01/10/2014 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Fire destroys part of one of North Yorkshire's

most popular hotels and wedding venues.

We're live from Crathorne Hall with the latdst.

The dangerous driver who catsed the deaths of three women

The fall`out from the failure to build a world class rugby stadium.

The new report which claims burning heather to feed gamdbirds

causes pollution and increases the risk of floods.

In football ` another stalelate for Middlesbrough sees them

We meet the cricketer who dhdn't actually enjoy playing.

Scores of firefighters have spent much of the day

at one of the region's best known hotels and wedding venues

Crews from North Yorkshire, Durham and Darlington and Cleveland

are still dealing with the fire which broke out this morning

at the Crathorne Hall Hotel, near Yarm.

Part of the historic building has been destroyed.

The fire crews are fighting to save the rest.

Ian Reeve is at the scene for us now.

Well, it is thought the fird broke out in the roof space of a wing

Well, it is thought the fird broke out in the roof space of a wing of

the hotel this morning but thanks to the efforts of nearly 100

firefighters from three different brigades, it has been contahned We

have had this recent update from North Yorkshire Fire Brigadd. Where

we are now is we have stoppdd the fire before it has entered the main

building. The roof has gone, from the large text that is taggdd onto

that, but fire crews at the moment are fighting pockets and dalping

down the main areas. How long do you think you will be here? We will

certainly be all night and we will have eight engines and a ladder and

platform working through thd night and into tomorrow. All of the guests

are safely accounted for but none had a sadder story than Mr `nd Mrs

Henry. They stayed here last night and are in the region because their

son is getting married and he was due to spend his honeymoon night

here tomorrow. We left at about ten o'clock and that is when thd actual

fire took hold. We were in the Richmond room and we were told that

the actual fire was just above us. So we are going to the weddhng like

this! It is only a registry office wedding, though, so it is no big

deal. You lose things. As long as nobody's heard, there is no problem.

Like just goes on. At the hotel is a rather grand former country

residence that was in private ownership until the 1970s, but the

company that owns it now is rather understandably downcast abott its

current state. When I arrivdd here at around two o'clock, I was

horrified. As you say, it is an iconic, very famous building and I

have a lump in my heart with the way it looked, very sad. But it can be

renovated? Absolutely, this can be put right and the major thing for us

today is the evacuation went well, there is nobody unaccounted for and

nobody injured at all and btildings can be rebuilt, absolutely.

Well there was a TA in the dye of someone else, someone who grew up

here and lived here when it was still in private ownership. The wing

that has caught fire was thd nursery wing where my brother David and I

were brought up. So it is completely devastating to see it's looking like

this. And what is your hope to what they will be able to do? Can they

regenerated? There are some wonderful people who work on these

tragic projects and it looks completely devastated now, but I am

sure where there is a will, there will be a way. Well, as the North

Yorkshire Fire Brigade said, they will be here all night, thex will

have eight appliances in attendance but I will have a further update for

you at 10:30 p.m.. For now, from Crathorne Hall, back to you. Thank

you. A driver who caused

the death of three women in an horrific crash has bedn

jailed for twelve`and`a`half years. A judge told 24`year`old Jak Parker

from County Durham that he had shattered

the lives of three families after the crash in Shotton Colliery

last June. Today, one member of a family whose

daughter was killed told how she invited the yotngsters'

friends into intensive care to see the effects of

dangerous driving. Three lives lost,

three families grieving. Anne Peachey was

a much`loved mother and wifd. Rebecca Learoyd and best frhend

Megan Robinson were young ghrls whose lives, their family s`id,

were starting to blossom. They'd all been driving along this

road when Jak Parker raced past travelling at 70mph in a 30 zone

and caused their two cars to crash. No family should have to sed their

daughter in a hospital bed on a life`support system, batterdd and

bruised and know that she is no longer coming home. I felt so angry,

so sad and I didn't want thhs heard to be in vain, so we, as a family,

invited all of Megan's friends to come and see what effect thhs

driving had on us, I made and we allowed to see `` on Megan `nd we

allowed them to see intensive care. I thought if I can stop one person

driving like this, it would save at least one family this pain.

Parker avoided injury himself, but his reckless driving ovdrtaking

Rebecca Learoyd caused the two cars to crash.

But, amazingly, this was the second time in as many weeks

that Parker's dangerous driving had caused a serious accident.

Just two weeks before that crash, Parker and his friend had bden

racing each other along this road, going twice the legal speed limit

and swerving in and out of traffic. At that moment, Jean Headlex was

crossing the road and was knocked off her feet and suffered a broken

knee. Parker and his friends saw what happened but they simply drove

off. They show no regard for road safety whatsoever, and they showed

no regard to the safety of pedestrians and other road tsers,

which was evident, unfortun`tely, a few weeks after the initial

incident, when three people tragically lost their lives. The

judge said Parker had deprived three families of their loved ones and no

sentence would ever help thdm overcome the pain, the head and the

grief. Inquests have taken place this

afternoon into the deaths of two young people

who drowned in York's rivers In March this year, the bodx of

20`year`old student Megan Roberts And 22`year`old Ben Clarkson

drowned in the River Foss. Our reporter Charlotte Leemhng

attended the inquests Good evening, yes, an open verdict

was recorded in both of these inquests today. Of threat w`s

drowning, with alcohol a contributory factor. `` the cause of

death. It is unusual for two inquests like this to be held one

after another but the corondr said he wanted to do that becausd he

wanted to be raising awarendss of the dangers of rivers here hn York,

especially where alcohol is concerned. The reason those verdicts

were left open is because hd said there was really no evidencd at all

as to how and why they ended up in the rivers. So what further details

came out in the inquests? Wd did hear a lot more information about

the evenings when they both disappeared. The families wdre there

for both sets of children and they had to listen to some quite

upsetting evidence, as you can imagine. Megan, of course,

disappeared in January. She had been out with some university frhends and

we heard they were drinking very heavily, as students do, I guess.

They had triple vodkas and cocktails and shops and she was three times

over the drink drive limit hs, the blood tests did show. One of her

friends said she had said to Megan, you look really drunk, do you want

to go home? Megan said, no, I am having a good time and I want to

stay and of course, we don't know how she ended up in the rivdr. When

it comes to then Clarkson, ht is a similar thing, out with fridnds

drinking after work, but we have heard he could take his drink very

well, a tall guy, well over six foot tall, but he had been drinkhng

heavily and friends say thex saw him in many pubs drinking heavily

throughout the day and evenhng. The coroner has said it is upsetting for

the families, they may never know what happened in the final few

moments of their children's lives, but it does eliminate the tragic end

to young lives and the dangdrs faced by people drinking close to rivers.

A new report has ranked the cancer services team at

South Tyneside District Hospital as the best in the country.

Macmillan Cancer Support put together a league table using

research by NHS England which collates feedback from patidnts

Gateshead's Queen Elizabeth Hospital came second

Controversial changes to chhldren's and maternity services

at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton will start to come

From today, there will no longer be overnight children's care and all

high`risk births are also bding carried out at other hospit`ls.

The changes also have a knock`on effect on childrdn's A

care, as our Health Correspondent Jamie Coulson reports.

Seven`year`old Anniela Newton is severely disabled.

Complications at birth meant she was starved of

oxygen. Her family have campaigned to keep services at the Fri`rage and

worry about the loss of overnight children's care. It is hard to

explain what it means when xour child is just up the road, `gainst

up in Middlesbrough, and wh`t we don't want to happen is people, as

well, now they have not got that, thinking twice about calling the

hospital and saying, my child might be better tomorrow. Changes to

children and maternity servhces come into force over the next wedk. From

today, there will no longer be overnight children's care.

Instead, there will be a short stay assessment unit open between 10am

and 10pm. Next Monday, a new birthing unit will

open but it will mean all hhgh risk pregnancies will have to go to

hospitals elsewhere, like Middlesbrough Darlington. And on the

same day, the Special Care Baby Unit will also close. Because

these changes mean there will no longer be a children's doctor in a

hospital overnight, parents are being told

not to bring their children to the A department unless it is a minor

injury. They are told to call NHS 111, or ring for an ambulance if it

is an emergency. It is with a heavy heart that we have had to m`ke the

changes but we feel it will improve the chances of survival for children

who are very sick locally. We do appreciate it will bring sole

problems for some local famhlies who have to travel further. The changes

have been extremely controvdrsial so many years. I don't think this

should be taking place, but take place it will. Families likd

Anniela's now say it is vit`l the NHS delivers on all of the promises

that were made on how new sdrvices will work.

Failure to build a multi`million pound sports stadium

asked the chief of Copeland Council if it had been left embarrassed It

is not about embarrassment, there were four partners involved in the

project and each of them worked very hard to deliver the project and it

is regrettable that we couldn't deliver it and brought it to an end,

but it was the right thing to do. Financially, the project cotldn t be

afforded in the budget available, that was the build cost and the cost

of delivering the access rights Opposition councillors have weighed

in, saying there was too much risk from the start for this to go ahead

and the biggest lesson is, `fter all of these cuts, Copeland Council are

not in a position to go up to something as ambitious as this. Back

to you. Thank you, still to come: The umpire that doesn't likd

cricket. And a message to whoever is awarded the east coast rail

franchise, we need more trahns. And as the weather turns more

autumnal, join me for the forecast, as well as a quick look back at how

dry the month of September was here in the North.

October marks the start of the heather`burning season

Landowners burn off old growth to encourage new shoots, which

But a five`year study by Ledds University suggests the practice

could be damaging the environment, and polluting water courses.

The tranquillity of the North York Moors.

It doesn't look like an area contributing to climate

change, but the Ember study by Leeds University suggests btrning

moorland can release stored pollutants into the atmosphdre.

Researchers also claimed to have found that the water table depth

was significantly deeper in areas where burning has taken place.

After one of the driest Septembers on record,

this particular part of the North York Moors isn't very satur`ted

Now, the authors of this report suggest that areas like this could

be described as "the Amazon of the UK", because of their ability

Almost everything we studied showed an effect in response to burning.

We found changes in the soil chemistry, in the upper

soil profile, and, cruciallx, the soil is a lot warmer and thdrefore

So peatland organic soils, they store a lot of carbon `nd

as we burn them and dry thel out, we are potentially releasing more

of this carbon, or more carbon than they take back

But landowners like George Wynne`Darley feel

the report tells only one shde of the story and the centurhes`old

If we don't burn and manage the heather, what we do know is we

build up a wildfire risk and with increasing public access and climate

change, we know that the wildfire risk is building up, so we have to

manage the fuel load, we have to manage the veget`tion,

which benefits not just grazing animals and the grouse who provide

the economic driver, but it also provides an ideal habitat for many

Now the authors of the Ember Report say they want to work

with all parties involved to further assess the benefits and

In the next few weeks, we'll find out which private company's going to

Towns across the north`east and North Yorkshire `

including Middlesbrough and Harrogate ` are lobbying

for regular, direct train sdrvices to London to help boost bushness.

Spencer Stokes reports from Harrogate.

The Harrogate Bridal Show is one of the wedding industry's

Visitor numbers are good but there is a feeling

That would be if there were regular direct trains

It could get people up here early in the morning so they are ready

to walk around these exhibits by nine or ten in the morning

and getting them back later in the evening.

It is all about day visitors from the south.

Ride there is only one train into London from Harrogate.

Businesses are hoping they can persuade

whoever wins the East Coast franchise

to provide seven or eight London trains every day.

It is currently run by the Government using the name E`st

Coast, After the previous owners both failed. The route is in the

process of being sold off once again and three firms are in the running

to take over. They are First group, a joint bid by

Virgin and Stagecoach and Etrostar. So what is the chance of Harrogate

getting more London trains? There is encouragement

for a wider variety After the high`profile failtre of

National Express and GNER, `ll those Now it is time to catch up with all

of the sports news with Jeff. Let's start with Middlesbrotgh's

latest attempt to close the gap Boro slipped to eighth

after a disappointing home draw against bottom club Blackpool but `

with other results going thdir way ` they're still only three points

off the automatic promotion places. Middlesbrough's head coach

Aitor Karanka was quite cle`r before kick`off that this w`s the

sort of game his side reallx needed Emmanuel Ledesma's long`range shot

produced a decent save But not long afterwards, thd home

side took the lead from a free`kick, some head tennis, and then ` looping

header from Daniel Ayala, which gave the 15,000 crowd hope of a return to

winning ways after Saturday's Joan Oriol's fine cross, ev`ding

the Boro defence, and Ishmadl Miller prodding home two ye`rs after

a loan spell at the Riverside. They could even have taken the lead

` a deflected shot producing And winless Blackpool even hit

the woodwork. Boro did have a period

of dominance in the second half Karanka is now looking

for his side to regain On to rugby union,

and a huge vote of confidence for Cumbrian Stuart Lancaster as England

build up to next year's World Cup. Lancaster ` who's from Penrhth `

has had his contract as the national team's Head Coach

extended until 2020. The deal will take the formdr Leeds

coach through the next two World Cups, including

the 2019 tournament in Japan. 's Michael Gove has been out in the

middle as umpire for major tournaments in New Zealand `nd the

United Arab Emirates, but most predicted a Test match caredr as a

player. So what went wrong? MUSIC: "I Don't Like Cricket"

by 10CC As a youngster, Michael Gough

seemed to have it all. Captain of the England under`19

team, a tall, upright opening batsmen, decent off`spin bowler and

a full`time contract with hhs local Even from being a 17`year`old,

really, I haven't really enjoyed playing cricket and it may sound

stupid and be weird for somd people to listen to, but it was never

something I really enjoyed. It was a few years in the m`king, I

was 22, 23, I still had a ydar left on my contract and obviouslx told

the club how I felt and thex agreed to have a sabbatical for thd last

year of my contract, take a bit of time out and see how I felt,

and as soon as I had that sdason away, I realised I didn't w`nt to

come back into playing cricket. So you are spending even more

time on the cricket field now? I mean, as a player,

the way I batted, I wasn't out in the middle very long, but no

you are right in the field for seven or eight hours at a thme, but

it is something I very much enjoy. He was out in the middle in Lord's

just the other week as Durh`m lifted So how often do his old teal`mates

jokingly ask for a helping hand Even from the fans as well,

asking for a few favours. But when you cross the whitd line,

you have a job to do Hopefully the next step for me will

be the international panel, the elite panel of umpires throtghout

the world, but, again, I just take each day as it comes and hopefully

do the best job I can and the guys respect the job I do and likewise

with them. Not bad for a Hartlepool I live there as well, still in

Hartlepool, so it is great for me. I have never moved

and probably never will. It is just a shame the football team

are not doing so well at thd moment. MUSIC: "Dreadlock Holiday"

by 10CC It is difficult to leave thd career

you are good at. All similar decision to make when he left male

modelling to do the weather. You can't have too much of ` good

thing. We have heard about provisional figures for September

but just how dry was it in the North of England? The figures are coming

in now. Haydon Bridge had ldss than half of the normal September

rainfall, just 29.3 millibars. Carlton in Cleveland had just over a

quarter at 17.5, but the re`lly notable figures come from Ctmbria.

Fromberg, just seven points six millimetres of rain, that is 10 of

the normal September averagd `` seven points six. You have to go

back to 1884 to find an equ`lly dry September. Things are changhng more

autumnal, this weather front brought us more clout, a few wet spots

today, but it is moving awax and we will notice a difference in

temperatures tonight, and under clear skies and light winds, we will

see one or two patches of mhst forming but it is the temperatures

we will notice, cold enough for a touch of grass frost in rur`l areas

as we had through the early hours. A cold start tomorrow. Dry and sunny,

any early patches of mist should lift and clear. Plenty of stnshine

through the morning, a bit lore in the way of cloud for the afternoon

but still dry and bright for most of us and the winds will survex fairly

light until late in the day, when that southerly will begin to freshen

up. Temperatures will peak tomorrow at around 16 or 17 Celsius. Tomorrow

night, the next weather front comes in from the north`west and this

looks like a much more pronounced feature than the last coupld of

fronts. It is slow`moving, heavy rain on it and it pushes aw`y as we

head into the weekend, so so sunshine and blustery showers and

the of organised weather by the tail of the weekend. After that chilly

start tomorrow, plenty of stnshine per most of us. A different story on

Friday, thanks to that front on Friday, plenty of cloud, he`vy rain

and gusty winds. That should clear way, the more persistent rahn should

clear away so by the weekend, yes, some sunshine and some blustery

showers thrown in. Temperattres are bit cooler, and it will feel breezy,

so all in all, a bit more lhke autumn over the next few daxs.

Thank you, Paul, join us on the sofa. We will be back at around

10:25 p.m.. Hope you can john us then. Have a good evening. Goodbye.