01/03/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the South East:

Make a decision now on the new Thames Crossing

or the South East will grind to a halt, business leaders warn.

He was killed by a driver who'd been texting, the mother of a teenager

says new penalties for mobile phone use at the wheel

We're live at Kent Police headquarters tonight.

And after today's rain, we have a dry, bright and mild day on the way

for two morrow. -- tomorrow. The South East could

grind to a standstill unless the government makes

an urgent decision on where a new crossing over

the Thames should be built. That's the warning to the Chancellor

tonight in a letter signed by the Federation

of Small Businesses, the Port of Dover and the London

Chamber of Commerce. Last year, ministers promised

an announcement "in due course". A crossing that can't cope, causing

gridlock on the region's roads, That's why the Federation

of Small Businesses say, in addition to the Dartford Crossing, a new

Lower Thames Crossing is needed now. There's a real problem

with traffic congestion, particularly here in Kent,

but not just Kent - London, Essex, too -

that'll only be solved when we have So we do need the Chancellor,

Philip Hammond, to seize the day in the budget and take some

action on this. In January last year,

Highways England chose a multi-billion pound tunnel,

east of Gravesend, as its preferred option, rather than another

crossing at Dartford. It even produced images

of what it would look like. A public consultation

attracted 40,000 responses, but still no final decision

from the Government. In a letter to be published

in tomorrow's City AM newspaper, the Federation, along

with the Freight Transport Association, the Port of Dover

and the London Chamber of Commerce say

the Dartford Crossing is creaking under the pressure

of 50 million crossing a year. That threatens to bring

the South East to a standstill. The Government's promise to make

a decision in due course I think it's disgusting that

they've never made it good. How much do you think

a new crossing is needed? No-one wants it on their doorstep,

but it's definitely needed. As soon as you get a snarl

on the M25, an accident, that's it, it just snags all the

way back for hours. The people in Dartford are held up

for hours and hours. There have been protests

against the possible The Department for Transport

said today it recognised But said, again, a decision will be

taken in due course. I'm optimistic that we'll actually

get a decision this month. It's important we get

the right decision that Soon as we get the decision,

we can get on with building it. Whichever option meet governing

choosers, it's going to be The Dartford MP said

a new crossing here with simply bring more traffic into Dartford,

it should go into Gravesend. The mother of a teenage cyclist

who died after being hit by a van says tough new penalties

for motorists who use their mobile Daniel Squire was just 18

when he was killed near Deal, by a driver who admitted he'd been

sending text messages From today, the penalties for

drivers caught using their phones have been increased to a ?200

fine and six points. Cyclist Daniel Squire died

after was hit by a ban The driver, who was cleared of

causing his death, admitted in court he had been texting

earlier in his journey. From today, penalties

for using a phone at the wheel Six points on your driving

licence, and a ?200 fine. But Daniel Squire's

mother believes the new I do believe that there

has been a step forward I think it should be

an instant ban if you're caught using your phone,

particularly texting, it should be For me, it's worse -

not possibly worse, but it comes in According to the AA trust,

nationally, texting at the wheel caused 440 crashes at the wheel,

resulting in 22 deaths. In a single week-long

crackdown, the police issued Today's tougher punishments come

alongside a hard-hitting advertising If people do need

to use their phones while driving is all they feel

that they need to, today, the modern cars have everything

built into them so The people who feel generally

obliged to use their phones, that the phones do a huge amount

for them automatically It is a needless death and selfish

act when you're driving. You're potentially

in charge of a vehicle She says she's keen to see

if that tougher new rules will have an effect in reducing

the number of road accidents. And Charlie is at Kent Police

headquarters tonight. It seems the police

continue to have a big job on their hands stopping people from

using their phones at the wheel. Well, listen to this, the latest

report from the RAC shows that 31% of drivers admitted using a

hand-held device and that compares to 8% two years ago. Clearly the

police have a big job on their hands. The AA say a big problem is

that too many of us are addicted to these things and the best way to

break that addiction is to go cold turkey, lets them off and put them

in the glove box. Thank you. Kent Police are to use special hoods

to protect officers from bites The force's Chief Constable had

previously opposed their use but has changed his mind,

persuaded by fears officers are being put at risk

of injury or infection. Tens of thousands of Southern Rail

commuters could miss out on compensation for the poor service

they've received over the last year because of the way they

bought their ticket. Labour members of the London

Assembly say a government scheme to refund passengers on the Southern

network will only benefit season ticket holders

and some Travelcard users. Nearly 60,000 Southern trains

were cancelled last year. The equivalent of all

services being at a When the Government stumped up

a multi-million pound compensation fund, it wasn't a moment too

soon for passengers. Now there's concern that many

passengers won't get a Everyone uses their Southern rail

service, you may be commuting from London Bridge to Brighton, it is

the basic principle of fairness, everyone uses the same train,

they should be entitled for the same The issue was that the compensation

was only for those who have season A year's ticket got

a month costs back. But those who pay on the day get

nothing from the Government pot. One MP says there's simpler way

to compensate everyone. My view is that there should be

a straightforward fare reduction until they have the service back

into the shape they desire to be, perhaps when the London

Bridge work to complete. That should be away giving

across-the-board compensation to Pay-as-you-go passengers can still

claim on a journey by journey basis, but the time it takes is clearly

off-putting for some. You are trying to claw back

as much viewed as possible, I did it on the internet,

but got in such a muddle I gave up. I wanted to do it,

but too busy, that's that. Some delays were out

of Southern's hands, problems with the track,

for example. But most were caused by poor

performance and strikes over the toxic issue of drivers

operating the doors. Our reporter Lauren

Moss is with me now. Of course Southern passengers

have yet to see a resolution to almost a year

of industrial action. But talks did resume today

between the Aslef Union Yes, if your member, last month, the

Aslef union leaders had agreed a deal but it was voted down by

members of Aslef. Getting euthanised, both parties sent us a

statement saying they have had positive discussions and detox will

continue. This argument doesn't only involve Aslef, be RMT unions said

they will stage another 24-hour walk-out on the 23rd of March and

that will be the dirtiest day of strike action since the dispute

began back in April. Thank you. And in the last hour,

BBC South East Today has won the Royal Television Society award

for the best Nations and Regions news

programme in the country. It's our second

win in three years. That's it from me, just time to take

a check now on the South East Hello, good evening. Dry again this

morning for the start of the debacle at started to change. Behind us,

clear skies because it is built by last three overnight averages

hovering above freezing. 2-3 C in more rural spots. It'll be a dry day

tomorrow and, dare we say it, bright, too. By the afternoon,

temperatures quite mild, breezy as you can tell, 20 miles ballot winds.

Their bridges grouping in the afternoon to double figures, 10-11 C

a pleasant afternoon. They can most of it, it won't last. There's a

injured Friday, the balance thickens, from midnight we will see

some rain, heavy at times. As a result, a mild night overnight.

5-6 C, but not pleasant as the dark Friday. Wet, windy, not nice but an

improvement likely by the afternoon. Here's the Al

outlook. A whole load of 11 is. What does that mean? Maybe John Hammond

will tell you. We're in for a bumpy ride. The

weather chopping and changing keeping us on our toes. Rain never

too far away from our crystal ball. There has been rain around today

across southern areas. This band of wet weather pushing through Wales

and the Midlands. A little bit of the white stuff mixed in over the

high ground Snowdonia, some snow for an trans-Pennine routes as well.

Snow at low levels through the