21/12/2011 South Today

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's

programme: is the message not getting through?

Drink drive figures almost double in some parts of the south. I am

utterly amazed that people are still doing it.

Taking the plunge for troops in Afghanistan - the teenager putting

in thousands of lengths. Oh, yes, it is - the panto poster

which put two relatives back together after more than four

decades. Barry, is your mother Violet? Did you have a grandfather

called Ted? You are my cousin! And a trip down memory lane - how

we've celebrated Christmas for the With just days to go before

Christmas, figures released by police forces in the south suggest

the drink driving message isn't getting through. Many forces have

reported an increase in the number of positive tests. The biggest rise

so far recorded is in Dorset, where 90 drivers were arrested between

the 1st and the 18th of December. That's a rise of 76% on the same

period last year. In Hampshire, there have been 148 arrests since

the start of the month, a rise of 18%. Sussex police have also seen a

rise after they carried out breath tests in days of targeted action.

Briony Leyland has been looking at the figures.

There was a time when the drink- drive message was new. It was 1967

and the nation was injured highest -- introduced to breathalysers and

legal minutes. Since then, attitudes have changed dramatically.

But have some people stopped listening to the message? We are

encouraged by the number of people willing to contact us telling us of

anyone who they suspect his drinking and driving. But some

people are clearly ignoring the message. There are some of who are

willing to take the risk and what I say to them is, understand the

consequences. In Hampshire, the public is coming face-to-face with

the consequences as this wreckage is taken on tour. Be forced feels

there is still educational work to be done, particularly those who do

not realise they are over the limit the morning after. They probably

did the right thing not drinking and driving in the evening, but

then they drove to work. If you drove -- drunk too much that

evening, take the day after all be more careful, plan your day the

following day. Some lobby groups say it is time to do away with any

confusion and instead of limits, introduce a total ban on drinking

and driving. Research shows that any amount of

alcohol can affect your ability to drive, you caught nation and your

judgment. We would like the government to take a zero-tolerance

approach to drink-driving to ensure there is no risk to drivers at all.

In Weymouth today, there was a support -- some support for a ban,

but also frustration that the message isn't getting through to

everyone. I'm utterly amazed that people are still doing it. Perhaps

people are getting complacent and thinking, I can get away with it. I

don't know. I don't think there is any ambiguity: The drink-driving is

there. People should not drink and drive because it causes heartache.

It is hard for people to pick up the pieces. The police say there

will be no let-up in their campaign towards Christmas. In the new year,

there will be time to reflect on the figures and the best strategy

for the future. Police have released details of a

man they want to speak to after �50,000 worth of stock was stolen

from an Ann Summers shop in Portsmouth. Solomon Scott Dixon,

who is 22 and from Emsworth, is wanted for questioning following

the burglary which happened on October 30th during the early hours.

A sexual predator from Brighton who groomed girls as young as 10, then

abused them as teenagers, has been jailed for nine years. 54-year-old

Stephen Marsh was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault,

possession of indecent images of children and voyeurism. Marsh

carried out the abuse over a period of 21 years.

The trial continues of three men accused of looting one of Reading's

superstores at the height of the UK riots this summer. The Makro store

in Whitley was attacked in August and thousands of pounds worth of

goods stolen. The three accused put forward their defence in court

today. Our reporter Ben Moore was there. Reminders of the background.

10th August this year at height of UK riots, about 40 people gathered

in Reading to raid the Makro store near Whitley. At 18 minutes past

midnight they broke in and in a couple of minutes stole nearly

�14,000 of electrical goods.15 were arrested in weeks that followed and

all pleaded guilty save for three - Connall Bascombe-Mccarthy, who's 18,

a 17 year-old we can't name for legal reasons and 30-year-old Marc

Murray. They all deny charges of violent disorder and burglary.

What happened in court today? Defence case got underway and for

all three it was basically the case that they were in the wrong place

at the wrong time. Mr Bascombe- McCarthy and the 17 year-old were

arrested at the scene. Both said on the stand they were in the area

around the store for other, innocent reasons on the night and

just got caught up with the group who had gathered there. Mr Murray

was arrested weeks after the event after his blood was found on the

boxes of three TV sets. He said he'd been knocked to the floor by

people rushing away from Makro, cutting his hand. He'd then come

across the TVs in an alleyway and had manhandled the boxes before

deciding he was better off just leaving them. The trial is expected

to conclude tomorrow. Thank you.

Firefighters have yet to start investigating how a blaze started

at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. More than

100 firefighters were on site tackling the flames which started

in the MRI unit. No-one was injured but it took several days before A&E

fully re-opened. Two weeks on, hospital managers say its still not

safe for investigations to begin because of concerns over helium gas

escaping from a burnt-out scanner. School children have been asked to

submit their designs for a memorial to a Red Arrow's pilot who died

when his plane crashed in Dorset. Flight Lieutenant Jon Egging had

been taking part in a display at this year's Bournemouth Air

Festival when his plane came down in a field. His memorial will sit

on a cliff top in an area known as East Rockery. Jon's widow Emma will

help choose the winning design. 340 miles in 340 days - that's the

target a 15 year-old from Lymington has set herself in support of

troops in Afghanistan. Libby Pardoe is swimming one mile for every day

members of the 1st Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment

are on deployment. She started in September and is still going strong.

Roisin Gauson joined her at the pool.

Libby Pardoe is a regular at this leisure centre. She can be found in

the Paul almost every day, but she is not joining for herself: She is

fund-raising to help soldiers from the 1st Battalion Princess of

Wales's Royal Regiment. They are currently on deployment in

Afghanistan as part of Task Force Helmand. Every penny she raises

will help those returning home with serious injuries and provide help

and support for their families will stop I Rutley get one mile done

before school and then I basically go to school and do that the next

day. On the weekends I come in twice, maybe three times, to build

a match. Amelia Hempleman-Adams -- Libby Pardoe is planning to swim at

a mile for every day the soldiers are in Afghanistan so she needs to

do over 300 miles, which equates to 21,000 lense of the pool. There are

days when she is just so tired and her shoulders really do Hurter, but

she'd will get in the Paul when she doesn't want to. Our family motto

is about what you give, not what you get. She has stuck to that

martyr. To date, Libby Pardoe has raised around �200 but every time

she takes to the ball, she has to pay �1.75. While her family are

hoping to have paid, these were is costing her more than she is

raising. If all goes to plan, she will swim her last month in August

next year, by which time she will have gone the extra mile in her

fund-raising effort. A charity for homeless people in

Hampshire has been given almost �250,000 to help keep its doors

open. Two Saints tackles rough sleeping in Southampton. The

government funding will feed into the day centre which helps get

people off the streets. It comes as the charity, Crisis announced that

homeless people are likely to die 30 years before the national

average. Still to come, the pantomime poster

which reunited a family after four The Isle of Wight Council is

planning to set up an organisation with private businesses to boost

tourism. The Destination Management Organisation would promote the

island and secure �3 million from the council. If approved next year

the council's tourism staff and website would be handed over to the

not-for-profit organisation. We're all used to 2D maps,

satellite navigation systems and even street view maps, however, now

a team of archaeologist from Bournemouth University have created

a virtual prehistory map. They created an application within

Google Earth to show what the Stonehenge area would have looked

like in Neolithic times. The app is free to download and they believe

it could be extended to historic sites around the world. Catharina

Moh has the story. Most of us are familiar with the

Google birth. It shows relatively current images of how an area looks,

but now it is possible to see how a place might have looked in the past.

For two years, this couple have been part of a team to help create

a virtual landscape of the Turner - - snow and henge site. --

Stonehenge site. The things we have put on the website of things which

you could imagine. They used to archaeological data collected

during excavations around the site by Bournemouth University. It was a

challenge in some areas, particularly in getting the spatial

location, so where things are in the landscape to where they are in

Google. We have managed to work out a way to do it. The programme can

be downloaded from the University website for free. The spot-check --

the project has been sponsored by Google and the arts and humanities

council. The great thing is that people are fascinated by their past

and where they came from. Even if you cannot visit Stonehenge, you

can see it from your living room. This is just a pilot project, but

if it takes off other sides of historical interest could be

included in the future. We have a Champions' League in

football and cricket, and now we have one in at the speedway.

Poole Pirates fans will be digging out their passports next year, as

the British champions head into European competition for the first

time. Poole are set to take part in This has been a long time coming.

We have always wanted to have a Champions' League in speedway.

Every other sport that does it does it well. I'm happy to say that

speedway is following suit. Having done well domestically, the club

are setting their sights further afield. The whole town has a bus

behind it after winning last year. They won the League and the Cup

last year. Everyone wants to win this one. Paul will travel to face

The Swedish league is harder than ours so it will be tough to beat

them. The Danish league is a bit easier so it is swings and

roundabouts. Fingers crossed we can do our job properly. We are matched

for anyone around here. We have great drivers and the team we are

assembling for next year will be great. The as well as the

champion's ley, the team will be able to defend their current title.

Exciting times. Despite sitting in pole position to

reach the Premier League, Southampton manager Nigel Adkins

has admitted that he is looking to strengthen his squad in January.

Sunday's draw in the South Coast derby guaranteed that Saints will

lead the Championship table at Christmas, with just over half the

season remaining. But despite the goals of Rickie Lambert firing them

to the summit, Adkins knows there's room for improvement.

Competition for places is important. We need to push the standards up as

high as possible. We have good, high standards here. We have got

the ambition, the drive, to get back to the Premier League. The

window of opportunity arises in January. We can add up extraditions

to the squad. Over the last two nights, we've met

two of our nominees for this year's BBC South Sports Unsung Hero award.

The winner goes forward to the main national prize, which will be

announced at Sports Personality of the year tomorrow here on BBC1.

Tonight, to meet our third and final nominee, we're off to the

Swimming is this woman's life. She has been involved in the sport for

30 years, which is strange considering she did not like water.

I did not learn to swim until I was 40. My children can all swim like

fishes. I said I was frightened of the Big Paul and I left them for

lessons and then they taught me. That was in the 1970s. Now

alongside her full-time job at the leisure club, she is the head coach

of the team, draining 140 swimmers every week. I have seen children

who really do not want to be in the swimming pool and they thrive under

her. There is some leadership quality about it, but there is just

a great appeal to her. I have known and pretty much par for my life and

she has been teaching swimming all of that time. Without it, I would

not have stayed here because she held me a lot. And gives up her own

time to give up seven -- run of seven sessions at weekends. Three

years ago, and it lost her husband and this year, she had treatment

for breast cancer. I was ill are to start with, the one I got better, I

used to come and see them. They would get out of the swimming pool,

a hug me and then it was them and everyone else I know, hugging me,

that got me do it. And is now in remission and she is back at

poolside. She is there for us, she coated years, she walks by and

tells us what we are doing wrong, not just baseball's person.

makes them want to do it. If she wasn't here, the club would not be

the club it was today. She is just amazing. I enjoy it. The children

wanted to be here, these were Ms want you to be here so I will stay

here as long as they want. -- beat swimmers.

So there we have it, our three nominees - we met Mike Bruce-

Burgess of New Forest Runners on Monday, last night we featured

finalist Phil Donoghue from Aldermaston Rugby Club, and there

we saw Anne Nugent from Ringwood Seals Swimming Club. We'll be

announcing the BBC South Unsung Hero tomorrow night here on South

Today, and you can see how they fare in the main BBC Sports

Personality programme from 7pm We have a pretty good record in

that category. There is a lot to live up their

point We tend to forget how much work these people do. They give up

so much. So many people rely on it. It is a cliche, but there are three

winners there. You don't know who has want so it is exciting. I

genuinely don't know. Be with us tomorrow night to find

out. Two cousins from the south of

England have been reunited after 45 years apart, with a little help

from Sleeping Beauty. Maurice Thorogood and Barry Skinner

used to play together as children before a family fallout meant that

they lost touch completely. It wasn't until Barry caught sight of

a pantomime poster with Maurice's name on it and decided to get in

touch that the pair were reunited. Sarah Holmes went along to meet

them. Once upon a time on a cold winter's

date in a far-off place, Barry Skinner was at an about when he

walked past a poster for the pantomime Sleeping Beauty. On it

was printed the name of his long- lost cousin. No, it cannot be, it

isn't! Of, yes, it is. Boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, today

I am very excited. A few delays later, Morris got a strange message.

Barry is your mother Violet? Yes. You had a grandfather called Ted?

Yes. You are my cousin! At which point, a couple of strangers start

talking to one another. 45 years had passed since the pair had

played happily in their grandmother's garden before they

were separated by a family feud. And that they had the row. I don't

really know what it was about. After many years, one became a

great King, the other, the driver of a hackney carriage. Neither one

could believe their eyes when they were finally reunited. We are not

worlds apart now, he is 20 minutes down the line from the in Brighton.

As you can imagine, the pair had lots of catching up to do after so

many years. That picture, who are those two young things?! With

Christmas on the way and a big family get together already planned,

it looks like Barry and Morris will live happily ever after.

So many stories to share, the one I want to know it is about the family

fall-out. I am glad you asked. doubt they will be discussing it.

Moving on to the weather. White Christmas?

That is so last season! I will give me something different.

She treats weather like fashion, it is so it last season, darling!

You have had a taste of it already, it was a very cloudy day.

Brief glimpses of sunshine. The midday sun peeping from behind

Durdle Door. Captured by Brian Smith. This was the view over North

Baddesley Common this afternoon. Sent in by Lorraine and Len Lambeth.

And this was Bracklesham Bay beach this afternoon. Sent in by Heather

It has been a very mild date. Thank you for those pictures. It will be

mild up until Christmas. If you have travel plans, it will be a

fairly easy journey. Staying mark tonight and it will be a touch

breezy. But it will be fairly quiet, perhaps where the cloud is big

enough, maybe a bit of drizzle. A low of nine degrees. A rather mild,

but a grey, blue the beginning for Thursday morning. It will brighten

up. Overall, it will be a bit brighter than today, but those

glimpses of sunshine will be few and far between. A bit of sunshine

by the end of the afternoon, and feeling much better, even though

temperatures are a bit lower than today. But increasingly a south-

westerly breeze throughout tomorrow so that is a mild or influence. The

scene does not change much in the evening, much more cloud around.

Drizzle ahead of another weather front the sinking south through

Friday morning. Lows of nine. On Friday, a cold front sweeps across

the region, bringing in a lot of rain. Heavy bursts through the

morning into the afternoon. Behind it a chilly air flow and a high

building up for Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. On Friday, we will

have a lot of rain through the day and it will beat slowed to ease. If

you're planning a journey on Friday evening, it will be around for some

parts of the evening rush-hour. Then a rather chilly night ahead.

Friday night, temperatures will dip. A cool breeze through the day.

Perhaps a p -- a few pockets of frost. On Saturday, a chilly

beginning. But things will improve and there should be some brightness.

Temperatures will gradually rise through the day. For Christmas Day,

it will be great at first with a bit of brightness developing, but

generally speaking, it will be dry, very mild and a touch breezy. No

excuses, he will have to work of that Turkey.

Already she is talking about it! 2011 has been quite an important

year for us because we have been celebrating our 50th anniversary.

As we end our 50th year of broadcasting to the South, we

thought we would share some of the Christmas moments we have had over

the years. So we sent Sarah Farmer deep into our archive to dig up

This is the film and video library. We have been bringing stories from

across the south for over five decades. They are contained within

these four walls. In our 50th year, we thought we would bring you some

ghosts of Christmas past false up normally at this time, this hotel

would be bustling with activity with 120 guests and staff preparing

for this night to's events. today, there are no dancing all

events because the hotel is closed. Skip forward 32 years and will the

jollification be in full swing for 2011? The big hotelier's worked out

that the usual Christmas entertainment would call it --

would cost up to �40 a day, but not many people can afford that. We are

so busy on Christmas, not only that the December period, but also on

Christmas Day. We would expect to cater for up to 200 guests. I could

never close this hotel. Do you ever have Christmas of yourself? Funnily

enough, I'm having Christmas eve of this year, the first time ever.

The Christmas bill that would not be complete without the traditional

scrimped and saved or spend an splurge shopping reports. Away from

the traditional dolls house to this year's best learning -- best-

selling line of toys. Christmas is traditionally the best time of year

for toy shops. How our sales going this Christmas? A edition over the

years it was going to the needles lighthouse Dougie beekeepers some

Christmas cheer. Nigel may be trip in 1979. We have a little

contribution ourselves today. It is a Christmas card. This is the first

time we have been out in two weeks. Christmas is a time for reflection

and a chance to remember absent friends. In 1970, we visited Dyfed

house in Worthing where we spoke to a First World War veterans about

their festive expenses. I was in the trenches in 1914. The Germans

started playing carols with their band. I remember it Silent Night.

After the carols were done, we all came out of the trenches, came

across to one another, shook hands and exchanged cigarettes and cigars.

A cause you-know-who have the cigarettes!

Some wonderful moments of their, and some great faces as well.

Tomorrow night we continue our festive look back at South Today.

Our presenters of the time Bruce Parker, Jenny Murray and Nigel

Farrell went out for lunch in Winchester, only to be served by an

icon of the seventies. It is him. We have not had our meal

yet and she brought us some coffee. Avocado first four * You like

avocado? That must have been a wonderful