04/01/2017 North West Tonight

Friends of the Earth is standing by claims it made

in an anti-fracking leaflet - even though the Advertising

Standards Authority said there was no evidence

Energy firm Cuadrilla complained after the document said fracking

could damage people's health - contaminate water supplies -

Here's our Environment Correspondent Judy Hobson.

Strong messages, and a strong reaction.

This leaflet was produced by Friends of the Earth and distributed

It claimed fracking chemicals can cause cancer and other health

It also claimed they could pollute drinking water and that fracking

would cause property prices to plummet.

As did this local resident, a former geologist.

They said the claims could not be substantiated.

It was so blatantly obvious to us that they were exaggerating

and in fact scaremongering among people in Lancashire.

And also wider in the attempt to get fundraising for this.

The Advertising Standards authority investigated and asked Friends

In a statement it said, "We have told Friends

"of the Earth Trust Ltd not to make claims about the likely effects

"of fracking on the health of local populations,

"drinking water, or property prices in the absence

Other anti fracking campaigners said they wouldn't be deterred.

I am absolutely confident that Friends of the Earth

will continue their campaign, just as we will.

Just as the grassroots groups will carry on their campaign.

Three years ago, it was Cuadrilla that was forced by the ASA

to withdraw a leaflet for over stating it used proven

Over the next few days, Cuadrilla are due to prepare this

site to test fracking here later in the year.

The ASA ruling might not change minds, but Cuadrilla says it hopes

the outcome would stop campaigners using misleading material.

Earlier, I spoke to Rose Dickinson from Friends of the Earth.

I asked her - as the ASA says the claims were not

supported by facts - if they made them up?

It is important to be clear the ASA have not ruled against us, they have

dropped the case against Friends of the Earth and Friends of the Earth

stands by everything we said about fracking and the evidence is

mounting against fracking all the time showing it poses risks to

people and the environment and the climate. They said there was no

evidence to back up those claims he made. In our formal agreement with

the ASA they dropped the case against us, everything we said in

the leaflet and we say about fracking is backed up, we sent 100

references to back up to be sent in the leaflet. You sent to the ASA so

why did not believe you if you send compelling evidence? They have not

come back to us on the points we raised, they say the leaflet will

not be circulated. This is the destruction, Cuadrilla have

complained against Friends of the Earth when the fact remains that

people in Lancashire do not want fracking and that is what we should

talk about. The leaflet had a picture of brass smear on the front,

there are no plans for fracking there and this was sensationalising

things. That picture was illustration of the beautiful

English countryside that Cuadrilla and others would like to frack in.

There are plans to do fracking in Sherwood Forest and other places in

the north-west. And the point remains that fracking poses risks to

people and it should not go ahead in the North West or anywhere.

Four men have appeared in court over the deaths of two

young girls from Oldham - who were hit by a car

12-year-old Helina Kotlarova and her cousin Zaneta Krokova -

who was 11 - were struck on Ashton Road on New Years Eve.

These developments come four days after the crash which has claimed

the lives of two cousins - Greater Manchester police

had made a number of arrests over that period -

of Oldham, appeared in court charged with two counts of causing death

by dangerous driving, conspiracy to pervert the course

of justice, driving without a licence, failing to stop

after a collision and failing to report the collision.

Three other men were also charged with conspiracy to pervert

the course of justice - all the men spoke through

a Hungarian interpreter to only confirm their identities

of tributes laid at the scene in support

Understandbly this remains a difficult time for both families -

the cousins were part of a larger group of who had already crossed

that road in Ashton when this incident took place -

Helina's father and uncle told me tonight that they are not only

surprised but overwhlmed by the support - both

financial and emotiional - that they've received from the local

community - and want to publicly thank everyone for that -

they like most of us await the outcome of legal proceedings

Police have made fresh appeals for information -

after the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Greater Manchester in November.

The attack happened in Levenshulme as the girl was walking

along Chapel Street - near to the Horseshoe Pub.

A man - described as being six foot tall and wearing dark clothing -

It's the third rape in the area - but Greater Manchester Police say

there is nothing that definitively links them.

Tributes have been held to mark the 50th anniversary of the death

of former British land and water speed record holder Donald Campbell.

His daughter Gina was among those who gathered on Coniston Water

in Cumbria to lay flowers at the site of his fatal crash,

which took place half a century ago today.

Everton Football Club says plans to build a new stadium -

most likely at Bramley Moore Dock - could be confirmed in

Liverpool's Mayor Joe Anderson told the club's general meeting tonight

that the council was helping with the planning -

and that 20-million pounds has been allocated to build a road

Less than four years ago, East Lancashire Hospitals Trust

was put in "special measures" following an official review into

Now in a big turnaround, health watchdog the Care Quality Commission

have rated the trust - which runs the Royal Blackburn

and Burnley General Hospitals - as "good" overall, welcoming

In 2013, hospitals in East Lancashire were in a critical

condition and placed into special measures - death rates high

East Lancashire NHS Trust, were the panel issued highlights

of poor governance and inadequate staffing levels and high mortality

levels, patients and their families complained of a lack of compassion.

It's been a difficult few years, but the latest

Care Quality Commission report has rated the trust as good overall.

We have put more doctors and nurses on wards and we happily looked

at everything that we do and it is good for staff

when they come in every day and work as possible as they can

The inspections at the Blackburn and Burnley Hospitals in September

were follow ups to wider checks in 2015, and found the trust had

a clear vision with staff dedicated to achieving the best

I think it is just all that has been introduced over the last two years.

I think that has helped, communication from the top

And that has been massive for morale, I think.

Pat Dixon has been in hospital over the New Year.

She says she has been impressed with her care.

However, the CQC found there was still a reliance

on costly agency staff, with some wards falling

below the 80% fill rates for registered nurses.

They found the emergency department continued to find the four hour

wait target challenging, with over 1500 ambulance handovers

There was a time a good few years ago where people were pretty unhappy

about what was going on in their local hospitals.

Most people are pleased with the treatment that they get.

If there are complaints, it is about minor things such

as car parking and so on, which loom large in some people's

but the actual medical care is now very good indeed, I think.

There are still improvements to be made, but after turbulent times,

this Trust is showing signs of recovery.

It is going to be cold tonight. Lows of minus four degrees in parts of

Cheshire as we speak so very very cold tomorrow. It should be bright,

plenty of sunshine expected so we have temperatures as low as -4 in

Cheshire and Temperatures creeping up a notch or

two and turning milder into the weekend.

A guarantee on your journey to work tomorrow, if you are nipping out to

the shop for a paper, somebody will talk about how cold it is. Looking

at today, the weather front pushing Southwest, mild air stay in

south-west, but behind it is colder air from the Arctic. Behind it,

windy conditions. Bleak across northern Scotland, a cold day with

temperatures struggling to get above two. If you think that's cold, look

at what's happening outside as we speak. Temperatures falling below

freezing quite widely across the country and towards dawn they could

be as low as -8 in rural parts of Oxfordshire. I guarantee you will be

scraping the ice of the car windscreens first thing in the

morning. Some cloud running down the North Sea coast and some cloud

across Lincolnshire and East Anglia. A few showers here, but further

inland the temperatures fall away. Towns and city centres also