14/08/2014 BBC Points West

and on our website, but that is all for now. It

Welcome to BBC Points West with Sabet Choudhury and Alex Lovell.

A deal to move the rubbish from a Swindon recycling site.

After burning for three weeks ` could the cloud of smoke over

Also in the programme: The end of a long wait.

The emotions run high as students get their A`level results

Preparing for the ride of their life.

The region gets ready to welcome the Tour of Britain.

Find out how this can turn into this for charity and which rock band has

given three children ?2,000 towards their appeal.

First tonight, after almost a month, a deal has finally been struck

which its hoped will lead to a fire being extinguished

The burning waste at the site in Swindon, which is run

by Averies, has left a cloud of smoke handing over the town.

Robin Markwell has spent the day in the town.

Swindon, a town under a cloud. For 24 days the fire at this waste

facility has smouldered, filling the air with a stench of burning

plastic. It's proved too much for businesses nearby. This one forced

to close for nine days and local residents all say enough is enough.

It's been really bad actually. There's been ash falling down. It's

really Smokey. You step outside to get to the car and you just stink.

Your hair, your clothes, it's been horrendous when it's blowing over

this way. It's been hard especially with the hot weather. We have not

been able to open windows and get fresh air. Can't hang washing on the

line. It's been quite hot in the house and also the smell is just

horrible because it's not like a barbecue smell, but it's a rubbery,

burning smell. It's been nearly a month now. This has been the problem

for firefighters. Tightly stacked mounds of 1,000 tonnes of household

waste, difficult to get to, difficult to put out. But today at

long last for local residents, a deal has been struck which could see

some of this waste that isn't on fire taken off site which would

allow firefighters better access to put out the flames. The council had

suggested dumping the waste at this park and ride site. But to the joy

of campaigners today that plan was ditched. Instead, the firm which

runs the site has been ordered to move the waste out of town and foot

the bill. They've been instructed by the Environment Agency to start

removing the waste from tomorrow. It will be then up to the Environment

Agency if that doesn't happen to ensure that is carried out. And to

enable the Fire Brigade to get in and put the fire out. Firefighters

warn that removing the rubbish will in itself fan the flames, in a fire

that may yet have a mnt to burn. At least today a whiff of hope for

those fed up with the fumes. `` month.

The Prime Minister has been in the West today as he cut short

his summer break to oversee Britain's aid mission to Iraq.

David Cameron was at Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire.

He was shown the aid which is being packed to leave the airport

Solar`powered lamps and water filters are

Thousands of teenagers are busily planning

their futures this evening after picking up their A`level results.

More than three`quarters of students who took the exams in the South West

In a moment we'll be talking to a student advisor from one our

our major Universities but first Jules Hyam reports on a day of

The nervous looks, and the hugs of relief. They're scenes we see every

August from Stroud to Devizes. Not surprising that emotions run high on

A`level results day. Each envelope opened this morning has the power to

shape a young adult's future. That's exactly what I wanted. Wow, yeah,

two A*s and A. Yeah, happy. Three A*s and I am hopefully going to

Bristol, well I am going to Bristol to do psychology. Oh! I am lost for

words. Four A*s. Maths, physics, chemistry and further maths. It

means I can go to Cambridge next year which is great. All these years

have built up to a few seconds looking at these. It's weird. The

south`west is the only English region where the number of students

getting A* and A grades has gone up. While students have the weird

results experience this morning, their teachers knew how everybody

had done yesterday. Here at this school grades are just as good as

they were hoping for, but staff still have to be prepared to help

and support students who have to rethink their plans. It's a busy 24

hours because we are getting ready to make sure that we are in support

of the one that is need it. There's lots to do basically. It's not a sit

down time, this is really busy for us. With extra places available at

many universities this autumn, disappointment today need not mean a

disappointing September and there are still a few weeks left to get

ready for life at university. Today's A`level results are

make or break for those student Some may have done better than

anticipated and others, It's been a busy day for our

universities fielding calls from The University of the West

of England has dealt with more than 4,000 phone calls from young people

trying to decide their next step. The person who has been overseeing

it at UWE today, Jo Midley, Thank you for speaking to us. What

kind of help are you offering? Well, we are offering a range of help. We

know this is a really critical and important day for young people in

our region and who are really keen to take university as the next step.

So we have been providing them with a range of advice about the

different courses available to them, what student life will be like here,

the accommodation options available to them and importantly, what

careers the degree courses here might lead to. I guess as

universities you operate as businesses, so what incentives do

you give to students to come to you? We don't provide incentives for

students to come to us. We think that the degree courses we offer

here are great. They lead to great outcomes for our students and we

don't have the additional incentives other than a fantastic student

experience for students who choose to come here. We have been hear

thering are more places than ever before, do you think high fees are

putting students off? We don't see that actually. Our numbers are

fantastic. This year we have had fewer places available in clearing

than ever before. We are now down to the last few and so we don't see

that these are actually putting students off. But we see is that

students are really keen understand the value they're getting for the

investment they're making in their future. They're really keen to

understand about the student experience and where the degree is

likely to lead them after gradiation. In a moment we will hear

about employers `` graduation. In a moment we will hear about employers

saying students wh are graduates don't have the stills necessary for

the workplace. Are you finding students are more honed in towards

job`based courses? Certainly our experience is students are keen to

understand where the degree will take them. We spend a lot of time

making sure our courses prepare students for the real world so life

after graduation. In fact, our employers have reported how happy

they are with the skills we develop through our degree courses, not just

the academic ability of our students, but the opportunities they

take to get involved in work experience placements, internships

and develop skills employers are looking for, confidence, commune

indication and other skills that are critical if students are going to

have successful careers `` communication.

Although thousands of students will leave school with

A`levels, employers have told us they still lack the vital skills

Business West asked 650 local companies if young people are being

Only 28% of them thought university graduates had the skills needed.

That dropped to 10% when they were asked if A`level

students were ready and just 5% believe those who leave school at 16

So what's gone wrong and what's being done about it?

Our business correspondent Dave Harvey reports.

You are actually having a business network meeting in your school. Yes,

it's double networking in the school hall. We are in Thorne bree at the

Castle `` Thorne bury at the Castle School. They're coming face`to`face

with companies to learn a vital lesson. People buy people, and

people buy people they like. Next year, these students will take their

A`levels, but already they've learned they need something else.

Something simpler and yet scarier. The ability to talk to somebody you

don't know. Our generation, people are scared to talk to people, to

pick up the phone and ring someone is terrifying. We are reliant on

using Facebook and Twitter and just connecting without being able to see

your face. Whilst they have the hard skills when they first leave school

or universities, they might know the maths that they need for accounting

and suchlike, what they haven't got are some communication skills. It's

a widespread complaint. Thousands of firms told business Best of their

exasperation with the quality of recruits. They have to do basic

training again. A lot of the attitude stuff. Getting up on time,

coming to work dressed properly. Attitude, the right attitude. A

combination of things. Skills, expectations and enterprise. It's

why so many employers turned up for this networking day. Not to recruit,

but to help people like Ben get ready for the world of work. So,

what has he learned? Obviously got enthusiastic, smiling face, looking

forward to meeting them, open body language, all these things. I came

here today, butterflies in my stomach obviously, but once I got

involved it becomes easier. So much easier to talk to people once I

relax. Can you get A*s in networking? Maybe you should.

It's lovely to have you with us this Thursday evening. It's been mixed

weather`wise. Bright and sunny one moment. Rain the next. An update

soon. There's plenty more still to come. Why these children's loomband

challenge attracted the attention of some major popstars.

All that's still to come. A light aircraft narrowly missed

a tower in school grounds moments That's the finding of a report

into an accident near Downside Abbey Investigators say

the pilot did take action to avoid the tower but crashed

in a wooded area moments later. It was just before 11.00 on a Monday

morning when the aircraft came down. Despite a swift response from the

emergency services Glenn Packmeyer, an experienced pilot was killed

instantly. He had planned to started his journey home the night before

but delayed it to spend more time with friends. As the plane

approached the Abbey it came close to the tower. That was 30 metres.

There were some people working on the roof at the time. They described

how the plane started an avoiding manoeuvre, ending nose up and

rolling to the right. The plane crashed into a tree in the Monday

astroery gardens soon after `` monastery. Today's report said the

pilot's final manoeuvre had placed the aircraft at such a low height in

poor visible that it couldn't recover. We could have had boys and

girls from the school, staff injured, our workmen on the Church

roof seriously injured, but we were very lucky that there were no

fatalities, but sadly, the pilot himself died. The pilot had obtained

some weather information before the flight but it was thought to be

minimal. Investigators concluded it was a tragic accident. Glenn has his

own memorial here. He is believed to be a hero, believing he sacrificed

his life to save others. A Cheltenham man who was the first

to swim the length of Britain has Sean Conway swam from Lands End to

John O'Groats over the course of He's now running between the two

places, completely unsupported. His latest adventure didn't get

off to the best start. He was trying to take a selfie while

running and tripped on a rock. Roads are expected to be lined with

excited spectators in a few weeks' time as the UK's

biggest professional cycle race The tour of Britain will pass

through Gloucestershire, Bristol, Bath and Wiltshire

and is completely free to watch. On its first ever visit to Bristol

the Tour of Britain will bring cyclists on the fourth stage of this

gruelling climb, Bridge Valley Road. Local cyclists gave it a go. I think

they're going to make us look rubbish. When I look back at the

times they get up this, we will all look rubbish. It's an excellent

route. It's going to be fast. They'll come to a short left`hand

turn and it ramps up almost immediately for half a mile maybe.

The tour will start in Worcester, tackling Snowshill before racing

along the A46, past Stroud, Dursley and into Bristol. This is where the

finish will end, here on the Downs at about 3.00 on September 10th. It

will be a chance to see 20 world`class teams racing alongside

sir Bradley Wiggins. The tour had a huge welcome three years ago when

crowds excitedly lined the route through Somerset. The cycle fans in

the West expect the route will be packed this year. It will be superb

seeing him in the Tour and having it finish on the Downs, the spectator

access will be immense. I expect there to be a lot of people up

there. It's going to be really good. What do you think about The Tour of

Britain coming to Bristol? It's a fantastic thing for Bristol. Yes. I

shall be at the top of the Bridge Valley Road cheering them on. There

is a second chance to catch the Tour on Friday 12th September, starting

in Bath and snaking through wilts shire before we bid farewell to the

peloton and its many tired legs `` Wiltshire.

Joining us now are Pete Thompson who has wanted the tour to come to

Bristol store sometime and Andy Hawes who is the route director.

Pete, you wanted it to come to Bristol particularly for sometime.

That's right, yeah. Having worked on it for, well, over a decade, and

been asking for it and eventually George Ferguson gave us the green

light just before he became the mayor. You think that was the

tipping point, because he is keen on bikes? Yeah, he always popped in to

the design office and asked us a few questions in the past about bikes

for charity events. Andy, let's talk about the route. Quite tough

especially around here, the hills and everything. Yeah, reasonably

tough. There are three categorised climbs that we have throughout the

stage and two of them within this region, Snowshill and obviously the

final, the Bridge Valley Road. You are covering a lot of the country.

It must be tough because everybody probably wants it to come to them,

don't they? Yeah, it's a very tough thing to try and please the whole of

the UK. Obviously it's The of Britain and we try and in as much as

we can, visiting areas that we can, but unfortunately there are winners

and losers each year with some regions missing out but hopefully we

try to get around the whole of the UK eventually. Pete, let's talk

about the atmosphere. What's the atmosphere going to be like, you

have seen it in Somerset? The closest we had to Bristol was a

Wales finish. I was just going up in the car before and I was seeing

faces that I recognised from Bristol all over. If they're prepared to go

that far, Bridge Valley will be packed. That road, it could finish

your clutch off, it's a big ask. Our riders have big engines and

clutches. That's what it is, I am doing it wrong. A bit of a crash

there. That's another thing, watching the Tour de France, can

there almost be too much love and people taking selfies, as well?

Yeah, I think that the crowds in Yorkshire for the Tour de France

were immense and we are hoping for similar for The Tour of Britain. The

selfie craze, I think it's probably just best, let's watch it through

your own eyes, instead of a screen. It's a craze at the moment. We got

some guidelines, try to put people off doing that because it can be

dangerous, you don't get a good feel of where riders are and you wouldn't

get a feel of how fast they're going to come past you. They do go fast.

Good luck. Looking forward to it. The next in our Wonders of the West

series and the City of Bath is well Tonight we're looking at one

of the oldest and most impressive it Yes,

I loved presenting Children in Need there last November and of course

it's Britain's only hot springs. Tonight Jenhi Osman explores

the Roman Baths. Much of the modern city rests on the

shoulders of the Roman engineer who is designed these baths. Despite

being around 2,000 years old, such is the brilliance of their design,

that a lot of the their plumbing and drainage systems are still in use

today. These are... This is an area not open to the public. But its

integral to the design of the complex. This round building, we

believe, is something that is a kind of room where there would have been

at the level or of our feet, piles of tiles which supported a floor and

the hot air would have gone underneath that from a nearby

furnace. Like a sauna? Like a sauna but probably dry heat rather than

damp heat. Those rooms are actually quite pleasant rooms. Unlike the

kind of house you may have lived in, in pre`Roman times, these rooms

separated heat from smoke. All this heat didn't just provide underfloor

heating, it heated the entire building. Here is an extraordinary

piece, that's where the hot air ended up in the roof structures. We

have the hot air coming from the bottom, up the walls in ducts, to

the top. We have here the roof itself, we can see by the tiles, the

concrete and then the heating system all in one. Fantastic piece. The

water comes out of the ground at 46C and it's still almost as hot as your

shower when it reaches the great bath. How did they actually get the

hot water around the whole bath site? They used a very powerful

force, gravity. Of course it's good design, because gravity does all the

work for you. It's sichly the water flows through the `` simply the

water flows through the site and controlled by a system. Mark is

logicals impressed with the way `` is also impressed with the way the

Romans harnessed the springs. They had levels. They were letting it out

at a constant level in to the baths and in this place alone you have 45

sheets of lead still remaining. In that pool? Half a ton each over an

inch thick. So, not only were Roman engineers brilliant at adapting

their technologyingses, the baths were also utterly revolutionary

compared to anything else in Britain at that time. `` technologies.

The final part is tomorrow. Three schoolchildren from Frome

who've been busy raising money for charity during

the summer holiday were astounded to receive a donation from one

of the biggest bands in the world. Izzy, Henry and five`year`old

Rudy Ford wanted to do something to They received lots of donations

online but this was one they weren't Twist it. Put it over the first two

fingers, which ever one. What do they say about old dogs and new

tricks? This is about as far as most people get. But not for Izzy, Rudy

and Henry. No, they've gone a little bit further than that. It starts and

goes through the hall, past the stairs, past the living room...

Looming marvellous. Out to the garden there is hardly enough room

for it. It finishes over there. It's taken 35 hours to make. The children

reckon they're using 3,000 loom bands a day and although

measurements are tricky, we think it stretches 300 feet. It's all for

charity. They want to raise money for safe the children `` Save the

Children. In Gaza there is childs dying every single day and hour.

What do you think about that? It's sad. Plenty of people have chipped

in, but one donation in particular stood out. Woke up and was informed

that we got a ?2,000 donation from cold`play `` Coldplay which was

amazing. Did you think it was for real? I don't know. I don't know if

I processed it actually. I could see the money was there and actually I

was contacted by Save the Children so that was really quite soon

afterwards so I knew immediately it was real. I didn't really have time

to doubt it or anything. No, I just went with it. Thanks to Chris Martin

and co, th they're well on the way to making ?3,000. From one huge

band, to another. Just spare a thought for mum. There

is always someone that needs to clear up at the end.

Well done! What a satisfying holiday. Brilliant work. Now another

really mixed day of weather. Sun, rain. Anything else?

Funnel clouds, at least two, three. This one came across the districts.

It's been a lively day all round. Flooding in Glastonbury. Tomorrow

you will be pleased to hear it will not bring anything as dramatic.

Showers around, most of them light but prolonged dry and generally

rather sunny spells. The showers have got going, packing

in through up to recently. The next line moving down, it's been giving

torrential downpours. All of that moving to the south`east through

this evening. Once it's out of the way there will be a tendency to get

a dryer night up and running and indeed a similar pattern to

tomorrow. You will see the sign for one or two showers around. The main

focus is to the east, late afternoon, evening. Pressure is

rising in from the south`west, weakly but sufficiently to ensure

that Saturday will be a dry day. Not so at the moment, though. The

sequence of showers will continue its journey down towards the

south`east. Gradually they will diminish and we should enter into a

dry night or a largely dry night. Temperatures under clearer spells

Tomorrow we will start with a good Tomorrow we will start with a good

deal of dry weather. As the day wears on a few showers about, more

particularly towards the east of the M5. Those of you on Exmoor, probably

a dry day compared to some of the conditions of today certainly. Later

into the afternoon and the evening a tendency perhaps for one or two

somewhat heavier showers for a while before things dry out again.

Temperatures will be slightly up on today. Saturday is looking like a

dry day. Sunday we are starting to return to a blustery cooler set`up

that will prevail into next week, as well.

Thank you. Commiserations or congratulations to all the A`level

students today. Especially actually Rose Hall, just because your mum has

just e`mailed us. There you go! Well done to everybody. That's it from

us. We are back in the 10.00 news. For now, bye.