14/02/2014 Midlands Today

to British coastlines, with winds of up to 80 mph. That's all

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight. Cut off since

Christmas ` the villagers in Gloucestershire who've been marooned

by the flood waters. We have just been sort of forgotten. We are not

in the village, we are not in the city, mostly we are forgotten about.

We'll be live in Tirley in Gloucestershire for the latest,

after another day of heavy rain and strong winds. Assessing the damage,

homeowners in Worcester wade through the waters to monitor the impact.

Very messy. Is not look good at all. I am travelling into a community

largely cut off by flood water and now Gailes mean they have been

without power for two days. The rain is still falling and the river

levels are rising. But all signs point to things getting a little

better next week. I'll have all the details later. Also tonight, as the

Prime Minister visits Jaguar Land Rover's new engine plant.

Local manufacturing firms claim they've lost out to overseas

suppliers. And the farmers using social media to boost business and

to share some fun photos. Good evening. People living in a

village in Gloucestershire say they've been cut off by flood water

for nearly two months. Roads around Sandhurst were flooded at Christmas

and the water has only risen since then.

It is not just river water flooding these homes, it is sewage. Matt

Beesley lives here. Why did I leave? Human faeces floating around in the

kitchen. No, thanks. We have had to make all the telephone calls. It is

too late. These sandbags cover a manhole cover in Matt's garden and

it was the manhole cover that exploded sending human sewage all

over the place. We've taken the sensible decision probably not to

walk any further into Matt's garden and I have to say the smell, as you

can guess, is shocking. Severn Trent have told us they've sent extra

pumps to Diglis Avenue but the water levels have got so high, they say,

there's nothing more they can do until they recede. Horror stories

like this are rare, and whilst some homes and businesses have flooded,

it's not widespread. Police patrols are going door to door in vulnerable

areas ` to offer reassurance. I can absolutely assure people we have had

no crime as a result of the flooding. We have lots of resources

out on the ground. People can be confident. All of the resources

including the Army, there is nothing for people to worry about. At Bishop

Hampton in Herefordshire supplies are being delivered in four by fours

because the roads are flooded by standing water. The army has been in

both Herefordshire and Worcestershire helping the emergency

services. We're here for a minimum of five days. However, we know that

we could be here for up to four weeks. If it takes four weeks, then

that is what we are prepared to provide. The rain continues to fall

and the Environment Agency's expecting the River Severn level to

rise again this weekend. And the extent of the flooding remains

breathtaking. One Midlands Today viewer filmed this footage of

Worcester from a train ` the river bank and roads are indistinguishable

in places. But there was some relief today, a nice touch when a Sikh

charity turned up to feed emergency workers and local authority staff.

Right now, the country is unaided of a crisis so we have been down to

Somerset over the weekend `` in a bit of a crisis. It is time to show

our support. All Matt can do is wait for the water levels to drop. How

was it looking? Very messy. It does not look good at all. Hundreds of

homes in north Shropshire have been without power for two days since

gales battered the region. And for a village largely cut off by

flood water, the lack of electricity is adding to their feelings of

isolation. Joanne Writtle reports. Past flooded fields and down a lane

which is now a river, there are people who feel forgotten. I am

heading into the remote community of Royal Hill, by pretty much the only

means possible. The farmer has been helping people get in and out for

weeks. This is a natural flood plain. In there somewhere is the

River Severn and people are used to all this water. What is bothering

them is that the Gailes on Wednesday mean they have been without power

for two days. Everything is a hassle. The heating in the house, it

is a hassle setting it up, we have an emergency generator. Minutes

before we arrived, good news, power was restored. But two days without a

fridge, it means there is a lot of waste. It has been quite horrific.

It is a little warmer now but it has been like living in a fridge. The

weather has been horrific. It impeded our movements, getting

around the house. It has been quite bad really. At the pub, a warm

welcome. Until just now, they have coped with a generator. We are a

country pub and we like to make sure we are open whatever the weather, so

that people who have not got food or warmth or power can come in here.

Power may be back here but hundreds of houses in Shropshire are still

cut off. The difficulty we get is when the wind starts to get up, it

becomes unsafe for the crews to work and that is my concern for today. If

we get winds of that magnitude, we will be delayed in storing supplies.

In this Hamlet, they may be swamped but at least they have now got

power. And relaxing by a cosy fire is maybe the best way to switch from

all this water. The Prime Minister's been visiting

Jaguar Land Rover's new ?500 million engine plant near Wolverhampton

today. When it opens in the autumn, it's expected that an engine will

come off the production line every 36 seconds. However, some Midlands

manufacturers have expressed disappointment that more parts

aren't being made locally. It's emerged today that 50% of components

going into the new engines will be made abroad. Our Business

Correspondent, Peter Plisner, reports.

A big investment in a big engine plant in fact it's the size of 14

football pitches. With much of the hi`tech equipment still being

installed, today the Prime Minister, a big fan of Jaguar Land Rover, came

to see the plant for himself. This epitomises everything we need

to see in the British economy. We need to make more things and here we

are, a pneumatic factoring plan. We need more investment and jobs around

the country. It's also a boost for people like

Steve Bird, whose one of the first employees to take up a post here. It

is a great experience. All of the new machines coming in. There is

little doubt that this plant is good for the region 's economy and job

creation in the Midlands but there is some concern that around 50% of

the parts are being made abroad. Although this Willenhall based Forge

didn't bid for work from the engine plant, management are still

concerned that more isn't being made locally. It is disappointing. We do

have the capacity locally. But it is not surprising because it is going

to low`cost countries where the energy prices are considerably lower

and the labour costs are also lower. But according to JLR management

today sourcing parts is complex issue. We have a competitive

sourcing strategy, like any other global company. We have tried doing

very Jasmine Birtles possible in the UK to participate in the bidding

process. `` as many companies as possible.

One of those decisions has brought more jobs to this Birmingham

engineering. It's making a variety of parts for the new engines and

it's one of the biggest contracts they ever won. It means job

stability, job creation, it is a learning that we can take elsewhere

to other vehicle manufacturers. The new plant which has cost ?500

million to set up will produce it's first engine in the autumn. And

Peter's here now. So exactly how much of what's going into these new

engines will actually be made in the Midlands?

As you said, 50% being made abroad but 50% being made in the UK. Of

that 50%, 20% being made in the West Midlands. But is lower than most

people expected but let's not forget, there are some substantial

contracts that have been one. The company in the film has an eight to

ten year contract. That is securing jobs and creating new jobs. What can

be done to make it easier for firms here to win work in the future? One

of the problems is the energy costs. The companies pay a lot for

electricity, that is continuing to rise. In Germany, energy costs are

often fix for businesses. They say it is not a level playing field.

Labour is also cheaper abroad. It is difficult to get money to invest

here. And to fulfil the kind of orders they are coming out with,

they need to invest but companies are finding that very difficult.

Even without those jobs in the supply chain, this is a big

investment in the Midlands. It is indeed. ?500 million, one of the

biggest construction projects anywhere in the country and it is a

local construction firm that has won a lot of the work. There are 1400

people working in this plant and a lot of those are apprentices, it has

been a really big project with some big numbers. Serial killer Joanna

Dennehy has told a court she's sorry for the attempted murders of two men

in Hereford, but not for the murders of three others in Cambridgeshire.

31`year`old Dennehy, from Peterborough, pleaded guilty to the

offences at an earlier hearing and appeared before Cambridge Crown

Court today for sentencing. She made her remarks after the case was

adjourned and she was being led from the dock.

One of Coventry's oldest firms has been saved from going out of

business. Cash's UK, which has made name tags for school uniforms for

more than 160 years, went into administration last month. It's been

sold as a going concern, production is expected to restart immediately.

And a senior Labour MP has attacked the war of words between the main

parties over flood protection. Labour identified 24 Midlands

Conservatives who voted against a Labour motion three years ago, which

condemned cuts to flood protection budgets. The Government say the

defences are holding`up well in most Midlands towns and cities. But a

former business minister said the debate was not what people directly

involved wanted to hear. I do not think that people who are currently

battling flooding welcome party political battling on this. This has

been truly terrible for people, it is ultimately mostly down to the

weather and the terrible storms and rain that we have had and I want to

pay tribute to every environment agency member of staff, army

officer, police and fire officers, volunteers, they have been doing

their best to help in what has been a really difficult situation for the

country in recent ones. `` months. And there'll be more on

this on this weekend's Sunday Politics, when Patrick Burns will

also be joined in the studio by Alison Munro, the Chief Executive of

HS2 Ltd, the company responsible for delivering high`speed rail. That's

from 11pm here on BBC One. ``11am. Today, the Fire and rescue

service were bringing vital resources to people by boat. We have

been finding out how they have been coping.

Cut off since Christmas. The residents of Sandhurst in

Gloucestershire have not been able to leave their homes for weeks. How

long have you been stranded? One day merges into the next. None of us can

remember. In some places, the water is six foot deep.

We were trying to pump water out last night, we were in shifts,

waking each other up. Trade keep the water out through the night. This

afternoon, human contact that lass. Specialist water genes bringing ``

specialist water teams bringing much`needed supplies. Upstream in

Jukes Brie, a lot of water but far fewer problems. Although not all

houses escape. This is a perfect example of the problems they face.

Behind me, believe it or not, are actually two rivers. Close by is the

River Avon. Right in the distance, that is where the River Severn runs.

Of course when they fled, they become one huge river and that

affects the town. For hotels and restaurants, relief as the town

stayed open on one of their busiest days of the year. We have had some

cancellations but we are getting a lot of local residents coming to

join us for a nice romantic meal. We are open. As normal. To which water

is even causing problem at this marina. Some of the boats have sunk.

It has been flooded for so long and the owners have not been able to get

to it to bale it out. Back in Sandhurst, more vital supplies but

with the water not expected to go any time soon, the villagers will

have to wait for some time yet. Ben Sidwell is in the village of

Tirley, just south of Shrewsbury. It is clearly very windy. What are

conditions like? It is incredibly windy. Huge gusts of wind coming.

You may be able to see behind, that is part of the River Severn. There

are actually waves on that. And that is dividing this village in half.

That is the big problem. Just like Sandhurst, here in Tirley, they have

had this problem pretty much since Christmas. I cannot speak to the

chairman of the parish council. Do you feel like you are cut off and

people are forgetting about you? I think it is because we are tiny and

there are far more problems in the big towns. But we have people living

down at the river who have been in their homes since Christmas, have

not been able to get out. It is difficult to get food to them. Is it

a community thing? The community has to pull together. We have formed an

emergency action group a couple of years ago because we were concerned

about the flooding. And we appointed a chairman. And he has done a

wonderful job. Let's speak to the flood warden in Tirley. We can see

how awful it is. About three foot of water behind us on the main road.

How bad is it in the village? It is really bad. It goes from here about

three quarters of a mile, over to where we have 18 houses...

Apologies, the wind is causing problems with the connection to the

village of Tirley. I think we can actually return to our reporter.

Carry on if you can. Absolutely. A number of properties

are flooded. Absolutely, yes. That is right. What can you do? We are

doing everything that we can. We have identified who is staying in

their houses. If we need to get people out, we are keeping

information on the website. We have a team of volunteers that are kind

of working to put sandbags out, organise food and just keep a link

to the people that deserted down at the river. If you look behind us,

these guys are doing absolutely everything they can. But

potentially, this water could be here for a month or so yet.

You can see all of our reports on the flooding situation on our

Facebook page. And for the latest weather, travel

and news updates on the flooding, tune into your local BBC radio

station. Selfie ` it was the word of 2013,

taking your own picture and posting it on social media. Now there's a

new version ` the felfie. But behind the fun, there's a more serious side

to the social media craze as our Rural Affairs correspondent, David

Gregory Kumar, has been finding out. Celebrities love a selfie, taking a

picture of themselves and putting it online. Here's mine... And if you

want to find it you can search for it using the hashtag felfie. You'll

find plenty from our farmers. But felfie isn't the only farming

hashtag out there. I have heard that you are working of the hash tag team

dairy. According to some people, yes. It is what we are all about. As

regards Twitter and farming, it is instant, you can do it wherever you

are. Whether you are in need looking parlour, in the tractor, you can get

it out there as quickly as possible. Businesses large and small have

followed the farmers onto twitter. By using twitter, I have got into

conversations with people that are interested in what we do. How much

business have you picked up? We joined in April last year and I

would estimate between ten and ?15,000 worth. And both Chris and

Jim have been involved with the huge task of helping flooded Somerset

farmers. And social media was at the heart of relief effort. One farmer

said to me that in the old days, you waited for farmers weekly to drop

onto your doormat and that is when you found out what was happening.

But now it is all immediate. They say that is a good thing. But of

course, Twitter is not for everyone. What would you say to farmers who

think this is just a stupid waste of time? Fair enough. Don't use it.

Each to their own. Some people love it. I know I do. This gives you a

chance to talk to so many people so quickly, a photo with a bit of an

excavation can put so many would accrue `` so much information out

there very quickly. And sometimes of course that photo can be very silly

indeed. A centre in Birmingham will begin

serving breakfast to the homeless again, after an overwhelming

response to an appeal by Worcester Warriors rugby club. Rising costs

forced the SIFA Fireside centre in Digbeth to give up the service at

Christmas. The Worcester players stepped in to buy food and cook

breakfast once a week. After we featured the story on Midlands

Today, other businesses and groups have come forward to help provide

meals for around 100 homeless people a day.

A former West Bromwich Albion striker has left the entire contents

of his luxury home to charity. Markus Rosenberg has left the club

to play for Malmo in his native Sweden. But instead of taking the

furniture from his home in Solihull, he got his agent to arrange to give

it to the Sue Ryder charity. We were absolutely amazed. We have

never had a foot taller donate any items to us that we are aware of.

The money that we raise we believe will be around ?3500. It will go

towards incredible care. Let's hope it raises more money than he managed

to score goals for the Albion. Onto sport. And it's been a pretty awful

week to be a groundsman. Out in all weathers, working hard to get the

game on despite the nonstop rain. Tomorrow lunchtime, Shrewsbury Town

are due to play Port Vale. So today, Ian Winter went to the Greenhous

Meadow to check up on the state of the pitch.

For one day only, Richard... Andrew... And Ken have acquired a

willing apprentice. So this morning, at the Greenhous Meadow, it was four

blokes with four forks working flat out to make sure tomorrow's game

between Shrewsbury and Port Vale has the very best chance of beating the

weather. Have you ever known anything like it? No, we have had

some windy times but it is just so matter storm. We have seen the

forecast, we will wait to see what happens in the morning. We will have

to wait and see what tomorrow brings. You have done well to find

him. There is usually a cardboard cutout of him and he's in the pub by

now. Since moving here, she was behind never had a game called off

due to a waterlogged pitch. What a contrast to their previous ground.

Ever since 1911, flooding used to be an almost annual event for

Shrewsbury Town. When the river burst its banks, the phrase

waterlogged pitch somehow felt inadequate. For 25 years, it was

Brian Perry's job to care for the football pitch beneath the floods.

And today, he's returning to the site of the old Gay Meadow for the

first time since retiring. No wonder he's surprised to find 179

family homes being built exactly where Shrewsbury Town used to play

football. Your job must have been a nightmare.

Yes, it was but I enjoyed every minute of it. People would ask me

about if the rain will stop the game on Saturday. It used to come down

quick and come up quick. Once the water on the pitch was there, there

was nothing I could do. But is when I went home for a cup of tea. Which

is exactly what groundsmen have always done when the rain pours

down. And the forecast for the next few hours remains wet, wet, wet. And

there'll be a pitch inspection at 8:15am.

Throughout the programme we've seen just how awful the weather has been

today. How's it looking for the weekend, Rebecca?

I almost dare not say this, Mary, but all signs are pointing to things

improving ever so slightly as we head into next week, and things

today haven't been quite as bad as we were expecting. Although we have

had some heavy bursts across the region. That said, we do still have

a Met Office yellow weather warning in place for heavy rain tonight and

through tomorrow as low pressure continues to sit above the country.

And this is the system that has brought today's unsettled weather,

and through tonight winds are strengthening. We could get gusts of

40`50mph tonight as we head towards tomorrow morning. We also have

showers rattling through the region too. At times they will be heavy and

with the cloud and the winds temperatures aren't going to fall

away too far. Temperatures 5`6 Celsius. It'll be a grey and wet

start to Saturday, with blustery conditions too. Those showers

banding up again at times. As that area of low pressure moves, our wind

direction will change, bringing in some colder air, we could see some

wintry showers over the Staffordshire moorlands. But slowly

through the day tomorrow we will see those showers moving away. With

drier and brighter conditions from the north, feeling colder though.

Temperatures a few degrees colder than today. So a clear night to

come, with a few showers remaining over the north midlands, at times

they could be a little wintry. But under clear skies with cooler air a

widespread frost is on the cards, with temperatures dropping down to

around freezing point. We could see some icy stretches developing too on

untreated surfaces. But Sunday is looking like a much better day ` the

best day of the weekend with dry and bright conditions, sunshine and

lighter winds through the day. It is feeling colder though, with

temperatures hovering between seven and nine Celsius. It doesn't last

too long though as cloud starts to build through the afternoon ahead of

the next band of rain moving in. Despite that though, the low is not

as extreme as we've seen recently and it finally looks like we are

returning to slightly more normal winter weather.

That was the Midlands Today. I'll be back at 10pm with the latest on the

flood warnings. It's been a week dominated by the weather, we'll

leave you with some of the images captured by phone, and on our

cameras from helicopter, four by four, tractor, boat and in lots of

pairs of wellies. Unfortunately, the impacts are

really starting to happen now. It has been seeping through the

concrete. Water gets everywhere, doesn't it?

You just find yourself thinking, what else am I going to do?

Quite significant damage. And some very upset children when they

realise what has happened. This has caused a lot of distress

for a lot of people. The city centre has been in sort of locked down.