29/12/2011 North West Tonight

Good evening. Police say they are treating the murder of an Indian

student in Salford on Boxing Day as a hate crime and have not ruled out

a racial motive. Anuj Bidve was with a group of friends heading

into Manchester when he was shot dead in the early hours of the

morning. Police say they still haven't found the small handgun

used in the shooting. Five people have now been arrested in

connection with his death and are still being questioned this evening.

We do not know whether it is a racially-motivated or not. But by

definition, where there is a perception of racial hatred

involved, we have to categorise it as a hatred incident. In a

practical sense, right from the beginning, it has always been a

possibility that we have investigated that it could have

been racially-motivated and we are not ruling that out.

The family of a Merseyside woman missing after a hiking trip in

Lanzarote has flown to the Canary Islands to help the search for her.

Margaret Holt who's 65 and from the Wirral hasn't been seen for almost

a week. Here's Nina Warhurst. The search teams using helicopters,

sniffer dog, and a growing team of volunteers, but still no sign of

Margaret Holt. The 65 year-old with a passion for coastal walks has not

been seen for six days now, and concern is growing. TRANSLATION: We

started the search at 7 o'clock this morning, from the foot of the

volcano in the town where Margaret was last seen in the late afternoon.

She was not on the last bus out. These posters are being handed out

across the island. A businessman who runs an English website says

that live on the island has temporarily been put on hold.

have 17 dormant volcanoes on the island, so the trails are rough

with very little rain, so they are dusty with volcanic rock. If you

fall off the trail in Lanzarote, you can't fall onto very hard rocks,

knock yourself out and break bones quite easily. -- you can fall.

Margaret was just wearing a vest, shorts and sandals and her passport

and cards had been left in her hotel room. Her family will now

joined the search in the hope that there is more good news to come.

Meanwhile, a man from Preston who's wanted by Lancashire police has

been arrested in Tenerife. Daniel Billington is wanted for

questioning about a serious assault and for breaking the conditions of

his parole. He was stopped by police on the island during a

routine check on Christmas Eve. He's now in prison, awaiting

extradition. A dog has been shot dead as it was

being walked by its owner in Cumbria. Police say the miniature

Labradoodle was shot for no apparent reason at Birkrigg Common

in Urswick on Boxing Day. It's a popular place for dog walkers near

Ulverston and Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen

either a white Ford Transit or a Land Rover near the car park.

Alcohol abuse is costing the NHS in the North West �500 million a year.

The figures have been highlighted by NHS Cumbria to persuade people

to drink more sensibly. Alcohol consumption increases by 40% over

the festive period. The date has been set for a

marathon in Preston next year. The race will go ahead on 28th October

as part of the city's Guild celebrations. Local long distance

runner Helen Clitheroe launched the celebrations earlier this year.

It's the first time a marathon has been held as part of the Guild

events. Crews are still damping down at the

scene of a blaze near Leyland in Lancashire more than a week after

it started. The fire at the Lancashire Enterprise Park has

caused millions of pounds' worth of damage as Ian Haslam reports. It

was one of the biggest fires and Lancashire for a decade, and it is

still not fully out. Last week this building was the base of a family

run distribution company. Now it is destroyed. I have never seen

anything quite like it in my life. It was huge and it engulfed the

whole building. There were flames that whatever height they were. It

was incredible to see and witness. We have been in this facility for

17 years. It is part of Lancashire's heritage. It is the

old Leyland trucks site. It is tragic to see it in this position.

The company's 155 square foot warehouse was one of five buildings

devastated by the fire. Thankfully all staff were quickly evacuated

and nobody was injured. But all of the customer stock was lost. From a

financial point of view I would imagine the cost is into tens of

millions of pounds as far as we're concerned to our customer. At its

height, more than 100 firefighters battle to bring the blaze under

control. Things are still far from back to normal and it is not known

how long that will remain as the case.

Football now and Blackburn Manager Steve Kean says he's optimistic he

can strengthen the squad in January. That's despite annual losses

reported at more than �18 million, up from 1.9 million the year before.

At today's press conference the manager was confident he'd still

have money to spend in the transfer window. Obviously there is money

that has come into the club, no more so than Phil Jones going to

Manchester United. There has been money coming in. We would like to

think that we can keep the majority of the squad together.

Wigan have won their appeal against Conor Sammon's red card during

their Boxing Day defeat to Manchester United. The striker was

shown a straight red after clashing with Michael Carrick in the first

half. The appeal means Sammon is Now the weather. We have had a wild

and windy spell over the last couple of days. This picture was

sent in by David, near to Blackpool. It is not snow, it is spray from

the sea, which was almost boiling over yesterday. It looks like a

giant bubble bath, or a free car wash, depending on how you look at

it. If you have got anything like that, we would love to see it, so

send it in. We did not fare much better today because the winds have

been dusting to 60 mph. They will calm down over the next couple of

hours. We still have that showery regime which will last for another

couple of hours. As the night progresses, the showers will die

away and everything will settle down and everything will clear out.

Temperatures will fall away in rural areas. There could be

temperatures of three degrees, in towns and cities five and along the

coast, six. It is not so much better tomorrow. The winds are

lighter and suddenly, about 15 mph for most of last. But drizzle will

start to work its way in and look at the picture after lunchtime.

This is a big band of rain which will work its way in and sit over

the top of us all the way through the afternoon. It will be fairly

heavy from time to time, so don't be fault if you set out and it is