11/02/2014 BBC London News

is clear, is bonuses and incentives paid to its workers have risen by

Tonight on BBC London News: A 10%

Tonight on BBC London News: A planned two`day Tube strike has been

called off after a last minute deal between unions and transport bosses.

The strike action was effective and that's the reason why London

Underground took this very seriously over the last two days. Our position

remains unchanged. We've tabled our proposals for what I think were very

good reforms of the ticket offices and common sense appears to have

prevailed. We'll have more details on what helped to seal the deal

Also tonight: We're with the flood`hit residents

of Berkshire who say they're marooned and unable to leave their

homes. It's about time someone does something. Come out and don't leave

us stranded. Plus, how surgeons changed the life

of this six`year`old who couldn t smile or even eat because of a rare

illness. There are certain pieces that you look at and you think, that

is probably the right thing to do. And we hear from George Clooney on

why London should give one of its greatest ancient treasures back to

Greece. Good evening. A planned 48`hour Tube

strike by London Underground workers which was due to start tonight has

been called off. It comes after a last`minute agreement was reached

between union officials and Transport for London. Bob Crow, the

leader of the RMT, says it means the threat of industrial action was

justified. Meanwhile, Mayor Boris Johnson has welcomed the deal. He

said unnecessary disruption to Londoners had been averted. Here's

our transport correspondent Tom Edwards.

This morning, the strike was on But this afternoon, it was off. Some

welcome news for commuters. That's a really good news. A sensible

decision. The union and the management have to sit together I

think it's really good that they've called it off and I think they need

to open their communication channels a bit more and get it sorted out

once and for all. They can't hold the country to ransom like this The

unions. Of course it's good news. Tomorrow I was expecting to be

trapped in the Chew or trying to get home and spending two or three

hours. `` trapped in the Tube. Last week, the strike caused huge

disruption. Transport unions walked out of proposals to close all to

good offices and cut 950 jobs. London Underground said ticket

offices were only used in 3% of journeys. This morning, a new deal

was put forward. A station review means busier ticket offices could be

kept open and a trawl for voluntary redundancies has been suspended

That was enough to call off the strike. Do you regret taking up a

48`hour strike? Do you think was an overreaction and you could have got

to this position through negotiation? No, because they

wouldn't have taken us seriously until we called the strike action.

We got more done over that period of time when the strike action took

place. It concentrated their minds, that they wanted to sit down and

talk to us. What I want to do is look at every individual station,

look at specific issues that may emerge for those individual

stations, and respond accordingly to what the proposals are. You need to

have that level of detailed dialogue and I'm really pleased that we've

got the time and space to do that. The mayor, visiting a water

treatment plant in Croydon, said the modernisation of the tube is still

essential. We haven't changed our position but what will happen now is

that there will be a detailed negotiation about, I think, a

programme which is fantastic for the Tube. It offers huge opportunities

to modernise the system. It will be good for commuters and good for

London Underground staff as well. It won't be the last we hear of this

modernisation plan. There will probably be other serious

disagreements and many staff have concerns about what the future

holds. But tonight at least, good news for commuters.

So, Tom, relief for commuters but as you alluded to, a lot of talking to

be done. Could that be a long road ahead? Very much so. We're just at

the start of this long, drawn`out process. Now, though, the unions are

going to be involved. I've been told talks could start as early as

tomorrow. As for who has won, I think it was a draw. Both sides got

a bit out of it. Labour and the Greens on the London assembly

calling for a consultation on the closure of ticket offices so it is

not the end at all. Thank you Tom. Stay with us. Coming up later:

Tomorrow, it's not just about the rain. We're very concerned about

strong wind gusts through the afternoon. I'll have the full

weather forecast for you later on in the programme.

As we've been hearing, hundreds of people have been evacuated from

their homes in towns and villages along the River Thames ` and

thousands more are at risk from rising water levels. 14 flood

warnings remain in place in Berkshire and Surrey. That's where

we can join our reporters, who have been speaking to residents and

businesses who've spent another day trying to protect their properties.

We'll talk to Tarah Welsh in Datchet in a moment. First let's cross to

Nick Beake in Chertsey for the latest there.

Good evening. This is a crucial location in the response to this

major incident. All day long, the emergency services have been coming

here, regrouping. They've been allocated tasks and going out and

helping people in need in this county, so that means it isn't just

the Fire and rescue service who have been based here but also the police.

They have a police boat here, which has been one of the best ways of

getting about today. The nature of this emergency means the military

are on hand. You can see the distinctive green of the military

trucks and also soldiers, some of whom are from the Royal Artillery.

Just two months ago, they were patrolling under the heat of the

Afghan son. Today they have been helping people get out of their

homes in North Surrey. The latest we hear is that some of the soldiers

have been at an old people's home where they have been sandbagging the

area because people can't leave Bartra is affected, too, and we can

get this report from Reyes me from my colleague. `` Wraysbury.

We're on a journey into the heart of the floods after dark. We're here to

find people who don't want to leave their homes. They are willing to

stay put in a house that's flooded, cold and could lose power at any

moment. Hello. This man invited us in. He built this house and even

though the water was inside and rising, he wasn't going anywhere. We

lost the heating here but, fortunately, I've got a log burner.

You stay in your home as long as you can. We'll take it day by day. We're

quite happy year. Across the road, we found Derek, who has even more

reason to cherish his home. He shared it with his wife, who died

from breast cancer six years ago. It's desperate. What can you do

When the house is fine and the weather is fine, there is nowhere

nicer. It's beautiful. In some lights, there was some beauty in

this flooded village. But later we found another emotion ` fear. This

was a patrol. Volunteers worried about possible looting. It is

getting dark and the possibility of people coming in is high. There were

stories, as well, in the morning, of people marooned in their homes. But

the volunteers rallied in the primary school and were determined

to help. We joined Mark Jones and his colleagues Sam as they were

joined to a family trying to arrange evacuation for a woman in her 7 s.

My mum is 71 years old. She has mobility restrictions and can't get

out. Is everybody OK at the moment? I understand, when I say OK, you're

not OK, but nobody is in immediate danger? I understand it's very

distressing. If you need us to come back with anything or to pick

anything up for you ` prescription medication, anything like that ` we

can do that. But the job of evacuation was too big and she was

staying put for now. Why do you want to leave? Because of danger. We ve

had nobody come round here. No police, no Environment Agency,

nobody. The family say they will call 999 if she deteriorates. The

volunteers say they will continue to work 20 47 `` 24 hours a day.

We're hearing tonight that 1000 residents not far from here face the

prospect of their power being switched off because of the flood

water. The likes of these guys may be assisting them tonight. This

search and rescue unit has just got a call and they find it at the exact

location where they going to be deployed to. Guys from Norfolk have

arrived here tonight to help them. Thank you, Nick. That was Chertsey

in Surrey. Now let's join Tarah in Datchet in Berkshire. What's the

latest? This is a village almost completely

underwater. The only way to get around is by really high waders or

by boat, as you can see. The emergency services have been here

today, helping people get out of their homes and businesses are

mainly closed but the ones that are open have been serving the emergency

services and journalists. I've been finding out how the businesses are

coping. We opened the doors and we found

water everywhere. It was supposed to be the busiest week of the year but,

rather than serving couples, staff here will spend Valentine's Day

clearing floodwater from the rest. It's financially devastating because

we still have to pay wages and we're not going to be open, so how are we

going to get the money in? We were trying to think of ideas, to bring a

gondola to Datchet, or just something! All the owner can do is

try to stop more water getting in. It's been a disaster. We've recently

bought this building and trying to help all the shops. We've had

sporadic deliveries of bags but the trouble is, everyone was dealing

with it themselves. There was no central coordination. Many of the

shops on the bridge are now only accessible by boat. Even the

businesses that haven't been affected by the floodwater yet have

closed because customers can't get in, deliveries can't get through and

even the rail line is completely underwater. This hotel and

restaurant is tried but the rest is `` the seller is flooded so all

bookings have been cancelled. We have lost about two weeks so that is

about 100,000 we will have lost in those two weeks. Plus any future

business from people that are cancelling with us now. Offices

haven't escaped. The staff who have made it in have had to keep water at

bay. It has been a struggle over the last couple of weeks. We knew it was

going to end up getting worse but we've been prepared and moved

everything we had downstairs upstairs but, as you can see, we're

really trying to save what we can. And for many companies across the

south`east, it will be some time before it's business as usual. This

business here is a hotel and restaurant and tells me the Army has

just arrived to help them move all the furniture upstairs. Nothing is

normal in this village at the moment. I spoke to a traffic warden

earlier to ask if he would be ticketing cars. He said there were

much more important things to do so they will be helping volunteers give

out sandbags to businesses and homes that need them a lot.

Thank you, Tarah. Let's go back to Chertsey in Surrey

where we are joined by a chief superintendent from Surrey police.

An extremely busy day for all the emergency services involved. What

has been the priority for you today? The priority today has been very

much about warning and informing people. So far today we have visited

2800 homes on about 470 roads where there is the highest risk of

flooding in Surrey. We have about 350 evacuation is today. Very much

the priority is to keep people safe. We heard earlier in the programme,

people in Wraysbury getting volunteers to help prevent looting,

is that something you are aware of? How would you reassure people about

this fear of looting? It is not something I am aware of in Surrey.

Certainly, at the moment, we have a hundred dedicated officers and staff

responding to this incident. They are working around the clock. We

have also got our partners from the other emergency services, the army,

the Environment Agency, all of whom are acting as our eyes and ears on

the ground. In terms of the coverage and the information we are getting,

it is good at the moment. You are working around the clock, with

rising water levels and more rain on the way, this could go on for

weeks, hopefully not months, how resource are you to cope with the

situation? I think that is something we have started to focus on today,

the resilience of the operation We are taking steps now to ensure we

can keep up the state of preparing nests and this level of resources

dedicated to it. People have been telling us over the past week that

they feel stranded and abandoned. From your point of view, who is in

charge of helping people? Is it the Environment Agency, councils, is it

the police or military? This is very much a multi`agency response.

Because it has been declared a major incident, we share a strategic group

twice a day where all the partners are represented and we do that so we

can share information and make sure we get the best response is possible

and target the areas where they have the greatest need. Many thanks. We

know it is a busy day, thank you for your time. Staying with the

flooding, we can cross now to Paddington Station where we are

joined by Emma North with news on how the flooding is causing

disruption to train services west of London.

Services in and out of Paddington Station seem to have borne the brunt

of all the problems associated with these floods. At one point last

night, all but two services out of the station were cancelled and the

problem seems to be getting worse not better.

At Maidenhead, at quarter to seven this morning, there was a train But

nobody was getting on it. Instead, everyone waited. And waited. And

waited a little more. For buses that did not seem to arrive. Rubbish

Absolute rubbish. I have to laugh about it otherwise you get wound up

and stressed about it. I have been standing here for about an hour and

35 minutes now. I am freezing. I think they could have communicated a

lot better with us. We have to get to work, we do not want to put our

jobs at stake. This is what the problem seems to be, ground water

bubbling onto the railway at Maidenhead. The operators are facing

scenes like this along dozens of root. This is Reading. We have water

which has got into signalling and safety equipment which means we have

no signal safety equipment into or out of Paddington. The cost of the

damage so far has been put at ? 00 million but only once the levels

drop will be full extent become clear. We have already been warned

the repairs could take months. In the light of all this disruption,

many rail operators are advising if you are trying to use those

services, please do not unless absolutely necessary. For those of

us compelled to use the trains, this is what we believe to be the latest.

On first Great Western there is a reduced service, a maximum of four

trains in our instead of 25. On South West Trains, the service

between Staines and Eton Riverside is suspended. There is a partial bus

services but that is disrupted as well because those roads flooded.

And on Southern, services between East Croydon and is Grinstead are

disrupted but tickets are accepted on buses. There are roads affected

in Shepparton, Hurley and `` Purley and many other areas. The picture

does seem to be getting clearer It is not a good one. This situation is

with us for several days to come. Thank you.

Don't forget, you can keep across all the latest on the floods and

travel situation by tuning into our BBC stations.

To some of the day's other news now: The funeral of a 16`year`old boy who

died from a suspected drugs overdose has taken place this afternoon.

Daniel Spargo`Mabbs died in hospital last month, two days after he'd been

to a rave in west London. His cortege passed Archbishop Tenison

School in Croydon so that pupils who knew him could pay their respects

along with teachers and staff. Two men have been charged in connection

with his death. The widow of a former KGB spy has

won a High Court victory, raising her hopes of obtaining a public

inquiry into her husband's death. Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned

with radioactive polonium in London in 2006. His wife, Marina,

challenged the Government's decision last July to refuse an immediate

inquiry. The Home Office says it is carefully considering the judgment.

This is six`year`old Liliana Cernecca, who's smiling now, thanks

to surgeons at Kings College Hospital. She was diagnosed with a

rare condition that meant her jaw bone fused together, so struggled to

talk or eat, let alone smile. Alex Bushill reports on the pioneering

surgery that changed her life. Liliana Cernecca had and closes The

right side of her drawer was used but the left was growing normally.

It meant her face became more skewed to the right as she got older. I

felt like I would never be fixed. She remembers when she could not

yawn or eat properly, when she could not smile. Now that is pretty much

all she does. It was very worrying at the time and it is very rare We

did not have anything to go by how it had happened before and how

successful the operations are. It was all very up in the air. Very

nerve wracking. But it turned out to be good. She got her smile back She

got her smile back, yes. This is who they have to thank, leading dental

surgeon Shaun Matthews. He had never seen a case in one so young. As her

jawbone was used, you had to cut through it. It should grow back

normally. We removed the head of the jaw joint, to allow her to open her

mouth fully, in the hope in the long`term but not only will her

function be restored but more importantly the growth of her jaw

will assume a more normal pattern as she grows older. And for Liliana,

that is all she wanted to be, normal again, making the most of her new

palette. Amazing story. George Clooney has stood by his

claim that the British Museum should give back the Elgin Marbles to

Greece. The Hollywood star was in the capital to promote his new film

about a group of soldiers who recover art stolen by the Nazis Our

entertainment correspondent, Brenda Emmanus, reports.

They say with this many people dying, who cares about art? They are

wrong. In The Monuments Men, George Clooney returns to the directors'

chair and also stars as part of a team who risk their life to restore

art stolen by the Nazis. Today, at a press conference in the National

Gallery, he was drawn into the contentious debate about whether the

British Museum should return the Elgin marbles taken from the

Parthenon in Athens. The Vatican returned part of it. It is a

question that case of breaking up one piece of art and whether or not

one piece of art should be as best as possible but put back together.

It is an argument to say, eight you will never say the bust of Nefertiti

should be given back. It is probably the right thing to do. Greece has

been campaigning for their return but the British Museum has argued

the marbles are an important part of their collection. Bill Murray had a

suggestion. It has had a very nice stay here! But London has become

crowded. There is plenty of room back there in Greece, plenty of

room. England could take the lead on this kind of thing of letting art go

back where it came from. So on screen and off, it appears the stars

are in favour of the return of art to their original home.

We will have the weather forecast in just a moment. But first, you have

been sending in your pictures and comments of how the rising water

levels have affected where you live. This one from Kaushal Trivedi says

it all, the remains of a car park in Staines. Moving on to this early

morning picture of Datchet High Street from Ben Avery. Richard Brown

sent this in from West Molesley you can just make out the park bench

there. And this stoic one from Kerry showing her grandparents being

evacuated from their home in Chertsey, but still managing to

raise a smile despite the circumstances. Paul Bennett got in

touch saying, the water outside his 78`year`old mum's house in Egham is

around three feet deep, with other houses in her street flooded. Aaron

Singh in Wraysbury says they've worked all day and into the night

trying to make flood defences with sheets of wood and plastic. Time for

one more from Alice Paice from Lower Sunbury who says her family is

relying on friends and the local sports centre to keep clean. Thank

you for sending them all in. We feel for you all.

Time now to get the latest on the weather with Elizabeth.

There is more rain on the way for the rest of this week and no real

lengthy time for it to drain away. We could be looking at another 0

millimetres by the time get to Saturday, that is another two inches

for many areas. There is a new hazard on the block in the form of

strong winds. It is a double whammy weather warning tomorrow. Not just

the rain but some pretty strong winds as well. For tonight, we have

some showers waiting in the wings. The risk that some of these could

turn a bit wind tree over the tops of the Chilterns tonight. A nice dry

spell by the middle part of the night. It will feel cold tonight.

Temperatures dipping down to freezing. Into tomorrow morning s

rush hour, we have more showers around. There will be longer spells

of rain in the afternoon. The wind picking up all the time. We could be

looking at gusts of 50 to 60 mph. It will not be nice at all. Thursday, a

bit of a chance to mop up but then we have this storm system waiting in

the wings for Friday. That will push up from the south. A lot of wet

weather on Friday. The legacy of that at the weekend will be plenty

of showers. Plenty more rain on the way. We have severe flood warnings

out down the Thames. This means a risk for life. This is the flood

line number. Check out the warnings on the website. Thank you for

joining us. I will be back later during the ten

o'clock news. Until then, from all of us on the team, have a lovely

evening, goodbye. It was only for

a second or two but I know - You're dragging up the past and

into our house. She's my family