11/09/2014 South East Today

sunshine but the risk of a shower later this weekend. Thank you. That

Armed police are at the scene of a shooting in Sussex `

a girl is believed to have been shot in the head.

Heartache for the family of a Kent teacher murdered overseas,

I click to wake up and feel normal and that is not something any of us

have been able to do. `` I'd would like to wake up.

Passenger groups hit out at the decision to renew Southeastdrn's

A childhood dream come true ` the Earl who spent

a decade tracking down the recipe for his perfect sausage.

And still living the good lhfe ` Felicity Kendal gets Hay Fever in

We start tonight with breakhng news ` police officers are investigating

Armed police have been sent to the scene in Northiam, near Rye

It's believed a girl has bedn shot in the head and has bedn

It is believed that a body of a man believed to be the girl 's father is

also at the scene. Let's cross live to our reporter

Simon Jones in Northiam. What do we know so far?

The police and emergency services were called at about 4pm thhs

afternoon. The girl who was shot has been taken to hospital. She is said

to be and a stable elite back serious condition. `` in a serious

condition. There is a huge `mount of police cars behind us who h`ve been

taking part in this operation. There has also been a bomb dispos`l team

because this is a major armdd incident. We know from local people

that they were told to stay away from this scene. The key thhng for

the police was to make sure this area was as safe as possibld as they

dealt with this incident. You can see behind me that it is sthll

ongoing. All the police cars and ambulances. Neighbours I have spoken

to spoke of their shock. Thdy simply heard to stay away. They did share

that this girl was shot. Th`nk you. We will give you more inforlation as

we get it. The family of a Kent school teacher

and former Royal Marine killed on the French island of Reunion have

told today of their heartbrdak after it was revealed a murder trhal will

not now take place until next year, When Carl Davies' body was hnitially

discovered in November 2011, it was But a week later, police latnched

a murder investigation. Ellie Price has

our exclusive report. Carl Davies was 33 when he died on

Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Today his family have been told

the four men charged with his murder will go on trial,

but not until next year. We are living

a nightmare that is never ending and you want to wake up some daxs and

say, get me off, I've had enough. I'd like to wake up one day

and feel normal. That's not something that any

of us have been able to do. Do you think the trial will

at least go somewhere towards I think it will help us to rebuild

our lives around his memory Carl Davis was found dead

on French`governed Reunion Police initially said it was

an accident. Just over a week later, thex

launched a murder investigation Then, last year, four peopld

were charged with his murder. It took

a whole year to discover th`t in fact his murder was related to

a series of aggressions in the city The family have no firm datd

for the trial, but expect it to Four years is

an incredibly long length of time for a hearing of a criminal trial

and certainly a great deal longer The difficulty is that very often

with these jurisdictions on small islands, they take their

time to progress and unforttnately, if it is four years, then that is

what it is going to have to be. The trial itself is so complex

and there's a lot of people So we know this is probably going to

be the biggest trial that For that, we are kind of gr`teful

that it is being done properly. The family say they will tr`vel to

Reunion for the trial next xear The plan to create more lorry parks

in East Sussex. Southeastern will continue to run

trains in Kent and Sussex until at least 2018, it has been announced

today, despite the controversy and criticism levelled at them over

poor performance in bad weather But the company has been forced to

promise a raft of improvements for the deal, including that

they'll provide about 95,000 extra It has to offer improved connections

between London, North Kent and East Kent with

a new hourly high`speed service And there will be

a peak`time Hastings Business Express, cutting ten minutes off the

current journey time into London. We're asking a lot, actuallx, from

people travelling on Southe`stern. We've got the biggest engindering

set of works going on in th`t we've London Bridge Station is behng

completely redeveloped and will have a concourse bigger then Wembley

Stadium when it is finished. We are asking a lot from thdm

and it is important that at the time of investment, at the time

of changes on the track, thdy get an operator who is really committed

to their journey, to making But the announcement comes `s it was

revealed that every day abott 120,000 people travelling into

London have to stand at the busiest As many as 60%

of morning peak trains into the capital have passengers

standing, with one`in`five Southeastern commuters standing

when they reach London Bridge and around one`in`ten are standing

on arrival at London Victorha. The MP for Hastings and Rye Amber

Rudd says the company deserve It is a short period of these three

and a half years. and they have made these very new

commitments with money behind it. There is a new chief executhve and I

can tell you that I will be watching them very,

very carefully and if they don't deliver, I will be the first person

to go to Government and complaint. But I think we have to give them

a shot, and we hope The passenger I have spoken to this

afternoon have said that Southeastern don't deserve `nother

three years. They cited problems like rising season`ticket prices.

The company have said they have taken on more staff to provhde more

information to their passengers and that they are committed to hmproving

their services. Southeastern say they have one

of the lowest levels of overcrowding for train companies

that serve London. The new franchise deal means it will

continue to operate services Tributes have paid to former Primal

Scream musician Robert Young after he was found dead at his hole in

Hove. The guitarist played on the band's Mercury Prize`winning album

Screamadelica. he left the band in 2006. His death is not being treated

as suspicious. A Kent MP says the money generated

from bank fines should be used to support Gurkha veterans forced to

survive without army pensions. Campaigners say

the amount received by some Gurkhas During a debate in the Commons,

Folkestone and Hythe MP, Damian Collins, said it's only

right, as the cash already supports That money is there to support

military charities. They ard very deserving cause and an appropriate

one. I would ask us to sit `nd look seriously at that as an opportunity.

A network of lorry parks cotld be built across Kent to stop hdavy

goods vehicles queuing on the M 0 when there's disruption at the Port

of Dover. It's an alternative to one huge lorry park that had formerly

been proposed. The Council's shortlisted three possible sites for

the first park: They includd the Whitecliffs Business Park in Dover,

a site at Westenhanger on the M 0 and the land next to the Ashford

International Truck Stop. It's hoped it would also help residents who say

their lives are blighted by trucks parking up at night outside their

You have to watch where you tread at the back of this woman's hotse. That

is revolting. The market and fluids here are human. They come and have

their supper and then they throw it over. Then they have their breakfast

and throw it over again. And then they go to the toilet and off they

go. But it is hope to eradicate this problem by building a network of new

lorry parks. They hope the plan will help them when there are

disruptions. At the moment, a backlog of Laura's has to bd parked

on the carriageway. The reshdents aren't sure it will work. This man

is plagued at night by the sound of these lorries. It is just

unbearable. The noise is unbearable. The new car parks will charge and he

doesn't think drivers will pay. I think it is important that parking

facilities are provided but I don't think that this should be a charged

parking lot for drivers bec`use I think there will still be a problem.

Others support the plan. Provided that these facilities are s`fe and

secure, and they are set at a reasonable price, we think ht will

be used. The current facilities in the county are full five to seven

nights of the week. It will solve a good part of the problem. Wd want to

see legislation that will allow the situation in the UK to be shmilar to

that on the continent where informal parking is simply not toler`ted A

huge loan will fund this project. A final decision on which sitd will be

used will be made next week. Jon Hunt reporting and he joins us

now ` this problem has been going on for years, Jon ` will this solution

work? It's going to help. In the dvent

that phase two of his operation is introduced, the council will be

short of around 400 lorries basis. That is assuming that euro title and

the port of Dover expand thdir lorry parking as has been suggestdd. The

question is whether lorry drivers will be prepared to pay and

therefore will not use thesd lay buys outside of peoples homds. That

is a trickier question. One lorry driver that I spoke to told me that

his firm doesn't pay him to park his lorry and therefore any parking

costs come out of his wages. In just one week's time the people

in Scotland will make an historic decision ` voting on whether to

remain part of the United Khngdom ` or to become an independent nation.

In the past 24 hours, Lloyds, RBS, Clydesdale, and Tesco Bank have

all said that if Scotland votes for independence, they would move their

legal headquarters south of the border. So what impact might the

referendum have here in the South East? Our political editor Louise

Stewart has been finding out: With just one week until voters in

Scotland have the opportunity to decide their future, the st`kes have

never been higher or both c`mps It is a contentious issue not just

north of the border but herdto. At this company near Dartford that to

make a ballot boxes and sectrity seals, some of which will bd used by

local authorities for the rdferendum next week. Like many companhes that

trade with the Scotland, thdy are concerned about the uncertahnty

Nobody knows at the moment what this will mean for people. What currency

would come into play? Will we become part of the EE you? `` well being.

We have different ways of ddaling with these customers. When people in

Scotland go to the polls, pdople here won't have their say at the

ballot box. That doesn't me`n they don't have strong opinions on the

future of the UK. I went to this town to ask whether Scotland should

remain in the union or becole independent. I think we shotld

remain united. Financially, as well as anything else. Apart frol that, I

like the Scots. EMac I think they are better staying with us. They can

sustain themselves. Their social policies aren't better than our

social policies `` are bettdr than ours and they should go for it. This

will be felt on both sides of the border. People here live closer to

Edinburgh than they do to c`n't If the Scots got independence, they

might say they want devoluthon. Consequences will be enormots.

Whatever the outcome next wdek, it will have a long term and whde

reaching effect. This is tonight's top story. Armed

police are at the scene of ` shooting in Northiam. A girl has

been shot in the head and t`ken to hospital. A body of the man believed

to be her father has also bden found.

Also in tonight 's programmd. She is still living the good life.

Felicity Kendal swaps the shtcom for the stage.

And is automotive around thd corner. I will have details for you around

the corner. `` autumn. The mild winter and warm sulmer led

to a bumper crop of strawberries this summer, but there are fears

that climate change could m`ke that a rarity in the future. Now

scientists in Kent are experimenting with how to keep crops growhng well

in drought conditions ` with fungus. For the latest in our Food Chain

series, our environment correspondent Yvette Austin reports

on how science is trying to help Strawberry plants growing

under special conditions. Their light, water

and food are strictly controlled The aim is to reduce the amount of

water used, and they've discovered that feeding them friendly fungus

makes them healthier. We are stressing the plants as much

as possible and we are feedhng them with the friendly fungus

which is helping the plants to resist the stress and we manage that

way to reduce the water and keep Friendly fungus is found

in any soil. One teaspoon contains 20 metres

of it, if strung together. But intensive farming reducds

that number, so the idea is to add it back into the soil where crops

may face stress like drought. On a commercial system,

we need so much water to grow just a single strawberry,

but with our method, we havd managed So now the method is being tested,

ready for commercial production using

sterile coconut husks for soil. They don't have any harmful

bacteria, so there are no The problem with that is th`t there

are also no beneficial fung`l bacteria in there,

so we're putting the beneficial fungi without the plant disdase

fungi back into the growing material The new growing techniques `re being

developed to help growers prepare for future climatic change

and increasing demands for food Especially here, in the southeast,

there are many demands on ways of overcoming that problem and

giving us more food for the future. It is expected that

the friendly fungus will go on to help other plants grow

and increase our food securhty. Brands Hatch saw some of thd slowest

lap times ever recorded tod`y, but even so, thousands of pounds were

raised for charity. The Kent circuit staged the fourth Cyclothon event

which attracted over 350 competitors, including a nulber of

former international rugby players. Amongst today's first timers was

former England skipper Mike It is always good to get back into

an time of the lads I used to play with. You can rekindle some of those

friendships. All of the charities on display today are fabulous charities

and worthwhile causes. If you have the spare time in your diarx to do

something you don't normallx do you get out there and do it.

Cricket now, and Sussex all`rounder Chris Jordan has been awarddd a

contract by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Jordan's deal covers

the next 12 months, but his county team mate Matt Prior has lost his

contract, having voluntarilx quit the England test team this summer.It

Welsh international midfielder Andrew Crofts has signed a one`year

contract extension with Brighton Hove Albion. The deal means Crofts,

who's in his second spell at the Championship club, will stax with

the Seagulls until June 2016. In the '70s, she was the

self`sufficient suburban hotsewife a generation fell in love with. But

Good Life. And now, at 67, she's taken to the stage at Canterbury's

Marlowe Theatre, for Noel Coward's Hay Fever, before it transfdrs to

Brighton. Nafisa Sayani went to meet her.

Are you sure it's not just a big brussels sprout?

She captured hearts as Barb`ra in the '70s sitcom The Good Life

and now Felicity Kendal is still a sweetheart of the screen

This week, she stars in the play Hay Fdver

Noel Coward is a genius writer and it isn't so much the ch`racter,

it is how he puts the whole evening together that attracts me.

In the comedy revival about an eccentric family's weekend

at their rural retreat, Felicity plays recently rethred

I couldn't see why I would want to do it. I don't particularly like

acting, which is why he turned it down.

This is an actress that really loves acting,

which is why I decided I want to play her because I wanted to see

if I could convince in a ch`racter that is not really like me.

Her career spans more than 45 years, included a stint on Strictlx

in 2010, something she describes as an impulse decision.

I loved every minute of it, to me it was actually getting away

I know the costumes are glalourous and everything,

The fun was to learn somethhng new with these amazing teachers

and to be part of the world that I would never have anything to do

The play will be at the Marlowe until this Saturday and with

Felicity on board, it's unlhkely to struggle to bring in an audhence.

And they will move onto sevdral different theatres. Find out more on

to several different theatrds. Find out more online. And it's jtst

started to feel cool now, isn't it? The debates photo that was sent in.

It seems like autumn is upon us We have had a slightly fresher feeling

in the afternoons. If we have any photographs `` if you have `ny

photographs you'd like to sdnd in, here are the details. This weather

will stay with us through the weekend. A lot of light winds. That

is including quite a lot of cloud cover around. It is quite h`rd to

predict. Temperatures today have been pretty high. Some highs around

18 to 90 Celsius. Because of that temperatures, it

won't be as chilly. Some light rain or patchy clouds. Temperatures will

be 13 to 14 Celsius. Always a little bit lower in rural spots but any

mist and fog should clear away. By the afternoon, it will brighten up.

It is hard to predict, sunshine and we will see. Even when we sde the

sunshine, it will be easy. These northeasterly winds will be around

ten mph. Temperatures around 19 to 20 Celsius. Tomorrow night will see

a repeat performance from tonight. For the most part, we stay dry. Were

you see clouds it won't be puite as chilly. A little further in land we

will see some temperatures of around eight or nine Celsius. As wd start

Saturday, it will be overcast. It will brighten up in the aftdrnoon.

20 to 22 degrees Celsius as we get into Sunday. You can see from those

isobars that it will be increasingly breezy. The main story is that it

will remain settled. As we get into the week, it will cool down. But at

least it will remain dry. We will go back to our main story

now. A girl has been shot in Northiam and taken to hospital. A

body of a man has also been found and is believed to be her f`ther.

Our correspondent is there. What is the latest?

I understand that the body of the man who is believed to be the father

is still at the scene, just around the corner from here. You c`n see

officers at the other side of that court in and members of the

ambulance team here. The police have been speaking to local residents,

partly to get information about what has happened and also in an attempt

to reassure the people here. They are all desperate to hear how this

little girl is doing. She h`s been taken to hospital in London in a

serious condition. People hdre are telling me how shocked and surprised

they are. When it is a little girl like that, as a father, it's just

quite shocking. I'm shocked. Some are like this, you don't nedd it.

It's not really something you want to hear. To happen in a village like

this, it is terrifying. It hs a very small place. What places saxing at

the moment? `` what are the police as saying at the moment?

They are saying that they understand it is a shocking moment for the

people but they say that thd incident has been contained. The

body is believed to be around the corner from here. There is going to

be a large police presence here throughout the evening. Somd

residents may be inconvenienced by this, but the police are very keen

to talk to them about what happened. But also to demonstrate

that the scene is very much under control. Officers are due to remain

here for the foreseeable future Thank you.

We will have more about that developing story at 8pm and 10: 5

p.m.. From the rest of the news team, that is it.

You can keep up`to`date with our Twitter feed and Facebook as well.

Goodbye.