22/08/2014 Spotlight

Today a car which careered into the water at Slapton Ldy,

just one bank. Nothing metallic no screeching, no nothing.

The largest natural lake in the South West was the scene of

Today divers have been searching the area close to

the sea to ensure no`one else was thrown clear of the vehicle.

A huge rise in foreign tourhsts coming to the South West.

Plymouth and Cornwall are the favoured destinations

And golden girl, Sarah Barrow makes history as she wins

A 38`year`old man has died despite a large rescue oper`tion

at a nature reserve in South Devon where his car left the road

Police say the driver was treated by paramedics at the scene

in Slapton Ley but pronouncdd dead a short time later.

Just how did this car end up in the water here at Slapton Ley? Ht

happened at around midnight. There was shock and disbelief frol locals

and holiday`makers. I had jtst gone to bed and I am a bit deaf `nyway so

I do not hear things clearlx. I just heard a bang, nothing metallic, no

noise, no screeching and no nothing. That was it. A hell of a

shock for anyone. At that point I did not know who but then I heard a

guy had been made in the car and he had been taken out that was all I

knew and then this morning we found out that he had died. We do not know

exactly what happened but it looked as though the car came across the

road and through these posts that are ripped up and scattered here and

it went right across the gr`ssland and ended up in the lake ovdr there.

There are no obvious kart track marks across the grassland so people

think maybe the castle must all to do all the way across into the lake.

During the morning police dhvers arrived to scour the area. We have

been called to recover the vehicle that was involved in the incident

last night and we must search the area to ensure no one was thrown

clear of the vehicle and we are diving in the area where thd vehicle

landed. How long will it take? It is hard to say how big an area we will

do but we will be here for `bout four hours. The driver was treated

by paramedics but pronounced dead at the scene. Next of kin are being

informed but no formal identification has been takdn place.

From what we know he is a local man in his 30s who lives in the area and

from what we know from our hnitial investigations, he has returned from

overseas to visit a local f`mily in the area. The road was closdd all

night. It reopened at 7:30al. At lunch time the silver BMW w`s

carefully winched away. Divdrs confirmed to me later that there was

only one man in the car and nobody else was found. An enquiry hs

ongoing to establish the catse of the crash.

Meanwhile two air ambulances were called to a serious collision

The accident happened on thd A3 1 at Knowstone, near South Molton

Diversions were put in placd and there were huge tailbacks.

Move over London, overseas tourist numbers in the South West are

Latest figures show that our region is the most popular

in the whole of the UK and Plymouth one of the most visited cithes.

With beautiful coastline, stunning more land and many historic

landmarks it is no secret to us that the South West is the best place in

the UK. Now it seems more and more visitors from abroad are cottoning

on with local businesses seding real benefit. We have had a lot of

German, Dutch, French coming in as well. We have coach parties of

Americans, Australians. Tourists from overseas have increased by 48%,

the highest of any region in Britain including London which only managed

a 26% increase. We have moddrn buildings and also older buhldings

and we will go to wear France's break `` Francis dreck rele`sed the

Armada and we may have a crtise across the harbour. `` Francis

Drake. There are buildings that are really old and beautiful and Hegazy

also the old buildings in bdtween the new ones and they have done it

well here. I have this imprdssion. According to these figures from

visit Britain Plymouth was the most popular destination in the

south`west, second only to Bath We have more green space here hn

Plymouth than many other cities in Britain so we try to use th`t for

the community and we are making the boast of our assets and you do not

get better view than looking across Plymouth Hoe to the sound of

Plymouth. The south`west region is most popular with the German

tourists who have a particular love for Cornwall thanks to exports such

as novels that are based in the current `` Co. The Mayflower is

popular for Americans who are tracing their forefathers who left

for the new well but they are not the biggest spenders. They `re the

Russians and the Saudi Arabhans a small but growing number of welcome

tourists. The weather may bd threatening to abandon us btt the

overseas visitors are certahnly not. Healthcare services in Cornwall

should be merged to revoluthonise care,

the chief executive of the Royal Lezli Boswell has written to staff,

saying the existing arrangement between the

Trust and two health bodies was not Cornwall Council says it will be

looking into how the propos`l Cornwall Council has termin`ted its

contract with Western Greyhound for The authority says it carridd out

a review after complaints The service has been put out

to tender and a replacement Today saw the start

of the annual Dawlish Air Show. Tens of thousands

of people are expected in Various aircraft including the

Red Arrows, the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and an

Avro Lancaster from Canada will fly It's a question which has bden

raised for years, should yot give money to beggars on the strdet? Many

campaigns have been run by authorities and charities to try to

encourage people to fund support services instead. Exeter City

Council says it's managing to reduce the numbers out at night but hopes

to go further still. Here's John here because traditionally Dxeter

has a problem with beggars. I have had people contact me who s`y they

have been really upset with the behaviour of some of the beggars and

they have told us they would not come back to Exeter because of that

behaviour and that is not acceptable. Since the campahgn

started the number of beggars measured on the streets in the

evening has fallen from sevdn down to five but critics say that is more

to do with the police and the spray paint. Is this justified? This is

not a significant drop in the evenings but the real difference was

when people were out and about in the high Street during the day

aggressively begging outsidd shops and

coast, professional divers dmbark on their mission. They uncoverdd stork

jellyfish, and important spdcies that may need increased protection

under never been recorded along this coast before. Squat lobsters were

found hiding in crevices, and lobster here long clawed. Starfish

also occupy the sea. See hares, described as exotic looking marine

molluscs. It has taken thred decades to study these creatures. Previous

challenges were aborted due to poor visibility. Things have not been a

lot better on these diets whth visibility down to 1.5 metrds and

strong currents. Well worth it for the team involved. We did not really

know what we would find down there and we had a suspicion we would end

up falling onto a muddy plane and have a limited number of crdatures.

The sheer diversity of over 70 species that we found and wdre able

to identify is really quite fascinating. Many sponge spdcies

were found on the mission. They are important components of marhne

habitats and take on various shapes and colours and attach themselves to

rock. Somerset Wildlife Trust say despite the difficulties thd study

proves that there is a fant`stically diverse marine environment of the

coast and it has been somewhat under appreciated in the past.

To the sport now, and huge congratulations to Plymouth's Sarah

Barrow who has won gold in the ten metres platform `t the

The 25`year`old recorded a personal best score of 363.7

She's the first British Wom`n to medal at the European Champhonships

She is the first ever British woman to win gold. I am so happy. It is my

last competition and I have had a lot of injuries and I am very happy

to finish the season on a good high and I will have a good break and

come back next year. Andy B`nks is now staying in Britain, in Plymouth,

what was your reaction? That is good news. I heard that yesterdax which

is quite positive. This half of the year has been quite difficult not

knowing where we stand and to hear the good news is put me in ` good

frame of mind today. Really well done to Sarah paying tributd there

to Andy Banks who is with us with good news of his own. What `n

achievement! I am absolutelx over the moon. It has never been done

before and she went out there and she had had tough year with a leg

problem that has been on and off and we did not even know if she would

make the Europeans but to go out there and get a personal best and

beat of the best drive Ashmdad divers in the world and to come away

the gold medal is just brilliant. She is delighted to hear yot are

staying in Plymouth and you must be as well. Absolutely. Last wdek I

went out to Canada for a fact`finding mission and looking at

places to live and there has been a heart`wrenching scenario in the last

few months because it looked as though I was not going to bd able to

stay and then all of a sudddn the Plymouth Quartet, as I call them,

the pool and the council and Plymouth College got togethdr to say

they could put some together and asked if I would be interested and

if you can then of course I would. It must have been very diffhcult for

you not knowing. Obsolete ldave I had to sit down with the girls a few

years ago `` weeks ago `` absolutely, I had to sit down with

the girls a few weeks ago and let them hear it from me and thdre were

tears all around. This has come a little bit out of the blue. Of

course they have come up with a great package that means I can stay

in Plymouth and we are now focusing and ready to go for Rio. Can you

stay long term or is it just until we are? Be funding packages until

March 2017 when we will find out what happens to every sport after

the Olympics. The sport has to do well in order for us to continue

carrying on as we have. Synchronised swimming and water Polo had complete

cut so it has been very difficult for them and obviously diving needs

to keep itself doing well on the international stage. This rdsult

today is great for us. Therd was a petition to keep you in Plylouth so

you are popular chat? I heard all sorts was going on particul`rly when

I was out there because I w`s in touch with home. People havd been

coming up to me in the stredt and they have said they hope solething

would work`out and that has been really nice. Diving is well`known in

Plymouth and people follow the divers and they like to know what is

going on and they follow thd successes and it is great that this

has come back together and H am to stay. Would you have been as happy

in Canada? It was a really good fact `` that it was a Rudiger package and

they really pushed the boat and they were making it as attractivd as

possible so it would have bden a really good thing but at thhs stage

in the four`year cycle leadhng to Rio I didn't want to leave the

girls. Sarah was 12 when I first started coaching and it is ` long

time with a lot of emotion `nd development and growth so to turn my

back on that almost was not very nice. I now do not have to do that

and I am here to stay for the foreseeable future and the plan is

to see what we can do. It is good to have you here and we are gl`d that

it has all worked out so well. Dave Gibbins has been to a big golf

tournament at St Mellion in Cornwall which heralds a new lease

of life for the Cornish vente. You make it we are in America at one

of the top courses in America but this is the St Mellion International

resort and one of the presthgious holes, the fifth, they are staging

the professional golf Assochation championship today we will hear a

lot more about it a little. First the swimming champion and Tom Daley

are both targeting gold in Berlin. Ruta Meilutyte will completd a grand

slam of ten medals in the top ranking competitions if she wins the

breast wrote final on Sundax. Tom Daley is also aiming for gold in the

platform individual tomorrow. He failed to win a medal in thd ten

metre synchro on Wednesday. We have now moved onto the seventh hole here

and two of the players behind me will be talking to us in just a few

moments and they are both from the south`west. Meanwhile the football

and Yeovil Town seek back`to`back wins in League 1. They face

Scunthorpe United. The Somerset Greens are in the mood to rdpeat

their midweek result. Argyll need to be on top form if they are to come

away from barrier with any reward as the hosts are fancied to do well

this season. Graham Cummings makes his home debut against York for

Exeter City and he hopes to score his first goal. Chris Hargrdaves is

planning his first away goal. The radio stations will be across all of

the Games. We are still at the seventh at St Mellion and as you can

see the fairways have been designed deliberately tight by a golfing

legend, Jack Nicklaus, just the way he prepared to play his golf. ``

preferred. It was constructdd back in 1987 and this causes the jewel in

the crown at St Mellion. Nine years before that the Cornish vente last

hosted the PGA. We have had more of `` more than our fair share of major

tournaments like the British Open and the British amateur but we have

not hosted the PGA since 1978 and it felt like the right time. Otr

membership and golf trips are very buoyant but to host a PGA Tour

event, if we do not do it down in the south`west nowhere else can post

these events so it is important that St Mellion contribute to

professional golf and this hs the first step of hopefully manx. 1 0

professional golfers are pl`ying here in the championship from all

over the UK and Ireland. Notably to south`west golfers have been

challenging the leaders in the past three days. It opens peoples eyes

from the wider spectrum. People can read about the championship and I

have heard good comments from players about the course whdn they

have played it for the first time and hopefully they will go back and

tell people in their clubs what a great venue this is. You have had

people like Seve Ballesteros playing here and it has improved

year`on`year and they have put a lot of money into this place ovdr the

years and it is back at the top of the game and there are not lany

courses in the country that are better than here this coursd has

most `` merged its golf with corporate spam attack `` hospitality

and it is doing it rather wdll. St Mellion was looking lovely day to

day. It was beautiful. We whll find out what the weather has in store

but first... Now, some enthusiasts love

everything rail, others prefer Well, we might just have fotnd

seventh heaven because this weekend you can enjoy

old fashioned diesel servicds and Our reporter John

Henderson is there. What is it like down there?

It is very good. For many pdople it does not get much better th`n this.

This waiting room has been transformed into a bar. There are 44

real ales for people to try and on the platform we have the goods

engine, totally unique, you do not see many of these around. For many

people this weekend, they whll think that this is a taste of heaven. Twin

British passions, hail and rail It is as if they were destined for one

another. If I wanted to better this now I would have to be on the

mainland doing 90 `` mainline doing 90 miles an hour and having a pint

of cider so this is the next best thing. It is thought fans of real

ale and vintage railways sh`re similar DNA, I love of the finer

things in life. I came down from Derby specially for this. It is a

great event and hopefully the people coming at the weekend will lake sure

that the BA gets sold next xear they will do the same again. It hs

brilliant. It is nice, therd are a lot more families than just guys

with beer bellies. This is the ninth year of this real ale Festival and

it all helps. During the fotr`day event pins will be sold as well to

raise money to restore this beauty. They are going to need to sdll an

awful lot of pins, ?400,000 worth so if you like pins then this hs where

classic stuff. If it all gets too classic stuff. If it all gets too

much, then take the train home. I am not sure what Johnny C`sh would

have made of all of this. I am on the footplate. You can see the fire

here, several hundred degreds Fahrenheit. I will come off somewhat

gingerly, I will come off backwards. I have passed thd health

and safety test. Andy, thank you for joining us you are from this

society, what is the weekend about? This stems back nine years `nd we

had the idea of a fundraiser that would be a beer festival and back

then we had six beers and every year the festival has grown and this year

we have nearly 60 beers and 15 it is a real success story for us. They

complement each other perfectly don't they? Indeed. A herit`ge

railway and the Heritage bedr industry go hand`in`hand. The venue,

the station he was built in 187 and it has hardly changed since. We are

surrounded by his story all through the weekend. I noticed when I was

chatting to people today people have come from all over the country for

the event. Indeed, we build up a very strong following. We h`ve

excellent rail links at Totnes and people can come down on the mainline

and we have a cracking car park at Buckfastleigh so it is very easy to

get here and park up and enjoy a ride on a steam train and come here

and have an enjoyable beer `nd a great day. Do people come for the

beer or the steam trains? I think they come for both. We also have

heritage diesel running tod`y and we have had a fair turnout who have

come to see the vintage diesels running as well as the steal so it

is a very good cross`section. How many beers have you tried? Lyself

none yet but I am on duty so when I clock off I will taste a few. It

goes on until Monday. Yes, we started today with a really good

turnout and we are open tomorrow and Sunday from 11 until 11 and on

Monday from 11 until six. Thank you very much. There you have it, it

started and it is going really well here.

Lovely, thank you very much. I think he is enjoying it too much. Now it

is time for the weather fordcast. A bank holiday weekend ahead of us

some people want wall`to`wall sunshine, will they get sick?

Those people might be disappointed. Tomorrow looks nice but Sunday

starts nice and then goes downhill. Monday not so good. A story of two

halves, it could all be worse be horrible. Tomorrow `` today was not

too bad at all. These were the scenes up on the moors. It hs not a

bad picture. A bit of cloud around their but also blue skies coming

through. We saw a few showers this morning, and there is a cow, is that

Longhorn? A bit of a breeze they're blowing in the heather. Tomorrow

should be a similar story. Not a bad start, quite bright and we will see

some cold nights this bank holiday as the weekend progresses. Tonight

will be cold and tomorrow nhght even colder. As the holiday wares on we

will see things becoming increasingly unsettled. This is the

picture through today. The cold front slips through overnight. We

had sunshine breaking out bdhind. We have got wind still feeding down

from the north`west, bringing chilly air across us. Tomorrow I pressure

is trying to build to the south`west. A fine picture for

Saturday. On Sunday this fe`ture comes in. There is uncertainty about

the timing with this featurd. In the morning it will spill cloud across

us but in the afternoon it will bring rain. It will push on to the

Isles of Scilly in the earlx afternoon and work through to the

east. The further east you `re the longer you will keep bright

conditions and hopefully thd rain will not arrive until the evening.

Today we saw shout was inithally but they cleared through and thdn many

of us got a good deal of sunshine. It is pleasant evening sunshine to

end the day. Clear spells overnight but also showers and it will be

another chilly one with the increasingly light winds. Wd will

see towns and cities dropping 2 or 8 degrees. It is a chilly start

tomorrow. There will be a fdw showers creeping across us here and

there but also good and sunny spells breaking out. A bit of a brdeze a

touch lighter than today and it will start to feel a bit more pldasant.

Not a bad day on the Isles of Scilly.

The waves are a bit disappohnting for our surfers.

By bank holiday Monday it whll not be a complete wash`out. Low pressure

is in charge with some sunnx spells and also a risk of heavy and

blustery showers. A bit of ` mixed picture.

Thank you very much. We shotld place a mixed picture. Thank you very

much. We should play surprise holiday with the weather pictures

every night. Guess the cow! Have a great weekend. Goodbxe. Take

care.