Episode 8 Call the Council

From rubbish and recycling...

..to potholes and pavements...

Another street down. Another street to go.

..educating our children...

-SHE EXHALES

-Fantastic.

..and caring for the elderly...

It does make a difference when you see what can be achieved.

..we rely on our local councils to provide a huge range of services.

You may kiss the bride.

APPLAUSE

In this series, we follow front-line staff

working for Wigan Council in Greater Manchester.

-SHE BANGS GAVEL

-Ooh, sorry.

Like council officers across the country,

-they're protecting us from hidden dangers...

-Oh, dear.

..stepping in when there's an emergency...

You never know what you're turning up to.

-Thank you very much.

-..and responding to residents...

-Thanks for everything.

-..when they...

PHONE RINGS ..call the council.

Coming up...

..council officers search rotting waste for clues

after bin wars break out in a local street...

Why have they suddenly decided

to dump all this waste in other people's bins?

..a hoard of ancient treasure is discovered in the museum store...

I just pulled something off the shelf and I thought, "Wow."

..and officers confront their worst fears

at an exotic animal inspection.

-Are you all right?

-I don't like spiders.

Wigan lies 20 miles west of Manchester.

Good afternoon. Wigan Council. Arron speaking. How can I help?

Its borough council looks after a community of over 300,000 people.

Any problems, just give us a call back, OK?

Rubbish collection is one of the key council services

that we all rely on.

It's only a plastic bin, but if it doesn't get emptied,

or even worse, disappears,

the council are quick to know about it.

Bins are important

to the general public because everybody has rubbish,

everybody needs to get rid of their rubbish and at their convenience.

This is why we provide bins.

Some people will steal bins,

some people will use other people's bins.

They're probably a couple of things that we get a lot of calls about.

In one of the borough's backstreets,

local resident Yvonne Morrison is seething

after someone dumped maggot-infested rubbish in her bin

and has called the council to complain.

Eugh.

Nasty.

I opened the lid and it was jam-packed full

and flies everywhere,

so I came in and called the council

and told them that I'd just had my bins emptied

and they were full again.

I've got a job that is going to need two of us.

We need to go through some bins.

Environment officers Sue Catterall and Karen Foster

have picked up the case, and today, they're going out to investigate.

Sue's been told that five more bins in the same street

have also been filled up.

It's going to be a dirty, smelly job.

We've got half a dozen black domestic bins

with maggots crawling out of them

because they've been refilled with rotting food waste.

It won't be pleasant, but part and parcel of the job.

It's what we're here for.

We need to try and find out who's put the waste in the bins.

-Times it is hard work, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

Sue and Karen have arranged to meet Yvonne by the bins.

Eugh.

Yeah. Well, we'll get the gloves on. So, it's these three?

-Those three and those two there.

-Right, OK.

There may be clues about where the rubbish has come from

inside the bins.

It's a grim job, but Sue and Karen are going in.

Not pleasant, to say the least.

Obviously, it's been there awhile.

It's things like this... It's infuriating, really.

I don't like doing it.

It's really rotted at the bottom.

It's probably been there for weeks, if not months.

Towards the bottom of that.

It's a hot summer day.

The rubbish stinks and it's full of flies and maggots.

This is the glamorous side of our job, this.

Sue and Karen are hoping to find a piece of evidence

that could lead them to the source of the mystery rubbish.

Sometimes there's letters, sometimes there's parcels et cetera

that have been delivered to addresses.

I'm just looking for something that could tie us back to an address

so that we can ask why their waste is in these particular bins.

Why have they suddenly decided

to dump all this waste in other people's bins?

What issues have they got? Do they not have bins themselves?

Yvonne's watching the investigation from a safe distance.

-Would you like to be getting your hands in there?

-No, thank you.

The flies are enough.

Despite a long, smelly sort through the filth,

Sue and Karen haven't found any clues.

We have been through them as best we can,

-but there's nothing with anybody's address on.

-Mm.

Because of that, it's preventing us

from trying to find out exactly where they come from.

But Sue isn't finished yet.

She's spotted a neighbouring back yard full of black bin bags.

It could be that there's a new resident in there.

It could be that there's somebody

who's lived there for quite some while.

This lady seems to think that the property's been empty

and that people have been throwing rubbish into the garden,

so it might be that the new resident

or the landlord has been filling these bins.

Still, we can't tie those bin bags back to this property.

Sue doesn't know if the neighbouring property

is linked to the bin problem, but the council can issue a notice

asking the homeowner to clear up the back yard.

We'll be tough when you need to be.

-Advice and assistance first of all.

-Yeah.

-And then enforcement.

So, that's when we go bad.

We are happy to educate people, definitely,

but if we need to, then we've got tools and powers to use

in order to get things resolved for other people.

First, they'll check if anyone's in.

There's no answer, but Sue and Karen can leave a card

asking the homeowner to get in touch.

Right, we'll put both our names on there.

'If we get no response, it'll go straight to enforcement,'

and they will do a landlord check, get in touch with the landlord,

issue a notice for the landlord to remove the rubbish.

Probably be more likely sort of towards dinner time,

-just after dinner, they tend to come out.

-Yeah.

But, yeah, we'll get them sorted.

After reassuring Yvonne that her dirty bins

will be emptied tomorrow...

-All right, thank you. Thanks a lot. See you. Bye.

-Bye.

..it's time for home and a good wash.

I put my hand on something, and then, when I lifted my hand up,

it had what I thought looked like baby poo on the end of my hand,

-but it was, like, rotted.

-SHE SHUDDERS

I'm going to go home and have about three showers.

SHE LAUGHS

Coming up, Sue returns to check if the culprits

have cleaned up their act.

The smell was horrendous.

I'm just hoping that there's not a re-occurrence of that.

From local libraries to stately homes,

our local councils own a wide variety of buildings.

Museums also make the list,

and there are currently over 500 council-run museums across the UK.

Museum's teach us lots of things about the past

and about the local place and the local identity

and the history and industry of an area,

but they also inspire new creativity.

The Museum of Wigan Life is a small museum with big ideas.

In a few weeks, a new exhibition is opening here

featuring world-class ancient artefacts...

..unique treasures that were discovered here in Wigan

quite by chance.

This is Wigan Museum's store.

Any items that aren't on public display

are kept here under lock and key.

The location of the warehouse is top-secret.

Lynda Jackson and museum collections officer Carrie Gough

are part of a select group who know where it is.

When I'm on my own, actually, sometimes,

you have to sort of give yourself a talking-to

not to get sort of creeped out

because it can be a bit quiet and you are quite cut-off.

-And you get pigeons on the roof as well that freak you out.

-Yeah.

And there's odd noises and things and creepy old prams.

We've got about 30,000 objects

covering the whole history of the borough from,

well, prehistoric times, really.

We've got fossilised tree trunks and things in here

all the way through to, you know, more recent donations,

21st-century donations.

So, this is where we keep everything

and look after it with a view to getting it on display

and getting it used by local people.

The museum's collection of artefacts was moved here two years ago,

prompting Carrie to start the painstaking task

of updating the records of everything in the collection.

Every item in every box needs to be looked at, catalogued and repacked.

What nice spectacles.

I do love old glasses.

It's a labour of love.

Um, I get really excited, generally,

and that's probably why I do what I do. Things like this.

I mean, this belonged to somebody, these headphones.

And you will find some really amazing things.

Carrie's passion for unpacking the past has already paid off.

Two years ago, she took an ordinary-looking box off the shelf

and had an Indiana Jones-style moment.

I just pulled something off the shelf

and it was a piece of wood, essentially, painted.

But it was a statuette and it was very obviously Egyptian.

And that was the first piece of Egyptology in Wigan

that I'd ever seen and I thought, "Wow."

MUSIC: Indiana Jones Theme

Carrie had rediscovered the first piece

of a world-class collection,

originally acquired by local lawyer Sir John Scott.

After his death,

the pieces were donated to the Wigan Museum by his son in 1924.

The team unpacked 50 more pieces, and in a few weeks,

they'll go on display together for the first time.

It's been really growing in momentum

and everyone's become quite passionate about it,

from the first stages of,

"Oh, we've got some, like, good objects here"

to, like, "Wow! We've got some amazing stuff

"and it really needs to be displayed."

So, for it to finally be coming together is...

It's just, yeah, it's really, really exciting for everyone.

-Coming up...

-Here he is. In one piece.

..can a top conservation team return Wigan's ancient treasures

to their former glory?

Wow! It's Wigan's gold mask.

From the ancient to the exotic, for front-line council officers,

there's no such thing as an ordinary day at the office.

Today, public protection officer Arron Hanson

is preparing for a job that he's never done before.

He's inspecting a house that's home to an unusual new business.

Dan Jubb called the council

because he needs a performing animal registration

for his collection of unusual creatures.

I wasn't made aware that I needed this licence.

Obviously, I needed my insurance to cover

in case there was any accidents,

but I wasn't made aware that I needed this other licence as well,

so it was a priority that I went forward and got it.

Dan wants to take his animals out to schools and children's parties,

but first, Arron and his colleague Steve

need to carry out some important welfare and safety checks.

If you want to show and exhibit animals,

you need to have a licence with the council and be registered.

So, this is the first one we've got while I've been here,

so I've brought Steve with me as well

so we can check the animals' welfare

and also go through some of the finer details

of what he's got planned to do and things like that.

Under the Performing Animals Act, anyone showing, training

or performing with animals in public places

needs to register with their local council.

This is only the second registration Wigan has ever dealt with.

-Hiya.

-Dan, hiya. Are you OK? I'm Arron.

If Dan hasn't complied with all the rules and regulations,

he won't be able to continue his new business.

Make sure the gate's shut.

Don't want any animals getting out.

The most important checks are the welfare of the animals,

how they'll be transported to events

and making sure everything possible is being done

to prevent accidents when the animals are being handled.

So, this is Tegu.

Ah, right. OK.

We usually take this on visits, depending on how he is that week.

Right, OK. Are you expecting that to be a handled animal?

-No, that's just a display one.

-A display one.

-Yeah, so, I just show that.

-I just want to clarify as well

which ones are being handled and which aren't.

Steve's started to look a little uneasy.

-You look scared.

-Are you scared?

No, I'm just trying to keep out the way cos...

They're not going to hurt you.

Fortunately, Arron is more than happy

-to handle the exotic animals.

-Ah!

So, do these give a nip or anything?

They could do a nasty nip,

but it's very, very rare that they do it.

This one usually comes on visits. This is a whip spider.

I tell you what it looks like.

-It looks like the one from Harry Potter.

-That's what it is.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Oh, look at that. Harry Potter.

You look petrified.

-Are you all right?

-I don't like spiders.

Steve's about to confront his worst nightmare.

It's a creature that might be a danger to the general public.

-I can see a tarantula.

-Mm-hm.

Um, will people be handling that one?

Not that one. That one's quite nasty.

The one they hold is this one.

When I go to a job,

I would assess whether it's in a handable mood or...

So, you'd make that assessment on the day.

Steve's already planning his escape route.

-I don't like spiders.

-THEY LAUGH

Now, he's not in a good mood for me to get him out.

He's quite skittish. He's moving around quite fast.

Whereas, if he's relaxed and ready to be handled,

he will gently walk onto my hand.

-So, that would be now...

-On display?

-..on display, yeah.

Today, the grumpy tarantula will stay safely in his box.

It's not just Dan's insects that need Arron's attention.

He's got a whiff of a new addition to the critter collection.

-So, that's him.

-So, that's that smell?

-Yeah.

-Skunk smell.

Obviously, it's not his spray. His spray is really, really strong.

-Right.

-Like...

-I tell you what it smells like.

-It smells like them children's stink bombs that you can get...

-Yeah.

..where the kids used to throw them on the floor.

Did you ever get them as a kid? No?

The skunk is only nine weeks old

and will grow to the size of a small dog.

So, enrichment, sort of for him?

What sort of things does he enjoy playing with and...?

So, it's basically like cat toys. We have lots of cat toys for him.

Little bits, games.

You know, the rubber teething rings, things like that.

-Cute little thing, isn't he?

-Yeah.

-Do you want to have a go?

-Um, go on, then.

-Put your hand like this.

I'm going to sit his back feet onto your hands.

Just want you to put your finger over his tail. On you go.

Hello.

Oh, are you coming up here?

Skunks don't make good pets.

They need specialist care and should only be kept by expert handlers.

It's illegal to remove their scent glands

and being sprayed can be a nasty experience.

Obviously, we don't want everyone to start going out buying skunks

cos they start getting bitten and people don't realise

that they need...what their food diet is.

-That's right, yeah.

-And then...

-So, do you talk about things like they're not...?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Like, the bigger snakes,

I encourage people not to have reptiles as pets, really...

-Yeah. They get rid of them.

-..because they need a lot of work.

You know, they're not like a dog.

-You can't just lock them in a kitchen.

-No, no.

The inspection is over.

If Dan sends in the right paperwork,

he can hit the road with his amazing animals.

No concerns about animal welfare at all.

The animals are well looked after.

I can see that all from just going in there.

I was slightly concerned how he was looking after the skunk,

but that seems fine.

It's running around, it's got plenty of toys to play with.

It's important that the animals have enrichment.

Um, and the other thing was the risk assessments,

which we'll work together on.

It's new for us and it's new for him,

so it's about working together to make sure he gets it right.

Yeah, it's what I live for.

I mean, all my animals are my pets and that's...

To make a living from that, it's fantastic.

The spider was my least favourite.

-I hate spiders.

-Yeah.

-HE LAUGHS

-I were good that I got it that it were Harry Potter.

-Yeah.

He was from Harry Potter, that spider.

Coming up, Arron makes final checks at Dan's first show.

Now, what these like to do is they like to jump an awful lot.

Museum staff in Wigan have discovered

ancient Egyptian artefacts in their storeroom.

Wow. We've got some amazing stuff and it really needs to be displayed.

In a few weeks,

thanks to local donations and a charitable grant,

the collection will go on display.

Going to see the mounts.

Today, museum collections officer Carrie Gough

and exhibitions officer Joan Livesey are visiting the Manchester Museum.

Experts have spent the last five months

restoring and conserving some of the treasures they uncovered.

It'll be the first time that we've seen the majority of them,

so, really excited.

We can't wait to see how they're going to look

and how they're going to appear in the cases, which will be amazing.

Here he is. In one piece.

This is how we're going to display him in the case.

John Miller and his team at the museum

are making display mounts for some of the objects.

They've nicknamed him Big Man.

He's actually an ancient Egyptian coffin lid.

This is the first time I've seen Big Man

with the completed conservation as well, so it's amazing.

All you used to be able to see, really,

was the horrible, bright, white fill of old conservation work,

and it really...

It took away from the object.

So, now it's been removed and blended in,

it just looks so much better.

The unique design on the bottom piece

marks him out as a world-class artefact.

It's this bit here. It's the funerary parade.

They're throwing sand over their heads in grief

and then there's a reed hovering between each person,

which seems a bit out of place, but in the Egyptian language,

a reed between a person with their arm raised

means, like, "Oh" which is a lament,

so it's giving a voice to the mourners.

I would desperately love to see the rest of the coffin,

but it could be...could still be in a tomb somewhere.

It could be anywhere. It's a shame.

It's time to go up to the conservation area,

where Wigan's number-one find is on display.

Those eyes are just absolutely incredible, aren't they?

This is the gold 18th-dynasty coffin mask.

The eyes are made from obsidian, which is volcanic glass,

and it would have been an important person in society.

Possibly a minor royal.

We've had people tell us it wouldn't be out of place

in the British Museum or the Louvre or somewhere, which is just...

When you hear things like that from Egyptologists

who know what they're talking about, it's just...

Wow! It's Wigan's gold mask.

Now the artefacts have been prepared,

it's all systems go for one of the most important museum exhibitions

Wigan's ever seen.

It's going to be a lot more high-profile

than what we've done before, which is amazing as well,

-so we're all so excited, aren't we?

-Yeah.

And plus, as well, the objects have never been seen

altogether ever on display in Wigan,

and it's going to be a first for Wigan again,

so it's going to be brilliant.

Coming up,

the ancient artefacts are returned to Wigan for the exhibition.

It looks amazing.

But the team are about to experience a major setback.

I don't know how that's happened

cos we did...we measured everything up,

but, obviously, it has happened.

Across the borough,

the council is keeping a more everyday show on the road.

Rubbish and recycling is a key service

that affects all of our daily lives.

The rubbish, it's never cleaned up.

There's rubbish everywhere and it's just...

It's gone downhill. Gone downhill altogether.

Every time I've had any problems, they've been good.

Provided a good service, basically.

Yeah, never had any problems...as yet.

They seem lackadaisical on the weekend.

The rubbish can be left.

They try their best on Sunday morning to clear it up,

but then again, Monday, there's a few leftovers knocking about.

Council officers were called to a street in Wigan

after maggot-infested rubbish was dumped in people's bins.

I opened the lid

and it was jam-packed full and flies everywhere.

A neighbour on the same street has been contacted by council officers

and told to clear up their back yard.

If we need to, then we've got tools and powers to use

in order to get things resolved for other people.

Today, environment officer Sue Catterall

is returning to the street to check if the situation has improved.

The last visit has left her with some bad memories.

The smell was horrendous. There was lots and lots of flies.

There was rotting meat in there.

It wasn't pleasant at all.

I'm just hoping that there's no more,

there's not a re-occurrence of that.

Sue arranged for the council waste services team

to empty the infested bins.

Well, it's looking pretty tidy. It is bin day today.

So far, the alleyway is looking much better.

She now needs to check the inside of the bins.

Only residents' waste should be in there.

It's empty. It's not in use.

So, that's a week since last collection,

so nobody's using this particular bin.

-Are you all right? Are we happy with that?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

Yvonne, the resident who called the council,

hasn't had any more problems since Sue's last visit.

The bin situation's improved a lot.

There's not as many spare bins that people just dump anything in.

The backs seem a lot cleaner. I'm a lot happier about it.

Time to check out the back yard further up the street.

Two weeks ago, it was full of black bin bags.

There's no evidence linking this property

to the rubbish dumped in Yvonne's bins,

and the owners said they weren't responsible.

But Sue asked the owner to clear the yard up,

and there's been a huge improvement.

Great. Absolutely no rubbish whatsoever.

Perfection. Brilliant. Brilliant.

I'm happy.

When we ring up people and we raise a concern,

we're raising it for a particular reason.

We're not there to be awkward or difficult.

And when people deal with it,

as soon as you've raised the problem, that's great.

I just wish more people would do the same

and you wouldn't have to keep revisiting properties.

It's a great result, but the job's not over yet.

Residents have spotted Sue on the street

and seized the opportunity to air their grievances about other issues.

-All right?

-The minute a back yard or a gate's missing,

-people are throwing the rubbish in.

-Right, yeah.

-People call themselves drivers...

-Right.

..but they're blind to "no entry" signs.

-I noticed that somebody's changed the lock on the top gate.

-Right.

You can only open it from the inside with your key.

Oh, I've just opened it from the outside.

-Well, it didn't work the other day when I tried it.

-Yeah, yeah.

Any ideas who's letting the dogs out?

So, the junction of Chadwick...

There's going to be a serious accident.

Your coping stones is a police matter.

The driving wrong way up a street - police matter again.

The uneven footpath - ring through to the council.

Obviously, we've got people who've come out with raising other issues.

They're not all for me. They're not all for the council, in fact.

And it's just pointing people in the right direction.

Sometimes, they do like to come out and share their problems,

but please don't wait for us to come.

Ring us up. Call the council.

When, obviously, everybody comes out and you give me lots of things,

there's only so much I can deal with as we...

Sue can't fix all the residents' problems in one go...

Appreciate what you're doing, anyway.

-Great stuff. Thanks, Yvonne.

-OK, thanks a lot.

..but getting rid of maggots in the wheelie bins was a good start.

Sue's handled it very well. She was...

You know, she's been on the ball with it and she's got the jobs done.

Sorted it.

It's nice to get a thank you. Really nice to get a thank you.

Doesn't happen very often, so...

And to be really appreciated.

So...yeah, good.

-I've got a smile on my face, anyway.

-SHE LAUGHS

A unique collection of Egyptian artefacts

has been discovered in a Wigan museum storeroom.

I thought, "Wow."

Painstaking conservation work has been carried out

by specialists in Manchester.

It just looks so much better. So much better.

Today, the amazing artefacts are coming back to Wigan.

It's a big moment for Carrie Gough,

who rediscovered the hidden treasure trove two years ago.

There's about 50 objects ready to go in the cases

in the next couple of days, so, yeah, really excited.

Inside the museum, the exhibition Ancient Egypt Rediscovered

is coming together.

It's all right where it is now,

but you could put an extra thing at this end.

Or maybe put the little things down here or something.

It's a nerve-racking time

for community history manager Lynda Jackson.

She's overseeing the transfer of the precious items

into the display cases.

Obviously, everything's very precious,

very old and very fragile and vulnerable.

When you're moving it,

this is probably when it's most vulnerable cos it's quite...

It's a kind of risky...risky moment.

The museum gives visitors an insight into everyday life in times gone by.

Now they'll be able to see objects that were used 5,500 years ago.

It's a hair bead, or possibly an earring.

It just makes a difference having it...

Even on such a small mount,

it makes a difference having it on a mount

because it would get a bit lost otherwise.

But it looks really great.

John Miller and his team from Manchester Museum

made the mounts for the artefacts,

and today, they're helping to put everything together.

I think it's going to look fantastic once we're all done,

and a little bit of tweaking here and there.

It's looking the part already.

The next job involves one of the star attractions.

Looks amazing.

It's time to put Big Man into his display case.

Big Man is an artefact of world importance.

He's a major part of the exhibition.

-What's that?

-The internal size of the case...

-But John is worried about something.

-It's not right?

-We had designed the cases round...

-The objects.

-..those measurements that we gave.

-That's...

There's a problem with the new mount.

I don't know how that's happened

cos we did...we measured everything up,

but, obviously, it has happened.

The measurements for the specially designed mount were wrong.

It's difficult to get Big Man into the right position.

Well, we thought we'd measured...

I don't know where it's gone wrong, but, like,

they've had to put that on a lesser angle to get it fitted in.

It's not great. It's not great at all.

Could have done with the case being slightly higher internally.

After two years of preparation and planning,

this is a massive setback for the team.

An exotic animal handler has had a home inspection

from council officers.

This one usually comes on visits. This is a whip spider.

They had to carry out welfare and safety checks

before allowing him to take his creatures to visit local schools.

So, do these give a nip or anything?

Hi, Dan. It's Arron from Wigan Council.

Good news. I've been through your paperwork and everything's fine.

Council public protection officer Arron Hanson

has decided to award Dan his performing animals registration.

Now, this one is one of my favourite spider species.

This one is called a whip spider.

Today, the curious critters have got their first booking

at a local play centre,

and Arron is going along to check that Dan's complying

with the council's conditions.

So, this morning, I did sort of a stock check.

I went round and saw what I'd fed last night,

what I'd fed this morning, what needed feeding,

and I worked out what would be safe to bring.

So, these are more of the friendlier, hands-on animals,

whereas some of the species I have at home are more display.

Obviously, a tarantula, for example -

that's not really a good environment to be bringing to this morning.

-It's a bit too noisy, should we say?

-Yeah.

Now, first of all, what's really, really important

is that we wash our hands,

and that's to get rid of all the smells that may be on our hands

and all the germs that could be there.

The hand-washing was something Arron was keen to see in action.

It's going well so far.

So, he's taken some of the recommendations we gave him -

washing hands all the time.

And he's constantly doing that, so that's good.

So, this is a crested gecko.

Now, can you all look at his eyes for me?

His eyes are really, really big.

Now, what these like to do is they like to jump an awful lot,

and that's how they move around from tree to tree.

CHILDREN LAUGH

Boxes are labelled with what type of animals they are.

He's not leaving the animals out too long.

They're only out for a few minutes,

and then they're back and covered up.

So, yeah, it's good and the animals look happy and safe.

-OK, so, this is a corn snake.

-Can I wrap it round my neck?

Round your neck? Are you sure?

The children seem comfortable with the critters,

but Arron's not feeling as adventurous.

I think the kids are a lot braver than I am.

I wouldn't like a snake wrapped around my neck.

It's all going safely to plan.

Tex is my Argentinian tegu, and he's really, really big.

Everyone seems to be enjoying the animals.

-CHILDREN:

-Wow!

So, his favourite vegetables are courgettes,

and his favourite fruit is blueberries.

But do you know what his favourite meat is?

He likes baby mice.

But Dan's not done.

He's still got a final smelly surprise in store.

So, skunks are known for being quite smelly,

and that's because, if they get really, really scared,

they can spray something from two glands in their bum,

and that liquid is really, really smelly.

Now, Pepper is only a baby.

Now, he's quite friendly, but at the minute, he's teething,

just like a kitten or a dog would do,

so I don't want you to touch his mouth.

-Do you want to smell?

-SHE SNIFFS

What does he smell like?

-Smells like Chinese.

-He smells like Chinese?

-Yeah.

HE LAUGHS

Arron's confident that awarding the registration was a good decision.

Yeah, it's good that he's showing the kids and they're learning

and the kids are seeing different types of animal.

And, hopefully, you know, they'll have a better understanding

of how animals should be treated.

-Have you all enjoyed yourselves?

-CHILDREN:

-Yes!

The show's been a big success.

For me, having the licence enables me to go and do what I want to do

to educate the kids and make them realise that animals are dangerous,

but with the respect and the knowledge,

they can be quite friendly.

An important exhibition of ancient Egyptian artefacts

is about to open in Wigan.

The unique collection was discovered in the museum's storeroom.

But there's been a last-minute setback.

Big Man, one of the star pieces,

won't fit properly in the display case.

It's not great. It's not great at all.

It's 24 hours to the big opening.

Staff have worked round the clock to alter the mount for Big Man.

But museum collections officer Carrie still has concerns

about potential damage to this priceless piece of history.

Just, um, easing the mount, which, as you can see, is enormous.

You know, there's a small amount of room for manoeuvre.

You have to be careful not to hit the lights at the top.

It's the moment of truth.

They want the coffin lid to look as upright as possible in the case.

They're desperate for this to work.

Obviously, it's quite a tall object,

but it's got about half a centimetre to spare,

so it's not touching the top of the case, which is what we want.

There's relief all round. Big Man is finally inside his case.

It's just so good when you see it out,

and to have it on display for the people of Wigan is amazing.

-LAUGHTER

-It's in. Hurrah. Whoohoo! It's in.

The big day is here -

the official opening of Ancient Egypt Rediscovered,

the culmination of two years' work for museum staff.

It's a bit...

Down a tiny smidge.

-I think that that...

-Yeah.

You are causing a shadow as well, I think.

Time to unveil the specially designed entrance to the exhibition.

For Joan, the exhibitions officer, it's an important moment.

-Oh, my God. That looks amazing, doesn't it?

-Yeah, it does.

-Get in!

Oh, that looks amazing. It's brilliant. It's really good.

It looks quite big, actually, doesn't it,

when you see it like that?

-Can't believe it. Are we in Wigan?

-THEY LAUGH

Everything we do, we've got to do it to the best of our ability,

and more, you know.

And we do. We strive for that every time.

And, hopefully, people appreciate what we do and what we've done.

And I can't wait for people to see it. I'm really proud.

The only thing that's left to do is staff hair and make-up.

The important thing now is to make this look beautiful as well.

So, yeah, we're going to go and get dolled up, ready for the opening,

and print out my speech again cos I've lost the other one.

And then that's it. Everything else is done.

120 distinguished guests have arrived

to view the artefacts for the first time.

Among them, professor of Egyptology Joann Fletcher,

who will do the official opening.

I'm always seduced by a nice bit of bling,

and I have to say, that death mask is exquisite.

It is everything Ancient Egypt is.

It's a mask to be worn over the face of an embalmed, mummified body

and yet, it's smiling, it's gold, it's shining, it's beautiful.

And it's such a positive face,

you can't help but look at it and be moved.

It is stunningly beautiful.

Members of the local Egyptology society are also here.

They're really proud

to have such an important exhibition on their doorstep.

You could come here with an interest in Ancient Egypt

and see the civilisation of Egypt.

You could see everything.

Perfect. This is the finest set-up of Egyptian antiquities I've seen

for a town of this size. It's magnificent.

So, it's therefore, with the very greatest pleasure,

I give you Ancient Egypt Rediscovered.

For Carrie, Joan and Lynda,

the opening has been a massive success.

It's just lovely to see people enjoying the collections.

And so happy and thrilled. And that's what it's all about -

putting the objects on display for the people of Wigan.

And the country. Not just Wigan.

-We've got amazing collections, though.

-We have.

Even though this is amazing Egyptology,

it is just a part of the whole collection.

-We have to go some to top this, haven't we?

-Yeah.

-We will. But we will.

-SHE LAUGHS

THEY CHEER

Council officers nationwide

are trying to improve life in their borough

in lots of different ways.

From keeping streets clean and safe...

-Much appreciate what you're doing anyway.

-Great stuff.

..to regulating the local reptiles...

Could take him back to the office and put him under someone's desk.

..and sometimes, even helping to make history...

Oh, my God. That looks amazing. Get in!

..they're here to help residents when they call the council.