Browse content similar to 25/01/2012. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Bucking the high street trend - the local businesses showing strength | :00:10. | :00:19. | |
as the economy weakens. At the moment it is look reasonable, but | :00:19. | :00:25. | |
all businesses have to move forward. Good evening. So are we on the road | :00:25. | :00:29. | |
to recovery or half way to a double dip recession? Full analysis in a | :00:29. | :00:32. | |
moment. Also on Spotlight tonight: The plans to charge free bus pass | :00:32. | :00:35. | |
holders in Cornwall. Would you pay 50p a journey to keep rural | :00:35. | :00:42. | |
services running? Honestly I would rather pay full fare and have a bus | :00:42. | :00:46. | |
than lose a bus. And people power in North Devon, a company says it | :00:46. | :00:50. | |
will review its plans for a massive wind farm to deal with concerns. | :00:50. | :00:53. | |
News that the UK economy shrank in the last quarter has been greeted | :00:53. | :00:55. | |
defiantly by business people across the region tonight. The reduction | :00:55. | :00:58. | |
of 0.2% could mean we're half-way to a double-dip recession, or it | :00:58. | :01:02. | |
could just be a pause on the road to the recovery. We'll talk to a | :01:02. | :01:05. | |
local economist about that in a moment, but one way or the other, | :01:05. | :01:08. | |
for many working people, today was definitely about business as usual, | :01:08. | :01:18. | |
:01:18. | :01:19. | ||
as our correspondent Neil Gallacher found out. You don't have to look | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
hard to spot sign of economic stress, places where demand refuses | :01:24. | :01:29. | |
to keep up with supply. But if the economy has gone into reverse, so | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
far the down turn is slight. For most businesses, today is little | :01:34. | :01:43. | |
different from three or six months ago. This fewton manufacturer moved | :01:43. | :01:48. | |
from Cambridge and are they now regretting their investment? | :01:48. | :01:52. | |
Apparently not. It has been good this year. It is difficult to see | :01:52. | :01:56. | |
thousand year pans out. There is a slight confidence to how this year | :01:56. | :02:01. | |
will pan out. At the moment it is reasonable. But all businesses have | :02:01. | :02:10. | |
to move forward. At a neighbouring business, lunch arrives, sandwiches | :02:10. | :02:18. | |
from this man's restaurant. Have you noticed an economy that is | :02:18. | :02:25. | |
shrinking? It is much the same. I like to think the Green Door is | :02:25. | :02:30. | |
growing. We have had a cracking January so far. So all good. | :02:30. | :02:34. | |
guessy small business owner worry about their business, are you more | :02:34. | :02:40. | |
worried than a year ago. I try not to worry. I have done too much of | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
that, I think positive and get more things done. Service industries are | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
still a huge chunk of the economy, even if Tesco have reported a fall | :02:49. | :02:53. | |
in sales. In Plymouth we found another man known to Spotlight | :02:53. | :03:01. | |
viewers. We first met Ashley Len he was freshly redundant from a local | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
factory. He had grown up knowing nothing of recession. We followed | :03:05. | :03:10. | |
his struggle to find work. At one stage he thought his future was in | :03:10. | :03:17. | |
the navy. Life has turned out to be very different. I enjoy working for | :03:17. | :03:24. | |
Tesco and like I said, money comingy month, it is better than 60 | :03:24. | :03:29. | |
quid on the dole. Across Devon and Cornwall unemployment's growing | :03:29. | :03:34. | |
more strongly than in the UK as a whole. But today one of Cornwall's | :03:34. | :03:40. | |
biggest employers, Sam worth brothers said sales were holding up. | :03:40. | :03:45. | |
Another employer is fits Gerald lighting. It was nearly killed off | :03:45. | :03:51. | |
in 2008. But the new verse of factory has a good year and now | :03:51. | :03:56. | |
employ nearly 100 and pefbgt further growth. These are | :03:56. | :04:01. | |
challenging times, but in 2012 that is no longer the novelty it used to | :04:01. | :04:07. | |
be. Well joining me now is economist Peter Gripaios. We posed | :04:07. | :04:12. | |
the question are we half way to a double dip she rigs or in a pause | :04:12. | :04:18. | |
on the way to recovery. Which is it? I don't think we know. The | :04:18. | :04:22. | |
general expectation is we will flat line for some months and possibly | :04:22. | :04:27. | |
another year. The problem is all governments are trying to find the | :04:27. | :04:30. | |
same solution by cutting expenditure. But then we're in a | :04:30. | :04:33. | |
race to the bottom, because nobody can sell to anybody else. The | :04:33. | :04:38. | |
expectation is not that there will be a major upturn soon. We heard | :04:38. | :04:44. | |
the national figures that theically is shrinking, we do we fit into | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
that? This part of the country is doing well. The recession is | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
affecting us, but there is no evidence that we're doing worse | :04:51. | :04:57. | |
than anywhere else. And certainly I think given that Plymouth's lost | :04:57. | :05:02. | |
800 military jobs sh has held up well. We heard from some businesses | :05:02. | :05:09. | |
in the report, an upbeat picture. Does -- does it depend what sector | :05:09. | :05:15. | |
you're in? It it depend on which sector and your particular niche in | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
that. You will find that ones who have moved up market with the | :05:20. | :05:25. | |
quality end are doing well. Others are struggling. You said at the | :05:25. | :05:30. | |
moment you think short-term flat lining continuing, when do row | :05:30. | :05:37. | |
expect any upturn? Tinge general expectation is we will have -- I | :05:37. | :05:41. | |
think the general pepbgtation is we will have another six months or a | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
year. Kftd will be low. But recessions do end and this will be | :05:45. | :05:50. | |
be like the others. -- confidence is low. There is another problem | :05:50. | :05:55. | |
and that is the standing of Britain in the world and the western world | :05:56. | :06:02. | |
compared to India and China. That will take longer to solve. | :06:02. | :06:06. | |
Political Editor, Martyn Oates, is in Downing Street and joins us now. | :06:06. | :06:10. | |
Very inconvenient news for the Government? Yes David Cameron said | :06:10. | :06:15. | |
the disappointing figures were not surprising and of course his | :06:15. | :06:22. | |
neighbour at No 11 a few weeks ago had taken a deep breath and | :06:22. | :06:26. | |
acknowledged the economy in a worst state than he predicted. That means | :06:26. | :06:31. | |
even if we don't end up in a recession, there will be more pain | :06:31. | :06:37. | |
and job losses. The Prime Minister today again pointed the finger at | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
the crisis in the eurozone, higher fuel and food price and the deficit | :06:41. | :06:46. | |
which the coalition inherited from Labour. But the Government said | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
sticking to its programme is the best way to turn the economy around, | :06:50. | :06:54. | |
even if that process ends up being longer than we had been promised. | :06:54. | :06:58. | |
What has the reaction been from Labour?: since the coalition | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
unveiled its policy, Labour has said that its cutting too much and | :07:04. | :07:10. | |
too quickly and said that risked tipping the country into a double | :07:10. | :07:16. | |
dip recession and it has continued say that today. And it jump on | :07:16. | :07:21. | |
comments by the head of International Monetary Fund who | :07:21. | :07:27. | |
said Britain may have to slow its cuts. Thank you. Later in the | :07:27. | :07:30. | |
programme we'll be hearing from businesses in the Devon town of | :07:30. | :07:34. | |
Bampton in a first of a new series about the economy. People in | :07:34. | :07:38. | |
Cornwall who get a free bus pass may in the future be asked to pay | :07:38. | :07:41. | |
50 pence a journey. Cornwall Council says it would be one way of | :07:41. | :07:44. | |
raising enough money to keep vulnerable rural bus routes going. | :07:44. | :07:47. | |
They want the Government to allow Cornwall to test the idea as a | :07:47. | :07:56. | |
pilot scheme. Eleanor Parkinson reports. Not many things in this | :07:56. | :08:00. | |
life are guaranteed, but there is up with thing you can be sure of. | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
When you collect your pension you also get one of these - a free bus | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
pass. Cornwall council says although pensioners are entitled to | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
free bus travel, the Government has cut the funding that pays for | :08:12. | :08:18. | |
concessionary fares and they say this puts 95 vulnerable rural | :08:18. | :08:24. | |
routes at risk. The council said if everyone with a free pass paid 50 | :08:24. | :08:28. | |
pence they could keep the routes going. They came from the people of | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
Cornwall. People said, we'd rather make a contribution than lose the | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
service. We are taking those ideas and we will approach and lobby | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
government and hopefully with the support of our MPs, we can bring | :08:42. | :08:45. | |
about change in the legislation. you think the Government will let | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
you do this? I think you know we're in a different territory, we're in | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
a financial crisis and it makes business sense. They haven't got | :08:55. | :09:00. | |
money to throw away. Nor have we. These pensioners all use their free | :09:00. | :09:05. | |
bus passes each day and those we spoke to told us they would be | :09:05. | :09:11. | |
happy to pay a small fare. I would rather pay than end up with no bus | :09:11. | :09:16. | |
service, or a less frequent bus service. I would rather pay full | :09:16. | :09:21. | |
fare and have a bus than lose a bus. If the services were reduced, would | :09:21. | :09:29. | |
that affect you? Yes. I no longer drive. So I need the buses to be | :09:29. | :09:33. | |
able to come in and out of town. Does it help with the neighbours? A | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
lot of people from the area will get the bus into Plymouth for the | :09:38. | :09:42. | |
day, they may pay 50 pence, but going back Plymouth have to pay the | :09:42. | :09:49. | |
cost. So if they keep that at a a free fare will cost Plymouth and | :09:49. | :09:56. | |
what will their attitude be to Cornwall. Cornwall council said | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
they will keep vulnerable routes safe for two years, but after that | :10:01. | :10:06. | |
they can't make any guarantees. They say the scheme could solve | :10:06. | :10:14. | |
many problems. Thank you for all of your e-mails on this topic. Jan | :10:15. | :10:22. | |
said: What would people rather have a small fee or reduced services? | :10:22. | :10:25. | |
Mary said, I would say pay the charge and use it less often, | :10:25. | :10:32. | |
rather than risk losing it. Catherine, I think it is a great | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
idea and it will stop the abuse of the cards, where people ride around | :10:37. | :10:45. | |
on the bus all day. And Alfred said, I think a better idea would be to | :10:45. | :10:50. | |
scrap the bus pass and have a county pass that was free for | :10:50. | :11:00. | |
:11:00. | :11:03. | ||
residents. Thank you for all your comments. The company wanting to | :11:03. | :11:06. | |
set up a massive wind farm off the coast of North Devon says it is | :11:06. | :11:09. | |
reviewing its plans after consulting with local people. RWE | :11:09. | :11:11. | |
Npower Renewables says there'll be a second round of public | :11:11. | :11:13. | |
consultation in the summer. Our Environment Correspondent, Adrian | :11:13. | :11:18. | |
Campbell, has the latest. The gov Government is committed to wind | :11:18. | :11:24. | |
farms and big xaepbts are needed to deliver this. -- xaepbts. Npower | :11:24. | :11:31. | |
plan a giant wind farm. There has been an initial public consultation | :11:31. | :11:36. | |
by the developers. The results of the consultation showed most people | :11:36. | :11:40. | |
were concerned about the visual impact of the turbines as seen from | :11:40. | :11:45. | |
the land. But they were concerned about the potential impact on birds, | :11:45. | :11:53. | |
and marine mammals and the effects on local tourism. We're that visual | :11:53. | :11:58. | |
impact a -- is a concern and we're reviewing our plans to see whether | :11:58. | :12:06. | |
we can make any changes to reduce the impact of the project. Many | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
environmentalists see benefits in offshore wind farms, but they have | :12:10. | :12:14. | |
concerns. We're into the idea of renewable energy and wind farms, | :12:14. | :12:17. | |
but they have to be put in the right place. At the moment we | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
cannot say whether this is in the right place, because we don't have | :12:21. | :12:26. | |
the data or the evidence to say this is the right place or not the | :12:26. | :12:30. | |
right place. Some question the effectiveness of wind energy, but | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
the company says we must develop alternatives. I'm concerned about | :12:36. | :12:41. | |
being reliant on sources of fos Silverstone fuel and Russian gas | :12:41. | :12:49. | |
and from -- fos il fuel and Russian gas and the idea of making use of | :12:49. | :12:52. | |
our resources make sense. Whatever the results of consultation, | :12:53. | :12:58. | |
developing a wind farm here won't be easy. Deep waters will challenge | :12:58. | :13:08. | |
:13:08. | :13:11. | ||
Coming up: A few from the High Street as we follow the fortunes of | :13:11. | :13:17. | |
one Devon town. The deployment of staff -- south-west troops in | :13:17. | :13:27. | |
:13:27. | :13:29. | ||
Afghanistan seen from a different It is not just today's statistics | :13:29. | :13:33. | |
about growth that give us an idea about how the economy is doing. | :13:33. | :13:41. | |
Through the year, we will track the fortunes of one street in Devon. | :13:41. | :13:45. | |
Spotlight's Andrew Ormesby has been to Bampton in the first of a hint | :13:45. | :13:51. | |
series of reports. Steeped in history, the small rural | :13:51. | :13:56. | |
town of Banton lies on the edge of the moors. Surrounded by large | :13:56. | :14:01. | |
shopping centres on every side, old Bampton really should be vulnerable. | :14:01. | :14:09. | |
In reality, it thrives. This is bustling Bampton with honesty boxes | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
in the car-park and customer loyalty strong enough to see most | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
businesses through these tough times. Broad Street lies at its | :14:17. | :14:26. | |
heart and has about every shop you could need -- Brook Street. We have | :14:26. | :14:31. | |
a couple of little stores that provide all the items we need. | :14:31. | :14:39. | |
Budget took over the business a year-and-a-half ago. | :14:39. | :14:45. | |
We are local farmers about three miles away and we decided it was | :14:45. | :14:50. | |
the next logical step to get close to our customers. January and | :14:50. | :14:58. | |
February are quiet and John have some concerns of -- concerns | :14:58. | :15:03. | |
regarding how to compete. Some costs have gone up a lot. Things | :15:03. | :15:10. | |
like the cost of pastry because of the wheat price and the cost of | :15:10. | :15:15. | |
fuel for deliveries. Some things have gone up out of our control. | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
Waste disposal is a rising cost through having to pay for the | :15:20. | :15:26. | |
disposal of bones and waste. employs four members of staff who | :15:26. | :15:34. | |
turnover around up to �5,000 a week, although more at Christmas and | :15:34. | :15:40. | |
Easter. As long as we watch our costs and look after our customers | :15:40. | :15:46. | |
they will hope leaky coming in week after week. Lunchtime over the road | :15:46. | :15:55. | |
at the bistro. This is the owner's first business and very different | :15:55. | :16:01. | |
from their last job -- as they were both police officers in London. It | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
has not been easy. We have made some major changes to how we will | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
run up business for 2012. To make the business viable, they have kept | :16:14. | :16:19. | |
staff costs to the minimum. But that has taken its toll and two | :16:19. | :16:25. | |
years ago they decided to sell up. In these difficult economic times, | :16:25. | :16:30. | |
there have been no buyers and now Katrina and Julia have decided to | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
stay but to make some changes to help their work and life balance. | :16:35. | :16:41. | |
We are concentrating on keeping the daytime business the same as it has | :16:41. | :16:45. | |
been for four and a half years. We do cough these, lunches and | :16:45. | :16:50. | |
afternoon teas. In the evening, we were doing every weekend evening | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
meals but we have adapted that. Despite taking over as the economy | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
lurched into trouble, the business here is excess all. The secret is | :17:01. | :17:07. | |
to give good service and good food. Our turnover has gone up very | :17:07. | :17:12. | |
steadily most two years, even when we reduced the hours. We hope that | :17:12. | :17:18. | |
will continue. To help, they are planning to diversify, making more | :17:18. | :17:23. | |
use of space upstairs. Businesses in Bampton say that they are | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
bucking the High Street End, by and large. One reason they give is easy | :17:28. | :17:37. | |
parking with no yellow lines, no metres and no double parking. | :17:37. | :17:40. | |
And we'll be back in Bampton throughout this year, following the | :17:40. | :17:44. | |
fortunes of the Butcher, the bistro and Brook Street as a whole. | :17:44. | :17:47. | |
It's hoped an exhibition of paintings and pictures in Plymouth | :17:47. | :17:50. | |
will raise thousands of pounds to help troops and families affected | :17:50. | :17:53. | |
by the conflict in Afghanistan. The artwork, which documents 3 Commando | :17:53. | :17:56. | |
Brigade's six-month tour of duty last year, is about to go on public | :17:56. | :18:05. | |
display. Spotlight's Simon Painting a picture of life in a | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
war-zone, Devon artist Andrew Millar has drawn on his experience | :18:09. | :18:14. | |
in Afghanistan to give a glimpse of military life on the front line. He | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
spent weeks documenting the lives of men and women of 3 Commando | :18:20. | :18:24. | |
Brigade on their recent tour of Helmand province. It is a great | :18:24. | :18:30. | |
honour to be asked to do this. Very few people get to see what goes on | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
out there so I guess I have been fortunate to have a close look at | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
what Marines do when they go to work. Andrew Miller's work is | :18:40. | :18:45. | |
included in an exhibition which features revealing images captured | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
by the brigades photographers and journalists. It tells the story of | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
bravery, courage and determination in the face of adversity often. | :18:53. | :18:59. | |
Troops from the Brigade which has its headquarters in Plymouth served | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
from April to October last year. Over 20 soldiers lost their lives | :19:03. | :19:08. | |
and many of the images have not been seen before. Emotion is a | :19:08. | :19:16. | |
difficult thing to capture on film. Certainly in still photography but | :19:16. | :19:21. | |
if the events are severe enough or whatever has led up to that point, | :19:21. | :19:26. | |
people's facial expressions and there trainee nurse or the | :19:26. | :19:35. | |
condition of that - might they kicked builds the emotion. This | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
gives a powerful account of military life and it is hoped the | :19:39. | :19:44. | |
images will give a greater understanding of what British | :19:44. | :19:53. | |
Youngsters at nine schools implement have been learning some | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
new moves this term. A project run by Plymouth dance has helped | :19:59. | :20:09. | |
:20:09. | :20:12. | ||
children boost their confidence and Learning through dance. 20 minute | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
classes, moving to music, apparently can help them improve | :20:16. | :20:22. | |
all kinds of skill levels from communication took maths. Every | :20:22. | :20:26. | |
child likes to bop around with a brush pretending they are a pop | :20:26. | :20:33. | |
star. Their self-esteem and self- awareness raises so they are not | :20:33. | :20:38. | |
that shy a child in the corner. Suddenly, they can say that they | :20:38. | :20:44. | |
can stand on stage with able-bodied kids and do the same thing. They | :20:44. | :20:50. | |
have been granted �300,000 by the Lottery to use on their project. In | :20:50. | :20:54. | |
their three years, the University of Plymouth is studying the effects | :20:54. | :20:59. | |
the dance classes have one children. The children all want to come to | :20:59. | :21:06. | |
dance, they enjoy it. It is a way of playing without conflict, they | :21:06. | :21:09. | |
have exercise which is an Sport and we have seen an improvement in | :21:09. | :21:14. | |
their behaviour because they want to come to dance so they need to | :21:14. | :21:21. | |
earn it to come here. What is your favourite thing? The skateboarding | :21:21. | :21:28. | |
way you jump side to star I'd like you Ronnie real skateboard. | :21:28. | :21:35. | |
rope. You can do all different dances. Having fun. The dance | :21:35. | :21:41. | |
Worksop is now a popular class in nine schools in Plymouth and the | :21:41. | :21:49. | |
outcome of the research will be In sport, Torquay United continued | :21:49. | :21:52. | |
their impressive form last night with another win, this time against | :21:52. | :21:55. | |
Dagenham and Redbridge. And Plymouth Argyle have appointed a | :21:55. | :21:59. | |
Director of Football at Home Park. Spotlight's Dave Gibbins has all | :21:59. | :22:09. | |
:22:09. | :22:10. | ||
Torquay United are going great guns. The 9th goal of the season was | :22:10. | :22:16. | |
enough to ward off a stubborn Daborn and -- Dagenham and rate | :22:16. | :22:26. | |
:22:26. | :22:27. | ||
breach at Plainmoor. It was their We put ourselves in a position | :22:27. | :22:33. | |
where with one more win we are safe from relegation. Obviously that has | :22:33. | :22:40. | |
changed but if we keep winning we will be talked about. 54 year-old | :22:40. | :22:44. | |
John Deehan has been appointed as director of football at Home Park. | :22:44. | :22:50. | |
He was successful with Norwich City as a manager and as a player. He is | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
in their hall of fame which recognises his goalscoring record. | :22:57. | :23:03. | |
He will work alongside pilgrims boss, cull Fletcher. He deals with | :23:04. | :23:08. | |
play it transfers in and out and negotiates the finer points of | :23:08. | :23:17. | |
their contract. The director of football at Es -- Exeter City and | :23:17. | :23:27. | |
:23:27. | :23:34. | ||
Now let us see what the weather has Good evening. If you have not yet | :23:34. | :23:38. | |
used your winter coat, you will have to dig it out this evening. | :23:38. | :23:42. | |
There will be a drop in temperatures which have been | :23:42. | :23:47. | |
relatively mild so far this week. Wet and windy weather around this | :23:47. | :23:54. | |
evening. Temperatures will be down to three degrees Celsius by the | :23:54. | :24:02. | |
morning. The stripe of cloud across Ireland is a main bearing clout. | :24:02. | :24:08. | |
For a couple of hours tonight, there will be an angry and heavy | :24:08. | :24:13. | |
band of rain with strong winds. They will they're westerly and | :24:13. | :24:22. | |
tomorrow we have a mix of sunshine and blustery showers. Wintry | :24:22. | :24:28. | |
flurries over the tops of the mauls. Less breezy on Friday but the risk | :24:28. | :24:35. | |
of showers and still cold. The brighter colours approaching | :24:35. | :24:41. | |
Ireland is the rain Bank. Ahead of that, splashes of rain or drizzle | :24:41. | :24:51. | |
:24:51. | :24:54. | ||
and earlier today, our cameraman was down on the Exe estuary. The | :24:54. | :24:59. | |
avocets have been enjoying peaceful conditions on the estuary. That is | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
all has been off and on throughout the day right across the south-west | :25:04. | :25:14. | |
:25:14. | :25:20. | ||
and low cloud is causing some problems with mist and fog. Tonight, | :25:20. | :25:27. | |
a heavy rain crosses as tonight and behind that we will see Calder air. | :25:27. | :25:37. | |
:25:37. | :25:43. | ||
Slightly milder around the coastline. Tomorrow promises some | :25:43. | :25:47. | |
sunshine and better visibility. At the same time, you will need to | :25:47. | :25:55. | |
wrap up warm. One or two of the showers above 1200 ft will fall as | :25:55. | :26:04. | |
sleet or snow. Between the showers, all of us will see some sunshine. | :26:04. | :26:14. | |
:26:14. | :26:20. | ||
Not very warm in a brisk westerly Quite a breezy day for the Isles of | :26:20. | :26:30. | |
:26:30. | :27:07. | ||
Scilly. Much improved visibility Friday will see a frosty start and | :27:07. | :27:16. | |
a few passing showers on Saturday. They get loud arriving and patchy | :27:16. | :27:24. | |
rain. The best of any brightness in the east. We haven't got any idea | :27:24. | :27:34. | |
:27:34. | :27:35. |