06/12/2011 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

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

The company sending workers home for Christmas on half pay as they

try to save jobs. It is difficult. Dozens of baby seals have died

after a tidal surge off the Lincolnshire coast.

Developers say dualling this road will boost the economy as much as

cutting Humber Bridge tolls. And how a purring engine revealed a

feline secret. And some strong winds to come. All very latest. --

Unions say it's an act of solidarity which could save

workers' jobs. This afternoon, more than 100 staff at a steel mill in

Scunthorpe went home for Christmas on half-pay to allow their company

to save money in a tough time. They won't return until January. Caparo

Merchant Bar has 187 staff and says the unions fully support the shut-

down. Sarah Corker reports. A 50% pay cut to stay in work.

That's the sacrifice workers here are making to help their company

save money and jobs. Like other steel producers across the world,

Caparo Merchant Bar are feeling the effects of the recession. And today

the unions came out in support of the move to cut pay and extend

holidays temporarily. People see what is happening and think, we

still have got a job. Hopefully, in January, it will go back to normal.

The company has cut back to all but a skeleton staff. It says extensive

stoppages and not unusual this time of year, especially when trading

conditions -- a-week. Pay cuts and shorter working weeks

have been put in place across the UK for years. Manufacturing firm

JCB's workers voted in thousands to accept a �50 a week pay cut to keep

350 jobs, and similar action was taken at British Airways. One

expert says many other firms could opt to go down the same path.

expect companies around the country at doing similar things to this.

The caravan industry has been one of the biggest victims of the

recession across our area. This manufacturer in Hull says flexible

working patterns have been the key to their survival. You can extend

the holidays. You can go onto a shorter week.

Back in Scunthorpe, and more than 150 workers have agreed to the pay

cut. It's hoped the money the company saves over the next few

weeks will give them a better chance of being competitive in the

new year. I'm joined by the MP for Scunthorpe,

Nic Dakin. Why do call as positive? -- why do you call this positive?

We are facing very difficult times nationally. If the workers can get

through this, hopefully they will still be there for the good times.

It is not positive if you lose half your wages. No, it is not what

people would ideally wish. People would prefer our steel companies to

be taking on jobs, rather than take these kinds of measures. These are

very difficult times. I think this is a very sensible way of

management and unions working together. You mentioned unions.

Would they be happy to go down this path if it means avoiding

redundancy? They are working together to make sure they can

deliver a good outcome. It is a prosperous business, so there are

prosperous jobs. It is not what anybody wants. They are navigating

this in a sensible way. Would MPs be happy to do this? Clearly,

people would be happy for MPs to do this! MPs have not had a pay

increase. They have not had a pay reduction. They are things for

people to address that the proper time. Thank you very much for

talking to was tonight. Would you stay at home and take

half-pay for a month if it helped your company and allowed you and

your colleagues to stay in work? Are the unions right to be

Some other jobs news. 176 people have been made redundant from a

commercial vehicle dealership. H and L Garages, which sold Mercedes

Vans and Trucks, has gone into administration. The firm has

garages in Lincoln Hull, Boston, Immingham and York. Mercedes said

it had stripped H and L of the right to sell its brand. It's

opened a helpline for staff who want to be redeployed.

In a moment: Sheep theft is on the rise. Now

there are warnings of the dangers of buying black market meat. A

woman accused of murdering her fiance after deliberately hiding

their business troubles from him has gone on trial at Lincoln Crown

Court. Julie Dixon, who's 43, is charged with killing David Twigg at

Burgh le Marsh in March. The court heard that Mr Twigg was locked

inside his joinery workshop, which was set alight. The prosecution

alleged it was Mrs Dixon who locked the door.

More than 70 seal pups are believed to have died at a nature reserve on

the Lincolnshire coast. A tidal surge washed them away from their

mothers last week. Wildlife experts say they are still assessing the

impact on the seal colony at Donna Nook. Tarah Welsh spent the day

there. New mothers keeping a close eye on

their young. But last Monday, nature stole some of the new pups

here. These are the lucky ones, but many others died when bad weather

and a high tide caused a surge of water, sweeping them away from

their mothers. We had a very high tide. Normally, the sandbanks work,

and they get moved around. If left alone, it's unlikely new born seals

will survive. This baby has been trying to suckle a mother seals,

but of course, they rejected it. -- so-called on other seals. It will

join ten others that have been brought in since last week. The

seal pup has been brought here and is warming up under that lamp. It

will be looked after and released into the wild in about six months.

Others were not so lucky. It's hard to know exactly how many seals have

been lost, but volunteers here believe it's around 75 out of

roughly 1,000 born, and say they've never seen anything like it and

hope it never happens again. It's really sad. It's amazing to see.

It's sad. It's a shock, because they were thriving when we first

came. All surviving pups are now being

looked after or have been reunited with their mothers, until they're

strong enough to head out to sea all on their own.

It's been confirmed the Queen's Park Special School in Lincoln will

close, despite widespread objections from parents. The school

teaches children with learning difficulties. Lincolnshire County

Council says it's too small and will relocate pupils to two other

special schools in the area. After a number of sheep thefts in

Lincolnshire, trading standards are warning shoppers of the risks of

eating black market meat. In the latest raid at Epworth in North

Lincolnshire, 23 sheep were stolen. It's thought they will be killed at

illegal abbatoirs. The National Farmers' Union says sheep thefts

have doubled as the price of meat continues to rise. Simon Spark

reports. Trying to piece together how his

sheep were stolen, Farmer Paul Antcliff is the latest victim of a

rising crime. 22 ewes and one ram were stolen. Most of the females

were in lamb and together had a value of just under 4,000 pounds.

The Sheba he still had were so frightened, they broke through a

two wire fences to try to escape -- the sheep. There's nothing you can

do, really. This follows what was believed to

be one of the biggest cases of sheep rustling in 25 years, when

over 1,400 ewes and lambs were stolen from Stenigot near Louth in

September. But with livestock being such a tightly regulated area, the

real danger is the use of illegimate abattoirs and food

outlets to pass on the meat. real concern is around the safety

of the meat going into the human food chain. Have a think about it.

Buy from reputable sources. Paul's now weighing up his options

on whether to continue with his sheep farming for much longer.

That might be another story you want to comment on. Sent me an e-

mail. Still ahead tonight: The engineer

from East Yorkshire putting his building skills to a different use.

And the hardy cat who went on an And the hardy cat who went on an

That is a fantastic story coming up in about 10 minutes.

John Esser took this near Stainton The outlook is an unsettled one.

Tomorrow, we can expect westerly gales and developing and we could

have some severe gales later on Thursday. You can see these weather

systems pushing in across the Atlantic. Now, it has been a lovely

day. We're seeing some patchy rain and drizzle across their region.

Longer outbreaks of rain for some, but by the end of the make the main

news out into the North Sea. Overnight temperatures between two

and three degrees Celsius. Here are the sun rises and higher water

It will be the very win the day, with wind in the more exposed parts

of the region getting up to 50 or 60 miles per hour. The top

temperatures, fairly academic given the wind, but six or seven degrees

Celsius. It will turn wet and windy through Thursday and the risk of

severe gales. Join me on Twitter. Stop advertising! I love the way

you say, or has it been a lovely day? You are supposed to tell us,

Humberside Police say jobs will have to go as the force looks to

save �30 million. They are concerns about the effect this will have on

their ability to fight crime. Michelle from Hull says...

Thank you very much for all of these.

Upgrading the road between Beverley and the Humber Bridge is as

important for the local economy as cutting bridge tolls. That is the

view of developers who want to build a �100 million business park

close to the ridge. -- the bridge. The A164 will be dualled for a

short section at Willerby, after the government agreed to provide

most of the money. Last night we focussed on the Lincoln East Bypass,

which also received funding. Tonight Rowan Crompton reports from

Willerby. Going to work or coming home, rush

hour on the A164 can be a frustrating time for drivers.

make trouble here two or three times a week and always get stuck

in traffic. At rush-hour, it is horrendous. It can and 30 or 40

minutes to your journey. I was stuck for about 15 minutes on it

this morning. It can get very clogged up when people are going to

work. The council has put �2.3 million

towards these improvements, to add to the money given by the

government last week. Full the developer building a business park

on this land near the Humber Bridge, it is a welcome investment.

bridge tolls been it Regis, it will allow Labour to flow more easily

around the region. It is such an important economic corridor between

Hull and other parts of the region. By for some, these plans do not go

far enough. A I think they should start at one end of Lincoln and

bring a right through. They should have done it 20 years ago. It is

here that we will be able to make the traffic move.

The improvements works will begin in April and should be completed

within a year, but for some they cannot come soon enough.

One road that did not get funding from the Chancellor was the A63

through Hull. Today, the government told the

city's three Labour MPs that even the smallest of improvements were

at least three years away. Leanne Brown is beside the road.

How badly do the MPs say improvements are needed?

The A63 is the main route in and out of Hull. It is heavily used by

commuters and traffic heading to Hull Docks. You can see how busy it

is by these pictures we took in rush hour. More than 50,000 cars

Hughes at each day. -- use it each day.

The second problem is that the road cuts off access to the marina area

heel behind me. One of the ideas has been to create

a tunnel road if you like, by lowering the A63 and building a

bridge over the top. As you said, three MPs - Karl Turner, Diana

Johnson and Alan Johnson - met with the Transport Minister. They have

have made some headway on this. Tomorrow night, we will look at how

millions of pounds to upgrade the A18-A180 link road could open up

trade on the banks of the Humber. RAF staff who played a role in

Operations in Libya were thanked personally by the Prime Minister in

Downing Street. Crews from RAF Waddington and RAF Coningsby in

Lincolnshire and RAF Marham in Norfolk were among the guests at a

reception held by David Cameron. The Prime Minister said he was

proud to play host to them. have held a lot of parties and

receptions and this soon, but I do not think any of them have given me

such a sense of honour as the one today. Everyone in this room gave

incredible service to the country in the operations over Libya. They

contributed in the air, won this seat and on the ground. I want to

thank you all for you're incredible dedication, courage and commitment

that you showed. In football, two of our non-league

clubs are playing tonight. Grimsby Town, who won their last league

game 7-0, owe Mansfield Town in the Blue Square Bet Premier League --

host Mansfield. And Lincoln City, who are sixth from the bottom, are

at home to Luton Town. Your all local BBC radio stations

will have full coverage from tonight's games.

BBC Radio Humberside will have the Grimsby game on their FM frequency

and online. Sportstalk is on the air now.

And BBC Lincolnshire will be at Sincil Bank with commentary on FM

from seven o'clock. An engineer from East Yorkshire has

been crowned Mr UK's Best Newcomer - at his first bodybuilding

competition. Andy Pickering took part after being spotted by a

trainer at his local gym. Now he is hoping to be the next Mr Universe.

Pandy Pickering has been coming to the local gym for one year. But

just a few months ago, his potential for body-building was

spotted. It is something I used to do to increase Sybase just for the

fun of it. But I do not ever think about the potential for going in

two competitions. I always say it is the Honda Sport in the world,

because it is 24 caused Adie, seven days a week. -- hardest sport in

the world. And this was the moment when he came first in the

competition. Weighing in at 17 stone, he is now in training for

the Mr Britton competition. He is on a strict diet. I will have six

to eight eggs scrambled. And that is just for breakfast. He is hoping

this will be the first of many trophies. Hopefully, I can win the

British tour fee and go on to bigger and better things.

He spent two weeks trapped under the bonnet of his owner's car.

Drago, who is 14, was only discovered when a faint meow was

heard coming from the engine compartment. Now, after two weeks

without food, he is recovering at home in Hull. He does of course

have main ways to play with, but Drago used one of them up. His

mystery disappearance has finally been discovered. He spent two weeks

close to home in a place no one had suspected. I suddenly heard a faint

at the Owl and lifted up the bonnet. And there was Drago. His head was

there and his body was there and he was just trapped. Inside, he was

driven to the emergency vet. Despite losing half his body weight,

he was described as the luckiest cat alive and has now received a

clean bill of health. It is thought he had may be made twill journeys

from his business to his house. It is thought he travelled 60 miles,

but any more than that and he probably would not have survived.

He should be dead. He really should be. With one life lost, it is hoped

Drago will be a little less curious As I say, a great story and if you

have one you think we should know about, get in touch at the usual

contact methods. Let us get a recap of the national

and regional headlines... Unprecedented violence, even for

Afghanistan. For the first time, bomb attacks across the country

target Muslims at prayer. And a company is sending workers

home for Christmas on half pay as they try to save jobs.

And tomorrow's weather - mostly dry and bright with plenty of sunshine,

but some gale force winds. A top temperature of seven Celsius. We

have had a big response about the company which is giving the workers

have pay. Keith says, rated a voluntary 20 % cut for one year to

help my company survive. I would do it again. This sacrifice was worth

it. But another says, this will on the make things more difficult, as