14/01/2014 BBC Points West

Australia. More about the weather where you are on-line.

Welcome to BBC Points West with David Garmston and Alex Lovell.

Our main story tonight: The water that just won't go away.

The Environment Agency is pumping out millions of gallons ` but says

it's never seen the Levels so badly affected.

Normal life is on hold for the flood victims as they remain cut off. This

week, it's my daughter's third birthday. She is desperate for a

party and I can't give her one because nobody can get here. We hope

to be going live to the European Parliament, where an MEP is trying

to get emergency aid. The other stories in the news

tonight: Not just the ticket ` now traffic wardens in Bath could be

filming your every move. Home from his first swimming lesson

in Brazil ` the baby otter and the unexpected visitor.

And it may be wet, it may be windy ` but this winter is certainly not

cold. Welcome to the mild west. Good evening.

Hundreds of people living in Somerset remain cut off by flood

water tonight, a situation which may last for several more weeks. The

Environment Agency have admitted that flooding on the Levels is the

worst they've ever seen. They're bringing in extra pumps to get the

water off the land ` but their efforts have been hampered by the

theft of 900 litres of diesel from one pumping station. Our Somerset

correspondent Clinton Rogers reports.

They're pumping water off the moor at the rate of 12 tonnes a second.

`` seven tonnes a second. The Environment Agency has now hired in

62 temporary pumps to speed things up. But there's a lot of water to

shift ` 65 square kilometres of land are still under water. These aerial

photos, sent to us by a Points West viewer, really do show the scale of

the of the flooding. Everyone now accepts it's never been this bad.

All of which means normal life is on hold for people like Bryony Sadler.

The floodwaters have now crept to the bottom of her garden in the

village of Moorland. This road out of the village has been under water

for ten days. Which means that a five`mile journey to the village

school now needs a 38`mile detour. School journeys, going to work,

people wanting to go to work and they can't get there. Everything is

affected now and it's just becoming a nightmare. But if it's hard for a

parent, try running a haulage businesses here when the main road

linking Taunton to Glastonbury can only be navigated by a tractor. It

may be another two weeks before they can open it again. We estimate it

cost us something in the region of 200,000 a month last year extra on

fuel just to get into Devon and Cornwall from here. Amid

increasingly bitter recriminations about who or what is to blame,

weather watchers like Somerset's Simon Ratsey say the last month has

been the wettest spell for more than 50 years. I can't find a spell of

weather that actually compares to this. Not for the amount of rain in

a sustained wet spell. His figures show that in the month from December

12th, we only had one day without rain. In total there's been 280mm,

or 11 inches. And on two days there were torrential downpours. The

floods soon followed. Those in the middle of it still say neglect of

the water courses, rather than nature, is to blame. Their web

campaign now has more than 800 supporters demanding action to

prevent this happening again. And a bit later in the programme,

we'll be going live to Strasbourg to speak to local MEP Sir Graham

Watson. He's trying to get emergency aid for the region and we'll talk to

him about that. We hope he's on his way to the studio and we'll join him

later. A crash on the M5 has closed the

northbound carriageway between junctions 23 for Bridgwater North

and 22 for Burnham`on`Sea this evening. Police say it's because of

a collision between a car and van. A spokesperson for Weston Hospital

has admitted that standards at the hospital were in need of improvement

at the time a 92`year`old man died last year, amid concerns about his

care. James Bollen, from Yatton spent a month in the hospital. At

the time, his family described the way he was treated there as

appalling. Today, though, an inquest into his death recorded a verdict of

natural causes. Laura Jones reports. April 2013, and James Bollen is

admitted to Weston General Hospital. He is suffering from a stomach bug

and chest infection ` and also has other health problems. A month

later, he died, still in hospital. At the time, his family blamed his

death on what they described as the appalling care he had received

whilst there. They said he was ignored, mistreated and, crucially,

that he wasn't fed properly, which they believed led to his death.

Today, though, an inquest heard from a pathologist, who said that Mr

Bollen had died from heart disease, caused by heart failure. `` heart

failure caused by heart disease And that there were no signs of

malnourishment at all at the time of Mr Bollen's death. The coroner went

on to record a verdict of natural causes. Following the inquest, the

head of nursing at the hospital gave their reaction. At the time, we had

also had the Care Quality Commission visit, which did identify areas of

poor care. We acted on this very quickly and we've had a subsequent

visit from the CQC in November that demonstrated we were providing

excellent care, as quoted by patients. Would you be happy for an

elderly parent of yours to be treated at Weston General?

Absolutely. It is my local hospital and I would be very happy to be

cared for there, as I would any of my elderly relatives. Mr Bollen s

widow and daughter were both too ill to attend today's inquest ` but I

did manage to speak to Mr Bollen's daughter on the phone. She told me

that she had only ever wanted justice for her father. She said

that she still maintained that the treatment her father had received

was not good enough, and that she was disappointed with what happened

here today. Our health correspondent Matthew

Hill is here. Matthew, Mr Bollen's story posed a lot of questions about

Weston General and the care there. How are they doing now? At the time

Mr Bollen was being treated, the Care Quality Commission carried out

an inspection and they found patients were being put at risk

because they were not maintaining medical records properly. Also,

there were issues about staffing. They had over 100 vacancies but they

have since recruited an extra 3 Spanish nurses and have very few

vacancies at the moment. They've also managed to halve the amount of

bedsores taking place and a report was published based on a follow up

unannounced inspection in November shows that they took all the boxes

in terms of standards of respect, care and staffing levels. Things

seem to have improved an awful lot. What is the latest on the plans for

the hospital management to be taken over? Because they can't maintain

what is called foundation status, they need to have the management of

the hospital franchised out. It could be going to a private

company. That is still a very long process and it could take up to

three years so there is a lot of uncertainty there, still. Thank you

very much. There's a debate over a proposed

incinerator in Gloucestershire tonight. Plans for the giant waste

burner were rejected last year by the county council's planning

department, even though the incinerator is the council's own

idea to help cut the rubbish it tends to landfill. Andrew Plant

reports. A computer model of what would be

the biggest civil project in Gloucestershire's history ` and

incinerator to burn waste, rather than dump it in landfill. The

council contracted a company called UBB and they signed a contract `

they would build and run the burner and the council would pay them 500

million over 25 years. But last year the council rejected its own idea.

Planning permission was unanimously refused. Gloucestershire's

alternative to landfill suddenly ground to an unexpected stop. We are

haters of incinerators. It left the contractor appealing to the

government, councillors are scratching their heads and hundreds

of happy protest is my who were heavily critical of the cost, the

environmental impact and the location of the building. The

council identified this area, Javelin Park, as suitable for the

incinerator, and they bought it in 2009. They said it was an

alternative to dumping thousands of tonnes of waste into landfill every

year. A government inspector will now examine the planning team's

rejection of the incinerator plan. Originally it was hoped that the

incinerator would be running by winter 2015 but the inspector won't

even report until this coming summer, so the incinerator remains a

computer model only until then at least.

You're watching Points West with David and Alex. Coming up a little

later in the programme: Proper monkey business ` how to find

yourself a mate, Brazilian style. And just what is going on with your

garden? Its January and we've got strawberries!

Parking wardens in Bath are being given a new weapon in their fight

against those who park illegally. One of the least popular public

servants, they face verbal abuse, or worse, on a daily basis. Well, now

wardens in the city are being given body cameras to deter anyone wanting

to take the law into their own hands. Julia Causton's report begins

with a violent example of what one traffic warden has suffered.

And unprovoked attack on the streets of Leicester. It is still unusual

but the threat of violence is very real. Patrolling the streets of

Bath, James often comes across confrontation and conflict. Threats

made. "When I see you at home, see your mum... " threats and ill wishes

towards your family. Things you shouldn't have to experience. Over

the past year, there have been 8 incidents of violent or threatening

behaviour here in Bath. We're not talking about small arguments over a

ticket, but sustained abuse or physical intimidation. Behaviour the

council says is simply not acceptable. From now on, if you re

thinking of arguing a with a warden in the city, you face the prospect

of being caught on camera. The 2 wardens in the city will now patrol

with cameras attached to their chest. I think it will act as a

deterrent. People will realise how they're acting towards us and it

will make our job is a little bit easier in the long run. When they

see this front facing camera and see how they're behaving, they may well

calm down. But do the drivers of Bath think it will work? It's

probably a good idea. They get a lot of abuse for not much reason, I

think. If there's any altercation, it can be resolved. I don't think

it'll make a difference. We'll still love them as much as we used to

anyway, whether they got a camera or not. The cameras are already used in

Hampshire, Cardiff and Leeds ` where the number of assaults has dropped

by two thirds. James knows that giving someone a ticket doesn't make

them happy but he's hoping that the camera will make them think before

they take it out on him. A man found guilty of murdering a

university graduate from Somerset is to appeal against his conviction and

sentence. Tadevsz Dmytryszyn was jailed for life for murdering

Catherine Wells`Burr. His niece Anna Lagwinowicz, and Catherine's

ex`boyfriend Rafal Nowak, also received life sentences. The hearing

will take place at the Court of Appeal in London.

And inquest has heard how a retired police inspector from Wiltshire shot

his ex`partner before turning the gun on himself. The Wiltshire

coroner said bill Dowling was suffering from anxiety and

depression when he unlawfully killed Victoria Rose and then took his own

life at his home in Devizes. It's been revealed that the cost of

policing last year's pilot badger culls in Gloucestershire and

Somerset was ?2.5 million. Both police forces have today announced

how much they spent. In Gloucestershire, the cull was

extended to 11 weeks, pushing the force's costs up to ?1.7 million.

Any force that has such a major event playing out in the county will

find it a major distraction. The costs you see are really the

additional costs at a huge amount of time was taken in the planning and

execution of the operation so I think the police do well on that.

That's what the police is therefore and it will be our political masters

in London to decide whether it was worthwhile or not.

It's an important night of FA Cup football for both Bristol teams

tonight. Rovers fans are already on their way to watch their side take

on Birmingham ` with the lure of a home tie against Premiership side

Swansea in the next round. Bristol City could face a glamour

tie against Manchester City if they can beat Watford tonight, from where

Alistair Durden has sent this report.

This is the away dressing room at Watford. All the Bristol is it a kit

has been painstakingly laid out for the game. It's an example of modern

foot walling ` all the different coloured boots. The winner of

tonight's tie gets ?67,500 in prize money but probably more importantly,

the potential fourth`round tie away at Manchester city. Scott Murray has

been doing all the hard work for the last 90 minutes. How are the team

feeling? Very relaxed. They came up last night and everyone is really

chilled out. It is a big carrot and you were lucky enough in your

playing career to play in a match like that against a premiership

side. How important is that to a footballer? It's massive. To have

the privilege of playing in one of the biggest cup competitions in the

world is massive. I think there s a lot riding on it. You've been doing

all this work ` any superstitions you've had to observe? Greg coming

likes to be third in line so I think he's probably the only one. `` Greg

Cunningham harm. It's good because you don't have to have polished

boots nowadays, because they're all yellow and white and purple so

there's no polish. Thank you very much. Good luck, as well, to Bristol

Rovers for their third`round tie at Immingham. Swindon are way to

Stevenage, as well. `` their third`round tie at Birmingham.

In rugby, Gloucester have confirmed that Freddie Burns will leave the

club at the end of the season. Freddie joined the Cherry and Whites

from local rivals Bath and made his debut as a 19`year`old. The England

international is yet to announce which team he'll be joining, but

Premiership champions Leicester are favourites to sign him.

Now, how do you woo potential partners? Don't answer that! Well,

if you're a female capuchin monkey it can take four days to persuade a

male to pair up with you. And monkey business is just one of many jungle

topics explored in a new series produced by a team from Bristol s

Natural History Unit. It's called Wild Brazil, and the show's

producers Lucinda and Joe join us now. Thank you so much for coming

in. This is very intriguing, I'm sure. The capuchin monkey is a star

in this. Yes, it's a scene that some of us girls will find quite

familiar. The young female capuchin has set her heart on this one male

but he doesn't return her affections. Well, not straightaway.

But she's not going to give up so she spends four days pursuing him

relentlessly and during that time, she doesn't eat or drink. On the

final day, as you saw there, she resorts to throwing stones at him to

try to get his attention. Who knew that could have been the way? They

really are worthy of the phrase clever monkey, aren't they? The

capuchin is Brazil are some of the cleverest monkeys in the world and

they need to be to survive in the driest part of the country. We

followed them for over a day to get that intimacy. Well, you ended up

living there and your baby was even born in Brazil! Yes, we were on

location for 16 months to follow these species. So hard to narrow it

down, then. It's on for three consecutive nights and there is

another star of the show that we can look at and they are the otters that

they are giant, aren't they? Yes, they are the size of a teenager if

you like! They have heads like Labradors. The clever monkey here

again, the capuchin, using its tools, but we do have a shot of the

otters. It's not just their size but the amount of noise they make, isn't

it? They live in families and this is a family of 14 otters. It's the

family strength that saw of the jaguar you are seeing. Some very

small kids, the newest recruit to the family, are on screen and the

Jaguar wanted an easy meal but the otters weren't having any of it The

jaguar is so elusive that it was really quite something for you to

capture it. Yes, it's always been the holy grail of our units that we

wanted to film Jaguars and so far we haven't been able to do it. But we

got very lucky indeed when we went to Brazil. We filmed them in

daylight, saw them hunting, saw them mating. Extraordinary behaviour The

eyes of the world are going to turn on Brazil this year. People will be

charmed by it anyway because the pictures here are just beautiful but

there are extremes there, aren't there? That is the side of Brazil we

wanted to show. Everybody knows about the Amazon, about Rio, and

that will be featured, we wanted to show the interesting parts of the

dry interior and the largest freshwater area in the world, which

is where the Jaguars. We are seeing now the floods we expect in Somerset

and the difficulty of living there but this place floods every year

like that and there are animals alongside the residents. That makes

filming even harder because you ve got to keep moving with it. Yes and

that's why we've got to spend so long on location, to see how they

cope with the changes. We were swapping our Land Rovers for boats

eventually! Well, that echoes in Somerset, as well! It's on tonight

at 9pm and then for the next two night after that. I hope it's very

well received because it looks lovely. Lucinda and Joe, thank you

for coming in. That explains why you've been

throwing stones at me, Alex! I thought it was just something I

said! Now, it might have been a little

frosty this morning but it was probably the first time this winter

that you've needed to scrape ice off the car. Yes, whilst we've been

distracted with all the heavy rain and high winds, the temperatures

themselves have been unseasonably mild. It's resulted in some unusual

activity in our gardens, as Jules Hyam has been finding out.

This time last year, cold, snowy weather. But this year it couldn't

be more different. We've come up to the rooftop garden. Look what is in

flower. We got lavender, rosemary, strawberry plants. And down here

we've actually got strawberries And it's not just one or two fruits `

their loads of them, and flowers, too. Some haven't stopped since last

summer but something it's spring. There is even a rosebud. It's really

mild everywhere but especially here on the rooftop garden. These plans

have been flowering and flowering. This is nothing to worry about.

There are only a few plants ` apples and blackcurrants amongst them `

that need a period of cold in the winter before they'll do well next

spring. But most plants like this, you can just enjoy them. It looks

like you absolutely have been enjoying it. Slap bang in the middle

of winter, here are some of the things going on in your gardens

Keith from Montague has these flowers, which still haven't gone

away, and Primrose which has just appeared. These flowers are looking

great. Pat says she would have sent a photo

of some raspberries but she ate them all yesterday!

Back to our top story, the plodding on the Somerset Levels. So Graham

Watson is trying to get relief from Strasberg. `` flooding on the

Somerset Levels. What sort of assistance are you looking for? The

European Union has a solidarity fund, with over ?400 million in it

this year. When we had flooding in Gloucestershire in 2007, we managed

to get some ?30 million to help with the cost of the clean`up. I'm

pressing the environment secretary and the floods were listed to apply

again to that fund. After all, our taxpayers pay into it. We should get

the kind of help that the Germans and people in the Czech Republic had

last year when they had severe flooding. How much damage do you

think is being caused in Somerset, in terms of monetary value? What

would you be looking for from the EU? I'm not sure I could quantify

Somerset or Devon or Cornwall or Dorset but my guess, looking at the

severity of the floods compared to Gloucestershire, is that if we

wanted to draw down 50 or 60 million from the fund, we would have a good

case. I asked that because I spoke to the government this afternoon and

they said that this fund was for catastrophes and the mark at which

you can get relief is 3 billion euros worth of damage. There was

certainly not that amount of damage caused in Germany or the Czech

Republic last year and they got relief. When we applied for

Gloucestershire five years ago, we got ?30 million in relief. There is

no reason why we shouldn't apply this time. I know why the Treasury

doesn't want to do this ` as they fear they will lose a little off the

UK's rebate every year ` but with the public finances in the way they

are, we would be mad not to apply for this funding to help businesses

and the communities affected. So when the Government said to me that

it needed to be ?3 billion in damage before you are eligible to apply,

they are plain wrong, are they? Well, I will check this out and talk

to the Commissioner but my recollection from 2007 and from what

happened last year is that the damage was not over that border It

would be interesting to quantify the damage in the South West. Certainly

the damage to businesses has been very considerable, not only in

premises flooded but also in travel disruption and so on. We have every

right to apply for this funding and I don't believe that that 3 billion

figure is an accurate one. 3 billion euros, they told me. Is it wet in

Strasberg? It's not wet. It's a rather pleasant, if cold, weak.

It is wet appear on the roof. You heard Jules describing the snowy

weather this time last year as yucky. I take a more neutral view.

Next week is a pretty tricky week to forecast in many aspects. We are

going to see an awful lot of cloud around. It will be mostly mild and

particularly so later on in the day. The rain is courtesy of this weather

front. I've done the temperatures a few thousand meet up to show how the

temperatures are going to kick in. We have outbreaks of rain and

through the course of tomorrow, mild air remains with us. You can see the

cold front coming in from the West to usher in some cooler conditions.

For the rest of this evening, light to moderate rainfall across the

board and a loss of hill fog developing, as well. The rain will

tend to peter out as the night wears on. Chilly is the temperatures will

be in the first part of the night and quite quickly the temperatures

will reverse the trend, so the values on`screen art for the initial

period but it will be milder by tomorrow morning. A fair window of

dry weather around for the first of the day before showers start to

arrive from the West and they will become much more widespread late

afternoon into the evening. Some of them could be quite heavy in places.

Temperatures tomorrow will be mild. A windy, showery regime through

Thursday and Friday. A lot of complications for the weekend and

the next week. Keep that nice coat dry, Ian!

We've just heard that the M5 has reopened northbound between

junctions 23 for Bridgwater and 22 for Burnham on Sea. Only one lane

remains closed. We'll see you again at 10pm but otherwise the whole team

is back tomorrow. Good night.