19/12/2016 South East Today

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

A record ?2 million fine for Southern Water

for a catastrophic sewage leak which closed Kent beaches.

We'll be live in Broadstairs with the details.

Six people alleging sexual abuse in football have now

I was so frightened to speak out because I never had a father to turn

to. The campaign to improve safety

along our rivers after another young man is missing,

presumed to have drowned. And we're staring to feel festive -

Gillingham players bring a little Sister Sledge join a host

of celebrities to wish Southern Water has been fined

a record ?2 million for allowing a "catastrophic" level of sewage

to pollute the sea around the Kent coast,

resulting in sanitary pads, condoms and other matter

washing up on seven beaches The beaches were closed

to the public for more than a week. The judge at Maidstone Crown Court

slammed the company, saying it was slow to react

and failed to get to grips Southern Water has

apologised "unreservedly". Our environment correspondent,

Yvette Austin, reports. Cleaning up the beaches

of Thanet back in 2012. Today the court heard how

there were two major incidents within days of each other,

leading to catastrophic pollution. And since months before the pumps

at the Foreness Point plant at Broadstairs hadn't

been functioning properly. When the heavy rain and storms came

the pumping station was overwhelmed and vast quantities of raw

and semi-treated sewage spilled The beaches are quiet now but June

the 4th 2012 was a busy Bank Holiday time for Thanet's beaches,

but people reported feeling nauseous at the sight of sewage

debris strewn across the sand. There were dead fish

and numerous water activities The impacts of the pollution

incidents were really serious for the local environment

and for the local economy, so the signal to water companies

more generally is that they need to continue to make investments

in sewage infrastructure. Judge Adele Williams said

Southern Water had been complacent and slow to respond

and added the court found it the directors and shareholders

of the company could be satisfied with its record, 160 convictions

over the past 16 years, including a ?200,000 fine

after discharging sewage After three pumps failed

in East Worthing ten miles of beaches were closed for four days

in September 2012. And a half a million pound fine

for discharging untreated sewage into Swalecliff Brook in July 2013,

killing local wildlife. I would like to apologise

unreservedly for the multiple failures of the waste water pumping

station at Foreness We will continue to invest

in our network and our pumping stations to ensure that the bathing

waters remain amongst They made ?120 million profit,

they have consistently damaged the tourism industry in Thanet over

the past few years by the inadequacy of their maintenance,

and nobody seems to realise The company says it has

now minimised the risk. Winter will no doubt

test the system. Our Environment Correspondent

joins us from an area that was affected by

the spill, Broadstairs. Yvette, what has Southern Water

done, then, to minimise the risk This was not an easy case of the

Southern Water, particularly because this was the third prosecution that

this judge has presided over. The first time she gave them a fine of

?200,000, then ?500,000, and today ?2 million, she is not impressed

with their performance so she was quick to highlight their latest big,

turnover of ?804 million, profit of nearly ?120 million, so you might

think ?2 million was a drop in the ocean. Southern Water says it has

invested ?4 million in the plant and there's another ?6 million of

investment due, and that mitigation meant that the company escaped a ?3

million fine. A number of victims of sexual abuse

in football have now come forward to Sussex Police, as the true scale

of the nationwide scandal The force has revealed that it has

received six separate reports of historical sexual abuse

at football clubs in the county since revelations

first broke last month, and that the reports relate

to six different coaches. However, none of them relate

to either of the county's highest-profile teams, Brighton

and Hove Albion or Crawley Town. The investigation into allegations

of historical child sex abuse in football has spread to Sussex,

with the police confirming they are looking at six separate

reports of sex offences The claims are being investigated

by the force's public It is always very complex

if it is a non-recent case of child abuse,

as these cases are, so they take not just weeks or months but often years

to put cases together as well, but the police take them

incredibly seriously. It is important that everybody knows

how to raise any concerns The FA and NSPCC have

already launched this video about child safety,

as allegations have surfaced The issue was raised at a recent

meeting about policing in Sussex. What we want to do is make

sure we support victims. The top priority with any of those

is here-and-now safeguarding, so even though it might have

occurred ten or 20 years ago it is really important we find

out who the offender is that the allegations are made

against, are they still working with children, and we take any

here-and-now action And today another victim

spoke about being abused. Paul Collins, who played briefly

for Charlton Athletic, was groomed by former Chelsea scout

Eddie Heath. Paul had kept the secret from his

family for more than three decades. I was so bright and speak out as I

never had a father to turn to, Eddie was like a father figure, and I just

felt so alone and trapped, but I say to people now, no matter what sport

you in, speak out, nobody can stop you doing what you are doing, don't

be like I felt. one of many emerging

after years of silence. Well, Mark Sanders is at Haywards

Heath Police Station for us now. Mark, what are Sussex Police saying

about these reports of abuse? Although these claims relate to

historical abuse, the claims themselves are relatively recent,

since November, and that is when the flood dates opened, we had players

like Andy Woodward coming forward to say they were abused as children.

Important to stress that Sussex Police say these allegations in

Sussex do not relate to Brighton and Hove Albion and Crawley Town.

Tonight the priest and crime commission of the Sussex, Katy

Bourne, urges any potential victims to come forward, saying they will be

taken seriously and listened to. -- Police and Crime Commissioner.

A series of deaths in the River Medway have led

safety along its banks, with an online petition gaining

almost 3500 signatures in just a few days.

It comes after the disappearance of 18-year-old Ben Savage,

who is believed to have drowned, after going missing in Chatham

Sara Smith is by the Medway in Rochester now - Sara,

what is this campaign actually calling for?

This is a campaign set up by one woman, who started this online

petition after hearing about so many deaths of mainly young men in this

river. She is concentrating on populated areas, here, Tunbridge,

Maidstone, and asking councillors and other landowners to look again

at safety. Another year and another life

appears to have unclaimed by the Medway. When Savage disappeared two

weeks ago, last seen near the river after a night out in Chatham. His

family have said they now believe he fell in and died. Ashley head has

seen the list of young men dying in similar circumstances over the years

and decided to take action, calling on authorities to improve safety.

The walkways, not just in Medway but in Maidstone as well, should be made

more safer, whether it is cameras, nets, anything to reduce the risk of

April falling over. It makes me feel really heartbroken for the families

that have lost people. -- the risk of people falling over. Two

Christmases ago Pat Lam fell in the river in Maidstone. Then the same

happened in Tunbridge. A year before that it was Josh Thomas, an

18-year-old Royal engineer. His body was found near Rochester Peer. All

had been on nights out with friends. Pat Lam's family say simple measures

may have made a difference. Nobody deserves to die and if there are any

barriers that can be put in the way of somebody who has been drinking

heavily they should be put in place. He obviously didn't know what he was

doing, he wasn't in the right frame of mind. He decided to go down the

steps and come off the road, but a gate would have stopped him. Nobody

we spoke to was the whole river of their spots where nightlife and

river meet which are clearly more risky. It is on all of us to take a

look at some of those risks to do that risk association at a

counsellor or land over level to see if there is anything that can be

done in potentially high risk areas. The signatures on this petition

suggests plenty agree with that. We spoke to Medway Council today and

they said they take safe on the banks of the river that -- on land

they own very seriously indeed, with a mixture of barriers, lighting and

warning signs which are regularly inspected, but they say the river is

an important part of their plans for regeneration in Medway and there is

a delicate and they need to find between promoting the use of the

river and public safety. A coach driver from Gravesend

who crashed into a stationary car on the M1, killing three

people, has been sentenced Alan Peters was driving

a group of cheerleaders from Kent to Birmingham

in February last year. The 78-year-old was found guilty

of causing death by dangerous Peters had failed to see signs

saying the hard shoulder was not to be used -

he drove along it for almost three miles before

colliding with the car, A court has heard how a "human

cannonball" stuntman died at a daredevil show in Kent,

due to health-and-safety failings. Matthew Cranch was killed

when a safety net failed to catch Scott May and his company

Stunts UK Ltd are due Theresa May has accused unions

of showing "contempt for ordinary people",

as a fresh wave of strikes brought chaos to thousands of Southern Rail

passengers and threatened to ruin It's the worst disruption

on the railways for over 20 years. After today there are still ten days

of action scheduled, which could affect more

than 300,000 commuters. However, despite calls

from a number of South East MPs, the Prime Minster said she's not

considering anti-strike legislation, but that her focus is on getting

existing disputes resolved. Another week another walk-out by

Southern rail staff. With days until Christmas and the Prime Minister

today accused striking workers of showing contempt for Narine people

try to get to work and get ready for the festive season. -- ordinary

people. But commuters didn't welcome her attempt to show she is on their

site. It is a fine thing coming from her. She is showing contempt for the

British people are not putting herself up for election. The

government are also sticking up two fingers to us because ultimately the

government is putting the bill. Taxpayers pick up the bill and we

are suffering. I think Theresa May has a history of showing contempt

for the average working people. It is the end of a year of frustration

for rail commuters, with the South East regularly ground to a halt by

ticket lines, in a dispute about whether trains need guards on-board

to open doors. A growing number of South East MPs are calling for

legislation to ban strikes if the industry regulator rejects their

concerns. -- union concerns. More people will lose their jobs in the

summer, these are ordinary people and the unions need to decide if

they are on the side of ordinary working people in this country. But

unions won't back down, saying guards are essential to safety on

the Southern macro network. You have trains as long as a football pitch,

they are having to watch 20 different cameras in two stations --

seconds at stations. It is not surprising they want a second pair

of eyes in the form of a guard on the train. With just a few trains

running on some routes and others replaced by long bus journeys,

passengers want an end to this before more strikes in the New Year.

There is mounting pressure from our MPs are some kind of legislation but

is that likely to happen? You saw Maria Caulfield agreeing with her

colleagues, all Conservative MP is calling on their party leader to

introduce legislation to ban the strikes when the independent rail

operator doesn't agree with the union's safety concerns, but she

ruled out any new legislation but said the government is working hard

to resolve this dispute. Another MP having a try is Tim Loughton, the

member for East Worthing and short, he will introduce a bill for a new

rail ombudsman, somebody who will take charge of the complaints and

try to get compensation from the rail operators rather than

taxpayers. He says a way to get this solved is to hit rail operators in

their pockets. Southern Water has been fined

a record ?2 million for polluting Thanet's beaches with tonnes of raw

sewage and forcing their closure. The prosecution was brought by the

Environment Agency. Also in tonight's programme...

Seasons greetings for the Gillingham players visiting sick children in

local hospital. And it is turning wet and windy by

Wednesday. I will have the details in the forecast a bit later in the

programme. BBC South East Today can reveal

that the number of migrants in a camp in Dunkirk

in Northern France has grown, following the demolition

of the so-called Jungle Charities says several hundred

migrants are still hiding out in the region, with the aim

of stowing away illegally in By the time the Jungle

was demolished it's believed 9000 people were living there,

in a semi-permanent shanty town with dozens of unlicensed

shops and restaurants. It's now thought there are more

than a thousand migrants Our reporter Charlie Rose

reports from France. You said you would take our

undercover journalist of the UK in a truck containing produce from the

supermarket Liddell. Our exclusive investigation showed

how people smugglers operating in Calais before the camp was

dismantled are continuing their activities in Paris. Since the

closure of the Calais camp, many migrants keen to cross the Channel

have made their way to other parts of France, including this official

camp in Anne Kirk. Today volunteers from the South East arrived with

donations. What we have in the van is food and clothing supplies but

down the bottom we have a generator, because access to Mainz at -- mains

electricity is limited. People working to help the migrants say

numbers have risen by around 100 since the Calais camp was taken down

and there are now around a thousand migrants here. Among them is a man

from the Kurdish region in Iraq. He says he has tried 41 times to which

the UK illegally. France is secure and say, can't you

seek asylum here? People who stay in France tell me it is a very hard

life in France, the government doesn't take passes from refugees.

But critics say camps like this are not helping anybody. The last thing

we need is for another camp to set up in Dunkirk, the sole purpose of

which is for people who have very little claim to come to the UK to

make their way to elicit live. The French need to get a grip on this

situation. We are the only officially recognised refugee camp

in Europe as it stands so I believe the work we are doing here,

especially for the children, is important and recognised. With

reports that migrants are now coming back to Calais, hiding out as they

try to reach the UK, it appears that this camp in Dunkirk isn't the

answer for everybody. Concerns over the flow of illegal

migrants coming into Kent and Sussex from France

has been one of the big political issues of 2016,

and as the French gear up for presidential elections next

year, one of the hottest issues for debate will be moving the border

checks back from Calais to Dover. Our political editor,

Helen Catt, has more. For more than ten years

the Le Touquet agreement has allowed British officials to check passports

and search lorries for illegal stowaways in France before

they cross the Channel. This year it's come under increasing

threat from a number That is worrying some in Dover,

which has previously experienced problems dealing with large

numbers of migrants. At the end of the Le Touquet treaty,

it would mean no more border controls at Calais,

meaning the ferry companies would take responsibility,

and that would mean higher ticket It would be bad for trade,

bad for Dover and bad Fines of ?2000 for carrying

a stowaway are not currently It's not known if they'd

be reintroduced. British officials can currently

carry out checks in seven places The 2003 Le Touquet agreement

allowed vetting of ferry passengers An older agreement from 1991 had

already allowed checks to happen at Coquelle for people

using the Channel Tunnel and Eurostar passengers

are checked in Calais-Frethun, So if the French did decide

to pull out, how easy The agreement gives a sort

of two-year time period, if either country, either the UK

or France, would like so you would have quite a long

time period to prepare, but I think what you'd also see

is that that would be reflective of some kind of serious downturn

in British-French relations. The growth of the Calais Jungle,

before its clearance earlier this year, had fuelled more calls

for the border to be moved. With the jungle dismantled it had

been thought the issue could become less important in next

year's presidential election. I think there are priorities

for the French government and the next French government

and probably revising the two-year agreement is not

very high on the agenda. Perhaps Francois Fillon,

from the hard right, will want some revision,

that's a possibility, For its part, the Home Office says

both France and the UK have repeatedly made

clear their commitment If large numbers of migrants return

to northern France, though, the political pressure to make it

Dover's issue once more may In this weekend's league football

there were home wins for Gillingham Brighton and Hove Albion came

from behind to beat Birmingham - Anthony Knockaert volleyed home

to make it 1-1 with And then in the fifth minute

of injury time Glenn Murray The Seagulls remain

second, one point behind And members of

Gillingham Football Club visited the children's ward

of the Medway Maritime Hospital, Hopefully we can just lift the young

children's spirits a little bit and give them some gifts

and hopefully make them and things like that,

Christmas, and giving, and obviously we're trying to give

back and put smiles I didn't really expect

to come here and see them # We wish you a Merry Christmas

and a happy New Year. It's getting a bit miserable at the

end of the week. Yes, December so far has been

relatively quiet weather-wise, just a bit of mist and fog, but that is

set to change in time Christmas. A settled start to the week but from

Wednesday we will see the winds pick up, heavy rain around. Dry afternoon

and Friday and just in time time for Christmas Eve we have gale force

winds and heavy rain. Some patchy drizzle around today, particularly

through the afternoon, and through this evening we will hold onto a lot

of that cloud will stop elsewhere, clearer skies, some mist and fog.

Generally a murky start the Tuesday and the sum of us a bit damp as

well. It brightens up by the other and in. We will be staying for the

most part dry and by the afternoon temperatures creeping up to eight or

9 degrees, not as mild as last week but still pretty pleasant afternoon.

As we go from Tuesday into Wednesday, because we have clearer

skies, we will see temperatures fall away to around two or three degrees,

so a chillier start generally, and as we head through the first part of

Wednesday morning we will start to see the winds pick up as well. First

thing for Wednesday temperatures dropping to two or three. Wary

quickly we will see the rain, heavy at times. -- very quickly.

Temperatures perhaps 11 or 12 and much of the rain will be staying

with us into Thursday. It clears out of the way, high pressure builds for

a time, so mostly settled the Friday, but very tightly spaced

isobars, lots of blue just in time for the weekend. Christmas Eve, gale

force winds, expect sharp showers as well. Over the next four days,

mostly settled, some sunshine during the afternoon, wet going into

Wednesday, drier for Thursday and looking rather wet for Friday.

And no snow. Christmas is now less

than a week away - so here are some seasonal messages

from some of the celebrities we've interviewed this year,

including the champions of Strictly Come Dancing,

pop icons, and '70s #

And Heaven and nature sing # And Heaven, and Heaven

and nature sing. And we just wanted to wish

all of the BBC South East I'm Donny Osmond and I just

want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas

and a prosperous New Year. I will be back with the updates at

8pm and 1025 PM. Ben dropping

a frozen turkey on Mum's foot. Put me down!

No, we talked about this. Taser him! That is a video game,

isn't it? I'm going to need at least another

15 years to recover from children. This is all nonsense - it's highly

entertaining, nonetheless it's... I'm starting this new job, I'm

taking over a really tough school. Where is it?

You're not going down south...? Huddersfield? I know. That's like

the dark side of the moon. You do know that this house

is haunted? This is all nonsense - it's highly

entertaining, nonetheless it's...