17/07/2012 South Today

Hello, I'm Dani Sinha. Welcome to South Today.

In tonight's programme: Rogue Traders presenter Dan Penteado is

jailed for swindling thousands of pounds of benefits.

How a baby boom in Winchester has caused a shortage of primary school

places in some areas. The hotel offering a cash incentive

to customers if it rains during their summer holiday.

And a soldier's 14-hour dash from the frontline in Afghanistan to be

there for the birth of his son. is just amazing they got him home

in time, very grateful, in floods A television presenter has been

sent to prison for council tax and housing benefit fraud totalling

more than �24,000. Dan Penteado, who pursued suspected conmen on the

television show Rogue Traders, admitted eight offences of

dishonestly or knowingly claiming the benefits over four years, while

not declaring that he earned thousands from the BBC. Briony

Leyland was in court. Dan Penteado found fame on camera

on the BBC chasing down bogus workmen on his motorbike. Today as

he arrived to be sentenced for benefit fraud he was shy of this

camp -- cameras. He had admitted eight offences of dishonesty and

knowingly claiming council tax and housing benefit amounting to

�24,000. He failed to declare one of his bank accounts and earnings

of �56,000 per. When the fences began he was a full-time student

with two young children and the family were struggling. When the

BBC offered him work was in the form of short-term contracts. He

was unwilling to interrupt the flow of housing benefit. His defence

said his judgment had been very poor. Sentencing him to 12 weeks

the chairman of the magistrates' bench told him it was not a

victimless crime, he had stolen from the public purse in a

calculated way. The fraud came to light after a bomb a council

employee saw him featured in the local paper for his television work

and remembered somebody of that name was claiming benefit. The

council say high and low profile cases will be investigated. We paid

�90 million pay-day in housing benefit in Bournemouth. That is for

the honourable people who cannot afford to pay their rent. If people

are working and earning money they should pay their own rent. We have

a duty to make sure the money goes to the right people. The court was

told Dan Penteado has begun paying the money back but is sinking in

debt. A BBC spokesperson said in light of the prosecution he will

Pressure on primary school places in Winchester has led to Hampshire

County Council to approve plans for a new school today. Some other

schools in the city will still have to have extra temporary classrooms.

The authority thinks the rise in pupils is down to a rise in the

birth rate and more people choosing to live in the area. Our political

editor Peter Henley reports. It is a welcome from age to age 60.

Alongside the nursery in you primary-school the first Super

school in Hampshire -- a new primary school. They are coping

with the be used baby boom in the country. -- biggest baby boom. Next

door they have had problems of overcrowding, two sittings for

lunch at La space and will new classrooms are ready. To get a new

school, in the provision always has to be better than adding on

existing schools and I didn't want to do too much time to existing

schools by adding things on and put the pressure on them. Winchester

has seen at young families moving from London but in Berkshire at one

of as well they have been so have the highest numbers of birds for 30

years. Even building a new school will not be enough. Education

chiefs heard every primary school in Winchester is going to need to

take you pupils and not just because of the rising birth rate.

The council are being very naive. They have taken the birthrate and

describe that as the growth rates. We believe that is not the case

because the number of houses built and the ways in which families are,

life was good in 2007, everybody was having babies thinking the

world was booming. Not enough has been taken into account with the

economic factors. As the Baby boomer Bwlch works through the

system councillors have to plan for an increase in secondary school

places. With the expansion of primary age children to three

secondary schools will take less from outlying areas so therefore

they have probably the capacity. The knock on from that could cause

other problems. The only certainty, that any forecast will have to

change. Peter Henley joins me now. Census

results yesterday showed the south east population has grown by 7% in

a decade. This is only part of the picture though, what are the other

factors affecting school places? It really isn't as simple as

reading the censors and five years later that is the number of school

places you need. People move in and out of the private system, they

move to places like Winchester for work. That is the fundamental

problem planners have. If you build not just schools but houses and

rates and all the facilities people need, and they are good schools,

people will move to that area. The last government was in favour of

rebalancing the economy so they refurbished schools in the Midlands

and the North. They still want to rebalance the economy with this new

coalition government but they have got this free schools' policy which

is now so let -- much less planned attack should cancel bidding

central government on warning that although they spent �10 million in

Winchester overall in Hampshire they are looking for �200 million

in future. Security firm G4S said only around

39 staff of the 70 it needed at the Olympic cycling venue at Box Hill

in Surrey turned up for work yesterday. The news came as the

company's chief executive appeared before a committee of MPs over the

failure to find enough staff for the Games. Surrey Police said today

that the shortage of G4S staff would not mean the force would

provide extra officers. Our Home Affairs correspondent Alex Forsyth

has more. Work is well under way to prefer -- prepared the cycling side

for 15,000 spectators. Staff from G4S were due to be here to keep the

side secured but yesterday one out of three failed to show up and

today it was fewer than half. The chief executive apologised to MPs

for what he admitted was a humiliating shambles. We have a

significant manpower shortage, we have admitted that, and clearly

that a shortage will manifest itself from this day forward to the

Games and that is why we had to have support for military. Police

in Surrey say so far the impact on them is fairly minor. We were well

prepared so picked up a shortfall of the weekend of a very small

number but plans are in place and there is no drain now. The gaps

will be plugged by soldiers, sailors and airmen. Unfortunately

that has a knock-on effect on her family life and disrupt them and we

accepted to a certain point, it is just sad it has happened so close.

At the sailing venues in Dorset and rolling on the Berkshire border

there are similar problems. While the shortage of G4S staff continues

police say the military are making up the shortfall but they have

plans in place to provide support it needed. -- if needed. The A34

Northbound carriageway near Chieveley remains closed this

evening just off junction 13 of the It's due to an accident earlier

this morning in which two lorries collided, trapping two passengers

inside the trucks. An air ambulance attended the scene along with the

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service. Police are treating the

death of an elderly couple whose bodies were found at their home in

Berkshire as unexplained. Thames Valley Police were called to

Heather Gardens in Newbury on Saturday, and found the eighty-two

year old man and eighty-five year old woman. Post mortem examinations

carried out today were inconclusive. Further tests are expected to be

carried out. A Bournemouth hotel owner has

decided to take direct action after seeing a reduction in bookings

following this summer's rainfall. She's offering guests �10 back for

every day it rains on their holiday in August. The idea could see

hundreds of pounds given back to residents. Our business

correspondent Alastair Fee has the story.

The did you have particular date in mind? It has been a slow summer.

Bookings are down 20%. Guests are fed up of the reign as this group

of to go bowling knows only too well. -- rain. To keep people

coming the owner has come up with an unusual incentive. If it rains

during their holiday I will give our guests �10 back per person so

that they can go and do something else. If it is your precious time

with your family and it is pouring with rain it is a bit disappointing.

It is just not beach weather. too often the summer in Bournemouth

has looked like this. June was the wettest month on record end-July

has not been much better. This cashback idea has got people

talking. I think it is generous, very generous, with the weather we

have got. But nice thought. I think for the Jordans holidays and the

way prices are now it is a very good idea. -- children's holidays.

We generally holiday in the UK and we are here for a week now. We

would definitely come back for a deal like that. This is your room

for today. That a deal is for all new bookings in August. Nearly is a

regular, she could find she has a little extra to spend, but only if

the rain keeps pouring. -- Lily. Not much talk of sunshine recently

but a vignette in West Sussex is relying on the Sun to do more than

ripen its grapes. He Wiston Estate has installed a huge solar panel

array to provide the energy for its winery. There's been big investment

in southern vineyards over recent years as interest in English

sparkling wine has increased. Mark Sanders reports.

The vines are waiting for the warmth. When the sun ripens the

grapes here on the South Downs it will also help power the production

process at Wiston Estate Winery. It's installed a huge solar panel

array to generate energy for the winery and a grain store. There was

fizz for launch of this new sustainable power source but the

weather has hardly been sparkling. It came out of the future vision

that we wanted to try to make the estate as a sustainable as possible.

This reconnect us and makes us more aware of the energy we require.

There has been serious investment in southern vineyards, as the

reputation of English sparkling wine has grown. I think people have

realised with the success of English sparkling wine, chiefly

from this area, West Sussex and East Sussex over the last 10 years,

it has really put the South of England and the South Downs on the

map as a quality sparking wine producer. We have seen the

explosion of planting of the last five years. This is a young

vineyard, only planted in 2006. The Wiston Estate is preparing to

launch its first wine. Although wine production is an ancient craft,

it will be modern, renewable energy that will help transform the vines

into wine. Plans to put a windfarm on the Isle

of Wight were refused last night. Councillors voted nine votes to one

against putting turbines up at Wellow. Planning officers had

recommended a refusal. Still to come in this evening's South Today:

The frontline soldier who flew 7,000 miles from Afghanistan to be

there for his baby's birth. It's thought to be the only one in

the world and it's based in Sussex. An archive of hundreds of thousands

of diary entries and notes, recording people's different

opinions on subjects ranging from royalty to sex to mantlepieces!

It's known as the "Mass Observation" archive, and this

month it's celebrating its 75th birthday. John Young was one of the

first journalists to meet one of its secret diarists.

What did people really think when the Second World War broke out?

This country is at war with Germany. When Charles and Diana were

married? Or when the new Labour came to power? We can find out

because many of our actual thoughts are stored here in black and white

at the University of Sussex. One of the first mass of service in the

late 30s was this woman brought to life easily by Victoria Wood.

have had an argument with my husband, it would have been if I

had said anything back. He was gay thing about me going back to the

WVS, of the key was worried I would be better but do not on the table.

-- he was a bit scathing. The air Mass observers across the country

but one has agreed to speak to us how he sees the world from his

window here in East Sussex. One of the latest tasks for a win

is to write about the June -- diamond jubilee. 5:30pm had to pull

back to the shops, hideously busy. I have no idea why people stood out

in the rain. It shows how one of lead buried we are. Surprised? 30

years earlier a mass Observer in Margate had watched a royal wedding

if on TV. Now it is over there seemed to be many souvenir out to

his left in the shops. This memory of Tony Blair's election doesn't

reflect the history books either. There is nothing like an election

fever, either in Herne Bay or hear. I know the value of it. It is value

to research a, quite often the material that is written speaks

completely contrary to the dominant ideas about certain events.

People write diaries every day, right down observations in books,

but to have them all together in one place is quite a rare thing.

The extent of the collection means the world can really look at what

Fascinating insight. Tennis, sailing, hockey and football clubs

across the South are celebrating tonight after being awarded Olympic

legacy funding. In total, 50 community sports projects in our

region have benefited from an overall windfall of more than �2.5

million. Sports clubs and councils have received between �10,000 and

�150,000 with the money coming from the National Lottery. It's hoped

the money will help make local sporting facilities more attractive

to new users. Details of the cash boost were announced at an activity

centre for youngsters with disabilities. Steve Humphrey

reports. We it is a sports centre that

inspired and Chinese youngsters with disabilities. Begu et activity

centre does lots of good work -- at the Q E two. Sport England have

awarded the centre �15,000 from the Arabic legacy fund to fix the roof.

The building is about 30 years old -- the Olympic legacy fund. It is a

great opportunity to bring it up to scratch. Extra money is being made

available from the Lasher lotteries Olympic legacy fund because of

higher sales of lottery tickets. This canoeist aiming to compete at

the rear end and Dicks says grants to community projects helped him

climb to the top in his sport. local venue was a lottery-funded

venue and it was through that sort of building and those places that

inspire people like me and my brother who were training there to

be the best we could be address for Great Britain all around the world.

Today's announcement is in the air and of the funding stream. Sport

England is inviting applications for a share of a new �10 million

National Lottery Fund. We want clubs who have never received

lottery funding in the past, probably have had their

relationship with the letter Sport England to go to a or website and

access funding for the funding because it is these clubs that keep

sport a vibrant in England. Olympic legacy funding will make a

big difference to beat youngsters here and today they have a chance

to get her hands on a real Olympic torch. -- to the youngsters here.

Positive news for clubs here in the south.

Now one of the people who has already benefited from investment

is Olympic diver Stacie Powell. Stacie, who is from Southampton,

will compete in the 10m Platform event at the Olympics but as Tony

Husband found out that's not the only string to her bow she's also

studying for an astrophysics PhD at It is often said you should conquer

your ears when you are young. She started diving when she was six

years old. She will be going for glory in London. She is living and

Olympic dream which some fear it wouldn't happen. 12 months ago the

26-year-old fitness was in doubt. After a serious back injury she had

acute appendicitis and was sidelined again. Some people would

have ruled me out, I think some people did. I always knew I could

do it. When I came back to nationals, my first competition in

January, I really came back with a bang. She chooses her words well

because away from diving the former Southampton University student is

an astrophysicist studying for a PhD. The Big Bang and recent

discoveries of what could be the Higgs Boson particle have been a

pleasant distraction from training. It is incredible. It means the

standard model of the universe, there is another piece to it. I was

on the Cross trailer this morning and is said of listening to my

music I had the live screening of the press conference going on. It

was really exciting. She studied for a year at Harvard in the United

States and would love to work at Nasa one day. He seems light years

away from diving. I find one is a nice break from the other. One is

very passive, you can sit down and sit on your computer and do work

and keeps my brain occupied. And then the other is extremely

physical. After setting a new British record of the 10

leaderboard -- she is aiming for another personal best in London but

she is controlling the pressure. train every the -- we train every

day to make sure we get up there and focus, and not let everything

else get to us. One way or the other, she is aiming for the stars.

And so she should to, what an interesting story. A woman of many

talents. The Olympic torch continued his journey across the

south this morning. It started his day at Brighton's Royal Pavilion

and made his way through Crawley. Excited crowds lined the route to

catch a final glimpse of the flame. It will be back in Surrey on Friday,

we will bring you more on that. There'll be no rest for Lymington

sailor Ben Ainslie this summer with the announcement of the crew for

the the America's Cup World Series. Olympic champion Ben will have just

11 days between the closing ceremony of the Games and the start

of the match racing event racing in San Francisco. He'll swap his

dinghy for a catamaran and join teammates from New Zealand, the

Netherlands and Australia. Football and Reading have announced

that defender Adrian Mariappa will be joining them from Watford on a

new three-year contract. The 25- year-old centre back is the latest

signing for the Royals and will join his new team-mates at pre-

season training in Portugal later this week. Chairman Sir John

Madejski says he's delighted with the deal and looks forward to

seeing Adrian develop with the team. It's every father's worst fear,

missing the moment your first born enters the world. So when Simon

Warner's wife Karen unexpectedly went into labour while on a tour of

Salisbury Hospital, he had to duck out of a tour of his own to

guarantee he was there when she gave birth. Alex Dunlop traces an

extraordinary 14-hour journey from dusty Afghanistan to leafy

One this baby is a moot one of the safest places in the world, his

father in one of the most dangerous, Afghanistan. Simon's biggest

challenge was and bombs or bullets but the result of a late-night call.

I got a phone call here at midnight. 30 minutes later a helicopter

landed here from Camp Bastion to pick me up. That helicopter landed

on the runway in Camp Bastion, and it was literally a case of hand

over my body armour and rifle and get straight onto the plane. 10

minutes later the plane was taking off. Both were in helicopter and

three flights later he was back in the UK. -- one helicopter. There

was a car waiting on the runway and that drove me straight to the

hospital. Pretty flash to bang the whole way through, to about 14

hours from leading here to walking through the hospital doors. What

did Karen say when she saw you? was quite happy. It was nice being

home for her. His pregnant wife had only visited the hospital for a

tour, but certainly had labour pains. Doctors had to deliver the

baby nine weeks prematurely, Simon only just made it. It was just

amazing they got him home in time. I am very grateful. And floods of

tears the whole time. So many photos we have taken of Simon

holding him so he had that time with him. It was a real, it you had

believing Afghan and being home in such a short space of time, then

all of us up and it being me and my wife, and then me and my wife and

the baby. Their first child, he weighed just over �3. He is feeding

nicely, beginning to gain weight and ready to join mum at home.

Celebrating his 30th birthday this week Simon is back on the front

line but wanted to send Karen the message. I am incredibly proud of

my wife for how well she has been doing, and incredibly proud of the

little one for how well he has been fighting. We are proud of what he

is doing. Surrey. In all he has served two and a half years in

Afghanistan, and in three months if he will be back in Wiltshire for

his best birthday present yet. What a fantastic story.

So tiny. He made good just in time. We wish

them all the best. Where there, it felt like July

today, what is going on? It will increasingly become more

like July. We will see it look a bit like real summer, finally.

It is all down to the jet streams. They are finally moving where they

The corn is ripening in spite of the recent unseasonable weather in

West Grinstead West Sussex. Sent in by Margaret Norgrove. A view of the

Aylesbury Canal taken this morning by Robin Billyard. Donkey foal in

the sunshine in Swanage as seen by The weather wasn't too bad today.

Many of us enjoyed a lot of dry weather. A few showers in Hampshire

but they will fade away as we head into the evening and will turn

cloudy overnight. It is all because we have a cold front sitting in the

Far West and that is pushing in slowly. For many of us are

predominantly dry night. A mild end to the night for money. -- For many

of us. A damp beginning to Wednesday. Patchy light rain and

drizzle. It is sweeping in from the West. Improving by the afternoon. A

few intense thundery downpours, mainly focusing to the north and

east. The far south will escape, and it'll be drier. It will feel

colder. In the evening it will dry up, a few clear spells, drier

weather as we head towards Thursday. Minimum temperatures a bit on a

colder side. There will be some sunshine. Thundery downpours we

have become well accustomed to are still there. Quite a few on

Thursday. Friday, and improving picture. High pressure building up,

it is all because of the jet stream pushing further north. It is

looking good as we head into the weekend and very promising for next

week. Turning dry up for Saturday and Sunday, a few showers but a lot

of sunshine around. Finally becoming a bit more summery.

Remember that? A taste of real summer but before that, Wednesday,

there will be some patchy rain at first, Thursday, quite a few

thundery downpours, few on Friday. Saturday just an occasional shower.

It should be mainly light. Not bad. You have promised better