22/03/2017 Spotlight

South West MP's have been describing their shock

after being caught up into today's terror incident at Westminster.

Some were in Parliament at the time while others

Our Political Editor Martyn Oates was at Westminster as

The BBC's Millbank newsroom, where he's based, is just yards

Well as you can see I'm inside the building at BBC Westminster, it

would be unthinkable to my to broadcast to you from outside the

Palace of Westminster, from the green which is where you so often

see me and MPs. I was there just minutes before people started

shouting and running down the road, Dan Abingdon Street away from

Westminster Bridge, and new Palace Yard where these incidents took

place. Since then journalists like MPs have basically been told to stay

where they were at that point, that might be inside the Palace of

Westminster, here at number four Millbank, where the broadcasters are

based, or in some cases, where they were in the streets. Some of my BBC

colleagues have been broadcasting, and giving out information through

social media. Through the afternoon. Because they were in the street, but

they will also obliged to stay in cordoned off areas in the street.

Those restrictions have started to ease, people are now able to leave

this building here in Millbank. And the children certainly are being

released from the Palace of Westminster across the road. It is

very common to have big groups of schoolchildren in the Palace of

Westminster, quite recently a big education Centre was built at this

end of the building. Now among those groups of schoolchildren, there was

a group from a primary school in Bridgwater in Somerset, I spoke to

the Bridgwater MP, who himself is away at a conference but he has been

in touch with them and he says that they are all safe and well. I have

also spoken to the research who works for a South West MP, she and

her colleagues had an office overlooking Westminster Bridge. So

they witnessed, the incidents that involving the car. But she said they

were all still too upset to describe what they had seen. Now a look at

some of the news in the south-western night.

Millions of families and businesses in rural areas are losing out

because of poor phone coverage, with the South West having the worst

One Devon MP has described the lack of connectivity as leaving people

Mobile operators say they're investing billions of pounds

in providing a better service but reaching every corner

We've asked our reporters across the South West today

I'm in the far west of Cornwall, I have got no 3G

And the whole of that route has no mobile

Here in Plymouth and the biggest city the region it is

fine when we are walking round but as soon as

I go in it is patchy and

having a conversation can give bit of a lottery.

I have gone two minutes off the 838 towards Ugborough, absolutely no

I think I would have to go quite a while to find something.

I'm in the BBC office in Dorchester in a

county town of Dorset, not much of a signal today, it is very

intermittent here any anyway I can stop herself from missing text

messages and answerphone messages is to spend

the day with my arm up to

Some of our reporters found they had a good signal even in remote areas

but it's still a big issue here in the South West.

Our reporter Tamsin Melville has been investigating.

Old beautiful south-west known for its coastline, scenery and food

Here at Porthtowan on Cornwall's north

coast like many of the regions not-spots,

it is a case of seeking out a

When there were plans for a phone mast some of the

committee didn't want it and the application was withdrawn.

I think people quite like the fact they can

sometimes come down and switch off and not be bombarded by phone calls.

I mean obviously we have Wi-Fi that is fully

available but I think in

the main people quite like the relaxation.

But for those running businesses out and about and reliant

on their mobiles, it can be a different story.

If other people come to ring me and I have got my

phone on me, it is a total waste of time.

Anything incoming they are just not going to get a signal to ring me so

Devon MP Neil Parish wants more done to help

businesses and individuals like the constituent

Registered blind he is unhappy that he can't have a smart meter

because it relies on a mobile signal to send

The signal is inadequate to be able to even basic things for

conversations, very often it comes up as no single.

Very very occasionally we might get one or

But it is very fleeting and not enough to try and have a

The former Prime Minister David Cameron

has spoken of his struggle with a poor mobile phone signal when he

regularly holidayed up the coast from here in Cornwall.

And the government says it understands the frustration

which is why it has made it a legal requirement for the mobile

phone network operators to provide at least 90% of the UK with voice

And says there will be fined if they don't.

The trade association representing UK mobile operators

says that ?2 billion is being invested by companies to reach this

target, and also says that rural areas will always present

infrastructure providers with unique circumstances such as challenging

Ministers say they are also making it easier to roll-out new mobile

infrastructure to tackle not-spots, and connectivity needed

Well Tamsin joins us now from Porthtowan.

Before today's terrible events at Westminster there was supposed to be

a debate on this issue, wasn't there? Yes that is right, an MP was

due to hold a debate on this very issue, but unsurprisingly that

didn't go ahead, it is something that he is campaigning on, he says

that mobile phone coverage is a modern day necessity, and that the

government can't afford to fail on it. It is obviously something people

across our region feel strongly about and they have been commenting

on our Facebook pages across the day. Carroll says "We can rarely

hear a conversation". Stu says "Eight miles from next city centre,

no signal." That is just a few of the comments

we have been getting and I think this is a topic we will continue to

hear a lot about. Last night on Spotlight

we were talking about the rare sight of a humpback whale in the waters

off South Devon attracting Today, that story took a turn

as a major rescue operation to free it from fishing nets

and lines was launched. The humpback has been in Start Bay

for more than three weeks, but today crowds gathered off

Blackpool Sands to watch conservationists and coastguard

teams work to untangle it. Tonight, there's good news

and Jane Chandler is there for us. Yes very good news tonight, the wait

is finally free and she is swimming in the Bay again. I have with me one

of her rescuers, Dan Jarvis. How did you find out she had got tangled up?

Brew the fishermen whose lines were caught up did the right things.

Which was to report it to the coastguard who in turn reported it

to the rescue who were able to send out some of the local team who were

experienced in dealing with this type of situation. What was she like

when you got there? At first she was quite cautious, she was very tired

as well. She was trying to avoid us at first but then after a while she

was getting tired and she seemed to realise that we were there to try

and help. We were trying to put the equipment on the fishing boat. And

we were able to get it high enough that we were able to cut her free.

How dangerous is it to do something like this? It is pretty dangerous,

they are big animals you have to respect that and be so do careful.

She could easily have overturned the boats. So yes, absolutely the right

thing to report it. Thank you Dan, that is fantastic. Good news. I've

been told that they will be monitoring the situation over the

next 24 hours just to make sure that the weight is safe. -- the wail.

Now a round up of other news tonight.

Two men have been injured after a car left the road at Porth

near Newquay earlier today and landed on a rocky

Police say the driver who's in his forties was airlifted

to hospital with head and neck injuries and the passenger -

a man in his seventies - has chest injuries.

A teenager from Liverpool has been remanded in custody after appearing

before a Judge at Exeter Crown Court accused of murder.

19-year-old Delton Jones is charged with the murder of 47-year-old

His body was found at a flat in Bridge Court in the city.

It's now hoped that work to repair a damaged power cable to the Isles

Generators have been providing islanders with electricity

since a boat severely damaged the undersea cable

Repairs have been delayed by bad weather.

Many of our rivers are spectacularly beautiful, but you may be surprised

to hear some have become so polluted with acid they've become

It's caused by pollution from past industrial processes and chemical

But now researchers from Plymouth University

and Westcountry Rivers Trust have found a way to dramatically improve

the water quality as our Environment Correspondent Adrian Campbell

The water quality at two bridges at Dartmoor

appears to be very good but

the river here can also be highly acidic.

It doesn't seem to affect the geese but it is dangerous for

Doctor Sean Comber from Plymouth University has

been keeping a close check on how much acid is in the water.

When we get some rain it washes the acids

out of the natural peat that is surrounding the river into the

river, and as a result, the river becomes quite acidic quite

quickly and it can go down below four in some

The high levels of acid in the water are partly caused by the

granite rock that covers Dartmoor but there is also thought to be

historic pollution caused by acid rain from industrial processes.

And that's potentially deadly for fish.

We think that by trying to stop the pH from going below five,

that would be a great benefit to the

And the sea trout that migrate from this river.

These banks of rocks have just been recently put

into a small tributary near the head of the river,

they contain calcium carbonate which slowly dissolves

It may seem surprisingly just one third

of a tonne of rock has already reduced the acidity of the water.

The flow increases and it washes more of the material into the river

when it is raining hard so that will help to

stabilise the pH factor, and

we hope to have a more natural environment.

There are already plenty of positive side of healthy

life in the West Dart and the West Country Rivers trust

is hopeful that this new intervention to reduce

the acidity will further improve conditions for salmon and trout.

The coxswains of two Cornish lifeboats have been talking

about the unique operation to tow a stricken freighter to safety.

The three thousand ton Lady Alida lost power and was being blown

onshore in the early hours of yesterday morning.

The Penlee and the Sennen Cove lifeboats pulled the ship to safety.

They had to carry out the operation a second time when the ship's

David George has been to meet the two coxswains.

The 88 metre freighter, Lady Alida, with seven crew on board had lost

power and was being blown onto rocks on the South Cornish coast.

In the early hours, lifeboats were sent to the

The first time the two boats had attempted such a task.

It wasn't easy, with the weather conditions,

We did what we had to do, we stopped the boat from drifting

Many hours later the crews were at the lifeboat station

when they were called to the ship a second time because she was

I don't think we had more than a couple of sips of tea,

and we were asked to go again, dragging anchor.

The 3600 tonne ship is more than 60 times heavier than

Both of the lifeboats are equipped with these huge diesel

engines here on this lifeboat, the combined power is two and a half

So they have got plenty of pull, even to toe a

big ship, a 3000 tonne ship, but power alone

The biggest issue for us was keeping the lifeboats on the right

place, without hitting each other, so the boys

on the deck had a lot of

work to do and they did a really good job.

This might have been a job for a coastguard emergency type

which were stationed around the UK coast until they were scrapped six

With the removal of the constant presence of the tugs, we

have known that eventually, we would get involved

in this sort of job, it

has given us a lot of confidence that if the same happened again

we could at least keep a ship in a position

and hopefully prevent it

The ship is alongside in Falmouth docks waiting

There's been special recognition for a seven year old girl

for her amazing work as a carer, we'll meet her later,

plus getting fired up in South Devon.

Join me on board the beautiful Braveheart as she takes to the

tracks for the first time in 12 years.

Now you may remember a very special moment on Spotlight

We would like to introduce you to the French consul with us this

evening. Her TRANSLATION: Verdun Hayes, might of

the Legion of honour. -- in the name of the president of the French

republic, I make you a night of the Legion of honour.

That was Verdun Hayes from north Devon being presented

He'd recently returned from a trip to Normandy

where he paid his respects to a fallen comrade.

Well since then more than one hundred D-Day veterans

from the South West have come forward to go on tours

The scheme - which is funded by Libor fines imposed on banks -

is now being extended and veterans will be able to visit

Charlotte Foot has been talking to one veteran from Dorset who's

been remembering the events of more than seventy years ago.

Wartime Weymouth, and the harbour is a sea of green.

Young American troops setting sail for France,

Dorset a gateway to the battlefields.

The journey across the Channel, one that so many veterans

One they thought they may never return from.

Today, World War II veterans are being offered the

opportunity to sail once again, and there's been an increase in the

So much so that the Royal British Legion is now

I just thought, I've been there before, and it was so different then

Really expected to see something nice and have a few

92 year old Peter Price from Weymouth is even hoping

Lots of people havn't really travelled much at

all since they came back from service.

I know people used to have a holiday about every ten years.

Across-the-board it has been unprecedented and in the south-west,

we have had over 100 veterans book on to tours.

Now to put that into context, last year we took a hundred

veterans, so we've noticed an exponential rise in people

wanting to go on these tours which is

Despite the success of the scene, the charity believes

there are still more D-Day veterans who they are not in contact with and

with most in their 90s, they want to make sure

that they all have the

A seven year old girl from Cornwall has won an award for helping to care

Evie Gwilliams is now so skilled at caring for Freddie she even

Evie's mum says she does it because she loves him.

Eleanor Parkinson has been to meet the family.

She may only be seven years old but she takes her responsibilities very

seriously. Her younger brother Freddie has a red condition, he

needs medication every day and she knows exactly what to do. First you

plug the tube into his tummy, and then, you get one of the syringes

and you put it on the end of the tube, and you push the top bit down

and before you take it off, you push the white spitting, so the medicine

comes out. -- the white bit in. It is important he has the right

amount, and your mum has taught you how to do that? Yes. She also helps

give him his meals and putting to bed. Her mum says she has never

asked Evie to help but she wants to do it. If he is in the bath, she

will say that she will take over and she wants to dress him and do his

nappy and give him his milk and she does a lot for Freddie, she is very

good. And I understand you have been very busy with other children and,

Evie has put him to bed on her own? You take him through to his bed, and

even if I'm busy with Freddie. She then takes over the role of looking

after car spec, she has even cooked Casper some tea, haven't you? Mummy

showed you how to use the oven and she reads Casper a bedtime story. So

she helps with both the boys. And now Evie's degradation has not gone

unnoticed, she has just wants a little star award. Evie seems

unfazed and is happy to get back to the job that she thinks is so

important. Now it's been out of action

for over a decade, but today the Dartmouth Steam Railway proudly

brought the locomotive 'Braveheart' She made her long awaited return

across the South Devon coast and our reporter Heidi Davey

was onboard.... After laying dormant for 12 years

the beautiful locomotive brain heart came into the sunshine to claim her

rightful place on the track, it has been an intensive labour of love for

all involved at the Dartmouth steam away and today's unveiling meant

that the team were up early again to make sure that she was ready for her

audience. Today I started at half past six, involving cleaning at

yesterday's fire, the firebox and then lighting brand-new box. And

paraffin. Children, a primary school, lined the platform to get a

glimpse of her and then it was all aboard as we set off along the south

Devon coast. It is hard work keeping this going?

Yes between one tonne and 2.5 tonnes of coal a day and near enough

gallons of water every round-trip. And for younger passengers there was

definitely a favourite bit. My favourite part was the dark, dark

tunnel. Rumbling noises. That steam may be a bit stinky but for young

trade hearts driver, it is a day he will never forget. We never put a BR

standard together so we had was pictures of when it was last

running, if you head scratching moments but I think we got there all

right. How does it feel? Happiest of my life so far I would two say. What

a glorious picture that was. A great day for everyone involved. Not bad

weather either for Braveheart and a big day for weather forecasting

tomorrow? It is Michu logical day tomorrow and

I will talk about than in just a second. Good evening we have had

sunshine, I know we have had showers, when you point out but

everywhere has had blue skies but where the skies have been like this

it has been a lovely day with the sunshine, not too windy, quite

pleasant, sent in, also showers, affecting some of us. Somerset quite

sharp showers, that was the shower in the distance and also some

rainbows, a combination of the sunshine and some rain, this 117 in

Taunton. As I pointed out tomorrow is world Michu logical day. This

years his clouds, if you got any good cloud pictures. And the website

is here: the area of low pressure that has

brought us the showers and more unsettled weather today is still

going to be around here tomorrow. Quite a cloudy day tomorrow, for

those who had lots of sunshine, the same weather system still close by

on Friday, gone by the time of the weekend. 18 easily weekend, but this

time of year it has and strengthen it and we are expected to see some

low temperatures, certainly coalfield to the air with sunshine

out of the breeze and quite pleasant and unusually so, some fine weather

coinciding with the weekend. At the moment there is the risk of a shower

this evening but most of the showers have now gone and what we are left

with is some clearing skies overnight, this was the picture from

earlier today, down in Cornwall where again, skies but again some

threatening looking cloud. The showers that we have seen today have

also been of hail and sleet in places, it is not unusual to see

this in March, but it is in between showers we have also had some lovely

sunshine as well. Temperatures have been up and down because of the

showers. Most of the showers as I'm inch and are now fading away so

overnight tonight we are going to see a good deal of clear sky, once

that process is underway, temperatures are going to fall away

pretty quickly, we could well see a frost overnight tonight and the risk

of some mist and fog patches. Very light winds, and temperature

starting the day tomorrow morning as low as one or 2 degrees above

freezing so there is even the possibility of a risk of ice here

and there. Now tomorrow, across Dorset and Somerset, a layer of

cloud, will travel westwards. It will be fairly broken cloud but I

think the risk of a spot of drizzle and light rain is possible through

the rest of the day, Utrecht and easterly wind and a top temperature

of nine or 10 degrees. For the aisles of city some bright weather

and then gradually clouding over with showers developing later in the

day, a bit more breeze developing coming in from the north-east

tomorrow. There are the times of high water. For our servers, the

waves are small tomorrow, the breeze does pick up but for most of the

North reaches, anywhere up to three or four feet. There is the coastal

walkers, the winds are from the East, four to six with the

risk of showers. A bit warmer to pot a bit chilly during the night time.

Will you be bringing cake for WorldNet daily?

The late news, at ten, hope you can join us then, good night.