07/08/2014 Look East - East

It is a vital service which performed lifesaving work and we are

very glad. Controversial plans to

replace this level crossing. Campaigners say a footbridgd

will be too awkward to use. They've caused crop fires

and killed livestock. Now councils in Essex lead

the way in banning sky lantdrns I will be meeting the giraffes and

saying hello to a new arriv`l just 11 days old.

First tonight, more on the news that Prince Willial will be

the first direct heir to thd throne to take on a civilian job, `nd he's

There's been speculation for months that the Duke of Cambridge was

likely to train as a pilot for the East Anglian Air ambulance

service but confirmation only came from Kensington Palace todax.

Last year the charity flew almost 1700 missions.

It runs two helicopters, one in Norwich and one in C`mbridge,

from where Mike Cartwright sent us this report.

In just 8 few months, are ftture King will be working here, flying 1

of those. It is an extraordhnary, unprecedented appointment as 1 of

dash`mac 1 that has developdd international notoriety overnight.

Prince William is looking forward to the next step in his career, a job

which cements his links with this part of the world. Cambridgd, a city

after which the royal coupld took their name, only last year the

Prince studied here. Next ydar, he will be piloting 1 of these, as a

crew member of the East Anglian air ambulance. Based here, Prince

William will fit in, they s`y. He will be used to it, working as a

search and rescue pilot. Thhs is a natural transition, he will be

working with the crew, so it will be no big change. Flying by dax and by

night, this exercise is the type of emergency the Prince could be called

on to deal with. Emergencies ranging from road accidents to heart

attacks. A Royal pilot, it's hoped, will help all of Regent's charities.

People don't realise that the all independent charities that need to

raise funds to keep them running and to save lives. The hope is that by

Prince William becoming associated with the service, the public will

become more aware of the work we do. The royal couple already have strong

ties here. Kate is the patron of the Royal Anglian children's trtst. Her

1st public speech was here. This is expected to be their new hole, when

the Duke takes up his new role. Living here, working here, with

plenty of approval year. He is doing a good job I flying the helhcopter.

I think he did a course in agriculture at the University, as

well. It is good to see him here. Yellow max it is great. Flyhng in

this region will become his principal occupation. He will be the

1st future King to take on ` civilian role. I think of what a lot

of what he has been doing h`s been about making the monarchy mtch more

alike the world of the generation that he comes from, so yes, I think

he is modernising the monarchy, so it is always being modernisdd.

Before taking controls, he faces 14 exams and a flight test. Thdn, he

will be expected to do his bit. Of course, I am sure he will bd marking

in. In the past, the Prince is spoken of his pride, being

associated with this part of the world. Next year, he will sde a lot

of it. Beforehand, there will be security measures to considdr, and

the Duke will face by months of training. It is likely he whll fly

out of Norwich airport, where there is another helicopter and the

pilots. With William behind the controls, it will help to r`ise the

?7.5 million the service nedds every year to keep it in the air. We are

told he has decided to donate the whole of his salary to a ch`rity.

And later in the programme we'll be looking at the work of the

East Anglian Air ambulance `nd considering the impact that royal

In the last hour, Essex Polhce have announced six people have bden

arrested in connection with the murder of a man in Colchester.

James Attfield was found with multiple stab wounds in Castle Park

Amelia Reynolds is in our ndwsroom with more on these latest arrests.

James Attfield was 33 years old He was a father of 5, and he h`s been

described as a very vulnerable man. He lived in sheltered accomlodation

because of a brain injury, `nd the police have said he would h`ve been

unable to run away from an `ttacker. That attacker left him to dhe in

Castle Park with more than 000 knife wounds. It was Saturday the 29th of

March. These arrests today, 6 people arrested, 2 of them a 27 `ydar`old

man and a 27 year old woman, were on police bail. They had already

previously been arrested in connection with this case. @ 23 old

woman, she has been arrested for attempting to perverted the course

of justice. But none of this is being linked to other cases at the

moment? No. They have not bden linked to any other cases.

Investigations have been running parallel. Another man was khlled in

a stabbing a couple of months on from James Attfield, when she was

The police have been looking at more The police have been looking at more

than 400 forensic leads on this more than 300 connected to the James

Attfield investigation, so xou can see tonight, in the context of that

investigation, these 6 arrests are significant.

A public meeting is being hdld tonight over controversial plans to

replace a level crossing in Suffolk with a foot bridge.

Rail accident investigators recommended closing the Gipsy Lane

crossing at Needham Market after a pensioner was killed there 3

But local people say a bridge will be too awkward to use.

All of these will be at tonight's meeting, all use this,

And they all have their own reasons for not wanting a footbridgd.

It would be impossible to come down here and get over a brhdge

I don't think I would be able to cope with a bridge, and the dogs,

when they get older, you know, you have got to get them up there,

and if a train comes, they will just go berserk.

It will be a terrible blot on the Gipping Valley.

The bridge across the Norwich to London mainlhne will

have 36 steps and be higher than these overhead power lines.

Gordon Crosby says Network Rail is forging ahead without consulting

those who have to live with the changes.

They need planning permission, which they do not have.

Yet, according to a letter produced by the office

for the rail regulator, thex have already let the contractors

The wake`up call over level crossing safety follows the deaths of Essex

teenagers Charlotte Thompson and Olivia Bazlinton.

In the last four years, Network Rail has closed 100 level

Those in Needham Market welcome s`fety

improvements, but would prefer a title like this one at Ingerstone.

How did we manage to find ?4.5 million to build this one,

which goes from nowhere to nowhere, when actually we only need to go

under two tracks at Needham Market, and actually we are talking

about a thoroughfare which people use on a daily basis.

In a statement, Network Rail says it looked at different options

Network Rail says this crossing a mile away is more suitabld

for those on bikes and those pushing pushchairs.

Network Rail says if planning permission is approved, work would

start in October, and the bridge would open to the public next year.

In fact, there are no trains running through

Needham Market this evening because of a major signalling failure.

It's closed the main line completely between Ipswich and Stowmarket.

It's affecting London to Norwich services as well as trains

from Ipswich to Cambridge and Peterborough.

A doctor from Norfolk has appeared in court, charged with sex `ttacks

Dr Hugh Blaise O'Neill, who lives in Tasburgh, workdd

at this practice in Horsford near Norwich until he retired in July.

The charges do not relate to his professional work.

There have been further movds today to crackdown on the use

They've been linked to dozens of fires and harming farm animals.

It's estimated 200,000 sky lanterns are released every year

Before it was fireworks, but now sky lanterns are usdd

for celebrations and to remdmber loved ones, and now farmers in Essex

are calling for a ban across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.

There have been at least 24 call`outs for fhre crews

We have got bales here in the fields, and they go into large

This is my winter forage and this is my feed for the winter.

If a Chinese lantern was to land on it and it got burnt in any way,

that is a disaster for the winter, because straw, later on

They are also a potential h`zard for their cattle.

There are three bits that are really dangerous here, we have got the wire

that holds the fuse cell, and we have got the bamboo that gods around

the outside, both of those, if they get ingested by a cow, will puncture

the gut and cause peritoniths, which is a form of blood pohsoning.

But the other way they affect livestock is that this bit gets

Six councils in Essex and Stffolk have banned sky lanterns from being

released on their land, including Tendring District Council, which

Over the last few years, we have had loads and loads of interest where we

have lost crops or there have been houses burnt with thatched roofs,

so you know, it is quite easy for people to just let these go up in

the air, and once they let them up in the area, the never know

After holding a meeting this afternoon, it has now been `greed to

take these plans to Essex County Council next month, where

a decision on banning sky l`nterns across Essex will be considdred

Dawn Gerber, BBC Look East, Great Bentley.

How the Sport of Kings controversially survived thd odds as

horse racing continued throtghout the First World War in Newm`rket.

And Mike has been to meet a very big baby.

More now on our top story and the news today that Prince Willham is to

We will be finding out all `bout this draft and another new `rrival

later in the program. `` jarrah `` More now on our top story and the

news today that Prince Willham is to join the East Anglian Air Albulance

Service as a fulltime pilot. The charity provides emergency

medical help across four cotnties. The charity was set up 14 ydars ago

and last year the Air Ambulance was called

into action more than 1600 times. To run the service, they nedd to

raise ?7.5 million every ye`r. this is a charity that comm`nds huge

local loyalty, not least from those it has helped to save, from the

parents of little Lewis, who suffered a fit on a Norfolk beach,

Mark, who was thrown against a sea wall, to Greg, who was in a crash

while driving home from Lincoln They save lives every singld day,

and I think that is the best way to describe it to people, that they can

make changes to people's lives by just doing the servers that they

provide. It is amazing. Anything that helps raise the profild of a

lifesaving charity like that can only be amazing. The air ambulance

has been even a job to go to. I have been lucky to have flown 8 few times

with the air ambulance. This accident, typical of many of the

emergencies they attend. We can do open chest surgery at the roadside,

so would then maybe 8 or 9 linutes within getting a call, we could be

at the roadside providing open chest surgery to a patient. Every time the

ambulance flies, it costs ?2500 all from public donations. The `ddition

of this high`profile pilot will do them no harm at all. Not just for

the air ambulance here, but for all air tablets charities, it is a vital

service that provides life saving work and we are very happy that

with us. Prince William has made with us. Prince William has made

very little secret of his ddsire to continue his role in helicopter

rescue work. To be able to see a son or daughter's face when thex bring

their loved 1 back from the edge of death, it is quite powerful. The

Duke will work an 8 hour shhft. For the 55 mile, Bute `` commutd, will

of course be a major considdration. His employer did not want to expand

on that. By next spring, Prhnce William will be a qualified and

frequent flyer in the skies above this

Of course, the Duchess Of C`mbridge is patron of East Anglia's

Children's Hospice. She accdpted the role two and a half years ago. The

hospice supports children and young people with life threatening

conditions and their familids. In March 2012 the Duchess visited the

Treehouse Hospice in Ipswich and used the opportunity to makd her

Graham Butland is the Chief Executive of

What impact has the Dodgers's involvement had under charity `` had

under charity? `` Duchess. The Duke will have a different role hn that

he will be working full`timd, but 2 major East Anglian charities getting

the endorsement of the couple must be a huge positive for the region.

Anglia will feel very proud tonight Anglia will feel very proud tonight

that the 2 major regional charities, the air ambulancd and the

children's Hospice, have thd Duke and Duchess connected with them You

have talked about the profile that they have brought, what abott the

money that they have brought? Has that increased substantiallx? It is

difficult to say. You don't know why people give for whatever re`son but

we certainly have noticed that there are is huge interest in takhng part

in the charity and also throughout East Anglia, a higher profile for us

completely. People are talkhng about this job that Prince Willial is

going to do being a sign of this generation of Royals taking a more

moderate approach. Is that xour impression of them question mark

absolutely. The involvement that Catherine has had with the families

and the children that we look after has been tremendous. She has made a

number of private visit outside of the glare of publicity, but really

got to know the work that wd do and more importantly, what faces the

families who need to use our service. Are you hoping to see even

more of her soon? It is fortuitous, because we are about to build a new

children's Hospice in Norfolk to replace our existing 1. No doubt if

the Prince is out on duty, hf she would like to come down and help us

to lay a few bricks, we would be glad to see her and also Prhnce

William do. `` 2. Thank you. This week we've been marking

the start of the First World War with some fascinating films looking

at life on the Home Front. We've already told you

about the plans to evacuate the county of Essex should

the Germans invade and the German butcher who was hounded out

of Peterborough by a rioting mob. Today we focus on sport,

and how the power of the Jockey Club meant that horse racing continued

in Newmarket regardless. Sport as it was at the outbreak

of war was broken as the young men of rugby and

cricket and football answerdd the call of Kitchener, but horsdracing

survived, and only in Newmarket The playground

of the rich was spared. Well, the Jockey Club,

all`powerful at the time, dhd a deal with the government to allow horse

breeding to continue and thdrefore horseracing, which took place on the

July Course, which has changed very little in that time, and ovdr there,

on the Rowley Mile Course, and then later on, towards

the end of the war, the land to the north of the Rowley Mile Cotrse

over there, was used as a training All the classics came to Newmarket,

this was Gainsbourg winning His jockey, Joe Childs, gavd

the winnings to the war effort. But the decision to keep racing

at the home of racing annoyed Kitchener,

who even tried to get it stopped. One concern was

whether there was enough oats for It was calculated and put in

a letter to the Times that the feed for one racehorse was the epuivalent

of the feed for 30 to 40 soldiers, and that obviously got publhc

sympathy, and again the almost immediate reaction

from the government was to stop Tim Cox is writing the history

of Newmarket races. The stands have changed on the July

course but the landscape here has changed very little

in the last 100 years, much like The arguments changed over time

and the arguments were alwaxs that, should we have racing or, you know,

amusement, when we were fighting So, as war raged, in Newmarket

and the sport of Kings conthnued, the bloodlines of thoroughbreds

preserved from the blood of battle. the story of Britain's first female

war photographer Olive Edis She photographed many soldidrs

and in 1919 she went to the Western Front to capture im`ges

of the battlefields. If you like animals you're

going to enjoy this. A new baby has just been born

at Africa Alive in Suffolk but She doesn't have a name yet

but she is pulling in the crowds. She was born on Saturday thd 26th

of July, just after keepers arrived Her mum, Ciara, is one

of three reticulated giraffds who Reticulated refers to

their markings. For now, mum and baby are bding

kept apart from the others. Well, they have a period of time

for them to bond and for the mother to have her calf suckling

and feeding well, but they `re at the point where soon we will soon

reintroduce them to the fem`les We went with keeper Annie G`rner

into the main enclosure at That's Zuri coming up behind us

as well. As you can see,

the giraffes are very curiots. The rhinos were a bit grumpx

and we had to keep an eye on them, but the giraffes were very pleased

to see us. This footage that Annie took

on her smartphone It is a little bit stressful,

because we were not sure wh`t was going to happen and how she was

going to react to having thd calf, so obviously being a first time mum,

sometimes it can be a bit stressful for them because they don't

know quite what is happening. There are only about 450 reticulated

giraffes in the world zoos `nd only 5000 left in the wild, so they are

quite an important subspecids of This is where you end up with

green slobber on your head. Hold on, hold on, hold on,

there we go. Her mum didn't bond with her,

and she had to be reared by the keepers, but no such problems

for the new arrival, which, as you can expect, is proving to be

a big hit with the visitors. She will have a name in due course,

and will soon be allowed to play Mike Liggins, BBC Look East,

Suffolk. We want to know about the htrricane

that might be coming. A few were also worried, here are thosd

things. We have actually had some vdry

lovely weather today, and temperatures hit the mid`20s. Lots

of sunshine, but the satellhte picture does show that therd were

coastal areas of Suffolk and Essex, coastal areas of Suffolk and Essex,

we have had some showers, and our are still some around, but for most

others it will be a dry night, with showers fading. Clears spells

developing overnight, and actually quite warm temperatures, so for some

of us temperatures will not drop lower than 18 Celsius or 19 Celsius.

Tomorrow, it is looking not as good. We have got an area of thundery rain

coming up from the South West, and that brings with it some we`ther

warnings, critically for parts of north but and Suffolk and Essex

where there could be treachdrous driving conditions. Also a risk of

localised flooding, you can see the bright colours on the chart where

the rain is likely to be he`viest. A few live in the West, you mhght get

away with it, but into the afternoon, there is likely to be

some heavy showers. In betwden, sunny spells, and kept as climbing

to the low 20s, so generallx a cooler day about when we get longer

spells of sunshine, these fhgures could go up slightly. As for the

afternoon, it is generally `n improving picture all`round, because

there will be some showers, but they will start to fade as we get to the

end of the day, so a lot of dry weather to come into the afternoon.

Then we get to that hurricane. It has formed over the Atlantic, but it

is no longer a hurricane. It could bring the remnants of the storm to

our shores by Sunday. This hs the area of low pressure that it will

generate, which could mean some awful conditions for Sunday. A

miserable day, with heavy r`in and strong winds. That is where we get

those green things. This is the possible track of the hurricane

which demeans and strong winds, and also some heavy rain. This hs the

most likely track of the storm, so you can see the counties th`t it is

likely to affect, but there is a possibility that it may go further

south, in which case, the ilpact will be less. Stay tuned to the

forecast for the next few d`ys, cars the detail will change, but at the

moment, it is not looking great for Sunday. Having said that, on

Saturday, we have some sunshine and showers, but not a bad day. Tim

Butcher is a little cooler, and we start Monday slightly more settled.

Some sunshine and some showdrs. On Some sunshine and some showdrs. On

the barometer. Thank you. Wdre those leaves coming from Iceland? The

Atlantic will be covered in Leeds. That is all for now. Goodbyd.