Browse content similar to 16/08/2013. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Mary Rhodes and Nick Owen. The | :00:09. | :00:13. | |
headlines tonight, dismay from relatives of firefighters killed in | :00:13. | :00:16. | |
a warehouse blaze as a coroner decides not to hold full inquests | :00:16. | :00:21. | |
into their deaths. We have got to continue fighting for the truth, and | :00:21. | :00:24. | |
I will do that until I am satisfied I have done everything I can in his | :00:24. | :00:28. | |
memory. Also tonight, we're live at Weston Park as thousands head for | :00:28. | :00:31. | |
the V Festival on the Shropshire—Staffordshire border. | :00:31. | :00:36. | |
Heavy rain adds to the chaos on the motorways, 14—mile queues on the | :00:36. | :00:42. | |
M54. We have been travelling since six | :00:42. | :00:45. | |
o'clock, stuck in traffic for three or four hours. | :00:45. | :00:48. | |
The street pastors who are helping keep the revellers and homeless | :00:48. | :00:51. | |
people of Shrewsbury safe. Using the Shropshire countryside to | :00:51. | :00:54. | |
fool German bombers in the Second World War to think it was a city. | :00:54. | :00:59. | |
And after a taste of summer today, it will feel distinctly different | :00:59. | :01:01. | |
tomorrow. Good evening. The families of the | :01:01. | :01:22. | |
four firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze in South | :01:22. | :01:25. | |
Warwickshire say they are bitterly disappointed by a coroner's decision | :01:25. | :01:28. | |
not to hold full inquests into their deaths. Darren Yates—Badley, Ashley | :01:28. | :01:31. | |
Stephens, John Averis and Ian Reid died in the fire in Atherstone on | :01:31. | :01:36. | |
Stour in November of 2007. Three senior firefighters were cleared of | :01:36. | :01:38. | |
manslaughter by gross negligence following a lengthy trial last year. | :01:38. | :01:45. | |
Today a coroner told the families that, while it was only right that | :01:45. | :01:48. | |
the men's deaths be fully and fearlessly investigated, the police | :01:48. | :01:51. | |
had done their job and full inquests were unnecessary. Sarah Falkland | :01:51. | :01:52. | |
reports. Some of the firefighters' relatives | :01:52. | :02:01. | |
had kept away, perhaps knowing what was in store. Within minutes they | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
had been handed a decision they didn't want to hear. We pinned our | :02:05. | :02:13. | |
soaps on an inquest, haven't we? Yes, disappointed. To put it mildly. | :02:13. | :02:19. | |
Because we thought having an inquest, everything would come out. | :02:19. | :02:22. | |
Coroner Sean McGovern said he'd read 24 files of evidence about the | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
events of November second 2007, details of how Darren Yates—Badley, | :02:25. | :02:28. | |
Ashley Stephens, John Averis and Ian Reid had gone inside the vegetable | :02:28. | :02:31. | |
packing warehouse, which had been targeted by arsonists. He said it | :02:31. | :02:38. | |
was plain to him that the families feel bitterly let down by the | :02:38. | :02:42. | |
verdicts in the Crown Court and that the whole truth did not come out. | :02:42. | :02:46. | |
But he said it wasn't clear to him what further investigation could be | :02:46. | :02:49. | |
made that would throw significant new light on the mens' deaths. The | :02:49. | :02:55. | |
families are now uniting to try and get to the full truth of what | :02:56. | :03:00. | |
happened. That is absolute nonsense, and the decision should have been | :03:00. | :03:03. | |
based on the facts. He should not have taken any consideration of the | :03:03. | :03:08. | |
Judge's ruling of the trial at Stafford Crown Court. The family say | :03:08. | :03:13. | |
they will fight to get to the full truth. They're looking at their | :03:13. | :03:16. | |
chances of a judicial review or a public inquiry. We have just got to | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
continue fighting for the truth, and I will do that until I am satisfied | :03:21. | :03:26. | |
that I have done everything I can in his memory. Warwickshire Fire | :03:26. | :03:29. | |
Service said in a statement that they respect the coroner's decision | :03:29. | :03:30. | |
today not to hold full inquests. Coming up later in the programme, | :03:30. | :03:42. | |
saving the NHS thousands of pounds by keeping people at home and out of | :03:42. | :03:44. | |
hospital. An 80—year—old man suffered a | :03:44. | :03:52. | |
bloodied nose and a black—eye after a sickening attack by a young woman | :03:52. | :04:06. | |
in Coventry city centre. Our reporter Liz Roberts has more | :04:07. | :04:10. | |
details, so what actually happened? Well, the video is very shocking and | :04:10. | :04:14. | |
shows the man being confronted by a group of young people in Trinity | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
Street near Millennium Place. It happened around half past eight last | :04:17. | :04:21. | |
Saturday night. The girl appears to punch him in the face and knock him | :04:21. | :04:28. | |
to the ground. And then she spits on him. But we've only chosen to show | :04:28. | :04:33. | |
this section, as the rest of it is too violent. The victim suffered a | :04:33. | :04:38. | |
bloody nose and a black eye. West Midlands Police say it was a | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
despicable attack on an elderly man in broad daylight. The attack has | :04:41. | :04:46. | |
also been condemned by people who have viewed it on the social | :04:46. | :04:48. | |
networking site, who have left comments saying it's disgusting and | :04:49. | :04:55. | |
disrespectful. What else do the police say? Detectives in Coventry | :04:55. | :04:59. | |
are fast—tracking the investigation and are doing everything they can to | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
arrest the man's attacker as soon as possible. They're encouraging the | :05:04. | :05:08. | |
woman to make contact with West Midlands Police as they say it is | :05:08. | :05:12. | |
only a matter of time before they catch up with her. They're asking | :05:12. | :05:15. | |
witnesses to call them on the 101 number or Crimestoppers anonymously. | :05:15. | :05:23. | |
Heavy rain and thousands of people heading to Weston Park for the V | :05:23. | :05:27. | |
Festival caused 14 miles of traffic queues on the M54 this morning. | :05:27. | :05:30. | |
Organisers had to divert traffic away from one of the car parks after | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
a flash flood, which added to the problems. From there, Ben Sidwell | :05:34. | :05:40. | |
sent this report. There was not much of a festival | :05:40. | :05:44. | |
spirit heading to Weston Park this morning. Torrential rain led to long | :05:44. | :05:48. | |
delays into the V Festival. How has the Jenny Bean today? Terrible! | :05:48. | :05:55. | |
Awful! We have been stuck in traffic for three or four hours. The weather | :05:56. | :06:03. | |
has been terrible. We have sensed the guise up to bring the tense. I | :06:03. | :06:08. | |
got stuck in my car, just getting into the car park. Traffic was down | :06:08. | :06:13. | |
to a walking pace as the weather led to diversions. The South car park | :06:13. | :06:18. | |
was flooded, so as a contingency we opened one of the West car parks | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
instead, and started filling that first. So a slight delay, but we | :06:22. | :06:27. | |
overcame it anyway. But the mood changed by the afternoon when the | :06:27. | :06:30. | |
sun came out and the festivalgoers came as well. It seemed everyone was | :06:30. | :06:36. | |
here to see one lady. Beyond say. Beyond say! | :06:36. | :06:49. | |
The line—up is dominated by women this year. | :06:49. | :06:58. | |
Goal power, we have been coming four years, we would not miss it, but | :06:58. | :07:05. | |
there is more girls. It is good to have a woman headliner. Backstage, | :07:05. | :07:11. | |
while dressing 's Beyonceroom was under wraps, frail preparations were | :07:11. | :07:19. | |
being made for the other artists. This dressing room is still being | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
done out, plenty of water, cranberry juice, information, including masses | :07:24. | :07:30. | |
and hairdressers, very nice. And of course a bit of alcohol. With the | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
stage set for 90,000 festivalgoers, the hope is that the worst of the | :07:34. | :07:37. | |
weather has already made its appearance. | :07:37. | :07:45. | |
No doubt people are there to see Beyonce this weekend, but what is | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
the state of the parkland after all that rain? You can see that it is | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
seeing all right behind me, it is pretty firm, which is good news for | :07:54. | :08:01. | |
one man, the festival organiser, it was a worst—case scenario this | :08:01. | :08:04. | |
morning. It certainly was a challenge with heavy rain | :08:04. | :08:09. | |
overnight. It did mean we have to change our plans slightly and move | :08:09. | :08:15. | |
things around, but we got back up and running with a great team. Now, | :08:15. | :08:19. | |
everyone is talking about Beyonce, her only summer festival date in | :08:19. | :08:25. | |
Europe, a heck of a coup. Absolutely, we so proud to have | :08:25. | :08:30. | |
Beyonce, it is going to be fantastic, I can guarantee a superb | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
show. A lot of people are talking about the line—up, an awful lot of | :08:34. | :08:38. | |
women have bought tickets, probably 70%. It is quite female oriented at | :08:38. | :08:43. | |
this year. It has not been planned that way, it is just the acts that | :08:43. | :08:48. | |
we have booked, the things that are popular at this present time. We | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
have not planned it, but it is that way at the moment. Your 15th year | :08:52. | :08:58. | |
here, it is worth £6 million to the council, it has been a really good | :08:58. | :09:02. | |
relationship. Oh, it is fantastic, we are in a beautiful place, we do | :09:02. | :09:08. | |
feel this is our home, and we love it here. It is not just ladies who | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
are playing here. The stage tomorrow night, it will be Kings of Leon | :09:12. | :09:22. | |
headlining, fingers crossed the weather stays dry. | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
As we mentioned, there were 14 miles of queueing traffic on the M54 this | :09:25. | :09:28. | |
morning, our reporter Liz Copper is at the Highways Agency traffic | :09:28. | :09:31. | |
control centre. How's it looking now, Liz? Well, they have been | :09:31. | :09:40. | |
keeping a very close watch on things since first thing here. We always | :09:40. | :09:44. | |
expect delays around the V Festival, but this year things have | :09:44. | :09:49. | |
been particularly severe. We joined by Frank from the Highways Agency, | :09:49. | :09:52. | |
and a number of things seem to combine this morning that led to the | :09:52. | :09:57. | |
14 miles of delays. Yes, that is right. We put our plans into place | :09:57. | :10:02. | |
from four o'clock this morning, and we were already into a ten hour | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
deluge of rain, causing an enormous amount of surface water, and that | :10:06. | :10:10. | |
was then swiftly followed by a tree, which fell onto the side of the M6, | :10:10. | :10:15. | |
and later, at around about nine o'clock, we had quite a serious | :10:15. | :10:19. | |
incident at junction two on the motorway 54. What is the picture | :10:19. | :10:24. | |
this evening? It is very good, everything has returned to normal, | :10:24. | :10:29. | |
and it is what you would expect for a normal Friday evening. Some people | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
had to stay in their cars for three hours. That was on the motorway 54. | :10:32. | :10:43. | |
The good news is that they are having major improvements this | :10:43. | :10:44. | |
evening. And BBC Radio Shropshire and BBC | :10:44. | :10:55. | |
Radio Stoke will have regular updates on the travel situation | :10:55. | :10:57. | |
around the festival throughout the weekend. | :10:57. | :11:02. | |
Police investigating the robbery of a security van at Hopwood Services | :11:02. | :11:05. | |
on the M42 yesterday have revealed the van driver was kidnapped and | :11:05. | :11:15. | |
bundled into another vehicle. The cash van was driven to Barnt Green | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
and unloaded, but officers traced one of the vehicles involved to | :11:18. | :11:21. | |
Alvechurch, while another car was later found in Birmingham. The van | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
driver was not hurt. Officers are hoping to trace two witnesses. | :11:25. | :11:39. | |
Nearly £11,000 has been donated to a children's charity following the | :11:39. | :11:44. | |
case of Daniel Pelka. The NSPCC said more than 600 people donated the | :11:44. | :11:47. | |
money in memory of the four—year—old who was killed by his mother and | :11:47. | :11:51. | |
stepfather. Daniel had been starved and beaten by Magdelena Luczak and | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
Marius Krezolek. They were sentenced to a minimum of 30 years | :11:54. | :11:59. | |
The BBC has discovered that Warwickshire and West Mercia Police | :11:59. | :12:03. | |
are considering a full merger of the two forces. Warwickshire Police says | :12:03. | :12:07. | |
it is looking at a range of ideas for the future, including having | :12:07. | :12:10. | |
just one chief constable for both, but insists there are no firm plans. | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
At the moment, the two forces have formed a strategic alliance to save | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
£30m, but they still remain two separate forces. Sian Grzeszczyk, | :12:17. | :12:19. | |
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire's political reporter, is here, so | :12:19. | :12:22. | |
what's being discussed exactly? They are talking about two ideas, either | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
a full merger, which would mean one chief constable, one force, and one | :12:26. | :12:28. | |
police and crime commissioner, or something that falls just one step | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
short of that and going for one chief for both forces. Now the | :12:32. | :12:38. | |
police and crime commissioner for Warwickshire says he'd veto any | :12:38. | :12:47. | |
plans to merge before 2016. That is the year for the next police and | :12:47. | :12:51. | |
crime commission elections. But this is the first time we've got it on | :12:51. | :12:55. | |
the record that these sorts talks are taking place. I think for us and | :12:55. | :12:59. | |
the chief constable to be having these discussions, I think it's | :12:59. | :13:02. | |
important that the public know that we're having them because I think it | :13:02. | :13:06. | |
would be wrong for the public to find out in a year's time that | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
discussions were taking place and they weren't aware of it. | :13:09. | :13:16. | |
What does the chief constable for Warwickshire have to say? He says | :13:16. | :13:22. | |
he's happy with the alliance they have at the moment, but says both | :13:22. | :13:26. | |
forces need to look at options for the future and he can see the | :13:26. | :13:29. | |
benefits of single leadership, having one chief constable for both | :13:29. | :13:32. | |
forces. The Chief Constable for Warwickshire is saved a need to look | :13:32. | :13:34. | |
at potential options for the future, and he can see the benefits | :13:34. | :13:38. | |
of single leadership. The full merger is something I don't think we | :13:38. | :13:42. | |
could achieve before 2016 but single leadership we could. And we are in | :13:42. | :13:46. | |
debate now with the PCC about that, and I do think there are some | :13:46. | :13:49. | |
advantages to single leadership. There are some disadvantages as | :13:49. | :13:52. | |
well, that's why we need to have that wider debate, but it is | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
something we need to consider and something that may happen before | :13:56. | :13:59. | |
2016 Could there be a merger before 2016? | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
Well, the commissioner is promising it wouldn't happen and he'd veto the | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
idea if it came up, but technically even if a proposal was brought | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
forward today, something like this would take a long time to | :14:12. | :14:19. | |
Health managers are monitoring two schemes in Staffordshire which have | :14:19. | :14:24. | |
helped save thousands of pounds by keeping patients out of hospital. | :14:24. | :14:26. | |
Both could now be developed nationally. But despite their | :14:27. | :14:30. | |
success, pressures on local health budgets remain, and new money—saving | :14:30. | :14:33. | |
ideas will continue to be needed. Our health correspondent, Michele | :14:33. | :14:34. | |
Paduano, reports. After falling and fracturing her hip | :14:34. | :14:44. | |
six weeks ago, 92—year—old Olive Spurway was taken to Stafford | :14:44. | :14:47. | |
Hospital. She didn't need an operation, so she was moved to a | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
specialist bed in a care home and then back home for physiotherapy. I | :14:51. | :14:57. | |
had tests, and then I had my x—ray, and I had an operation, and then I | :14:57. | :15:04. | |
was at the house in my room, and that was all within four hours. I | :15:04. | :15:07. | |
thought that was really good. Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent | :15:07. | :15:09. | |
Community Partnership has formed one team out of NHS and council care | :15:09. | :15:13. | |
staff to simplify looking after patients like Olive. Both budgets | :15:13. | :15:21. | |
have seen big cuts. We can make decisions much more quickly about | :15:21. | :15:25. | |
Health and Social Care Act, and we can absorb more of the activity, and | :15:25. | :15:28. | |
by that is working in a smarter way. At this doctors' surgery in Gnosall, | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
they have been carrying out local clinics for dementia and frail | :15:32. | :15:35. | |
elderly. They claim to have saved £1m from an £8m budget. All over—75s | :15:35. | :15:39. | |
are screened, and Professor David Jolly runs a regular dementia | :15:39. | :15:47. | |
clinic. It is likely to be rolled out locally. Nobody from the | :15:47. | :15:52. | |
practice was using mental health services at all! And very few, or | :15:52. | :15:59. | |
fewer, compared with other practices, were using the general | :15:59. | :16:05. | |
hospital system at all. So we have been surprised, really. Surgeries | :16:05. | :16:09. | |
like this are going to be more important as the NHS try to save £30 | :16:09. | :16:14. | |
billion going forward. The reality is we do not pay for another | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
hospital beds and this is seen as the best chance for the NHS to | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
survive. And with more people living to a ripe old age, the NHS needs | :16:24. | :16:30. | |
fresh ideas. Our top story tonight: Dismay from | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
relatives of firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze as a coroner | :16:35. | :16:39. | |
decides not to hold full inquests into their deaths. | :16:39. | :16:41. | |
Your detailed weather forecast to come shortly from Rebecca. | :16:41. | :16:44. | |
Also in tonight's programme, the Premier League kicks off tomorrow. | :16:44. | :16:47. | |
Will West Brom still be the region's top dogs come next May? | :16:47. | :16:50. | |
And fields of deception, how magicians used the Shropshire | :16:51. | :16:53. | |
countryside to fool German bombers in the Second World War. | :16:53. | :17:03. | |
A—level students have spent the past 24 hours recovering from getting | :17:03. | :17:07. | |
their results, some celebrating, others commiserating. For some that | :17:07. | :17:13. | |
meant a long night out, and in Shrewbsury a team of street pastors | :17:13. | :17:17. | |
were watching over them. They patrol the streets nightly, not | :17:18. | :17:21. | |
just helping those the worse for wear, but also looking out for the | :17:21. | :17:24. | |
town's homeless people. Our special correspondent Peter Wilson spent the | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
night with them. Are you celebrating or | :17:29. | :17:31. | |
commiserating? Out on the streets of Shrewsbury. | :17:31. | :17:35. | |
The town was busy as students drank to celebrate or to drown their | :17:35. | :17:38. | |
sorrows. But the street pastors were offering help and advice. They were | :17:38. | :17:42. | |
a surprise to many but others had been helped before. I was very | :17:42. | :17:49. | |
drunk, they guided me to where I should be going. I did not know | :17:49. | :17:53. | |
where I was, and they helped me. The team of five are all committed | :17:53. | :17:57. | |
Christians but they say not bible bashers. Hard—nosed security staff | :17:57. | :18:03. | |
claim they've made a big impact. The street pastors are just doing a | :18:03. | :18:06. | |
great job, they are looking after vulnerable people, easing pressure | :18:06. | :18:12. | |
on the door staff, and taking problems away, making sure they get | :18:12. | :18:15. | |
home. One of the reasons for starting the street—pastor scheme | :18:15. | :18:18. | |
was the number of deaths in the river at night. Before the street | :18:18. | :18:22. | |
pastors began their operations in Shrewsbury, more than 26 people had | :18:22. | :18:30. | |
died in the previous six years, since these patrols began no—one has | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
drowned in the River Severn during the night time. People who are any | :18:34. | :18:39. | |
berated and trying to walking on the towpath as a short cut to where they | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
live, and there are no barriers, so they are just toppling into the | :18:42. | :18:47. | |
river. But since we have been here, since 2011, there have been no | :18:47. | :18:51. | |
deaths were we patrol. The police may be the professionals but the | :18:51. | :18:54. | |
pastors are trained, too, and they know all the rough sleepers in the | :18:54. | :18:58. | |
town. They get food for Becky, who's just left hospital. We actually met | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
her on the very first night we patrolled, and she is a regular | :19:04. | :19:10. | |
rough sleeper in Shrewsbury. We found out that, this year, she is | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
developing health problems now. It is the first time I have ever seen | :19:15. | :19:19. | |
her really upset and tearful. I think she is in a pretty bad place | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
at the moment. Kelly is concerned about her own vulnerability, a woman | :19:23. | :19:27. | |
sleeping rough on the streets. Knowing that they are about, | :19:27. | :19:32. | |
especially on a weekend, we get idiots, drinking people and that, so | :19:32. | :19:39. | |
they are quite handy. The charity is part of a national network. More | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
volunteers are joining, and the pastors appear to be winning hearts | :19:43. | :19:45. | |
and minds on the streets. Midlands swimmers have hit the gold | :19:45. | :19:56. | |
trail at the IPC World Championships in Canada. Worcestershire's Clare | :19:56. | :19:59. | |
Cashmore was part of the successful 100m freestyle relay team. | :19:59. | :20:04. | |
Hereford's Sasha Kindred defended his world 200m individual medley | :20:04. | :20:07. | |
title for a fourth time. And there's been a second gold medal at the | :20:07. | :20:11. | |
championships for Ellie Simmonds. The 18—year—old from Aldridge broke | :20:11. | :20:14. | |
her own world record in winning her 200m individual medley title. | :20:14. | :20:20. | |
The Premier League football season gets under way tomorrow, and | :20:21. | :20:23. | |
thousands of fans, as always, start the season full of hope and | :20:24. | :20:26. | |
expectation. Don't we always? Last night we | :20:26. | :20:33. | |
focused on Stoke City. Tonight it's the turn of West Bromwich Albion and | :20:33. | :20:37. | |
Aston Villa. Nick Clitheroe reports. They're near neighbours and | :20:37. | :20:39. | |
increasingly fierce rivals. Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion | :20:39. | :20:42. | |
couldn't be separated on the pitch last season, but there were seven | :20:42. | :20:45. | |
places and eight points between them in the final table. West Bromwich | :20:45. | :20:51. | |
Albion finished top dogs in the West Midlands at the end of last season, | :20:51. | :20:55. | |
so what are the fans expecting this time around? They were knocking on | :20:55. | :20:58. | |
the door of the Europa League, so a European place is not out of the | :20:58. | :21:03. | |
question. We can get even better this season, is because we have got | :21:03. | :21:08. | |
more players, like more better players. Top five would be | :21:08. | :21:15. | |
possible. Really?!Yes, I am positive, I am Dutch! There's no | :21:15. | :21:19. | |
doubt that the signing of this man has played a large part in the | :21:19. | :21:22. | |
pre—season optimism at the Hawthorns. Nicolas Anelka has won | :21:22. | :21:24. | |
major trophies in four countries, and his shirt is the hottest | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
property in the club shop. The one to come back to England to play. He | :21:28. | :21:31. | |
felt he still had enough left in his body to be producing in the Premier | :21:31. | :21:37. | |
League, and luckily for him I agreed! He is a player that I know | :21:37. | :21:41. | |
well from a short spell together at Chelsea, but over the years you see | :21:41. | :21:46. | |
the quality of the player. Darren Bent scored for Aston Villa against | :21:46. | :21:49. | |
Albion last season, but he won't be able to repeat that in this campaign | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
after joining Fulham on loan today. But it's the striker who stayed, | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
Christian Benteke, who has made the Villa fans believe this won't be | :21:56. | :21:59. | |
another season struggling against relegation. I think we will do | :21:59. | :22:04. | |
better than last year because we kept Christian Benteke, very | :22:04. | :22:12. | |
positive, very optimistic. Hopefully this season will be a lot better | :22:12. | :22:17. | |
than last season. That is football fans, and this club has got a | :22:17. | :22:20. | |
history and tradition of winning that demand is that we win more | :22:20. | :22:28. | |
games than not. Any club that wins a European Cup has always got that. | :22:28. | :22:31. | |
They don't meet on the pitch until the end of November. By then, we'll | :22:31. | :22:35. | |
know whose optimism has managed to outlast the autumn chill. | :22:35. | :22:40. | |
Nothing like it! And you can follow your football team this weekend by | :22:40. | :22:43. | |
tuning into your local station for match coverage and reaction. | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
It's not widely known but a secret operation was carried out in | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
Shropshire during the Second World War to fool German warplanes. Decoy | :22:49. | :22:55. | |
fires were lit on Whixall Moss near Whitchurch to give the impression of | :22:55. | :22:58. | |
burning streets down below. The strategy was used to divert | :22:58. | :23:01. | |
enemy bombers away from urban areas. Now a tourist trail through these so | :23:01. | :23:04. | |
called fields of deception has been created, as Bob Hockenhull reports. | :23:04. | :23:11. | |
Whixall Moss, two and a half thousand acres of lowland raised bog | :23:11. | :23:18. | |
that proved invaluable to the war effort. The army placed burning | :23:18. | :23:22. | |
baskets on the ground at night to try to trick German warplanes. Now | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
the secrets of the operation have been unveiled as part of a new | :23:26. | :23:32. | |
tourist trail. This is a strategic starfish sight. It is a site which | :23:32. | :23:37. | |
was going to draw enemy bombs away from urban areas. When we were | :23:37. | :23:44. | |
compiling a book about this, the people connected with the site would | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
not speak about it, because they said they were sworn to secrecy. | :23:47. | :23:52. | |
This is what the fake fires looked like. They were meant to replicate | :23:52. | :23:55. | |
streets were incendiary bombs had been dropped by the Germans. The | :23:55. | :23:59. | |
burning streets below would then attract waves of bombers. From | :23:59. | :24:04. | |
10,000 feet, one of these ablaze would look like a street of houses | :24:04. | :24:08. | |
on fire. They proved to be very successful. There were 237 of these | :24:08. | :24:12. | |
in Great Britain at the height of the war. And it was something like | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
700 bombing missions bombed the sites rather than the real targets. | :24:17. | :24:23. | |
That probably saved quite a few lives. Jim identified where the | :24:23. | :24:26. | |
baskets would have been from this German aerial photograph during his | :24:26. | :24:31. | |
investigations he also found other remnants of the operation. We one | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
mile away at the battery shed, from where the baskets were lit. Once | :24:38. | :24:41. | |
they got the word, all the soldiers would have to do is press a switch | :24:41. | :24:44. | |
attached to a wire and the fires would start. People living nearby | :24:44. | :24:51. | |
used to cut peat here for a living. Those who survive are glad the | :24:51. | :24:54. | |
landscape is slowly unveiling its war secrets to the public. People | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
want to come on trails. You could spend all day year, virtually seeing | :24:59. | :25:05. | |
nobody. Later this year, these replica baskets are to be ignited | :25:05. | :25:09. | |
again so the so—called fields of deception can burn once more. | :25:09. | :25:17. | |
God, that is something, isn't it? How is the weather looking for the V | :25:17. | :25:21. | |
Festival, the cricket at Edgbaston and anything else outdoors? Rebecca? | :25:21. | :25:27. | |
It is waterproofs at the ready! Temperatures made it into the 20s | :25:27. | :25:33. | |
for some of us, but tomorrow has an autumnal feel. We are going to see | :25:33. | :25:37. | |
those winds picking up, rain to come as well. It will eventually brighten | :25:37. | :25:43. | |
up, but tomorrow is feeling very unseasonable. We have got a little | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
bit of sunshine still to enjoy tonight, and then some clear skies | :25:46. | :25:51. | |
to come overnight, and because of that temperatures will fall away, | :25:51. | :25:54. | |
dropping down to single figures in rural spots. In urban spots, staying | :25:54. | :25:59. | |
more into double figures, but then we start to see the cloud moving | :25:59. | :26:02. | |
into the early hours of tomorrow morning. That signals the arrival of | :26:02. | :26:07. | |
a weather front, and that weather front is bringing with it some | :26:07. | :26:09. | |
patchy rain through the day, but most places will see it at some | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
point. On top of that, the winds picking up, and that will make | :26:14. | :26:18. | |
things feel rather an seasonable. Temperatures only really getting up | :26:18. | :26:23. | |
to 18 — 19 Celsius. Feeling quite chilly under that rain. If you are | :26:23. | :26:26. | |
heading to the V Festival, it looks like tomorrow will be a rather wet | :26:26. | :26:31. | |
day at Weston Park. Sunday does look better. Having said that, tomorrow | :26:31. | :26:40. | |
afternoon will see the rain moving off eventually, and through the | :26:40. | :26:42. | |
evening things will start to brighten up a little bit and we will | :26:42. | :26:44. | |
see some clear skies overnight once again, but those showers never | :26:44. | :26:47. | |
really too far away. Milder tomorrow night as well. We start Sunday with | :26:47. | :26:51. | |
some short, sharp showers to come, but eventually it will start to | :26:51. | :26:55. | |
brighten up. Temperatures not much higher than we will see on Saturday, | :26:55. | :26:59. | |
but because those winds are a little bit lighter, it will feel a little | :26:59. | :27:04. | |
bit more pleasant. Coupled with the sun, not feeling too bad at all. | :27:04. | :27:08. | |
Through Sunday into Monday, high—pressure starting to move in, | :27:08. | :27:11. | |
so things are starting to turn a little bit more settled as we move | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
into the new working week. So we have got a bit of a clip to content | :27:15. | :27:20. | |
with tomorrow, then, a little bit of rain through the day, but eventually | :27:20. | :27:23. | |
it is an improving picture through midweek. | :27:23. | :27:27. | |
A B cap of the top stories: More bloodshed in Egypt, at least 50 | :27:27. | :27:35. | |
people have been killed in clashes between protesters and security | :27:35. | :27:37. | |
forces. Dismay from the relatives of | :27:37. | :27:41. | |
firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze as the coroner decides not to | :27:41. | :27:44. | |
hold inquests into their deaths. Mary will be back at ten o'clock, | :27:44. | :27:47. | |
have a good evening | :27:47. | :27:47. |