06/03/2014 BBC Points West

Good evening. ?10 million is being Don't forget, there is a

Good evening. ?10 million is being given to Somerset to repair roads

damaged by floodwater. The loney comes on the same day the county

delivered its 20`year flood plan to the Government with proposals, on

how to stop flooding happenhng again. The overall cost of that

scheme could be ?100 million. The Government says it will pay for some

of it, but not all. Scott Ellis reports.

After the floods in Somerset, the final 20 year action plan w`s

delivered to Downing Street today. In the final report, we havd learned

Somerset once the tidal barrier on the River Parrett near Bridgwater

built in the next 20 years, much quicker than previously thotght The

next cost would be ?30 millhon. `` in the next ten years. We ask the

Environment Secretary if thd government would be paying the full

amount. At DEFRA, we put in ?10 million to get cracking on this

trudging, as soon as it is safe Also in DEFRA we have put into

different lots of ?10 million to help the Government farmers. The

Department of Transport is putting in ?10 million to help with

blockages, and also on the railways. And the local governor department

has put in half ?1 million to help local councils with the recovery.

All of that is an extreme the good start. So, tens of millions of

pounds already on the table, but Somerset needs more. If you think I

am going to accept the first offer I get, then you have picked the wrong

person. We will carry on prdssing the Government to get a fair deal

for Somerset residents. This is the third time residents have bden

flooded, and it is about tile Somerset gets its fair shard of

flooding. We thank government for what they have given, but wd want

more. Ultimately, Somerset will need to raise much of the cash itself.

One idea is a local tax or levy to pay for flood protection. When there

was dredging before 1995, there was a levy raised them on keeping the

levels as they are. So, we `re going to have to raise money, and I

suspect local taxpayers will understand that this will bd spent

by local people for local pdople on maintaining Somerset. It is an

advantage that the levels and moors are an area of special scientific

interest. Nature is going to be part of the solution here. It is going to

attract investment as well. Already, farmers are getting significant

amounts of money to manage their land in a wildlife friendly way

That is just the start. We believe that this place can really trade on

the quality of its natural environment. It will be a countywide

effort to hit ?100 million, but in the long run it may work out cheaper

than annual flooding and thd cost of each disaster. These Dutch pumps use

6000 litres of diesel every day I am told, and it is an unoffhcial

figure, that the total cost of the emergency response so far this year

in Somerset is ?6 million. Somerset was told by the Prime Minister that

money is no object. That was a short`term promise. Funding for the

next 20 years will have to be hard`won, by Somerset itself.

A gang from Coventry was jahled today after a raid on a Wiltshire

jewellery shop last year. This was the moment they stormed into

Deacon's in Marlborough, terrifying staff and smashing cabinets with

crowbars. They made off with diamond rings, jewellery and watches worth

thousands of pounds. Today the gang were given sentences of between four

and five years each. The wolen from Deacon's said in court that they are

still traumatised by what h`ppened. A teenager has died after a stabbing

in Bristol. The 19`year`old was found in Lower Gay Street in St

Paul's yesterday evening. Hd was treated at the scene but didd from

his injuries. Three people have been arrested.

People living in a village hn Wiltshire say they are devasted

after the theft of the centrepiece of the village war memorial. The

statue, in Wingfield, was to honour those who died and those th`t were

brought back to recover frol their injuries. Catherine Powell reports.

Torn from its post. The Bronze statue had marked the village cross

roads at Wingfield since October 1917. Gutted. To think that somebody

could stoop so low as to pinch our Christ from our cross. Saw ht as I

drove past and it just looks desolate. Shame on anyone who took

it. It really is, shame. It is a loss felt even more keenly by

Michael Copeland Griffiths. His family commissioned the piece during

the first World War. I felt absolutely horrified. It is the

centre of the village and I just felt the heart had been ripped out

of the centre of the villagd. It is so significant, it is the focal

point. I felt really upset. I still feel upset. His great aunt sculpted

it. Michael's mother is 93. Her mother and grandmother turndd their

home in the village into a hospital for injured soldiers during the war.

And they never forgot their experiences. The memorial w`s put up

by my grandmother and grandfather. It was put up as a place whdre

people could go and pray for their relatives or friends in the war The

village is hope those who stole the statue will soon realise its

significance and return it. If not, they say they will raise thd money

to replace it as a mark of respect for those who suffered and died

There's more news and inforlation on your local BBC radio stations and of

course online. We're back whth you in Breakfast. But now, let's get the

latest weather from Ian. Yes, we are going to start tomorrow

with a lot of cloud around, but moving into the afternoon, things

will start to brighten up. There will be plenty of sunshine hn the

second half of the day. Temperatures tonight, under a lot of clotd, will

be six ` nine Celsius, so, ` mild night. But the legacy of thd low

cloud, outbreaks of rain will still be a feature into the rush`hour

tomorrow. All of that fading away towards lunchtime. After th`t the

skies will be clearing from the west as we head into the afternoon. The

cloud will disperse even further and by the end of the afternoon there

should be a good deal of sunshine around. It will be decidedlx mild.

And we continue with similar values as we head into the weekend. There

will be a lot of cloud around on Saturday, at a much better

afternoon. Sunday, more clotd, with spots of rain. Extra week, high

pressure dominates. outlook for London. Temperatures

stay like this. Hello, after the teenage tantrums of

the last couple of months, the weather is going to move into more

sedate middle age will stop maybe tonight is the midlife crisis

because it is still likely -- middle