10/01/2014 South Today

from the Atlantic. Thank you very much. That's it from us.

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

Recruiting on the road from Romania. Lorry drivers are being brought to

here because there aren't enough British truckers. There is a

shortage of professional and experienced drivers in this

country. Flooded out ` as homes remain

submerged, there are warnings river levels could rise further this

weekend. We're stuck on the first floor of our house. We normally go

out and walk a lot so we need to keep the exercise up. Keep the

spirits up, as well. Welcome home for a late Christmas ` the crew of

HMS Illustrious returns from helping the relief effort in the

Philippines. Those people needed aid more than we

needed Christmas. It was nice to get involved and change people's lives.

And is it match ready? The groundsmen battling to keep the

fixture list alive. A Dorset company has travelled to

Romania to speak to lorry drivers about coming to work in the South,

because it can't find British workers to take the jobs. It's

estimated there's a shortage of more than 40,000 drivers. It's been ten

days since Britain removed restrictions on the labour market,

giving unlimited access to Romanian and Bulgarian citizens who wish to

work here. Frankie Peck reports. The jobs are there ` but

difficulties in filling them took Richard on a trip to Eastern Europe.

He runs a recruitment agency that specialises in supplying temporary

drivers for large and heavy goods vehicles. Most of the guys who came

to our hesitation are already driving all over Europe, not just

Romania. They go travelling for weeks and months so a lot of them

are very experienced in the same types of vehicles. We are trying to

source people locally, as well, but trying to fulfil all of the work we

have means we will need to look elsewhere. There are currently 2.39

million unemployed in the UK, with 266,000 people from our region.

Nationally, 1.27 million people are aiming job`seeker's allowance.

Politically, this is a big issue. With European and local elections

coming up in me, it's one that all parties must tackle. We have no

problem with Romanians, Eastern European is, anybody who wants to

work. The fact is, we have nearly 2.5 million people unemployed and 7

million adult economically inactive. What any country needs is a

government that will look after its own people first. Bulgaria and

Romania joined the EU in 2007, enabling their citizens to travel

without abuser to the UK. But there were restrictions on them taking low

skilled jobs. `` with out any of the user. I've got nothing against

people coming to work in the UK who have got jobs to come to. The big

problem is that people may be coming here speculatively to get jobs and

end up in dependent upon our welfare state. There is a loophole in the

law that enables unscrupulous employers and agencies to bring

people in from abroad and pay them less than the going rate ` indeed,

less than the minimum wage in some circumstances ` for the job they're

doing. Richard pays the going rate and says the only reason he has to

go abroad is because he can't find people locally. It's shameful,

really. A lot of the people who applied for the work don't read the

jobs facilitation. I've had people e`mail applying for a job as an HGV

driver without even a car licence. The government has made no

predictions about how many Bulgar Aryans and Romanians they think will

come to the UK. The actual numbers won't be published for a few months.

`` Bulgar Aryans. The Freight Transport Association

says despite the lack of privacy, reporting from overseas won't

comprise safety standards. It is a shame that we can't source the

drivers we need within Britain but it is quite right, I think, that

enterprising agencies are able to find ways of meeting this need and

making the best use of our membership of the EU in this way.

Certainly, employers would be wanting to ensure that these drivers

have a knowledge of the rules. Large goods vehicles are very expensive

items of equipment. You wouldn't want to be just handing over the

keys to someone you weren't confident could handle the vehicle

and was aware of their legal responsibilities. So I'm confident

all these checks are in place. As much as the South continues to `` as

much of the South continues to experience the blizzard flooding,

experts say that Chalke has made it vulnerable. Many areas are

experiencing ground water flooding. A group of agencies are helping

people prepare for the worst. This is what happens when water has

nowhere else to go. Many roads in north Dorset have turned into

temporary rivers. The build`up of surface water aggravated by the

recent heavy rainfall. The streams and rivers are at full capacity. As

cars struggle to pass, residents have their own concerns. Derek's

home has flooded three times in the last 13 years. His solution `

investing thousands of pounds in an underground drainage system. We've

invested in French drains and pumps and hoses, as you can see. We've

managed to give ourselves dry this time but only because of preparation

and experience. Of the biggest problem the villagers are drivers.

The aspect of people driving through the Village, causing problems by

driving through. Try and use diversions and if the road is

closed, support the community and don't drive through the villages.

So, why do we get flooding even when it's raining? As the rain stops,

you've still got water stored in the soil and the ground beneath the

rocks. That's slowly draining away and it is much slower so even though

the rain switches off, the rain comes pouring from those sources

into the watercourses and it maintains the height. In Hampshire,

Jennifer hasn't been directly affected by the flood water, even

though she lives right next to the river. Her issue is the overspill of

sewage, caused by the pumping station being overwhelmed in the

heavy rain. It's sewage combined with surface water and the whole

thing gets overwhelmed and we get all this coming through our houses.

Its is thought some areas could take up to a week before surface water

completely disappears but that also depends on the good fortune of the

weather. Rail engineers have been working

round the clock to prepare fast `` repair vast areas of truck washed

away by the floods. Many services are still suspended and further

engineering work this weekend means very limited services to Gatwick and

London Victoria. 600 tonnes of Alistair been shipped to the Isle of

Wight, where Caroline Richardson begins her report. `` ballast have

been shipped. The engineers are inching along the

track. Further along, the wash`out is even more pronounced. We've got

20 sites that have been washed away, the worst it's ever been on

the island. The tunnel is flooded and the depot was flooded with two

trains underwater. All the electrics samba signalling and points have to

be checked and replaced. They are waterproof to an extent but some

were submerged for days. Steel bars have been installed to help prevent

further erosion. Reinforcements put in after the last floods withstood

the recent deluge well, so why wasn't there more investment before

the Christmas floods? This is 150 years old. The standards 150 years

ago were very different from how we would build things today. It would

cost hundreds of millions of pounds to do the whole line the way we are

doing it here so it's about focusing the money we have in the areas where

we get the most value for money. In Oxfordshire, flooding forced this

train company to cancel many services this morning and there is a

reduced service between Didcot Harkaway and Oxford. Access to

Gatwick will be disrupted by engineering work this weekend. Back

on the Isle of Wight, another one tonne bag drops into place. The

engineers are one week into their repair schedule and so far, they've

laid more than 250 tonnes of ballast. They are half a day in

ahead of schedule so they should be finished by the 25th of January.

On the Sunday Politics at 11 o'clock, Peter Henley will be asking

whether the compensation scheme for local councils is adequate or

whether local taxpayers will end up paying. And there's also a flooding

special on Inside Out on Monday evening.

The helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious returned to Portsmouth

today with her crew receiving high praise from a Government minister

for their role in the typhoon relief effort in the Philippines. The ship

played a vital role in getting supplies and medical assistance to

islands badly hit by Typhoon Haiyan. The crew of almost 1,000 missed

Christmas at home after being sent to the Philippines. From Steve

Humphrey was on board Illustrious as she sailed into Portsmouth.

HMS Illustrious has come home after helping to save lives on the other

side of the world. She's travelled 36,000 miles in 152 days, after

being sent to help victims of the typhoon that struck the Philippines.

The crew should have been home in time for Christmas but today, HMS

Illustrious sailed through a rainbow into Portsmouth Harbour, and the

sailors got an extra special welcome back from thousands of people on the

dockside. It's been really good to help the

people in the Philippines. It's been really worth it. They didn't have a

house to go to so be able to go out and help them was really good. We

had a job to do and family and friends are all very good and

understand and, of course, we just get on with the job. The

humanitarian relief mission in the further beans meant one sailor had

to delay his marriage proposal. Those people needed aid more than we

needed Christmas so it was nice to get involved and help change

people's lives. HMS Illustrious spent three weeks in the

Philippines, develop thing `` delivering emergency supplies to

communities devastated by Typhoon Haiyan. Medic Rachel Peel was

amongst those who went to help. It was daunting at the start but when

you got there it was amazing to see how happy people were to see us. The

ship was carrying out anti`piracy controls in mid`November when it was

ordered to go to the Philippines instead of coming home for

Christmas. Having seen the images on board of what was going on, so many

of my team said, Christmas is one day. We can have Christmas any time.

It's more important to help these people. The Armed Forces minister

said the whole country should be proud of HMS Illustrious and her

group. `` crew. We had a shipped halfway round the world and then

there was a disaster and a British crew helped and saved lives. HMS

Illustrious is coming to the end of her naval career. She was rushed

into service in 1982, during the Falklands war, and will be

decommissioned at the end of this year.

Police investigating the death of a Bournemouth man in the town have

released CCTV images of potential witnesses. Detectives want to speak

to these eleven people. It's in connection with the death of forty

year old Andrew Young outside the Tesco Metro on Charminster Road on

the 6th of November last year. Lewis Gill, who's 20 and from Croydon, has

already been charged with manslaughter.

Council tax for the average Band D household in Hampshire should

increase by ?4.50 a year to fill police funding gaps, according to

the county's PCC. Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Hayes

says ?25 million of cuts to the force are expected for 2015`17. This

equates to around 555 officers. He's now asking the public for their

views on the proposed change. Funding for the new Forest national

park will be cut next year by just over 2%. The park authority says it

planned for the grant reduction and has been making savings. It's also

recently secured millions of pounds of funding from other sources.

Still to come: Battling with the fixtures ` the local football clubs

hit by the bad weather. Let's stay with that bad weather. We

have more on the flooding. It continues to affect the South of

England and a river in Berks reached its highest ever level last night.

The River Thames could rise further overnight in places, though it's not

expected to exceed the levels of 2003. People whose homes are flooded

are still living with neighbours and friends, while others are moving

upstairs. Overnight, it has covered the step

and it is approaching the next step. A couple of inches. Most people

living near the Thames here in Purley are stoic about the floods.

It has happened before and will happen again. We deal with it. It's

a beautiful area and this isn't an everyday occurrence. It's happening

more often, yes, but not enough to make us move out. We have moved all

the stuff that was on the ground floor to upstairs and I think we've

saved all the valuable stuff. We're stuck on the first floor of our

house. We normally go out and walk a lot and we swim a lot so I think we

need to keep the exercise up. Keep the spirits up, as well! Once you go

out, once you have the waders, you might as well make the most of it.

Traffic is heavy because this bridge has been closed for days. These

residents are supposed to be meeting their local MP but he's on the other

side of the floodwater. Here, the flashing signs have been out of

action since the electric sweat underwater. There are plenty of

other warning signs which drivers are ignoring. I've never seen it as

high as this and we are very worried about the vehicle of `` behaviour of

some of our drivers. This is what happens when you ignore a series of

signs telling you it's closed. The road to the pub is not impossible.

2007 was the highest. This year, we admit by three inches. But the fire

service are using the floodwater to AMP down this fire which has been

burning for two days. This river is covering the field after field. It

has dropped a couple of centimetres since last night but it reached its

highest ever level then, a whopping three metres deep. The flood warning

here, as in places in Berks, is still in force.

Sarah will be here with the detailed forecast later.

Southampton said farewell to a grand old lady today. The Saga Ruby was

the last cruise ship to be built in Britain, more than 40 years ago.

Paul Clifton reports. In recent years, Saga Ruby has

specialised in older passengers. The last ones went to show this morning.

Over 100 nights, we think. Why have you spent time here? It's a

fantastic ship. Probably the last of the real cruising ships, as opposed

to cruising ferries that have been converted. In her heyday, she had a

different name. This ship offers a classic experience. She was one of

the world's top cruise ships. She is well renowned for her well known on

beyond. This shows how the operating company targeted wealthy American

passengers in search of European style. She was the last passenger

ship looked on the River Tyne, launched at the Swan Hunter shipyard

in 1972. The ship outlived her birthplace. The last cranes have

long since been removed. This woman began her career as a junior officer

on board. Today, she is Cunard's only female captain. I remember

seeing her and I thought she was a really big ship. But since I been a

captain on here, we've met her in various ports, seen her alongside,

and she's small compared to this one. Worldwide, only a handful of

trips like this are left. She's quite an old lady now, over 40 years

old. The equivalent is that she should be expecting a telegram from

the Queen, in shipping years! Of the ship's future lies in Burma. She

will now head to the far east, to become a static floating hotel.

There are similar plans for the bigger, more famous cousin, the QE2.

From today, this ship's cruising days are over.

On to sport now and the weather has had a major impact on sports clubs

during the past month. Tony's here and we've dipped into the world of

non`league football tonight, Tony. We have, because the grassroots

effectively flooded over the last few weeks. The wet weather has

decimated the local sports programme in recent weeks. This was the scene

at Abingdon Town football club this week, as floodwaters swamped the

surface. They don't plan on playing again there for ten weeks, at a cost

to the club of ?10,000. That's perhaps the most extreme case of a

club being affected, but I've been to Wessex League leaders Sholing

today to find out how they've coped as more than double the average

amount of rain fell on their pitches last month coinciding with

football's festive period. The football club's nickname is the

boatmen and at times in recent weeks, a boat might have helped

here. Thankfully, this is the practice ground around the stadium

but the pitch itself has had a battering, too. I've been here for

14 years and this is the worst it's ever been. I came up on Saturday and

the whole pitch was covered with water. I don't know if its climate

change or what but it's not doing our non`league foot will any good.

The pitch has held out pretty well during the recent bad weather but

they still lost two matches to the rain and that comes at a cost `

things like unsold programmes and the time and effort of organisers

and volunteers who put the games on here. The main job for me is lining

the pitch and if it is raining, you can't do it. It would just wash

away. You've got to wait until the showers go maybe come back another

day. Keep an eye on whether all the time. There are more radical for

clubs like this, and the future could be in a new form of artificial

pitch. The way forward, unfortunately, will be artificial

pitches in the future because of climate change carries on, it's

going to affect non`league foot all and have a massive impact. It will

be frustrating for everybody. For now, clubs like this will just want

to see a lot more of this. It actually started raining about

ten minutes after we shot those pictures in the sunshine!

Sholing take on Bemerton Heath tomorrow, three o'clock kick off.

Southampton are also at home tomorrow as they return to Premier

League action. Saints host West Brom, who've appointed a new manager

` Spaniard Pep Mel ` in the last 24 hours. He'll be watching from the

stands. Saints are looking for only their second win in ten games.

Reading boss Nigel Adkins has admitted his side has fallen off the

pace as they prepare to face Watford tomorrow. The Royals' promotion

ambitions are being tempered for now by ongoing takeover talks at the

Madejski Stadium, which has cast doubt on whether Adkins can

strengthen his side, or see it weakened by player sales.

Elsewhere in the championship, Bournemouth go to Wigan.

Playoff`chasing Brighton are at home to Birmingham. Both MK Dons and

Swindon have home matches in League One. Oxford host Portsmouth in

League Two. BBC local radio has commentary of all of those matches,

while The Football League Show has every goal straight after Match Of

The Day. With a month to go until the Sochi

Winter Olympics gets under way, the Southampton snowboarder Billy Morgan

is back on the slopes in his first major competition since recovering

from a knee injury. Morgan, who's thought to be the first slope style

snow boarder to complete this triple rodeo trick, was the top qualifier

at the Breckenridge Grand Prix in Colorado. I never tire of watching

that! Elsewhere this weekend, London Irish

are in European Challenge Cup action. After last week's

Premiership win over Worcester, in which James O'Connor scored all 22

points, Irish are home to Portuguese side Lusitanos at Reading's Madejski

Stadium. In ice hockey's Premier League,

Basingstoke Bison will be hoping for some revenge over Telford Tigers

this weekend. The table toppers lost 4`0 at Telford on Sunday. Guildford,

in third, face Peterborough home and away this weekend.

The ice is a safe place to play sport this weekend ` no doubt those

matches will go ahead! Last night we were sitting here with

pine cones and a bit of old seaweed. We were forecasting quite well with

those! But times have changed. Yes and we're celebrating a big birthday

` 60 years of weather forecasts on the BBC. George Cowling first

presented the Invision TV forecast on January 11, 1954. In the early

days, the charts were hand drawn. Symbols were introduced in 1967, as

colour TV arrived. The magnetic symbols would sometimes fall of

mid`forecast. Then we got to computerised graphics in 1985. And

by 2005, we started using the ones you see in your forecast today. Of

the magnetic ones just kept coming off!

The weather has been beautiful to start

What a glorious start to the day in Emsworth. Nature at its best

according to Martin Stewart, who sent in that photo.

This scene shows a gorgeous reflection in the flooded meadows

around Salisbury Cathedral. Thank you, Tony Oliver, for that one.

And another beautiful reflection of today's weather taken in

Christchurch, Oxford, by Caroline Davis.

We have got some more wet weather to come through this evening. Not great

amounts but we are expecting to see more rain and any rain at this stage

is unwelcome. Cloudy conditions bring the patchy rain through the

course of the night. It's sweeping eastwards and behind it, clear skies

developed. We have an ice risk where we see the skies clearing, so very

chilly temperatures. At some frost first thing tomorrow. A cloudy start

for eastern parts but first thing, some brightness around and tomorrow

is a lovely January day. Sparkling sunshine, some blue skies and light

winds. Temperatures about where they should be for the time of year.

Tomorrow night, we'll start to see Misty, murky conditions developing.

Some patchy fog could prove to be rather dense and we see the club

again to move in despite initial frost. `` cloud begin to move in. A

murky start for Sunday. This is what we've got to expect for Sunday. We

start with dry conditions, cloudy and damp, but a band of rain arrives

into the evening period so a grey day with some dampness and then a

band of rain working its way in. 10`50 millimetres through the

overnight period, roughly half an inch. Here's your summary for the

coming days. A warning for icy conditions first thing on Saturday

but some good sunshine. Cloudy, murky conditions for Sunday with

rain overnight, and some scattered showers for the new working week.

A quick word about some features on South Today next week. Here's Paul

Clifton to talk about car manufacturers.

Did you know cars used to be built on the Isle of Wight? 40 years ago,

battery`powered city car was revolutionary. Well, we found one

and we'll need to the man who designed it. Much older is this `

Salisbury's Scout. There are only two left in the world. They made

buses, too, but they've all gone. Here's my favourite ` it was built

in Eastleigh. This is the most gorgeous car.

You can see more of Paul Clifton's love affair next week! Did he ever

get out of it, I wonder? That's it for now. Have a great

weekend, particularly if you've got the floods around you. Good eye. ``

goodbye. A tenth of a second

could be the difference