Browse content similar to 17/05/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines: We're not | :00:08. | :00:15. | |
privatising the force - some services are put out of contract. | :00:15. | :00:20. | |
They are trying to reassure the public that it is not about taking | :00:20. | :00:24. | |
police out of public ownership. Two people are arrested over the | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
brutal attack on a 90 three-year- old in Birmingham. | :00:28. | :00:32. | |
Houses demolished in Cheltenham after a gas explosion - the owners | :00:32. | :00:39. | |
face a 12 month wait to return home. It is just a complete upheaval. It | :00:39. | :00:42. | |
is almost as though life will never be the same. | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
And getting on track - the BMA's World Championship come to | :00:46. | :00:56. | |
:00:56. | :00:58. | ||
Good evening and welcome to Thursday's Midlands Today from the | :00:59. | :01:02. | |
BBC. Tonight: West Midlands Police is not for | :01:02. | :01:05. | |
sale. That was the blunt message from the force's Chief Constable | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
Chris Sims today. He was speaking after accusations from unions that | :01:08. | :01:10. | |
core police services face privatisation. In March, both the | :01:10. | :01:13. | |
West Midlands and Surrey forces invited bids from the private | :01:13. | :01:15. | |
sector for �1.5 billion of policing services. But in another | :01:15. | :01:17. | |
development today, Surrey's Chief Constable announced their plans | :01:17. | :01:22. | |
were being put on hold until after the Olympic Games. Here's our | :01:22. | :01:32. | |
:01:32. | :01:35. | ||
Out on the streets the police are hard at work. They say they're | :01:35. | :01:44. | |
cutting crime to its lowest level in years - down ten per cent. | :01:44. | :01:47. | |
Policing has changed enormously over the years and it is due to | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
change even more. But today's event was about public relations, and the | :01:53. | :01:55. | |
chiefs wanted to put the message across that West Midlands Police is | :01:55. | :02:03. | |
not for sale. The force has to save �126 million. | :02:03. | :02:06. | |
They, along with Surrey Police, are looking at a business partnership. | :02:06. | :02:08. | |
So a private company could take over some existing police roles. | :02:08. | :02:14. | |
But doesn't that mean privatization? No, says the force. | :02:14. | :02:19. | |
We are really trying to reassure the public that this is not about | :02:19. | :02:23. | |
taking police out of public ownership. | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
Unions and the Police Federation called today's event a smokescreen | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
and claimed core police jobs would be privatised. | :02:30. | :02:35. | |
I'm talking about the people who answer 999 calls, the people who | :02:35. | :02:42. | |
deal with crime scenes, the people who handle cases - all of these | :02:42. | :02:45. | |
people are part of the police. Scaremongering, say the police | :02:45. | :02:50. | |
chiefs. We are not asking people to take | :02:50. | :02:58. | |
over as police. Policing is an accountable public service. We are | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
in the Business of correcting some really serious myths that are | :03:01. | :03:03. | |
scaring the public. But the new Chief Constable of | :03:03. | :03:07. | |
Surrey, Lynne Owens, called for a delay in the process and for more | :03:07. | :03:09. | |
public consultation. It's claimed there that private firms have been | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
told that they could bid for jobs like guarding crime scenes, | :03:12. | :03:14. | |
patrolling neighbourhoods and collecting CCTV. One advert by a | :03:14. | :03:16. | |
private security company is offering jobs for child abuse | :03:16. | :03:25. | |
investigators. The Chief Constable denied that his force would | :03:25. | :03:35. | |
privatise such a sensitive role. That is absolutely not what was | :03:35. | :03:43. | |
done as police -- West Midlands Police is trying to do. | :03:43. | :03:46. | |
Investigations are a core part of policing and will continue to be | :03:46. | :03:48. | |
done by police officers. Tonight, West Midlands Police said | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
the decision made by Surrey would not have any impact on the progress | :03:52. | :03:54. | |
of its ongoing tendering process. But questions and controversy | :03:54. | :04:04. | |
:04:04. | :04:05. | ||
surrounding this issue will not go Earlier I spoke to the deputy | :04:05. | :04:07. | |
secretary for the West Midlands Police Federation, Steve Grange, | :04:08. | :04:11. | |
from our studios in Southampton. The Federation represents the | :04:11. | :04:14. | |
interests of rank and file police officers. He gave his thoughts on | :04:14. | :04:24. | |
:04:24. | :04:24. | ||
the comments from Chris Sims. Our concerns with a privatisation | :04:24. | :04:31. | |
issue within the miss Wigan's -- West Midlands - it is a joint thing | :04:31. | :04:36. | |
with Surrey. The Chief Constable there has suspended their part of | :04:36. | :04:43. | |
the programme. It is a jointly funded danger. They are putting in | :04:43. | :04:48. | |
�1 million, we are putting in �2 million, the government �3 million. | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
That is going to have an effect with the bits going forward. There | :04:51. | :04:56. | |
was a bid as conference in London where a procurement nineties has | :04:56. | :05:00. | |
gone out to companies to bid for services. That notice is very far- | :05:00. | :05:03. | |
reaching. Do you think the West Midlands | :05:03. | :05:06. | |
should put this on hold, as they have done in Surrey? | :05:06. | :05:11. | |
I do, yeah. There needs to be a period of consultation. The police | :05:11. | :05:14. | |
authority are going to be asked next week at a meeting in | :05:14. | :05:18. | |
Birmingham as to whether they believe it is right to give the | :05:18. | :05:23. | |
rest of the money to go forward with this venture. I think it is | :05:23. | :05:26. | |
time to actually have some proper consultation and to think about | :05:26. | :05:30. | |
whether this is the best way to go. But Chris since is saying this is | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
back of his work. If you look at the notice, it has | :05:34. | :05:40. | |
gone out to these companies and its is very far-reaching. It covers | :05:40. | :05:45. | |
everything that does not require the power of arrest. I know he said | :05:45. | :05:49. | |
the rank of constable in the West Midlands is sacrosanct. I welcome | :05:49. | :05:55. | |
that. But clearly there are some important functions that these | :05:55. | :05:58. | |
private companies have been asked to take on which it comes down by | :05:58. | :06:04. | |
police staff. -- which are carried done. | :06:04. | :06:06. | |
Detectives investigating a brutal attack on a 93-year-old woman in | :06:06. | :06:08. | |
Birmingham have arrested two people. Emma Winnall suffered severe | :06:08. | :06:12. | |
injuries at her home more than two weeks ago. A man and a woman were | :06:12. | :06:15. | |
arrested this morning and are being questioned on suspicion of assault. | :06:15. | :06:18. | |
We can cross now to our reporter Bob Hockenhull, who's outside Mrs | :06:18. | :06:21. | |
Winnall's home at Moseley in Birmingham. Bob, what more can you | :06:21. | :06:31. | |
:06:31. | :06:34. | ||
tell us about these arrests? A 56-year-old woman and a 28-year- | :06:34. | :06:40. | |
old man were arrested at their home in the neighbouring suburbs just | :06:40. | :06:44. | |
before 6:30am. The police have said that this was not as a result of a | :06:44. | :06:47. | |
tip-off from the public but as a result of information from a | :06:47. | :06:52. | |
routine inquiry. The two are being held as a police station, but they | :06:52. | :06:56. | |
have not said where. This was a crime that are poor people in this | :06:56. | :07:00. | |
area and those living beyond. Emma Winnall suffered a fractured skull, | :07:00. | :07:04. | |
a broken arm and wrist and a partially severed finger in the | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
attack. A reminder of what happened - she was discovered unconscious in | :07:10. | :07:15. | |
her bed and she was covered in blood. On May sixth, she was able | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
to talk to detectives. She told him the attack had left her shocked and | :07:19. | :07:23. | |
confused. On May eighth, her daughter appealed for help to catch | :07:23. | :07:30. | |
the attackers. On May ninth, crime stoppers offered a �5,000 reward. | :07:30. | :07:35. | |
What more have the police been saying this evening? | :07:35. | :07:38. | |
The police have said that Emma Winnall remains in hospital in a | :07:38. | :07:43. | |
poorly condition. That is 17 days after the attack. They say that | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
even though two suspects are in custody, this remains very much an | :07:47. | :07:52. | |
ongoing inquiry. The reward of �5,000 are still on offer and | :07:52. | :08:02. | |
:08:02. | :08:04. | ||
anybody with information can Bob Hockenhull, thank you very much. | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
Still to come in tonight's programme: | :08:06. | :08:09. | |
The Chelsea Flower Show's coming up but one Staffordshire grower's | :08:09. | :08:18. | |
plans have been hit by the wet Families living near the scene of a | :08:18. | :08:21. | |
gas explosion in Cheltenham stayed away as their homes were pulled | :08:21. | :08:24. | |
down today. Two houses had to be destroyed after the blast which | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
shook Rosehill Street a week ago. Many are still living in hotels and | :08:27. | :08:30. | |
rented accommodation. And now others who live nearby are coming | :08:30. | :08:40. | |
:08:40. | :08:46. | ||
together to raise money for their Once again the peace in Rosehill | :08:46. | :08:53. | |
Street is shattered, but this time the demolition is deliberate. With | :08:53. | :08:57. | |
cracks widening by the day, at least two houses either side of the | :08:57. | :09:06. | |
one that exploded have to come down. The property was assessed as beyond | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
repair. In fact it was a dangerous structure. So the council pushed | :09:11. | :09:15. | |
through the legislation so that we could demolish it. | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
Inside these homes, family possessions. Many will be lost | :09:17. | :09:19. | |
forever, but here the demolition teams have been salvaging | :09:19. | :09:22. | |
belongings. It may not be much, but for the | :09:22. | :09:26. | |
families it's a small reminder of what was once their home. The | :09:26. | :09:29. | |
community is pulling together here, though. A planned street party is | :09:29. | :09:36. | |
still going ahead to raise money for those affected by the explosion. | :09:36. | :09:39. | |
We're going to send out letters to local businesses over the next week | :09:39. | :09:46. | |
to see how they can help. If they have got anything to donate to last, | :09:46. | :09:56. | |
:09:56. | :09:58. | ||
that could be really helpful. -- to In contrast, at a school, the | :09:58. | :10:01. | |
annual charitable fund day. But this year it's taken on added | :10:01. | :10:04. | |
meaning. Enjoying throwing wet sponges at pictures of her teachers | :10:04. | :10:06. | |
is Catherine Drinkwater. It's a welcome distraction because it's | :10:06. | :10:08. | |
her house that's being pulled down today. | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
This event will help raise hundreds of pounds to replace clothes and | :10:11. | :10:13. | |
other belongings she's lost. So, some comfort amidst the pain of | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
what's happening. At least now the families can start to think about | :10:16. | :10:18. | |
rebuilding their lives and their homes. | :10:18. | :10:21. | |
As soon as it happens to somebody that knows you, it is more urgent | :10:21. | :10:31. | |
:10:31. | :10:35. | ||
to help. Katharine is such a lovely A man's died after falling from a | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
bridge over the M5 in Worcestershire. It happened at | :10:37. | :10:40. | |
Junction 4 of the motorway near Bromsgrove this morning. Ambulance | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
crews were called but the man was confirmed dead at the scene. The | :10:43. | :10:49. | |
southbound carriageway was closed for three hours. | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
The pub and brewing company Marston's has announced half-year | :10:51. | :10:55. | |
pre-tax profits of �33.5 million, a rise of 15 per cent on the previous | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
year. The Wolverhampton-based company, which makes Marston's and | :10:57. | :11:00. | |
Banks' beers, saw an increase in sales of premium ales in the six | :11:00. | :11:03. | |
months to the end of March. Food sales were also up in its | :11:03. | :11:13. | |
:11:13. | :11:21. | ||
nationwide chain of 2,000 pubs. The body of a Shropshire serviceman | :11:21. | :11:24. | |
killed in Afghanistan on Saturday has been flown back to the UK. | :11:24. | :11:27. | |
Corporal Brent McCarthy, of the RAF Police, was shot dead by Afghan | :11:27. | :11:29. | |
national police officers. He is the 34th serviceman from the Midlands | :11:29. | :11:33. | |
to be killed in the conflict. A senior MP has called for improved | :11:33. | :11:43. | |
:11:43. | :11:43. | ||
security for British troops Corporal Brent McCarthy had been | :11:43. | :11:47. | |
stationed at RAF Brize Norton for the past two years. Today, the 25- | :11:47. | :11:57. | |
:11:57. | :11:59. | ||
year-old's body was returned in a On Saturday, while providing | :11:59. | :12:02. | |
security in Helmand Province, Corporal McCarthy was shot dead by | :12:02. | :12:06. | |
members of the Afghan police force. His parents say they've only been | :12:06. | :12:13. | |
given vague details about what happened. | :12:13. | :12:18. | |
Nobody can tell me the facts and exactly what has happened because | :12:18. | :12:21. | |
of the investigations are but a bang on. I'm proud of him | :12:21. | :12:29. | |
regardless. -- that are going on. He was just a lovely young man. | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
This is a joint Afghan and British patrol filmed by the BBC in Helmand. | :12:32. | :12:35. | |
Corporal McCarthy is just one of 20 foreign service men and women | :12:35. | :12:38. | |
killed this year by Afghans they serve alongside, in so-called | :12:38. | :12:47. | |
green-on-blue attacks. We remain vigilant at all times and | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
keep risk to a minimum. But it is an important element of what we do | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
here. We show the Afghans that we trust them. | :12:55. | :12:58. | |
More than 9,000 British troops are set to leave Afghanistan by the end | :12:58. | :13:01. | |
of 2014, but hundreds of soldiers could stay to train Afghan forces. | :13:01. | :13:04. | |
One Birmingham MP, who sits on the Defence Committee, says they must | :13:04. | :13:09. | |
be better protected in time for the security handover. | :13:09. | :13:15. | |
Those who will remain who will be responsible for the security, I am | :13:15. | :13:19. | |
not convinced that the Afghan troops will be sufficient to | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
provide that production. In a statement, the MOD says an | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
investigation into Corporal McCarthy's death is underway but | :13:25. | :13:35. | |
:13:35. | :13:39. | ||
Children could soon be taught pottery skills again. Experts in | :13:39. | :13:41. | |
the ceramics industry want pottery put back onto the school curriculum | :13:41. | :13:46. | |
to help plug a growing skills gap. The number of people working in the | :13:46. | :13:52. | |
industry has fallen from a peak of around 24,000 to around 8,000 now. | :13:52. | :13:55. | |
A pilot project is now running in Stoke-on-Trent to try to fire up | :13:55. | :13:58. | |
young people to consider ceramics as a career, as Laura May McMullan | :13:58. | :14:03. | |
reports. Wade Ceramics is one of the biggest | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
manufacturers in Stoke-on-Trent. Bosses here say traditional skills | :14:07. | :14:11. | |
are in short supply. They've never been busier, yet they're still | :14:11. | :14:21. | |
:14:21. | :14:22. | ||
struggling to fill vacancies. think in the past what has been | :14:22. | :14:26. | |
happening is children have followed in the footsteps of their parents. | :14:26. | :14:29. | |
Unfortunately, parents have now decided not to work in the industry | :14:29. | :14:39. | |
:14:39. | :14:42. | ||
so they are not following them. that is one of the main focuses of | :14:42. | :14:50. | |
this project. To get the skills back. Brownhills Academy in Stoke- | :14:50. | :14:53. | |
on-Trent is one of five local schools taking part in the year- | :14:53. | :14:55. | |
long programme alongside Staffordshire University. Staff | :14:55. | :15:00. | |
here say re-introducing traditional skills is vital. It is about | :15:00. | :15:04. | |
bringing those kinds of materials back into the classroom because | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
they are very used to using the computers, which are very clean and | :15:07. | :15:12. | |
tidy. It is about bringing their confidence back about using these | :15:12. | :15:15. | |
different materials. And this group enrolled on Staffordshire | :15:15. | :15:17. | |
University's M.A course are the future generation of ceramic | :15:17. | :15:22. | |
designers. Students here have set up their own award-winning company | :15:22. | :15:28. | |
Flux, with well over �100,000 in orders. But despite the success, | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
the university's ceramic design undergraduate degree course is | :15:30. | :15:40. | |
:15:40. | :15:42. | ||
running at a loss. It does reflect a reality that we need to redress. | :15:42. | :15:47. | |
And if we want to make changes, they have to start at an early age. | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
Companies like Wade are staging a strong fightback with year-on-year | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
profits. And just as the back stamp says "made in Stoke-on-Trent", | :15:53. | :16:02. | |
experts want the next generation to be trained in Stoke-on-Trent. | :16:02. | :16:05. | |
A gold medal sweet pea grower says this spring's terrible weather | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
could scupper his chances of success at Chelsea. The world- | :16:09. | :16:12. | |
famous flower show opens in London next week. Derek Heathcote, who's | :16:13. | :16:15. | |
been in the sweetpea business for over 20 years, says he's struggling | :16:16. | :16:20. | |
to get enough flowers to fill his stand. Sarah Falkland's been to his | :16:20. | :16:30. | |
:16:30. | :16:32. | ||
home in the village of Stowe-by- Chartley in Staffordshire. Hello! | :16:32. | :16:37. | |
Welcome to Derek's greenhouse. The ambient culture today is 19 degrees. | :16:37. | :16:44. | |
But not enough for Chelsea. Just look at the flowers. No peas on | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
them whatsoever. They should be heaving with flowers now and there | :16:47. | :16:52. | |
is nothing at all. It is heartbreaking. Basically, the cold | :16:52. | :16:57. | |
might have been down to two, three degrees. And it is that cold spell | :16:57. | :17:03. | |
and a lack of sunshine to bring them out. Derek's a famous name in | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
the world of sweet peas. He's won gold at Chelsea five times. His son | :17:08. | :17:10. | |
Andy works alongside him. They cross-pollinate plants to create | :17:10. | :17:17. | |
new varieties. This is Charlie's Angels. Put your nose on that and | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
smell the perfume! Each new variety takes seven years to create, this | :17:22. | :17:25. | |
one for the Queen. It's called Diamond Jubilee and will showcase | :17:25. | :17:31. | |
at Chelsea. This weekend, they will start snipping the stems for | :17:31. | :17:36. | |
Chelsea. They need 2000. At the moment they reckon they have only | :17:36. | :17:39. | |
500. So he's having to call up friends who grow his own Eagle | :17:40. | :17:45. | |
sweet pea varieties to lend him some. Is it worth it? Of course, | :17:45. | :17:51. | |
yeah. It is enjoyable to do, despite the setbacks we get. But we | :17:51. | :17:55. | |
get it every year anyway, so we are learning to live with it! What is | :17:55. | :18:00. | |
it about Chelsea? It is so prestigious as a show. You can put | :18:01. | :18:04. | |
your new varieties out there for the world to see and the world | :18:04. | :18:07. | |
comes to Chelsea to see the flowers. They can't sweet-talk them into | :18:07. | :18:10. | |
flowering. For many of Derek's plants it'll be Hampton Court, not | :18:11. | :18:18. | |
Chelsea. Good luck to him! There will be | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
more from Sarah on Monday's programme. | :18:22. | :18:26. | |
Still to come, Ben Sidwell with a bizarre tale of knitting and outer | :18:26. | :18:32. | |
space. Find out what rugby and rubber chickens have to do with | :18:32. | :18:36. | |
NASA and space exploration! I think you have dropped a stitch! | :18:36. | :18:39. | |
Well, there's nothing out of this world about the weather, unless | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
cloud, rain and the cold is freaking you out this spring! But | :18:42. | :18:52. | |
:18:52. | :18:53. | ||
that could all change next week. Here's Dan with the sport, and the | :18:53. | :18:57. | |
nerves are jangling in Cheltenham. Cheltenham Town are just 90 minutes | :18:57. | :19:01. | |
away from Wembley and a place in the League 2 play-off final. They | :19:01. | :19:04. | |
take a two-goal lead into tonight's semi-final second leg against | :19:04. | :19:07. | |
Torquay. And the fans are hoping their excellent play-off record can | :19:07. | :19:15. | |
continue. Remember this? Ten years ago Steve | :19:15. | :19:17. | |
Cotterill led Cheltenham to play- off triumph at Cardiff's Millennium | :19:17. | :19:21. | |
Stadium. How about this? In 2006, John Ward's team rode an open-top | :19:21. | :19:23. | |
bus to celebrate returning Cheltenham to the third tier of | :19:23. | :19:32. | |
English football, and the weather couldn't spoil the party. In short, | :19:32. | :19:35. | |
when the Robins are in the play- offs, they win them. Fans are | :19:36. | :19:42. | |
hoping for a repeat. Absolutely! They will do it now. They deserve | :19:42. | :19:47. | |
to go up. We support them all the way. Really good display. But | :19:47. | :19:52. | |
confident? Of course, absolutely! And it's not surprising they're | :19:52. | :19:56. | |
confident, after winning sunday's first leg 2-0 against Torquay. But | :19:56. | :20:01. | |
don't expect them to sit back and defend tonight. We have to be | :20:01. | :20:06. | |
organised and disciplined. But we can go on playing the same manner. | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
We scored a couple of goals and could have had a few more. We have | :20:10. | :20:13. | |
played some good stuff and I want that to continue. It's already been | :20:13. | :20:17. | |
a memorable season at Whaddon Road. Now they want a trip to Wembley and | :20:17. | :20:23. | |
promotion, to round it off in style. It would be massive. It has been a | :20:23. | :20:26. | |
very good year for the championship because we have had such a good run | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
in the FA Cup. And if we get to Wembley, that would make them | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
really happy. And then for the supporters, it would round off a | :20:33. | :20:36. | |
really good season. And if history's any judge, stories | :20:36. | :20:39. | |
involving Cheltenham Town in the play-offs tend to have a happy | :20:39. | :20:41. | |
endings. And there's full match commentary | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
of the game on BBC Radio Gloucestershire this evening. | :20:43. | :20:47. | |
Coverage starts at 7.05pm. Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is the new | :20:47. | :20:50. | |
bookies favourite to be the next manager of Aston Villa. It follows | :20:51. | :20:53. | |
widespread speculation that Randy Lerner has flown to Norway for | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
talks. The former Manchester United striker led Molde to the League | :20:57. | :21:01. | |
Championship in Norway in 2011. The man he could replace, Alex McLeish, | :21:01. | :21:04. | |
has released a statement today saying he was honoured to have | :21:04. | :21:08. | |
managed Aston Villa. McLeish says his one regret is that he wasn't | :21:08. | :21:10. | |
able to achieve more for the supporters and their high | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
expectations. A state-of-the-art BMX cycling | :21:14. | :21:17. | |
track is being built at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham | :21:17. | :21:21. | |
as the city prepares to host the World Championships. Competition | :21:21. | :21:24. | |
will be particularly tough as it's the final qualifying event for the | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
Olympics. The track itself has been designed by a firm in Shropshire | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
and built using dirt from a Birmingham quarry, as Nick | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
Clitheroe reports. This must be every BMX biker's | :21:37. | :21:42. | |
dream having a World Championship track all to yourself. A track | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
that's risen from the dust 3,000 tonnes of it. And when the World | :21:47. | :21:50. | |
Championships begin at the NIA next week, places at the London Games | :21:50. | :21:54. | |
will be up for grabs. That's why these men are working long days | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
turning 8,000 palletts, 3,000 of limestone and 18 tonnes of steel | :21:57. | :22:07. | |
:22:07. | :22:07. | ||
into a stunning race track. It has been quite a long time in the | :22:07. | :22:11. | |
making and quite a challenging process but it is really shaping up. | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
Hopefully, they will be really surprised. The World Championships | :22:15. | :22:21. | |
hasn't been in an arena for a long time and apparently it is riding | :22:21. | :22:25. | |
well, riding fast. It has taken a week to put this up but after the | :22:25. | :22:30. | |
championships, they only have 48 hours to take it all down. But it's | :22:30. | :22:32. | |
not just the elite who'll be dreaming of riding this track. | :22:32. | :22:35. | |
2,000 amateurs, including 20 from the Birmingham BMX Club, will | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
compete at the Worlds. To have that many riders in such an event is | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
great for the club. I have been training really hard so looking | :22:43. | :22:52. | |
forward to riding it. Riders from New Zealand and Australia have | :22:52. | :22:54. | |
already been training here for the Championships. But for one world | :22:54. | :22:57. | |
rider, this is home. Because Ben Martinez is a member of the | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
Birmingham Club but will ride for Bolivia at the Worlds. I have been | :23:01. | :23:03. | |
chasing the World Championships since I was a kid. I think this is | :23:03. | :23:08. | |
it now. It is very important for me and for my country as well. And for | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
the club. And with so much at stake, no wonder the workers on this track | :23:12. | :23:20. | |
are in pursuit of perfection. A great event. Before ago, a century | :23:20. | :23:27. | |
for the club today meant they have posted 557 for six. They needed | :23:27. | :23:34. | |
another 347 to avoid problems. Now the strange tale of a knitter | :23:34. | :23:37. | |
from Warwickshire who's turned her hand to space clothing. On Sunday, | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
when NASA launches its latest mission, the space explorer will be | :23:39. | :23:43. | |
wearing an outfit made by Sue Drage from Rugby. And the traveller will | :23:43. | :23:47. | |
be entertained on the journey by a podcast from a BBC local radio | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
station. Ben Sidwell explains all. Space - the great unknown, where | :23:51. | :24:01. | |
:24:01. | :24:05. | ||
only a few men, women and one On Sunday, NASA launches its latest | :24:05. | :24:08. | |
mission manned, or should that be poultried, by a chicken called | :24:08. | :24:14. | |
Camilla. For the first time her uniform has been made here in the | :24:14. | :24:20. | |
UK. So who did they ask to design it? Stella McCartney? Vivienne | :24:20. | :24:30. | |
:24:30. | :24:32. | ||
Westwood? No. Sue Drage from Rugby. I think it only took me about two | :24:32. | :24:36. | |
weeks, as I say, because I had to have several attempts of knitting | :24:36. | :24:40. | |
it and it didn't fit right. It is rather difficult knitting for a | :24:40. | :24:45. | |
rubber chicken! And this is what she will be wearing for her latest | :24:45. | :24:55. | |
:24:55. | :24:56. | ||
mission. The whole outfit knitted by using plastic bags. As she has | :24:56. | :25:00. | |
been training for her latest mission, Camilla was not able to | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
come across. Sir Charles has bravely agreed to step into the | :25:04. | :25:14. | |
:25:14. | :25:14. | ||
breach. Good afternoon, Charles. What was it like being a | :25:14. | :25:18. | |
bodyguard... The woman responsible for arranging everything, BBC | :25:18. | :25:20. | |
Coventry and Warwickshire's Vic Minnett. Her afternoon show has | :25:20. | :25:24. | |
become a firm favourite with the team at NASA. So much so that when | :25:24. | :25:27. | |
Camilla the chicken lifts off on Sunday, she'll be kept entertained | :25:27. | :25:34. | |
in space by a podcast of Vic's radio programme. NASA love our show | :25:34. | :25:37. | |
and now they're taking us into space with a rubber chicken wearing | :25:37. | :25:42. | |
a suit we knitted out of carrier bags! It doesn't seem real, does | :25:42. | :25:48. | |
it?! So on Sunday, if you look up into the sky and think you can see | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
a flying chicken in a space suit, you might not be wrong! | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
Speechless! All the best to Camilla. She is very plucky! Now over to the | :25:59. | :26:07. | |
It has been quite a struggle this spring but this bit of news might | :26:07. | :26:12. | |
perky opera little bit. It looks like high pressure could dominate | :26:12. | :26:19. | |
midweek next week onwards. Power -- perk up a bit. We now have low | :26:19. | :26:24. | |
pressure affecting us. But it has been cloudy today. But we have a | :26:24. | :26:28. | |
degree of uncertainty as to what will happen this weekend because we | :26:28. | :26:34. | |
are in between this high and low. We have this rain but this pressure | :26:34. | :26:38. | |
will determine how much we get. It will be cooler because of the | :26:38. | :26:44. | |
strength of the wind. Back to tonight, we have got quite a bit of | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
cloud across us right now but all day we have had this front feeding | :26:47. | :26:52. | |
up from the South. By tonight, we will see the majority of the rain | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
restricted to the north of the region. Elsewhere, looking much | :26:57. | :27:01. | |
dryer. Cloud with bricks developing and underneath that, and | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
increasingly north-east of the breeze, with temperatures not going | :27:04. | :27:10. | |
much below five, six degrees. A cloudy start to the day tomorrow. | :27:10. | :27:13. | |
We will see some bricks and sunshine developing tomorrow | :27:13. | :27:20. | |
morning, but then it thickens up tomorrow morning. -- some breaks. | :27:20. | :27:25. | |
Patchy rain later on. Highs of 13, A look at tonight's main headlines: | :27:25. | :27:28. | |
David Cameron says he won't stay silent as the eurozone heads for | :27:28. | :27:29. |