02/05/2012 BBC Points West

Hello. Points West comes live from Somerset tonight on the day

thousands turned out to welcome the Diamond Queen. The National Anthem

and an emotional cheer as her Majesty drives down the High Street

in Crewkerne. The crowds are bigger than ever, as the country says

thank you for 60 years of duty. waited with our flowers and

somebody said would you like to take your flowers to her? And in

the rest of the news this Wednesday night: The water bosses say the

sodden West Country is still in a drought. Can they be serious? And

voting one way or t'other - Bristolians decide tomorrow on a

Mayor. Good evening from Crewkerne in Somerset. Her Majesty the Queen

has completed her Diamond Jubilee Tour of the West with a visit to

this beautiful county. The Royal Party visited a country fayre in

Yeovil, before popping into the town hall behind me. Here's our

Chief Somerset Correspondent, Clinton Rogers, with the story of

this very special day. # Save our gracious queen # They rehearsed a

traditional royal welcome in Somerset style, the national anthem

as you have probably never heard it before. On rain sond ground, they

laid out the grey carpet. And for the Queen's first visit to Somerset

for a decade, getting a good view would be important. As yesterday,

the train took the strain as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

arrived by royal carriage to Yeovil. First stop a Diamond Jubilee fayre.

And the first task there to meet two new police horses, one named

Jubilee. We were worried when we saw the band playing. But they were

both well behaifed. -- behaved. Very pleased with him, yes. I can

see! There was a magical moment for one group of children who had no

idea when they arrived they had been presented to the Queen.

were waiting for a long time with our flowers. Somebody just came ore

and said, would you like to go and present the flowers to her. Were

just plucked out of the crowd. fayre was show casing the best of

Somerset business, from crafts, to hi-tech industries and the Queen

and Duke of Edinburgh stopped at one stall with family connections.

We're proud to report to her Majesty that Prince William when he

is flying his helicopter is wearing our glovers and Prince Harry when

he plays polo. That is why he wins all the time! And then back on the

road, bound for Crewkerne. En route, hundreds lining the streets to see

the royal couple. In the crowds, one former military wife, who

missed an opportunity to see the then Princess Elizabeth when she

was in Kenya six decades ago. and her, Prince Philip, were at

Tree Drops, -- Tops, where they watched game. They were planning to

come to our mess for lunch, but unfortunately she had to fly home

to be queen instead. That was a great disappointment. In Crewkerne

the warmest of welcomes. And after touring an exhibition of artefacts

in the town Hall, just time to give one lady an extra reason to

remember her 100th birthday today. The and the verdict? Job well done,

your Majesty! I love that. That it said class act. I saw it on the way

down. We will meet the people who did that. We're joined by the mayor

of Crewkerne. Well done on a wonderful day. Thank you it has

been a wonderful day for the town and Somerset. I was watching, as

the Queen arrived, the national anthem was playing, as the doors

opened, everyone went wild. Yes, the national anthem was designed to

finish as she got out. We culled hear, when we saw the cars, you

could hear behind the crowds, they were starting to roar and it became

deafening. It was a wonderful day. That is the level of detail that

went into it. Because of the fact as the car pulled up, it did all

stop. It must have been a nightmare to organise and a wonderful

conclusion, but stressful? there is a rot -- lot of people

that do the organising, behind the office staff and the Lord

Lieutenants' office and it takes a long time to organise. But you

don't get that long notice for a visit. It is long late-night and

hard work to make the day as special as it is. Well done and a

great turn out. Everyone came out. Now, the gang that you may have

seen behind us, and in the report, they will be performing later in

the programme, but now back to you. Thank you. There could be more

flooding to come in parts of Somerset as the ground struggles to

soak up standing water and the Met office says even more rain is on

the way. There are still three flood warnings on rivers in the

South West and 17 flood alerts. And, as Andrew Plant reports, many

rivers are already full to the brim. Water Street, drying out in the

sunshine. But after the flooding here it is still too early for some

to take the defences down. At the inn, the water breached the

sandbags and found its way inside. It was a nasty surprise. That was

to stop the water coming in, because it was gushing all along

here like a river. The land lady walked into her pool room and found

a new pool covering her carpets. was about three inches deep on the

floor in the pool room and literally the pool room! In the bar

was also three inches deep and it was going behind the bar and

through the cellar and out the door. From the surrounding hills, days of

rain are still streaming down, taking the shortest route to sea-

level. Here the waters stopped just below the windowsill of one house

and in Taunton, the park soaked much of the water, but the council

has called off a council there this weekend to protect the ground. In

Glastonbury the council closed the A361 as flooding make the road

impasseible and after the wettest April on record, this place set a

new record of its own, the wettest place in the country, almost a foot

of rain here in 30 days. Today's problems then are a delayed

reaction as every rain drop from the last few days heads down hill

and with more rain to come, it may be safest to leave the sandbags in

place for a few more days. Despite all this rain, water companies and

the Environment Agency insist we are still in drought conditions.

Over the last two years, there have only been four months, including

the April just gone, where rainfall has been above average. The other

17 have been relatively dry. So with water everywhere at the moment,

can there really be not enough to drink? Will Glennon reports. This

is the river Kennett near Marlborough, not far from its

source. And this was it before the rains. Completely dry. So that

means things are looking good? We have had a lot of rain and now your

reporter is standing in wellys in muddy water. It must be the end of

the drought? Well no, the river here is a chalk stream, fed by a

spring that bubbles up from an underground aquifer. If we don't

get regular rain fall for the next few months, this water will just

drain way aand we're back to square one. The waerlt under the ground in

the aquifer takes a long time to build up. And the rains haven't

penetrated the hard earth. The rain we have been having has been

falling on dry ground and has not been replenishing the aquifers. It

has taken us two years to reach this drought situation. So it will

take a long time to recover. Look at this picture again and see the

artesian borehole. These were drilled in Victorian times and we

still use them to suck out water to use. Water from the Kennett is used

to serve Swindon. But send a camera down a borehole and you see the

water is further down than normal. Ten metres in this case. You're

seeing dry walls. If there was recharge you would see the walls

would be glistening. But they're dry. Also at this time of year, all

the plants are bursting into leaf and suck up as much water as they

can. So even less is reaching the depths. If droughts and floods are

to be the norm, it raises fundamental questions, not just

about how we use water, but how we capture it and manage it to serve

our needs and to take care of the environment. And if you still can't

believe we're in a drought, stay with BBC One for more in our

special edition of Inside Out West here at 7.30 tonight straight after

the One Show. Investigations are continuing this morning into what

caused a serious crash on the M5 in Gloucestershire last night. One

person died and two were critically injured. Two lorries and three cars

collided just after 9 o'clock on the northbound carriageway near

Tewkesbury. Major changes to the way bus services are run in Bristol

could be introduced. The city council says it's not happy with

the way First is operating some of the services and is looking at

introducing a new type of contract. This would put the power back into

the hands of the local authority and allow other companies to bid

for the franchise. More now on the story about the GCHQ intelligence

officer, Gareth Williams. Today the coroner at his inquest said he was

probably killed, but that the case may never be solved. There has been

speculation about how and why he died and meticulous press coverage

of his personal life. But in Cheltenham Gareth Williams was

known as a quiet but focussed officer, with a great career in the

intelligence service ahead. Our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve

Knibbs, looks back at the story. Gareth Williams, a man whose

private life has been played out in a public inquiry into his death and

still many questions remain. Despite an acknowledgement from the

coroner that a third party was involved in his death in London

fptd his family have claimed that person may have been a member of

some agency specialising in the dark arts of the secret services.

Tonight, we're no closer to finding out. While theories abound his

Gareth Williams, his life in Cheltenham appeared straight

forward. He was an active member of the cycling club and friends said

he was a nice guy. He lived here in Prestbury near GCHCQ. His land lady

said he kept himself to himself. He was then a secretive man with a

secretive job. His manager here described him as a world class

intelligence officer and something of a prodigy. Tonight one of

Britain's most senior spice made a public apology to Gareth Williams

family for failing to report that he was missing. They said they

expressed their deepest condolences for his death and Gareth was a man

of remarkable talents and made a real contribution to the security

of the country. Around three quarters of a million people will

be entitled to vote tomorrow across the West. There are elections to

choose councillors in Swindon, Stroud, Cheltenham and Gloucester.

And for the first time ever voters in Bristol will be deciding if they

want to have something very new: an elected mayor. Here's our political

editor, Paul Barltrop. Yes this is very different and can be confusing.

It is not about the Lord mayor that, is a ceremonial post. It is about

who leads the city. At the moment that is decided by a vote in

council. But that could change and people could elect their leader.

The referendum is tomorrow, but 25,000 have already voted by post.

Ballot papers were being checked. But campaigning continues with a

new group. Euans warn of the power and cost of an elections mayor. --

trade unions. It already costs hundreds of thousands to every

local authority. To add another post that is less accountable and

will cost more will mean jobs have to go and people will lose their

local services and have a mayor instead. That would be meaningless.

Campaigners today reject that. They say it is a historic opportunity.

Very exciting, but also we know we need to get a greater turn out and

it will be a low turn out that. Is causing us sleepless night. Do you

think they will vote yes If they vote they will vote yes. They

understand the choice about choosing their leader. Elsewhere,

more conventional elections are taking place. People will be

choosing who sits on councils in Cheltenham, Gloucester, Stroud and

Swindon. That is the one to watch. All of the seats are being

contested and we will be live there tomorrow as part of our local

election coverage through the night here on BBC1 and there will be

extended bulletins, bringing you results on Friday morning. Thank

you. Doctors in Bristol have become the first in the country to try to

shrink a patient's heart using electricity. The idea is to use a

nerve-stimulating device to make the muscle smaller and more

efficient - as this could help people with heart failure to live

longer. Our Health Correspondent Matthew Hill has been looking into

the trial and went to meet the first patient. It may only be a

flight of stairs, but until recently for John it was more like

a mountain. He is the first British patient to be given this treatment.

This second landing was as far as I could get. Now I can do the third.

We have beautiful arteries here. This cardiologist from Bristol is

part of a team that has been experimentsing with how electronic

devices can stimulate nerves in the body. The have a gas nerve is in

the neck and governs the functioning of the body that are

not under voluntary control, such as heart rate. By inserting a

stimulator, they can find out if this can improve heart function.

think people with heart failure have big, baggy hearts that are not

pumping efficiently and this may make the heart smaller and more

efficient. Around a million patients across the UK suffer from

heart failure. So the Bristol heart institute should have no problems

in finding further eight patients to take part in this trial. Now two

thirds of them will have a pace maker like this, turned on. The

rest will have to wait six months before it is activated so they can

compare and contrast both groups. Mr Joiner doesn't know if his

device has been activated yet. But he suspects it has. Because of a

dramatic improvement in his health. I have certainly in the last couple

of weeks noticed an improvement in my breathlessness. It is not a lod

lot, but can I climb stairs and the duration of my walking, it seems to

be getting better. Can I walk up to three miles. It will take two years

before the results are evaluated. But doctors believe significant

break throughs in cardiac medicine can only happen if we explore more

deeply how the brain affects the heart. Fascinating. Now back to our

main story and the Queen's second day in the West. Alex is in

Crewkerne for us this evening. I want to join in. It is so electric.

This is a small offering of what was hear this morning. Well the

Queen has pledged to visit as much of the United Kingdom as possible

during her Diamond Jubilee year. Over the last two days she's been

here with us in the West and we'll be bringing more wonderful pictures

of her visit before the end of the programme. But what has made her

time here really special is the way in which she's stopped to speak to

so many people and of course if that person is you, it's a moment

you'll never forget. With me now is someone who did get to meet the

Queen today. Chris Berridge is a stonemason from Crewkerne. Lou did

you come to be vo deuced today? competed in an international

competition in October called world skills, London 2011 and won the

Gold Medal as a stone mason and the council rang me up and asked if I

would like to meet her and carve a plaque. You carved a plaque, but

knowing that would get the royal nod, that was intimidating.Y step

of the way? It was quite. There was a lot of pressure and you get to

the last few letters and you're worried about chipping them. But it

went fine. How many times did you stand back and check your spell

something A fair few times! You have got to make sure it's spot on.

What did the Queen say to you? was all very blurred. But she loved

the stone, the type of stone that we have here. It is such a

beautiful brown stone. A bit of a blur? Yes such a blur. Thanks for

talking to us. We have the Morris men here and the man I'm going

speak to now is Jed a certified fool. I'm not being rude am I?

I'm not silly bag fool. I take it very seriously. You have had a

great day. We have seen the Queen and the prince and we have had a

lovely day in Yeovil and entertained the crowds. And you

have got this relevant number on your chest. Well we were formed in

1977 for the Silver Jubilee and we are one of only two that wear the

Queen's crest and very proud we're of that. Your doing more for

Jubilee. You have a full diary? we're booked pretty much full-time

through May and June and during the Diamond Jubilee weekend we're out

over three days dancing around the whole of Somerset. How do you keep

yourself motivated, it takes a lot of energy as a hobby? Yes, but we

love it. It is wonderful and gets us out and we get to a meet people

and today meeting all the children here was such fun and it was

wonderful. You were responsible for sign as well? Saying, thanks very

much ma'am? Yes. Now, it has been a lovely day once the sun shone and

lovely day once the sun shone and Iain has the forecast. Yes dry down

at Crewkerne. Tonight you will see some rain. But you're not at an

area at risk of some disruptive rain. We have another yellow

warning and that will be sprvingly for areas into North Somerset,

Wiltshire and Gloucestershire. We expect that ease away through

tomorrow morning. This is from this plume of rain stretching from the

near continent. It started way wack at -- started way back at the Alps.

There will be some thunder and you will see it eases north into the

Midlands tomorrow. So a gradual improvement. Here is thousand rain

fall is showing this rain. It is engage warmer air over Britain and

activating further and we expect some of that to be heavy,

particularly along the M4 corridor and north of there. We have some

showers in South Gloucestershire, up to 12 o'clock the main rain

arrives. Notice brighter colours in parts of Gloucestershire, maybe 30

millimetres of rain. That will cause -- that will of course add to

the problems in the area. The line of that warning extends more or

less into this district here, anywhere to the south of west of

there, you're free of it. Temperatures tonight down to six

Celsius. Tomorrow will start on a wet note to the north. If you're

heading up the M5, you will be chasing the rain as it starts to

peter out from the south. Still a lot of cloud in the afternoon. But

perhaps some brighter weather starting to approach into south

Somerset later in the afternoon. Maybe some further north as well as

the rain kis -- disappears. Temperatures up to 13. If you watch

the drought special tonight, I will have another forecast in that and

we will look a few days into the future and including the bank

holiday weekend. It looks like Monday will be the wettest day.

Thank you. I think that I have got caught up in the excitement, but

never more so than now. This is very surreal. After months of is a

secrecy and behind closed doors planning, the Jubilee tour of the

wrs is over. The week after nicks t she is in London and then the

north-west. She smiled a lot of generations young and old have

cheered and waved as the royal party has gone by and this Sunday