25/04/2014 Spotlight

firepowep an military dxercisds That is all from the BBC News

Half the size she was. But hs surgery the way to deal with

obesity? The hardest one is not drinking 30 minutes before or after

a meal. But it is all worth it because it gives you back your life.

Good evening. Welcome to Spotlight. The number of people having

operations in the South West is soaring. We'll ask a professional

body if the money couldn't be better spent.

Also tonight: Getting rid of the rats to save rare sea birds. Poison

is being put down on the Isles of Scilly to stop the predators eating

eggs and chicks. And go girls! Plymouth's divers

secure silver in the World Series. Good evening. Surgery is only meant

to be considered in the most extreme cases of obesity. But there's been a

big jump in the number of operations being carried out on the NHS in the

South West. In Cornwall the figure has risen by 40%. In the last five

years in Devon an estimated ?9 million has been spent giving 8 0

people a gastric band. So is that a good use of public money? Wd'll

examine the wider issues in moment but first Jenny Kumah has this

report. Do you see the difference in the

skirt? When this woman weighed 0 stone she rarely left the house and

her husband became her main carer. He would come in and wash md, we

have got a wet room, dress le, help me in and out of bed, out of the

chair. Even personal things like the toilet. She had a gastric bxpass

seven years ago because she and her doctors felt it was the onlx way she

could successfully lose weight. The operation means she cannot dat very

much because the size of her stomach has been reduced. You have got to

retrain yourself on eating smaller portions, not drinking with meals,

the hardest one is not drinking 30 minutes before or after your meal.

But it is all worth it becatse it gives you back your life. The NHS

has faced criticism for offdring this operation. It says surgery as a

last resort and patients ard carefully selected. In Devon the NHS

has spent around ?9 million on weight loss surgery since 2009. This

man used to weigh 33 stone. Before he had a gastric bypass. I `m

feeling the benefits of it. I have not got any other problems xou have

associated with being overwdight, such as asthma, so in the long run

that is going to save money. A new ?300,000 service to tackle obesity

has started in Devon, meaning some people will be able to get free

membership for a gym or comlercial swill `` slimming programme.

So do more people need the operation or are doctors really making it a

last resort. I spoke to Tam Fry form the National Obesity Forum ` little

earlier. It means both. There are certainly more people getting fatter

and fatter. But also the local authorities in your area understand

that surgery is a cost`effective operation and you're going to get

more of them done. I thought it was meant to be a last resort? Ht is and

should be a last resort. Solebody wanting the surgery should have a

degree of weight loss managdment before that. The problem with that

is that they are already grossly fat and they will therefore find losing

weight very difficult. Some people might look at this and think, this

is solvable in that way, and money could be better spent on drtgs for

other conditions? That is what some people think, and they would be

right, but life is not alwaxs like that. If you are very overwdight, it

is extremely difficult to exercise. Therefore the whole process of

losing weight becomes very slow and laboratory is. In the end a short,

sharp shock might be a bettdr answer. It was recommended by the

National Institute of clinical excellence that it should bd the

last resort. The whole country is being treated much more effdctively

as a second resort. So it is more cost`effective? It is, if you bring

fat people down to a standard size, they will not require treatlent for

other diseases resulting from being overweight, such as diabetes,

cancer, kidney problems. In the long run, the surgery saves the NHS a lot

of money. Thank you very much. UKIP has today defended a sdnior

party official from Devon who made controversial remarks about Muslims

and women in the workplace. Yesterday the party dropped one of

its election candidates for unacceptable comments. Our political

editor Martyn Oates is with me now to tell us more.

What did he actually say about Muslims? He was quoted in a

newspaper offering any Muslhms who might be reading what he called a

potential moneyspinner. In other words, saying that they could marry

more than one wife in countries where that is legal, then bring

those waves to the UK to benefit from the welfare state. The party

has said he was simply raishng a legitimate issue for debate about

the way men with multiple whves interact. Have you spoken to him

today? No. I went down to UKIP's headquarters, at he was app`rently

too busy. He did, the receptionist, give me a copy of his new book. It

is a collection of newspaper columns he previously wrote. Another one of

these has created controversy today. He quotes another writer describing

Greeks as vile on the basis that when they are on the road they go

out of their way to run over dogs. He was quoting somebody elsd, but he

goes on to say, there is botnd to be some generalisation here. Hd

contrasts that with the response of the average British motorist to for

instance, a family of ducks, they create a two mile tailback. He also

quotes from a letter he recdived at UKIP headquarters from a pensioner.

Parliament is his enemy for requiring to pay for food, clothing

and keeping foreign invaders away. Thank you.

"It's turned our lives upside down," the words of one of the manx tenants

who have been told to move out of their homes in Somerset. Thd Crown

Estate, which runs propertids and land across the country for the

Treasury, plans to sell 45 homes. As Paul Barltrop reports tenants are

being offered the chance to buy But many say it's beyond their leans.

After all these years, I do not want to be anywhere else. Ruth Khng has

lived in her cottage for 15 years. She and her family got a shock when

they received a letter from their landlord, the Crown Estate. By the

end of August, it seems certain they would be forced out. Awful, turned

our lives upside down. Could not get to sleep, woke up in the morning

crying. The thought of having to move, having been here for so long,

it is devastating. We would never find anywhere like this. Her

neighbour has not had a letter yet. But neither can afford to bty. The

properties are being offered at market rates. The homes are part of

the Crown Estate, which owns 40 0 hectares of land in Somerset. Each

year, it brings in the government a quarter of ?1 billion. The Crown

Estate say they are sympathdtic but the law dictates they must operate

on a commercial basis. All of the tenants involved in this process

have the opportunity either to buy their homes, and quite a nulber have

shown interest, or have extdnded periods of up to six months to

enable them to find another place to live. If there are particul`r areas

of concern, we are dealing with all of these cases on a face`to`face

basis, individually, to makd sure we can be as flexible as possible. Ruth

is looking, but finding a home but can take her, her husband, children

and chickens, is going to bd daunting.

The Royal Navy is withdrawing the Devonport based submarine from the

search for the missing Malaxsia Airlines flight MH370. HMS Tireless

used specialist sonar equiplent to try and locate the plane's black

box. But it was stood down `fter the Australian command announced there

was "no prospect" of detecthng further "pings" from the box.

Conditions at Dartmoor Prison have seen some improvements but lore

still needs to be done. That's according to a report today from the

Chief Inspector of Prisons which says the jail is difficult to run

due to its age, location and the state of some of its buildings.

However, despite uncertaintx over its future, staff and managdrs say

they remain committed to improving it further.

Later in the programme we whll be revisiting some new recruits. Which

of the police puppies made the grade? Find out. And food, glorious

food. The region's finest at the Exeter Festival.

The RSPB says the eradication of rats on part of the Isles of Scilly

will help rare species of sda birds recover after years of declhne.

Poison has been used to remove the birds' main predator which had been

eating their eggs and chicks. Our Environment Correspondent Adrian

Campbell has the details. The Isles of Scilly have bedn chosen

as an ideal location for a bold experiment to help bring back sea

birds, which have seen a dr`matic fall in numbers in recent ydars the

cars of the brown rat. Now the rats have been removed in a

community`based programme on two Islands. For the first time, these

birds will return to the islands. They will not have these rats coming

in and eating their chicks. We do expect to see an increase in the

first year. This is a long`term project, we need to keep monitoring

the island, and this is the first step. Special traps have bedn used

to remove the rats, and effort are still being made by a team of

volunteers with distinctive orange hats. They use traps to check for

any stray rats which managed to swim ashore from nearby islands. Removing

the rats raising an epic `` is raising an ethical problem, some

argue, but many disagree. The storm petrol, this is the only pl`ce it

breeds in England, these ard incredibly special places for these

birds. The rats were accidentally introduced, and ethically it is a

challenge for the RSPB and partners to make these decisions, but we need

to in order to safeguard and protect important sea birds. A programme

using poison to eradicate B`rak rats `` black rats, has helped on another

island. They are hoping for similar results on the Isles of Scilly.

He produced some of the most remarkable footage seen herd on the

BBC in the South West. Denis Jory, who's died at the age of 84, fought

hard for the pictures he got and won huge praise for the films hd

delivered. During his career he captured enduring images of

disasters at sea was even nominated for a BAFTA. Eleanor Parkinson who

worked with him for many ye`rs looks back.

When storm conditions turned the 1979 race into the UK's worst

yachting disaster, 18 peopld died. Only one cameraman was therd, his

dramatic pictures were shown in more than 50 countries. It was the first

film to be nominated for a BAFTA from a news programme. The cameraman

was Denis Jory, who had spent three days flying with the Navy hdlicopter

to get the exclusive footagd. He even helped to try and resuscitating

one of the casualties. I had never seen anything like it. The sea was

in all directions. We filmed it in a lifeboat which was being pushed from

one spot to the other. You can see it. It was trying to go frol a to

B. Six years on, another yacht race, and the singer of July and the

run's yacht was upturned. Ddnis Jory was there again and filmed the crew

clinging to the wreckage. Hd captured vivid images along the

coast of Cornwall, including another disaster and the search for

schoolboys swept off lands dnd in 1985. He was also there when an RAF

plane crashed between two houses. The pilot managed to reject safely

into the sea. While filming the rescues, Denis Jory forged strong

links with rescue teams, clocking up as many flying hours as the crew.

His family said filming was his hobby and his work, and he was

fortunate enough to be accl`imed for the work he loved.

Time for the sport now and ht's another crucial weekend for Torquay

United and Exeter City in their efforts to stay in League Two.

Dave's been to St James Park today for a round up of all the action.

Exeter and Torquay plan to take their escape missions to thd final

day of the football season next weekend. That's if they both win

tomorrow. Here at St James Park City have the formidable task of

ending Scunthorpe United's 28`match unbeaten run. If the Lincolnshire

side win, they'll be promotdd, possibly as champions. Exetdr are

only two points above the rdlegation spots and have lost 11 times at

home. For Torquay, they've simply got to win at Mansfield to keep

alive their bid to stay up. Anything less and it'll be non`leagud

football for them. It is very easy to talk about it, you don't realise

what it entails. What it dods also entail is a great level of

excitement, that is what I have gotten my body still. Others are in

worse positions than us. A lot of teams are feeling very nervous. We

will keep our nerve, be sensible, we won't panic.

Yeovil Town's relegation back to League One will be confirmed tonight

if they fail to win at Brighton And Plymouth Argyle look to round off

their season at Home Park whth a win against Hartlepool tomorrow.

It's the third of the World Diving Series this weekend with

Plymouthians Tom Daley, Sar`h Barrow and Tonia Couch all hoping to make

their mark at the London Aqtatic Centre. As Brent Pilnick reports,

Barrow and Couch were aiming for gold in today's 10m synchronised

event. There was a silver lining to the

Plymouth jewel's first return to the London Aquatic Centre since the

Olympics. Tonia Couch and S`rah Barrow got their first World Series

medals for 2014, coming in 06 points behind the Chinese pair. It brought

back memories. It brings back everything from London 2012, the

World Cup and the Olympic ahms. We are thoroughly please `` Olxmpic

Games. We are thoroughly pldased. It came together today, we havd been

training really well. It makes the whole difference. There could be

more Plymouth medals to comd, Tom Daley looks for ten metre individual

gold. Exeter boxer Freddy Kiwitt `ims to

maintain his fine start to his professional career with a third

straight win tomorrow night. After a first round knockout in his previous

fight, Kiwitt takes that form to Gloucester and a light middleweight

contest against Dee Mitchell from Birmingham.

Finally, we will be following Yeovil Town against Brighton tonight. And

BBC Radio Devon will be across all of the Devon teams from thrde

o'clock. Dozens of the South West's food and

drink producers are hoping to drum up new business at one of the

region's main festivals this weekend. It's ten years since the

first Exeter Festival was staged. Spotlight's Hamish Marshall has been

looking at how it has helped some businesses establish themselves and

is now giving others a helphng hand. That is very hot. From a kitchen

table business to the marketplace. Malcolm Reilly is trying to sell his

jams, radishes and ketchups that `` relishes and ketchups. It is an

opportunity where you can gdt a fair amount for the products you produce.

There is a lot of time and dffort that goes into it. Malcolm, and this

popcorn maker, has had the chance to come to this event thanks to an

initiative encouraging new producers. We attended some sessions

about marketing their product, so that they can come in and h`ve an

experience like this. Hopeftlly that will encourage them to come back as

they and we grow. It seems to be doing just that, with large crowds

on Day one, traditionally the quietest of the three days. We like

to have a taste of local produce, a glass of wine and a good tile. My

daughter`in`law brought me here a valiant attempt to persuade me that

Devon is the new Yorks. Victoria Cranfield would beg to diffdr. It is

a fabulous showcase of everxthing Devon. It is the place to come.

There seems to be a serious appetite for local food and drink.

We will be there on BBC Radho Devon sampling the produce from 10am.

If you're a regular viewer of Spotlight you'll know we've been

following the progress of the first puppies bred by Devon and Cornwall

Police. At ten months old the little bundles of joy are now big brutes!

Well, they've just had their final assessment to see if they'rd good

enough to start proper police dog training. Spotlight's Andre` Ormsby

has the latest. They are called the A letter. This

is what they look like now hn just ten months. It is crunch tile for

the puppies. They are being assessed to see if they have got what it

takes to go on the proper police dog training. Father figure and no

Paul will make the final decision. I Paul will make the final decision. I

think she enjoyed that. Tracking is a police dog's main work, so it is a

crucial test. Ten out of ten. Come on! And they have all sorts of

surprises to deal with over the three`day assessment.

So how have they done? Will all seven of them make it through? Out

of the three boys, two of them were absolutely outstanding. With the

other one, he passed all of the assessments, but he is not really

bold enough to be a police dog. It would not be fair to ask hil to go

into high`pressure situations. All of the four girls passed thdir

assessments with flying colours The only problem is that one of the

girls, we do not think she hs going to be big enough to have thd stature

to be a police dog. It is qtite frustrating for us because she has

been so good at everything dlse When we visit them from the

breeders, I normally get thd pick of the selection. There is probably to

Mac or three out of the sevdn that will make police dogs on avdrage. To

get five of them, we are absolutely delighted. These dogs have `lready

been taken off their puppy walkers. I am absolutely delighted. We want

to get the puppies to this stage. We are not dog trainers, we just walk

them, we do our best to givd them a good start in life. For thel to go

on and corporate training the police will give them. The dogs will now

start an intensive 12 week training course. The other three will start

in December. Well done to them. Time for the

weather forecast. Raining c`ts and dogs?

Possibly. Make sure you do not step in a poodle. I will ignore that We

have got wet weather heading towards us. Already approaching the Isles of

Scilly. This weekend will bd unsettled, quite windy at thmes

with rain and showers. Sund`y is slightly better perhaps. Thhs cloud

is heading our way, bearing rein. For a short while later on tonight,

we will have cost of wind bdtween 40 and 50 mph. Unpleasant weather,

moving quite fast, though. Left with that low pressure for much of the

day tomorrow. It is not a particularly good day. Quitd cloudy

and breezy with frequent showers. On Sunday, the low pressure is

beginning to move away from us, but not quick enough. Again at risk of

seeing showers. Then, you gtessed it, on Monday, it is fine and dry.

By Tuesday, more cloud and patchy rain is approaching. From e`rlier

today, we had a shield of clouds travelling through Dorset and

Somerset. The wet weather is already approaching the far west of

Cornwall. Between the two, we have had good weather. A gentle breeze,

enough for the sailors to enjoy People are out and about enjoying

springlike weather today. Temperatures up to 14, 15 ddgrees.

Sadly, it will not last. Make the most of these shots of the blue sky.

We will not see much of that tomorrow and into Sunday. Ldt's show

you the detail on that rain, it comes in a fairly fast tonight,

moving right across us. Behhnd the rain, there will be a clear`nce

Fresher conditions, a few showers possibly, but by the end of the

night it should be largely dry. Not cold either, brightest mornhng with

some showers. The showers bdcome heavier as the day wears on.

Blustery winds, heavy showers, not very warm either, top temperature

around 12 or 13 degrees. For the Isles of Scilly, persistent rain at

times. Much stronger winds `cross the islands, 40 to 50 mph. @

blustery day. High water, at Penzance, 304 and 1537. For surfers,

big wins and waves, no beach has any usable or clean surf. It will

eventually become cyclonic. Sunday will be the best of the two days.

Thank you. Just before we go we d like to tell you about the BBC Local

Radio Apprenticeship Scheme which is giving people a chance to ldarn

about the industry while thdy earn. From September there will bd a job

at each of our local radio stations in the South West, and tomorrow BBC

Radio Devon is running workshops at Drake Circus Shopping Centrd in

Plymouth so people can find out more about the scheme and meet some of

the staff. You can just turn up on the day or to book

at the European elections on May the 22nd.

even though that would wreck the recovery and destroy jobs.

The Conservatives are now openly flirting with exit.

they just don't have the courage of their convictions on this.

They wouldn't lift a finger to help keep Britain in the EU

So, I'm asking you to vote for the Liberal Democrats, the party of in.

In for the sake of British prosperity and jobs

I'm in because we set the global standards

95% of everything we use, we eat, we heat ourselves in,