05/01/2012 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

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

Dozens of trees are brought down and buildings are badly damaged as

gale force winds hit East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

It is a tremendous treated coming down, but I guess we feel lucky

this morning. We are still in one piece!

No criminal charges for the Community Support Officer who keeps

his job, after slapping a teenager. Campaigners call for a crack down

on those who abuse the disabled parking system.

Mild temperatures lead to early signs of spring from snowdrops to

And after the stormy weather of last night, the weather is

Hello. The gale force winds have batted East Yorkshire and

Lincolnshire. Trees have been toppled and many properties damaged

in gusts of nearly 70 miles an hour. Tonight, people are counting the

cost. First, our reporter is live at one house in Hull. How much

damage has there been done? You can see from the remains of the tree

behind be just how severe those gales must have been last night.

The wind was so strong that it has managed to rip the roots of these

three trees falling out of the ground. The trees have fallen some

how narrowly missing those houses. In this region we have been very

lucky. Despite widespread damage, no one has been seriously injured.

People have had damage to their houses, they have of course been

trees fallen. Now the winds have died down, we can finally see the

extent of the problems. Assessing the damage at last

night's gales. Three huge trees have blown down in Shannon Foster's

garden in Hull. They narrowly missed her house. I was in shock.

It could have done it straight through my son's bedroom window. I

am very thankful it has gone that way. You cannot see from here, but

the trio was bigger than our house. But houses were also damaged. In

Pinchbeck near Spalding, these homes are lost to their sides.

had just gone to bed and all of a sudden everywhere show can there

was a massive noise. I looked out of the window and there were bricks

flying everywhere. Obviously the wind had called on to the house and

brought all of the bricks down. was so scary. I was with my 20

week-old baby boy and I was just about to feed him. Winds reached

their highest speeds of 69 mph at Scampton. In Lincolnshire seven had

-- 7000 houses lost power. We have also experienced a particular

incident where a motorist was trapped for a short period of time

by a fallen tree. Also a cyclist was struck by a tree. It has not

reached typhoon or hurricane speeds, but they have been serious gales

and they have had a serious effect. It is very fortunate that we have

had no serious injuries or a loss of life. But the councils were

ready and by mid-morning, fallen trees like this one were being

removed. In Willerby in Lincolnshire this stable had to be

righted after blowing across the road. As far as I know I think this

had blown up in the air and gone across the hedge and landed in the

road. And then, luckily, it had blown over on its side. The Ouse

Bridge has reopened after being forced to shut last night. The

strong winds should be dying down. But the clean-up job is now only

just beginning. Just so you know, fallen trees will

not be wasted. Councils are now going round and clearing them up

and they would use the chips of the tree on public parks and flowerbeds.

East Riding council say they will be back out on the roads, but

tonight they will be gritting because they are expecting some

chilly weather on the way. Thank you. I will be asking Paul

Hudson what has been causing the strong mints -- strong winds.

Calls for stricter policing of the Blue badge scheme to help those who

need it. A police community support officer

who struck a teenage boy in the face is going back on the beat. The

officer will face no criminal charges. However he has been

disciplined. Humberside police say the slab was part of a joke. The

parents of Leah waters have not seen the funny side.

-- Liam Watter. The police say it was a joke, a

mother says it was are sold. cannot express what I felt when I

saw him. It is so mad. What right did he have to touch, let alone

smack a child? On Hallowe'en night last year, Liam and his cousin were

coming into this community centre. They bumped into two two PCSOs that

they knew. One of them reached out and hit Liam. He was taken off

normal duties and an investigation was launched. Officers had worked

with youngsters at favoured local youth club and Liam said he looked

up to them. I will never speak to them again. I have lost all respect

for them. You are meant to look up to them and take them as a role-

model, but I cannot. There has been some support for the officer in

this case. But Liam's mother said that he is a good boy who

volunteers with the elderly. cooks in the kitchen with a man

does a few odd jobs for them. says there is no way that the

contact between the officer and her son was friendly. That was not a

playful smack. Not at all. This is the police investigation report and

it says that the officer's conductor did fall below the

required standard, but says that the slap was part of a joke. Under

the lessons learned section, it says that the PCSO has been given

strong advice about his role and the boundaries to be considered

when building professional relationships. He will be back out

on the beat this month. He should at least have been taken off his

job. It would have been the same for ours if one of us had done it

to him or anybody else. Humberside police told us that they have

written to the family with the findings of the investigation and

said it would not be appropriate to comment. But the family say they

will appeal to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

The that is the story. I spoke to the Hull solicitor, Max Gold,

earlier and asked him if it is illegal to strike a child. It is

illegal, it is assault. Humberside police said that this PCSO took his

relationship with this boy as step too far and it resulted in a hit on

the face as part of a joke. It is inappropriate, it is wrong

behaviour. There was no sign of any joking. It is a right to jab to the

head of a young man. He has not been charged to any -- with any

offence. He has not been charged and he will not appear in front of

a court. There could be some civil proceedings and a complaint to the

police authority. Some people will agree with the police particularly

those who deal with difficult to use on a daily basis. They will say,

quite right, too. They will say and they will say it is exactly as it

was in the fifties or sixties when the odd clip around the ear for a

youngster was not unknown. But this was a different civilisation and a

difficult world. Rules were broken in this case. Has it gone too far

now with youth claiming to know their rights and what they do is

push authority to breaking point? Yes, it has gone too far. You hear

exactly the same thing from school teachers who are restrained him

what they can do about discipline. We are controlled by convention and

European regulations where caning, for example, is a breach of human

rights. I think we have gone too far, there has to be some sense and

some sensibility in the way we deal with young people and put some

discipline into them to help them for the future. But many people of

that generation will remember getting a clip round the year,

there is no difference. No, there is no difference and it worked in

our time. For some reason we have gone too far. But I'm not saying

what the officer did was correct. He shouldn't have done it and it

was senseless. To walk away was wrong. We have to look at how we

are handling people. I would like to know your views on

this one. Is it like that the PCSO s -- is it right that the police

community support officer took this East Yorkshire has been granted

more than �3 million of public money to provide new and improved

pitches that travellers. The funding as part of tens of millions

of pounds being spent on sites like this across the country. East

Riding will see 19 you pitches and funding to improve a further 23. --

new pitches. A coroner has ruled that a young

woman from a Lincolnshire was unlawfully killed by her boyfriend

before he took his life. 21 year old Katy Winchester was strangled

by Kurt Tyrrell before he tied a dressing gown cord around his own

net. Their bodies were found after a night at last April. The court

heard that Kurt Tyrrell became violent after drinking and had

attacked his girlfriend before. there is a general perception that

domestic abuse exists in a older couples and that is not true. We

would urge people to take note from this case and if they are

experiencing any physical or verbal abuse or any kind of controlling

behaviour, to get in touch with us. The time is 6:40pm. But thank you

for watching. Still ahead, the Olympic hopefuls preparing for the

most important here of their lives. And in spite of the gales, at mild

temperatures could mean that spring We saw the weather pictures in the

report at the start of the programme. Martin Brown et e-mailed

me at teatime. This stable was blown over. It fell on a small pony

in a nearby paddock, the pony is fine.

Many people have been talking about the gales that have hitters, what

caused them? The Jetstream is very powerful and it has been dominating

our weather for about six weeks. This was air coming in from the

West, lifting over the Pennines and it causes a series of standing

waves. It is unusual to get gusts of around 70 miles an hour. It is a

powerful jet stream and in fact, in the last six weeks, it has been the

second most westerly set up in 139 years. It gives you an idea of how

unusual the last five or six weeks have been. Very good, and tonight?

It is still windy out there, but thankfully nothing on the magnitude

of last night. We will look at Western parts of East Yorkshire, we

have no real observations. It was a powerful storm. Things are

improving. Tomorrow will be dry with sunshine. There will be some

patchy rain and drizzle on Friday night. The weekend is looking quite

promising. Much more settled. It is still windy. It is still gale force

winds in coastal areas. De winds will ease as we head through the

night. There could be a slight frost in some places. Watch out for

that risk of a few icy patches. It might be frosty first thing

tomorrow, otherwise drive. The afternoon it will be cloud over. It

should stay dry. From temperatures up to eight or nine Celsius. That

is quite a relief. The weekend is not looking too bad. Much of the

weekend looks fine with intervals Two people were distressed that we

did not here they come own explanation last night. They wanted

on the I player! -- they want it on the I player.

And I can go into more detail now if you want!

A I would love to chat, but we must move on.

Olympic hopefuls from East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire have

been training after the festive break. Luke Campbell, the Hull

boxer, faces a tournament in February. Lincoln swimmer Lizzie

Simmonds faces her big test in March. More from Simon Clark.

The intensity is unrelenting. Meeting after meeting, day after

day, Lizzie Simmonds is trying to find that age first for the

qualifying event and then for the Games. There is no second chance

for qualification. A lot of the time, you just have to be focused

and dedicated. You appreciate this will benefit you in the long run.

It may seem tedious at the time. keep things fairly consistent. The

training will be relatively similar to what she has done the last few

months. The Olympic facilities and nearing completion. The target for

all elite hopefuls. For one young man, his Olympic dream was not

inspired by a huge stadiums, state- of-the-art arenas on massive events.

He was stimulated by what lay beyond this humble doorway in Hull.

Boxer Luke Campbell has the pressure of qualification behind

him by winning a world silver medal last year. He has found himself

enjoying a higher profile as a consequence, but his focus never

wavers from the main event. 2012 is here now. People think at the end

of 2011, the Olympics is next year, but it is here now, it will be upon

us very quickly. These are two from our area who hope 2012 will be

realised their Olympic dreams. Now, it was designed to give the

least able people somewhere to park, but the Blue badge system is being

abused. In Lincoln, disabled motorists said they often cannot

part because people with fake badges or without one at all at

taking up places. Today is a good day for Barry

Fippard. He is able to get a disabled parking bay on visiting

the shops. Often, they are being used and abused by able-bodied

drivers. You are not always able to get one, because other cars are

parked there. Mostly, they are people with blue bodies, -- blue

badges, but often they do not have them. It is frustrating. The bottom

one here is a fraud, and was created by somebody presumably by

downloading something of the internet. Lincolnshire Police

cellars one of the biggest problems is forgeries. Fans can be in excess

of �1,000. -- fines can be in excess of �1,000. One couple were

fined 1,500 pounds between them. The government are introducing new

electronic blue badges. With a hologram and special printing, they

look more like driving licences and a difficult to forge. Lincolnshire

County Council will own forces scheme, but they are not convinced

it will solve all problems. It will not necessarily eliminate them. It

will allow us to have more control. The information will be held in a

national database. Weekend checks serial numbers. The new scheme is a

big step forward. What it cannot control his abuse of disabled bays

on private land, such as in supermarket car-parks. Which means

for Barry, a trip to the shops may still be stressful. Joining me now

with Daniel Macintyre from the charity Disabled Motoring UK, which

represents the interests of Blue badge holders and disabled

motorists. What do you think of people who use disabled parking

spaces with no badge, or one which has been forged? Quite frankly, it

is despicable. These people are often quite lazy people. They are

depriving a disabled person or being able to reduce that space.

For his disabled person, it might be that been able to park in that

space is the only way they can go to work or do their shopping. It

might be that because an able- bodied person has taken that space,

a disabled person might have to go home and not bother. The government

says this new electronic blue badge will make it harder for people to

forge passes. Do you think enough has been done? Yes. The new batch

is fantastic. For Disabled Motoring UK welcome the changes. I think

what is also needed is more on enforcement. In theory, the rules

should have been adequate to enable people to be able to park, but...

What happens if it is a non Council car-park? If it is a private car

park? There is very little enforcement of those spaces if it

is on private land. The council or police are not able to do anything.

Some supermarkets did take matters into their own hands. They hire

private security firms to patrol the car parks. When a person is

identified as having used a disabled parking bay that should

not, they are being called out, and given a bit of a telling off.

good to talk to you. That might be another one you want to get in

touch about. Police have arrested five men in Hull for a series of

suspected metal thefts, including lattes City care centre. Dove House

Hospice looks after patients with life limiting illnesses, and was

one of three places targeted. The charity said the theft of two

manhole covers could have endangered staff, patients and

families. It is not great when people steal from us, especially

when people have worked hard to raise money. We are expanding, and

that is another �2 million project. Staff at a charity shop in

Lincolnshire that was targeted by metal thieves say they are

delighted the store has reopened. Piping stolen from the air

ambulance shop in market raisin caused a flood, which severely

damaged the building and stock. Repairs are being completed at the

sight more than a month after the incident. Last night, we told you

how Lincolnshire County Council has changed some of its green man

crossing signs to green figures. It has backed a lot of controversy.

Some say it is political correctness gone mad. There was a

lively response after the programme, and when we talked about it on the

Thank you for all of those. Now, despite the strong winds we have

been talking about, we have had some very mild temperatures. 13

Celsius was recorded on New Year's Day at Coningsby. Some experts say

We might have experienced winds of 69 mph in Scampton overnight, but

in Burton Agnes, spring has sprung early. How do we know? Because the

snowdrops have arrived. We will need to clear the past. Getting

prepared for this year's snowdrop walk at Burton Agnes Hall. It is

not until the beginning of February, but, in contrast to this time last

year, snowdrops and not any peeping through but flowering. There would

land will be covered in a blanket of snow drops. We are always

relieved to see the snowdrops are appearing. We know a lot of our

visitors will be keen to see them. We cannot predict when everything

will be there. It was -- it is always a nice relief to see them

here. Elsewhere in the gardens, there's more signs of spring.

have an eye race here. It cauliflowers at the end of February.

I have another flower which normally flowers later. The early

buds on trees along with blossom is spreading through other parts of

East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. But not all kinds of wildlife take

too kindly to a change in temperature. Frogs, for example. If

they started to lay their spawn in the next few weeks, and we had a

cold spell in February, gradually be frogspawn count would diminish.

The frogs would not be replacing themselves. For most of us, the

thought of warm weather on the horizon is present. That will all

depend on Mother Nature. Lovely. Let's have a recap of the headlines.

A male nurse is arrested at a Stockport hospital. He is suspected

of tampering with medical records. Dozens of trees are brought down

and buildings at badly damaged as gale-force winds hit East Yorkshire

and Lincolnshire. Tomorrow's We were talking about that story

were up eight teenager was slapped. Someone says, how pathetic, a

policeman tries to have a laugh and gets in trouble over it. Someone

else says, give the man a pat on the back and let there be no

compensation involved. The answer, if you or I had done the same thing,

we would have been arrested with an assault charge. Ben says, many

teams do express inappropriate behaviour, I do not think what the

officer did was wrong because it is highly likely that teenager

provoked him. Simon said, the officers should be discouraging