Episode 13 Watchdog Daily

Hello and welcome to Watchdog Daily. We are with you live for the next

45 minutes. This morning, hospital parking - charges of up to �35 a

day for patients and visitors. Where does all the money go?

NatWest and RBS - why going over your limit with them could cost you

more than a payday loan. And misleading ads. Why this Amazon

claim has been banned. Also in today's programme, our consumer

cops are on the hunt for inaccurate petrol pumps and airport scales.

on there, 29.3, way outside the tolerance... How often do the

machines get it wrong? First, hospital parking - if you

are a patient or a visitor, how much do you have to pay? Well,

we've been investigating and have discovered it can cost you up to

�35 a day to leave your car. In fact, hospital Trusts are raking in

more than �100 million a year with parking charges. Where's that money

going? Believe it or not, some of it is ending up with private

parking companies. A recent survey by Macmillan Cancer Support reveals

that 45% of people are stressed or worried about the costs of hospital

pashing in parts of the UK at least. In Scotland it's free -- parking.

In Wales there are only two hospital boards that still charge

and in Northern Ireland the most you would pay for a 24-hour stay is

�11. But in England, it's a very different story.

Some of the charges at the moment are far beyond what anyone should

reasonably be asked to pay in a service that should be free at the

point of use and we are really concerned that's having a financial

impact on the patients and relatives having to visit loved

ones day after day and who've been charged an incbl amount to do so.

So just how much can it cost? -- incredible amount. We contacted 190

Hospital Trusts and health boards across the UK. Of the 152 who

responded, 129 charge for parking. The highest hourly charge was

Chelsea and Westminster hospital at �3.50 for the first hour. The

lowest was in Totnes Hospital in Devon where it's 40p for the first

hour. If you have to stay overnight and park for 24 hours, you could

pay as little as �1.50 in Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

Whereas in London, you could pay a staggering �33 at Kings College or

�35 at Chelsea and Westminster. But, as patients are spending money,

hospitals are saving money by treating an increasing number of

people as out-patients. Over a six week course of

radiotherapy, tpwhecked saving up to �6,000 if the patients don't

stay at the hospital overnight -- they could be saving. We don't

think people going for life-saving treatment should have to pay for

parking in a hospital and cancer patients are often going daily so

if you are paying for car parking every time you go to a hospital,

you are racking up substantial charges. Carol is one such patient

who requires regular streement treatment. I've been disabled since

I was eight months old. I can't just leap on a bus like a lot of

people can so I do have to take the car. Sometimes you have to be there

a long time, depending on the treatment you are having and

pashing fees can mount up. There's that side of things, as well as the

anxiety of the actual viz to it the hospital. At a time when people are

feeling the pinch anyway, this additional financial burden makes

it that bit harder. What really concerns us is the postcode lottery

that exists in parking. If you live particularly in a Metropolitan area

like London, Manchester or Liverpool, you are likely to pay

more than you would in other areas. We'd like to see the Government

step in and define what a reasonable charge is for parking so

patients in certain areas aren't paying extortionate fees. But so

far, the Government's done relatively little to help patients

in England. And in many areas, fees are going

up. According to the results of our Freedom of Information request, in

the last two years, over 50 hospital Trusts have increased

their parking charges. What we know and what patients tell us is that

some hospitals haven't followed the guidance and are still charging

cancer patients. We'd like hospitals to actually take this

seriously and comply with the guidance and we'd like the

Government to look at how we can encourage compliance with the

guidance. Carol agrees. Her hospital, west

Middlesex, used to offer free parking to the disabled. This

stopped several years ago and she's been paying ever since. I was

absolutely livid that they could do this to us. People in Wales have

been told they are not allowed to charge for parking at hospitals and

Scotland aren't allowed to park and here they have the choice and what

do they do, put it on where it wasn't before - terrible. Some

hospitals offer concessions to people with long-term conditions,

but recent research shows that almost 60% of patients are still

paying the full price. Hospitals do not have a duty to tell you about

the concessions available to you. We have people all the time that

tell us if they'd known they could have had free parking or reduced

parking over time, they would have taken that option up. They need to

know if free or reduced parking is available so they can properly

assess the best options. Hospitals are generating millions

of pounds in parking fees from members of the public. But where is

all this money going? Well, off the Hospital Trusts and health boards

that responded to our Freedom of Information request, more than a

third used private companies to run their car parks. Many refused to

tell us exactly how much of the money generated went to these

companies, but five of the hospital Trusts and health boards did and

revealed that rather than put the money back into patient care, all

fees for parking in five of their car parks simply goes to the

private parking company. The car park at west Middlesex is

also run by a private firm. National Health Service, to have a

car park that's run by a private company, it's making profits o us

of people that have to go to hospital for whatever reason, not

just because you are disabled but if you are sick or visiting people

that are sick. I think that's so wrong that they should make money

out of the fact that people are suffering.

Carol's hospital, the west Middlesex told us its fees do offer

value and the money is used to maintain and improve its car parks.

They say concessianary parking and other good transport links are also

available. The Department of Health says patients have a fundamental

right to fair and appropriate car parking concessions and it expects

Hospital Trusts to provide them and set fair prices. What have the

hospitals said, Rani? The Chelsea and Westminster Hospital says it's

frozen charge force the past five years. Money raised support for

patient care. Concessions are available, as they are at Kings

College which has one of the highest overnight fees. It says

charges have not increased for ten years and they use the money to

maintain and improve facilities. As for the other hospitals, Liverpool

Heart & Chest do not manage the parking contract. Birmingham

women's say their car park is shared with other Trusts and say

charges is in line with other hospitals. Full statements

available on the website. You can Next, if you're buying a pint at

your local, filling your car with petrol or weighing your baggage at

the airport, you will want to be sure that the pumps, dispensers and

scales are pinpoint accurate. We can't check the equipment ourselves

but thankfully the consumer cops can do it for us. Here is Chris

Jackson. Welcome to the north-east. From airport check-in desks to

garage forecasts and shops selling fireworks, there is every gadget

needed here to ensure consumers get what they pay for. That's just as

well, as there are a lot of places to check.

In Newcastle, officers Alan and technician Steve are responding to

a call about a diesel pump in the west of the city.

We've received a complaint about this specific pump that we are

going to have a look at today. With the cars, the way they are these

days with computers, you get an indication from the read-out of the

car as to what you get, so he's disagreed with that and formed the

impression that he's received short measure. With rising fuel prices,

the last thing drivers want is to be short changed, so the officers

need o be sure this pump's dispensing the amount it says it is

-- need to be sure. Afternoon, from Trading Standards, weights and

measures. We have had another complaint about the diesel pump at

the end. Alan and Steve have brought with them add state-of-the-

art gadget known as pump watch. This has been carefully

collaborated to accurately measure 20, 10 and five letter volumes.

This will tell us whether it's in the tolerances levels under the

weights and measures act. If it's correct, the pump should measure

between 0.5% below or above the levels stated. If it's wrong, the

owners will have to get it fixed. Steve is dispensing the fuel into

the measure. He's done the first 20 now, a fast delfrifplt we pull this

lever down and the fuel will fall into the graduated tube -- delivery.

That's a strike measure of exactly 20 litres. It's well within the

tolerances that are allowed under the regulations. So far so good.

But Alan and Steve won't be satisfied until the pump's been

checked and rechecked five times in total.

The indications are well within the tolerances that are allowed. After

pouring all the diesel back into the tank, Alan gives the concerned

attendant the good news. It's measuring how it should. Thank

you very much for your help. Cheers. Now my task is to go back and

telephone the complainant and say, from our findings, there's no

problem with the pump. The garage forecourt is just one of

the places on the weights and measures' team checklist. Nairpt is

another. Here, they perform checks to make sure the 12,000 passengers

flying out every day are not being overcharged for their baggage --

Newcastle airport. Alan's drafted in a bigger crew and even more

extensive range of collaborated weights and measures. The team work

closely with the city Council Trading Standards airport. Our aim

is to make the customer's experience as smooth as possible

and make sure that the weighing machines on the check-in work is a

critical part of that. With the help of airport maintenance, Alan

and his team begin the test. They place 30 kilogram weights on to

each conveyor belt. We are looking for the indication to be exactly

the same as the weight wes know are on the platform. It takes at least

ten minutes to fully check each machine and after the first hour,

the team have found nothing to concern them. Then they arrive at

desk 34. We are 30 now, but 29.3. It's 0.7 of a kilogram, which is

way outside the tolerance. For the time being, this check-in desk is

declared out of yuets. important thing for the people

waiting is that the baggage will be weighed accurately -- declared out

of use. We don't want to cause any unnecessary delays but it has to be

tested and it will take as hong as it takes. The pressure is on for

airport maintenance to fix the machine while Alan is present -- as

long as it takes. We'll give it another test. If it's incorrect

again, we'll take it out of service. While the engineer attempts to find

the source of the problem, the team crack on with testing the remaining

45 desks. It takes a further hour, but the maintenance workers are

confident they finally got to the bottom of the issue, a mystery pen.

This is the pen we found. The weighing platform was on a rail and

the rail running that way was resting on this pen. That's been

cleared and the machine's been tested again. It looks fine, so we

can fairly safely assume that that's been the problem and that's

been cleared now. Over the course of the day, Alan and his team

discover two more faulty desks. These problems were actually caused

by the desks being positioned too close to one another, so easily

fixed by separating them. By the end of the day, all 49 desks

were back in service and, most importantly, working properly.

Thanks, Chris. We should stress that the scales there were the

responsibility of the airport, not any individual airline. Lots of you

getting in touch about hospital parking. Sonia from the Midlands

says my husband spent nearly ten weeks in hospital, he was seriously

ill and spent all my time with him. Parking at the hospital cost �2.60

per hour and I spent �180 over his stay. I realise hospitals need

money but this is scandalous. Thanks, Rani. Next, have you ever

gone overdrawn with your bank? If so, you will know that the charges

can be crippling. In fact, we've discovered that going over your

agreed limit with some high street lenders could prove even more

expensive than taking out a payday loan. So which of the banks

penalise the customers most when it comes to overdrafts? Our mystery

Seen an ad for a bank account lately? Chances are it included

fancy extras like free mobile phone insurance and car breakdown cover.

All very well, but the so-called packaged accounts also come with

hefty annual fees that can sometimes outweigh the benefits.

That's why savvy customers opt for free accounts instead, trouble is,

these can end up costing you too. Ask Steven MacDonald. He uses Bank

of Scotland and has an agreed overdraft of �100. I bank with the

Bank of Scotland and have an arranged overdraft of �100. Money

gets tight at the end of the month so it helps if you have the

overdraft. I was cles to the start of the month and hadn't noticed I

went overdrawn -- close to. Stephen fell into the trap of the

unauthorised overdraft, when you go over the amount agreed by your bank,

when they can charge you. He went overdrawn by �.72. Stephen's charge,

�110. Each day they charged me twice as much as I was overdrawn by.

I was gutted because it was only four months before Christmas and

can take a normal person a long time to get back on their feet

after that. Millions of other customers are also feeling the

pinch, including those who stay within their agreed limits. Some

banks are charging the highest rates on authorised overdrafts

since rates began. Depending on which one you are with, how much

could you end up paying? Our team checked the rays for eight

of the main high street banks. If we made one single transaction that

took us �100 into an agreed overdraft, what would it cost us

over 31 days? RBS, the first �100 you have got is interest free.

There is a monthly fee of �6 plus interest on top of that. NHBC is

interest only. As the Annes weren't exactly straightforward, our

mystery shoppers called for some help.

Enter personal finance guru Sarah Pennells.

The best value planned overdrafts are NatWest and RBS. They are part

of the same banking group and there, if you have asked the permission

beforehand and you go overdrawn by up to �100, you will pay nothing at

the end of the month. That's really good. The next best value accounts

are those that only charge you interest if you have a planned

overdraft. With HSBC, you would pay as little

as �1.5 interest for that 13070 for 31 days, and with Barclays, just

�1.51, but where it could work out the most expensive is with the

banks that charge a daily fee, that's because it's not about how

much you go overdrawn by but for how long. Some banks cap the number

of days they'll charge the fee but others don't. Halifax will charge

you �1 for every day you are overdrawn, so you could pay �31.

Yes, in our test, it's Halifax that's the most expensive for

authorised overdrafts. What about the fees for exceeding

your agreed overdraft? Our team found these charges to be sometimes

complicated, often confusing and usually more expensive. The

question this time - how much would it cost to go into an unauthorised

overdraft for 31 days? If you are overdrawn by more than �6, you will

pay �6 a day. Halifax do things differently don't they? A daily fee

of �5. Santander? They charge �5 per day for unplanned overdrafts.

We found the bank charging the lowest fee for going �100 overdrawn

without permission is HSBC. As well as levying interest, it charges a

�25 arrangement fee, bringing the total bill to around �26.55. But it

will waive that if you stay out of the red for six months, meaning you

could end up paying just �1.55. In contrast, the most expensive banks

were NatWest and RBS, both charging us a whopping �186 for exceeding

our limit by just �100. These charges vary widely but what

they have in common is that they are all quite high. I think people

should really think carefully before they go overdrawn without

asking their banks' permission. could think very carefully because

the penalties from some banks are so high, they can work out more

than the interest rates charged on a payday loan. But how much more?

On average, if you borrow �100 from a payday lender, you will pay

between �20 and �37 in interest at the end of that month. It varies

according to the lender and also according to how good or bad a risk

you are. That is, of course, a lot cheaper than you could pay if you

go overdrawn without asking permission from your bank first.

You could pay five or six times that in bank fees and charges which

will come as a big surprise. 40 banks subscribed to a lending

code under which they'll let customers know if they can opt out

of unauthorised overdrafts, warn them in advance if they are about

to two over their agreed limits and if they do go over and are in

danger of getting into financial problems, help them find a solution.

So although I think the banks in some cases have made real

improvements, I would say that consumers have to look carefully at

how much they could end up paying if they go overdrawn without asking

first and I would say try and avoid it if you can, talk to your bank,

and if they won't give you the overdraft, maybe it's a sign that

you are spending too much and you need debt advice, rather than go

overdrawn without asking. Well, all the banks we looked at

told us that they are committed to offering clear and simple charging

structures and a wide range of information and help for customers

who go overdrawn. This includes alerts if they are about to go

overdrawn and assistance if they are facing difficulty. They also

encourage customers to talk to them about their financial needs, they

say. Bank of Scotland says it's sorry that Stephen feels he was

unfairly charged. Along with Lloyds TSB, it says overdrafts aren't

guaranteed and are based on people's personal circumstances.

Not all customers have access to an unplanned overdraft and they say

they wouldn't extend them to those who're unlikely to make repayments.

What about the rest to have banks that we looked at, Rani? Halifax

says our example isn't typical and that comparing its �1 daily plan

with other bank charges isn't a like for like comparison. It says

it offers options to prevent customers going overdrawn and when

they do, it's usually for a few days. If that goes on for longer

than a week, it will contact them about other repayment options and

may suspend the daily fee, depending on the resolution.

Barclays says it gives customers choices on how to structure their

borrowing and offers an emergency banking service which they can opt

in or out of. HSBC always aims to be fair and will often waive fees

for customers making small or infrequent informal overdraft quls.

That goes for Santander. Where fees are incurred, they won't be applied

until 22 days after notification. Finally, RBS and NatWest both say

they've worked with the office or Fair Tradeing to publish various

charging scenarios which allow customers to compare their charges

against their competitors. As we saw in the film, many of the banks

charge for an unauthorised overdraft can be higher than those

of a payday lender, but we should say that payday loans are not for

everyone and the high interest rates can mean charges increase

substantially if loans are extended. Back to our consumer cops in the

north-east. In the run-up to New Year, one of their biggest concerns

are the sales of fireworks. There are strict rules surrounding the

storing of them and shops need a licence to sell them. If they get

into the wrong hands, the results can be lethal. Here is Chris again.

For the last 16 years, Steve has been Middlesbrough's main man for

checking that licensed firework retailers are complying with the

rules. It's late October and in the run-up to Bonfire Night, he's

carrying out a series of inspections of local shops, making

sure the fireworks they are selling don't pose a risk to public safety.

Hello. Trading Standards, Mr Desai, a routine inspection... Steve

already knows many of the long-term licence holders in the area, but no

matter how long they've been selling, he needs to be satisfied

they are doing things by the book. Thank you very much... No live

fireworks in the window? If you hold this one, you will see it's a

doubley. -- dummy. They're all dummies as well. Empty boxes.

are quite large fireworks and if they weren't dummies, the amount of

weight in there would be enormous. High, yes. That's ideal, yes.

The weight of firework shops can sell is restricted and the restrict

UK -- there are strict UK regulations regarding storage.

open the cabinets and make sure there's no electricity in them.

Behind the counter, I can see that there's nothing else stored here,

there's no combustible or flammable material, the area's kept nice and

clean and there's no heaters or anything like this, anything which

could add to a risk to the stock in these cabinets.

It's only when you come behind here and look in the cabinets that you

can really see that sort of thing. One of the most important areas of

enforcement is the selling of fireworks to those who're under age.

I think 21, a 25 policy is well worth considering. If they don't

look 25, get the staff to ask for I diand if they can't produce it, no

sale -- ID and they can't produce it. Perhaps a staff refusal log

book as well. 99% of refusals stop at the door because a lot of kids

want to see and they stand there when their parents come in. My

policy is simple, if they don't look old enough, don't come in the

shop. This shop has strict rules of selling to minors, but not everyone

is as responsible. It's been a tough challenge over the years to

clamp down on things? There were fireworks going off all over the

place in Middlesbrough. We all got our heads together and thought,

where can they possibly be coming from, and the conclusion we draw

was that people were selling them from home. In 2002, the team set up

a hotline number for the public to call if they had any information

about illegal sales. People were brilliant. They clearly

didn't want to live next door to an explosives store so they rang up

and said who they were selling to, when and gave us comprehensive

details. Within weeks of the hotline being set up, they were

alerted to a man selling fireworks to children from his house.

started on the surveillance and quite honestly, nothing was

happening at all. We were on the point of calling it off when all of

a sudden, the lights went on in the living room, the curtains were

thrown back, the patio doors were opened and really, in no time at

all, the back garden was just full of youths in tracksuits and

baseball caps offering money and running off with fireworks in all

directions. It was clearly a very, very thriving business. They were

actually discharging the fireworks immediately outside the gentleman's

garden. Ironically, he was annoyed about that and came out and chased

them for that, but he was quite clearly happy to gain the profit

from selling the fireworks in the first place. That trader was

charged with the illegal supply of fireworks to under 18s. He received

a community punishment order for 100 hours.

But back on the street, Steve is keen to keep getting the message

out there. If I can just ask you, Mr Desai, if

you are kind enough to display our Sticker... Since the fireworks

hotline was established, the streets of Middlesbrough have

become that bit quieter. The racket you hear today is being made by

Steve's colleagues as they test the explosives for safety.

Can I ask you a question about this one? I'll bring you the results of

those tests a little later. Before that, misleading adverts. How about

this one from Amazon which has just been banned today. The online

retailer claimed that customers signing up to their Amazon prime

membership scheme could get free one-day delivery on all eligible

orders. It may be free delivery, but you have to pay �49 a year to

join which makes the word "Free" slightly confusing. Amazon argued

if they hadn't said delivery was free, customers may have been

equally confused about possible delivery charges. However, the

Advertising Standards Authority disagreed with them and said it was

misleading in this context because you have to pay �49 to get it.

Well, Amazon's since told us they are confident their prime customers

understand the �49 annual subscription fee includes unlimited

one-day deliveries at no additional charge. They aim to describe

services clearly and accurately and will update the website in line

with the judgment. Talking about being clear and

accurate in adverts, how often are you caught out by the catches and

disclaimers? You might not always spot them, but James Daley, our

Add vertds these days. Is it me or are they always full of little

catches -- adverts. It sometimes seems like they are only put there

so companies can offer one thing, only for you to find out the

offer's not quite as good as you initially thought. And why is there

so much tiny print compared to the bigger message they are trying to

get out? They might like putting their catchs in the small print,

but I'm going to make them nice and big. First up, we hear the word

unlimit add loot, especially in related to Broadband and mobile

phone ads. We don't see the words "Fair use", meaning that you might

not have unlimited access to Tess messages and data downloads. If you

send 5,000 texts a month, you may find that breaches the fair usage

policy, so if you are particularly heavy using data or send a lot of

texts, you may want to check your provider's fair uses policy before

you sign up to them. Thex in up, the tiny words like "Up

to" and "From" that you can so easily miss, like up to 75% off

where the 75% is huge and the up to is smaller. Shops only need put up

one item of stock at a discount of 75% to be able to use that

advertising. Nothing more frustrating than excitedly going to

an up to 75% off sale only to find that most things are discounted at

a far smaller rate. What about this, the words from in tiny letters and

�30 in huge letters? You know, so for example, a hotel room from �30,

but in reality, it's very hard to book that anywhere close to a price

of �30, because in most cases, that offer's only available at the

weekends or it's only available for a limited period. Or there are

extra credit card charges to pay. Technically, there might not be

anything wrong with presenting an offer in this way, but it's so

frustrating if it givious the idea that the offer's much better than

it really is. As ever, keep reading the small print.

You may also spot one of those. The asterisk. It will usually lead you

to a load of terms and conditions at the foot of the advert and

typically in tiny print. Even if there is not an asterisk, there are

often disclaimers at the food of the advert like the shampoo adverts

where it says the model is wearing hair extensions or the worryingly

small sample sizes on surveys. So what can you do if you think you

have been misled or duped dian advert? You could submit a

complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority. They've got

the power to investigate adverts and even get companies to take them

down. If you can, send a copy of the advert or think about taking a

photo. If it's not serious, you could

complain directly to the advertiser. Or think about spreading news of

your complaint on social media. That'll warn others about it and

could get the company's attention. James Daley. He's Which?'s money

expert. If you want more tips on what to look out for in the small

print, it's on the website at [email protected].

Now, we are heading back to Teesside where Trading Standards

officers are policing the sales and storage of fire works, but they

also carry out tests on the explosives to make sure they're

safe to use, as Chris Jackson reports.

The checks take place here at a testing facility in the centre of

Middlesbrough. Lab manager Paul Lucas has just received a

consignment of fireworks bought from major high street retailers.

We will be checking to see if they comply with the British standard.

These are labelled as display fireworks, but they are on sale to

the general public. Testing fireworks - it's not like watching

them - we have so many things to observe and we are dog it in

daylight so we don't get the full effect of the firework.

But we are timing the fuses, we are timing the time between the fuse

going out and the start of the firework and then we are timing how

long the fireworks are running. And we are also observing the things

that are ejected to make sure that nothing falls outside the circle.

So chances of enjoying the firework, remote. These fireworks must be

placed 25 metres away from anyone watching them.

In the test area, the outer yellow circle marks the danger zone. If

any debris weighing more than one gram drops outside the area, the

firework will fail the test. If any blazing debris drops between the

height of the poles, the firework will also fail. The other thing of

course is whether the firework is stable. If it says to bury the

firework, we must bury it to the depth indicated. One thing to note

- a fail on any of today's tests doesn't necessarily mean they are

dangerous. But it does mean they will be subject to closer scrutiny.

Nigel is the lab technician at the sharpnd today lighting the fuses

and handling the fireworks. Right away, he spots a problem. The team

must follow instructions to the letter when setting up the

fireworks. Eventually, they pile up enough

It's an impressive sight. But, there's a problem with this one.

The time it takes the fuse to burn In regard to that, I hope I'm a

good trained athlete and I can get away quick, because anyone who

can't is in trouble. 1Tnt28 seconds is lower than five seconds required

by the regulations, a clear fail. -- 1.28. The team carry on testing

all 14 packs of fireworks. That's been ejected by the firework. But,

it is still a good way inside the 25 metre danger zone.

So, that's a pass. Look at the box and it's passed. Very good. Worked

very well. But with the next test, the explosion drops outside the

danger zone. This piece of debris has fallen

outside the required perimeter, so that'll probably be looked at. And

a further problem is spotted. Can I ask you a question about this one?

Doesn't appear as though it's gone off completely. Two tests failed on

this one firework. It's over the weight limit of one gram allowed

for debris falling outside the danger zone and more worryingly, it

didn't go off completely. Something like this, if only half the

fireworks function, it give mess cause for concern. We have been

lucky here in the fact that the firework's actually ceased function.

But just imagine the scenario where there's a bit of glowing debris

somewhere in there, the person goes back to it thinking the thing's

finished completely and up it goes again.

The next firework tested also fails. It showers the area outside the

danger zone with much heavier debris.

There's another one there. Just These are all pieces which have

come down out of the safety circle. My colleagues are picking some more

up over the other side and we'll hand these to the lab manager so he

can weigh them all. This peace of debris weighs 22.1

grammes, much heavier than the one gram allowed. All these pieces of

debris have come down outside the danger zone. So people could be

watching the firework and be hit by one of these as they are stood

quietly be. -- quietly by. The team discovered that four out of 14

packs of fireworks fail on one or more tests. The illusion missile

and three of the pax failed the fuse burn timing tests. Jet fire

ejected debris out of the safety zone and Wonderland failed on both

counts. The failure referred to, it will be handed over to the Trading

Standards to implement. We have a few more tests to do on the spent

fireworks before we are finished, but all in all, it's been a good

day. John who you saw in that film joins

me now. Obviously a busy time for you, but we saw some fireworks fail

in your tests. What's happened since? I think a lot of people

might expect they've been taken off the shelves. The problems we found

when we did the tests were classed as defects under the standard, they

weren't critical failures, if they were critical, if for example the

fireworks blew up as soon as an ignition source had been put to

them, or they'd all fallen over and showered the sparks in different

directions, in those cases, one failure would have been enough and

we'd have been into a full-scale investigation. But what we had here

were defects. The way in which that's dealt with is on a

statisticical basis. So we had to first of all very, very quickly

obviously get back in touch with the home authority Trading Standard

service for the place where they're imported and ask them if they could

show that there were sufficient tests to show statistically that

they were safe. I'm pleased to say that those test reports were

provided, showing they'd done thousands, well hundreds of tests

on thousands of fireworks and we were happy that the products were

safe. We are coming up to Christmas and

New Year, so people will be thinking about fireworks again, so

what should we do to keep ourselves safe? First of all, you should be

going to somewhere that's registered, a proper shop which is

licensed to store and sell fireworks because then you know

that the fireworks have come through this rigorous control

procedure and you will know they are tested fireworks. The second

thing I would say which I can't stress strongly enough, is that

there are some very big fireworks which are legal to be sold to

people these days - make sure that the fireworks you buy are suitable

for the private space that you've got. If your back yard or garden

isn't big enough to take a firework, stand back 25 metres from it, for

goodness sake don't buy it, because once it's lit, you can't do

anything about it. Thank you. Lots of people in touch

with us this morning. Rani? Loads of messages about hospital

car parking charges, lots describing it as a tax on the sick.

Carol from West Sussex is particularly angry that at some

hospitals the money raised is going into the pockets of private parking

companies, not patients' care. Also I need to point out, although

hospital car park charges have been scrapped in Scotland, they are

still in force at the Ed during and Glasgow Royal Infirmarys and the

Ninewells Hospitals in Dundee. Thank you very much for your e-

mails, texts and tweets, we'll read them out again tomorrow. Keep them

coming in. That is all we have time for this morning. On tomorrow's

programme, rail delays - you can claim compensation from the train

companies, but are they all playing by the rules? Thomson, a letter of