18/07/2014 South Today

Dramatic images are caught on camera as the night sky's illuminated

Cost of a cure ` the tablets helping tackle Hepatitis C, and the ?35 000

And the illustrations gener`tions grew up with `

a special display of artist Quentin Blake's work is unvdiled.

It was one of the most dram`tic weather events in years.

Thunderstorms last night resulted in more than 3,000 lightning

strikes across the country in just two hours.

Thankfully, there was very little damagd but

Anyone in Bracknell who'd m`nage to sleep through the thunder was

by the emergency siren for Broadmoor Hospital, which h`d been

All is calm now, but this woman was one of countless people to

the dangerous people in Britain do not get out. But the hospit`l has

had a back`up system of 13 local that affected a water pumping

system. This school was unable to open and hundreds of homes hn the

area were without their supplies. Today, it has been calm, and the

temperatures have gone up to 23 Celsius. People who have cole here

to the Forest have escaped the heat. We all love to talk about the

weather, and after last night's thunderstorm, there has been no

shortage of things to talk All over, the storms raged.

These are some of our favourite shots that you sentence tod`y.

It was loud and bright, but it was good. I enjoyed the blunder storm.

I slept through it and did not hear anything about it.

I could hear it in the van. I wondered what I was doing there I

should have been somewhere dlse It was very scary.

Damage was minimal, but one woman found a tree in her garden had been

struck. She said was frightdning. But after the storms came or Sun

today. The River Thames, a playground for boats and birds. In

Worthing, sun`worshippers wdre enjoying the seaside.

For these office workers, this charity fundraiser and team`building

exercise could not have happened on a better day. There was also a

chance to cool off. It is better than rain. It hs very

warmer but it is for charitx. Staff from the fair trade practice

raised to several thousand pounds for the pancreatic Cancer ftnd.

You can see the smiles on everyone's faces. People ard coming

to supporters. It has been ` great success.

We had a lot of wind and rahn over the winter, but this was quhte a

storm. Over 3000 lightning strikes

recorded. Over quite a widespread area. It is unusual for this

country. Tomorrow, a tricky rain scenario. Heat and rain and the

chance of thunderstorms. We could see an inch of rain or more in an

hour. There is all this energy in the atmosphere that needs to be

released. The cause is the Spanish warmer air,

which is meeting cold air in the Atlantic. That will cause energy to

be released and the thunderstorms to occur. It is worth stressing that it

is difficult to predict exactly where those storms will be.

A Hampshire`based air traffhc control centre has lost its contract

to provide services at Gatwhck Airport to a German competitor.

The NATS centre in Swanwick near Fareham say it's too e`rly to

say if the move will result in job cuts, but is extremely

The union said that 50 jobs could be affected.

The German company, Deutschd Flugsicherung, known as DFS,

will take over the contract from October 2015 for a ten year period.

Figures obtained by BBC South show that bank lending to ndw

Some parts of the region have seen loans

increase four fold in the space of just one year, worth millions to

Following the credit crunch of 008, financial backing for many dried up.

Banks say they're now activdly seeking customers to lend to.

Trading for just four months in the heart of Portsmouth. This m`n needed

to borrow ?25,000 to get st`rted and found that the money was thdre.

We were happy with the support and happy with the decisions th`t were

made. It is nerve wracking because you are borrowing a lot of loney and

spending your money, so it hs a big step to take.

Six years ago was a very different story. Reeling from the fin`ncial

collapse, ranks who had been eager to lend swung the other way. In this

case, it took a good business plan to show that the climate had

changed. Just after the crash, the b`nks had

tightened up and the criterha is quite difficult for businesses to

get the money. But that has changed. Since the beginning `` beginning of

the year, banks have been obliged to be more transparent. Nat West can

say how much it is lending `nd where. South Dorset has seen the

biggest increase, with almost eight million being lengths. In Rddding

and Newbury, it has gone up to 7.9 million. And in Portsmouth, it has

gone up to ?7.7 million in the same period.

So banking is certainly mord proactive. NatWest is touring the

south in a bid to improve confidence. They are part of The

Royal Bank of Scotland group who are still partly owned by the t`xpayer.

Banks want to show how they are engaging with the communitids. They

have been criticised for not lending and off and have faced pressure to

be more generous. It is not about trying to gdt money

out of the door. Clearly thdre are targets that are negotiated with the

government. But it is about lending to the right businesses who can use

the money and ultimately pen `` pay it back. The bank says we w`nt to

lend to you, and then custolers will come. That is beginning to readdress

the balance. Many people have found new jobs are

due to this cafe. People ard making opportunities as they see the

spending increase. That cre`tes a safe environments for the b`nks to

give them money. Still to come

in this evening's South Tod`y: Shooting for gold in Glasgow `

Amber Hill on girly ways and guns. A coroner has cleared

an expedition company of neglect following the de`th of

Salisbury schoolboy Horatio Chapple, who was mauled to death by ` polar

bear during a trip three ye`rs ago. An inquest had heard how a tripwire

warning system set up to protect the Group had parts missing. But the

coroner said that this had not definitely been the issue preventing

the attack. The teenager was on a search for

adventure. But he was draggdd out of his tent by an polar bear and was

killed. The polar bear attacked three other people before it was

shot. This boy had to punch the animal to stop it from biting him.

I remember the bear going through the tent. Everyone was scre`ming and

was very scared. It then gr`bbed my arm and bit me and hit my hdad.

During the inquest, Horatio Chapple's parents heard that there

had been failures in the safety kit taken by the British schools

exploring Society. The court was heard that tripwires designdd to

keep the polar bears out of the camp had been defective and had been

prepared by paperclips. The family said that it was not only

the tripwire, a rifle had not fired straight away and the group had not

had a watch for polar bears on the night. The coroner said that those

were not contributory factors in Horatio Chapple's death and he chose

not to use the word neglect. Jason Roberts is a leading polar

safety expert. He was not involved with that expedition. He showed as

how the tripwires are meant to work to scare off a polar bear.

Polar bears are the world's largest predator in power. It is

undescribable the power that they have.

Tonight, Horatio Chapple's family released a statement talking about

their sorrow and their loss. And one of his closest friends said that he

was much missed. He was an incredible character, very

funny, not always intention`lly He had a way about him that was very

happy and polite and very fhne. `` funny. He was in a house between

many different people and hd held everyone together.

The exploring Society has done an independent review and introduce

changes. Every group going to the Arctic must now have a polar bear

look out and carry a new al`rm system. Tonight, Horatio Ch`pple's

family praised their son's kindness and bravery and asked for privacy.

We can cure your disease but can we afford it?

This time it involves new drugs to treat the liver disease Hep`titis C.

They're being tested in Portsmouth and have shown dramatic restlts

Hepatitis C is a virus of the blood ` if left untrdated it

There are nearly 3,000 Hepatitis C patients in Hampshire and 740

But the tablets being used hn the trial cost ?600 each and a course

health correspondent reports now on the search for a new tre`tment.

Can I take some blood from xou? Alan has had Hepatitis C for 12

years. Doctors try to cure ht but could not. Then he got a call to try

a drugs trial that might help. I have been given an opporttnity to

cure something that I thought would shorten my life. I decided, if that

was the case, I would make the best of it. That was before I had the

magic phone call. Alan was asked to take one of these

every day. He did not know ht, but these pills cost ?600 each `nd were

11 other patients taking thdm as well.

Most of the patients have bden very favourable. Some of them have had

standard treatment previously with lots of side effects. Gener`lly

there have been less side effects during this trial and because they

are all less time they can tolerate them.

There are treatments for Hepatitis C, but the jaw rates are low and

often the side`effects are bad. `` the queue all rates.

After two weeks, it was shown that the virus had reduced by 70$, after

four weeks it had gone completely. Alan is just one patient and this is

just a trial, but the drugs look promising.

You are sometimes looking at a cure rate, and this is being tre`ted with

shorter courses of tablets. There are minimal side`effects.

This man is having a liver scan Hoping to beyond the next trial

Meanwhile, the NHS is giving 50 patients the new drug. But giving

everyone who needed it the drug would cost ?12 billion and ht cannot

afford it. A head injury

at work led to the tragic ddath Of her husband, and now she is

discussing new safety measures to help others. A helmet is wh`t she

thinks could prevent head injuries. He fell and hit his head whhlst

working at the airport. He did not have a heart att`ck. The

only part of his body but w`s injured was his head.

The inquest said that it was an accident, but she thinks th`t her

husband might not have died if he had been wearing a helmet. @fter

campaigning, she has come to Gatwick Airport to try and persuade them to

give their workers helmets. These helmets cost ?40. 2000 people

have signed the petition, whll Gatwick Airport agreed?

They are going to contact the catering company to see if they will

do what they can regarding head protection. If they were thd leaders

of such actions, I would be very happy.

Although Gatwick did not colmit to giving service workers helmdts

today, her MP hopes to perstade companies working at airports to

have the option. If it works, it is something that

could be given to other airports and companies. And it would be `

fantastic result for Rosemary and would mean some little compdnsation

coming out of the tragic de`th of M. `` Mike.

Gatwick would not give a st`tement, but said that they were ple`sed to

have had talks with rosemarx and hope that they can support her in

the future. For Rosemary, hdr next target is Heathrow Airport.

And here is some sports news. We've turned our attention to

the shooting for this week's On Wednesday, it was double

trap with Matt French. Tonight the skeet,

with one of the country's top young I do go to the gym three tiles a

week. The rest is just shooting as many cartridges as I can get. I will

shoot 250 each training session For me, it can get quite tiring, but you

get on with it. When she's not competing abroad

Amber practices shooting here in Buckinghamshire. It was London 012

which inspired her to switch to an Olympic discipline.

It is clay pigeon shooting, so I shoot clay discs. It is verx

structured and a great compdtition. But it is not all about technique.

Amber is determined to show that guns can be early as well. `` for

girls. My fingernails are quite brhght I

have think cartridges. I am not the typical shooter that you might think

of. I like girl things, but sport is a big part of my life. I don't see

why I can't have the mixturd, even though it is the male domin`ted

sport. She got the young person 's sports

personality of the year title. With such a success behind her, how

will she cope with the pressure You do have two make a lot of

sacrifices. I do not get to see my friends as much as I would like to

and I am not at school anymore. Sir it is very different, but I enjoy

what I do and I want to makd the most of the opportunity so H will

compete at Glasgow. I am ailing for gold. I always put the pressure on

myself to do the best that H can. It does not come from anywhere else,

just me wanting to perform to my best. If that is good enough to get

a medal, then that is great. Hampshire golfer Justin Rosd will be

several shots off the leading players at the

Open Championship as he heads Rose shot a second round of 70

at Royal Liverpool, That's two under par

for the tournament. A short time ago

the former US open champion was ice cream shop.

And Quentin Blake has done pictures even for greeting cards companies?

Yes, there are many different drawings on show.

There are dreams from Charlhe And The Chocolate Factory stage show, a

new challenge for the man who previously illustrated the book

It is about and where it coles from. It meant that I did not havd two

draw all the same characters again. I could do different things about

the chocolate. I think therd are different characters in there as

well. They are all different, but there is

the same style. They are very colourful.

He has a nice cartoon style. I think it looks really good.

They express all of their elotions and it is really good.

The exhibition opens tomorrow and continues until September 14th.

It brings it all back. I love those storing is. I gather `` those

pictures. I gather that we could have more storms tonight.

The temperatures are higher today so potentially more lightning.

Ginny Boxall captured a wild flower meadow near Alton in Hampshhre.

Martin Aust took this photo of two swans and their young

And Raymond Slack captured Burnet moths feeding on a meadow flower

It could be a lively night hn terms of thunderstorms tonight. There is

an ample warning. There could be `` and Amber warning. There cotld be

several inches of rain fallhng. Severe thunderstorms are a

possibility. They will drift from France around 10pm this evening

moving to the north. And very mild comic humid temperatures. Lows of 19

Celsius. `` very mild humid temperatures. And we will sde is

brief respite from the storls, but then more will appear in thd

afternoon, with a high of 24 for 26 Celsius. Temperature is not as high

as today, but it will feel very humid.

Tomorrow night, those under storms will clear and there will bd times

of clear skies. One or two list all four patches and temperaturds will

not be as high as tonight. Lows of 17 or 18 Celsius.

A dry start to the day on Stnday, some risk of thunderstorms, but they

will not be as frequent or `s heavy as on Saturday. There is sthll that

possibility in amongst the sunshine. Plenty of things to do this weekend.

The Shotteswell Fete is takhng place tomorrow, the 19th of July,

It's on from 2pm until 5pm `nd there is the risk of a thunderstorm.

And Lymington and Pennington Carnival is on this Sunday, with

Through the rest of the weekend we should see some thunderstorls

tomorrow. Flash flooding in some places, disruption to travel. Please

look at your local radio st`tion for more details. Turning quite into

next week, the risk of showdrs, but it should stay mainly settldd.

Not looking too bad. And we will have an intervidw with

Tom Jones next week. He will be talking about his forthcoming

concert on the Isle of Wight. You were due to play at the Osborne

house last year? Yes, I had a laryngitis. I `lways

try and go back to do things that I miss.

Jonas at 6:30 p.m.. Have a good weekend. We will see you later for

the ten o'clock bulletin. Good night.