23/01/2017 Spotlight

Tonight: The drivers penalised for minor parking mistakes.

What more do they want for heavens sake? Apart from us to pay them 100

quid. We are pensioners, where are we supposed to get that from?

car park and the private parking firm inundated with complaints.

Also tonight: Facing the final curtain -

uncertainty over the future of two theatres in North Devon.

The Trust running them has gone into administration.

Without a doubt we will find out and we will get justice for Josh.

of Josh Clayton continues with calls for a fresh investigation into his

And conning people of out thousands - a warning that scam mail has

It's a frustration many of us have been faced with -

minor parking mistakes leading to large financial penalties.

But now there are calls for changes to the way private parking firms

are operating as motorists across the region say

Kevin Foster, the MP for Torbay, says he's been inundated

with complaints about one car park in particular.

Crossways in Paignton is run by Premier Parking Solutions

Our south Devon reporter John Ayres has more.

So let's see what all the fuss is about.

It's run by Premier Parking Solutions, better known as PPS,

As you go in your number plate is recorded on camera and you have

Cherry and Donald Smith paid 80p for an hour.

But Cherry had added an extra digit by mistake

On appeal, the adjudicator said he was satisfied no payment

was made for the vehicle with their registration.

We very carefully paid the right money, we were back within 50

minutes, what more do they want, for heavens sake?

Apart from us to pay them 100 quid, thank you very much.

We are pensioners, where am I supposed to get that

Turmoil really, because we had just got back from a very pleasant

weekend to then come back confronted with this.

You're probably thinking make a small mistake,

Because this sign with about 400 words is the terms and conditions

and it covers every mistake you could make while you

Basically, if you make a mistake, you have agreed

?60 if you pay up quickly without any fuss.

The local MP has been inundated with complaints.

Very minor infractions are resulting in large invoices being set that

actually do frighten people when they arrive.

For me it may just be on the side of the line legally,

but I think morally there are some real questions to be

Having problems with the machine, she attempted to put her

The final time she got it wrong and overpaid.

The threat of court action grew, the charges and fees rose to ?231.

After she appeared on BBC Radio Devon, the case was dropped.

It was a roller-coaster, it was awful and, to be honest,

it's the stress and it wasn't about the money in the end.

It was the principle and came to the point

Even if I lose, I don't care, I'm going to fight this to the very end,

PPS told the BBC that it complies with all approved parking service

standards and has been working with trading standards

The company has made changes to the use of technology,

the processes for issuing tickets and the appeals process

to ensure genuine mistakes are recognised as such.

Since we contacted PPS, the company has dropped the ?100

charge against the Smiths, although just days before,

they had issued a letter threatening court action.

We have a lawyer representing car park operators. There you heard the

frustration of some of our callers. Do you feel some firms can be

heavy-handed? Parking is such an emotive area. Unfortunately anybody

who receives a ticket often feels they are hard done too. What we try

to do is get a balance between the rights of land owners and motorists.

People parking on their land our customers but you talk about these

big signs with 400 words. Are we entering into a contract here? We

are just customers parking on Private land. Mistakes can be made.

They can be made and we have implemented internal appeal systems.

They incentivise operators sporting genuine errors and dealing with them

appropriately and I'm glad to say that in a scenario of PPS, hopefully

moving forward those matters will be dealt with a much more lenient knee.

Surely somebody would not purposely put in a wrong registration number.

These really are genuine mistakes. They do appear to be genuine. The

difficulty is the technology in place does not recognise there is

genuine mistakes and unfortunately the technology is needed to manage

that car park efficiently and effectively, to keep the cost of

parking for the ordinary users who are happy to put their registration

number incorrectly as low as possible. For these companies, is it

all about making money? Absolutely not. Wherever there is a charge

issued, something has gone wrong. Sometimes it is with the operator,

sometimes it is with the motorists. We make sure the operators do things

properly and we remind motorists that they should do the things that

are required of them when parking on somebody else's land. Thank you.

The North Devon Theatres Trust, which runs the Landmark

in Ilfracombe and the Queen's Theatre Barnstaple, has gone

A notice outside the theatres says anyone who has bought tickets

for future shows should contact their banks or credit card

A statement from the trust blames a 20% fall in attendance

All-day people have been walking up to the theatre but instead of

looking at these posters and deciding what tickets to buy, they

have then met by this which says the trust has gone into administration.

The locks here have been changed, the box office is shut and people

said they are shocked and saddened by what has happened. It is a

wonderful asset for the town, used by all sorts of different groups.

You have the jobs, my only son works here in marketing so she will be

affected. It is used as a meeting place, the cafe, the Pavilion room

is used for community activities and it will be sad to lose all that.

Those behind the theatre say this is all about bottoms on seats.

Attendances in the last 12 months have gone down 20%, 8% down for the

pantomime. All future performances have been cancelled but it also

means uncertainty for local productions. The North Devon lack

gang show was due to be on in February. We have been doing it for

38 years in the theatre. It has given thousands of youngsters the

opportunity to perform on stage, develop their confidence and skills

and suddenly we are left in a vacuum. It is unclear what is going

to happen to the jobs here. Dozens of people work at both theatres and

people who have bought tickets have been told to contact their bank and

see if they can get a refund. It can lead to vulnerable

people being conned out of their life-savings

and there are warnings today the issue of scam mail is reaching

epidemic proportions. Here in the south west,

more than 5,000 people in the region have been identified

as potential victims. But figures obtained by the BBC show

there have only been around 400 follow-up visits

from Trading Standards amid claims there's not enough

staff to meet demand. I think you would be horrified

at how quickly we can gather Unwelcome post which should be

chucked straight in the bin, but the number of people apparently

being conned is alarming those trying to deal

with the consequences. It must be in epidemic

proportions across the UK Once someone responds

to a bit of scam mail, they end up on what is called

a suckers list, used by scam operators to

target potential victims. Here in the south-west,

Trading Standards teams have been passed the names of more than 5,000

people on the list, because it is then things

can really go wrong. The highlighted ones

are the selling ones, Carol's 81-year-old mother

was being bombarded with scam mail She ended up with 45 direct

debits and went through 18 It was only a few, maybe 10,000

at the most that she lost, but I have heard of others who have

lost tens of thousands of pounds The idea is for Trading Standards

teams to visit those flagged up as vulnerable to be conned out

of cash, but BBC figures show there have only been about 400

visits across Cornwall, We prioritise our victims

and we try to make sure we are seeing our priority victims,

80% cash, maybe those who are prolific and sending cash

to a number of scams, so that we can target our limited

resources to be most efficient. In Cornwall, a small team

of volunteers make the calls. We have been trying to get in to see

a gentleman for about 18 months. Just since Christmas we have managed

to cross the threshold of his door and start talking to him about does

he really understand what it is that They are targeting people

who are gullible basically because of their age

or illness or whatever. What I'd like to do with them

is probably unprintable. The message is don't be

ashamed and get help. A woman who killed a motorcyclist

in north Devon while driving under the influence of drugs has escaped

jail at Exeter crown court. Laura Ward, from Fleet in Hampshire,

had diazepam, cannabis and amphetamines in her system

when she collided with 20-year-old Aiden Platt

in Barnstaple in August 2015. Exeter Mathematics School has been

put forward by the Prime Minister to act as a model for opening maths

schools across the country. The school, which is only one of two

sixth forms in the country to specialise in maths and physics,

is featured in Theresa May's The Devon Wildlife Trust has been

nominated in the Wildlife Success of the Year category of the BBC

Countryfile Magazine Awards The animals, which are living

on the River Otter, are thought to be the first wild population

in England for 400 years. A mother from Somerset calling

for a fresh investigation into the death of her son

on the Isles of Scilly has had a private meeting

with a senior police officer. Tracey Clayton says she's convinced

someone else was responsible for the death of her son Josh

on Tresco 16 months ago. Last week, a coroner ordered Devon

and Cornwall Police to investigate Mrs Clayton has been

speaking exclusively Before I take my last breath, we

will know what happened to my boy. Without a doubt, we will find out

and we will get justice for Josh. When police on the Isles of Scilly

found the body of Josh Clayton, they put it down to accidental death. The

bar manager vanished after attending a private party on Tresco. His body

was discovered ten days later. Last week, an inquest into his death was

halted when evidence emerged. This man, Leroy Thomas, told the hearing

he witnessed Josh arguing with a group of men. The coroner said the

police needed to reinvestigate. Which has given some hope to Josh

Clayton's family who remain convinced someone else was

responsible for his death. I have had a meeting with Devon and

Cornwall police, a senior police officer, who has assured me he will

review and hopefully look for any gaps that happened throughout the

investigation. It definitely was not an accident. I have thought it from

day one, I still believe it now. The police force have issued a statement

saying we were only made aware of the new evidence at the inquest and

are carrying out further enquiries. It is not clear how long they will

take all what they will uncover given the matter of time since Josh

Clayton died. His mother who until now has said she wanted a new force

to investigate says she will give Devon and Cornwall a week to

convince heard they are serious about uncovering the truth.

A 300-year-old Dartmoor Bridge has been struck by motorists more

Devon County Council says the cost of repairing the ancient structure

but they now have a plan to cut the cost.

Today, CCTV cameras at the bridge have been turned on and motorists

who hit the bridge will be charged for repairs.

You might expect to be watched by cameras here. But what about here?

From today, Big Brother is watching this bridge. Built in the era of the

horse and cart, it now has to cope with much more. The area north of

Ashburton is popular with canoeists and walkers as well as being a busy

route for locals. But despite warning signs, some drivers are

taking risks. Risks which are damaging the bridge and taking time

and money to repair. Over 20 years it has been repeatedly damaged many

times in a year and recently that seems to have got worse, say we are

introducing the CCTV as a final resource. New home bridge is one of

nearly 3005 Hundred Rd bridges in Devon. The county council has a

budget of ?100,000 to fix accident damage on all of them. Last year

they went over that budget in South Devon alone. We cannot afford to

keep spending out money like we are doing at the present time. It will

cost around ?9,000 to pretend that we think we can recover that money

over the course of one year. How do local people feel about CCTV cameras

being used here? Horrified. This is creeping urbanisation, it does not

belong on Dartmoor but the more I thought about it and the amount of

damage, putting up signs does not deter people send the charging them

well. Anyone caught on camera who fills to stop will be contacted by

the council which will reclaim costs for repairs from the driver or their

insurer. It's time for the sport

now and Natalie's here After last week's glamour of the FA

Cup, Plymouth Argyle got back to League business with a 2-1 win

away at Cheltenham. The victory means they're

still second in Division 2. The Pilgrims took the lead in

the 26th minute when Sonny Bradley After Cheltenham had equalised,

fans had to wait until stoppage time It's the second time this

season the centreback has It was the meeting of the two

in-form teams of the division and Exeter came out on top,

beating Colchester 3-0. Reuben Reid, David Wheeler

and Liam McAlinden scored the goals giving the Grecians' playoff hopes

a big boost. It's 999 for Exeter -

they're now ninth in the league, have extended their unbeaten run

to nine and ended Colchester's Yeovil could have had it

all, but had to settle Francois Zoko put them ahead -

Blackpool drew level and then Darren Ward put the Glovers back

in the lead. It looked like they would hold on,

but they were denied in the fifth The Exeter Chiefs are out

of Europe after losing They reached the quarterfinals stage

last year, but this term lost four of their six pool games,

making for an early exit. Their French hosts scored seven

tries while the Chiefs replied Rob Baxter said he was very

disappointed with the manner of their departure

from a competition. He feels sure the Chiefs

could win at some stage. Now, it's time to meet the Wrinklies

- that's not what I've called them - They've got an average age of 80

and their oldest player is 94 - incidentally her baby brother is 92

and he plays too. They meet in Ottery St Mary once

a week for a spot of table tennis. It keeps them fit and in some cases

has changed their lives. Andy Birkett doesn't quite fit

into their age bracket, but he's Speed, reactions, agility - things

we are told diminish with age. While that may be true,

this group of senior sportsmen and women are proof that sometimes

guile, finesse and, of course, If I do the housework,

I'm allowed out in the afternoon. What is it about coming

here and playing table tennis It is the highlight of most

people's week, you know. We just look forward to it,

have a wonderful time. The standard has been

going up all the time. Try telling that to Frank that it's

just about keeping fit. The man with the most fearsome

serve in the whole of... As well as the fun side

to all of this, there Over the last few years, John has

offered a number of strokes, For some time now he doesn't know

who I am and will ask at least several times a day,

I don't know you, who are you? When he's away from here,

he can't walk properly up the road, People with dementia tend to get

worse like this because they have Physically here, he's

different as well. He has never fallen

playing table tennis here. And then there is Diana and her

92-year-old baby brother David. I'm told the last time these two

played a singles match What do you get out of coming

here and playing table tennis? I love the company, but I also love

table tennis and, you know, I think you have to think about it,

and you have to move about a bit, It's better than a rocking

chair and a tartan rug. I couldn't leave here

without testing whether youth I've never been so relieved

to lose at something She beat him fair and square! Diana

showed him. Some great volleys. Really brilliant.

Now, weather is a topic we all like to discuss -

too hot, too cold - we're never happy!

And the Met Office says last year was the warmest year on record.

But does it still snow like it used to?

Jemma Woodman has been taking a look back at the great

Is anywhere more beautiful than Dartmoor in the snow?

And a light dusting at least is pretty much guaranteed

But if you think you remember a time when you only have to walk

out your front door to be knee-deep in drifts, then you're

The older you are, the more likely you are to say,

But is that true or just faded memories wrapped up in nostalgia?

Time to dip into the archives to find out.

In 1963, the south-west bore the brunt of a series

There were large-scale rescue operations.

The chief one was the relief of Whittendown.

But in 2010, the same thing happened again.

This time it was milk tankers getting stuck on the roads

in what proved to be the coldest winter in 30 years.

Actually the footage shows that 2010 doesn't compare

to 1963 for cold or snow, but there's one winter that does

For that we have to go way back in the archives before

many of you were born and regional TV didn't exist.

Mike at the southwest film and television archive has dug

I have had a good look in the database and in the paper records.

There is very little of 1947, but I think I have

Hope Cove looking more like Antarctica than

The lifeboat brings in food supplies to marooned villagers.

In 1947, January 22, the snow started to fall and fell

every day somewhere in the UK for over 70 days.

And if you want to know why it doesn't snow like it use to,

find out the answer on Inside Out South West

Now with the forecast of blizzards on the way... No chance. I don't

think we will see any snow but what we saw on the beach at Dawlish this

morning, you might be forgiven for thinking there was snow but it is

actually frost. Also a beautiful South Devon coast with a view out

across to Bow Island. It looks like the fine, clear skies will lead to

another sharp frost overnight tonight. Dry and bright for most of

this week. Frost and fog but also becoming quite windy later on. You

will notice not a great deal of rain in that forecast. First thing

tomorrow, it is the freezing fog that could be a problem. Both later

on tonight and first thing tomorrow, particularly across parts of Dorset,

Somerset and the east of Devon. There is quite a nice line of cloud

out to the west which has rain on it but it does not get much closer. We

have high pressure in charge. By the middle of Wednesday it is starting

to weaken and by Thursday it will get a bit closer. A really cold

feeling day on Thursday with Southeast winds and low

temperatures. That was the satellite picture from earlier today. Not only

in land was it fine but also along the coast. This is Watergate Bay

where it was a beautiful day. A bit of haze in the air, quite a bit of

pollution around today but not so bad tomorrow by something for our

selfless and walkers along the coastline, some lovely weather. See

temperatures around nine or 10 degrees. Let's follow the forecast

through the night to calm because with all this clear sky, the

temperatures are falling and we will see some mist and fog developing

later in the night. Further west, I would not say it is frost free but

temperatures are slightly higher. I don't think anywhere will escape a

touch of frost at some point through the night with the lowest

temperatures, -5 possible. Much of the day tomorrow is fine and dry.

More cloud from time to time. A slightly higher temperature between

nine and 11 degrees. For the Isles of Scilly, staying dry with sunny

spells. Have a good evening. Just before we go, a look ahead

to tomorrow's Spotlight. We're investigating why people

are commuting further and further. We'd like to hear about

your journey to work - You can get in touch

via Facebook, Twitter and email. If you would like to join me on BBC

radio Devon, I am on between one and 4pm. But from all of us here, good

night. To break someone physically... Agh!

..is not a problem. Nectar of the gods, I'm telling you.

Thank you, Colonel. He's definitely battling

some demons. If they have a fear of water,

God help them. Tom Jones, obviously.

Winston Churchill.