21/12/2011 Spotlight

A community in mourning tonight after a fisherman died when a

vassal sank off the coast of Cornwall. There is a sense of

disbelief. It was a friend and somebody I had known for years.

another man survived the sinking. Both are from Mevagissey and we

will be live there. Also tonight, a battle to be

reunited with his family. This man has written to the Prime Minister

for Health. I'm disillusioned. I want them back.

And the age of the trains and overcrowding. We put your

complaints about rail services to the boss of First Great Western.

A fisherman who died when the boat he was working on sank off the

south coast of Cornwall has been named as Ian Thomas. The skipper of

the Heather Ann survived after another boat from the same harbour

came to their rescue. Both men are from Mevagissey.

The village of Mevagissey is once again mourning the loss of one of

their number at sea. Ian Thomas died after the vessel he was

working on sank within minutes. His skipper survived. It was because of

the quick thinking of other fishermen working nearby.

The heather and was fishing for sardines late last night when she

sank several miles off the coast. She sank quickly as the two-man

crew did not have time to raise the alarm. The Lauren Kate saw

something was wrong and send out and a long call. They found two men

in the water and pulled them aboard. They have been praised for their

quick response. They were fishing close by and they lost sight of the

lives. They called the coastguard. We responded. You have praised them

for their actions. Yes, just to get the two men out of the water and on

to their boat which is quite high sided. Their vote is highly -- it

was dark. It was a fantastic job. One man was flown to the Royal

Cornwall Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He has been named

as Ian Thomas. The skipper was wanted to make of it -- Mevagissey

by a lifeboat and was treated for shock and hypothermia. This is a

small fishing fleet. All the fishermen know each other. Talking

to the guys down the peer, they are in disbelief. All the fishermen

know each other. They know each other and work together from time

to time. It is a small knit community. Both fishermen have been

described as experienced. An investigation into the loss of the

have and has begun. This is the second tragic death in

the village this month's. Two weeks ago, they last -- lost a young

soldier. He was injured in Afghanistan. Tonight, the Christmas

lights in the village have been switched off as a mark of respect

to him and Ian Thomas and their families.

A Devon businessman has made a tearful appeal to the Prime

Minister to overlook a paperwork error made 30 years ago and allow

his family to join him in Britain. Jon Roden runs a gym in Exeter and

has spent two years living apart from his wife and children. The

local community has rallied in his support.

This is as close as Jon Roden can get to his family in daily life.

One piece of paper is keeping them apart. His wife is from South

Africa but was adopted by a British person. Because it was not

registered by the High Commission, she has no automatic right for --

to citizenship. I am very frustrated. I'm disillusioned. I

basically one them back. I will deal with anything I have to. It

would be easier fighting the fight with them here than trying to fight

it apart. At the gym Mr Rowden managers, and members have raised a

petition to campaign for his family to be allowed to come to Britain.

With Christmas coming round, it gets to your heart a bit more. As a

group, we could come together and have a stronger voice than one

person fighting on his own. Roden has written to the Home

Secretary and Prime Minister asking for help. It would mean the world

to me. I love being a husband. I love being a father. My youngest

daughter is the only baby I have got left in the house. I am going

to get her back as a little girl. I have lost two years of their lives

and they do not want to lose any more. It would mean the worlds.

family have lived apart for two years. A UK borders agency

spokeswoman told me they had received Jon Roden's letters. She

describes their content as heartfelt. They are considering

their response and will reply to Jon Roden by the end of the year.

A High Court judge has ruled the Government's decision to cut

subsidies for solar electricity was unlawful. The Government said it

had to act quickly to reduce incentives because the take-up had

been too high. The deadline in December which brought in a reduced

to feed in tariff rate has been overturned and a new rate cannot be

introduced until February. seafront has been reopen tonight

after demolition work began to bring down what remains of the for

Conway Court Hotel. The building is situated on a cliff and is in

danger of collapsing following Monday's might fire. The walls have

been brought down to a safe height. The building is in a precarious

state. The walls and roofs have dropped into the buildings which

has left the walls with no stability. It was felt that the

building needed to come down. A judge has ruled that anti-

capitalist campaigners who have taken over Real Jobcentre in

climates -- Plymouth should be evicted. They moved in many bad

weather hit. The landlord took them to court. Campaigners say they will

appeal. Your questions answered next on all

issues to do with our rail services. Also still to come: Limbering up to

receive a special award, the woman who only took up rowing three years

ago. Dancing for joy a. How a community

spirit brought Christmas to this day care centre.

Last night we reported on have some rail fares in the region will be

going up by almost 8% in the new year. It follows news that two

extra carriages will be put on in the South West to deal with

overcrowding. We have received dozens of e-mails about rail

services recently. I put your comments to Julian Crow, the

regional manager for First Great Western. I asked him if he was

aware of how overcrowded some trains are. I travel a great deal

on our network and I know which ones are overcrowded. That is why a

we are focusing on the true wrote to Falmouth line because that is

where the most overcrowding in -- is. We sympathise with customers

who use trains on that route. We work with Cornwall Council. We are

finding a way of but in extra trains on. People are asking why

that was a priority. You say there is a growth in passenger numbers,

but surely you should be put in the main line at the top of the list.

Why is that not a priority? We have put the rolling stock where the

greatest rarity is. The Truro to Falmouth line is at the top of that

list. When will passengers see more capacity on those lines? They will

see more capacity as rolling stock becomes available. Are we talking

years? Potentially one year to two years. The rolling stock simply is

not there. You can be assured that we will carry on doing our utmost

to get rolling stock as it becomes available. Some of our fuses in

dozens of e-mails we have received says that some local trains are in

poor condition. They feel they are getting the cast-offs from

elsewhere on the network. Windows do not close properly, for instance.

I'll be getting portrait is in poor condition? As he received the

rolling stock in the early part of the franchise, we invested �11

million in refurbishing it. Some of the oldest trains were returned to

leasing companies recently in exchange for ones that were larger.

They are being refurbished now and will be introduced into service.

First Great Western is pulling out of the franchise in 2013. Viewers

might feel that you could not care less what happens to the network

now. What is it for you? You do not need to invest any more.

certainly hope we will be here in one year's time. We are not pulling

out of the franchise. The contract comes to an end in 2013. We're

definitely going to go for it again. Again, coming back to the debating

the House of Commons today, it is heartening To hear the Minister

confirm that it will be a 15 year franchise because that makes

investment so much more viable. say that, but you are pulling out

early this time because there was a get-out clause in the contract.

That is when the bulk of the pain has from the Government were being

paid. It might be argued that duopoly night before you had to

make any significant payments. original franchise was negotiated

before the recession struck. No company would go ahead on that

basis. The Government would not expect us to. Equally, we have

always said that we are supporters of franchises, so we make --

welcome the decision from the Government. If you win the

franchise again, you have 15 years. Fares are going up at the moment

and investment from the Government's is rising. You have

lots of money coming in. How would you like to see that money spent

over the next few years? What are your priorities? Our priorities to

the end of this franchise are delivering the services probably in

the way we have been doing and keeping growth going, because that

supports the local economy. We look forward to the specification of the

new franchise and the fact that it is going to be a 15 year franchise

will make it easier to bring investment in over the long term.

Julian Crow, thank you very much. Doctors in Cornwall say they are

delighted by the success of their hi-tech operating theatre. Lots of

money has been invested in the facility at the Royal Cornwall

Hospital which is one of only two places in the country to have this

equipment. Our correspondent has been planted -- granted access.

For a man about to undergo surgery, Ray Walker is in good spirits. He

is having an Endo vascular aneurysm repair. The problem was picked up

at a routine screening and he had no idea anything was wrong with him.

Nothing, no pain. It was amazing. I got a letter to say, go a long for

this routine check and it happened very quickly from there. Much

better this way. To fix it, doctors will insert a tube that will

reinforce the artery wall. It is a team effort. This is a modern set

up. Radiologist's can work together to provide as good a treatment as

you will see anywhere in the world, not just in Britain. It is a real

step forwards for us. Once the surgeon has opened up two incisions

In re's wine, the multi- access imaging system begins. It is aid

reportedly controlled X-ray machine and Dr Edwards can watch, pause and

rewind every step of the process. Having this purpose-built room that

accommodates both surgeons and radiologist's in a collaborative

environment is second to none and as good as anywhere in this country.

I would expect rates to be back out of hospital late on tomorrow or

probably the next day. Something like 36 hours is what we are

looking at. Conventional surgery is something like five, seven days.

The recovery time is much quicker. They should be back home for

A new state-of the-art hostel in Plymouth was serving up Christmas

lunch to homeless people today. George House near the city centre

replaced the former council Ship Hostel and the Shekinah Night

Shelter. Local businesses and volunteers provided their time, and

turkey with all the trimmings, for nearly 60 residents and staff.

I think he's a fantastic charity. It feels like someone actually

cares and is thinking about us. be able to get the funding and

build something like this at this time is incredibly lucky.

It's been confirmed the Government will make a donation to the

charities benefiting from the single released by Devon's Military

Wives. The payment will be equivalent to the VAT paid on sales

of the song, Wherever You Are. It's the fastest selling single in six

years. There are high hopes it will be the Christmas Number One.

This week we're paying return visits to three small businesses

whose fortunes we've followed since they started up in the downturn of

2008, a B&B, a garage conversion firm, and a restaurant. Today it's

the turn of Creative Garages of Yealmpton near Plymouth. So, are

people still spending on their property? Our business

correspondent Neil Gallacher reports.

Reed Business is forged in the recession. One in particular seemed

to get up to a flying start. Robert would have taken redundancy and a

couple of years ago seemed to have fallen on his feet. It is hard to

believe that it has turned up such a successful business and has given

me the lifestyle I wanted. And the opportunity to do what I want, or

when I want. It has been great. Today will brought is still

converging garages for people and still busy in spite of the economic

slowdown. There has been a change to his market. Middle-aged parents

with growing families seem to be sitting on their wallets. If people

need facilities downstairs then we can convert their garage into a

cloakroom so they have facilities downstairs that worrying about

having to go upstairs in the future. On his website is a device giving

would-be customers a quick price slide. And it gives him a little

something in return. Their contact details end up immediately on my

smart phone so I can call them up. And we can have a meaningful

conversation about their property. That can all be done in a matter of

minutes. Many big construction firms had failed to whether these

last few years but this is a different story.

Onto the BBC South West Sports Awards for 2011 and this evening,

we reveal the Sportswoman of the Year. During his travels up and

down the country, Dave Gibbins visited the Redgrave/Pinsent Lake

in Berkshire, home of the Great Britain rowing squad, to surprise

this particular recipient. What a year it has been for Helen

blubber. She started the year by success than the winning the Great

Britain senior rowing trials. And then to the World Cup and in the

World Cup series she won two events just in Munich and then be in

Switzerland. And then the world championships in Slovenia. With

their part Major came the pinheads bread of becoming world champions,

just been beaten by New Zealand. We have a bit of surprise when you

because you have been voted the BBC south-west sportswoman of the year.

And this is remarkable because you only took up running freak years

ago after answering an advertisement in the newspaper.

Congratulations. Debtors three years ago. How do you feel? I am

really touched. That is amazing. I had so much support from the south-

west. That has put the icing on the cake for newcomers like definitely.

It justifies the hard work. It is a really great feeling. All that

training is paint of. I just feel everyone is behind me and hopefully

we will get that home advantage in the Olympics from that massive

support. Can think it is really important. Congratulations, well

deserved. And all the best for the Olympics will stop --. More than

sixty pensioners in Cornwall, who were told their Christmas party was

cancelled, have finally enjoyed a day of festive dancing and food.

Their original party was halted because vandals had damaged their

day centre. But as Spotlight's Janine Jansen reports staff and

volunteers were determined the event should go ahead.

This party at the day centre in Penzance is in full swing. There is

live music and plenty to eat and drink. But the party nearly did not

happen. It had been scheduled for last week but had to be cancelled

after vandals caused the Zheng Jie de Clones for seven days. They had

started of why IND rubbish bins which damaged the electrics. But

one week later and, the whole event was any scheduled.

There was hope the that we would be here but for Christmas. And here we

are today and it is lovely. The ladies providing the music are

called peaches and cream. They were happy to come in at short notice.

Delighted, yes. We absolutely love what we do. We had made so many

nice friends. Clients coming into the centre had been talking about

this for weeks. Many of them do not participate in any other sort of

Christmas activity because they are at home on their own. This is the

only has to be teased that they would rule at Christmas. -- the on

the festivities. No Christmas party is complete without a visit from

Father Christmas and the cause a little gift.

Looks like everyone had a really good time. Time for the weather

good time. Time for the weather forecast now.

It is official, there is no snow forecast for Christmas. But there

could be some frost on Christmas Eve morning. To date we had a

little bit of sunshine and temperatures have responded quite

well. Similar figures tomorrow, a little cooler on Friday as there is

more cloud around. The high pressure is still out in the

Atlantic. So tomorrow will be as similar day with some cloud, a

little misty in the morning and then some glimpses of sunshine the

in the afternoon. Then on Friday we had some rain in the morning,

becoming head the in the middle of the day. Had it could turn frosty

into the early hours of Christmas Eve morning. Earlier today, you can

see we had a fair amount of cloud. Today was the winter solstice and

our cameraman got these glorious sunset out across Plymouth Sound.

There is now some mist and low cloud and Ireland. -- around. So

every night from a warm words, the lights will be getting shorter.

Generally, we have low cloud over night. So temperatures probably no

lower than seven or eight degrees. Tomorrow morning we have a misty

start. It will gradually improved. And we had some sunny spells in the

afternoon. Temperatures tomorrow similar to what we had seen today.

Walk of a breeze developing especially around the west of

Apology for the loss of subtitles for 43 seconds

Cornwall. And on the Isles of Friday is going to be a damp day

with some outbreaks of rain. Improving to give some sunshine

through the afternoon. And by the end of the day, temperatures

falling to around nine or 10 degrees. Christmas Eve is bright

and dry. And Christmas Day itself, mild and breed. Quite a lot of

clients. That's it from us for this year.

We're back on the 3rd of January, Spotlight's back tomorrow though at

6.30. We'll leave you with Plymouth's Military Wives Choir and

Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Happy Christmas.

# Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

# Peace on earth and mercy mild. # God and sinners reconciled.

# Joyful, all ye nations rise. # Join the triumph of the skies!

# With the angelic host proclaim, Christ is born in Bethlehem.

# Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King!

# Christ the everlasting Lord! # Late in time behold Him come,

offspring of a Virgin's womb. # Veiled in flesh the Godhead see.

# Hail the incarnate Deity! # Pleased as man with man to dwell.

# Jesus, our Emmanuel. # Hark! The herald angels sing,

Glory to the newborn King! # Hail the heav'n-born Prince of

Peace! # Hail the Son of Righteousness!

# Light and life to all He brings. # Ris'n with healing in His wings.