25/01/2012 North West Tonight

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin...

And Roger Johnson. Our top story: Caught in an iron fist. A series of

raids are launched to trap metal thieves.

We join the cops cracking down on a growing crime.

Also tonight: The perils of payday loans. Why two

of our councils want to cut the number of loan shops on our high

streets. The ministry of the Coniston 8 - the collection of pigs

running wild in the woods. Stay tuned, and I'll tell you all about

playing Fagan here in Manchester. I Also tonight:

a place at Wembley is at stake as Liverpool and Manchester City play

the second leg of their Carling Cup semi-final. And Richard Askam is

live at Anfield. Yes, the prospect of a Wembley final and the first

chance to win major sill veds3 iren. The stakes are high, particularly

for Liverpool. Their fans haven't been there for 16 year Edwards 3

irthe build-up later. It's a crime which has left rail

passengers waiting on platforms across the north-west for almost

800 hours. It's cost Network Rail more than a million pounds. And

churches across Greater Manchester more than $1 million.

Metal theft is a growing problem. So at dawn this morning, 16 scrap

yards were raided and 11 people arrested. Our chief reporter Dave

Guest was on the raids and has this report.

It's just after dawn and police arrive en masse at this scrap yard

in Manchester. They believe it may have been receiving metal and cable

stolen from across Greater Manchester. Everyone knows metal

has a high resale value now. The issue for us is in the scrap yard

didn't take the metal, this theft wouldn't go on. As everyone knows,

it is a significant problem for us. The police are joined by staff from

telecom, energy and transport companies who've all lost large

amounts of valuable cables to thieves. It isn't long before they

find something of interest. It's a tram cable - 650 votes over a tram

cable. That has no reason to be here? No, no. That was taken from

the tram site recently. As the search goes on, ten men

arrested on the site are loaded into police vans.

And the finds continue. That is drop wire - what would come from a

telegraph pole to a house. There is no reason that would be here?

The police say metal theft is something which affects us all.

Stolen cables disrupt transport and communication networks. Stolen lead

has caused extensive damage to homes, schools and churches. This

is one of 16 scrap yards that'll be receiving a visit from police today.

It's nicknamed Operation Alloy to target one of the fastest-growing

industry s. Two councils in the north-west say

they're so worried about the number of pay day loan shops opening on

the high street that they should be BANNED or numbers capped. Many of

them have set up shop here - after other countries imposed tight

regulation on their businesses. Here's Annabel with more.

Pay day loans work by giving you money - with the idea you pay it

straight back on payday. They can be a cheap alternative to banks.

But they can spiral out of control if left unpaid, with some companies

charging interest of up to 2,500%. Salford Council is now calling for

these kind of businesses to be banned from the high street, while

Cheshire West and Chester Council want numbers capped. So let's look

at one high street in Ellesmere Port. In a ten-minute stroll you

can pop into seven short-term, high-cost lenders. Alan agreed to

speak to me but off camera. Ever since he has been bombarded with

messages - more cash, no checks. They didn't bother to ask me about

my income. All they bothered about were my cards. One payday had

multiplied into many, a �3,000 debt he couldn't reply until he sought

help from the credit union. Julie Williams from the credit

union takes me on a tour of the town. A couple of years ago there

was one high-cost lender - today, seven in a short stroll. There is

more here. She'd like to be based here competing alongside, but her

interest rates are capped. Theirs aren't. They can afford the High

Street rent. She can't. We cannot effectively compete with

these guys in the High Street, which is why we need to be in order

to offer people a real alternative. The council wants to limit numbers

on the High Street. Salford want an all-right ban. These are what I

call legal loan sharks. Before long I really do believe someone is

going to commit suicide as a result of borrowing this type of money.

Back in else mere port, a lender has even set up shop on the market

- APR and the loans are over 3,000%. Gary says he has had attacks on his

car. It's the loan sharks that don't like the fact people have an

alternative to go into them. It can be a useful, cheap alternative to

bank overdrafts. It can create huge problems. Obviously, if there were

stringent checks I wouldn't have gotten into this much debt. I would

have dealt with it sooner. Alan mes he should have been more

responsible, but believes the sector should have been more

responsible too. A little earlier, I spoke to the

personal finance expert, Martin Lewis about payday loans. I

suggested to him that - while they can be useful - it's sometimes the

start of a slippery slope. Payday loans scare the pants off me,

if I am honest. For most people, you shouldn't touch them. While

they're not too bad if you were to borrow it and pay it off in time,

when you're talking about thousands of per cent, if you don't pay it

back, it snowballs into an enormous amount of money. You need to look

at any other option rather than taking them. Have you any other

money available? Could you flog some stuff? Even credit cards - the

bete noire of debt are even cheaper than payday loans. Of course, if

you can't afford to pay back a perfectly legal lender on the High

Street, there is even a danger you're going to go down a less

scrupulous truth get them. I think they should be regulated. They're

disgraces. The Government needs to do that? The Government really does.

At the moment the rule is unless you're a criminal you can set one

up. If you're not a criminal, you need a few hundred quid - of course,

we don't want do regulate them completely out of business because

then we force people into the hands of illegal loan sharks, who

threaten violence against children and sometimes go through with it if

you don't pay. If that's not a disincentive, I don't know what is.

That doesn't mean the payday lenders are any better. If you're

in trouble, you're far better to go to a non-profit debt counselling

issue, citizens advice, Cap UK, Christians against poverty - great

organisations won't charge you. They're to help, not to be

judgmental. Be careful about payday loans. Look at the credit unions.

Just because these people look easy or you can do it on the internet or

an app, it's about impulse targeting - go on, borrow from us.

You want the money! Don't fall for temptation because the penalties if

you get it wrong in any way are in a different league to anything we

had before. Store cards - they have problems, but nothing compared to

this. Thank you very much. He's great, isn't he?

We know you have plenty to say on this because we have had e-mails

already. If you have your own If you're quick we'll read some out

at the end of the show. Some of the day's other main

stories from around the north-west now. And a Greater Manchester

police officer has been suspended from driving duties - after writing

off a high performance car during a test drive. The VW Golf R left the

road in Old Trafford in the early hours of this morning - ending up

on its roof. The driver was injured, and the force is now reviewing its

policy on test driving cars on public roads.

A Lancashire Council says it WON'T compensate a couple who say their

home was damaged when the authority forced its way in to clean.

Yesterday we told you about this property in Thornton Cleveleys.

Neighbours complained to the council about the smell and the

owners were later prosecuted. They claimed a wall was damaged in the

cleaning process - something Wyre Council denies. The councillors ran

up expenses in cleaning the property up. They'll have to pay

this bill. If they don't pay it immediately, then it will be

charged on their property and will have to be paid by them when they

ultimately sell the property, so we will recoup these moneys for our

council tax payers. Trafford health care trust has

recorded a thousand days without a single case of MRSA in its

hospitals. Managers say that means the trust is the best in the

country for stamping out the potentially deadly infection.

A hotel in the Lake District has won an international award for

having the best interior in the world.

The Cedar Manor Hotel in Windermere has received the "International

Hotel Award" for its luxury rooms which are designed by a local

company. There are big changes coming - in

the way we elect local politicians. The government wants more directly

elected mayors. And in November we will be asked to vote for new

Police Commissioners. Our political editor explains what it all means

for us. The job is the same, but policing

is constantly evolving. Greater Manchester Police has a new

headquarters, and the Chief Constable is going to get a new

boss. It's the most fundamental reform since policing started in

1829. That reform will sweep away police authorities and replace them

with elected police and crime commissioners. The Government want

them to ensure the police do what people want. If the local people

want to see more police in their community tackling, for example,

anti-social behaviour, the police do that because they're being held

accountable through an elected Police Commissioner. There will be

one powerful Commissioner per force. They'll create a crime plan, the

overall strategy. They'll set the budget and hire - and possibly fire

- the Chief Constable. I think there should be somebody

high up responsible for the policing of the area and made

accountable for all the crime going on. Street crime - it's too bad now,

isn't it? No bobbies on the beat I should think. What happens if the

Commissioner wants those bobbies on the beat, but the Chief Constable

wants to focus on other priorities? I have confidence in a place like

Greater Manchester, I think local people, politicians accept that

absolutely part of what we do as a police force has to be things like

gun crime, gang activity, organised crime, police involved in robberies,

those sorts of things. I think in other parts of country that might

be more of a concern, that the Commissioner might be more populist.

The idea is to connect the police with the public, but it will add a

more volatile ingredient - politics. Arief is with us in the studio.

This electing Police Commissioner is part of a wider thing by the

Government, isn't it, to get more widely elected politicians? The

Government has announced it wants to speed up plans for elected

Mayors in our cities now? Yes, the Government is very keen on what

they call locklism, getting power to the people by getting to them

vote for different kinds of people, so police commissioners, directly

elected Mayors. In terms of the Mayor's stuff, basically, the

Government wants to see directly elected Mayors in Manchester and

Liverpool, the two big cities. The time frame was in May there was

going to be referendums in both cities, and then the - assuming it

was a yes, they'd be voting for those Mayors the following May.

What the Government says is if it's a yes, we'll go ahead with the

elections, bringing it forward. This all presupposes people are

going to vote yes anyway. There is speculation Liverpool city council

is going to go ahead anyway without a referendum. The Government is

very keen on this kind of stuff. The question is, are the voters?

Thank you very much. Still to come:

You'll find out who the mystery man walking in was! You'll also not

recognise this man as Fagan - but we'll be talking to Neil Morrissey.

The curious case of the Coniston 8 - how did this lot end up running

wild on the edge of Drysdale. you think I got away with it?

fairness, it wasn't your fault. said sat down - I did.

Neil Morrissey is here. The big news is, we have heard it confirmed

in the last half hour Mario Balotelli will not be playing for

Manchester against Liverpool. had until 6.00pm to appeal he

didn't. He was charged with violent conduct by the FA. He's now banned

for four matches with immediate effect. That's important because it

means he misses tonight's Carling Cup semi-final at Anfield. This is

what led to the ban. He swung into Scott Parker. The ref said he

didn't see it, but the FA watched the tape and said it was deliberate.

He's really livened things up, hasn't he? Off the pitch, he's

brought something... Fireworks. Quite. His agent says he feels

persecuted and may quit. That's right. He's famous for saying, "Why

always me", there was a T-shirt with that on it. The agent warned,

as he says, Mario Balotelli is being persecuted and might actually

quit the country. Every three, four games he's being suspended. He

cannot go on like that. The FA would like Mario to go out of

England, he would take that seriously. What do City fans make

of it all? Andy Johnson reports. You can't ignore him, but will his

latest run-in with the footballing powers that be hasten his leaving

football? I think he's a wonderful player. I don't think there is a

fan around thats him to go. We love characters. There's not a lot of

characters. He has so much about him. When he's on the pitch, you

can't take your eyes off him. Fans can't take their eyes off him. I

think he'll stay. How would you feel if he left sooner rather than

later? Upset. He's one of our best players. There is one City striker

who loves playing here but may leave earlier than expected and

another who has been hit where it hurts. It's reported Carlos Tevez's

dispute with City means he's lost �6 million in lost bonuses. He's

not been paid since November. That's another 1.7 million. Add a

misconduct charge, 1.2 million and finally, breach of contract - in

total, a whopping �9.3 million. No distractions tonight, though. City

are a game away from Wembley if they can overturn a 1-0 deficit

from the first leg of the semi- final.

We know City will miss him. As for Liverpool, manager Kenny Dalglish

warned the players he'd get rid of some of them if they didn't improve

against Bolton Saturday. Richard, as you said at the

beginning, they haven't been to Wembley for 16 years. There is

going to be no problem, I would have thought, with motivation

tonight? I think you're right. A lot rests on this match tonight for

Liverpool. As you mentioned, Kenny Dalglish usually critical of his

players, a powerful kick up the pants perhaps for thes like of

Carroll, Henderson, Downing, big- money signings who haven't really

fired for him, certainly not consistently this season. They have

in the first leg. They have this 1- 0 advantage going into the first

leg, but talking to the fans, although City will be desperate to

win tonight, of course they will - the feeling is the important thing

is the Premiere League final, and perhaps the expectation, maybe the

hunger, is with Liverpool tonight. Someone summed it up about Mark

Lawrenson saying, not only will Liverpool be hungry - they'll be

starving to win tonight. With that thought, back to you from Anfield.

Thank you very much. I can't wait for it.

Here he is as one of the stars of the show Fagan. You couldn't

recognise him, could you? He should have been at a dress rehearsal at

the Palace Theatre - hope this isn't bad for him, but he came here

to talk to us. We're here only for a short while, so the more people

that know about it, the better. There is nothing better than a week

before you leave, people say they didn't know it was on. The more

information out there, the better for everybody. How do you find

playing Fagan, a baddy, compared with all the other stuff, Men

Behaving Badly,, Bob the Builder? It's great. A part like Fagan...

One of the best musical parts for a man. Absolutely. It's the hamlet of

the British musical theatre world, getting to play Fagan who is, yes,

bred of absolute evil, but also comes across as being quite

charming in charge of all of those kids who he makes such fun - to go

out and thieve for him. It must be quite a physical part. Yes, I see

stars. I drip with sweat. I have a beard and a wig on. My jacket

weighs pounds. I have layers on and the dancing and the heat...

really have to get in shape for the part. No, I got in shape while I

was doing it. It's like training, so you really have to get in shape

for it. Otherwise, I could be treading on children all the time.

Did you ever expect to play a part like this? Because you have had

such a varied career. I guess you can't map it out. No. You just see

what comes along. I have been very lucky in that

sense. There's been lots of different things with radio, TV,

film. I have hit every point of media, and yeah, Fagan in musicals

is beyond me, you know? And I think - I don't even know how I got the

part. I had to go and audition. actually had to go and audition?

Yeah. In front of Macintosh? Yeah. You do it brilliantly. We go to

Birmingham after this. I do three or four weeks there, then Brian

takes over and does all the summer stuff, which is going to be really

hot - well done, Brian. It's going to be really hot for him, bless him,

then I go back into it in November in Leeds. I get all the cool venues.

Thanks for talking with us. Nice to see you. He was a lovely guy.

A nice guy. When you see him in... You think he's going to be mad.

Then kids in Bob the Builder. It's not unusual for National Trust

Rangers to find the odd purse or pair of gloves lost in a Lake

District car park. But their latest discovery is in a different league.

They've nicknamed the find - the Coniston Eight - it's a collection

of pigs found running wild in woods by the banks of Coniston.

They had an inkling something was out there following reports of

various norths. There were seven young ones in total and another

bringing up the rear. We often get fridges dumped and camp sites

abandoned, but pigs is - I had some very interesting phone calls that

afternoon that spelled out "pigs" quite a few times!

LAUGHTER Now, it's one thing realising that

there are eight pigs running wild in the woods. The hard part comes

when you're trying to reacquaint them with captivity.

Well, it was just basically bribery - a bit of feed - a bit like

leaving breadcrumbs - a pile of feed into the trailer. Any time

they saw the slightest glimpse of movement, they shot out again.

best guest is someone dumped them when the task of feeding and

looking after them became too difficult. It's not clear how long

they had been in the wood, but they were hungry and not in the best

condition. Come on, piggy. I am really looking forward to getting

them in good shape and getting them healthy and happy. That's our main

job. No-one knows what the future holds, but for now, they're as

happy as a pig in Shangri-La. Very happy. The cameraman will

still be cleaning his lens. I shall pass over to Diane for the

moment to avoid any... Any faux pas, any rude comments.

Temperatures in part around 11 Celsius. Look what happens the next

couple of days. Temperatures start to fall, and we'll be below average

as you head towards the weekend. Through the day today, we saw our

fair share of sunshine. There was enough out there to ensure that the

day was OK, liveable with. But over the top of my head, you can see our

next area of rain over the Isle of Man. The next couple of hours it

will spread across the region. Our computer has it at 7.00pm. I think

it will be an hour or so behind this time line. It's on its way

anyway. What this line does apart from soaking the ground is, it

marks the boundary between the mild air we have had and the much, much

cooler conditions that come in as you head towards early morning. As

it works out of the region, your temperatures will really start to

fall away. Lucky we don't have clear skies all the way through the

night because you can see the blue coming up the map in the early hour,

so your towns and cities will be 2- 3 Celsius. There may be a 4 Celsius

along the coast, but rural areas, 0 Celsius and maybe a minus 1 here or

there. So the ground is damp. There could be a touch of ice on

untreated surface. The sun is getting earlier and earlier. You

may see a bit of it in parts tomorrow. There is a line around in

the morning. As they bump into the cold air over the tops of the

Pennines, there will be snow falling. I don't think it will

cause us too many problem, but there could be sleet falling

anywhere because it's unsettled. We're looking at patchically cloud,

sunny spells and showers. There could be sleet falling just about

anywhere. There may be some hail, but it's over the tops of the

Pennines snow will be falling from time to time. The temperatures,

variable, 7-8 Celsius at the very best. That's where they stay over

the next couple of days - in fact, Let's crack on with some e-mails.

We have had loads about payday loans, grateful. Sorry we're not

going to read all of them out. Lawrence Bennett "They're a

disaster. Unfortunately, I used one of these loans and wish I'd never

set eyes on them." Jeff says "The only effective way

of putting these people out of business is to amend the Lending

Act. Until the '70s there was a limit - the amount individuals

could be charged for credit". He says that needs to be brought back.

Graham says "The simplest way to control situations where debt gets

out of control is for the Government to legislate our maximum

interest rates". The Government should stipulate and

widely publicise the maximum rate of interest that could be