22/11/2011 Spotlight

On the day closures to coastguard stations across the south west are

confirmed, one man says he owes his life to the service. Local

knowledge is key and being in the environment, their presence is...

Is No 1. Good evening. We'll be hearing from coastguards in Brixham

and from a local MP about today's announcement. Also on Spotlight

tonight: Local criminals receive a pre-Christmas message. Police in

Torbay send letters to known shoplifters warning - offend again

and face jail. And described as inadequate - the plans to ease

overcrowding on local trains. Sometimes we can't even get on and

then we have to pay for the bus, the buses won't let us on with the

train tickets. Even though it is the same company. The Government

finally confirmed today that controversial proposals to cut

coastguard cover in the South West will go ahead. Stations at Brixham

Portland and Swansea are among eight centres that will close

progressively by March 2015. Falmouth is one of eight that will

stay open as 24-hour centres. We've a series of reports and reaction

tonight. First, this from Spotlight's Scott Bingham. Sailor

Robert Boyd is under no illusion about the importance oft coastguard

service. He was taking rt part in the regatta when his boat catch

sized. They co-ordinated the rescue organisation. He says he owes them

his life. I was under water for approximately four minutes. So I

understand. When the boat was... Brought back up, I was very close

to death. A lot of people have said that without that speed of

operation I would certainly not be here. Today after nearly 12 month

of consultation, shipping minister, Mike Penning confirmed station at

Swansea, Portland and Brixham will be among those closed. Falmouth

will be the South West's only station. One of eight 24 hour

centres. It seems to be stretched too thin. It is putting people's

lives at danger just to save a few pound. The minister also announced

a new single maritime operation centre in Hampshire, prompting

concerns from one Cornish MP. the trial of a new control centre

demonstrates the loss of local knowledge, to be an added danger to

any sea-user sh will he reconsider his plans for closing any

coastguard co-ordination centres sh as the Prime Minister has already

mentioned? None of the centres will close before the robustness of the

system is up and running. Government says safety is paramount

and the proposals about modernising the agency. But this decision may

not be the end of the matter. There is talk of an online petition and

possible further debate in Parliament. Earlier I spoke to

coastguard Mick Cook of the Public and Commercial Services Union. He

told us today that the announcement held no surprises but was

nevertheless disappointing. You're right, it is disappointing. As you

can imagine in the operations room it is very quiet. People are

despondent and sad. Government... It is not clear what

the future holds. The Government thinks these measures can be taken

without a great risk to life. Would you agree? No, we don't agree. Even

though the Government have said Brixham will close, our opinion is

still the same. We have got an operations room bought and paid for.

You have got a massive talented staff here. We're one of the

busiest coastguard stations, certainly along the South West

coast and they're going to close us. The shipping Minister said he

called you a first class rescue service. Could you continue to

deliver that service? I don't believe so. Not in the way that we

have been doing it. The local knowledge issue is still an issue.

They have not resolved that. This campaign has been about many things.

Budget, Government cuts, jobs, but on top of that list is safety to

the public. So what does it mean now, is there any room for

manoeuvre, is the battle over? seem like it is over. But I will

never say never. The general public have been supportive to us. And

they can still play a big part if they went online to WW coastguard

petition, they can Reg stir their feelings on if there is 100

thousand signatures, it has to be debated in Parliament. And for

people who use the sea around the coast of the South West, what will

this mean for them? Well this is what we don't know. We're going

into something that we have not gone into before. So it is hard for

me to say. But as I said, the local knowledge issue is still unresolved.

Thank you. Spotlight's Political Editor Martyn Oates has been

following the story today and has been gauging reaction at

Westminster. Today is the end of the consultation and further

consultation on the plans to modernise the coastguard service.

As the shipping minister said, the second consultation was on four

very specific points. It wasn't intended to re-open the whole

debate as to whether Bracks him and Portland should be closed. That

decision was made earlier in the year. -- Brixham and Portland.

People now in the area realise there noise chance of a reprieve.

The MPs representing the areas of course fought hard to keep their

specific local coastguard stations open and the Conservative MP for

south east Cornwall, who has not got any coast guard station in her

area, but has a lot of experience of needs of fishing industry, has

said the Government's plans should be torn up and thrown away. Today

she says the fight goes on. I will not see any marine co-ordination

centre close whilst I believe, or any member of the public believes

that safety of our sea goers will be compromised. The Government says

the reforms will not only maintain the present service, but will

improve it. Sheryl Murray is one of many people expecting the

Government to prove that now. you. Devon and Cornwall Police are

writing to known shoplifters warning that they'll be jailed if

they commit crimes in the run up to Christmas. Operation Action has

been launched in Torbay with increased police patrols and the

use of CCTV. Our Home Affairs correspondent Simon Hall reports.

Shoplifting can steal the spark frl Christmas for retailers and

shoppers. This jewellers lost a �300 neck lace in a recent theft.

The police are writing to repeat shoplifters in the area, warning

they will be watched and face prison if they commit crimes before

Christmas. It is a good police presence on the street. It helps

with the general public. It is a good initiative for businesss to

make people feel protected. It is not just retailers who suffer with

shoplifting, shoppers do. A survey estimated the crime adds about �180

a year to the average family's shopping bill. As part of Operation

aboution, there will be extra police patrols and CCTV to keep

watch. It is not a gimmick. It is important that we target the small

minority of criminals who commit the proportion of the crime. It is

not good enough that we let them get away with that. I'm not

prepared and the police are not prepared to accept these small

number of people committing this crime. Retailers are being advised

how to improve security against shoplifters. Figures show that

shoplifting has been on the increase. Some attribute that to

the economic down turn. Operation action is running only here in

Torbay, but if it is seen as a success, it could be introduced in

other towns across Devon and Cornwall. Cases of the stomach bug

Norovirus are starting to appear in Cornwall. The Cornwall and Isles of

Scilly Primary Care Trust is warning people with sickness and

diarrhoea not to visit hospitals or other health care centres. They're

advising people to wash their hands frequently and not to handle or

prepare food. A company which provides home care in Cornwall has

gone into liquidation. All Seasons, based in Truro also provided

supported living services for 40 people on behalf of Cornwall

Council. Staff have been laid off and the council is rearranging care.

The Devon based tile manufacturer British Ceramic Tile has become one

of the biggest tile companies in the UK after buying a firm in

Yorkshire. But the Newton Abbot based company says the state of the

economy means that up to a quarter of the joint workforce could be

made redundant. Two South West councils are placing children in

their care at risk of significant harm according to Ofsted's annual

report. Cornwall and Torbay were among nine local authorities judged

inadequate when it comes to safeguarding children. Cornwall

says it is working to improve services and Torbay says some

improvements have already been made. A dental surgery in Devon is

offering free mouth cancer checks for patients. It follows a 50% rise

in the number of people developing the disease over the past decade.

Doctors say early treatment could save the lives of nine out of ten

sufferers. Spotlight's Johnny This is what kept Keith sane in the

six months after several operations to remove cancerous tissue from his

mouth. He was lucky, to catch the disease before it spread. They fast

tracked me. Which again I didn't think nothing much of it. But the

reason was quite ease ly to understand, the cancer was moving

rapidly. The plain symptoms are mouth ulcers that haven't healed

within three weeks. Red or white patches in the mouth and on the

tongue and any unusual swellings. Regular dental check ups are the

best way to protect the disease. One practice is offering free

checks. It is one of the most important things we can can do for

a patient, obviously it is important to check their teeth and

general dental health. But if we can spot an area here and diagnose

something early, you can reduce the problems and increase the outom of

that patient. 6,000 people in the UK will develop mouth cancer this

year. Early diagnosis could extend the lives of 5,5 hundred of them.

Coming up: How a campaign for a new swimming pool which started before

the Second World War is finally bearing fruit. Plus the new man in

charge at Plymouth Albion - we'll hear from Peter Drewett. And there

are trees still with leaves on, but I think tonight will be the first

proper frost of the winter. I will have all the details later in the

programme. First Great Western is introducing almost 50 extra

carriages to ease passenger congestion on its main routes. But

only two of those will be coming to the Southwest. A single extra

carriage will be added to trains from Paignton through Exeter to

Barnstaple with another available on the Falmouth branch line. From

Cornwall, Spotlight's David George reports. This is the 07.50 service

to Truro and as usual it is busy. There is soon standing room only.

But there are another three stations. This overcrowding is a

regular occurrence during the school term. Sometimes people are

left behind. This train is in part of -- a victim of its success. The

increase in passenger numb% due to the introduction of a half hourly

service. Good new force company, but uncomfortable for passengers.

It is really cramped and it is not a nice experience to get to work

and you have spent 25 mince cramped on a train. It is busy and

sometimes we can't get on and then have to pay for the bus, the bus

won't let us on with the train tickets, even though it is the same

company. Today the company's boss announced extra carriages. It will

add a small amount of extra capacity. There will be an extra

carriage and the very business branch line that we operate which

is one of fastest growing lines in the country, will gain an extra

carriage that. Doubles capacity. But that is only two extra carriage

for Devon and Cornwall with most of the investment going into the main

line from Reading to Paddington. I have called a meeting and we are

going to discuss the franchise and capacity issues. I am sure are

rising from that we will want to lobby government again to say it is

inadequate and that the franchisees to take into account are concerned

about the service. Meanwhile, passengers will have to wait until

the spring for their extra carriage. Today's announcement is big news

for some commuters. Why only two extra carriages for the region?

have seen a phenomenal growth around local services. We have 10

of the fastest growing branch lines. The vehicles that have been

announced today as coming to us are going to the routes which have the

busy services. It is good to see busy capacity to relieve crowding

and keep the growth going. Robin Tevez and has pointed out today

that money was made available to increase his services, so you

benefited -- benefited with increased passenger numbers.

Cornwall Council is stumping up �60,000 are worth the extra

carriage in Falmouth. Why are tax payers funding mess? It helps the

local economy, that's the whole point. We are seen passenger

numbers are rising rapidly. Commercially, you are benefiting.

Why are you not paying for the extra carriage? Why are Cornwall's

council tax payers having to stump up? It comes from the Department of

Transport, ourselves and Cornwall Council. These are not profitable

services so there has to be revenue support to make it possible to

operate them. It is good we have been able to achieve that growth.

What about the prospects for extra carriages elsewhere. We had an e-

mail from John. He says, the Penzance to Plymouth service often

consists of two old carriages. It pauses on the way up, and gets more

overcrowded. Are their chances of any war carriages on those sorts of

lines? The growth is happening across Cornwall. We will be more

because as time goes by. The announcement is to provide extra

capacity on the farm wife Lin and services in Devon, so we are

dealing with the most crowded services. When you except his of

the one is overcrowded? Many services are busy for short

distances some part of the journey. By and not enough to get extra

capacity? Not at this stage. There are few spare carriages available

in the country. We have effectively got the last two. It would be some

time before others were available. You can rest assured we will do our

utmost to secure or them. We would like to hear your views on railway

services in the region. The cost of revamping Exeter's

Royal Albert Museum has risen to around �24 million, nearly 9

million more than estimated. This week sees the fourth anniversary of

the museum's closure for its refurbishment. It's due to re-open

next month. The installation of 120 bat boxes

in woodland around Burrator Reservoir has attracted 124 bats of

five different species in a year. The scheme, which was set up by

South West Water, the Lakes Trust and the Devon Bat Group, wanted to

increase the number of bats seen there. Boxes of different sizes and

types were put up last October and monitored every month for a year.

A collection started before the Second World War to fund a public

swimming pool is finally paying off. Some of money raised all those

years ago is, at last, being used to help fund a new pool for

Dorchester. But why has it taken so long? Our reporter Simon Clemison

has been investigating. In the 1930s and 40s in Dorchester

there were no public baths. A few years earlier, a swimming pool of

sorts had been built along the river Frome. One of the children

taking a dip in the same stretch of water was Brian Clarke. That was

our only way to learn to swim. If we did not go to the river we did

not learn to swim and we made full use of it. We swam and fish in it.

TV in the money is being put to good use? -- do you feel? And there

have been a lot of murmurs from locals in recent years about what

has happened to the money and the swimming pool never materialised.

Now it is going to be there. It was the children of this town who first

started the collection 80 years ago. They used to each paying a penny

and the party eventually grew and grew. -- paying a penny. Some of

the money was spent on a learner swimming pool. When you think it

will be open? This spring of next year. With �70,000 still left, the

mayor made a sizable donations. If you thought he was a Johnny-come-

lately you might like to know that in fact, he has been looking after

the fund since 1973, when he was first mayor. He even put money in

himself as a child. Today I can see a great achievement for Dorchester

or to have a swimming pool, a sports complex, here in the middle

of the town. And it is your old pennies that helped pay for it!

that's right. The tyres are ready and waiting. The leisure centre

should be open in at the spring. With some origins in the beginning

of the last century, there is something to think about it to swim

up and down. Some sports news now and Plymouth

Albion today unveiled former Exeter Chiefs boss Pete Drewett as their

new head coach and director of rugby. He will replace Graham Dawe,

who was sacked over the weekend after 12-and-a-half years in charge.

Spotlight's Brent Pilnick reports. Leading his team out for the first

time, Pete Drewitt was all smiles. The former Exeter Chiefs boss

signed a deal to the director of rugby and head coach until 2015. He

replaces Graham Dawe, who was sacked after 12.5 years after -- as

chairman of rugby. I do not know a lot about what Graham did. I have

respect for him. My role is to improve players' and improve the

unit and the team. It is about getting well organised on and off

the field and working hard to achieve that. There are no short

cuts. Graham Dawe was a much-loved and respected figure and many will

question why he was let go halfway through the season. For the people

at Plymouth Albion who rub -- run the club it was simple, he was

sacked because results were not good enough. We were not happy with

our position. We were 10 points of the promotion group. We needed to

act now if we were going to have a chance to turn it around. Pete

Drewitt has something of a baptism of fire. Albion play for out of the

five top sides in their next four league games, including a derby

with Cornish Pirates. If he can get some wins then the deal he has

shaken hands on may improve to be a very astute one.

Plymouth Argyle hope to avoid an FA Cup upset tonight. They try for a

second time to overcome non-league Stourbridge in a first round replay.

The ground of the Midlands club is too small to cater for the

Pilgrims' team coach, so the players had to walk from outside

the venue and into the stadium. The original tie ended in a three-all

draw. There's full coverage on BBC The exercise will do them good! It

is a bit of a warm-up. Is it tonight that the proper frost

of the winter? I think it probably is. You will need to scrape your

windscreen tomorrow. Low temperatures tonight and widely, we

will see frost. The lowest temperatures from East Devon into

Somerset. All of us will have a cold night, the coldest so far.

Earlier, we have cloud and showers. It stretched from Spain right up to

England. There is high pressure across southern Britain tomorrow,

bringing dry weather and sunshine. A frosty start for some. Earlier in

the week -- later in the week, low pressure coming in bringing rain on

Thursday night into Friday morning. Wind coming in with a strong

southerly breeze. Until then, a relatively quiet. This morning was

grey and misty. There was some brightness coming through. There

was hardly a breath of wind. The wind will be light again tonight

there is a possibility of some mist and fog patches forming here and

there. Hopefully, the same location tomorrow, more in sunshine. Clear

sky overnight at tonight. Mist and fog forming and some frost

overnight. We have not seen this since the early part of the year.

The wind like becoming south- westerly. -- the wind light,

becoming south-westerly. As we move through tomorrow the frost will

disappear under sunshine will come out and warm up. There is always

the risk of cooler conditions around those areas that started off

frosty. For the rest of us, a breeze in the second half of the

day. South-westerly wind bringing A mixture over the next few days.

Expect fine weather on Thursday, clouding over and becoming breezy,

showers on Friday and cloudy on Saturday.

The government has confirmed that controversial plans to close

Coastguard stations in the South West will go ahead.

Police say their own shoplifters will be jailed if they steal in the