06/03/2017 South Today

Hello, good evening, I'm Tom Hepworth.

You're watching South Today, good to have you with us.

Coming up tonight - the city struggling to breathe -

Southampton's named as one of the most polluted in the UK.

The port will begin monitoring air quality for the first time.

Warnings to the driver of this mobility scooter

as he narrowly avoids being hit on a busy roundabout.

And this week, there will be rain at times,

some drier interludes as well and it will turn milder by

the end of the week. I'll have the details shortly.

Southampton's port is the busiest cruise terminal and second largest

container port in the UK, contributing almost a billion

But it also contributes to the city's air pollution.

The council estimates anything from 7% to 23%

But BBC South's Inside Out programme discovered there's no specific air

quality monitoring taking place within the port.

Last month the city was warned for repeatedly breaching legal air

pollution limits Southampton is now one of five government

Clean Air Zones with nearly ?900,000 being invested .

And as Jon Cuthill explains, the port says plans are now in place

to start monitoring pollution in the future.

Ten-year-old Archie has a severe form of asthma.

Poor air quality can leave him struggling to breathe.

It's a real worry for his mum, Kirsty.

One day when there is an air quality alert or on a day like this

when it is very still, so the pollution's pushed down,

he will generally be more wheezy on those days.

Car fumes, things like that, if it is a really strong,

noxious smell, that will start his asthma off.

As well as busy roads, the city has a busy port.

Clean air campaigners like Colin McQueen are

worried ships are adding to Southampton's pollution problem.

That container ship at the moment, they are using huge diesel

generators to power themselves while they are in port.

We do not know what they are throwing out.

Some ships like the Queen Mary II have the ability to cut

their generators whilst in port and plug into a land-based

electricity supply, drastically reducing emissions.

The only problem is, Southampton does not have a socket.

No port in the UK provides shore power for large ships.

There is no one standard for shore power, that is now in place

and I would like it in place as soon as possible but I should advise

those that shore power is not the only answer.

That is why we are working with solar power now, hybrid ships

now, because all of them have a part to play for the future.

ABP says it plans to start monitoring air quality

Meanwhile the City Council is planning to introduce

a Clean Air Zone to Southampton by 2020, so perhaps residents

like Kirsty can start breathing a sigh of relief.

When I see the impact on children like Archie,

I think everybody wants to make air quality better.

Could the creation of a Clean Air Zone

It would mean some vehicles would be restricted amongst other measures.

We asked Dr Matt Loxham from the University of Southampton.

The evidence is, when these clean air zones are implemented in other

places, they have a few percentage points of improvement on air quality

and that's mainly because they don't restrict private cars.

So I think it's a very good first step and I think

the Council should be commended for what they are doing,

but I think more needs to be done by a whole range of organisations.

You can see Jon's extended report on Inside Out South

A 51-year-old man has died after getting into difficulty

He was found unconscious in the water by another

It's thought he'd been caught in a squall.

The RNLI's Hayling lifeboat was called but efforts

Last year, four people were injured in Dorset in crashes

Today, footage has emerged of what could easily have been another.

Watt the driver who filmed the incident says more should be done to

indicate mobility scooter users in basic road safety.

He came off the pavement where the main shops were,

then went across the roundabout across two or three

A mobility scooter driver dices with death on a dark and wet Friday

evening in Poole town centre. This footage was captured

on a dashboard camera, belonging to Jeff Taylor-Jackson.

I don't want to take anyone's independence away,

but surely there should be some sort of education for someone owns

a mobility scooter to say, this is not a safe thing to do.

Analysis of government data published last year showed accidents

involving mobility scooters were on the rise - in 2015,

they were involved in an average of four crashes a week,

It's those sorts of figures which have prompted calls

for more safety training for mobility scooter users.

What we would suggest to people is that actually,

is there a better way to cross that road?

Are there traffic lights you can use?

If you're just pressing your thumb and going across a roundabout

into oncoming traffic, that is just a recipe for disaster.

So, what is the law when it comes to mobility scooters?

They are allowed to drive at up to four miles per hour on pavements.

On the road, they are allowed to go at eight miles per hour.

If they are on the roads, scooters must be registered

with the DVLA and have lights, indicators and a horn.

And they can be used on dual carriageways if they are fitted

Clearly there were no lights here and what is more remarkable

is that there is an underpass with a ramp at this very roundabout.

When the Americans entered the First World War in 1917,

they had a tiny, unsophisticated air force.

But they established five air bases in West Sussex, including one

It was a pivotal moment in the establishment of what's known

as the "special relationship" between the US and the UK.

But little is known about life on the bases, until now

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 sparked off rapid

improvements in aircraft design across Europe.

Basic observation planes were soon being replaced with faster,

It seems almost unbelievable, but when the United States entered

the First World War in April 1917, they were miles behind the British,

Germans and French in terms of aviation technology.

They ended up having to buy European planes, like this SE5A.

The Wright Brothers fly in 1904 and by 1914 you have

The United States is way behind the curve and it is only with

the advent of the First World War that they begin to develop this area

To try to catch up, the Americans set up five

airfields in West Sussex, including one here at Tangmere,

where pilots and ground crew could be trained.

A great deal is known about Tangmere's role

in the Second World War, but details of what the Americans

did here in World War I are still very sketchy, which is why

the research project has been launched.

What we're hoping to do is track down the biographies of Americans

who served in the area, to find out their reactions,

their responses to suddenly arriving in Sussex in that time.

So far, no-one has even been able to find photographs

of the Americans at Tangmere, but it is hoped the research project

will uncover a treasure trove of archive material.

I have no doubt that somewhere in a loft or in a drawer,

people perhaps have had it handed down to them and never

I'm sure there is lots and lots of stuff out there.

The big idea is to hold an exhibition in September,

so the researchers can share what they have discovered.

Steve Humphrey, BBC South Today, Tangmere.

Finally some sad news tonight, Southampton-based athletics coach

Mike Smith, who nurtured the talents of Olympic, Commonwealth

and European medal winners has died after a short illness.

In a career spanning five decades, he helped guide the success

of hundreds of athletes, among them household names

like Roger Black, Donna Hartley, Kriss Akabusi and Iwan Thomas.

He was also a regular voice for many years on BBC Radio Solent

That's the latest, thanks for being there.

We'll be back with bulletins in BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning

but now here's Alexis Green with your weather forecast.

We are expecting fairly unsettled conditions this week. Taking a look

at the week ahead, there will be some rain at times, some brighter

and sunnier spells and it will start to turn milder from Thursday

onwards. Overnight tonight, there may be some frost in the

countryside. These are temperatures for the towns and cities. A sunny

start to the day tomorrow. Sunshine will turn hazy with the arrival of

high cloud, that ahead of a weather front with thickening cloud for

western parts late in the afternoon. It should stay dry for many places

in the day with highs of eight or nine Celsius. Tomorrow evening, the

rain will quickly move in and the breeze will increase. The rain could

be heavy tomorrow night, lasting into Thursday morning and we may see

some mist and fog patches over higher ground. Temperatures tomorrow

night, a contrast, mild six to eight Celsius and a wet start to the day

on Wednesday. The rain slowly clearing eastwards and through the

afternoon, things will start to dry out with the south-westerly breeze

bringing in some mild air. Milder still on Thursday. We are in this

warm front and some spells of Ranger in Thursday daytime. The warm front

will bring in milder air from the Atlantic. That's also the case

through Friday, a similar data Thursday, as is Wednesday so we are

expecting a fair amount of cloud. Milder temperatures. That mild

south-westerly breeze will continue through the working week. It will

fall away, as will the temperatures, into the weekend.

cool, it will be windy at times as well and still rather unsettled with

some blustery showers around. That's the London forecast and now for the

National forecast, over to Nick Miller.

North-west France and Plymouth were miles apart weather-wise. This

southern flank in north-west France there was a wind gusts of 120 mph

which we just dodged. That area of low pressure continues to move

quickly south-eastwards so that by tomorrow it is in Italy on its

southern flank, stormy in Sardinia and around it strong winds blowing

through south-east France. We've got a little bump in the ice bars with

lighter winds, a brief ridge of high pressure, things briefly settled

going into tomorrow, overnight there are some showers around moving

through western Scotland and north-west England and the Midlands,

clearing Wales, one or two in the east, the North Sea tip of high

pressure, things briefly settled going into tomorrow, overnight there

are some showers around moving through western Scotland and

north-west England and the Midlands, clearing Wales, one or two in the

East, the North seat above Aberdeenshire,