23/03/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

The region's MPs and police forces have made a plea for unity and calm

in the face of yesterday's terrorist attack at Westminster.

They were speaking as it emerged that a north-east boxing trainer

was one of the first to come to the scene of the fatal

With our first report, here's our political

What had been a normal afternoon for the mother of Parliaments,

Parliamentarians, tourists and visitors forced

Among them, GB boxing team coach Tony Davis, from County Durham.

He brandished two knives, I'd seen, attacking one of the policemen.

That's the decision I took to then leap the fence and then try to give

Mr Davis tended to the fatally-injured police officer.

I tried to stem the blood flow with my rain jacket.

I checked his pulse and was trying to make sure he was breathing.

To die in the fashion he did is totally unjust.

His was one of many acts of bravery, and in the Commons today,

tributes to the police and parliamentary officials.

Yesterday two of my constituents were caught up in the attacks,

one of whom was eight months pregnant, and they have asked me

to pass on their gratitude and thanks to the House staff

and the police for the consideration with which they were treated

That personal impact was also felt by another north-east MP,

We were aware pretty quickly that people had died,

not only on the bridge, but also one of the policemen who looks after us

in the House of Commons, who we see every single day.

The most important thing is that, whilst we remain vigilant,

we make it abundantly clear that these people,

whether it was one individual terrorist or a group of terrorists,

do not deviate us from living our normal lives.

It was a day that saw the worst happen, but also saw the best side

Our police forces say there is no specific threat to our region

Nevertheless, security measures are being assessed.

The key response I would like to stress here is about communities

staying together through all of this, because the best method

of tackling terrorist attacks like this is through community

intelligence, communities feeding in with the police.

Here at Northumbria Police headquarters, the flag has been

lowered in respect of those who lost their lives

In efforts to keep the public safe, Northumbria Police has

increased its armed officer recruitment by 50% in the last year,

giving the force more than 100 firearms officers.

Armed officers are already visible in some of our key shopping areas.

In a statement today, Northumbria Police said...

Of course, it makes you think that it could be any

We just go out when we want to. Why not?

If you stop going, you're giving in to them.

As policing is stepped up across our communities,

including at key locations like York Minster

and railway stations, we're urged to stay vigilant.

"There was no corruption and no cover-up" -

the words of the former Chief Executive of Middlesbrough

Council after claims it sold some its prized buildings below

49-year-old Karen Whitmore, a former Assistant Director

of Organisation and Governance, is taking the council

to an employment tribunal after she was made

She claims she was targeted after raising concerns about the way

Karen Whitmore claims she was targeted because she refused

to turn a blind eye to the flawed way that the council was selling off

She said she was told to cover up and hide information about the way

the council handled the sale of Acklam Hall after council

officials agreed a price reduction of ?1.2 million.

She also raised concerns about the way Middlesbrough's Tad Centre

was sold to Ray Mallon's election agent for ?400,000 -

this despite the fact it was valued at up to ?900,000

and there was a higher offer on the table.

Giving evidence to the tribunal, Middlesbrough's former chief

executive said there had been no cover-up and no corruption.

Mike Robinson said he had actually asked Karen to investigate

the sale of Acklam Hall because there were accusations

flying around on social media and in the press.

He said she was never asked to hide facts and actually came back

within a few weeks to say there had been no illegal

Mr Robinson said he had little involvement in the Tad Centre,

but said the preferred bidder had carried out a successful similar

Mike Robinson was then asked about the laddish culture

that was said to have set in at Middlesbrough Council

during his time as chief executive between 2014 and 2016.

The tribunal had been told earlier that senior managers had

referred to women as "posh birds" and "fatties".

He said he didn't recognise that language or that behaviour.

He said Middlesbrough Council was a good place to work and people

He says he also was unaware of any bullying that had taken place

at the council during his time as chief executive.

The tribunal is expected to continue into next week.

Stuart Whincup, BBC Look North, Middlesbrough.

Cumbria has been identified as the worst area in England

when it comes to patients stranded in hospital when

Figures collected by the BBC found that, on average,

between April 2016 and January this year, 103 beds every day were taken

up by patients who didn't need to be in hospital but couldn't be

discharged because of a lack of care to support them at home.

A stay in hospital, seldom looked forward to.

For every patient here there is one key aim -

I've got a wife at home and she's very anxious for me to be at home.

William's being helped by the HomeFirst team,

a mix of health and social care professionals who work

with the voluntary sector to get patients home again.

The process begins as soon as they're admitted to hospital.

There's nothing that can describe being able to promote someone's

independence and getting them back home.

Being in hospital makes people more dependent,

and basically makes people less able to do things for themselves.

A delayed return home doesn't just reduce independence.

It can have a lasting physical impact.

This is a particular problem in Cumbria -

Anyone over 80 years old who spends ten days in an Acute Hospital

is equivalent to ten years of muscle wasting.

So if you imagine your relative who is maybe just struggling

to get up into standing, if they stay in hospital for

If you can't stand, you can't live at home,

so you probably need residential care.

The demand for the HomeFirst team is high here.

Yesterday, looking at figures, of the 553 beds here in Carlisle

and at the hospital in Whitehaven, 88 of those were being used

by people who were medically fit but had nowhere else to go,

something the trust admits is unacceptable.

Quite a lot of the care market, if I can put it that way,

in this area, is under pressure, and beds have been closing,

so we are going to have to find new ways of responding

People who hear this news will automatically say, well,

we do have beds in community hospitals and some of those

In a sense, that's part of the problem.

I understand completely what people say about that.

Just to make a clear point, if I may, which is that none

of those beds will be lost until alternatives are in place.

Cumbria County Council says it takes the delays

Over the next three years, it'll get almost ?22 million

from the Government to meet rising social care costs, used in part

to speed up the move from hospital to home.

Megan Paterson, BBC Look North, Carlisle.

Just before we go to Paul tonight, some of our landmarks have been lit

in the colours of the Union Jack as a mark of solidarity

This is one of them - Penshaw Monument in Sunderland,

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is also lit with the British colours.

Now let's take a look at the weather.

Altogether, a quiet spell of weather over the coming few days. Heading

through the weekend, the cloud was reluctant to break in some places

today, though, and patchy cloud around through the night tonight

still, especially in eastern areas. We hang on to the cloud,

temperatures reasonably high. With clearer skies, more likely to see

frost and temperatures down about zero, and some mist and fog spat led

patches under there. Evidently chilly star and dry start and places

starting dry tomorrow. Something and high cloud at times, and the odd

patch of lower cloud. Nothing more much. Warmer tomorrow with winds

lighter than they have been. Highs into double figures, 12 Celsius in

Penrith there. High pressure keeping the weather much quieter through

tomorrow. High-pressure hanging onto the weekend as well. Probably into

the beginning of the next working week. It keeps us largely dry. After

that fine and dry day tomorrow, with those light winds, Saturday looks

like another dry day. Very little cloud and temperatures 13 or 14

Celsius. Light winds will make it feel quite warm through the

afternoon. Cold overnight, cold enough for frost before we have

another mostly dry day on Sunday. More cloud in eastern areas, and

where the sun comes out it could be 14 Celsius. That's how it's looking

towards the weekend. Now the summary for tomorrow and the National