09/12/2013 BBC Wales Today

light rain. It will be damp across the north and west. That's all from

the BBC news at six. Welcome to Wales Today. Our top

story. They're eating healthily, but

tonight the shocking story of a five-year-old from Newport who

weighs ten stone, removed from her parents.

That reflects the paucity we have in the medical services for

preschoolers who are not surveyed and this should be a wake-up call to

make that change. A three-year-old boy has died in

hospital in Wrexham after he was found in a garden pond. Also

tonight, A blood clot and internal bleeding.

Margaret Thomas waited in the back of an ambulance for three hours. Why

is Wales the worst in the UK? Wales captain and Cardiff Blues star

Sam Warburton sets a deadline to sort his contract here or he'll join

the player exodus. We're live at the Wales Sport

Awards, where later this evening the BBC Wales Sports Personality of the

Year will be crowned. And is this the end of the pier

show? It's decision time for Colwyn Bay - restoration or demolition.

Good evening. Shocking - that's how an obesity charity has described the

case of a five-year-old in Newport who weighed more than ten stone. The

girl was taken into care because of her weight, which is three times

heavier than the average. The National Obesity Forum has called

for better monitoring of children and their weight. Here in Wales we

have the highest rate of childhood obesity in the UK. Jordan Davies has

more. Playtime at a primary School in

Newport. Many of these children may not know it but the games they are

playing will make them fitter, stronger and healthier. It is

important because it keeps your body nice and healthy. It is really good

for you. I stay healthy by eating five fruit and veg a day. And

Apple, and orange, a banana in your packed lunch. After working up an

appetite, lunchtime. Today it is vegetables and pasta. As part of the

curriculum we have a healthy week that we run in school and in that

week we highlight and focus upon a healthy lifestyle through exercise,

eating healthy lunch boxes. We have a week that promotes what we try to

do throughout the year. Although Wales has the highest childhood

obesity levels in the UK, questions are being asked tonight about how a

five-year-old girl was allowed to reach ten stone in weight. In August

last year, then aged five years and 11 months was taken into foster care

in Newport because she weighed ten stone ?6. Two months later her

weight rose before dropping 27 stone this September. The average wait for

a five-year-old child is to stone ?12. We have a five-year old girl

who must have been out and about for five years and in full visibility of

people in the medical profession who should have said, there is a girl

who is far too heavy for her age, we have got to do something about it.

The first thing that should be done is that they should be an

implementation of regular monitoring. In July a report by the

National Assembly said 20% of Welsh five-year-olds are overweight, while

12.5% are obese. In Newport, with this girl was from, obesity figures

are roughly the same. Judith John is from Public Health Wales and she

says Vicky, perhaps unsurprisingly, is a healthier overall support --

lifestyle. The amount of food that is out there advertised to families

in relation to high-fat and high food -- sugar foods is a problem and

the amount of fast-food outlets we see can be a problem. The amount of

play space and ability children have to be free and active. All those

things can be impact the way a child grows healthy or not. It is not

known exactly how this girl reached this weight at such a young age or

why it was allowed to happen but Newport council told us her weight

was the only reason she was taken into care. It is well-known that we

in Wales have a problem of obesity, not just for adults and middle-aged

but children. I think it is well known also that the problem is

escalating even further. In this school the children are encouraged

to eat a healthy diet. The Welsh government says it has a number of

schemes promoting healthy living. But some children are not as lucky.

The consequences can be extremely serious.

A three-year-old boy has died in hospital in Wrexham after he was

found in a garden pond near Llangollen. North Wales Police say

the boy was reported missing shortly before midday today. Let's talk to

our reporter Matthew Richards. Matt, we're only just hearing of this.

What can you tell us? The news is just coming in and details are still

fairly scarce at the moment but North Wales Police control room

received this distressing call just before midday and immediately sent

officers to the scene. Shortly into this surge they discovered the boy

in a pond. We don't know whether this was a pond at the family home

or another one that belonged to a neighbour, possibly. He was taken by

ambulance to Wrexham Maelor Hospital were sadly, despite the efforts of

medical staff, he died. A helicopter was dispatched to the scene but the

boy was discovered before it could offer any help in the search. Sadly,

in a case like this, several procedures come into place and they

are now in force. North Wales Police have sent family liaison officers to

support the family of the little boy and the coroner has been informed so

he can being -- begin the process of understanding exactly what happened

here. The Health Minister says he's

considering ordering health boards to pay the Ambulance Service money

if emergency vehicles continue to face long delays outside A Mark

Drakeford was responding to new figures obtained by the BBC, which

show patients in Wales face the longest waits outside hospitals of

anywhere in the UK. On one occasion, a patient had to wait for six hours

and 22 minutes in an ambulance outside A Here's our health

correspondent Owain Clarke. These were the scenes on the front

line of the Welsh NHS at PM this afternoon. -- 2pm. Queues occur when

images are departments are too busy to safely accept extra patients. So

patients have to stay in the care of paramedics until there is room. But

wait longer in Wales it seems than anywhere else in Britain. Between

August and October, the maximum weights ranged three hours and 12

minutes up to six hours and 22 minutes faced by one patient in the

Swansea area. Today the health board apologised. A weight of almost six

hours was also recorded outside Wales's biggest hospital in

Cardiff. In Scotland during the same period, nobody was forced to wait

more than two hours in an ambulances. Margaret Thomas had to

wait for three hours outside the AMD hospital department -- AMD

department. She later found out she had a blood clot in her leg and

internal be leading -- bleeding. I am a very lucky person because they

told my husband the clot could have gone anywhere. I could have ended

not being here today. Ambulance delays outside a handy can be

damaging to patient safety because it takes longer for patients to be

assessed properly but I am told the most urgent cases receive priority.

But if an ambulances is stuck outside a hospital, it can't respond

to other emergency calls and that has a knock-on effect on response

times. I know that there are instances where patients have waited

over three hours and that is not acceptable. We want to improve that

situation. We want to make sure that patients do not spend time outside

emergency department. What is the answer? In England Health Trust face

fines if they fail to meet their targets. Today, the Health Minister

said he is considering ordering Welsh health boards to compensate

the ambulances this for the time lost when ambulances are stuck

waiting to hand patients over. If we find that is a real issue in the

future we may put in place a system where local health boards will have

two hand over money to the ambulances trust to recognise this

is costing them money which should be spent on better patient care. But

the Welsh government also insists things are improving. It says the

number of patients waiting outside emergency units for over an hour has

halved since March but critics say the figures are ominous. If long

waits are happening in the summer and autumn, they warn, things can

only get worse now winter is here. A dairy at Whitland in

Carmarthenshire is set to close at the end of next month if no buyer is

found. 31 people currently work at the Proper Welsh Milk Dairy, which

was taken over by Dairy Crest earlier this year. The company says

it's starting a consultation period with workers and unions over the

proposed closure. It blames poor sales and the amount of investment

required at the site. A report into train services across

the UK have revealed that some of the worst performers are in Wales.

The study shows train services here are used less and have lower

passenger satisfaction levels. It comes as the Welsh government has

announced ?24 million for upgrades to stations across the country.

The First Minister Carwyn Jones has defended the education and health

policies of the Welsh Government in a news conference marking four years

since he took the job. In a wide-ranging interview, he also said

the Welsh Government would never sell off Cardiff Airport completely.

Our political editor Nick Servini was there.

He spent much of the time talking about health and education

policies. At times he was quite reflective today, talking about

leading the referendum to give this place more lawmaking powers. And the

momentum of the organ donation Bill for Wales. But the reality was much

of what he was talking about, he was dragged back to the here and now of

missed targets in the NHS, problems in the NHS as you referred to in

that story about the ambulances service and also problems in the

education service and the education system and the publication of the

International education league tables last week which put Wales at

the bottom of the UK pile. When Carwyn Jones was voted in, he made a

big plate of delivery and implication of policy and some of

the questions today were about how that focus on delivery tallied with

so many indicators out there suggesting that the Welsh government

is not delivering particularly effectively in certain areas. As you

would expect, a very robust defence from the first Minister. On the

economy he spoke about a reasonable record in terms of keeping

unemployment under control. In terms of health, he spoke about the

reconfiguration of the health service that is currently underway

in Wales. And on education, he reaffirmed the commitment, despite

the poor results last week, he reaffirmed his commitment to be in

the top 20 when the next set of results come out in 2015. The

overall figures were disappointing. We did not expect to see a rapid

improvement. We do expect to see an improvement in 2015 because by that

time what we have put in place will begin to bite. It is important to

remember that although it gives us an important snapshot in terms of

Welsh education, it is not a sign that the entire education system is

in some kind of crisis. We were also given an idea for the plans for

Cardiff airport. It is almost exactly a year ago that he announced

the Welsh government was going to buy Cardiff airport and earlier this

year it did so for ?52 million. He says since then the book value of

the airport has risen by ?3 million. They are in talks with an operator

to come in and run it on their behalf. And crucially he said that

the Welsh government has no intention to sell it entirely. We

will never sell it completely, no. But we don't want to run it because

we have got the arm's-length company at the moment running the airport

but in terms of the longer term solution, as we have always said, we

are looking to bring in established operators in the future and the

interest is there. Finally it appears that Cardiff airport will

become a permanent part of the publicly owned transport

infrastructure of Wales. Much more to come before seven

o'clock. Wales captain and Cardiff Blues star

Sam Warburton could join the nation's player exodus. He wants his

playing future settled before Wednesday.

And the rescue effort to save a whale stranded on the beach in

Conwy. A million pounds to knock it down,

?15 million to restore it. So what does the future hold for Colwyn

Bay's ailing Victorian pier? The debate has rumbled on for years

while at the same time the listed structure has continued its decline.

This week, councillors in Conwy will be asked to decide the way ahead.

Roger Pinney reports. In its heyday it was a big

attraction, a must see for visitors to the seaside report -- resort. Now

it is crumbling, its future in doubt, but there are still plenty

who remember better times even if they do wonder whether the peer has

had its day. We had some really good night stand there, there were some

live bands, and it is going into decay. People feel very sentimental

about the peer. Lots of memories of the things they have done there. But

I think it has had its day. The debate has rumbled on for years.

Even its ownership is the subject of ongoing legal action. There has been

a Heritage Lottery Fund. Now councils are wondering whether

enough further grant aid will materialise. A full restoration

would cost ?15 million. Demolition, ?1 million. You don't have to look

too closely to get an idea of the state this structure is now in. Bits

of it are hanging off and I was told last week a chunk fell off onto the

beach. But even doing nothing is costing the council. At the moment

they are having to pay a security company to keep people away. But

groups campaigning for the peer continued to fundraiser and garner

support. They question the council's figures. Demolition would

cost more they claim, restoration less. 99% of people in this centre

are for the restoration of our peer. If we can convince the council

there is public support, we are hoping that those who are thinking,

I don't know, perhaps we could persuade them to vote for it. But

the issue divides opinion. The peer no longer has any relevance to

Colwyn Bay, sadly. I was brought up here as a lad in the 40s and 50s and

it was the centre of Colwyn Bay. It was great. But those days are gone.

Colwyn Bay peer has a history of steering strong emotions. It will

not be an easy decision for councillors to make.

Scientists trialling a drug in Cardiff say it can prolong the lives

of people with the most common adult leukaemia. The new treatment, called

GA-101, is of particular benefit to older patients who can't tolerate

chemotherapy by itself, which the new drug is given in partnership

with. Those involved in the study say they hope it'll lead to the

blood cancer eventually being kept at bay.

Campaigners have won their fight to keep a public footpath near the Port

Talbot steelworks open, following a public inquiry. Tata Steel and Neath

Port Talbot Council wanted to close the path leading to Morfa Beach and

divert another for safety reasons. A planning inspector has ruled that

while one footpath can be diverted, the beach path will now not close.

Many of our top sports stars are in Cardiff tonight for the first Wales

Sport Awards, where the BBC Cymru Wales Sports Personality of the Year

will be named. The ceremony begins in the next hour and our sports

reporter Ashleigh Crowter is already mingling with the guests.

We have a new format tonight. This event is being organised by BBC

Wales and Sport Wales. But one thing stays the same, they all want to win

this trophy. We have a short list of five people this year and the winner

will be announced just before 9pm this evening. There are ten other

trophies and they cover a range of things in elite sport and grassroots

community sport. There is a really diverse gathering here this evening

and they are mingling in the pre-ceremony reception. Let's talk

to a couple of the people. Someone you may recognise, Gareth Bale's

mother. What an amazing your your family has had. It has been

fantastic. Everything you can dream of happening, with going to Madrid

and being able to be there when he was presented was absolutely

fantastic. Having the whole family, my daughter and my father. It was

just special to have everyone there with this. And he seems to have

handled the tag of becoming the world's most offensive player very

well. How is he coping with the move? He is coping fabulously. He

has got former team-mates there. That was great because that helped.

And Ronaldo has been absolutely brilliant. He has helped him settle.

And you feel good and you start to play well. I think that is showing

now. He is living the dream. Gareth is on the short list, as is Non

Stanford, the world triathlon champion. I can't believe I am still

here nominated alongside some of these amazing athletes. That is an

honour in itself. It caps off a fantastic year for me. In your first

year as a senior, you have already ticked off one of your major goals.

What is next on the list? We have got the Commonwealth Games next year

and that has always been a massive aim of mine. I am really looking

forward to putting on a Welsh vest and getting out there and hopefully

flying the flag for Wales. Good luck tonight. We will tell you of all the

winners later. I'll have an update on who's won in

our late bulletin at 10.25pm. But if you can't wait until then, you can

watch the ceremony live on our website.

Rugby, and Wales captain and Cardiff Blues star Sam Warburton could join

the nation's player exodus. The Wales and Lions captain's contract

expires this summer and amid uncertainty over the future of Welsh

domestic rugby he says he wants his playing future settled. Warburton

wants a deal to stay in Wales secured by this Wednesday. Here's

Matt Murray. Wales has seen some of its biggest

names in rugby leave their regions and sign for some of the best-known

clubs in France and England. George North, Mike Phillips and most

recently Jonathan Davies. The numbers are now into double figures,

almost enough to field a first team. Now Sam Warburton could be the

latest of the Welsh stars in Excel. He has given the blues and the WRU

until Wednesday to offer a new deal. Former Wales international Hugh

Bennett left to sign for Lyon. He understands the predicament Sam

Warburton is in. In fairness, he has waited. I am sure he could have

signed a lot earlier. But with security, that contract is not going

to be there for ever. He needs some assurances. But he does not want to

sign knowing something could have happened within Welsh rugby. By

giving them a gate, he has let them know. There is no doubt Sam

Warburton wants to stay in Cardiff. He still lives in one of the suburbs

of the capital where he grew up. Just recently he switched on the

Christmas lights here. The general feeling among people who know him

well know a move away would be a last resort. At this Delhi, they

know he is a boy who likes to stay close to home. He is a regular

here, he likes his poached egg and brown toast. He is a healthy eater

but he is part of the community and he still wants to be a normal

character around the village. As Wales captain and having long stated

his desire to stay in Cardiff, his departure would be seen as the most

damaging of the Welsh exodus so far. A major rescue operation has been

underway to save a Minke whale stranded on a beach in Conwy. Teams

from the RSPCA and RNLI were called after it was spotted off the North

Wales coast. Here's Tomos Dafydd. It is one of the world's smaller

Wales but still a breathtaking sight that close. This Minke whale found

its way into a shallow channel and was quickly stranded. Wildlife

experts were soon on hand to assess any injuries and offer advice to

rescue teams. These are always difficult situations. You have two

work out why it was stranded in the first place. It could be that it got

itself into difficulties, navigation wise. The alternative could be there

is something wrong with it. We could not see anything obvious, there is

fading light, the tide is going against us, we made the decision to

try and refloated. Lifeboat crews try to turn the Minke whale back

towards deeper water. It is not uncommon for these mammals to head

into sure if they become disorientated. This was a ten metre

mammal and it was still alive and it was thrashing around on the

shoreline. Keeping members of the public that was our first priority.

This species can be found anywhere from the tropics to colder areas.

This whale's rescuers will keep it under close scrutiny to make sure it

heads back to its usual haunts. THE weather forecast now with Derek.

Nice day for a walk on the pier today. Dry and mild for the time of

year. Hawarden in Flintshire, 13 Celsius. That's five degrees above

average. There's more mild and dry weather to come over the next few

days, but I doubt it will stay dry all week. Tonight, generally dry.

Clear and chilly. Overnight cloud will spread across the country.

Temperatures above freezing. Eight Celsius in Milford Haven and breezy.

Lighter winds inland and colder with a risk of ground frost and a few fog

patches. Tomorrow's chart shows high pressure over Europe. More isobars

over the UK and that means stronger winds but south or south-westerly

winds it is going to stay quite mild. The mild air extending north

into the Arctic Cirlce and Scandinavia. Here's the picture for

8.00am in the morning. Most places dry. Light winds inland with a few

mist and fog patches. Breezier on the coast and in the west.

Temperatures well above freezing. Ten Celsius in Milford Haven with a

southerly wind. I wouldn't rule out a few spots of drizzle in Gwynedd

and Pembrokeshire, otherwise dry again. And during the day, the cloud

will lift and break. So, brightening-up with a little

sunshine. In Torfaen tomorrow, low cloud, mist and fog patches will

lift, leaving a dry day. Plenty of cloud. The temperature in Blaenavon

rising to eight Celsius with a breeze. Tomorrow night, many places

dry. On Wednesday, mist and fog patches will lift, leaving a dry day

with a mixture of clouds and sunshine. On Thursday, parts of the

north and west may see a little rain. Elsewhere, dry. On Friday,

cloudy with outbreaks of rain but the south-east and the Marches may

escape the worst of it. Looking further ahead, some of you will be

disappointed but there is no sign of any snow before Christmas.

And obesity charity has described the case of a five-year-old in

Newport who weighed more than ten stone as shocking. The girl was

taken into care because of their weight, which is three times heavier

than average. X-Ray's on in half an hour. Here's

Lucy and Rhodri with more. Tonight we are turning the tables on

those cold calling green companies trying to get their hands on your

money. What do they have to say when we phoned them? We are looking at

cash machine crime and the gadgets criminals are using to get their

hands on your money. And we are catching up with a few familiar

faces who are finally getting their just deserts.

I'll have an update for you here at 8.00pm and after the BBC News at

10.00pm. That's Wales Today. Thank you for watching. Good evening.