16/12/2011 Look North (Yorkshire)

Welcome to Look North. Tonight, a huge pay-out. A doctor gets nearly

�4.5 million in compensation after a hospital trust is found guilty of

sex discrimination. We find out what it means for the trust, which

is already heavily in debt. Also, going nowhere fast. The hard-

up Sheffield snowboarder forced to train on artificial snow, rather

than with his team-mates in the Alps.

And after a 20-year break, the most famous vet on television returns to

our screens. We speak to James Herriot's son. It will be a cold

weekend. Join me for your weekend forecast.

Good evening. The NHS trust that runs services in

Castleford, Pontefract, Dewsbury and Wakefield has been ordered to

pay millions of pounds in compensation to a doctor who was

bullied so badly, she may never work again. The order comes on the

same day that the towns' MPs demanded outside help to run the

trust. They say they have lost confidence in the trust's

management and it has betrayed its patients. Cathy Killick reports.

They have called for action once, but after being ignored, they have

been forced to try again. Three Yorkshire MPs visited the trust

today to demand the reopening of overnight A&E services at

Pontefract Hospital. It closed the service six weeks ago, forcing

patients to travel to Pinderfields Hospital instead. The MPs say this

is unacceptable. We want outside help to be brought in. We do not

think the trust can sorted out. We need outside help to get it reopen

so Pontefract can have services it needs. The trust says it cannot

recruit doctors needed. It is also millions of pounds in debt and also

learn today it must pay �4.5 million compensation to a doctor

made mentally ill by a deliberate bullying campaign against her. Dr

Eva Michalak was hounded from her job when she had a baby in 2003. In

Having lost the confidence of their MPs, the trust board look

beleaguered. Attention will focus now on waiting times at

Pinderfields Hospital A&E, which might be busy at Christmas when GP

surgeries are closed. Ten fire stations in West Yorkshire

are to close in a move to save millions of pounds. 100 firefighter

jobs will also be lost. The ten stations that are closing are at

Gipton, Stanks, Rawdon, Otley, Brighouse, Elland, Hemsworth, South

Elmsall, Batley and Dewsbury. They will be replaced with five new

super-stations at Killingbeck, Menston, Rastrick, South Kirby and

The cuts were approved at a meeting of West Yorkshire Fire Authority

today. Ian White reports. This is a blue light response for

fire crews in West Yorkshire. The way the county gets its emergency

cover will change dramatically over the next four years after the Fire

Authority agreed jobs should be cut and 10 stations closed as it tries

to save millions. There has been a fire station in Gipton since 1987

and it is one of the busiest in Yorkshire. The fire authority does

-- decided it should close. People are not happy. I do not agree. It

should stay where it is. It is disgusting. The traffic is

struggling here. If we have a fire and they have to come from further

away, it will be a problem. union reacted angrily and said it

would have an impact on firefighters. They know what to a

reduction of 135 firefighters means. We will be busier. Lives, of

members of the public, and their own lives, they will be put at risk

because of extended travel times to fires. They will be angry. The fire

authority said it was a tough decision. Guarantee these are

difficult to give. We have put the business case for it to demonstrate

that safety of the public is paramount in this authority. We are

trying to make sure that the right equipment is in the right place at

the right time. The changes will be phased in over the next four years.

There will be five new large stations replacing the 10 old ones.

Later on Look North, we find out how the Halifax rugby fan who was

paralysed by a brutal attack, is coping 15 months on.

In other news, motorists have been facing severe congestion for much

of the day after the A1 near Wetherby was closed following a

lorry crash. The stretch between junctions 44 and 45 was shut after

a multi-vehicle collision. An HGV overturned, sliding through the

central reservation and shedding its load of cardboard, which

scattered over both carriageways. One man is being treated for

serious injuries. One northbound lane has reopened, but the rest of

the road is unlikely to open until 8pm.

Food safety officers have warned Christmas shoppers in York to

beware of counterfeit vodka that could be a danger to health.

Several cases of the Drop Vodka brand have been seized from city

off-licences. Analysis has shown it contains industrial alcohol,

chloroform and water and could be carcinogenic if consumed in large

quantities. You do not want to drink it. It will not cause you any

harm if you happen to have one drink of it, but if you were

drinking it over a long time it could be carcinogenic. A bit like

smoking, if you expose yourself to smoking over a number of years.

Halifax rugby fan left paralysed after being attacked after a game

says he hopes to walk again. David Singer was on his way home from the

Championship grand final in Warrington last year. He was

punched to the ground. Nobody has been charged with the attack.

He used to cradle him as a baby. Now, his father never thought he

would have to do the same when he was an adult. It is 15 months since

his 33-year-old son was attacked. He uses a wheelchair and has looked

after at a care home. There were a group of lads. They punched me. I

fell to the ground and I managed to get up and they came back and did

it again. He had watched Halifax beat Featherstone at Warrington.

There had been tension between fans. After the game, he was set upon as

coach loads of people looked on. Despite four rests, nobody has ever

been charged. -- arrests. I was left-handed. I cannot use my left

side now. I cannot use my fork out the table with my left hand. I

cannot cut my foot up. Before the attack, he was a technician with

the Yorkshire ambulance service with an active social life and a

love of travel. The injuries were so severe he spent two weeks in a

coma. Part of his goal hat to be removed, leaving him paralysed.

was actually supporting us, as his old parents, he was doing insurance

policies, and the car insurance. Now the roles have been reversed.

We are looking after David like he was a child, because he has to

press a button to sit up. We have to get him into the wheelchair.

hopes to be able to return home soon and eventually learn to walk

again. With so much determination, who dares to bet against him?

We wish him well. Before 7pm. Everybody's favourite TV vet James

Herriot returns to the television in a new series. We speak to his

son. And the train driver who dedicated 60 years of his life to

the railways. Now, the sport. While you were

recovering, Jonny Bairstow did well. He is talented.

You were tweeting each other. And Brooks. They are the future.

They have been named in a Lions tour to go to Bangladesh. We were

talking about Jason Gillespie. He said these young guys, they have

had a few England players. Even though Yorkshire got relegated.

Jonny Bairstow. You are smiling, watching him. They do well for

Yorkshire. Gillespie, he has positive play.

You cannot get more positive. Absolutely. He came from nowhere.

We previewed the season. The reporter stayed with him. He could

not believe how young he was. He is a talent. The youngsters coming

through, they are a young squad. There is another young lad, Mills,

plays for Essex but born in Dewsbury. They are taking him. If

you look at the squad. I think Johnny should have gone to

Pakistan. If there are any the -- any

injuries, he will be good to go. Football, and you do not have to go

far to pick the big game. The way trip is 25 miles for Huddersfield

Town as they visit Sheffield Wednesday for the clash of the

League One promotion rivals. The same colours, blue and white,

and the same Yorkshire pride in both clubs. The distance between

Sheffield Wednesday and Huddersfield in the promotion race

has been too close for neighbourly comfort. After 20 matches, it is

second against 4th in the table. The Derby could well resurface next

season in the Championship. I would love Sheffield to be playing

Championship football. If anybody else is there, it is down to them.

Both clubs are well supported. They have the infrastructure. They have

ambition to be playing. In it is a big game in its own context, a

local derby. We are close to each other in the league. They are doing

fantastically well. They are coming off the back of a disappointing

performance they will want to rectify. It has all the ingredients.

At Hillsborough, Wednesday are not -- unbeaten so far. They have an

impressive defensive record. Huddersfield Town have some

spectacular performances. They have come on their travels. There is a

long way to go. It is psychological, whoever wins might have the edge.

In it is pivotal. We have a good record at home. The biggest

attendance at Hillsborough this season was just over 24,500. That

will be challenged. That is the only thing you can predict in this

match. That will be a great game.

What is your best golf round? Nothing like Lee Westwood's. He is

playing the best golf of his life. Yesterday, he said if it carries

on... And today again. A poor round, 64! Imagine hitting

Worksop's Lee Westwood has a massive 13 shot lead after two

rounds of the Thailand Golf Championship. He followed up his

career best 60 with a round of 64. It gives him a halfway score of 124,

tied with the lowest-ever 36 hole total on the Asian Tour. Afterwards,

Westwood said on Twitter that it is "for sure, the best I've ever

played." Yorkshire is to have a new top

level netball team. The Yorkshire Jets have been awarded a

Superleague franchise. They will play matches across the region,

including in Leeds and Sheffield from the New Year. The captain

hopes it will raise the profile of the sport in the region. Everyone

gets a stereotype of a netball, but it does not like that any more. It

is more physical, and demanding. You should definitely come and

watch to find out. A Sheffield snowboarder, who has

just made it onto Team GB, has had to miss his first national training

session because he couldn't afford it. Tom Farrow, who's 23, should be

on the French slopes right now with the rest of the British team, but

instead, he's still here in Yorkshire training on artificial

snow and working in Pizza Hut. Emma Blackburn went to meet him.

It is fast, fun and not for the faint-hearted. Tom Farrow has

mastered the skill of snowboarding, and has been picked for the British

team, but it comes with a price tag. I am going to spend �10,000. I have

missed at the training camp, and cannot afford to eat or buy new

equipment. I am owning a two-year- old to snowboard, that is not even

mind. It is not just the snow in his life, he is funding his

ambition by delivering pizzas. His takeaway tips or make all the

difference. Bed is a different world, as well. -- it is a

different world. I am managing to work five days, which is good. Then

a rush from what work to a Snow Dome, and getting it in another two

days of training. Meeting the cost is an uphill struggle. It is a

frustrating and difficult and not ideal, but with that, I am

snowboarding much more than my word before, and I'm grateful for that

opportunity. -- much more than before.

And before I go, let me transport you to somewhere more exotic. Where

could this be? Somewhere warm, with the surf up. Hawaii, perhaps? No,

it's Castleford! This is a FlowRider, which simulates waves

and let's you experience what it might be like to be out on the seas.

Alongside those who knew what they were doing at Xscape today were

some of the Castleford Tigers players, who gave it a go. Good

experience. First at De Meyer their -- first time I have never done

anything like that. I will hope you get better as it goes a long.

Artificial snow, artificial waves. He once stirred razzle dazzle

America. -- he wants to. Fingers crossed for him.

One thing about him, he is confident.

Absolutely. We could do with another world

champion in Yorkshire. I am so excited, I cannot wait! I will put

my pyjamas on, and turn my telly on. A bit over-the-top for Look North,

isn't it?! Now, All Creatures Great And Small

was one of the most popular series to appear on TV. It was based on

the books of James Herriot, and followed his exploits as a vet in

the Yorkshire Dales. Well, this weekend, the character of James

Herriot will be back on our TV screens in a new drama which looks

at his early life as a trainee vet. You are late. I am very sorry, sir.

Professor. It won't happen again, Professor. I am glad you can be

assured Mr... James Herriot. That should whet your appetite.

I you excited about this? Yes. This was the brainchild of the

scriptwriter of the television series, and Johnny had this thing

about doing a prequel of my father's days in Glasgow. We have

been singing the theme tune, we have just realised! It is 20 years

ago. 30 years ago. When I was researching my book, I discovered

diaries my dad had written in his rhetoric college days, in his

schooldays. There he is. I can see the resemblance! That is then our

old surgery. -- that is. When he was at Glasgow, his idea was to be

a small animal vet, but coming to Yorkshire, dogs and cats were a

sideline. It was the cows, pigs, sheep and horses that was his big

thing. Added people call them veteran? Yes, and they still do. I

have seen little snippets of the series. The stories are fictional,

but the background is authentic. They have recruited that they to

acknowledge that my father was educated in, and I was as well. It

was not pumping station for Glasgow Corporation. It was a fascinating

place. It was a dump, but inside there, there was by Brazil, warmth,

and we had a wonderful time. -- there was warmth. Other going to

redo the old series? I don't know why the BBC don't do that. James

Herriot is incredibly important for the tourism and hour region. -- in

our region. This is the Herriott museum. It has been a difficult

year, hasn't it? Yes. At numbers have gone down with the economic

downturn, and we have got a business manager in there now, and

hope Lee, things will turn out better. -- hopefully. Thirsk is a

lovely place, but why do tourists go there? James Herriot, that is

the reason. If it closed down, it would be a disaster. We try and

encourage people to go. If you can the visitor book, the comments are

always very good. People love the place. Do you know what I will buy

the Christmas presents? The books! I am so glad you said books as well.

That in the series was good, but I envy anyone who has not read the

James Herriot books. They are so Now, not many of us can imagine

doing the same thing for 60 years. But that's Gerry Skelton's story.

These days, he's an engine driver on the North Yorkshire Moors

Railway. But he began his career with steam 60 years ago, when he

signed on as an engine cleaner at York Shed. He's been sharing a few

memories with Alan Whitehouse. Jerry could do this job in his

sleep. He may have notched up 60 years, but still have living

memories of his early days. started off as an engine cleaner,

and the first locomotive was this. We saw these steam engines. He had

at years working all hours, in full the conditions, but for promotion

came his way. -- in awful conditions. I got made a farmer,

and worked my way up. -- firemen. He was finally made a driver.

1968, I got passed on to the driver. When retirement came around, there

was only one thing he could do. came up here. It all came back to

me, very quickly. He knows her Yorkshire more limelight the back

of his hand, so what is the Let me show you two pictures. That

is beautiful. That is from Howarth. Lovely pictures. Send us your

pictures. You can also tweet them. Let us start with the usual. A -- a

warning for ice. Of concern, we have got showers pushing back in

from the north-east. Tomorrow, sunny spells, and wintry showers.

This weekend, it will be cold, but next week, Mark their tries to get

back in, and we could get temperatures up to ten degrees. But

in the short term, it is cold out there. A band of showers comes

through. As they push south-east would, they will fizzle out. There

is a risk that showers could be wintry. The sun will rise in the

morning at 819 M. -- A M. Then we will have this band of rain pushing

pretty quickly eastwards, followed bike brighter conditions with sunny

spells, but er the wintry showers may not be far away. It is a bit of

a showery and cold picture. At Scarborough, a bracing day.

Temperatures over the hills nearer three degrees. Doncaster might get

up to five degrees. Icy again on Saturday night, and on Sunday, more