18/04/2013 Midlands Today

tonnes of paper destroyed after fire burns through the night at a

factory, closing a main route into Birmingham. This is a particularly

difficult type of incident, we put out fires and we're not leaving

until it is done. It's been revealed that a train

carrying aviation fuel was stopped before passing the scene. Also

tonight:. Claims that police are spending far too much time dealing

with mental health problems, which should be handled elsewhere.

police are a can-do organisation they are the first and last resort.

But their raw limitations to what they should be doing and what they

are qualified to do. All coming down to the last 90

minutes this weekend - can Kidderminster Harriers clinch a

place in the Football League? Ten years after his first appearance

on Midlands Today, the young sax player off to one of the best jazz

schools in the world. And temperatures have already peaked

this week and so have the winds. Good evening. It's emerged that a

train carrying aviation fuel was stopped before it passed the scene

of a massive fire in Birmingham early this morning. Firefighters

were tackling a blaze at a paper mill near the M6 when they realised

the train was due to pass by. Thousands of tonnes of paper and

cardboard caught fire at the Smurfit Kappa plant, after ten o'clock last

night. It's been brought under control but it could be days before

the fire actually burns itself out. Cath Mackie reports.

A wall of fire lights up the night in Nechells in Birmingham. These

dramatic scenes lasted for hours. The view from the fire service

hydraulic platform was equally powerful - a seeming sea of flames

at Smurfitt Kappa paper mill, waking local people from their sleep.

it out of my window, I have come out, I have just seen them rushing

down there to control the fire. morning the flames were still

licking the sky as 100 firefighters fought to keep them under control.

At the height of the blaze, it was really intense, a severe fire. We

had 10,000 tonnes of cardboard and paper on the sides. No one was hurt

- but for fire crews it was a powerful reminder of the dangers of

the job. 30 years ago in September, firefighter Freddie Flynt was killed

when a bale of paper fell on him and crushed him. So this is a difficult

type of incident to fight, it covers seven acres out of 22 acres, but we

will not leave until it is done. mile an hour winds sent the smoke

and ash billowing towards nearby homes, where people were told to

shut windows and doors. West Midlands fire service say they

managed to avert what could have been a highly dangerous situation

this morning. They were told by Network Rail of a train which was

due to pass by the here carrying highly explosive aviation fuel. The

train was stopped eight miles from the site and after a safety

assessment was carried out it was allowed to continue its journey 45

minutes later. People working at other businesses on the site weren't

allowed inside. One of them, Carl McGuire, was forced to work from

home. The way the recession is, we have struggled anyway, so this is

another nail in to be coughing, so to speak. It is pretty tough at the

moment but luckily, I don't do we have lost any major work. It is just

disruption again. The cause of the fire's being investigated. It's not

thought to be suspicious. Fire crews are expected to remain here for at

least another 24 hours. Let's speak to Simon Shelton from

the West Midlands Fire service. What is the situation this evening?

situation is we still have about 14 appliances on site, which equates to

about 75 firefighters. We do have the fire under control but it is

still burning intensively. It has been ever so windy, as that caused

extra problems? Yes, the wind is a significant hazard to us, it does

increase the intensity of the fire and the risk of any essential fire

spread through embers that leave the site and landing any neighbouring

properties. We do have it under control now, we are expecting the

winter died down throughout the night. Any idea what caused the

blaze? No, we don't know what has caused the fire at this moment, our

main priority is to get the fire under control, which we have done,

and then work with the site owners and ourselves to put it out. Will

the paper mill and nearby companies be able to operate tomorrow? It is

unlikely tomorrow, local businesses will still be affected, we offer our

apologies but for obvious safety reasons, we have two look at the

impact of the fire itself and the safety within regard to the

adjoining premises. Thank you very much for updating us.

The fire has closed the one of the main routes in and out of Birmingham

- the A47 Heartlands Parkway - in both directions since 10.30 last

night. The latest is that it's still closed between Saltley Viaduct and

Cuckoo Road. Tune into BBCWM for the latest travel news if you are

planning to travel around the area. Coming up later in the programme:

Written in the stars - a new type of cosmic explosion uncovered at

Police offficers are spending too much time dealing with people who

are mentally ill - they end up in the criminal system, when they

should be getting help elsewhere. That's the view of Staffordshire's

Crime Commissioner, who claims thousands of hours are being spent

on mental health issues which police aren't necessarily qualified to deal

with. Joanne Writtle reports. Too many people with mental health

problems are being criminalised when they need help elsewhere. That's the

claim of Staffordshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis.

He's commissioned a report, and says thousands of hours of police time

every year is being spent on mental health matters. We need better, more

focused services, which deal with things before they get out of hand.

At the moment, the police are having to take people into criminal

environments, custody suites, because there aren't always places

of safety for individuals that are ill. Our job is to protect life and

save life of these individuals are at their lowest point, they have it

crisis. We are the last resort. filmed here using police officers to

restage a typical scenario. Stoke-on-Trent's custody suite's one

of 20 in the UK to have a two-year pilot in which psychiatric nurses

work with police to help fast track those with mental problems out of

the criminal justice system. This woman is leading the project in

Stoke. It is important because it does divert people away from the

criminal justice route and helping them find support in the community,

they may need to find employment, register with a GP to get their

medication sorted, or help with accommodation. Since this pilot

began last June, 1,400 people have been assessed by nurses, with 400

being diverted away from the police cells to get help. Half of them

haven't re-offended since. Meanwhile, Staffordshire County

Council, the police and NHS are working together to address the

problem in various ways. Now we are looking at having nurses that could

potentially work on the front line with the officers, so going out on

the streets with police officers who are being called to distress calls

or mental health calls. It's hoped that nurses will eventually help in

custody elsewhere in Staffordshire, as work goes on to tackle the wider

problem. A breakdown in hand washing is the

most likely cause of an outbreak of a deadly superbug which killed two

babies and was found in four more in a premature baby unit. An inquest in

Stoke on Trent heard how the neo-natal intensive care unit was

isolated and new infection control measures bought in, after Jessica

Strong died last June from the rare superbug. We're joined now from

Stoke-on-Trent by our Health Correspondent, Michele Paduano. What

happened to this premature baby? Jessica Strong was actually born at

26 weeks in Nuneaton, and was transferred across to

Stoke-on-Trent. She was doing well at first, breathing on her own, but

on the 29th of June last year, she crashed and died suddenly before

they managed to establish that it really was this disease. The baby

had been transferred into the unit from Wales with the superbug, and

that particular baby, the family found out, had had that disease

passed on to five other babies and they are very upset. I don't believe

it has come from a parent, it is definitely come from a member of

staff. It has come from inside. one can ever bring our daughter

back, I am so upset. It does have -- had to come through West End, they

had to replace cleaning staff, and obviously I love my daughter

debates. God bless you. What more can you tell us about the superbug?

It actually lives in all of our guts, and for most of us it is

harmless most of the time, but this professor actually found the first

outbreak of this in 1984. We as microbiologists are always surveying

the top of bacteria causing infections so we will pick up a

first case, if we see that, we may institute control measures at that

point. Certainly if we get a second case, with molecular fingerprinting

we can show they are related and we can strengthen the controls,

involving hand washing, careful cleaning of cots and

decontamination. Has the hospital than anything since this outbreak?

Has -- the hospital says it has instituted a new cleaning regime and

is cleaning the cots in a different way. It also says it has two

infection control nurses and a quality nurse working with the

ward. They say they were devastated themselves and are now rolling out

what they have done as best practice across the rest of the country.

The Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore has appeared in court in

London, charged with fraud and theft offences worth nearly �4 million.

The 57-year-old solicitor from Cheltenham is accused of a total of

21 charges, some relating to the estates of people who had died

between 1998 and 2011. Today's hearing at City of Westminster

Magistrates court was adjourned until June, when it's expected he

will be committed to Crown Court for trial.

Kidderminster Harriers could be promoted to the Football League on

Saturday. If Mansfield fail to beat Wrexham, then Kidderminster can win

the Conference Premier title by beating struggling Stockport County.

If the Harriers miss out on the title, they could yet gain promotion

via the play-offs - a remarkable position to be in after a terrible

start to the season. Dan Pallett reports.

They were snapping into the tackles in training this morning. And not

surprising. Under manager Steve Burr, Kidderminster Harriers could

be one win from returning to the Football League. It would be

tremendous for a club like ours. They dropped out of the division a

view years ago, to get back in the division would be a fantastic

achievement. The supporters, the director, the chairman. It has been

an incredible season here. They lost their first five games and drew the

next five. Since then they have been on an incredible run, winning 27 out

of 35 games. If they win one more they will be back in the football

league. It's quite a story. So today the Kidderminster Shuttle published

a 20 page supplement dedicated to the Harriers. Reporter Pete McKinney

has covered them for five years. But he's never known it like this.

town are up for this, there is no doubt about it, a few years ago

Kidderminster Harriers were having severe financial problems, the town

rallied them to save them. Now the town is rallying because the

Harriers had given them something to get their teeth into. They have

given them something to get excited about. But they're not promoted just

yet. Kidderminster are second and only the champions will be promoted.

-goal victory against struggling Stockport then Kidderminster will be

promoted. It promises to be quite a day. Some players thrive off that, I

thrive off that. It would be nice to play in front of a view thousand, it

would be a first experience for me, night 13 years ago when the Harriers

were last promoted to the football league.

What a sensational season they have had.

There'll be full match commentary on Kidderminster's match against

Stockport on BBC Hereford and Worcester. Kick-off is 515 on

Saturday evening. Our top story tonight: An accident

averted - a train carrying aviation fuel is stopped from driving past

the scene of a massive fire at a London Marathon celebrates her 18th

birthday with a run. Ten years after his first appearance

on Midlands Today as a schoolboy, he is off to one of the best jazz

schools in the world. Astronomers from the University of Warwick have

found a new type of massive cosmic explosion. The researchers

discovered massive bursts of energy. They now think it is caused by a

huge star exploding at the end of its life. Our science correspondent

is with us now. Just how big are these exploding stars? They are

massive. Some of them at the end of their lives do not fizzle out, they

explode as a supernova. They produce lots of stuff including gammaray

bursts is. That is what the scientists have been studying with

NASA. I asked one of the researchers have big they are. They are as

energetic as you get. They release more energy in the time they are

bursting then the sun in its lifespan. How do they study the

stars? This is a rocket that was launched by NASA. It is a satellite.

It is up in space and it is looking for bursts of gammaray is from

supernovas. It has seen over 700 since its launch in 2004. It swiftly

can change direction to study it. Usually a gammaray burst is about

the a few seconds, a minute. The University of Warwick has noticed

that some have been going on for hours. This is something we never

knew happened before. This is really important research coming out of the

University. It is really exciting. We have got an artist 's impression

of how it might look. Those are the gammaray is pouring out and then it

suddenly goes supernova. If you were nearby, that is probably one of the

most spectacular things you could see anywhere in the universe.

from cosmic events, we are going to talk about Kenneth Branagh's pants.

The costumes being retrieved from the RSC's wardrobe collection.

It will give the public the opportunity to discover exactly how

the stars of the stage measure up. The hour has come, the very

minute... The critics were mesmerised by Patrick Stewart's

Prospero in the 2006 production of the Tempest. Now audiences have the

opportunity to see how his clothes were given me stranded arctic look.

All of this would be handcrafted by our department. To create the really

lived in feel. It has to be something that would last a year's

worth of performances. Although it looks distressed, it is robust

enough to be worn for eight performances a week. It gives the

block an opportunity to get up close to the wardrobes of the famous. --

the public. More than 30 eyes items are stored in the costume store.

Each offers a snapshot into the star's history. They work well on

their own but the whole point is that they were part of a production.

A small stitching army create and maintain hundreds of costumes every

year by hand. Brenda has worked here in Stratford for more than 40 years.

She has dressed them all and even had her name included on a cloak

worn by Derek Jacobi. We are all on here, all of the costume department.

I am just here. A bit of graffiti? ! Why not? Quite a compliment. Even if

nobody else sees it may you know it is there. The exhibition opens this

weekend to coincide with Shakespeare's birthday celebrations.

The London Marathon is only days away. Hundreds of people from across

the Midlands are getting ready to compete. One of the youngest will be

Alicia Forsyth-Forrest from Warwickshire who has just reached

the minimum age of 18 to take part. For many teenagers, turning 18 is

the excuse for a big party. But Alicia Forsyth-Forrest from

Warwickshire will be putting on her trainers and preparing to raise 26

miles around the streets of London. She will be the second youngest

runner in the marathon. To make things tougher, she has been fitting

training in around studying for her A-levels. It has been quite hard but

I have been working in the morning and running in the afternoon so it

has been all right. Security for Sunday's race has been stepped up

after the bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon earlier this week which

killed three people and injured more than 170. But Alicia never

considered pulling out. I was very shocked to hear about Boston and my

thoughts are with them. It is really touching that we will have a 32nd

silence for them. I am proud to be running the London Marathon and

hopefully people will come out and celebrate. We are British and we

keep going. Obviously, I think is nothing more sad than hearing our

friends across the seas are as troubled as this. Of course, you are

concerned whenever any member of the family is in a big crowd. She was

inspired by the illness of a relative to raise money for the

Brain Research Trust. She certainly will not feel alone on the streets

of London. As well as her family, her entire class from school will be

there to cheer her on. Happy birthday and good luck to

Alicia! A group of celebrities in a pink Rolls-Royce have been in the

Midlands today as part of a charity challenge to raise �1 million for

Breast Cancer Care. Chris Evans, Gary Barlow, James May and Professor

Brian Cox are driving from Land's End to John O'Groats to help launch

the fundraising project. Everyone is bringing a personal touch to the

whole event but we are all driving are taking it in turns. Chris

started. Fell asleep at the wheel. We had a police escort when I was

driving. Gary has a gas, stove in the bank. We have had sausage

casserole already. We will have a curry in Carlisle. Ten years ago,

BBC Midlands today featured the story of Alex Woods a talented

saxophonist who was already playing in bars at the age of 12. Fast

forward a decade and his talent has grown and he has now been offered

the chance to study at possibly the best jazz school in the world.

There are not many young men who have their own jazz quartet but then

Alex Woods has always been cool. He started on the saxophone when he was

just nine. By the time he was 12, his dad was his agent and he was

playing in pubs and clubs for his pocket money, albeit with a few

reservations. When I am on stage, I do not want to be booed but

hopefully that will never happen. Has it happened? It is one of those

things you say that you should not say. There is still time! He won a

scholarship to study at the Birmingham Conservatoire and is now

on target to achieve first-class honours. He has been offered a place

to study in New York this September. Bidders for postgraduate study at

the Manhattan School of Music. It is a two-year course. It will be to

study at the school which is in the centre of New York. It should put me

in a great position for a successful career. He is highly creative and

has all of the skills you require of the profession as well. In terms of

reading and great sound and ensemble skills. I think his prospects are

very good. Quite how good audiences in New York will judge.

We have had brilliant sunshine today. Pouring rain. Winds. When is

winds last night. Showers today. Those take a back-seat for the

sunshine for the next couple of days. That takes centre stage.

Things will be looking largely drive. It will be cooler. What is

driving the changes is once this front passes through we have

pressure building from the south-west. The slackening isobars

mean lighter winds. High pressure dominating. Very nice for the first

half of the weekend. Then the next weather system comes in from the

west by the end of Sunday. This evening, a few showers affecting the

north and east of the region. These will clear in the next couple of

hours. For the first half of the night, fairly clear skies. The cloud

will thicken up ahead of the front I spoke of. That comes down from the

North West. That will introduce light rain to some areas. They can

start to tomorrow. For most of us could that should continue through

much of the day. There could be the odd shower which could be prolonged.

In the lighter winds, it will feel reasonably pleasant. Tomorrow

night, there could be a touch of Frost. Gardeners watch out. For the

weekend, Sunday, there could be rain later on in the day.