02/11/2011 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Good evening and welcome to BBC Look North. The headlines tonight.

As fuel prices soar, one Lincolnshire council looks to

negotiate a better deal for its residents. The price of gas has

come down for the wholesalers, and the price of oil, but for consumers,

it has gone up. Four years on from the floods, East

Yorkshire villagers get new defences to better protect their

community. It is a fantastic feeling to know you are safe.

Why a vote by drivers could mean the end for these speed bumps in

East Yorkshire. The Lincolnshire farmers growing

those all important crops for Christmas. And it stays mild and

unsettled. The very latest detailed forecast shortly.

A third of people in Lincolnshire will struggle to heat their homes

this winter, according to the latest figures. Now, the leader of

South Holland Council is trying to use the financial clout of the

authority to get all 34,000 households in the district a

significant discount on their gas and electricity bills. It's one of

the first local councils to try the idea. Tarah Welsh has been to one

village near Bourne where residents have already got together to lower

their bills. Heating the manor house was never

going to be cheap. Especially in Rippingale. There's no piped gas,

so most homes use heating oil. When residents got sick of of the

high prices, they grouped together to buy energy in bulk. It is an

attempt to keep the local suppliers on their toes, and try to get the

best price. There are roughly 80 members of this consortium. They

will get a reduced rate for filling their times. This type of group

buying has saved each person two or three pence a litre.

So people here say their buying power has worked. The contractor is

a very good deal. Well, now the leader of South

Holland District Council wants to do this on a much larger scale. He

wants to negotiate a competitive tariff for residents that want a

deal. We are proposing to use the council's buying power to stand to

negotiate. They are making far too much money on the back of a

commodity whose core price is going down. The price of gas has come

down for wholesalers, and the price of oil, but for the consumers, the

price has gone up. While he doesn't know how much will be saved, he

hopes it would cut the average �1,300 bill by 10%. I think it is

an excellent idea, definitely. think anything on them lines will

be beneficial. The proposal still needs clearance

from the government regulator, and it's still unclear how many of

South Holland's 34,000 households will buy in. Dedicated to do

shopping around for consumers, to make sure you are getting the best

deal. People could see more than the temperature going down.

I'm joined by Barry Earnshaw, the chief officer of Age UK in Lincoln.

What have you done to know why your bills? We have done a couple of

things. We have done some price comparisons on our electric, and

just changed our supplier. In our village, we have a very proactive

parish council. Some time ago, as part of the parish plan, oil was an

issue because we were a no gas village. We set upon all syndicate.

One man in the village who, as part of his job, was procurement, he

runs it and you get a regular reminder about your request for oil.

What they do then... What do you think about this idea of 34,000

households getting together, grouping together for cheaper

bills? His is a non-starter? think it is a good idea. It

supports the work that we are doing, in terms of looking at some

initiatives which help older people with price comparisons, access to

alternative fuels and getting a better deal, bearing in mind that

their incomes are under pressure at present. The savings at best are

only 5-10%. That will not mean that much, when bills go up at the rate

they are. If you are spending �1,000 a year, on fuel, that is

quite considerable. For everybody else, they will be slightly jealous

if this goes ahead in the South Holland area. We would want that to

be shared across Lincolnshire. There are seven district councils,

as you know. We would want that expanding. Very good to talk to you.

We would like to know what do you think about this. Would you buy gas

electricity off your local council if it meant lower bills? Will

enough people get involved to make In a moment:

Fishermen on the East Coast are urged to work together to make the

most of European quotas. They've waited more than four years

for their homes to be protected from flooding, and today, a

government minister officially opened new defences in Burstwick in

East Yorkshire. 120 homes were damaged there in 2007. It's hoped

these new measures, operated by the residents rather than the

authorities, will stop that ever happening again. Anne-Marie Tasker

reports. At Stephen's home in Burstwick, the

flood damage still shows. Like many on Trinity close, his home was

flooded, causing �90,000 of damage. It is something he hoped he will

never face again. The it is peace of mind. We can go to bed and no

matter what has happened, the band will protect us. We have the pumps

as well, just in case, so it is fantastic. Stephen is among the

volunteer flood wardens who will operate the pomps. Today, Mr

Richard Benny and met the man said he hoped other communities would

follow their lead. They were 5.2 million homes in England that are

at risk of flooding. We will protect them all the way we can.

With schemes like this, we find that working in partnership with

the local community like this, we can get a much better result.

Residents hope that these Poms will protect them for decades to come,

but the question they are asking is, why did it take so long to get them

in the first place? After the 2007 floods, we had communities all over

Yorkshire the Web devastated. We have done our best to do it as

quickly as we can. We have worked very hard. This is as fast as we

could do it. The wardens and his �3 million scheme have reduced best

with's flood risk from significant to know. It could bring down

insurance premiums. A people want to sell her house, for example,

there have not been able to because it is classed as a flood risk. We

do not have a problem any more. We just have to wait for databases and

so want to get updated. Environment Agency says that should

happen soon, and tonight, residents should sleep easier, knowing scenes

like this are unlikely ever to be seen again.

Plans have gone on display today for a new �74 million flood defence

barrier in Boston. People are being asked for their views on the

barrier, which will be built just downstream from Black Sluice Lock.

It is claimed it will help to protect thousands of homes from

tidal flooding. A large team of regional police

officers have been brought in to investigate the murder of a 70-

year-old Lincoln man. Sonny Grey died after being attacked by three

men at his home in Westwick Gardens in the city on Saturday night.

House-to-house enquiries are taking place.

An 86-year-old man injured when his car was in collision with a police

van in Scunthorpe has died. Harold Kilmore was driving on Frodingham

Road when the crash happened last month. The Independent Police

Complaints Commission has been informed.

East Coast fishermen should be prepared to work together to save

their industry. That's the message from the Government tonight as many

fishing communities in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire fight

for survival. The controversial system of EU quotas, limits the

amount of fish that can be caught off our shores. Now, ministers are

urging boat owners to join forces to maximise their catches. More

from our from Tim Iredale. - - more from Tim Iredale.

Dawn breaks over the East Yorkshire course. Our fishermen are hard at

work. Like many skippers in this part of the world, Dave Wilkie now

specialises in catching crab and lobster. European Court has

severely limited the amount of white fish, like cod, that these

boats are allowed to land. Organisations which have nothing to

do with fishing can own quote and lease quota out to fishermen.

British fishing fleet has 160 small boats. According to latest figures,

they are allocated just 3% of the UK's total fish total. That is just

1% of what they were allowed to catch before 1997 when the present

quota system was introduced. The government recommends one way to be

the gritters would be for more boat-owners to join together to

form new corporate sense -- one way to beat the quotas. 15 years ago,

there were 20 active trawlers act - - operating out of Bridlington. Now,

they ran on, and many acute of fishing port need an agent lifeline.

If people could pool resources, it could improve the situation.

Fishermen had desperate to diversify from shellfish. Many

skippers argued that without wholesale reform of the European

fishing policy, they will be little or no industry left on the east

coast for future generations. We will continue to follow that story.

Thank you for getting in touch about the increase in the number of

people using their mobile phones whilst driving. The number of

drivers caught on their phones behind the wheel has more than

doubled in the last year according to Humberside Police. Officers say

they consider the practice as dangerous as drink driving.

Lots of you have been getting in touch about this. Thank you for all

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds

Still ahead tonight: Why it could be the end of the road for these

speed bumps in East Yorkshire. The Lincolnshire farmers making

sure their crops are ready for Tonight's picture was taken by

Richard Davidson. If you have a picture you are proud of, send it

We have an e-mail here which says, I am an insomniac and I peered the

Peter Levey so on, and it gets me It will be miles further next 24

hours. It is also one settled. There is some rain around. This

huge area of low pressure affects us. The breeze will still be in the

South and temperatures will stay above average for the time of year.

Cloud is increasing from the West and there will be some patchy

outbreaks of rain on the way in the next few hours. It looks like

amounts will be small. Some rain might be persistent later on.

Eastern areas will not see much at all. 11 or 12 degrees Celsius. The

sun rises in the morning at 7:05am. It will be a cloudy start and

perhaps damp as well. Any overnight rain will move northwards. A bit of

sunshine but later on cloud will build again. Further rain may push

up from this out later in the day. The top temperatures, quite chilly

along the coast. 13 or 14 degrees. Inland, 16 degrees. Friday will be

mild with scattered showers. At changed over the weekend as the

wind turns from the North East and temperatures are back to normal. A

cloudy weekend with the rest of some rain.

See you tomorrow. It was one of the first villages in

East Yorkshire to get speed bumps and could be the first to get rid

of them if some residents get their way. People in Walkington are being

asked if they want their humps flattened. An online petition has

been started to save them. Our correspondent is there. Why are the

speed bumps a problem? If you drive through Walkington you

rather in for a bit of a bump because there are seven sets of

speed bumps and five sets of speed ramps. Drivers claim their cards

are being damaged so the parish council are asking villagers to

vote on whether to save them. Workington's speed humps are not

always pleasing for drivers. There will be a vote on whether to keep

them. There it does a lot of damage to

your suspension, ruins your Ipsos system. I am not for them.

believe if we take these be the bombs away, the speed will increase.

I liked the idea of children being able to walk to school.

They are a nuisance. The chicane at one end of the

village remains popular but opinion is divided over the speed humps and

the parish council will look at alternatives if villagers vote for

change at the end of November. Official statistics suggest that

speed humps to reduce accidents and injuries by up to 60%. However,

there are alternatives. Light here, where there are no

speed bumps, just an electronic sign.

How important is it too slow rural traffic? Nationally, over 1,000

people were killed on rural roads last year. That is over double that

killed in Arden rots. -- on on urban roads.

Beforehand, there their injuries including a fatality within the

village. Now, speeds in the village are relatively low. I have looked

at pollution data for the past five year and there have been no

collisions. What happens next? The answer is

that villagers have until 30th November to register their vote. If

the vote goes against the humps, the council will have to look at

whether there should be alternatives. East Riding council

will ultimately make the decision and in terms of road safety, they

will probably argue that if it is not broken, they want want to fix

The chief instructor from the Institute of Advanced motorists is

with us. Good evening. Should be bumps stay or go?

If there is not a replacement that will work for them it should stay.

Walkington is a lovely village. It should look to the driver that they

should go slowly. Humps do not always do that. Other things can do

it better. Are they are a must for safety?

It will they from place to place. The big thing is to make the rot

look to the driver as if the need to go slowly. If you put chicanes

in our banking, and make it feel as if you have to go slowly, because

it is natural, without spoiling the lovely view, and the lovely

appearance of the place, then you will win. If you cannot find a way

to do that, then you have to keep the humps.

What people have said to me is that it actually makes some people drive

worse because they try to dodge them.

You will get people who tried to dodge them and people who

accelerate hard in the gaps between them. And you will get some people

who have to have a built-in getting over them with some types of

vehicle because the bottom of their car is very low. There are other

ways to do it, and if there are better ways, then use them.

The flashing lights and anything at the side of the road to push people

to slow down, would they be better? Some of those work very well. It

does depend on where they are and what type of traffic you are

dealing with. Commuter traffic tends to travel at the speed it

wants to. If it is people going to bed early races and they are not

familiar with the road, they are more likely to do what they thing

says. Thank you very much. Is this the

end of the road for speed bumps? Do they make driving worse? Do they

work? If you are in the Walkington area, please get in touch.

The MP for Beverley has had a meeting with the Prime Minister for

improving rural services. He claims that people living in the

countryside often pay more but have less money spent on them. He wants

the Prime Minister to make things fairer.

This is typical, where residents pay more but receive less, in rural

areas. Will the Prime Minister made with me to discuss this?

I am happy to meet with my honourable friend. There are big

differences in the use of retained firefighters. But I am happy to

meet to discuss this issue. A mother from Scunthorpe is

receiving an award for a film she made about her family. She has won

the People's Choice Awards. More than 500 people watched the film on

YouTube and it was praised by Stephen Fry on Twitter.

Hull City's 9 game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end last night

with defeat to Barnsley. A first- half penalty and a this proved

costly. Hull City surrendered their

unbeaten run last night after a frustrating display inside

Yorkshire. It started well for the Tigers. This effort was deflected

wide early on. The visitors were then awarded a spot-kick when

Robbie Brady was brought down in the box. This LMS proved costly. --

early mess. Ten minutes later, a mistake was capitalised on to

double Barnsley's lead. A late goal in the 79th minutes was

not enough. It was nine games unbeaten. They

will have to build again. The Tigers remain six then this

table, but with a tough test against second-placed West Ham on

Saturday, the pressure is on to bounce back quickly.

Thank you very much. With Hallowe'en out of the way and the

pumpkins consigned to the bend, growers in their area are preparing

their latest season of crops. Getting there produce onto the

shelves in time for Christmas takes hard work and careful planning.

We have at least a month until we have to think about decorating our

Christmas trees, but they have been planning it for years here.

The trees that had been marked for sale this year will be cut.

It is a big job when you have 20,000 to be ready to sell.

You can see all the labels. Our use operations will carry on but we

will drop back into finally marking the trees. Getting ready for

deliveries, really. Elsewhere, Lincolnshire farmers are

getting ready with their vegetables. What Christmas lunch would be

complete without the sprites? Here they are more interested in

the romantic side. He is selling trees with mistletoe

already growing from the park. Just copy what the birds do. Pick

an nice ripe berry, squeeze the seat out, stick the seat on, and it

will glue itself in place. Come around March time, that will start

to germinate. It will attach to the tree.

You would be for Devon that Lincolnshire's pumpkin growers had

cornered the market, but I think The people of Waddington are

certainly in the spirit of Christmas early. The producers are

looking to forward to being in the swing of it as well.

The time is five minutes to seven. A recap of the main headlines.

Unions say the government's latest offer on pensions for millions of

public sector workers is not good enough.

As school prices -- fuel prices soar, one Lincolnshire council is

trying to cut the cost of fuel for its residents.

Responses coming in from you. Carl in Cleethorpes says it should not

be up to councils to get a better deal for people. It should be up to

the government to sort out the scandal as energy companies.

And another person says this is a good idea.