03/11/2011 BBC Points West

Hello and welcome to BBC Points West. The headlines.

Tough choices to save jobs. Ambulance crews in Somerset asked

to consider pay cuts to stop redundancies.

A moving tribute. The girlfriend of a man shot dead after St Paul's

carnival goes on TV to help find his killer.

The Bath woman held hostage a 13 years ago thanks the billionaire

Chelsea boss after learning he paid her ransom. I thought, the best

thing that could happen is if an oligarch could put up the money!

And then it happened. And we investigate whether boar are

driving some locals wild in the Forest of Dean. -- why the boar.

Good evening. Ambulance crews in Somerset are being asked if they

are prepared to take a cut to salaries, work without pay or lose

annual leave to try and save jobs. It is because of south-west and

Alonso is facing a shortfall in its budget of �4 million. Unions have

attacked the trust's move, calling it unacceptable.

South-west ambulance, which serves people in Somerset, is the latest

organisation to publicly struggle with the effects of cutbacks. With

its budget reduced by the government, the trust needs to save

�4 million a year and staff are being asked to make tough choices.

In a letter, the Trust has asked employees if they would be prepared

to work an extra hour a week for no extra pay, take a 1% pay cut, lose

up to three days of annual leave or work one day a year for free.

letter sent out to staff, we have made a number of suggestions, but

this is about listening and engaging with the staff to hear

their views, not presenting a have been made. But unions say the

proposals are completely unpalatable. Engaging with staff to

find out ways in which they can save money is the right thing to do,

but they have asked staff if they can sacrifice their terms and

conditions at a time when we have a two year pay freeze and are looking

at paying more for our contributions and working for

longer. It seems other staff in the West, working for the neighbouring

Great Western Ambulance, may soon be facing a similar situation.

These proposed changes in working practices could ultimately apply to

paramedics working here in Bristol, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, as

the Great Western Ambulance service plans to merge with a south-west

ambulance, because it has such a poor record in meeting targets and

is the smallest trust in the country. In a statement, Great

Western Ambulance say they are still separate organisations and

any talk of changing terms and conditions is speculation.

Elsewhere in the public sector, cutbacks are beginning to bite.

More than 100 jobs are to go at Swindon Borough Council. Today, it

became one of first local authorities to set out how it will

balance the books next year. It says frontline services are being

protected, but critics say the vulnerable people will be affected.

Another year, another round of cuts. This year, it is �14 million to be

saved in Swindon. 100 jobs are going. There will be fears that

local people will lose out. But what will be the result -- has been

the result of cuts in the past? A year ago, the council announced

this gym would shut. A group of disabled users campaigned in vain

to keep it open. I don't want it to shut because I use it. Quite a few

others use it. Today, Denise Webb, who has multiple sclerosis, has to

travel a bit further for exercise classes. The council moved the

specialist equipment to the edge of town. Some gym users no longer come.

It is so awkward to get up. The gym itself is good. We all enjoy it.

Everybody gets on. It is like a big happy family. On the warpath in

Swindon are Labour. Today, the Shadow Home Secretary visited to

find out about the impact of spending cuts. The important thing

is to get the economy growing, and then you get the resources for

services, like local government and the police. If you don't, that puts

everything at risk. Services to the elderly and the vulnerable are

being cut, not completely, but piecemeal, back and back.

Conservatives, who run the council, are not apologetic. They reckon

they have done better than most at protecting services. We seem to be

able to do it thus far, but I will not run away from the challenges of

the future. In the early days, there was some inefficiency and

waste. That has largely gone. Our back-office costs are some of the

lowest in the country. There is room to keep finding this level of

savings, but it is reducing. Thus far, we have predicted frontline

services, but I can't predict the future. At least the staff at the

gym appear save, but many other council employees may lose their

jobs in the coming months. There was some brighter Financial

News in Bristol today. The City is to get �18 million in government

money to address the chronic shortage of primary school places.

It will go towards paying for more classrooms. Bristol City Council is

considering building new schools with the money. Despite the

constraints on public spending, and they are severe, we have allocated

huge extra sums of money, �1.3 billion, to ensuring there are

sufficient places. It is for local authorities to marshal these

resources to make sure there are sufficient places for pupils next

year. Bristol City Council has to find at

least 3000 extra primary school places in the next four years to

cope with a population boom. A woman has paid tribute to her 21-

year-old boyfriend, who were shot dead after the St Paul's Carnival.

Police say Rico Gordon was and is it so -- an innocent bystander when

he was killed in Stapleton Road in July. Tonight, Crimewatch will

appeal for more information about his death.

It was in the early hours of July this year when gunfire erupted in

Easton. Rico! The police say that Rico Gordon was

an innocent bystander. He was on the phone to his girlfriend when he

was gunned down outside the Coach House pub in Stapleton Road.

thought maybe he dropped his phone. I heard, like, a kind of bang, but

it could have been the phone for a wonderful. He was speaking and then

it was kind of like, you know, you can't finish a sentence, then it

cut out. She says Rico was the kindest of people. He was the first

person I thought about in the morning, the first person I would

speak to, the last person when I went to bed. He would make you

smile if you were feeling sad. Police are still looking for the

murder weapons and say these are the type which were used in the

shooting, and they could be hidden in Bristol. Detectives want to

speak to these three people linked to a dark coloured Vauxhall Agila,

parked by the bottom of the steps by a bridge on Stapleton Road at

the time of the shooting. It is a continuing request that, if anybody

has any ideas about people who may be involved, and then maybe

witnesses, please come forward because, the more information we

get, the more likely we are to solve the case. Earlier this summer,

I spoke to Rico's mother when she came to Bristol to lay flowers just

yards from where he was shot. hard to describe. Just heartbroken,

really. It is hard, very hard. It is hard. The whole family,

everybody... It is very hard. We still haven't really got to terms

with it, you know? We miss him so much. Detectives say they still

need so -- still need more information and the investigation

continues. Of course, Crimewatch is on at 9pm

on BBC One. You are watching your regional news

programme, BBC Points West on this miserable Thursday evening. Let's

hope the weather is looking a bit better for the firework displays

being planned for the weekend. Ian we have the forecast shortly.

Before that, plenty more, including...

I am live at Bristol's biggest business dinner. In a couple of

hours, the people will be hearing from one of the country's top

industry experts. Find out about the band from Bath

who have made it onto Radio 2. Chris Evans is a fan, but they are

First, a woman who was held hostage by armed rebels in Chechnya has

publicly thanked the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich

following the news that he paid a ransom to free her. Camilla Carr,

from Bath, and her husband Jon James, from Gloucestershire, had

been in the Chechen capital Grozny for three months when they were

abducted by rebels. 13 years after they were released, the Chelsea

football club owner has claimed he had a big hand in their rescue.

James Hassam has been talking to Camilla Carr. The report contains

flash photography. I don't think there is ever a point

way can say, I am healed from this, but that is part of the journey of

life. It is not the only drama I have been through. You have to work

with it. It is a remarkable outlook from a remarkable woman. It is 13

years since Camilla Carr and Jon James came home and back to their

lives in Bath. Tired, week, but still smiling after a long,

terrifying experience. It is good to be back! For an agonising 14

months, this video was all their family saw of the couple. They had

been abducted from this children's centre in the Chechen capital three

months after they arrived, and held hostage by violent rebel fighters.

Now, after years of not knowing, more details have come to light

about their release. It has emerged this week the Russian billionaire

and owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich paid the ransom

that led to Camilla and Jon being freed. Honestly, we would not be

here if he wasn't involved. It was a slim window of opportunity that

we came out of, really. Strangely, a few months before that, when we

were in captivity, I talked about this. I thought, the best thing

that could happen is if an oligarch could put up the money to release

us, and then it happens. The couple have never returned to Chechnya,

fearing for their safety if they did. But, looking back, Camilla

feels no anger, no bitterness. very keen on exploring why and how

I can deal with it, and so it comes from that place of understanding

where those crimes came from. A lot of it was war trauma. Camilla says

she has no plans to meet Roman Abramovich. She and Jon have moved

on and now live in Devon, but she is grateful and intrigued by the

extraordinary ending to this extraordinary story.

The government can't just wait for economic growth to come along. It

must take action. That is the challenge laid down by one of the

country's top industry leaders, who is making a speech in Bristol

tonight. Business people are gathering to hear him, and Dave

Harvey is amongst them. I guess, with the eurozone teetering on the

edge, they will not be short of a few talking points on the economy

Not sure if they are serving kebabs, but Greece is certainly on the menu

here tonight. This is the annual dinner of the CBI. Until recently

it was a bit of a night out for executives and entrepreneurs. In

the last few years it's got a bit more serious, as you can imagine.

Along with Greece, growth is the other big headache. We got a bit of

encouragement on Tuesday, with numbers showing UK PLC had grown

just a tiny bit, but everyone agrees we need to make a whole lot

more and speculate a whole lot less. And today, as it happens, Bristol

Using a spark igniter, open it up and like the torch. 11:30am this

morning. Advanced welding. Get rid of the smoke. We are at the city of

Bristol College where nearly 2,000 apprentices learn welding, car

maintenance and other technical skills. EU take any skills you can

get and hopefully there will be a job at the end of it. -- you take.

If we are to manufacture more, we need to train more. We have

announced a new development today for this site, which will have a

complete makeover. John Taylor college has just announced a �20

million facelift. Just next stop they will be built -- just next

door there will build a technical college. People are retiring, so we

need to train young people so these professions can continue. Bristol's

new science park was awash with entrepreneurs. There was some eye-

catching technology. We can inject digital content. Look at that!.

There are lots of different applications for the technology,

everything from marketing to industry. Made in Bristol by the

team of 10 and typical of the digital innovation in the city.

These are the modern manufacturers and it is this kind of business

that will lift us out of the mire. We are no longer old fashioned. We

do make staff. We make high-end high-technology stuff. The other

thing we make his ideas. We are fantastically good at that as a

country. The city enough to get us out of this economic gloom? Oh I

think you underestimate the talent of the British people. We will get

out of this economic gloom on the back of the people who are in this

room. Let's see if the optimism and is shared by the leader of the CBI.

Are you optimistic? British business can do great things in the

south-west, if we are in control of our own destiny. If the eurozone

crisis is sorted out, there will be investment and jobs. I thought

breeze would come up. How important is what is going on in Greece

affecting what is happening in Gloucester. It is hugely important.

Businesses are not investing, they are sitting on their hands. However,

unlike consumers, it has got money to spend, but not the confidence to

spend it. Political risk in Berlin and Athens is the main reason they

are holding back. Get that sorted and the British economy can get

back on a grid pattern. We have mentioned growth. We have lots of

good stuff with technology and apprenticeships and manufacturing.

Are they getting enough support from the government? I am looking

forward to what the Chancellor has to say at the end of the month when

he does his Autumn Statement. It is like a mini budget. He needs to

seep up his growth plan. He needs to invest in infrastructure, skills,

housing growth. People will say has he got the money? The answer is he

hasn't. I am not looking for government money, but money from

the walls that government set and the way they influence markets.

They can get the private sector to invest, so the money back

businesses have, the government need to encourage them to spend at.

Thank you. Back to the studio. Some people living in the Forest of

Dean say they feel under seige from the wild boar living in their midst.

The animals are descended from ones that were either dumped or released

from farms. They dig up gardens and walkways and have been known to

attack dogs and even people. But while some call for an increase in

culling, others say they should be protected.

Wild boar, roaming the Forest of Dean as they did centuries ago.

They look like an exotic addition to our countryside, but are they?

People living with them say they're dangerous. Martyn Williams took

these photos near his house. He used to love the boar, until one

went for him. Suddenly came this massive boar and I knew it was

going to charge at me. I was about 50 yards away and I managed to get

inside the five-bar gate in time. I do to think what would have

happened if it got me. It frightened me. The little prig

looks -- piglet look pretty, but when they get bigger, they can kill

you. It's easy to see where the boar

have been. They dig up earth rooting around for food and can

destroy a well kept garden. They are being managed by the Forestry

Commission after government recomendations that they be

controlled, not eradicated. 150 have been culled this year alone.

This is our 4th year and each year at the Karl has increased. It

doubles year on year. Whether that is slowing it and that is all it is

doing, or it is lagging behind the spiralling population is hard to

know for certain. Not everyone's against the boar.

It's claimed they bring in tourists and as living animals should be

protected. Across the Forest of Dean today we have seen evidence of

boar damage. They could be watching us right now. I have also spoken to

be friends of the boar who say the increase in numbers is down to

cunning and hunting. The boar are reproducing to replace those cold.

-- culture. This week the Forestry Commission's

begun trying to get an accurate count of boar numbers. That could

determine if their strategy's working or if something needs to

change. Now to make the Radio 2 playlist

you have got be good. To receive praise from Chris Evans you have

got be very good. So when an unsigned band from Bath were played

not once, but three times thanks to audience demand, it was a massive

achievement. But here's the really staggering bit - the members of 5

Second Rule are all aged between 11 and 13-years-old. Lizzie Way is

with them now to find out more. Before I introduce you to the band,

let me give you some background. Chris Evans on his breakfast show

invites young people to call in and tell him what they have been doing

for the first time. James here tell Chris Evans he was putting down his

first track. Chris Evans asked for it to be sent to him. The oldest is

13, the 11th -- the youngest is 11. It is amazing. It sounds like a

rough cut from an established band and then you find that there is an

11-year-old involve. Let us hear Let me introduce you to them. We

have got Alastair on drums. I and James. I'm the lead singer. James,

you are 11. How did it feel to listen to yourself on Radio 2?

is great because not many groups get the chance to be played on big

radio stations like Radio 2. What are the plans for the future

because you have got a Children in Need single coming out?

Singapore has been released on iTunes and there is information on

our website. What other plans for the future? We have to be

successful and produce some records and CDs and hopefully get signed.

Let us hair a little bit more from then, live and exclusive, it is 5

I am staggered at how good they are. It is their first television

appearance, but it will not be their last.

Let us find out what the weather is looking like. Many of you may be

planning a firework display, or to go to one. Let us find out what is

in store. I think it would be a case of

dodging showers again. We received this picture earlier. The rainfall

radar shows how some of the showers have been tracking across the West

Country. There is a way of developing on a fund which will

influence some eastern part. We are looking southwards for further

developments will come in in the second half of the night. There are

a few showers at the moment, but as the night continues they will

become heavier. The Met Office has issued a yellow alert for part of

Devon, Dorset and South Devon. Temperature wise, quite mild with

highs of 13 degrees. Tomorrow we will start on the same theme. Heavy

showers, particularly in the south of the region. They could be some

hail and thunder. For the carnival at Bridgewater and the fireworks,

there could be some periodic wet weather around. It will diminish

with each passing hour. Slowly, it will get better. Not everywhere

will seek the showers -- will see the showers tomorrow.