07/02/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening and welcome to the late Look North.

Tonight - Hundreds of former coking plant workers

and their relatives sue British Steel, claiming they were

Returning to the era of new council houses.

The first in 30 years are built in Sheffield,

The weather is set to get colder over the next few days. I will be

back later with the details. A High Court action is to be taken

by lawyers on behalf of hundreds of former steel workers

including more than It's claimed their job exposed them

to toxic substances in British Steel coking plants dating back

to the Second World War. For years, Terry worked in the

coking works. His family are adamant it was

the exposure to dust and fumes which were responsible

for Terry's death years later. You plan everything and then it

stops dead instantly. These conditions they were exposed

to four decades until more Lawyer David Johnson

who is representing his widow and 325

other coke workers. I've met a number of individuals

that have passed away. One individual I met

three days before These individuals go to work,

they expect to be healthy. They go there to earn money and

these individuals have conditions There is a lot of

people out there and they need to know that

they can put a claim in. You can get justice if you have

lost your husband and they are ill and have not been able

to work for how many years. Lives change through

a job like that. He was on good money but look

what happened at the British Steel told us

they are aware of the claims made against them but say while legal

action continues, they cannot This is a group action -

how significant is that? It is the first step in the court

process but an important one. It is a group litigation order which can

be approved. Those steelworkers feel they have a case on behalf of heard

as a group rather than individuals. In the long term it will be cheaper

but will avoid the claimants having to go through the same process on

their own. There are currently 325 people in that group but the

register is not yet closed. Lawyers suspect there are hundreds more

steelworkers out there who could still be added to that register. Is

there any indication on how strong the case will be? Lung cancer was a

serious disease back in 2012. They admitted that Coke fumes do cause

lung cancer. They dispute whether they got lung cancer from working on

these plants and got enough exposure to cause these diseases. The case

could take two to three years to reach a conclusion and that it is

time that some of these claimants may not have. Thank you.

A Scarborough man has avoided jail after being convicted

of using a speed camera jamming device on his car.

Ben Kitto, seen here in the grey suit,

had the laser blocker fitted beneath his number plate

so he could travel at up to 90 miles per hour

The devices which are sold legally as parking sensors,

prevent police from taking an accurate reading.

Campaigners feel the suspended jail sentence given

The legal system is getting far too fond of giving out lenient sentences

which mean families are being let down on criminals are let off the

hook and this isn't acceptable. Norma members of the public do not

have this device. -- normal. You must be aware of using it on the

road and you may have to face higher penalties than a speeding matter.

Sheffield City Council is to put up council tax

by nearly 5%, an increase which includes a 3%

rise specifically to pay for social care.

This equates to an extra 87 pence per week

The council said around 225 jobs will be lost

as it tries to find extra savings of ?40 million next year.

A man who used his car as a weapon to run down a petrol station

attendant as he attempted to drive away with ?120

worth of diesel has been jailed for 17 months.

30-year-old Scott Dearing drove into Michelle Carr

Miss Carr suffered bumps and bruises,

Dearing was jailed having previously pleaded guilty to eight offences,

Protestors in Sheffield were out for a second day to try and prevent

contractors from felling two trees in Nether Edge.

But this afternoon were unable to prevent a third from being

chopped down after protestors were threatened with arrest.

The first new council houses for 30 years have been built in Sheffield,

and they'll provide a thousand homes in the city.

Back in 1980 almost a third of people in England

lived in a council house but today that figure

In Sheffield the number of council houses has halved.

now the local authority owns 40,000 homes.

The 1950s and 60s saw hundreds of thousands of

Families were introduced to brand-new housing

estates with gardens and indoor toilets.

But since the 80s, the number being built has fallen

Margaret Thatcher's right to buy policy saw an

explosion in the number of people buying their homes from local

Today, there are more than 1 million people on waiting lists

That's why here in Sheffield they are now taking

These are the first new council houses to be built in

The plan is for the council to provide an extra

Almost 500 of them will be brand-new.

Most have already been let and some of the families have already

Dean and Sarah have four children all with disabilities or

Dean has osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.

They got the keys to their new home two weeks ago.

We were in a smaller three bedroomed house before.

Three boys with various difficulties and

Once the adaptations are in, we will be well on our way.

Around 40,000 people are registered as wanting a

council house in Sheffield so new homes are vital.

The need for social housing has never been greater.

There was a great need for two and four bedroomed homes.

Presumably the people that movie will have the right

In 15 years, they might not be council

That is true but not everyone wants to own a home.

Sheffield's brand-new council houses are now complete.

They are putting the finishing touches to the

brand-new street before the final families moving.

It will get colder over the next few days. Tomorrow will be cool and it

will cool down for Thursday, Friday and the weekend. A cold day to come

tomorrow. There will be some patchy rain and drizzle which will fizzle

out as we have through the afternoon. The front we will get

tomorrow will bring the patchy rain and it will open its doors to cooler

air from the east. Getting cooler towards the end of the week and into

the weekend. Out there at the moment, we have some mist and fog

which will be replaced by thick cloud spreading westwards overnight.

Perhaps the odd slogan flurry -- snow flurry to the hills. Tomorrow,

a grey morning. Cloud producing patchy drizzle and the odd slow --

snow flurry is possible. The cloud bases will lift as the afternoon

goes on and it will appear brighter with temperatures only getting up to

five Celsius. Cooler as we get to Thursday and Friday. We are looking

at the risk of temperatures drop below freezing. Only getting a

couple of degrees above freezing by day. A lot of cloud around to

Thursday, Friday and the weekend. There will be a few light showers

around Thursday and Friday. There could be some snow mixed in there

and increasingly so as we have through the course of the weekend.

That is it from the late A cold snap is looming. Not here

just yet. Probably tomorrow night on with it. To get properly colder.

Cold easterly winds, going to turn cloudy as well and we've got some

snow showers on the way. Seems like this not out of the question. In the

short term, some cold weather around, certainly across western

areas of the UK. Skies clearing and temperatures dipping away in western