28/07/2011 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans. And I'm John Young.

Tonight's top stories. Trouble at sea - jobs under threat and fares

may rise, as a cross-Channel operator faces a takeover bid.

We're live in Dover this evening with reaction.

Her yearning to be earning, half a million pounds is invested in

apprenticeships for youngsters be shut out of the job market.

The soldiers who witnessed the atom bomb. A victory tonight, as they

campaign for compensation. Is fully they would say that we are

sorry, if you like. They will not do that. But if they admit they are

sorry, they will say they did no wrong, and I cannot see them doing

it. A bumper crop of melons in Kent? We ask how and why? And on

the record - Roger Thorne's life in music. How one man amassed one of

Britain's largest collections of gramophones and 78s.

Good evening. There are fears tonight that plans to buy out a

troubled cross-Channel ferry operator could lead to job losses,

and increased prices for passengers. Seafrance axed over 700 jobs last

year, after managers admitted the company was "haemorrhaging cash."

Now, a rival operator, DFDS, which already runs services between Dover

and Dunkirk, has joined forces with LD Lines in a takeover bid. Simon

Jones is live in Dover. Exactly how much is this bid worth, Simon?

That remains a commercial secret but it could go for a knock-down

price because Seafrance has been losing a massive amount of money.

The bid has come as a surprise, it was unexpected. But for the 1,600

staff, they are asking what it means for them.

Rivals in the court throat Channel industry. But now DFDS and LD Lines

wants to take over Seafrance, leading to concerns about what it

will mean for the workers. In many ways, it is a good thing. It will

not be perfect for everybody because she will see a form of

rationalisation of jobs. The good news is there will remain two

providers. P&O and the new joint venture, but the joint venture will

carry out a risk for jobs and capacity. For Seafrance has been

caught in competition with other carriers. Prices could go up, bad

news for those who shop around for the best deals. Extremely important,

for me all 4 us it is the most important thing, the price stay

macro price is important. We shop around quite a bit. Seafrance

carriage 3 million passengers last year but has been kept going by it

bail-out by owners SNCF. It has 650 employees on both sides of the

channel and its potential new owner is convinced it can work. It is

realistic to have a profitable future, we have documented that

over part of the bid, and that covers the majority of assets and

staff of Seafrance. There will be no changes in many respects to the

services. So in that way we will be keeping jobs at Seafrance. Business

experts say it could help Shorrock a struggling centres. It has been

probably coming for some time. There has been too much capacity on

the Channel. The fares are great for consumers but difficult for

companies to make money, and fuel has gone up dramatically and people

do not travel to Europe, it is too expensive. Pass injures and workers

will be watching developments keenly. -- passengers. The bid will

be referred to the competition Commission. It is likely against a

backdrop of potential privatisation that in the future, things in Dover

could look very different. Half a million pounds is being

invested in Kent to find apprenticeships for particularly

vulnerable youngsters who would otherwise have more problems than

most finding a job. 94% of young people with learning disabilities

are unemployed. So are 60% of young offenders, and 33% of teenagers

leaving care. But the Vulnerable Learner

Apprenticeship Project, which is receiving the funding, is one of

the most of successful of its kind in the country, finding work for

almost 70 young people, as our business correspondent, Mark Norman,

explains. Young men given easy labels by

society. Hard to get on if you have broken the law and it is hard to

get on without a good education. Labels that make it really hard to

get a job. That was until the local authority gave them a chance with a

paid apprenticeship. People like me would probably still be sitting at

home and probably doing nothing. Or maybe getting in trouble again.

opportunity to learn skills is keeping Louie out of trouble. He

has had to prove himself to get this far, as have two other young

men on the scheme. One learning catering skills. The other

restoring old coaches. My wife fell pregnant so I needed some way of

supporting them, so I found a job and I am here and I enjoy it. It is

better than watching television all day, at a lot better. I went down

here for a year's apprenticeship and obviously I said, yes, please.

Key to any successful apprenticeship scheme are the

employers who want to avoid red tape and get support from the local

authority. Be applicant must want to come to work rather than have to

go to work -- for the applicant. We try to create an environment where

they want to come to work. I was not really interested in taking on

an apprentice but the authority scheme is could not because they

just fund it, but they take care of the payroll. He is getting a job

training and an income which would normally not do. But is it worth

half a million pounds of taxpayers' money being spent in this way?

Young people like this can be expensive on the public purse if

they are just left to be at home and not to be engaged in work. They

do not become a burden on the state and become more independent to find

their own lives. It's a small number of people compared to

approximately 10,000 regular apprenticeships across Sussex and

Kent, but for these youngsters, this opportunity might not be

repeated. Mark Norman reporting. And he's

live in Hastings. Mark, there's a real push to promote apprenticeship

schemes across the South East, isn't there?

Absolutely, and in Hastings, there is a need for more apprenticeships.

In Eastbourne, they have created -- finished a scheme creating

apprenticeships -- 100 apprenticeships in 100 days. Across

the area, there are 4,000 apprenticeships. The councils see

it as a way are getting young people off benefits to give them

the skills they need for their working lives.

It is one year, less a day, until the London 2012 Olympic Games get

under way and the Olympic torch was this afternoon on the last stage of

its tour of the south-east, are on display in Brighton, giving the

people the chance to apply to participate in the official the lay

next year. The royal seal of approval from a true sports fan,

Princess Anne, the only member of the royal family to have taken part

in the Olympics in 1976 and Montreal. -- in Montreal. So today,

this visit to one of the south- east's training venues is close to

her heart. The Princess Royal is officially opening Medway Park

Sports Centre a year before the London 2012 Olympics get under way,

then this place will be filled with world-class athlete preparing for

their big day. Until then, these facilities are being accused by

local schoolchildren and the centre will serve the community long after

the games. Fabulous new and unities -- amenities, they come here to

join with other schools and it is a wonderful experience to have that

so close and very locally. I do a dance class, and I'll be -- and I

like doing lots of different things. I like watching the athletes

compete in the running career because it is really cool! A as

part of its �11 million revamp, the centre has a new running track.

Medway sporting academy can spot potential runners of the future

here. We wanted it to be used for sporting recreational use for the

community and that is the Olympic legacy that we are going to have

here in Medway. The centre can also host major sporting events. Today

it is the start of the modern pentathlon European Championships.

He it is brilliant for competing because you can go from one to the

other and do not have to get on a bus, so it is a great setting and

we are very lucky. Next year, at least from Barbados, Portugal and

Senegal will be gearing up for the Olympics here. Before that, the

people of Medway can make the most of it.

How we hear about legacy and everything looks on track for 2012,

what happens after that, will there be a useful these facilities?

The leader of Medway council said the legacy of the Olympics would

last long beyond 20124 people here. He says this book centre is unique

in the south-east because it provides facilities for elite

athletes and local people and university students studying sports

science. As well as central government funding, some of the �11

million came from University of Kent at Medway so people here

really do have a very real investment in the centre and its

future. Thank you very much indeed. And on Monday, at we will be

launching a new series along with BBC Radio Kent and Radio Sussex to

chart the highs and lows of local hopefuls as they prepare for

selection in the year leading up to the 2012 games. An inquest into the

deaths of three Kent-based servicemen killed by a rogue

soldier has returned a verdict of unlawful killing. Major James

Bowman, Lieutenant Neal Turkington and Corporal Arjun Purja Pun, from

the Royal Gurkha Rifles Regiment in Folkestone, were killed in July

last year in a premeditated attack. But the inquest concluded there was

no evidence of any failure to protect the men properly.

A 25-year-old man was arrested in Tunbridge Wells today in connection

with the death of a Sussex farmer. Julian Gardner died after being

crushed by two vehicles at his farm near Robertsbridge last year. Last

month, six men appeared in court in connection with his death. Several

other people have also been arrested during the investigation.

Bin men are refusing to collect waste from a street in Brighton,

after one of them was punched by an angry resident. People in

Moulsecoomb Way are annoyed that black bags left next to their

wheelie bins are not collected. But the GMB union says the binmen are

doing their jobs properly, as directed by the council.

Veterans of nuclear-weapons tests he claimed exposure to radiation

permanently damaged the health have been granted permission by the

Supreme Court to fight for compensation. More than a thousand

ex-servicemen, including many in Kent and Sussex, say they became

ill after witnessing atomic tests in the 1950s.

The Ministry of Defence denies their claims and says they have

left it too late to ask for damages. Our political editor, Louise

Stewart, has been speaking to veterans in Bexhill.

This powerful blast followed by the distinctive mushroom cloud was one

of a number of nuclear tests for the so-called H-bomb carried out in

the Pacific and at Christmas Island at the height of the Cold War. The

servicemen here who oversaw the testing had little by way of

protective clothing. Many ex- servicemen including Malcolm

believe the exposure to radiation during tests conducted between 1952

and 1958 left them with health problems including cancers, skin

defects and infertility problems. have had chest infections, I have

had bits cut out, we had a daughter before we went to Christmas Island

and no problem, came back and tried for another, my better half had a

massive miscarriage. And the doctors put it down, all suggested

it could be radiation. More than 1,000 veterans have been battling

the Ministry of Defence for compensation for their poor health

since 2004. Two years ago, the High Court gave one in 10 the right to

sue because the cases had been brought to light to be heard. Today,

the other 90% saw that decision overturned at the Supreme Court, so

they can fight for compensation. The veterans have fought for many

years for justice and this is a step on the way. The government has

said flatly denied veterans the opportunity to have just slip -- to

have justice before the end their lives -- stead vastly. George

witnessed the nuclear testing and served on the same aircraft carrier

as Malcolm but is not taking action because of the cost, legal aid was

withdrawn years ago, but he believes veterans are owned a debt

of honour. They should get something but generally speaking,

the veterans wonder why a in other countries they have made

settlements with their veterans and this country has never done

If only they would say, we are sorry. They are not going to do

that because if they admit they are so rich, they are admitting they

are wrong. The MoD says it cannot - - acknowledges a debt of gratitude

but denies any responsibility. A victory at the Supreme Court but

this does not mean there is a guarantee they will win

compensation, does it? Absolutely not. This is a significant step

forward for the veterans but it is not the end of the road. The

veterans I spoke to earlier were 76 and 78 and they are among the

youngest of the group. The lawyer pointed out that the veterans are

dining at the rate of three every month and that means that even if

they go forward and pursue this, many of them will not be around to

see the outcome -- they are dying at the rate of three a month.

Our top story: There are fears of job losses in Dover as news emerges

of a take-over bid within the cross-Channel ferry industry.

Seafrance faces a joint bid from LD Lines and DFDS. It's thought

passenger fares may rise as a result.

Also in tonight's programme: Musical memories. How a Surrey man

managed to cram one of Britain's largest gramophone collections into

his terraced house. And with sunny spells helping the

temperatures top at 24 degrees, will we be enjoying this across the

weekend? I will have the full The Garden of England is famous for

traditional fruits like apples, pears and cherries. But Kentish

melons could soon join them on sale in our supermarkets. The first crop

of 10,000 orange flesh melons is being harvested this week as part

of a commercial trial in East Malling. Growing the fruit at home

will avoid the 1,000 mile journey most of our melons make in trucks

from Spain. And growers are confident that fewer food miles

will mean the fruit is riper and tastier. Ria Chatterjee has the

latest report in our Food Chain series.

The Garden of England's newest addition, all shapes and sizes, all

colours. This is full of the millions we know. Cantaloupes and

Ghaly are melons but this is the world's tunnel, melons are flying

the flag for Turkey, Iran and the USA. Some of them look really weird

and wacky, different tastes and colours, and it brings a bit more

fun to the Melin industry rather than the staple varieties -- the

melon industry. The team went to France to see how they did it.

genuinely put them on a tunnel of this size and only put three or

four rows in. We are putting them on second-hand strawberry beds. We

have five Rose and so obviously we have more plants. Where they get

five or six melons to plant in France, we have got up to nine of

marketable size. Let's put them to the taste test. I will not tell you

which one is which. Have a taste. # Knew a twisting my melon # This

is the one from the U K! You are preferring this one! It is

from the UK! Which one do you prefer? That one. It is very sweet.

It tastes of sunshine. And again. I will not tell you which one is

which. Very nice. Last hope for Spain. This one? Why? And like the

flavour. Growing melons seems to be an option where we can replace

something we already grow with something new to keep UK consumers

eating more fruit. Once tested for quality, they are set to end up

Archaeologists tend to go digging in a place where they know they're

likely to find a Roman villa or an iron age fort but a team in Sussex

has shown that wherever you go, you're likely to find some history.

For the past fortnight, 70 volunteers have been helping to

excavate a park in the centre of Eastbourne. They have found

evidence of human activity going back thousands of years. Natalie

Graham joined them. The Sussex seaside resorts were

thriving in Victorian times and that's when Eastbourne's rapid

The town was designed as a resort built for gentleman by gentleman

and Grange Gardens, the site of a two-week long archaeological dig,

is an example of that genteel development. We knew that it had

been a garden in the a 1990s and before that, it was open fields --

1890!. It was empty. For an archaeology, that means everything

could be sealed underground, so I was just looking for evidence of

people been here before the Victorian garden. What was going on

in this part of the Eastbourne, which is now so built up?

And so far they've found lots of evidence of human activity

stretching back over 2,000 years. This is just some of the material

they have found over the last two weeks. Lots of pottery, some of it

dating back to Roman times, and glass from Victoria and Roman times.

This is the end of a clay pipe that is probably 200 years old.

We found a Victorian pavement, mainly bones, glass. It has been

great. Getting you out in the sunshine, meeting people, and

finding out the heritage of underground.

Among the finds which will now be catalogued is a cap badge from the

First World War. This is just a small piece of evidence left behind

by one of the many people who have been at this spot over the past

2,000 years. This dig only cost a few hundred pounds and the

organisers are hoping they can make a similar contribution to local

Amazing what condition you can get them into.

Staying with wonderful old discoveries, here's the story of a

man who lived in a modest terraced house near Oxted in East Surrey but

managed to amass one of Britain's largest ever personal collections

of gramophones and old 78 records. Roger Thorne has passed away now,

but his 300 gramophones and 30,000 discs have been put up for auction

and are expected to raise over �50,000 for charity. Sara Smith

To have one of these beautiful machines in your home would take up

a bit of space. Roger Thorne had 300. And that is not counting the

phonograph! And thousands of records, all squashed into this

tiny terraced house -- the phonographs and thousands of

records. This machine is an obvious gramophone. That was the last word

in acoustic reproduction, which is what a wind-up gramophone is all

about. It was the hi-fi of the 1930s, a well-to-do person who

liked classical music would have bought it.

CLASSICAL MUSIC. George is a fellow collector and new Roger and his

eccentricities well. He collected anything he could get his hands on.

A gramophone, phonograph, records, cabinets. All of it. He never

played any records as far as I know and as far as I know, he never

properly repaired any gramophones. But while Roger may not have used

them, many of them are still in working order, despite first been

used more than a century ago. This is the oldest gramophone in the

collection dating back to 1899. It is one of the first ever made. If

you are struggling to remember why you have seen it, try to picture a

little dog sitting about here... All these records and players were

gathered up by Roger and brought back to his house in a suitably

unusual way. He would turn up with loads of records and two scruffy

dogs and himself and a Robin Reliant, with bits hanging off it!

And just in case you'd doubt in Roger's qualification as a true

English eccentric, all the money raised by tomorrow's auction is

going to an animal rescue centre in Kent.

Wonderful old machines. Fair to say the sound quality has improved over

You know how yesterday I was saying how gorgeous this weekend is going

to be. I looked at the chart this morning, preparing to cry, but it

gives me great pleasure to show you the charts! It is still looking

fine. You don't have to be a meteorologist to note is the widely

spaced isobars. Plenty of sunshine for Saturday and especially Sunday.

I think that will last into Monday as well. Temperatures will be

getting up to 24 degrees. I can use the same chart as if the day

totally unadulterated because nothing has changed. It is going to

be sunny, dry and warm a cross the weekend, getting into the mid-70s

by Sunday. For now we have a bit of a mixture, with thick cloud moving

Sussex, Surrey and West Kent having a bit more cloud but generally, a

fine and dry evening. With lots of clear skies, we will see a few mist

and fog patches forming by the end of the night. Into tomorrow, it

will be a beautiful start once any mist burns away. Beautiful for the

morning and most of us will find we have a better day than we did today,

the only difference being that into the afternoon a week weather front

could give the odd sprinkle of rain, but that is more likely to happen

tomorrow night if at all. Other than that, a very fine day tomorrow

with light winds. Temperatures like today. As for tomorrow evening, we

have still got some showers hanging on for a greater risk of showers as

we go into the first part of Saturday morning but then the

sunshine will be increasing and so will the temperatures, getting up

to about 25 for London on Sunday and 23 or 24 for us in the felt the

east. So I haven't had to back- pedal yet! It is lovely and warm as

well. Even lasting into the start Thank you! We are hoping there is

good weather on the way next month as well because we have four very

special programmes coming up. When the fund is shining, there is

nothing better than getting out of the Office for a trip to the

seaside and that is exactly what we have got planned every Friday in

August. We are entering the festival spirit

by taking south-east to UMPIRE: Game, -- South East Today out of

the road. We would love as many of you as

possible to come and join in the fund. Come on!

We start at Broadstairs Folk Week on August the 5th, head to

Eastbourne Airbourne on the 12th, join in the roof party at Bexhill's

De La Warr Pavilion on the 19th, and finish at Herne Bay Festival on