
[speaker008:] Oh, yes yes!
[speaker007:] Well I'm pleased to hear [LAUGHTER] that it's come back to Shrewsbury. Congratulations Norman and erm
[speaker008:] Thank you.
[speaker007:] Here's to next year, let's keep it in the town shall we if we can?
[speaker008:] Thank you.
[speaker004:] Lets hope so.
[speaker007:] Yes I hope so. Let's join Bob Hall now for erm a look ahead to the weekend's sport.
[speaker009:] Thanks Bob. Five weeks from the end of the cricket season; Warwickshire may be on the verge of their first County Championship title for eighteen years. Middlesex lead the table, Warwickshire have no margin for error during the run in, but after seeing the title go twice to their neighbours from New Road, the men from Edgbaston could be about to have their day.
[speaker001:] It was overcast in Bristol; Gloucester starting as always these days facing a struggle. Andy Lloyd thought the wicket might not give his bowlers all the help he'd envisaged or hoped for, and he was right. Without the pace of Alan Donald, the burden in the early overs fell on Tim Munton called up again yesterday for the England nursery side. But a partnership between Bill Athey and Paul Romaines reached 100 — Athey later, his own century, this despite the use of five bowlers. So again Warwickshire desperately had to win was slipping away, and with it their chances of the championship.
[speaker004:] I said all along, once you've got a staff of twenty odd, we've had a lot of injuries which we haven't carped on too much, but senior players have been out with injury but it's given young players an opportunity. And the great thing is they've taken that opportunity and erm thankfully we are still lying there in second place.
[speaker009:] At the end of the day though, the championship I think, tells you who is the best team of any one year and erm that's the professional's choice I think, if you said at the start of the year which trophy we'd like to win, we would have said the championship, erm we were top I think after two games and we fell away a bit since but erm the time to be tops after twenty two, so lets hope we can get up there.
[speaker001:] The names on the Warwickshire team sheet are changing, and Bob Cottam's statement that it'll take five years to get it right is looking accurate. Youngsters like Keith Piper have blossomed and though neither are playing today, Alan Donald and Tom Moody have made a major impression and impact with bat and ball. But with the change of rules meaning Warwickshire have to let one of them go at the end of the season, which one will it be?
[speaker004:] At the end of the season I will make a recommendation to our cricket committee, it's up to them whether they take that, choose either or. But what ever happens at the end of the day, neither is going on the scrap heap because they are a diamond, so someone will snap up a diamond and it will retain it's value and they will do very well. So it is not as though it's a young player who's going out of the game and you're telling them I'm sorry your not going to make it with Warwickshire. If you like, it's not a pleasant position to be in because someone's going to be disappointed at the end of the day, but they are diamonds. And they will go elsewhere and do extremely well, one of them.
[speaker001:] Worcester's Graham Hick becomes eligible for England next season and with question marks about the long-term fitness of Dilley, Radford and even Botham, it will be no surprise if either Donald or Moody ended up at New Road.
[speaker006:] Back to Bristol, I'm not the bearer of good news, set to get 243, Warwickshire were bowled out and lost by 66 runs, it could well cost them dear in their championship ambitions. And meanwhile at Kidderminster Graham Hick and Richard Illingworth took two Lancashire wickets each to leave Worcestershire needing just seven runs for their second innings. You won't be surprised to learn that they won by ten wickets. Aston Villa could be just a day away from their first trophy of a new season, they play Arsenal tonight at Wembley in the fourteen Maceeter tournament with the prospect of a final tomorrow against Samdoria or Rael Sociadad live on television.
[speaker007:] David Platt's return from world cup stage to Wembley stage is likely to be spoilt by a knee injury. But he was with the squad that left for London at lunchtime. There is plenty of Wembley experience in the side, Derek Mountfield holds an F A Cup winner's medal though Kent Nielson's lost there twice with Denmark.
[speaker001:] It's of course always privilege to play over there and I was over there with a national team a few times, it's a big occasion for the players, for the managers and for the big tournaments too. We have been preparing ourselves and erm we hope that tonight's game will be good one, good timing for the ball and erm results always is open.
[speaker007:] Arsenal hold the Maceeter trophy but were watched at Wolves last week by Vengloss, keen to impress on his first test in English football.
[speaker006:] Well that first match kicked off at 6 0'clock, the latest score is Samdoria 1, Rael Sociadad 1. Highlights of that match and erm tonight's game between Arsenal and Aston Villa will be on Central tonight at 10.40; the final live on Central tomorrow at 2.35. Well it's sad to report the death of Joe Mercer on his 76th birthday. Joe was manager at Villa Park for six years and later was general manager and a director of Coventry City, he was one football's great characters, he was a gentleman — he'll be sadly missed. Birmingham's Paul Howe has broken his own British record at the European Open Swimming Championships in Rome, he finished second in the 200 metres freestyle and still has another two races to come. One of Britain's best hopes for a title is Nick Gillingham from Walsall, he swims on Sunday in the 200 metres breaststroke, Phil Meppem was at his last training session before Italy.
[speaker010:] Nick Gillingham's proudest moment was winning a silver medal at the Seoul Olympics almost 2 years ago, but it's a sad perhaps frustrating fact that Gillingham still finds himself in the shadow of his greatest rival, Adrian Moorhouse. Moorhouse who won gold in Seoul attracts the greatest share of publicity, and Gillingham come what may, has appeared destined to play second fiddle.
[speaker001:] Although Adrian is the Olympic champion, we both held the world record and Adrian has had perhaps a four year head start on myself. The publicity he's had has been a lot more extensive over the years erm so I think he's certainly more of a household name than myself. That's not so worrying, but I feel that I've been successful in my own right and I would erm like to think I deserve the same recognition as we've both set same standards over the last twelve months.
[speaker010:] In Rome the pair will be kept apart as both concentrate on their specialist distance, for Gillingham that means the 200 metres and a chance to firmly enter the spotlight; Moorhouse might not be there but the opposition is still high class. about the Olympic champion, he'll be in Rome, he'll be ready for the World Championships, I think he's had an easy summer so far, but we've got the likes of Sergio Lopez who's just taken my European record away, there's two Americans; Kirl Stattel and Mike Barryman who've just gone under the old World Record, so there's perhaps a dozen of us that are really shouting and trying to get up to number one position. Gillingham enters the Europeans' at the peak of his form, and a performance in keeping with that would help to overcome that current image as the perennial man of tomorrow.
[speaker006:] And finally tonight Moseley rugby club have come up with a very different approach to pre-season training, I have to tell you it is not what you'd expect from the lads from the Readings.
[speaker009:] It's meant to make them more mobile in the mud and it's a far cry from the rigours of the scrum. It's aerobics, and if it's not altogether welcome, at least it's tolerated, by some better than others. [recorded jingle]
[speaker004:] Being a rugby player, I mean, suppleness doesn't come into their training an awful lot, so what tends to happen, if your muscles aren't loose and your running around, the slightest jar attacks and pulls muscles, you injure yourself, so if the muscles are more supple, which aerobics does do, then you'll find that erm injuries erm don't occur as often or shouldn't.
[speaker005:] You think you're fit, but not to the extent of athletes or to aerobic teachers of a high calibre, erm but I think we erm although we joke about, you can see on the pain in the faces that it does hurt and it does do us good.
[speaker009:] But the serious training still takes priority, as the team prepares for what needs to be a better season than last.
[speaker006:] The programme has been a lot better, a lot more stable this year and I think all round, the fitness in general, is going to be a lot better than it was last year.
[speaker007:] Since they started they had no coordination, when I was saying up they were going down, but as the weeks have gone by they've actually gradually got better and they can smile while they are doing it erm as well, whereas before it was erm one great big grimace.
[speaker006:] [LAUGHTER] That look I think was for when he next meets Gareth Gilcock. There's more sport for you at five past five tomorrow, meantime back to a man who's always in full bloom, he's at Shrewsbury Flower Show — Bob?
[speaker007:] First you grow your flowers, and then you have to cut them and then display them, now I call that flower arranging, but here, they call it floral art, and you can understand why. Earlier this week we dropped in on a competitor who was going through erm all the motions of getting his erm display ready and we saw what was involved. Gordon Bradley is a familiar face at the Shrewsbury Flower Show, he has been exhibiting his arrangements there for the past 25 years. He's back again at Shrewsbury this year and as usual most of his blooms are grown at home in his garden near Ashbourne in Derbyshire.
[speaker002:] The idea behind I had in mind with it was to make a champagne fountain. The look that I'm trying to get is a sort of pinky-mauvey look on this lovely, sort of wine coloured cloth.
[speaker007:] It's a sort of make it up as you go along is it?
[speaker002:] I'm afraid so, I mean a lot of these things, you can have a basic idea, and then your flowers don't turn up at the markets and all them sort of things, although we've got a wonderful garden and I've got quite a lot I can use.
[speaker007:] This year's hot summer has made life difficult for exhibitors like Gordon.
[speaker002:] The heat is not so bad, it's when this wind's with it, and it literally dries the flowers out — you can see them go opaque and takes the colour out of them, but we're not doing too badly. I think basically, if you've got good colour sense you're home and dry as I have said many times, it doesn't matter how you put it together, but if the colours are superb, it's going to look good.
[speaker007:] Well Gordon and here we are with the erm the finished arrangement — are you pleased with it?
[speaker002:] Well I am. I hope the public will be.
[speaker007:] It looks very nice doesn't it?
[speaker002:] I think it's a very pleasing effect.
[speaker007:] What have the judges said about it?
[speaker002:] Well, they erm seem to think we should have had some yellow in it for some obscure reason to match the programme, but I don't know, I thing it would have taken the erm the look off the thing.
[speaker007:] So you didn't get first prize then?
[speaker002:] I'm afraid not with this one, no, still never mind, there's always another year
[speaker007:] There's always another year.
[speaker002:] Exactly.
[speaker007:] Let's go back to the studio.
[speaker008:] And finally a last look at the headlines. Iraq has urged Arabs and Muslims throughout the world to unite, there are fears that the emergency Arab summit will collapse after the of Kuwait walked out. And Texaco has cut the price of petrol by 2.7 pence, the reduction has been made because the price of crude oil has fallen. And that's about it from us tonight — time for a final visit to the Shrewsbury Flower Show — here's Bob.
[speaker007:] Well you know, flowers and vegetables are all very well for the grown ups but for children, not so good. But there's a lot of entertainment here at the Shrewsbury Flower Show for the children; entertainers like Mr. Boom here. Where are you from Mr. Boom?
[speaker005:] Oh I'm Mr. Boom and I come from the moon.
[speaker007:] Is that a fact? Right! [LAUGHTER]
[speaker005:] And do you know this? [recorded jingle] song
[speaker007:] That's very nice Mr Boom — have you got any more?
[speaker005:] Oh yes, I'll sing one you all know — will you join in? [recorded jingle] song [LAUGHTER]
[speaker007:] Terrific! [recorded jingle]
[speaker010:] We've had virtually no rain in the last five weeks which is why we've got water problems in many parts of the country, but it's not just us that's suffering you'll be glad to know. Many parts of the continent have also got a drought; in France, in southern Italy and Greece in particular but Spain, they're not too bad actually they've had quite a lot of thundery showers this summer. Have a look at the satellite picture, that shows a lot of cloud coming across but not much in the way of rain unfortunately. Earlier on this week all that cloud was coming in from the north-west, now you can see it coming across from the west and as the weekend goes along, it will come in more from the south-west, so it will warm up a little bit. Tonight, one or two patches of cloud around, not all that much — a very mild night, minimum temperatures 13 degrees Celsius, that's 55 degrees Fahrenheit and just one or two showers in the north-west towards morning. Tomorrow morning, just the odd light shower about anywhere, but only a few spots of rain, it won't be long before the sun comes out yet again. In the afternoon, temperatures up to 26 degrees Celsius, that's 79 degrees Fahrenheit — a lovely day by the look of it. Then on Sunday, more of the same, if anything — little bit warmer. So there you have it, have a very nice weekend. I'll leave you with this summary.
[speaker001:] Good evening. The headlines tonight. Mourners at the funeral of a young soldier murdered in Northern Ireland were joined by his fiancée Debbie Turley from Lidney in the Forest of Dean. She was supported by the parents of Lance Bombardier Stephen Cummins as the gun carriage bearing his body moved through Porchester near Portsmouth. Lance Bombardier Cummins was killed by an I R A land mine near Londonderry. He had written letters home and to his fiancée with poems asking them not to weep at his grave. He and Debbie Turley who's a nurse were planning to marry in August. Her wreath in the shape of a tank bore the message 'As you once said, there is too much love between us ever to be separated'. A teenager is being questioned after an attack on a schoolgirl. It happened behind the ice rink in Oxford off Oxpens Road close to the Oxford Canal. The fifteen year old girl was left badly bruised and with missing and broken teeth. Police are searching for a blunt instrument. A village school in Buckinghamshire is set to close despite a campaign by parents to keep it open. Nearly seventy pupils and parents from Slapton School near Aylesbury lobbied councillors before a meeting of Buckinghamshire Education Committee. They say twenty five children at the primary school get more individual attention than they'd get at a larger school. But the council say the school, which has only one full-time teacher, is too small to cope with the new national curriculum. The parents now say they'll appeal to the Secretary of State. And more than thirty children have returned to school after a three day break caused by a shortage of teachers. Parents are angry that their education has been disrupted. The class of twelve and thirteen year olds were forced to miss lessons because Buckinghamshire Education Committee was unable to find a supply teacher. Teaching at Falconhurst School in Milton Keynes was back to normal this morning. Vital detective work by scientists based at Harwell has linked radon gas with a possible two and a half thousand lung cancer deaths. The radioactive gas occurs naturally in parts of Britain, and concentrations can build up in houses. Until researchers from the National Radiological Protection Board published their figures there had never been a national survey on the potential risks. Martin Dawes reports.: Mmd The detective work done by the Harwell scientists showed hitherto unsuspected dangers from radon. It was already known the radioactive gas was linked to lung cancer. The surprise is that it is much more common and affecting more people than had ever been suspected. Worst affected are Cornwall and Devon. Now scientists believe the gas could be linked to two and a half thousand cancer deaths per year. By placing radon gas detectors in homes the scientists are getting a clear picture of the problem around the country. In the south midlands, Northamptonshire has the worst problem. There, some areas are double the national average. Researchers couldn't be sure radon was such a danger until they'd built up a complete picture.: Ma for a few years and recently we've reassessed the doses and also we've reassessed the risks so those two things together have caused us to express our concern and to advise the government what to do about it. Which of course, which at last the government accepted. But in other parts of the Midlands, and indeed the country, the search is on to find the houses with high erm we have quite large programmes going on in the south west and also in the Pennines, Scotland. to find high houses and to remedy them.: Mmd Houses can now be designed to cut the risk from radon. Those most at risk in a high radon area are smokers.: Fa Some of the country's leading film starts have been adding their weight to a campaign to keep open an Oxfordshire cinema. It's threatened by plans to redevelop the centre of Henley-on-Thames. The town would get a new two-screen cinema, new shops and restaurants. But the existing cinema, one of Henley's best known buildings, would disappear. Wesley Smith has been finding out why the stars are so concerned.: Mws The Regal Cinema has certainly seen better days. It's entertained generations of film lovers from the Henley area since it was built in 1937. It was one of the few remaining to keep an old cinema organ until it closed a few years ago. It was bought by the John Lewis Partnership who want to expand their Waitrose supermarket as part of a new development programme of the town centre. The changes would also bring a new cinema. However, not all the locals approve of the plans to demolish the Regal. The actor Jeremy Irons is leading the campaign to save his local picture palace.: Mji I love film. I work in it and I care about it, and I care about people going to see it. And I believe that the growing trend erm of people going to the cinema, erm cinema owners reconverting cinemas they've cut into three back into the large auditoria, erm will continue and a night out at the cinema has something to do with the the building you're in, erm this building if refurbished would have a restaurant, would have a bar, would have a cinema club, would be a real asset to the town. erm and I think that if it is pulled down for this new development, in ten year's time we will look back and we will say 'Why did we do this? Henley is a lesser place because we don't have this amenity.': Mmd An exhibition to let people see what could be the new Henley is being held at the town hall. Residents are invited to leave their comments before the planning application is made next week. Plans for the new two-screen Regal Cinema are also on display.: Fb The kind of erm cinema that will have being two-screens, it's going to allow the sort of variety that probably the Regal in the past wasn't able to give to them, because we can as a policy have a constantly erm a constant turnover of different films.: Mmd Isn't it going to be difficult to recreate the charm of the old Regal though?: Fb I don't think so. We'll erm have two screens, a great deal of comfort.: Mb This scheme has been designed to overcome many of the objections that were raised to the earlier scheme, particularly in relation to the car parking that is now in excess of that which was originally required. the cinema has been erm provided with a a proper manager that everyone is now happy with.: Mmd Jeremy Irons is impressed with the town plans generally, but, with stars like George Harrison and Simon Williams to back him, he's forging ahead with the plan to save the Regal.: Mji I live in hope. Forcefully.: Fa A man had to be rescued from the top of Hereford Cathedral this afternoon after he had a heart attack. It was all just part of an exercise for the emergency services. Hereford and Worcester ambulance and fire teams wanted to test how they'd cope with an incident some 176 feet up. The fire service used techniques usually reserved for cliff rescuers to reach the man. With the aid of a cable slide, the patient was slowly lowered to safety. Once back on the ground the ambulance service took over the medical side of the operation. The man who ran the world's first sub-four minute mile has been back to the track where he made history nearly thirty five years ago. Sir Roger Bannister trained on Oxford's Iffley Road track with Chris Chattaway before breaking the four minute barrier. He was back at the track to mark the donation of a quarter of a million pounds to refurbish the surface. A young man from Gloucestershire who wants to become a professional juggler has been given the royal seal of approval. Peter Cook has been awarded a thousand pounds by the Prince's Youth Business Trust to set up his own juggling company. Pearl Afferty reports.