06/01/2017 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands.

Illegal hare coursing is a growing menace across the East Midlands,

according to our police forces, who tell us combating

But some landowners say they're having to take the law

into their own hands, and claim criminal gangs

are increasingly aggressive and intimidating when challenged.

Paul Murphy's report contains images some may find upsetting.

Chasing and killing hares with dogs has been banned

But you wouldn't know it from looking at social media.

It's awash with footage of those who continue to break the law.

What's changing, though, is the level of violence

hare coursers meat out to those who try to stop them.

They came at me because my vehicle was blocking their exit

and immediately started to throw rocks at me with me in the vehicle.

And hammered the side of my vehicle so they could get passed and escape.

These coursers escaped leaving their vehicle behind.

They came back later to set it alight, possibly to destroy any

These actions are creating fear in this community.

This woman would only talk if we didn't show her face.

They have become aggressive, nasty, uncontrollable...

There are people who are afraid to leave their own home.

We know as a police service we've got to up our game and make best

But the farming community needs to work with us,

it needs to keep itself safe, and it needs to assist proactively

This farmer says he's done with relying on the police.

He's making police style stingers to puncture the tyres

Other landowners are using drones to monitor their fields.

This farmer could only watch as two cars drive

Fields across this area show signs of car damage.

They'd kill us if they could, I think.

What we'd like to do is help the police catch the culprits

but the police seem very reluctant to talk to us and to work with us.

It was in this same community that Lincolnshire Police

launched its anti hare coursing strategy last September.

But the hare coursers, like the ones seen here speeding

through a farm shop car park, are continuing to blight local life.

Health bosses in Nottinghamshire say a number of key services could be

moved from hospitals into the community to reduce costs

Stroke rehabilitation will definitely be moved,

while brain injury and pain management are under consideration,

24-year-old Heather Peacock lost control of her car 18 months ago

She suffered a severe brain injury and was in a coma for eight weeks.

She's been receiving outpatient therapy at the city

hospital for a year and has made considerable progress.

She's convinced services will suffer if they are transferred

I don't think the facilities will be as good if they are transferred

to the homing environment because the facilities are so much

They've got a gym, treadmills, stuff like that.

They are willing to help you and support you through your recovery.

The Nottingham North and East Clinical Commissioning Group has

identified seven services currently delivered by Nottingham University

hospitals which it wants to transferred to reduce costs.

These services include ongoing therapy for those

with brain injuries, neurology assessments,

pain management, and home visiting for those with

Research has moved on and there are better ways to do things.

An example would be stroke care where patients,

if they are cared for at home, have better outcomes.

The engagement we've done that patients are told us

that they would prefer services to be delivered at home.

Consultation has been extended into early next month but an online

petition started by Heather's family one week ago opposing the plans

has already attracted almost 700 signatures.

After 16 weeks of physio after you've been discharged,

they'll let you go, and that's not really fair because at 16 weeks

The most important thing for us is that patients receive the best

And where that needs more than 16 weeks then, of course,

A leaked memo indicates the CCG is ultimately

considering transferring a total of 13 services.

Heather intends to return to university in September to write

Leicester's Haymarket Theatre could re-open by the end of the year.

It'll return with a mix of music and drama, but the big box office

draw will be e-sports, where audiences watch professionals

The consortium behind the venue's re-development says that

multi-player video game tournaments now make more money

Presently, there's millions of people watching online and as it has

developed, like we said about football, normal people want to, and

see the event, not just watch it online. The consortium are offering

something that will add to and very much complement the very exciting

artistic and cultural scene we've got in Leicester.

Finally, to a 12-year-old facing retirement!

After nine years working as a Mountain Rescue dog

in Derbyshire, Megan is becoming a family pet.

She received a commendation for discovering the body

of Jar Ashton six years ago, and saved the lives

Very soon after she qualified, we were involved in a search,

in horrendous winter conditions, white out conditions.

Megan worked relentlessly through that winter storm

and found three walkers, cold but alive.

We managed to evacuate them off the hill very quickly.

I'm here with your updates across the weekend, but let's

Not too bad as we go through this weekend. Some usable weather on the

way with this little area of high pressure starting to build up, still

some fronts and there so we might see some showers at times. As we

have a look at the weather for this evening, we've still got the showers

around in places but they are moving away slowly. We also have some who

fog in places, some mist overnight with loads of three overnight.

Through the day tomorrow, quite a grey day, quite overcast with mist

patches with the old spit and spot of rain here and there but not a bad

day overall with some brightness further north with highs of nine.

Then, as we look ahead to Sunday, more of the same. Some spit sunspots

here and there but predominantly a dry Dave with highs of seven. I'll

leave you with the outlook. That is it from the late team. Have a very

Good evening. The weather has been turning milder and also cloudier

through the course of the day. We did see some clear spells moving in

from the North will stop this was the sunset, captured in Dundee. Some

clear spells as we headed through the course of the afternoon into the

evening. Really, through the weekend, wiki with a similar theme.

Much milder than it has been. A lot of cloud around in general, but for

most of us think. Dry. Not dry everywhere at the moment,

particularly across central and southern parts of England and Wales.

We have a lot of cloud, bringing outbreaks of light rain and drizzle.

The patchy rain will ease away slowly towards the south through

tonight and further north across the country, drier conditions. Wherever

you are, it's pretty cloudy. Mostly frost free to start the weekend, but

there could be frost across the central glens of Scotland. A chilly