08/09/2011 East Midlands Today

Good evening. Welcome to Thursday's programme.

The family left hanging from a fairground ride. A fun day out at

Skegness turned into Tero. It's only went down and everyone was

screaming and crying. Also tonight - moving patient admin to India. G

A -- GPs say Outsourcing is not saving money. The cost of sorting

out problems that have arisen must be considerable. And more shops

than ever are empty on our high street but one market town is

bucking the trend. And curtain-up for the King of

Good evening. An East Midlands family have been talking for the

moment they became trapped on a fairground ride. The Patels from

a day out, but the trip turned to terror when a ride broke. It left

six members of the family hanging, injured, in their seats waiting for

rescue. James Roberson reports. Back at home in Leicester and now

became trapped on the ride in Skegness look back at how some

national papers covered it. The day - last Thursday - had

started innocently enough as an enjoyable family day out in the

Lincolnshire seaside town. At about 3pm, six of the family

decided to try a ride called Surf rider. But within seconds of

getting on, something went wrong. It was just when we get to the top

of my uncle heard a noise and then it just collapsed. It happened so

quickly. I thought it was a part of the ride. But the whole thing was

on the floor and then I realised what had happened. It took around

40 minutes to rescue everyone on head and gone unconscious. She

Pilgrim hospital, but all needed treatment for brusing, spinal and

back injuries. I was thinking about my daughter and husband and my

family, what would happen next. Then I just passed out. There was a

funfair the other week at Victoria Park and I could not even look at

it when I was driving past. sometimes get flashbacks. I get bad

headaches. It is hard sometimes for Investigation into how the ride

came to fail with passengers on it. The Patels who were hurt hope

from their injuries. But the mental scars may take longer to heal.

catalogue of problems, according to a group representing GPs.

Patients' records and payments to doctors are now handled by fewer

admin centres. Some of the work is out sourced to India. But instead

of efficiencies, it's led to delays. Quentin Rayner reports.

A year ago, all PCTs in the East Midlands signed up to the plan to

save �9m over six years. Certain administration is now outsourced to

a company called NHS Shared Business Services, including in

India. Under the shake-up five, admin centres across the East

handling a range of services on behalf of GPs and patients. Some of

the work is now done thousands of miles away in Pune and up to a

hundred jobs have been lost over here. But an organisation

practices getting paid, and hold- ups in the transfer of medical

notes, potentially puting patients at risk. Clearly if it is delayed

in transferring notes it can cause problems from the point of view of

patients' safety. A G P could have seen a patient a couple of times in

that period but without having access to important information

about their medications and pass a medical history. NHS SBS says it

has an almost 100% record in reaching its targets and has dealt

was to save money, it hasn't convinced everyone. It has been a

false economy. The actual cost of sorting out the problems that have

arisen must be considerable. say they'll know in a few months if

improvements have worked. A 21-year-old man has denied

murdering a Thorntons worker near to her Derbyshire workplace.

Jia Ashton, who was 25, disappeared after leaving the Swanwick factory

in March. Her body was found three days later in woods nearby. David

appeared via video link at Nottingham Crown Court today, and

pleaded not guilty to her murder. He'll remain in custody until a

trial in November. Figures out today show that almost

200 members of teaching staff were assaulted in Derbyshire last year.

There were 138 assaults on teaching assistants in the county and 57 on

teachers. Between January and June this year there were 51 assaults on

teaching staff. Fans with tickets to see a dealt in

concert in Leicester next week are being warned to check that they

have genuine tickets. The singer will be performing on Tuesday night.

It is thought a number of pans -- of fans have bought tickets from a

fate website. -- a fake website. Still to come tonight - white

actors are posing as conmen. working on behalf of the council.

New figures released today reveal just how much the high street is

suffering from the effects of the recession. The number of empty

shops has increased in the last year from 10% up to 13%. In

Nottingham city centre nearly a quarter of units are vacant. But

while many cities and towns are suffering, some are doing better.

Sarah Teale reports from one market town where business is booming.

Riding out the recession is tough going for retailers. Too tough for

some. In the past year as many businesses will do it, shop vacancy

rates rose from 10% to 13%. Grantham was hit hardest in the

East Midlands. It was recently labelled a ghost town. With the

supermarkets blamed for sacking the shoppers out of the centre. Just

under 20 miles away, things could not be more different. Melton

Mowbray has just 22 of its 443 shops empty. We recognise that the

recession has come in and it was going to be hard on the High Street.

We took the initiative to do an empty shops scheme and start to

fill up the vacant units with short-term leases are. That

attracted shoppers, which attracted a new and permanent businesses. The

town is now flying the flag for independent, niche retailers.

chose Melton Mowbray because of the cast. In the larger cities it is

much higher. The at Duke family set up their gift shop in February.

is just a lovely traditional market town. There are so many things to

attract people in. And the amount of coaches coming in is amazing. It

has really helped us. But Melton Mowbray does seem to be bucking the

trend. Are three main city centres are not faring so well. With much

higher vacancy rates. Nottingham tops the list with 23% of its shops

standing empty. Derby is next with 19.4% of its units vacant. And

Leicester has 17% of its shops empty. The economic pinch is being

felt. But back in Melton Mowbray the retailers are sure that trade

in their town is on the up. It's almost a month now since

violence broke out on a number of our city streets following the

London riots. In Nottingham alone, more than 120 people were

subsequently arrested. But police say they still need more help in

tracking down those involved in one of the worst attacks. That attack

was the firebombing of Canning Street police station. It's also

emerged that the building wasn't the only thing to be targeted that

night. Our reporter, Carolyn Moses, is there now.

It all looks fairly normal now but this is Canning circus with the new

lick of paint. But it does still show the scars of what happened a

month ago. Here you can see where the window was hit. The glass has

been replaced but four weeks ago, this was a building under attack.

As these dramatic pictures show, they were captured by a mobile

phone, fire bombs and incendiary devices were thrown at the police

station while staff were inside. It is thought 40 people were involved

in that action but so far only around 15 have been traced and

charge. Luckily no one was hurt in the attack but there was smoke

damage and damage to the windows. And it was not just the police

station, on that night the number of cars coming down the street

opposite were also targeted. Some were hit and a taxi in particular

he was attacked by members of the mob. Detective Sergeant Mike Allen

is with me now. This has to beat one of the worst nights of street

violence that Nottingham has seen. seen for many years. But it did not

mirror the level of disorder seen elsewhere in cities across the UK.

Because we were prepared for it that evening. The level of policing

was such an the strength of policing was such that they were

denied the right to cause the serious violence seemed elsewhere

for stock there are arrests going in tracing those responsible for

this attack. How can people help? 15 people have been charged so far.

Clearly there are offenders outstanding. So I appeal to members

of the public, if they know flute was responsible then please contact

Nottinghamshire police or contact Crimestoppers anonymously. If these

people are confident enough to petrol bomb a police station I'm

sure they would Prague to it -- Bragg about it to their friends.

And a specific appeal - we you the station that was hit by a petrol

bomb? You want to trace those who were also hit? They have been

arrests made and are still going on. We should hear shortly about the

backgrounds of the people involved in the hope that it could shed some

light as to why it happened in the first place.

Next tonight, more affordable housing needs to be built across

the East Midlands. Some councils have been given money to get

the leader of Leicestershire County Council, the cash isn't been spent

on houses. Helen Astle reports. Rebecca Laing plays with her

daughter Maisie in their new home. They moved in a few months ago and

pay rent to a social housing company. It means so much. We have

lots of friends and family in the Village. And both sets of our

parents live here. Rebecca is one of the lucky ones. At the moment

over a quarter of a million people in the East Midlands are on his

social housing waiting list and that list is growing daily.

demand is ever-growing because of house price increases. The waiting

lists on most local authorities Money from the Government has been

given to district and borough councils so more social housing can

be built, small scale developments on the edge of villages. But some

councils aren't spending the cash. It can be infuriating. But it is

important, we need to get those houses into villages. They Arsenal

scale developments, they are sustainable. These schemes are a

godsend for the local communities. The people will sustain the Village

and the shops. The children will go to the schools here. They really

help keep the villages alive. interviewed and approved before

they were able to get their home. It means a lot for us to stay in

the Village. So Maisie will follow in her mum's footsteps, the council

is hoping that other families will be given the same opportunities.

Residents in part of Nottingham say they're concerned about the city's

with managers to discuss the the trams will cause parking

remove trees. Tram bosses say they'll keep disruption to a

minimum. Police have released an image of

the man they would like to speak to in connection with a robbery in

Nottinghamshire. Last month a 16 year-old woman had cash stolen from

her handbag by two men he claimed to be from the gas board. That sort

of scam in terribly targets the elderly. Sir Alastair's trading

standards officers have been trying to flag up the kind of tricks used

by con artists. Pensioners were treated to a number of shows today

performed by actors and illustrating a few classic examples

of today's cons and scams. Portraying as serious message. This

play is that theatre with the difference. And it is hoped it will

raise awareness. Bogus callers are distraction burglaries, their

offence is very impacted on the person and also their family. These

despicable people are trying to take advantage of the most

vulnerable in society. performance is part of older

persons month. Leicestershire Trading Standards say this year

they have well received over 400 calls from people needing advice

will stop there are still too many people being taken in by it.

need to get the message across. Do not open your door to strangers and

do not give out any personal information for stopped the show

made a big impact with the audience will stop very good presentation on

an important theme. Powerful messages going out to older people.

I hope many more people come and see it. Looking at that, it goes

further in it and you understand more. It is about the individual

taking control of their own doorsteps.

Still to come - the dancer who moves Madonna. We meet the King Of

Contemporary Dance ahead of a world premiere in Leicester next week.

Time to get excited about Olympic ticket sales again! This time it's

Paralympic tickets which go on offer tomorrow. Those games are

also expected to sell out. And round here, we have plenty of

Sam and Ollie Hynd go for Gold. And Henshaw. She was part of a grand

Square today. And when I caught up with her, it sounded like she was

having fun. We have met some really nice people who have shown a lot of

interest in the Paralympics which is always great. We were shown some

demonstrations from the wheelchair basketball guys. It has been great.

Just tell us what you are expecting from your games. Because you have

this enormous rivalry with Liz Johnson in the pool. Well we have

not qualified yet, we still have to do the trials in March. Assuming we

both qualified than I think it will be a really good challenge to try

to beat her. And then also the American in the mix there as well

and other Australian girl. So it is claimed to be really exciting race

between the four of us. It is important to say that the

Paralympics are not at all second class, you will be able to generate

just as much excitement as any at the Olympics will stop absolutely.

The more people become aware of Paralympics swimming the more

people will start to see that there are races that are so close, just

as close as those that use the in the Olympic Games. The pattern is

exactly the same and everyone wants to win that gold medal. There are

some really exciting races to come in London. Are you going to bring

the gold medal back to Mansfield's? I hope so. I have had some great

success in the past couple of years. But it is never going to be easy to

win a gold medal at the Paralympics. Good luck to Charlotte. Well, all

across the region, people have been marking a year to go to the opening

of the Paralympics. And it's not met a group of blind footballers.

Well, this is Paul Gallagher of course, of Leicester City. And

Matts Rahmen, who is a blind footballer for the England

development squad. Today we are taking part in a very special

soccer shoot out. To mark a year to go to the

Paralympics, five visually impared players came up against five

Leicester City first teamers. And to make it a level playing

If they get their take legal right there will be all right. It is just

getting used to not being able to see where you are. I usually get

the call from the caller behind the post. And when the whistle goes I

take the penalty. How was that? It is a totally

different thing. You have to take your hat off to them because it is

really difficult. The Leicester City team won 2 - nil. It is an

opportunity to raise awareness of the sport and the chance to meet

some famous people and hopefully we can it recruits are more players

and improve the standard of the football is there for everyone to

enjoy. Staying with football, all the best

boys are in Turin for their own Italian Job, helping European

giants Juventus open their shiny new stadium. We've got a reporter

there - and a full report tomorrow. Panthers last night in the

Challenge Cup. They demolished close rivals and former Champions,

Coventry Blaze, 10-1 at the Nottingham Arena. A very old school

hockey scoreline, that. Might live long in the memory. Certainly

Civic Reception the club are currently enjoying to celebrate

last year's success. Cricket and will creep up our

counties are in action. -- all Final preparations are underway at

the Curve theatre in Leicester for a world dance premiere which opens

next week. Almost 20 years ago, Akram Khan arrived in Leicester as

a student. Now he's back with an international reputation as a

dancer and choreographer, staring in his first solo show for five

years. Geoff Maskell has been to meet him.

The stars of contemporary dance may not be household names, but let me

put it like this - if Akram can play football, he would be Wayne

Rooney. It is really about Bangladesh, my relationship with

Bangladesh. It is a relationship of father and son and also first-

generation and second generation and the complications there are.

You have a repetition it from a king with great artists such as pop

princess Kylie Minogue. At the team here are going all-out to make sure

that this latest production is a real spectacle. It is so potent for

has given that we have this amazing facility with every technological

gadgets you could float at it. And the show certainly does that.

fantasy based. Everything is out of proportion. You have a huge share

that when I stand next to it, I do not have to play being the child, I

become a child will stop this show is an opportunity for us to relate

to beat Bangladesh community in Leicester. I have a friend who grew

up here and I ate most telling him about the piece and he said, I have

to come. He never comes to my shows, ever. But it was the first time he

was interested in my work. He thought, it may be contemporary

dance but there is a narrative there with him that and it is about

me. It does look amazing. You could me. It does look amazing. You could

take me there! Good evening. We have a chance to

night other see him he's supernova. It will be the first time in 20

years that astronomers will have seen one so close to the air. If

you look up, it is basically a dying star. And if we have the

clear skies we should be able to see it. But we're not going to keep

those Clear skies and for very long because of this area and bringing

it ranges some parts of the UK. But for now we are going to keep those

sunny spells for a time giving us a bright end to the day. The cloud is

increasing and bringing with it the risk of some light outbreaks of

rain. Quite a mild night with temperatures around 14 degrees.

Temperatures tomorrow afternoon of around 22 degrees. So a taste of

some or returns for one day only. But make the most of it because it

turns rather wild as it goes through the weekend. For Saturday

it turns breezy and this cold front works its way through. It is this