18/02/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Welcome to Tuesday's Look North. In tonight's headlines: At risk of

collapse. Homes are evacuated after a sinkhole opens up on a housing

estate. I moved in a week ago. It is quite a shock. Suspensions and a

police inquiry after accusations of financial irregularities at a County

Durham special school. And a Valentine's scam ` the couple conned

out of money for a luxury lodge that didn't exist. In sport: A Wembley

the union and plans to end the exile for one of our league clubs. Also

the winter is over but we are does the likes of Amanda go from here?

Part will be North Yorkshire town remains cordoned off tonight after a

large sinkhole appeared next to houses. It is viewed one particular

house could be swallowed up. Able living nearby are worried their

homes could be next. Sinkholes are common in this area we are the

houses are built on gypsum rock. Imagine if this was your home. This

house has stood in Britain for 100 years. Tonight, structural engineers

were assessing whether it should be pulled down. A massive sinkhole

underneath it is causing one aimed to slip away. The next door

neighbour waited to hear what was happening. The wanted me to stay out

until they assess what is happening to the land and surrounding

properties. I only moved in a week last Saturday so it is quite a

shock. Other youngsters could see the drama unfolding from their

driveway. I feel sorry for them because it must be off to have half

of your house disappearing, it is so close to where we live. It could so

easily be one of our houses. I'd macro rep and is no stranger to

sinkhole problems. This was the spectacular scene back in 1997 when

part of the garden was swallowed up while children played nearby. Gipson

dissolves very quickly, a block of around the size of the van dropped

in need of will dissolve within 18 months. We lifted the good heavy

solid rock it will dissolve and the amount of ground water coming

through and coming up as springs in the river will dissolve it causing

the wall to get bigger and the singles will develop. 75 new homes

plans new the property were thrown out by councillors. Structural

engineers have spent the day assessing the damage to the

property. While we have been standing here the gap and the track

has been getting bigger as the day has gone on. It is possible recall

building may have to be demolished. `` the whole building. Police and

education officials are investigating serious financial

irregularities at a County Durham special school. Inspectors believe

more than ?160,000 that should have been spent on children with special

needs at Glendene Arts Academy was misappropriated. Instead, the money

seems to have funded a private company. Our Political Editor

Richard Moss reports. There were celebrations in April 2013, when the

Duke of Edinburgh officially opened Glendene Arts Academy in Easington

Colliery. But today the school is at the centre of serious allegations.

Auditors were called in after whistle`blowers raised concerns

about financial irregularities. Their allegations centre on a

company that was set up by the chair of governors and Principal. The firm

was supposed to generate income for the academy. But instead, ?154,000

of school money was used to pay four of its staff. Another ?8,000 of

academy money helped fund its running costs. The company even used

the school's mini buses, forcing the academy to hire some in for its

students. Yet inspectors found no evidence the firm had produced any

financial benefit for the school. Instead ?162,000 that should have

been spent on pupils subsidised the firm. When these allegations first

emerged last July, the chair of governors resigned and the principle

of the Academy took sick leave. Since then, some of the staff who

worked for the company have since been suspended. The Department for

Education plans to recover the money by April. But Durham Police's

serious crime unit is still investigating the possible illegal

use of school funds. And teaching unions say they're concerned that

financial problems can happen too easily in academies like Glendene,

which are free of council control. Jill macro in the last few weeks

there have been a number of stories like this coming to the fore. It is

interesting they have only come to the fore because whistle`blowers

have made it known to people. If it were a local authority school they

would be subject to close scrutiny and oversight from the local

authority would be looking in detail at their budgets and expenditure.

The Department for Education insists the finances of academies are

rigorously policed. But it does appear pupils at Glendene missed out

on money that should have been spent on them. And Richard is with me now.

What happens next with this investigation? There have been no

arrests as yet. I cannot tell you what the firm is called because

there are rules against that. There have been new appointments to the

staff to run the school in the absence of the principal at the

moment. They want to reassure people that nations made to the school

during that time have gone to the school and have been spent on

pupils. The auditors are concerned that some donations previously we

have gone into this private company but the investigation continues as

does the recovery of the money. Three men arrested in Darlington in

an operation involved armed police officers have been released on bail.

The three, aged 30, 22 and 19 were arrested after officers shot out the

tyres of the van in which they were travelling on Yarm Road in the town.

No`one was injured. A flight from Amsterdam to Newcastle Airport was

grounded on the runway for more than two hours last night, after a group

of school children on board decided they didn't want to take off. The

Easyjet plane finally landed at Newcastle Airport after 16 of the

group, and their luggage, were taken off and returned to the airport.

Easyjet says it was due to a nervous young passenger in the group who

raised a security issue prior to take off. Journalists on the The

Northern Echo and its sister titles were on strike today. The 24`hour

long action was in response to eleven staff on the papers being

given the choice of moving 270 miles away to Wales, or losing their jobs.

Our Business Correspondent Ian Reeve reports. Making the news rather than

writing it. Northern Echo journalists are on strike over

potential job losses. The paper's owner, Newsquest, wants sub editing,

that's writing headlines and captions, and laying out stories, to

be done at a central hub in Wales. 270 miles from Darlington. If that

newspaper is done in another country, forget Wales, it may as

well be India or any other country, it takes away the link that the

local community and the journalists have. 11 jobs are at risk at the

Echo and sister papers. Five more at the York Press. But the papers'

owner says affected staff can transfer to Wales. News Qwest also

says the papers will be on sale as normal tomorrow. It also promises

that all key educational judgements and decisions will continue to be

made in the region. But is it important that local papers are

produced in their area. Teesside's Evening Gazette is printed in

Sheffield, the Echo itself is printed in Middlesbrough. But the

academic view is that it does matter. If you remove the artistic

flare of making newspapers look good, really just throwing stock

pages onto a templated why would people want to buy something like

this? The Northern Echo's editor appears on BBC Tees every day. He

challenges listeners to write better headlines than ones printed in the

paper. Headlines that could soon have more than a hint of Welsh about

them. Half a million patients are set to have their emergency care

moved to a new hospital in Northumberland. And today, the

country's top doctor came to see it for himself. Sir Bruce Keogh, the

NHS's Medical Director, is leading the change in how patients receive

emergency medical care in England. But what does this new super

hospital in Cramlington mean for patients here? Here's our health

reporter, Sharon Barbour. If you live in Northumberland or North

Tynside and have a medical emergency, in future you'll be

brought here to the new Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital.

Today, England's top doctor, the NHS's Medical Director Sir Bruce

Keogh, gave the plan the thumbs up as he arrived for a topping out

ceremony. What you see behind me is a major improvement in the

facilities we offer. When the patients come in they may come down

along this corridor here for resuscitation or along this one

here, the front of which will be for emergency paediatric gear. Five

years ago we made the judgement that this was the right thing to do. We

had to have a cute things all centralised in one area. But what

does the hospital mean for patients at their own hospitals such as in

Wansbeck, North Tyneside and Hexham. There will still be some local

argent key services for things which aren't particularly dangerous or

life`threatening. `` urgent. The travelling time is far outweighed by

the benefit of getting you to the right place where you can get the

right treatment from the right people. There are concerns about the

pressures the hospital will put on the Ambulance Service, it could mean

an extra 2000 extra hours per week for staff. The North East Ambulance

Service said they were in constant talks with the hospital trust. There

have also been concerns raised by medical staff at Newcastle hospitals

who already have been major trauma centre at the Royal Victoria

infirmary, less than ten miles away. We already have a good trauma

service but that does not equal with additional emergency keyer services

to a high quality elsewhere in the region. As work continues on the

site, work must also be under way to convince the north`east what the

staff year and the chief doctor believed, that a new hospital will

improve the outcome for patients needing emergency keyer. Plenty more

to come: The Darlington campaign to bring the cup home gathers place and

entertaining the young and the young at heart in Carlisle. Also what does

the weather have in store? A young couple from North Yorkshire

have lost hundreds of pounds after becoming victims of the fraud

involving a fictitious holiday home in the Highlands. Laura booked a

Valentine home through Facebook but when she went to the location at

Loch Ness it did not exist. Luxury lodges on the banks of Loch Ness.

The website promises romantic getaways in the Highlands. For this

young couple who are often apart due to his Army career it seemed like

the perfect way to spend their first Valentine's Day together, that

they'd is just one problem, it does not exist. Dell macro the direction

is said to follow the road left and it just turned into a dark track and

someone's house which it was not. We went to a local hotel to ask if they

had heard of it because it was supposed to be there since 2011.

They had never heard of it so it was not looking great. The website was

bogus, the pictures were of another hotel. They had spent hundreds of

pounds by direct cash transfer which means it is unlikely they will get

the cash back. We always recommend using a credit card because it will

give you additional protection. We you can protect yourself from these

fraudsters also look at Google, Google maps and that kind of stuff.

Also look online for any history before you book. Unfortunately this

case is not unique. Please Scotland say they have had other complaints

about this specific website. Laura boot through the man called Kevin

Beaumont, I am going to see what he has got to say about this. It has

gone straight to answer phone. Hello, I am calling from the BBC,

please give me a call back as I am looking at the website you have

about holiday lodges on Loch Ness which do not exist. Let's see what

happens. I did not hear back from him and he is not returning any

calls from Laura either. There are some lodges there and they are

beautiful but just be careful who you are booking with. For this

couple it should have been a doorman Tick Highland Fling, instead their

Valentine 's weekend will be remembered for all the wrong

reasons. `` the romantic Highland Fling. The BBC are examining how the

World War I affected life on the home front. The programme launches

next Monday, K the taster of what we have in store. `` here is a taster.

This was the response in Newcastle city centre, seated like thousands

of other memorials will stop the War has such a hold on our imagination

that we have an increasing need to talk about it and not just because

this is 2014. When you look at what is depicted here, the patriotism,

the optimism, the clear sense of the just cause. It seems to describe a

very different world, albeit in living memory. For Britain it was

the first total war, practically everyone was affected in some way

and the scale of loss and suffering was unlike anything we had known.

Many of the stories from those days have been lost down the decades.

Some of them we are hoping to the Discover. We are concentrating on

stories from the home front. Deals of how our region was crucial to

arming the vast war effort. Tales of the unprecedented sacrifices. He

did, he was the last one, they brought him warm because he was the

only one living. Our first series of reports begins next week. Every

family has a story about the great War. We want to bring you some that

we all share. That series starts next Monday year or look north and

on your ABC local radio station. Tories using technology from the

past have been used to entertain children at a new exhibition in

Carlisle. It is a display that features moving sculptures old and

new and is keeping the half term crowds amused. Our reporter went to

join them. They may not be high`tech by today's standards but these

wooden toys have still been mesmerising visitors here. The

mechanical searches `` mechanical circus exhibition shows toys made

from cogs and wheels. Simple but effective. My favourite was called

locks, it was traditional to the story but keeps carries on holding

while you hold the button. I like this because I do the lot of

swimming gala is and I just like the way it moves. It is quite funny. I

like the way he is talking. It is quite funny. Bite macro you like the

way his mouth moves? Yes. It is interesting to try to understand how

they work. You just dress a button and it kicks in. You watch the

little cogs and wheels working and it is amazing how it happens.

Science and technology can be fun. Nowadays people do not know how to

fix their own washing machines. We just throw things out and buy a new

one. Perhaps if we had some of these skills we could work out how to fix

the car off the bike when it is broken. I'd macro the exhibition

runs until June in Carlisle. Were those your childhood toys? Stop it!

All the cliches come true when you have a great one to start with.

Sunderland have extra time `` Sunderland fans must wait until a

week tonight to finalise their travel plans for the FA Cup

quarterfinal. But whatever happens one manager will definitely be

taking on his former club. Brighton went in front through Leonardo

Ulloa's cool finish ` raising the prospect of a return to the Amex

Stadium for Black Cats head coach Gus Poyet. But Yannick Sagbo's late

equaliser for Hull City will now make THEM favourites to give

ex`Sunderland boss Steve Bruce the chance of a third victory this

season over the Wearsiders. Another newspaper has been banned by

Newcastle United. A Sunday Express article said manager Alan Pardew

will be sacked if the club fails to beat Aston Villa, a claim branded

"completely untrue" by the club. This evening in League One BBC Radio

Cumbria will have full match commentary of Carlisle's trip to

Coventry. BBC Tees will be following Hartlepool's League Two game at

Southend. Meanwhile Middlesbrough have now signed on loan Peterborough

forward Lee Tomlin on a permanent deal. Wembley fever's already

gripping Sunderland and today four stalwarts of the club's last major

final were reunited. Martin Gray, Brian Atkinson and Tony Norman now

work for Darlington and they were joined by their former boss as part

of efforts to help the re`vamped non`league club. The Quakers hope to

return to play in the town next season after two years in exile.

They were reunited with their Wembley partner as part of

fundraising effort to help the Quakers. Darlington are raising cash

to redevelop the town's rugby club and set up home here two years after

leaving the time when the old club went bust. They need their own club

in their hometown so coming back to Darlington next reason is essential.

The currently sheared a ground with Bishop Auckland. So far ?65,000 has

been raised to bring the club that to the town. Much of the money that

has been raised the redevelop the dog the club he has come from fans.

The plan is there will be a 450 seater stand there, standing areas

behind either goal, and the capacity of around 3000 in the first

instance. And this was a welcome publicity boost for the players.

They need identity and coming back into the town gives them that. The

reformed Darlington remain confident they will be setting up warm here in

time for the start of the next season. `` Paul. `` home. Lee

Jackson now thinks his place in the men's competition was acceptable in

the wider scale of things, but what now? I might take a break for one

month, put down my rifle and my skis, take a holiday, spend time

with my family and reflect on the last few years to see if I have the

motivation and skills to continue. I have got something to prove in

myself, I want to take it forward and improved in the next four years

to see what I can do. In athletics, York 400 metre runner Richard Buck

has been selected for the GB team taking part in the World Indoor

Championships in Poland next month. And there's been good news today for

Stockton's Richard Kilty. The Gateshead Harrier, in the far lane

in Birmingham last weekend, has been given the nod to run in the 60

metres event, in which he came fifth behind eventual winner James

Das`alu, whose injury at the Sainsbury's Grand Prix has given

Kilty his big chance. Now the weather. Quite sunny at times to

day? Yes, it has not been too bad and the those more in the forecast.

A springlike image to start us off. The crocus blossoming there on

Teeside. It's cool `` could feel a little bit like spring for most of

us tomorrow. Overnight tonight just a few showers at first. These will

tend to die out as we get to the early hours. It could become quite

misty with light winds developing over the Lakeland 's North Yorkshire

and Humberside. Four or five Celsius the lowest temperature overnight. A

reasonably mild start to Wednesday. Still a few showers to come and mist

lingering in parts of the West. In the east we are expecting some

spells of brightness and the showers should die away by late morning and

into the afternoon. Temperatures will be milder than today, 50

Fahrenheit, feeling pleasant in light winds. Staying mild for this

time of year for most parts. Cloudier with possibly one or two

showers lingering. For most places a better day than many that we have

had of late. Low pressure will bring in another weather system from the

West on Thursday. Strengthening winds and it will stage breezy on

Friday of all four parts it should be a dry day. Low pressure still

continuing to dominate the forecast. We are expecting it to be wet across

the region on Thursday with continuing heavy downpours in the

West for much of Friday. Ends will continue to dry out here. Friday is

likely to be drier possibly with sunshine. Tomorrow's sunshine for

many sports and feeling a bit more like spring than winter. That's it

for us. For now, good night.