27/03/2017 South Today

First Group - but can they deliver? so it's goodbye from me,

The con artist who pretended to be a cancer doctor and gave false hope

Plans to transform Fawley power station

as Sir Ben and his team prepare for the ride of their lives

Bold promises that things will get better for passengers

on South West Trains from its new owners.

Britain's second biggest train operator is to be taken over,

in August, by a joint venture between First Group and MTR.

Running trains linking Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, Dorset,

Let's join our transport correspondent Paul Clifton

who is at Southampton Central station.

Bred and the new operator is making any promises to improve the services

for passengers. Here are some of them. Anyone 2p investment over

seven years, there will be 90 new new trains. Others will be

refurbished, many are nearly 20 years old and need it. There will be

faster journeys, eight minutes faster from Southampton to Waterloo,

11 minutes faster from Salisbury. Presumably by missing out some

stations along the way. South West trains is the only

franchise to have remained in the same hands since

privatisation, 21 years ago. The service has consistently

been rated From August, we will see a new

owner, which has rarely scored has The three clear priorities

are a more reliable railway, better handling of destruction,

more trains and more seats, if not more chance of getting

on or at least standing First Group runs Great Western,

Hong Kong owned MTR will It also means coming

in with new and flexible ticketing. For example, we will be

offering season tickets for people who only need

to travel three days a week. We are extending child discounts

to 16-18 -year-olds. So it is just about

flexibility, but also We are delivering mobile

ticketing, bar code mobile Hang on though, they will

take charge in August. Right in the middle

of a massive, disruptive By far the busiest

station in Britain. Less crowding, so you

don't have to get rush-hour trains

and sit on the floor. I think the service

as it is now is fine for me. Of course we would like to

see more trains, but The simple issue that any

operator could do is make sure that if there

a delay, then at least us. The better trains promised

for Portsmouth are in fact Rejected by South West trains 15

years ago, rejected by Gatwick They are 30 years old

and There's also precious little mention

of it Isle of Wight Trains. There will be more

capacity, more reliable services, more frequent services

and indeed, faster services, This station, Southampton, will get

a long overdue rebuild. A look at it. Changing times. For 200,000

passengers a day and four and a half thousand staff. A season ticket that

works 34-macro days a week will better fit changing patterns of

commuting. Passengers will like that. The railway companies average

less than 2% annual profit. They've taken a gamble with these numbers.

Faster trains on what is already Britain's busiest railway, a driver

asked me how? And shook his head. "The misery and anguish

you inflicted were quite appalling." The words of a judge today,

levelled against Julie Higgins, a Dorset woman who pretended to be

a cancer doctor. She offered false hope to a patient

suffering from a terminal condition. In reality, Higgins

was just a first-aider. And her patient, Angela Murray,

died just weeks after Today, Judge Donald Tait felt

so strongly about the case that he apologised to Mrs Murray's

family for not being able Hiding from the world, the dying

relatives of this dying woman who this doctor give false hope to. She

fool people into believing she was a surgeon and great and is,

specialising in cancer care. Those of the local supermarket, people who

attended nearby keep fit class women at this hairdressing salon where she

would often intend appointments dressed in what seemed to be a

paramedic uniform. When they discovered another patient given a

terminal diagnosis, they put the two in contact. It was an act of charity

that they have come to regret to this very day. Angela Murray was

told to stop taking medication prescribed by her GP and placed on

stand-by for a life-saving heart and lung transplant. But eventually, she

learned it was all lies. Angela died four weeks after we found this woman

a fraud. -- was a fraud. She suffered a hundred times more than

we did, all the hope was dragged from her. And she went downhill

rapidly. This woman is now free to walk the streets and do the same

again. All I could ask was that if anybody is out there who has

suffered at the hands of this woman, please get in touch with Bournemouth

police. The courts gave Ms Higgins a 12 month community order and told

her to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. The judge to her victim's

family. -- the judge apologised. We bring her back. I'm devastated. The

court pointed out she does not wear medical clothing or pretend to be a

doctor again. If she breaks those restrictions, Julie Higgins could go

to prison. As landmarks go, it's probably fair

to say that this one splits opinion. But - love it or hate it -

the 200-metre-high power station chimney at Fawley has

towered over Hampshire But now there are plans to turn

it into a restaurant and viewing platform,

offering a view that would dwarf the likes

of Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower We have the tower in Portsmouth and

Mashhad in London, but could the Fawley power station chimney, just

catching the last of the setting sun at this evening be a new landmark

for the 21st-century? I have been hearing about plans from the man who

has bought this site to turn it into a merchant city for the south coast.

The redundant oil fired Fawley power station was bought last year for

redevelopment. And the man behind the scheme says they are determined

to hang onto its crowning glory, the foot chimney. She says they can

redevelop as a tourist attraction. It would be mad to knock the chimney

down. It is our signature bit of infrastructure. It is there. Every

link on the money people spend building the tower in Brighton, this

building is already there. So with relatively little investment, we can

do some things spectacular. Architects are drawn up initially

designed and say little structural work is needed. Just taking out

internal brick and constructing lift shafts to access a restaurant and

viewing area. The plan is still on to demolish this building and some

will be pleased to see it disappear from the national park. But for

others, it is a true landmark, a cathedral on steroids with the

chimney dominating it. At 663, the tallest structure south of the

shard. As you can see, the Fawley project towers over the Blackpool

Tower and the tower Brighton and Portsmouth. It is not quite reach

the loft the heights of the tower in Dubai. Along with the tower, a

high-tech business centre and waterfront housing is also planned,

connected by a 15 minute ferry to Southampton. There will be

affordable homes and expensive homes also. There will be everything as

you would expect in a normal town when you have a full range of

services and housing on offer. It would be built in one go? No, it

will be long-term, probably 20 years and I think will mature change over

a lifetime. So the big question, the $60 million

question is, will this actually happened? Well, probably converting

the chimney is the simplest part. It is the schools, houses, getting

permission for new jobs in this part of the world that will take longer

to achieve. There will be public consultations on a planning

application submitted by the end of the year. Thank you.

A soldier has gone on trial accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend

Natasha Wake was found at her home with multiple stab wounds.

Her former partner, 26-year-old Jay Nava,

was found by police soon after in woodland at

Hengistbury Head, where he'd attempted to take his own life.

A man arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs and possession

of a Class B drug after a boat crash in Cowes Marina has been bailed.

Two others have been released without charge.

Police were told a boat had collided with an obstruction in the water

Air sea rescue teams were sent out and three men

repairing 900 years of crumbling walls.

A huge restoration project begins on the ruins of Reading Abbey.

A care home in West Sussex says it will have to close within a month,

The Abbeyfield in Bognor Regis provides shelter for up to 18

elderly people, but at a time when many areas

are struggling to find accommodation in care homes and nursing homes,

it's having to give up due to lack of demand.

Lunchtime for the few remaining residents at Abbeyfield.

It's provided sheltered accommodation for 60 years

and additionally a care home for two decades.

However, a ?30,000 boiler replacement bill caused budget

The boiler issue was resolved, but in the meantime, nine of the 14

care home residents left, and it's now unviable

The home, rated good by the Care Quality Commission,

says it's offered rooms to help relieve hospital bed-blocking

Twice a week, the hospital sent it to

others to see what bed availability we have.

We tell them, but we never hear anything back.

My chairman last year, when there was a lot of talk

in the media about it, she wrote to Worthing Hospital,

Bognor Hospital, Sir Richard's at Chichester and

social services to say we had rooms and respite rooms available for

people and not one of them replied, nobody.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust said it provides a list

of care and nursing home vacancies to patients who cannot return

to their own home, but it doesn't make recommendations.

The Bognor home is an independent local charity but affiliated

to a national umbrella group called The Abbeyfield Society,

which says it has been financially supporting the Bognor home recently

and will continue to do so until all residents are re-housed

when the building will be sold to recover costs.

No date has been confirmed for the closure.

Police are appealing for more information

after a body was discovered in Winchester last week.

Police have released this photo of the victim,

His body was found at a house in Birch Court

in the Stanmore area on Wednesday afternoon.

A 58-year-old man from Winchester who was arrested on Friday has

The Bournemouth East MP and Foreign Office Minister Tobias Ellwood has

said he's "heartbroken" that he couldn't do more to help

the officer killed in last week's attack on parliament.

Mr Ellwood gave first aid to PC Keith Palmer after he was stabbed

by Khalid Masood at the gates of the Houses of Parliament.

Mr Ellwood said in a statement today that he was "deeply

"humbled and overwhelmed" by messages of support.

Tributes are being paid to the leader of West Berkshire Council

who has died five weeks after he was involved

70-year-old Roger Croft was seriously injured

in the collision last month, which killed his wife, Zelda.

I think he was a very no-nonsense character,

he knew what he wanted and was not afraid to say it, which

But he also listened, and I think that is

extremely important for us to remember.

He did listen to others and he did lead

Modern-day piracy may seem a world away from the south.

But the trauma of kidnappings at sea are now at their highest level

for a decade with obvious implications for a region which

Now a Hampshire-based charity has launched a crisis response

network to help victims of piracy and trauma.

When I got to the captain's room, the pirates were shouting,

They did not know that he was already dead in the engine room.

32-year-old Adi Manurung from Indonesia was one of 26 people

kidnapped when the fishing boat he was on - the Naham three -

was seized by pirates, just off The Seychelles.

These BBC News pictures show the crew's release last October.

They forced us to eat one by one and we were frightened.

The food was terrible and we ate mice and wild cats to survive.

Thousands of miles away in a corner of Hampshire

the Southampton-based Sailors' Society are helping people like Adi.

Their crisis response network means they've trained 20

They offer 24 hour support to victims of piracy

And if you think about coming out of a trauma and having no support

which for many of these people that's the case, you know

the majority of seafarers now come from developing countries and that's

where we step in so, yes, it's invaluable.

It comes just a few weeks after this: Somali pirates

hijacking an oil tanker off the coast of Somalia.

There was no hope, but I just kept praying anyway.

Adi says it's thanks to his faith that he survived five

He now want to help others like him to rebuild their lives.

Now for the sport. Where are we at as far as the takeover is concerned?

So many people will remember that the dreadful, dreadful fall from

grace Portsmouth had and lived it, they will want to be reassured that

of an overseas investors coming in, it is absolutely for the right

reasons. He's taken a big interest in the club and is monitoring things

very closely. Portsmouth's prospective

new owner was among those celebrating their victory

on Saturday as Paul Cook's men pushed closer to

promotion from League Two. Carl Baker played a lovely ball

into Kyle Bennett as Pompey took It was 2-0 after the break when

Conor Chaplin set up Kal Naismith. But the Welsh side did show some

fight and pulled a goal back Pompey held on and the win

was greeted by this tweet from American Michael Eisner

who listened to the commentary Portsmouth have a six-point lead

over Stevenage in fourth and a much They remain seven points

behind Plymouth who won Pompey face Hartlepool, Yeovil

and Plymouth in their next three. There were goalless draws for both

Oxford and MK Dons this weekend United keeper Simon Eastwood saved a

penalty as Oxford held Northampton. Meanwhile a priceless win

for Swindon, in the 94th minute of their game with Millwall,

substitute Conor Thomas secured a 1-0 win to keep their hopes

of avoiding the drop alive. An Aldershot Farnham and district

runner mixed with the best cross country athletes in the world this

weekend Louise Small put in a very

creditable display in breaking the top 40 in the women's race

of the world cross country In a field dominated by Africa's

traditionally strong runners, Small finished 37th out of 106

in a quick race which finished The National League season and with

Reading dropping to third after losing a close game at... The

rockets are now set to face the kestrels at the end of the season.

The scale of the challenge facing Sir Ben Ainslie and his Portsmouth

based team competing in the America's Cup is highlighted

by the latest results from practice races in Bermuda where the cup

will be defended by America this summer.

Britain won two of the ten races it competed in last week,

while the Americans dominated the field winning nine

BAR have released more images of their boat and the team hard

60 days until racing starts for real, but the phoney war

Five of the six teams that will compete in the America Cup racing

These first images from the British team's

drone show the race boats are one, hitting the water and at times,

They won two of their ten practice races last week, so Ben

Ainslie described it as a useful few days going into the next design

No new team has ever won the cup at the first attempt.

Ainslie once again is trying to make history.

A host of golden daffodils in Thatcham - Dot Williams

A lovely day for a walk in Emsworth - here's a brave poodle

And this is Harnham Bridge in the lunchtime sun -

It was a glorious day in the region with sunshine and temperatures of 16

Celsius. What of the week ahead have in store? There will be sunny spells

throughout and the warm air that goes with it, too. But things will

become a bit more showery from midweek. For tonight, a clear night

and a bit of mist and fog by dawn for some places, but not too bad.

Most places having lows of around seven Celsius. Same for tomorrow

morning, and any mist and fog burns off quickly when the sun comes up.

Good sunny spells and a bit more cloud through the afternoon. A odd

shower coming from the south-west. Tomorrow's high, 15 Celsius. A bit

cooler along the coast. Through tomorrow evening, cloud builds and

we may see rain, especially for the southern part of the region, but the

cloudy skies, temperatures not dropping much below double figures,

tender Celsius mostly. Looking to Wednesday, it is a cloudy picture,

but many places are staying dry throughout the day. We had this rain

band to the north and it is never far away. It may just wiggle in now

and then. Most places will spend the day dry with a high of 14 Celsius.

Looking toward Thursday, we will see high pressure moving away to the

continent and a cold front moving in from the West will impact things.

Some cloud on Thursday, bright spells, too. By Friday, it is a

better picture. Cooler, fresher conditions and some rain coming

persistence for a while. For the weekend, we are looking at: showery

conditions on Saturday and Sunday, a ridge of high pressure builds up and

we may see sunny spells. Thank you, Sam.

It's one of the oldest heritage sites in the South

and was the capital of England's cultural and political life

But despite their international significance, the ruins

of Reading Abbey have been closed for eight years since

Now, after years of delays and wrangling over cost,

work has started to repair the crumbling walls ahead

of the grand opening of the town's Abbey quarter,

It was built by Henry I for the salvation of his soul.

Nine centuries later, the ruins of Reading Abbey

These techniques actually go back over 10,000 years

and it's one of the earliest forms of building, and it's literally

within the last two or three years that we're really re-learning

and re-discovering how these buildings were actually originally

built, and there's nothing better for the building itself

then using the material it was intended to be built with.

This hot lyme mortar is exactly what Henry used

What's left though is just 20% of a vast complex that stretched

Pretty much every King or Queen came here.

they might have been here staying with the Abbot.

There's a thousand years of history here.

It's internationally important history, it's

not just local history, and Reading needs to shout about it

and that's what this project's about.

Henry is buried here, but there were worries that he wouldn't

has closed the ruins for the best part of a decade.

In 2009, repairs began but the damage was more

In April 2011, plans for an eight million pound

But it was late 2015 before funding was finally secured

Back in the 1100s, Reading Abbey would have

taken 40 years to build, the equivalent cost in modern times

But the team here have just one year to complete this before it

The total cost of the restoration, about three million pounds.

A figure that may sound like a king's ransom,

but less than half has come from the council coffers.

Reading obviously is associated with commerce,

and that's great, but also Reading is also placed with a fantastic

cultural offering and we believe we can build on that,

develop the Abbey Quarter as a cultural attraction

and attract a wider public to Reading.

Once finished, the ruins will re-open as the centre

of the new Abbey Quarter, taking its rightful and original