15/11/2011 BBC Points West

Hello, and welcome to BBC Points West. In the headlines tonight:

Tough deal for Aviva workers in the run-up to Christmas. Four out of

five of the Bristol insurance staff are to lose their jobs.

Threat to youth services in North Somerset, we are live from a

meeting to discuss where the axe may fall.

Also tonight, the unexpected surprise in a bag of pre-washed

lettuce. She thought she was digging into

one of the darker leaves only to find a dead bird.

And sleep-over for new dads, the hospital allowing fathers to stay

with their babies all night wins Good evening.

Almost 400 people look set to lose their jobs after the insurance

giant Aviva confirmed plans today to close its offices in Bristol. An

announcement was made to staff this morning following the end of a

joint venture with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

A small number of specialist positions will be kept but most

staff will begin leaving from the middle of next year. Will Glennon

reports. This is the building that houses

Aviva staff. Offices dedicated to a joint venture with Royal Bank of

Scotland, a venture that is coming to an end. It was here that 384

people found out their employment would not be continuing. There has

been little reaction here today, but the union Unite has said it is

appalled by the announcement. It says its members will be stunned as

they are facing a very uncertain future. 60 specialist underwriting

jobs will stay, the rest will be phased out, starting in the second

half of next year, as business is moved to York, Norwich and

Sheffield. In a statement today, There is perhaps never a good time

to be made redundant, but with the economy mired in a downturn and

Christmas just around the corner, the timing of this surely has to be

one of the worst. If you look at the jobs section of the Aviva

website, it says they are such a big financial organisation that

they can offer the kind of employment stability that others

can't. And yet today, almost 400 people here have been told they are

going to lose their jobs. And tomorrow we will find out how

many people are now out of work across the West Country. Companies

and experts alike expect unemployment to rise, as it has

been since the summer. We will have full analysis of the

situation in tomorrow night's programme and hear from some

inspiring young people about their hopes for the future.

A multi-million pound plan for the future of the West's rail network

was unveiled today by the new man in charge. His vision could see two

more platforms at Bristol's historic Temple Meads station, an

upgrade of signalling equipment across the region and improvements

in punctuality. From 2013, the rail line from London to Bristol will be

electrified. And as John Maguire reports, that is something Network

Rail is hoping to capitalise on. We are travelling by rail in

numbers not seen since the 1920s. Demand is like a runaway train, and

the rail industry is desperately trying to keep up. So there are

grand plans on the line ahead, all designed to ensure the West's

railway network can cope with a predicted 50% increase in traveller

numbers in the not-too-distant future. And passengers are clear

about their priorities. Capacity, capacity, and more capacity.

Capacity, because there is enormous growth taking place in rail usage

in this part of the world, and to enable us to relieve congestion on

the roads. Until we have a decent rail system, people will stick on

the roads. Dealing with the lack of seats on the trains. At the moment,

going to London, Paddington has more overcrowded trains than any

other London station. There is a long list of projects ahead, and

the biggest difference should come with what is called the "spark

effect" - the electrification of the line from London to Cardiff. It

means that stations off the main route will not benefit at first,

but hundreds of millions will be spent redoubling the Swindon to

Kemble line. There will be improvements at Gloucester,

Cheltenham and Taunton, and crucially Bristol Temple Meads,

where even the Victorian roof has not hampered the blue-sky thinking.

Here is one idea being looked at Temple Meads. This is a car fight

at the moment but if they want to get people out of these and back

onto rails, what about turning back the clock? This, obviously the old

platform and I am standing on what was once the line. Could trains

return to this part of the station? There is history everywhere you

look here, but it is Network Rail's job to look ahead, and crucially

make sure it keeps up with passengers' demands. I am not going

to pretend it will be seen as every day from now until 2019, but I can

promise the results of the investment process will be

absolutely worth it. A bold promise that rail travellers will test and

demand is honoured. A former teacher has gone on trial

accused of 19 sex offences with young girls. Philip Barlow, a youth

leader at the Grace Bible Church in Saltford, near Keynsham, is alleged

to have assaulted the girls between 2002 and 2009. The jury at Bristol

Crown Court heard prosecution claims that both the defendant and

certain members of the church attempted to cover up the offences.

He pleads not guilty. Police are appealing for help in

finding a woman from Weston-super- Mare who has been missing since

last week. 28-year-old Jennifer Alder was last seen in the town

last Thursday. Officers say they are worried as her disappearance is

totally out of character. If you are eating your dinner, you

may wish to push it to one side for a moment as you think about what

the worst thing you have ever found in your food was? A hair, perhaps?

One man from Somerset got quite a shock when he settled down to pizza

on Saturday evening, and found a dead bird in the salad bowl. He

says it had come from a supermarket-bought bag of salad.

And what's worse, his family had already eaten half of it. Andrew

Plant reports. As Paul Streeter cooked Saturday

night pizzas, his children and girlfriend Julia had already tucked

into their pre-washed ready-to-eat salad. All of a sudden, strict

vegetarian Julia got a seriously nasty surprise. Suddenly, my

girlfriend shrieked and could not believe what she had found on her

plate. She had ladled the salad from the ball on to her plate and

thought she was digging into one of the darker leaves, only to find,

basically, a dead bird. Paul kept the remaining salad and bird

outside the house. I wasn't going to leave the bird in the house, so

I put it in the garage, which is quite cold. And if you are eating,

look away now. There, as you can see, is our bad Ed Friend. Not so

fair that any more. -- feathered friend. The family immediately

contacted the Tesco store in Burnham-on-Sea. Today the company

said: "We take matters of this kind

extremely seriously. Our suppliers have robust systems in place to

prevent foreign objects getting into products. We will be

investigating this incident and I could not believe my eyes. I was

more concerned about the health of my family, they had eaten the salad,

I had not, but they had munched through what was a tasty salad that

had been prepared by me. The smart money would go on a baby starling.

Meanwhile, the Streeter household will be carefully washing all its

salad in future, to make sure they never again get a little bit more

than they bargained for. Well, apologies if you are eating

right now. But if you aren't and want to take a closer look at that

bird, log onto bbc.co.uk/bristol. Bon appetit!

Stay with us for now, though, as we have got much more still to bring

you, including: You cannot go over it all under it, we investigate why

this bridge over the River Bath is creating waves amongst boat owners.

And with three days to go we hear how many from Children In Need can

help special girls like Ali. -- like telly.

First, there have been noisy protests this evening as North

Somerset Council meets to debate another round of cuts. There is

anger over job losses as well as a threat to the future of the area's

youth clubs. Our political editor Paul Barltrop joins us from outside

the council offices in Weston- super-Mare.

What sort of cuts are bringing protesters out on a chilly night

like this? A big crowd of protesters here,

they are keeping quiet at the moment, because the action has

moved indoors, into the council chamber, when North Somerset are

discussing the serious business of cutting the budget by �14 million.

It will be a big challenge, it will be difficult, but as councillors

arrived for this evening's meeting, they were met by a noisy protest.

Youth Club! Youth club! The young people were protesting

about what is happening to use services in North Somerset. Joining

in were union members worried about what is happening to their jobs,

there is a pay freeze, 160 posts are going, but the loudest voices

are these young people from North Somerset who have come along to

lobby councillors. The opposition has come most strongly from one

place, Portishead Youth Centre. They are determined it will not be

their last dance. Portishead Youth Centre is the right thing. It has

350 members and is one of the best in the West, and just benefited

from a million-pound refurbishment. There are not many places to go,

but since it was read done it is like a new high and four at the one.

It is fun, a place to hang out with two or friends -- it is like a new

home for everyone. So there were shocked when they learned of plans

to close the youth service. Most of the million-pound budget will go

and youth workers will lose their jobs. A campaign is underway to a

pose that. I was disappointed in north Somerset council. I heard

they were going to take this away, I was disappointed to be a part of

North Somerset. The Conservative Front administration insists they

do not want to make these cuts but with council tax frozen, government

funding being could yet again, services such as caring for the

elderly are being given priority. Our job is to do the best job

possible and reduce the affects of the cuts which are coming, and that

is the important story to get out of the public. There will be

difficult decisions, there will be reductions in services they have

got used to over the years, but we will do everything in our power to

plan ahead to reduce the effect of those cuts. They hope youth centres

like Portishead's can stay open by being taken over by others. Talks

have been held with councillors. Teenagers from the club are

demanding a rethink. Other councillors likely to be

influenced by the protests? -- are the councillors?

We will have to wait and see, but some of the young people have had

the chance to address the meeting and put their points to it, but it

comes against a backdrop of a severe financial situation in North

Somerset. Funding from the government is going down. This

place has changed enormously in the last three years, there are many

fewer staff, we have seen a pay freeze on going for a couple of

beers, conditions have changed for staff. I talked to some unions

earlier, and they say morale is poor. The mood is not good because

they have not had a pay rise for four years, and when it comes down

to it they are reorganising services within the council, which

will mean job losses. They all are in fear of losing their jobs, all

working very hard for less money, and basically doing more work for

We have heard more about North Somerset making cuts than many

other councils, why is that? It is not that North Somerset is

doing anything exceptional. Most councils are all will be doing

similar things. One of the reasons we hear more about North Somerset

is that they have been ahead of the pack, but if you look at some

neighbouring councils, Somerset County Council just down the road,

Gloucestershire County Council a little way north of fear, they, too,

are closing youth centres, withdrawing funding, but that has

been overshadowed by libraries, where they have been cutting the

funding and there has been a bigger legal challenge. We will find out

tomorrow whether that legal challenge has succeeded and we will

hear whether that can go a head. Thank you. We will hear how that

A four-day public inquiry has begun into one of the biggest

developments ever planned for Swindon. The proposal to build

almost 900 homes close to Coate Water Park has angered many locals

and was rejected by the council. The developers, Persimmon and

Redrow, are appealing against the decision.

The Football: And both Yeovil Town and Bristol Rovers will bank over

�70,000 each after their FA Cup second-round ties were picked for

live television. Yeovil's away game at Conference

Premier side Fleetwood Town has been switched to Friday 2nd

December. Bristol Rovers tie at AFC Totton, who play three divisions

below them, will be televised on Sunday 4th December.

Boat and lock keepers in Bath are warning there'll be major problems

for river users if repairs to a crumbling footbridge over the River

Avon are not completed soon. The council closed the city's Victoria

Bridge to pedestrians last year. Now, due to further fears about

safety, boats are being stopped from going underneath, too.

You can't go over it. And now, you can't go under it either. Since

Friday, these bright orange buoys have been a red light for those on

the river. It was an absolute emergency. The

council said the bridge is about to fall down, so we had to shut the

navigation instantly and that's what caught everybody out.

Now, this has happened before, but it is pretty rare normally,

especially because the bridge is inspected quite a lot, we get a bit

more notice than this. They claim they didn't get more notice, which

meant this man was one of those caught out. Frustrated and angry

both at the closure of the bridge and the fact, he says, it's not a

new problem. It means the end of life on the

river until they reopen it. They've had long enough to solve this

problem. I, as the river champion, have been pushing for this and

telling them for so long, many years, that the river is in decay.

It's been totally ignored. It's disgraceful.

And there's concern the bridge closure could cause wider problems,

too. This is the point where the Kennet and Avon Canal joins the

Avon, about a mile and a half from Victoria Bridge. The bridge's

closure means boats heading east and joining the river are

effectively left with nowhere to go. Even so, this is work that badly

needs doing. What we've had to do in the meantime is close the river

to boats unfortunately, but that's absolutely essential for public

safety. The council says the bridge is likely to remain closed to river

traffic for a month. Those on boats, barges and anything in between will

be watching closely. One of the West's hospitals is

being held up as a national example of how to support new dads. The

Royal United Hospital in Bath has been running a pilot scheme for the

past 18 months, allowing partners to sleep over after their baby's

birth. Now their work has been recognised in a new guide, launched

by the Royal College of Midwives, at their annual conference today.

Around 10 are born here at the Princess Anne wing every day. But

in most hospitals, partners have to leave after 9:00pm, whether their

babies are born or not, but here they can stay, at least for the

first night, on one of these fold- down chairs. And now, new

government guidance has hailed this unit as a success and says its

example should be copied nationally They want more support for fathers

and to enable them to play a much bigger role before, during and

Look after the baby. The idea is that they help their wife.

partner had to have an epidural. I was here to support her. I was here

to give her a hand. It's working. It's all about making

fathers feel less excluded. Well, the hospital plans to

continue with the sleepovers and even extend on the amount of beds

available. Joining us now is one family who

has been on national television and radio today, talking about their

experience at the RUH in Bath. We have with us Ed and Emily McKenzie

and their children, Amelie, who's 18 months old and Jack, who's just

five months. Ed, Amelie was born before the pilot. How differently

did you feel approaching Jack's birth, knowing you would not be

separated from Emily? I felts... It was one of those things where I

feel it is quite important to bond with your children and to have that

bombed in terms of the family. To be there through the berthing

period, but also the after a period when you are doing a lot of the

bonding. You have gone through nine months together and now you are

told, you can go for a bit. I would rather be there. I certainly

sympathise with that. I was in a similar situation with my two labs.

What does it mean to you to have him there? It means everything. It

is all part of the excitement that you while sharing this really

special time together. You want to talk about the birth and how it has

gone. Aren't we clever. We have made this little thing. They it is

nice to have your biggest supporter with you. What was the set-up like?

What was there for you? The shares that they have at the hospital now

are what you call, somebody described them as first class

flight seats. They declined, so you can sleep on them. Not that you do

a lot of slipping. You can get some rest. There are pretty comfortable.

Some people might say, OK, great, but adds get in the way. He wants

them peace and quiet. How do you react? I think it is the opposite.

I think it helps the midwives. Your husband can be there to pass you

things and to get you some dudes. - - some juice. We worked as a team.

You are having a baby. It is a team effort. They are so well behaved.

This Friday, it's Children in Need, when we hope millions will be

raised, with your generosity, for very worthy causes. Tonight, our

local radio stations are already getting in the swing, hosting

special screenings of Grease at cinemas across the West. And on

Friday, BBC Points West is having a special fundraiser at the Pier in

Weston-super-Mare. I'm going to be there with David Garmston. And

David's been to meet one family, Helen and Wayne Starzec and their

very special daughter, Kelly, who are already benefiting from money

from Children In Need. She touches everyone's heart.

Everyone that meets her love serve. This girl is only seven, yet has

more illnesses than you can imagine. Two weeks before she was do, we

were told. I took myself to hospital because I could not feel

her moving and the hospital told me she had stopped growing and they

thought the placenta had stopped growing. They rushed me to the

hospital. Her family can barely leave her for a second. That is

tough. They have three other children. Constantly watching her,

making sure she is not fitting. Going in, having monitors watching

her. We do not get much sleep. habit is at hand and her name his

team there. -- Tina. She is a teen it -- a children's nurse. A grant

from Children In Need pays her salary. It is lovely. I have looked

after Kelly since she was a baby. Over the months and years, you do

get to know her quite well. I know what she likes and does not like. I

know her little ways. She supports Kelly and the rest of the family so

they can lead a more normal life and make the most of Kelly, who

sadly, does not have time on her side. When she has got to the age

of 19, they say she will probably pass away. Every time that subject

gets brought up, we Weller. There is nothing like tinsel for a bit of

fun, but every year for the last three years, Children In Need has

given the trust �25,000 which pays for the mist to come in and visit

Kelly and other families in similar situations. The Scot -- this year,

if you are thinking about giving money to Children In Need, just

think about Kelly and others like her. With a school, Social Services,

and Children In Need all pulling together, Kelly is able to live

where she belongs, at home. understand a lot of people have not

got a lot of money, but I would urge them to donate. There are

families out there like s who are struggling. The more money that is

raised, the more nurses can be provided.

It is so worthwhile. I am really looking forward to this year.

Sorry I cannot be with you. Let's turn to the weather. It is

pretty cold out there. We can see you're out there on the roof

wearing a Siberian something along wearing a Siberian something along

those lines. It is decidedly chilly. Largely clear skies above the West

Country which are ramming the temperatures to drop quite sharply.

Tomorrow it will be fairly mild, but we will not see anything near

the bright as we saw today. By the evening, we were lynched use some

outbreaks of rain that could turn quite heavy. For the time being, we

are having the cloud slipping from the south-east. It will turn

progressively counties. Tomorrow, the cold front will dictation the

fortunes later into the day as that it -- as that introduces the rain.

It will be at its heaviest over part of Somerset. Tonight, you can

see the cloud Chill moving from the south-east, replacing the clear

skies. It remains dry. By dawn, then maybe some drizzle some were

up in Gloucestershire, certainly some hill fog and Sam fog at lower

levels. It will be a chilly night. Maybe down as low as four Celsius.

Tomorrow, it will start with low cloud around, maybe some drizzle.

Hints of some brighter spells in the eastern areas. The breeze will

start to pick up. Towards the West, we will introduce some outbreaks of

rain which will be heavier towards the West. In the evening, some of

that will spill further east. Some uncertainty and those of you in