06/08/2013 Look North (Yorkshire)

Look North. On tonight's programme: The 999 call handler on sick leave

who was tracked by a private detective hired by her bosses.

Totally unbelievable. I am a normal person. We ask who is monitoring

who. Also tonight: We're on patrol with South Yorkshire police as they

a report a record low in road fatalities.

And will a giant steel man ever gaze over the M1 at Tinsley? Or has a

multi-million pound art project stalled? This was the view this

afternoon. A fair amount of cloud in the sky but it was a good day. I

will be back later in the programme their lowest number of road deaths

since records began. Last year half as many people were killed on the

county's roads compared with ten years ago. But, when Our

Correspondent John Cundy was given exclusive access to follow one

traffic officer's day, there was a dramatic reminder of how suddenly

danger can strike. Speed enforcement in Barnsley. Some days can be more

dramatic than others. Five vehicles have collided on the A1 near

Doncaster. This high -- Steve's high-speed driving skills take us

there. It seems to be getting their area -- narrower. We look at the

severity of the casualties and it will dictate the emergency services

response. It will appear to be a five vehicle collision that has

brought this problem. The gentleman here has substantial whiplash.

nasty incident but the roads of South Yorkshire are officially

getting safer. Ten years ago there were 65 deaths on the county's robes

and that was cut by half in 2011 and last year, 29 deaths, the lowest on

record. It is about education people and for them to take responsibility

on the roads. We do have people killed on the roads and by taking

your eye off the ball and not maintaining your car, you might

contribute to that in the future. The daily moves on where on the hard

shoulder of the M, south of Rotherham. There are rules about how

much load they can carry, how many hours their drivers can drive and we

are here to make sure everybody is abiding by the rules and keeping

everybody safe. That includes a motorist with a punctured tyre.

gentleman can't change his wheel which leads him vulnerable. He is on

to the recovery agent and we will see how we can get him off the

motorway. The figures are showing the roads are getting safer but on

this road, it is a reminder that there is never room for complacency.

Residents living in a flood hit village in the Calder Valley say

they fear it may become impossible to get flood insurance in future.

Last week, 90 homes in Walsden, near Todmorden, were inundated after a

culvert burst following heavy rain. The deluge ripped up the road and

submerged the main Leeds to Manchester rail line. They were

still claiming their homes eight days after the flood water engulfed

properties. It is just starting to buckle the floor over this area. You

can see the sludge. It is Earth from the garden across the road.

Richard's house was swamped. The ground floor was covered in a coffee

covered silt. He is happy to move out. Minimum, six months, maximum,

nine months. What has got to be done? The floorboards outs,

plasterboard is up. All the doors ripped out. Kitchen, nearly

everything new downstairs. Further down the street, Hadley faces

devastation. All of the carpets have been ripped out. It is dirty, wet

and smelly. We have the towels here that have soaked up the water.

also runs a local gym and that was all so flooded. He has got his

business running again. We haven't come to a total figure yet but we

are looking at hitting the thousands. The problem we have at

the minute is whether the landlord's insurance will cover

everything. It is heartbreaking to see some of the damage but people

here have told us that they fear wrangling over who is responsible

for the flooding here will cause delays to insurance pay-outs.

happy to talk to people with issues they are having. In terms of the

work here, what we are doing is making sure we know what the best

solutions are so we can not only repair the damage but minimise the

chances of it happening again. repairs will take time and

need. Later, fighting for the right to

die. A 22-year-old man facing a terminal illness joins the campaign

to change the law on assisted dying. West Yorkshire Fire Service has paid

�11,000 compensation to one of its staff who found a tracking device

had been secretly fitted to her private car. The device had been put

there by a private investigator who had been hired to check out whether

she should have on been on sick leave. Trade unions and civil

liberties organisations say the Fire Service's actions were outrageous.

Anthea got a shock when she checked under her car. What she found wasn't

put there by the manufacturer. track fell down. This wallet was

stuck by magnets. What was inside? The GPS units. This is a tracker

device and by adding to it this Sim card, remotely come whoever put it

there, can find out where this car has been and when. At the time,

Anthea was on sick leave from West Yorkshire Fire Service rescue

service near Bradford. When challenged, managers admitted the

truck had been put there by private investigators hired to see if she

really was ill. It sounds like James Bond. Totally disproportionate,

unbelievable. I am a normal person and I can't believe, not that they

would stoop so low, but the fact that it was authorised. It is not

right. Anthea believes this is why her car was bugged. She runs a

business on the sideline for party balloons. They shouldn't be allowed

to look at your life like that. If they ask the question, they are

likely to get the fans are you looking for. She has now left the

fire service with �11,000 compensation but no apology. We know

of at least one other occurrence that has happened. The individual is

going to an employment tribunal over this same issue of being

investigated by a private investigator. West Yorkshire Fire

Service queue service refused to comment on the use of private

investigators or tracker devices. They are clearly concerned this is

an issue that is not going to go away.

Well Big Brother Watch is an organisation which campaigns to

defend civil liberties and protect privacy. Its director Nick Pickles

joins us now from Westminster. People will be shocked to hear that

a fire authority with using these powers to monitor one of their own

staff. It is a disproportionate use of these powers and frankly a

reminder that the law needs changing to stop this abuse happening.

this day and age, employers monitor staff through computers and phones.

Workers don't expect privacy any more, do they? People appreciate

there is a barrier. If people are concerned about why some money off

sick, they can ask them and talk to them and use occupational health. It

is overstepping the mark for putting private detectives and tracking

devices under people's cars. If the FBI have to go to court to get a

warrant to do this in America, it is laughable that the fire authorities

in Britain don't have to go through any cheque. Letters talk about the

law. It is a grey area, to say the least. -- let us talk about law.

They haven't made a change for fire authorities to get a warrant. We

have to put greater checks in place to make sure any public authority

wanting to use private investigators, covert surveillance

or tracking, needs to get a court warrant before they can do it.

company is monitoring rather than managing staff? We did some research

and there is a trend through more public sector organisations using

private detectives and we are seeing a trend of private companies using

things like Facebook and Internet marketing on their staff. Employment

law needs to catch up otherwise we'll have a lot of companies

whenever you want to work there and the stat that do the work there feel

under surveillance. -- staff. have Facebook and Twitter. This is

why we have to have an honest conversation with your staff. I

don't know why any private company would dream of using these tactics

because it would look so bad on them and it would really make their staff

and comfortable. They need to take this responsibly and say rather than

intruding on their staff's privity, they should have an honest dialogue

with staff first. Meanwhile, a draft plan on how to

manage the risk of flooding in Sheffield has been published by the

council. It was developed after the city suffered badly from flooding in

2007. The new strategy, developed alongside the Environment Agency,

sets out how incidents would be handled across the city. The council

is now asking people for their views before the plan goes for approval in

November. In other news, a 38-year-old woman

is recovering in Sheffield after being mistakenly attacked by a

police dog. It happened on Sunday afternoon on Fife Street in

Wincobank. Police were called there after reports of teenagers fighting.

During a chase the woman was bitten on the arm by the dog. Her injuries

are described as serious. Meanwhile, police are investigating

an incident in Rawmarsh where a 2-year-old girl was bitten by a

Rottweiler. The toddler was taken to Rotherham General Hospital suffering

from serious injuries to her head and leg. She's since been

transferred to Sheffield Children's Hospital. The dog is believed to be

a family pet. Plans for a multi-million pound

leisure and retail complex in Catterick Garrison have got the

go-ahead. 700 jobs could be created with the construction of new shops,

a cinema, cafes, restaurants and a hotel on a former sports ground on

Gough Road. But Richmondshire District Council says the plans are

still subject to certain commitments from the developers.

A semi professional rugby player from Huddersfield is the youngest

person to join a campaign to change the law on assisted dying.

22-year-old Josh Cook has inherited a faulty gene which means he'll

develop Huntington's Disease in the future. He says he may want to be

able to end his life if his suffering becomes unbearable.

He is fit and active as you would expect from a 22-year-old. Josh is a

semiprofessional rugby player but in around 30 years time, he will lose

the ability to walk and talk. He has tested positive for the inherited

gene that causes Huntington's Disease. I should have until I am 50

years old for the symptoms to stop that range from muscle spasms to not

being able to remember who anybody else is. I will not be able to walk,

be incontinent and not be able to do the simple things like know my

mum's name, my birthday and my name. Huntington's Disease is very rare

and it affects the person's muscle control, their thoughts and other

things. Josh's mum knows she will develop Huntington's Disease. Lisa

wants assisted dying made illegal in Britain and now Josh has become the

youngest person to join the campaign. I would rather be able to

die peacefully than any other way. You have the courage and the self

belief to go through that and go through your illness to its end. For

me, I can't do that. I have always been active and out having a laugh

and I want that be the way I will be remembered not stuck in a house and

choking. Today, a Sheffield GP is warning against a change in the law

saying they should be more focus on palliative care. Health care is

about caring and loving people and finding a way through. There is the

important sites that polity -- palliative care is developing all

the time and it needs more funding. For now, Josh is focusing on staying

healthy and living his life to the fore with a little help from his

friends. Before seven o'clock: Another

Sheffield sporting star? Meet Mukhtar Mohammed - the latest

athlete from the steel city training Valley, where not one, but two

pieces of art work are planned. One is a giant sculpture of a man

sitting on a tower, fashioned out of stainless steel gazing over the

motorway. The other was planned as a legacy to

the demolished Tinsley cooling towers and was being promoted by the

city council as a �4 million development. However, Look North

understands that plan will now be scaled back. Tom Ingall is there for

us live this evening. It is hard to believe that it is

five years since the cooling towers were blown up on August bank holiday

night. This area doesn't pause to breathe because there is another

power station under construction on the far side of the motorway. 20

years from now, right above my head would be where HS2 will be zooming

off to Leeds. This area is planning to be home to public work. The first

is supposed to be on that hill over there gazing out across the Don

Valley, a gigantic man of steel. This is a scale model. This piece of

sculpture on display is already four metres tall. The finished product

will be more than 30 metres tall. You have that black tower that you

will be able to climb out and look out. The people behind this project

say it will connect with the heritage but it will have

educational benefit and it will bring in around �9 million to the

economy every year. I asked the project manager how he was getting

on. The engineering and the modelling has been done. We have

�800,000 of material support and resourcing and what we need to do is

focus on the fundraising. How much money do you need to find? Overall

�3 million. We have interest from companies and we are considering

another application. It will be delivered through the private

sector. It is not a burden on the ratepayer. That is the man of steel.

The next step is to wage and the millions of pounds needed to build

it. The other project, two years ago on the north we revealed Sheffield

City Council plans to spend �4 million on a significant piece of

regeneration. Their plans were different to the man of steel. They

envisaged smaller sculptures strode around the top half of the lower Don

Valley linked by a mini sculpture Trail. There is money in the pot for

that project, half �1 million. It was a legacy when they blew up the

towers. That money remains unspent and artists haven't been invited to

submit ideas to this project. We asked them what is going on? They

said they are still committed to it and in these difficult times they

want to deliver a project that is affordable and deliverable. We

understand this project will be scaled back and won't cost �4

million. They will probably spend half �1 million. Sheffield City

Council wants to talk to artists and communities about what they want to

see here. If they happen, you will have something to look at as you go

whizzing past on HS2. Some sport now, and three Yorkshire

players have been selected for England ahead of the women's Ashes

series which gets underway on Sunday. Barnsley's Katherine Brunt

returns to the squad after a spell out with injury. Danielle Hazell and

Lauren Winfield are also picked. There'll be one test, three one day

games and three twenty over matches against Australia.

The head coach of British swimming says Ponds Forge in Sheffield isn't

a suitable venue for the national trials. Bill Furniss claims the

Olympic sized pool is too fast, and swimmers get times they can't match

elsewhere. Trials are regularly held at Ponds Forge but Furniss says that

should change. They'll take place in Glasgow ahead of next year's

Commonwealth Games but no decision has been taken beyond that.

Why is it faster there? Bizarre. In football, Bradford City are back in

Capital One Cup action following last season's heroics which saw them

beat three Premier League teams before eventually losing to Swansea

in the final. They take on Huddersfield in a tasty West

Yorkshire derby in Round One tonight. Full match commentary on

Radio Leeds. Meanwhile Radio Sheffield will have commentary on

another derby - Rotherham against Sheffield Wednesday. And we'll bring

you the results from all the ties involving our teams on our late

bulletin at 10.25. Meanwhile Bradford City's mascot

City Gent has lost his job after nearly two decades because he's not

fat enough. Lenny Berry has been dressing as the character based on a

former chairman since 1994. He lost seven stone after being diagnosed

with diabetes. The club says his physical appearance has become an

issue because it's so different from the original concept. City offered

him a sumo-style suit to get round the problem, but Lenny has refused.

Now Sheffield has a reputation for producing top class athletes such as

Jessica Ennis-Hill and Seb Coe. Well the city's latest potential champion

is middle distance runner Mukhtar Mohammed. He started life in Somalia

but hopes to be the best in the world for Great Britain. Ian

take the bronze. Mukhtar Mohammed announced himself as a world-class

800 metre runner. Taking the bronze indoors in thrilling fashion here.

He trains at Loughborough University. He is lottery funded and

part of the Great Britain elite squad. His story starts in Somalia.

That is where he was born and the family fled the civil war there when

he was 12 years old. I just remembered gun shooting, a lot of

screaming. I spoke to my mum about what happened when I was young. I

used to hear her crying at night. One time I said I had had enough and

One time I said I had had enough and wanted to leave. She brought us

wanted to leave. She brought us came

came to

came to Sheffield

came to Sheffield as

came to Sheffield as refugees will stop he found it hard to settle into

stop he found it hard to settle into his new life. I used to get bullied

for being from Somalia. After a few weeks when they found out that I

liked running, I played football and I was really good. Sporting wise, it

changed their minds. His sporting skills earned him a third ship at

Sheffield Wednesday. When he was 18, he turned his talents to athletics

and hasn't looked back. He is getting better. I think he could be

world class. He can definitely be world-class over 800 and 1500

metres. It is crucial that it makes the next Olympic games. That is his

target or so and after everything he has been through, he feels he is

ready for anything that may stand in his way on the track.

Want to watch for the future. Now a look at the weather. You were

moaning last night that it was cold. temperatures -- at the photographs

from last night. A bit cloudy there today. It was brighter when this

picture was taken on the Leeds/Liverpool Canal. The cloud has

quieter day today and another one on the forecast for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, there could be more sunshine. Most places will stay dry.

You can see that precious charge bringing us settled conditions over

the next couple of days. It could start of pleasant but there is some

cloud and patchy rain through the middle part of Friday.

Disappointingly cloudy and you can see over the next couple of hours

will be the brightest part of the day. There will be sunny spells to

end the day. Quite a lot of moisture overnight. We could have some patchy

mist and fog here on the coast. Another cool night on the cards.

Temperatures, sorry, these are the day. Cloud will bubble up through

the course of the day and there could be the odd isolated shower,

particularly across the South. Most places will stay dry with variable

amounts of cloud. Not a bad day. Cooler along the coast. We have a

north-westerly breeze. Inland and we get up to 21 Celsius. On Thursday,