23/12/2012 BBC Weekend News

Flooding causes further damage and disruption in parts of the UK -

hundreds of flood warnings and alerts are in force. The heavy rain

has hit the south west of England, disrupting rail networks on one of

the busiest weekends of the year. In Scotland, one of the most badly

affected towns is Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, where dozens of people

have had to leave their homes. is just complete devastation and

the people are traumatised now. Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust

apologises to families and pays nearly half a million pounds in

compensation, for failings in care. And Swansea hold Manchester United

to a draw, but the Reds are still four points clear at the top of the

Good evening. Flooding is causing severe disruption again across many

parts of Britain, with more than 150 flood warnings in force and

more heavy rain forecast tonight. The worst affected areas are in the

south west of England, Wales and Scotland. Around 40 people have

been moved from their homes in Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire after a

river burst its banks. There's a severe flood warning for the south

west of England, where there's also been extensive damage and

disruption. Andrew Plant sent this report from just outside Exeter.

They are tough enough to carry trains, but they buckled under the

strength of this water. The rocks that support these railway sleepers

simply swept away in its path. This main route disappearing under the

river, cutting off much of the south-west of England. As soon as

this water stops flowing, it will take engineers about 48 hours to

get that piece of track replaced, and get this main line back up and

running, but at the moment there is nothing they can do. The job now is

to stop this water flowing further down the track, and stop it from

reaching that building in the background. That is where the

signalling his house, and if that is flooded it could be out for

three weeks. Rescue workers used giant bags filled with water to

divert this river back to its natural path, but as the water

slowly lost its strength it became clear this major route would be out

of action until after Christmas. This man owns the Chinese

restaurant next door. Instead of serving Christmas parties, he is

watching beer bottles bobbing on his dining room floor.

insurance does not cover it because we are in the flood plain.

Stonehaven, coastal defences were overwhelmed and rescue teams were

helping people flooded from their homes. This was complete

devastation and the people are traumatised now. In South Wales,

the Mini landslide smashed through the back door. Here in Devon, homes

were evacuated, vehicles abandoned. The flood water pushing into

people's houses just today's before Christmas. You have lost your home

and your belongings, and you will never replace some of the valuables

you have had. Seen from above, it is clear just how much water here

has nowhere to go. For homeowners and emergency services are like, it

is now simply a nervous wait for more rain tonight.

The flooding has caused huge disruption to those hoping to

travel on one of the busiest weekends of the year. The rain has

caused delays on the roads and affected dozens of rail routes, as

Daniel Boettcher reports. In places the flooding has not just blocked

rail lines but swept away ballasts supporting the track, making it

difficult to assess how long this will take to repair. The water has

disrupted key services in and out of the south-west, leaving

passengers having to make other plans or allow more time to get

where they want to be. There was one point where to the left there

was flooding, and to the right from a bird's-eye view it looked like a

train going through a notion. will bite the bullet and go today

because nobody wants to travel on Christmas Eve if they can help it.

If I knew it would be difficult so I allowed extra time this end to go

with the flow. First Great Western has been advising passengers not to

travel west of Taunton unless there journey is essential. There are

signs warning passengers of what lies ahead, and Network Rail says

it is unlikely that flooded section of track will reopen tomorrow.

is a mess. The weather has caused problems for drivers as well, many

minor roads becoming impossible. This is one road in Somerset on

apart by flooding. More overnight rain could bring disruption.

ground is already saturated, so many parts will continue to be

badly affected with the rain from the last few days. A tomorrow could

prove to be another challenging day for travellers with long journeys

ahead of them. And you can keep full up to date on

the flooding by visiting bbc.co.uk/news and more

specifically on the travel problems at bbc.co.uk/travelnews.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says he's disgusted and appalled by

the failures of care at Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust.

In one of the worst cases of mistreatment, an 84-year-old man

starved to death at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch. Other

patients were left thirsty and unwashed. The Trust has apologised

and will pay compensation. Ben Ando reports. Thirsty, but their drinks

were left out of reach. Not washed for 11 weeks. Left to sit in their

own excrement and in one case allowed to starve to death. These

are just some of the many damning claims about standards of care at

Alexandra Hospital in Redditch in Worcestershire. After legal action,

the hospital now agrees the care was not good enough. Clare cross

from Tewkesbury believes her 78 year-old father, David, was

neglected. He was suffering from Alzheimer's and died in 20th

December 10. She didn't complain at the time but now wishes she had.

bitterly regret not complaining about it officially. At the time I

didn't because there was so much going on and he needed a lot of

care. We didn't actually make an official complaint, which I do

regret. I feel like I let him down. A in a statement, the Health

Last month, the trust wrote to the families and patients involved and

apologised for the lack of care. They also said around �10,000 each

in compensation. The managers have not admitted any legal liability.

As a response, significant changes have been made to make sure patient

care is excellent, which is resulting in the trust currently

producing a standard hospital mortality index below the national

average. The government says it is also looking at a way for patients

to give immediate feedback about the care they are receiving,

offering an early warning about the kind of neglect the took place at

the Helen -- Alexandra Hospital. Anti-government activists in Syria

say dozens of people have died in an air strike in the central

province of Hama. The air strike is reported to have hit a bakery in

the town of Halfaya which was recently seized by rebels. Women

and children are reported to be among the dead.

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Bernard Hogan-Howe,

has promised what he describes as a "ruthless search for the truth"

into what led to the resignation of the former Chief Whip Andrew

Mitchell. Mr Mitchell quit after being accused of calling police in

Downing Street "plebs" - something he denies. The commissioner has

curtailed his Christmas break, we have had Andrew Mitchell's own

account in the newspapers this morning. Where are we on this?

Let's step back - who would have believed that there was an attempt

for him to take his bicycle out of these gates and a cabinet minister

resigned under pressure from the Metropolitan Police. Today there

have been big developments - Andrew Mitchell says the allegation that

he used the word plebs was a deliberate attempt to destroy his

political career. Secondly, a former police minister says this

could reveal the degree of corruption in some elements of the

police, and thirdly the Metropolitan Police Commissioner

has broken off his Christmas break not to deal with some terrorist

atrocity but to deal with the fall- out from this. Despite these

developments, there is one fundamental disagreement at the

core of this. The official police report still says Andrew Mitchell

called the police plebs, he says he didn't and there has been no

evidence to prove it either way. In sport, just two matches in the

Premier League today, Chelsea are currently leading 3-0 at home to

Aston Villa, while earlier Manchester United were held to a 1-

1 draw away at Swansea, which means they are now four points clear at

the top of the table as Patrick Gearey reports. Christmas number

one again. Manchester United are often chart-toppers at this time of

year. They are predictable, but not boring. United were scoring goals

from everywhere, the -- Patrice Evra with this one. For a time, it

Manchester United were being outplayed, but with Robin Van

Persie they are always a threat. He was to be denied later, but given

his earlier headache, his boss thought he had reasons to be

thankful. Robin Van Persie is very lucky to be alive, he could have

had a broken neck. The draw is not too painful, particularly when they

look at the table. First there was Gangnam Style and

its one billion Youtube hits. Now there's One Pound Fish Man, also

known as Shahid Nazir, who recorded his music video while working at an

East London market. It's been viewed by millions on the internet,

and Aleem Maqbool has been to meet his biggest fans - his family in

Pakistan. In case you haven't seen it, this is the video that went

viral and made Shahid Nazir the star. He had been in the UK Fourie

year and was selling fish in a market in the east End of London,

but because of this clip has now been signed up to sing a song that

is now in the chart. This is where Shahid Nazir is from in Pakistan,

so let's see if his fame has spread here. Who better to ask than this

fishmonger. Yes, he definitely knows him, and it seems the whole

town does this well. In the market, we found shops blasting out the

tune. It is obvious Shahid Nazir has become something of a local

hero. On the street where he grow up, the children all wanted to show

us they knew the song. His family have been shocked by what has

happened. His wife and children are still here, excited he will be home

to visit next week and they are willing him to get the Christmas

number one first. If you think I am going to sing, you are wrong but

there is no shortage of people wanting to in his family. Let me