15/02/2012 Look East - East

Hello and welcome to Look East. In the programme tonight...

The backlash against CCTV cars. They are giving out six times more

parking tickets than traffic wardens. I think it is completely

disgraceful that a retired pensioner like myself should be

penalised with �70 fines. It is for actually getting out of your own

garage gates here and trying to lock up as you go. I cannot leave

the garage unlocked. A farmer under investigation for

cruelty to pigs has been found dead. This care home has failed to meet

all the standards in a check by a health watchdog.

And the street cleaner with the Midas Touch. He just can't stop

First tonight, drivers have hit back against CCTV cars which some

of our councils are using to catch people who park illegally. The cars

drive around taking pictures using a camera mounted on the roof. The

councils say it works, with a big increase in the number of parking

tickets they hand out. But there has been strong opposition from

people on the receiving end. In a moment, what the council has to say.

But first, Nikki Jenkins reports from Bedfordshire.

It is a new era in law enforcement, coming to a street near you. In

Bedfordshire, they have already arrived, three camera tyres --

camera cars, each six times more effective than traffic wardens, and

six times more unpopular. I have lived here for 60 problems, -- 60

years, with no problems before getting out of my garage. I think

it is completely disgraceful that a retired pensioner like myself

should be penalised with �70 fines. It is for actually getting out of

your own garage gates here and trying to lock up as you go. I

cannot leave the garage unlocked. More than 1,000 tickets were issued

in January. This shopkeeper accounts for two. His customers

several more. Loading is permitted, so what they are asking us to do is

send a fine, then ask us to prove we were loading. So we have to send

a copy of the invoice. Mrs at any time, so I could be caught many

times. We are going around, indiscriminately, so I assume it

means people just around at the time. There are probably more

issues here than just bad parking or illegal parking. The system

means that Automatic Number registration is used and GPS to see

if it should be there. The driver is just that, our driver. A picture

is taken, not just including the number plate, but anyone walking

about nearby, then an issue it is - - then a ticket is issued

immediately. Commonsense could dictate it was not worth giving a

ticket. There are checks and balances. 71 evidence backs were

put together. But only 32 enforcement notices went out. There

are no figures to show how many enforcements are being successfully

contested. Camera cars are on the roads of Peterborough and parts of

Essex. Traders and central Bedfordshire say they are paying

whilst the council profits. Earlier this afternoon, I spoke to

Brian Spurr, the councillor in charge of the scheme at Central

Bedfordshire Council. I started by asking him why the CCTV car was

needed. If I can tell you of instances of going around schools,

if you have been to one in the morning with cars parked badly, the

risk is great to children. The van can go around quickly identifying

people parked illegally, who are also dropping of children, it can

be a real asset. Some people call this just a money-making scheme.

is more efficient. But it it it was a money-making, we could use money

raised on other issues. All the money raised is ring-fenced for

parking. There was one man from Ampthill who said he was given a

ticket and has a single yellow line on both sides of the road, when

loading is permitted between 930am and 4:30pm, so it is legitimate,

but he has received a ticket. has to run his business and we

would like it to be as good as it can be. But he should not park

there all day long. Loading times and not meant for him to be there

that whole time. He said that is not happening. He said you are

driving customers away as well. Give anyone is loading or unloading,

the will not receive a ticket. Another criticism is that, with a

traffic warden, you have people using common sense. With these, you

do not. You are talking about using common sense. The warden is at the

end of the day, watching all the video recordings, deciding who is

booked before we issue a ticket. We still have common sense. It is not

the vehicle or robot recording and sending it. The tickets are seen by

our offices, checked and other cancelled or passed through. That

is if it is genuine. Thank you. Thank you, goodbye. What do you

What do you think? Is anything like this happening where you live? We

would love to hear from you. You can get in touch by phone, e-mail

or on Facebook. A farmer who was being investigated

over allegations of cruelty to pigs has been found dead at his home.

The body of 52-year-old Stephen Brown from East Harling in Norfolk

was discovered this morning. The police are not treating the death

as suspicious. Police were called to Harling Farm

near Thetford at 7:30 this morning to investigate reports of a sudden

death. The farm was part of the Red Tractor food mark scheme, which

promises high welfare standards. But Animal Equality, who sent an

undercover investigator to work there, presented the RSPCA with

hours of footage. The society described it as the most shocking

it had ever received. It showed pigs being kicked, slapped and

beaten. When Mr Brown spoke to Look East on Monday, he told us he had

suspended two of his workers. Absolutely gutted. Yes, words do

not describe it. Stephen Brown was a fourth generation farmer. He was

a loving son, husband, father and uncle who dedicated his life to his

family and farm. He was true be honest, Jenny went and caring, a

well-loved in Bude farming world, local community and farming friends.

He will be missed delay. -- dearly. The National Farmers Union Norfolk

chairman extended his deepest sympathy to Mr Brown's family.

Now, more on the jobless figures. And there has been another increase

here. The figure now is 213,000. That is up by 3,000 on the previous

quarter. It means 7% of the workforce is unemployed. The

government says small and medium- sized businesses are the key to

reducing unemployment. And the Budget next month is likely to see

more help for them. Could these be the saviours of the

region's economy? In an account in Norfolk, this man has started

farming them. He has 2000 in his Tamils, with more on the way.

will sell, hopefully, to the Portuguese market. There are large

Portuguese communities nearby. We hope to also sell to restaurants,

such as top ones in London. We want to expand enough to employ an

apprentice and maybe some sales persons. He is one of 54 new

businesses which have started in Norfolk in the last year, worth an

estimated �1 million to the local economy. This woman opened at

textile business, which reproduces all designs. And another has

started making cards for blind people. I know it will be difficult

to be able to go out and make it a success. But with determination and

support of people around me, I am going to give it a good shot.

Government believes it is people like these that hold the key to

reducing unemployment. If new businesses succeed, those will grow

and create jobs. The region leads the way in biotechnology and

research. Companies one small now employ hundreds. It is private

sector companies that innovate fastest, create new markets and

opportunities. We have exciting opportunities opening and those

will create jobs and revenue as for tomorrow. But Labour is cautious,

pointing out it takes time for new businesses to grow old and says

Government help is needed now to reduce unemployment. We need growth

in the economy, only coming through investment in public services at

larger businesses. 50% of new businesses failed in the first year.

What little money available to create new jobs, the Government is

pinning it -- pinning its hopes on people like Stephen and his snails.

Still to come, the man who crawled onto thin ice in his underwear to

rescue the family dog. And 70 years to the day, the

memories of the men captured by the Japanese when Singapore fell in

A care home in Norfolk has failed all nine essential standards during

a recent visit by the health watchdog the Care Quality

Commission. They found filthy floors and furniture at Shouldham

Hall Nursing Home near King's Lynn. The records showed that residents

had eaten meals when they had not. Nikki Fox is outside the home now.

The skiers or up to 48 residents. - - cares for. On Shouldham Hall's

website, it claims to be bright, airy and well furnished. But when

inspectors visited, they found furniture so heavily soiled that

one chair had mould growing on the arms. Floors were stained with

patches of dry fluid. Some residents had ripped bed sheets.

There were also concerns about the way in which residents were fed.

Tables were placed too far away, they could not eat properly. And

residents were fed frozen meals. And staff appeared to lack the

knowledge and skills to meet care for people living with dementia.

What had the care home had to say? This nursing home is owned by the

Holly Care Group. They own five care homes. They have called the

inspections disappointing and said they are taking the findings

extremely seriously. The previous manager and the operations director

have both left and the care home company has appointed a specialist

management company to make sure the action points are followed the

route. They are also saying they have put a significant amount of

time and money to ensure this meet required standards. Thank you very

much. Tributes have been paid to a former

Essex vicar found stabbed to death at his home in Gloucestershire.

Reverend John Suddards, filmed by Look East 12 years ago, left St

Nicholas Parish Church in Witham last summer. He had worked around

Essex for there for more than 20 years. A man has been arrested.

Like many in the parish, we are shocked. When people live alone,

they are very vulnerable. But it is a terrible shock and many people

are in distress. We are trying to meet with those people as best we

can. Five men have gone on trial charged

with defrauding a multi-millionaire businessman from Norwich out of �12

million. Graham Dacre made his fortune selling cars, but has since

become a philanthropist giving large sums of money away. Victoria

Cook was in court. For those who don't know Graham

Dacre, he is one of Norwich's most well known entrepreneurs and a

philanthropist. He has sponsored Norwich's first academy school. And

he is funding a new church in Drayton. It was one of his more

recent investments that has prompted this trial. He was told by

investing �12 million in a high yield trading platform, he would

make profits for charitable causes. The court has heard that no profits

were made and the original capital has never been returned. An

investment group of five men played on his religious beliefs to con him

out of the money. When he became suspicious of their activities, he

confronted them. The jury heard he was told the group had a file on

him which they'd make public if he did. -- if he went to the police.

However, He did alert the police and no file was ever produced.

Taking the stand today was an American commodities trader. He

alleges he, too, is a victim of fraud at the hands of this group.

He flew in from Utah this morning to give evidence. He told the jury

he invested just under $1 million with the group, but lost all his

money. The jury has been warned that this case is so complex, it

may continue past Easter. Thank you very much.

The Coryton oil refinery in Essex has been given a temporary lifeline.

Up to a thousand jobs were at risk after it was put into

administration by its Swiss owners. Now a consortium will pay the

administrators to carry on production for three months. It

gives them more time to find a buyer.

The SOS Bus Project in Norwich has been praised by the Prime Minister.

David Cameron says public drunkenness and alcohol abuse is a

national scandal. The British Olympic diving team

will be using Southend as their training camp for the Olympic Games.

Tom Daley and the rest of the squad have been training there all week.

The borough council, which owns the pool, says it will put them on the

Olympic map. In football, Ipswich Town are on a

winning streak. Last night, they made it three wins out of three

Portsmouth last night. Ipswich looked to extend their winning run

to three in a row. It was against a side who earlier confirmed they had

applied for administration. From kick-off, Town's new-found

confidence was in evidence as they peppered the Pompey goal. Delaney

skimmed the bar. Jay Emmanuel- Thomas and Lee Martin also went

close in the first 10 minutes. Town fans didn't have to wait long for

the breakthrough. Michael Chopra reacted quickly to earn his fourth

goal in three games. 1-0 to Town. The closest the hosts came to an

equaliser was a long throw that found its way into the Ipswich net.

But it was disallowed by the man in orange. He sought no deflection. In

truth, it should have been more comfortable for Town, who continued

to flock forward. But a 1-0 win and three points certainly good enough

for the manager. The performance was excellent, but a difficult

night with everything going on. The gaps -- the lads played tremendous

football. We deserved to win. League One, after 2.5 weeks, off

Colchester United hosted Brentford. After a goalless first half, it was

the away side who drew first blood. A penalty awarded for a foul in the

box. The U's delight at a saved spot-kick instantly cancelled out

by the follow up. But substitute Steven Gillespie changed the game

in dramatic fashion. Two goals in the last 10 minutes of the match

won it for Colchester United. A precious three points leaves them

11th and nine points off the play- You are watching Look East from the

BBC. Coming up... The man who went crawling on thin ice to rescue his

dog breaks his silence. 70 years ago today, Britain

suffered its biggest disaster of the Second World War. On February

15th 1942, the island of Singapore fell to the Japanese and tens of

thousands of British soldiers became prisoners of war. Many of

those men came from this region. Most of them are now dead. But for

those that are still alive, the memory of those terrible days is

very real. Mike Liggins has been to meet two of them.

John Lowe is 92 and a very remarkable man. He plays the piano,

he paints, plays tennis and does ballet dancing too. John was in

Singapore when it fell. This is a telegram his mother received to say

he was missing. Two weeks a later, a second telegram told her that he

was prisoner of war in Japanese hands. The last week, we retreated

and retreated. We were encircled time and time again and moved out

to get away from the Japanese. Eventually, we ran out of land.

was taken to Taiwan by prison ship after surrender. He sketched the

insanitary and inhumane conditions on board. And he'll never forget.

There were people sick and those with. Those dying were in the

middle. So you work alongside those people. Bert Major was in the

Cambridgeshire regiment when he was wounded in Malaya. He was taken

prisoner and spent three years in the notorious Changi jail. When

Bert was released in August 1945, he weighed just six stone. One of

the lessons learnt was that, Richard was one of the most, one of

the best blessings we could have. - - was that comradeship. John Lowe

was in a PoW camp in Taiwan and then was forced to work in a coal

mine in Japan. 70 years on, he has good cause to hate the Japanese,

but he doesn't. When we went back, people bowed to us everywhere. I

thought, not long ago, I had to bow to them and you would be hit very

hard if you did not. When a soldier died in camp, John used to play

Abide with Me on an accordion at the funeral. But no bitterness?

not now. Not now. I am sad for all If there was one picture that

summed up the big freeze last week, it was this one. A bloke in his

underwear crawling on thin ice trying to rescue his dog. Every

paper had it. But the man himself has been keeping a low profile

until now. Malcolm Jarvis crawled onto ice on the River Stour at

Dedham last weekend. He admits what he did was dangerous and he could

have died. But he says the adrenaline kicked in and he had to

do something. This is Jack Russell is lucky to be

alive, so is Malcolm Jarvis. Two minutes into a family weekend -- a

family woke at the weekend, the dog fell into the freezing water.

Malcolm accepts that what he did next seemed like madness. I had to

strip off, make my way on to the ice-pack as gently as possible.

Then it gave away and I fell in. I am a reasonably goods so immersed,

-- good swimmer, so I managed to get him. We managed to get too far

Mark ice and I hoisted myself back on to the ex-and got back safely.

Every year, dog owners drown rescuing pets from freezing water.

Often the animals survive. I was really worried and Skirda and

panicked. I wanted everything to be OK. -- worried and frightened.

Essex Fire Service says attempting to rescue Bentley was extremely

dangerous. The ice could have been thinner and I could not have come

back and it could have been much worse. So I would not recommend

anyone takes the same action. You have to weigh up the situation.

That is the decision I took, which was my responsibility, assessing

what I knew at the time. Fortunately for all the family,

this a tale that ended happily. That is a very handsome animal, but

please do not do that. You have heard about the Midas

Touch? Well, it is a pretty good description of Aaron Large, a

street cleaner from Essex who keeps on finding very expensive watches.

Two gold Rolexes, an Omega and a Franck Muller. All of them found in

just a couple of days in drains in Chalkwell near Southend. And unless

the owners come forward, he could get to keep them.

Few drain cleaners are as lucky as Aaron Large. He found a Rolex watch

last week. It is worth thousands of pounds. I was quite shocked.

here it is. His boss was surprised, too. The cleaning crew tend to

fight knives and weapons and brings discarded. Certainly nothing of

value like this. It was soon clear be called the touch was still there.

That is where the past Rolex was buying. But this morning, just

around the corner, he was cleaning and other green and found this. It

appears to be another Rolex watch, even newer than the first one,

possibly worth thousands and thousands. Its surprise my driver

this morning. I said, I have found another one. He thought I was

joking. And while we were filming, he found a third watch and then a

fourth. It was actually a genuine Franck Muller, again worth

thousands. The police officer investigating the discoveries

believe they may have been stolen and then stashed in the drains. He

praised Aaron Large's actions. is a perfect example that there are

honest individuals out there willing to come forward. If the

rightful owners do not claim them within 30 days, he gets to keep

them. Meanwhile, he is looking for more.

Probably my sink a few viewers and shock well tonight, with their

heads down the drains. -- we are probably missing some viewers in

that area tonight. Now for the It is rather cloudy, but the cloud

broad enough for some hints of sunshine and it turned out quite

mild. Mainly dry overnight, but gaps in the cloud and we are those

are, temperatures could dip to two or three Celsius, meaning a

possibility of ground frost towards the end of the night. Not so much

across the North Norfolk coast where the wind should hold

temperatures up. For tomorrow, we are mainly dry, high-pressure

controlling things. The cold for and not appearing by Saturday. For

most tomorrow, dealing mild, rather cloudy, but mainly dry with some

sunny intervals if you are lucky. Those places with sunny intervals

will do well with temperatures. The places where it is cloudy just that

little bit, but still a pleasant day. These temperatures are above

average. Tomorrow, by the end of the day, we see thicker cloud

towards Lincolnshire, the northern fringes of the region, suggesting

it will not be as nice on Friday. That is because of this demand from

the South of giving some drizzle a weather. The cold front on Saturday

puts us into colder weather, cold enough for frost on Saturday night

and wintry showers on the north- eastern corner of Norfolk. We have

three mild days. The clue for the change comes with the wind

direction. The winds quite brisk on Saturday. Once it goes north-

westerly, by Sunday, we have lower daytime temperatures. And a frost

as well and hint of isolated wintry showers around the coast. And the