30/03/2012 East Midlands Today

This is East Midlands Today with Dominic Heale and me, Anne Davies.

Our top story tonight, time for the tarmac tax. Nottingham's workplace

parking levy starts on Sunday. There is criticism from business

leaders that it will drive firms out of the city. Plus, when it

raised as much money as the council had hoped?

Also: 10 operating theatres could close as hospitals in Leicester

look for more big savings. A of course people are worried and in a

sense, we are worried and it is our duty to be worried so refocus on

doing this properly. Plus: fears of a fuel shortage

spark another day of queues and shortages.

And who is a lucky girl? Sally helps smooth for the way for a lamb

Good evening and welcome to the programme. First tonight,

Nottingham becomes the first city in the UK to charge people to park

at work and it starts this weekend. Business leaders fear it will drive

companies out of the city and stop others from moving in. The council

says the money raised will help it to invest in public transport. But

fewer spaces than anticipated have been registered and, as a result,

the council now faces a �2 million shortfall.

It is controversial and will cost businesses thousands of pounds a

year. The workplace parking levy comes into force this Sunday. His

is the first place in the sup -- in the country to charge people to

charge at work. Business leaders fear the charge will drive

companies out of the city. This lorry servicing company which has

been in Nottingham since 1985 says it will look to relocate. It is

like having a 20 % hike in business rates. Imagine having to take that

cost with no benefit. One of the lease is up in five years, we will

be looking to move out of the zone. Obviously, we will not have to then

worry about the cost. Businesses with 10 or fewer spaces will not be

charged but companies with 11 spaces or more will have to pay

�288 a year for each one. This company will pick up for �5,000

bill for its 19 spaces and 30 staff. In this current climate, �5,000

represents a significant amount of turnover. We would have to get at

least another �150,000 worth of business to stand still. The levy

applies to a total of 20,000 car parking spaces. That is 10,000

fewer than first expected. The council says it should raise �80

million, �2 million short of the target. But council leaders say

they are confident the income will meet targets over the next few

years and the money will be invested in local transport,

including the extension of the tram network. I think the council is

here to represent the people of Nottingham and I don't think they

are doing that. They have not taken into account how we feel about it.

Nottingham may be the first but more than half a dozen other cities

are now considering a workplace parking levy.

Joining us now is Graham Chapman, Deputy Leader of Nottingham City

Council. Councillor Chapman, what do you say to companies who say

this is effectively a 20% increase on business rates? I would say that

what this city has got to do his advance and it needs to keep

transport investment going, especially under present conditions.

Without this investment, there would be no additional tramline, no

improvement in this station. We would have to take the buses off

and would have no prospect of increasing the tram network in

future years. Therefore, we've got to keep investment going and the

biggest beneficiaries of investment are businesses. Businesses say they

are not going to stay here. Nottingham's Forum of Private

Business says, it sends out a clear signal to anyone thinking of

setting up business in Nottingham, to look elsewhere. We are not

finding out. Inevitably, any tax is going to be unpopular. You are

going to get a bit of exaggeration and that is what happening. Some

business leaders to recognise its benefits. We've had no sign that

people are moving out because the costs do not justify it. Moreover,

we've had one company relocating with InterCity and another just

vacations is it will be near the tramline. It is one of the

bargaining tools we have to try and get the Broad Marsh reinvested in.

What about the claim for a business and who says you are fading with to

represent people. They didn't ask for this lovely. No, they didn't,

but sometimes you've got to take decisions for the next 20 years and

this is what we're doing. On that basis, we would never have invested

in Suez, in schools, in anything public. -- sewers. Is it going to

take 20 years before you know whether this has worked, whether

this has benefited the city? No, I think we will know quite soon. The

other advantages it creates jobs. It believers in the millions of

pounds worth of government investment. Without the levy, we

would not have had the money to pay for our part of the triumph.

Briefly, you are not concerned about this �2 million shortfall in

the first year. No, because we look over 20 years and we think it will

balance out. We are also cutting our cloth. We are very efficient at

producing tram systems, and like another of other cities.

-- unlike. Still to come on the programme: a drug implant that can

restore sight. We report from a hospital where 12 patients have

already benefited from the new Many fuel pumps across the East

Midlands ran dry again today because of panic buying.

Even though the threat of strike action by tanker drivers over

Easter has been ruled out, drivers have still been queueing to fill

their tanks. Simon is at a filling station in Derby now.

This petrol station is normally very busy, particularly at this

time of night, but as you can see, the forecourt is deserted. That is

because the entrance is combed off and as the sign says, no fuel. When

the there was some fuel earlier this morning, apparently the cars

were queuing out on to the busy road. That was a scene repeated

across the region today. Despite the tanker drivers' union saying

that they were not going to stage any industrial action over Easter,

the panic buying has continued, with some garages and supermarkets

have and to lay on staff to control the traffic. As well as the panic

leading to the shortage is that everybody was worried about in the

first place, it has also led to price rises in some places, with

many garages now charging more than one pound 50 a litre for diesel.

Here, they are hoping for a delivery sometime overnight. -- 1

and 50 and 80. Earlier, my colleague was at a garage when a

tanker arrived. The it was delivery time but

Rosemary Street service station but they had been out of fuel since

yesterday, after record sales. We've been flat out. We are doing

four or five deliveries a day. Passing drivers quickly spotted the

delivery. I came out and saw everyone queuing and thought I'd

better get some petrol. It's getting serious. The last place

only allowed me �10. It will be about another 15 minutes before you

can get fuel. The garage owner says panic-buying is bad for business.

We've sold the fuel anywhere but it is the knock-on effects. If they

are not coming in for the fuel, they will not be buying the other

stuff either. With the queues have come price rises. James says costs

have risen as well. Our price went up so the price has to go up to the

customer. It only went up by the same rate. There has been no price

hike. If the rush for fuel continues, this 18,000 LEA to load

might only last until tomorrow. -- 18,000 litres.

Derbyshire Fire Service is so worried about people potentially

stockpiling fuel, they've issued -- issued a warning saying not only

could you be wishing -- risking your safety but it could lead to a

criminal conviction as well. Next tonight, 400 posts could go

and 10 operating theatres could close at one of the biggest

hospital trusts in the East Midlands.

The University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has got to make

savings of �35 million in the next financial year.

The plans, which hospital bosses say won't affect patient care, were

discussed at a board meeting today. These are tough times for

Leicester's hospitals. This financial year, millions of pounds

of cuts had to be made and more are to come. Of course people are

worried and in a sense, we are worried and it is our duty to be

worried so we focused on doing this properly. We think there are

opportunities, not only to preserve frontline services, strengthening

them. The way we have been providing services and the

challenges on us are that the fund and has to be strengthened. How can

you do that? We've got to do both. They have cut a lot of money this

year and a lot of jobs over the last of months. They keep cutting

their cloth. It can only go so far. Patient care does it affected.

Bosses are hoping to reduce the wage bill but over -- by over �14

million a year, 400 posts could go. That is two weeks' wages so we are

talking about �14 million out of a turnover of �700 million.

repetition of this trust has gone down in the last 12 months and that

is mainly because of a lack of numbers of staff on the wards.

Things need to change. I do understand the need to save money

but cutting jobs all the time is never a good thing. The proposals

are just that at the moment. They are due to be discussed again next

Thursday. A man's died after a van and lorry

collided in a lay by near Derby. It happened on the A52 at Borrowash,

just after nine o'clock this morning. It meant the dual

carriageway out of Derby was closed for almost five hours. The van

driver died. Police want to hear from anyone who saw the accident.

The sale of the Castle Donington airline BMI has been approved by

the European Commission. The company's being bought by IAG,

which already owns British Airways and the Spanish airline Iberia. The

deal's thought to be worth around a �170 million. It's been given the

go ahead, after IAG agreed to give up some of its flights at Heathrow.

More patients are benefiting from a new treatment that can restore

their sight. Nottinghamshire's Kingsmill Hospital was one of the

first to offer it on the NHS. And there's been an encouraging

response. 12 patients have so far been treated and are doing well.

This woman was going blind and a new treatment has saved her sight.

A in a plant was put in her left eye, soaked in a very powerful

steroid. -- and in plant. She had problems because of a certain

condition. Once it is blocked, it gets jammed. It leaks along with

fluid form the jammed blood vessels and causes damage to the photo

receptors in the retina. A such as the improvement, that she says she

can now read. She says the treatment has made a world of

difference. Since I had been planned, the fish in his Clearing,

slowly but surely, so I can now see properly. -- inplant. Putting in

the anti-inflammatory drug returns the rest in that way normal state.

Brenda got a good result because the problem. Early. I didn't

realise how bad it could have been. Before I had a chance to worry

about it, everything was cleared up. Within one week. What this shows is

just how fault medical red and the treatment has come in the last five

years. -- just how far. They've done 12 patients with this new

treatment and they are all said to be doing really well. If the

problems come back, the treatment can be repeated. Trading Standards

say that nearly every car-boot sale will have counterfeit goods on

offer. Leicestershire officers say this year they've already seized

�350,000 of clothing at car boots. Today thousands of pounds of fake

designer handbags, tops and footwear were de-branded and

donated to charity. Now running one marathon for

charity would be more than enough for most of us but how would you

fancy running a marathon a day - for a month!?

Well, it sounds extreme, but that's the plan of a runner from

Derbyshire. Gerard Varan is running more than 700 miles to Switzerland,

to raise money for breast cancer research after nine friends of his

developed the disease. Out training, Gerard replicates the

kind of parts he will encounter. This Sunday, he starts his 740 mile

run all the way from Derbyshire to the Swiss village he is from

originally. He is doing it after learning the plight of an unusually

large number of women in Duffield. Nine people in the village I know

of have had breast cancer. It is staggering. I thought it would be a

good idea to promote breast-cancer screening and the -- reduce the

amount of people who contract the disease. Two of those patients are

Tracey and Louise. Gerard is absolutely awesome. I think it is

fantastic that he is doing this huge run to raise money for breast

cancer. The money is going to press cancer accounts -- campaign, and

they fund research so we hope it will make a big difference to help

save lives. Following the foot paths, right up to the Swiss /

French border of... Gerard will be leaving behind his own wife and

four children, and taking to the byways for the run, using the

internet and paper maps to find his way. Why run back to Switzerland?

Because that is where I've got my roots. It is an attraction to go

back home. The landscape gardener who -- hopes to go back in one

month. And coming behind now. Hopefully there will be a lot of

people waiting for me. That the plan. In all, Gerard is hoping to

raise �20,000 for breast cancer research and services in England,

France and Switzerland. Good luck! A fantastic effort.

Still to come on the programme: April's almost upon us, so it's

time for some April weather. We have been truly spoilt this week

with the glorious sunshine and the unusually high temperatures, but

Mother Nature is about to press the reset button. More details at the

You could reset so many things in life... Wouldn't it it be

marvellous to do that? I don't think there is on! First

tonight, there are fears that many football league clubs are not well

enough prepared to cope with a life- threatening situation

involving their players. The football world was shocked when

Bolton's Fabrice Muamba suffered a heart attack on the pitch. He is

recovering but as Angela discovered there are fewer safeguards in place

for professionals at smaller clubs. We are afraid that due to a serious

illness to a Leicester player, both clubs have agreed to abandon the

match. It was an afternoon which could change one man's life for

ever. Leicester City's Clive Clark had suffered a heart attack and was

fighting for his life. This was the man who helped save him. We knew

straight away it was a serious event. It was literally two minutes

into the half-time period, Clive collapsed from a seated position.

That is never a good starting point. Clive made a good -- full recovery

but his football career was over. Such incidents are rare but the

medical response can be the difference between life and death.

Safeguards have to be in place for Premier League matches. It's a

different story in the lower leagues. There are no specific

recommendations within the Football League with vigour -- regards to

this. I don't believe everybody is ready for this type of event and I

would call upon people like the Football Association, the Football

League and the Premier League to sit around the table and try to

hammer out some of the issues. Leicester City, they've invested in

equipment to make sure they are as prepared as possible. It is a case

of belt-and-braces. We are being a little bit of a protected. You

wouldn't expect these people to our problems but there is always going

to be one or two that maybe slip through some of the screening

processes. They are the ones we need to be ready for. The only way

we can do that is through adequate training and equipment. That comes

at a cost. The big question is, whether it is a price some clubs

are willing to pay. Leicester, just one of our Championship teams still

in with a shot of making the play- offs. The Rams are also still

dreaming. They've got a trip to Bristol City. One man who's just

happy to be back out on the pitch is defender Jake Buxton. He's been

telling Kirsty Edwards about his trials and tribulations at Pride

Park. The past few years have been a

rollercoaster for Jake. He got a dream move to the Rams in 2009. The

next season, his injury nightmare began. Pretty much ruling him out

of contention until halfway through this season. Playing week-in, week-

out, bearing in mind there was playing in a conference the year

before. That is what I missed being injured the most. The buzz. For the

club to continue paying me for 14 months whilst being injured, I

think that is why it drove me on. And then, after all his injury

nightmares, came that dreadful injury to his fellow defender, Sean

Barker, earlier this month. It saw Buxton come off the bench to

replace them and score the winning goal. I had been given the

opportunity and the wrong circumstances. -- Under the wrong

circumstances. People forget you and it is understandable. Even the

coming on for 10 minutes away at Burnley, I still did OK, but it

takes something like a goal to show people you are still alive and

kicking. So, from feeling like the forgotten man, Jake Buxton was

suddenly a hero. It is certainly a game he will never forget. I'm not

going to let it go to my head and think and the world's greatest. I'm

just a normal lad he likes to work hard and graft for a living, and

continue doing all I can afford Derby County.

Forest are away again. It has been a run of troubles for the Reds but

at least they've been lifted by their loan players. Since I came

here, everybody has tried to settle me quickly. The staff, the players,

and the fans as well. I am really enjoying the hit. -- enjoying being

here. We've had for five tough away games. A few of the of big gains --

teams have had for five at home and it shows we've had a good man

forced of -- month. Notts County are the only team at

home. And well worth watching at the moment. Oldham are the visitors.

Our reporter Kirsty Edwards is at Meadow Lane. Say hi if you see her.

All the games are on your BBC Local Radio station and you can catch the

goals first here on BBC One. Reports and analysis on Monday.

Outside football there are some really big sporting fixtures.

Leicester Tigers play tonight, at home to Worcester Warriors. They're

still aiming for a top two Premiership finish and are bang in

form. Nottingham, meanwhile, have a must win game against Bristol this

evening, in Bristol. Play-off hopes for the Green and Whites hanging by

a thread. Nottingham Panthers have the second leg of their play-off

quarter final as they defend their title. But they're 3-0 down to

Braehead going into the match. Good luck to them.

It's been a fantastic week of sunny weather. And before things get back

to meteorological normality, take a look at these. They're a few of the

snaps you've emailed us showing just how strange and lovely this

early and really rather unexpected taste of summer has been. We have a

region full of fantastic photographers! And all week Sally

Pepper has been enjoying the weather at Calke Abbey in

Derbyshire, where of course it's lambing season. And today we see

her lending a helping hand to a I have been getting stuck in this

week, helping with their newborn lambs, and today I got to see One

man And his Dog inaction. -- In With when it rounding them up, you

obviously have to be careful. she can be a bit hard at times, so

we try to hold her back. This one, I don't know if you can see, but

she has found himself in this nice little pen on her own, with the

door open, but she's now got a problem. When she rolls over, come

on, girl. There is a head there but no feet. I'm just hoping... He's

all right, he is still alive. The head is tucked back. Here it comes.

Give him a bit of a stimulus on the chest when they are born. He should

be fine. He is only a little one, she will certainly have another one.

She will come and find what she's got. He looks OK to me though.

is, he's fine. I think Sammy stayed at the right

end of that. We'd get it all on this programme,

We have been spoilt and had some of this week but spring will return

this weekend although the drop in temperatures will come as a bit of

a shock to the system. Feeling cooler across the weekend and we

will see quite a bit of clout. Remember that? Firstly, another one

of those beautiful photos. This was taken by Dave. Send us your

photographs. For high pressure that has been dominating all week has

now moved out into the Atlantic and that will allow this cold front to

move south tonight, bringing colder air and a lot of cloud. As we go

through this evening, lots of sunshine on a cloud -- cards first

thing before it gets dark but gradually, that Clive will increase

and it will bring drizzle for a time, particularly during the early

hours of Saturday morning. Temperatures tonight will hold up a

little bit compared with what we've had this week. Six sells this is

your minimum temperature and show it should stay frost-free. -- 6

Celsius. Drying up as we go through the morning into the afternoon and

we will see some brightness tomorrow but not the wall-to-wall

sunshine we've been expecting, or we have been having all week. With

that colder air coming from the north, temperatures will struggle

to get much higher than 11 Celsius on Saturdays are you will notice a

difference. Sunday, another very similar data come. The best of the

sunshine in the morning before clouding over as we going to the

afternoon. Similar again into Monday but just look at this cold

front sitting across the north of the UK. That will bring some

rainfall on Tuesday and with the temperatures dropping again, only

around eight Celsius. There is a chance of some sleet and wintry