14/02/2017 Points West

Balancing the books - hundreds protest outside a council

meeting to change library services in Bath.

A great invention and idea and editing thing we should cherish.

UKIP suspends parish councillor Philip Winter

And the weather starts to adopt a much

There will be some rain around tomorrow.

Details towards the end of the programme.

Plans to move Bath's central library have just moved a step closer,

despite angry protests by hundreds of people tonight.

Demonstrators say it'll mean a reduced service,

but the local authority say it would modernise it.

Although the plans still need further approval.

This all comes at a time when the council has to save ?37

And are looking at making a cut of more than ?5 million

in adult social care as well as reducing jobs.

So with these financial pressures, the council say the changes

to the library service could save ?800,000

Well, joining the demonstrators was Bath resident and BAFTA award

I asked him why he had added his voice to the protest.

The library is a big feature in the centre of Bath.

It is a place where people can come and read.

It really expresses something of the community of the city,

And the idea that it is closed and put somewhere less accessible

is generally diminished, the books are fewer,

Do you think there is a nostalgia factor with libraries

and some people haven't, let's say, moved on and libraries

No, I think libraries have a lot to offer.

People come they don't have computers and can use computers,

they can access to the digital process and even if they are not

very good at using them they will find assistance.

It is a place where people can come and study, they can

It really is a location for people to be together,

to have a public space, warm and dry and a good place to be.

I guess a lot of authors really get a bigger audience from those.

Of course it is tremendous for writers.

You have got the world of literature for free, you know,

That is a great sign of a civilised society.

And to demean it, reduce it, impoverishes us all.

What is the dystopian future you see regarding libraries then?

Well, I think the library will be reduced.

Its use will be reduced and gradually it will wither.

I think these people here are well capable of saving this library.

And if the council refuses to listen to them, well, more fool them.

A brothel in Weston-super-Mare was closed for business this morning

following a BBC investigation which revealed teenage girls

The closure of Butterflys follows a report on BBC Inside Out on how

vulnerable children are protected in the town.

It found young girls had helped clean the venue and hand out

A councillor from South Gloucestershire -

who says he's been inspired by the tweets of President Trump -

has been accused of posting racist comments online.

Philip Winter who serves on a parish council has now been

He's a councillor who nails his colours to the mast,

Philip Winter is outspoken locally, but now one comment on his Twitter

Calling black people a derogatory word, and saying

Mr Winter is on Almondsbury Parish Council, run from a small office

Today, they have been overwhelmed by complaints.

We are completely horrified and disgusted.

I mean, the comments are racist and misogynistic.

They are not the views of anyone on this council.

A lot of the councillors have said to me that they don't want to sit

Cos this e-mail says, "What kind of people in Almondsbury

would have that councillor as an elected representative?"

And it even says, "Remind me never to visit, ever."

What he's done has basically tarred the whole community.

Such statements really reflect more on that's made them much more

The kindest, nicest, best community I've ever lived in.

It certainly doesn't reflect those views.

I would hate to think that it has brought the village into disrepute

and that that's people from outside's impression

Councillor Winter didn't want to speak on camera today,

but I did manage to talk to him on the phone from his

He says the messages on his Twitter account are his,

but this one in particular about black people being deported

He believes he has become a target and has closed his account down.

Ukip sent a brief statement today saying that he had been suspended

The police say they have received a complaint and are investigating.

All this after Mr Winter started a Twitter account

because he was inspired by Donald Trump.

He wants to stay on the parish council, but a special meeting has

been called there next week to deplore his comments.

South Gloucestershire Council will ultimately decide his future.

There's to be a crackdown on binge drinking at this year's

Cheltenham Festival, which starts four weeks today.

There will be limit to the amount of alcohol people can buy

Outside the venue, council enforcement officers

Two professional footballers photographed urinating

Then one, Northampton Town's James Collins,

These photographs, taken at the start of last year's

Cheltenham Festival, made national headlines,

fuelling the boozy reputation that some critics have given the event

Alcohol consumption during that week, we get the impression

is going up year on year, so we need to have more tools

in our toolbox to be able to deal with that.

At the festival itself, drinks will now be limited to four

Organisers say they don't want people to come purely to drink.

They want racegoers to enjoy the festival without being blighted

But of course, it's not just inside the racecourse that

Every single year during festival week, tens of thousands

of extra pints are drunk here in Cheltenham town centre.

Its enforcement officers, like Brian Daughtrey here,

will be given extra powers to curb anti-social behaviour,

confiscate alcohol and, if necessary, hand out on-the-spot

Previously, only the police have been able to do this.

We do get a lot of unseemly behaviour during the daytime,

from people who are pre-drinking before they go to the racecourse.

The image definitely needs cleaning up.

Having watched from afar certainly for the last few years,

things have definitely changed, and I wouldn't say for the better.

The pubs, clubs, hotels think it is a great time,

but having said that I think it is really encouraging

that the racecourse are working more closely with others this year to try

and ensure that they play their part in cutting down on the excessive

And by trying to cut down on alcohol, organisers hope

that this year's festival will be remembered for the racing.

Football now, and all our league teams have been in action tonight,

In the Championship Bristol City lost 2-1 away at Leeds.

In League One Bristol Rovers drew 0-0 with Sheffield United

and Swindon lost 2-1 away at Notts County.

In League Two Cheltenham lost 2-1 at Stevenage and Yeovil

The Duchess of Cornwall was taken for a Valentine s Day spin today.

Camilla, who was on a day of engagements in Bristol

without Prince Charles, dropped in on a tea party run

She then danced with The Sun's royal photographer Arthur Edwards.

Later the Duchess remarked, "Thanks for the dance, Arthur.

That is it from us tonight. Good night and now the weather.

A switch now to a milder theme as we continue into the days ahead.

As we go into tomorrow it will start on a drier note initially,

but quite quickly through the course of the morning there will be showery

outbreaks of rain just spreading their way up

Some of those will be turning quite heavy,

but some brighter spells and merging through the course of the afternoon.

Through tonight a lot of cloud around.

Still a little bit of light drizzly rain.

Temperatures about six or seven Celsius by daybreak tomorrow.

We will get underway with a lot of cloud around.

Initially dry, but fairly quickly some of these outbreaks

of showery rain spreading out from the south-west.

Not impossible there could be a rumble or two

But through the afternoon, tending to break up.

Many areas starting to become drier and indeed perhaps brighter

Should be dry as we head on towards the evening.

Temperatures tomorrow climbing up to the double figures.

We could even get as high as 12 or 13.

There might be a bit of fog around overnight

That will suppress the temperatures to get things underway,

but it does looks like the day should clear up.

More in the way of drier and at times brighter weather

through the course of the afternoon and again mild.

weather into the weekend. A bit of fog around to watch out for. Jon

Hammond with the national forecast now.

Good evening. There is some rain in the forecast but not a lot. Plenty

of dry weather to look forward to as we head to the weekend. Cloud

delivering some rain but plenty of spaces in between, hence my

optimism. One of these blobs of cloud is producing dampness right

now. We could see a glancing blow across the far south-east through

the early hours and later some rain arriving across the far south-west.

In between some hill fog overnight, not desperately cold, for most a

touch of frost across the northern Glens of Scotland. At the other end

of the UK some wet weather first thing for breakfast, pushing through

Devon and Cornwall into South Wales. It won't hang around. Things will

brighten up later in the day. Ahead of that a lot of low cloud around, a

rather grey start to the day. Only slow improvements, not