21/11/2011 Inside Out South West

Hello and welcome to Inside Out South-West, stories from close to

home. Tonight, an adventure holiday that

descended into disappointment. call it a joke of an operation.

track down a Somerset businessman with some very unhappy customers.

We want to ask you some questions. Also tonight: Nick Baker on the

Devon Wildlife wander under threat from the advancing sea. This bank

is vital. If it does get breached by the urgent, we is everything. --

the urgent -- the ocean. I'm Sam Smith and this is Inside Out South-

We have all had a holiday that did not live up to expectations. But

imagine if it was billed as the trip of a lifetime, cost �17,000

and you still were not happy. We have been investigating a row

involving south-west skydivers that has been going on for three years.

This is the story of a skydiving adventure to the Himalayas. Nobody

has ever done this before. You are the makers of adventure history.

is also the story of a warning and an accident. A you say you don't

need to go over safety. I think you should do on the first one. And the

fall-out, captured on the holiday video from hell. Sorry you feel

that way. That is all you say, but you don't do anything about! I am

seeking answers from the trip's organisers who say it was a

success! There were plenty of people who were extremely happy.

But we have spoken to plenty of people who were unhappy. How many?

Tonight, we reveal how some of those who took part in what was

billed as the trip of a lifetime got more and -- of an adventure

than they bargained for. David Wood from Cornwall is one of

Britain's top skydivers. In 2007, a Somerset businessman offered him

what seemed to be an unmissable opportunity. Would you be

interested in helping me with an Everest skydive? I thought it would

be an amazing expedition to take part in. The offer was made by

Nigel Gifford who uses this film to promote himself on the internet.

expedition is a journey with a purpose and an adventure is an

undertaking of which the outcome is uncertain. Bet on any expedition,

safety has to be certain. So Nigel Gifford employed four south-west

skydiving experts. Dave Boyd was head of operations. His son Ben

also joined the team. Along with Devon-based Andy Montriou and Leo

Dickinson, who was to film the trip. Mr Gifford also persuaded a

business associate to invest in the project. I ended up lending about a

quarter of a million pounds in total. I trusted him, he was a

friend and I had known him for 30 years. But not everyone was charmed.

My wife did not like Nigel from the first time she met him. She warned

me on a number of occasions that I would not be paid.

In May 2008, the team set off for Everest on a recce for the main

trip which was built Skydive But when they arrived at the so-

called drop zone where the skydivers would land, the mighty

mountain was nowhere to be seen. When I got there I was surprised,

it was 18 miles away. You could not see it from the drop zone. If he

went up a bridge behind it, you could see it. But if you had gone

to the top and done that, you would have obscured it. Nonetheless test

comes went well and the team set a world record for the highest

altitude landing. But the excitement was short lived. BT

needed to practise a tandem jump where a novice is harnessed to an

expert, but it had to be cancelled because Nigel Gifford had not

obtained the correct permit. Frustration was building. We would

have known before if you had mentioned it. We would have taken a

Nepalese person on a tandem and people would have said yes or no,

all we can sort it. Not one we have got the guy in the honest about to

take off! Lino. -- I know. So now you are expecting a tandem master

to come out in September with no expense of landing at this altitude.

It is a paying customer and it cannot happen. You would not be

happy with that, or would you? To make sure a tandem jump at

altitude could be done safely, they had to make a separate trip to

Switzerland. In Cornwall, things became more strained between Nigel

Gifford and his recce team that. has been my company for a number of

years. This will be your first, you After that, relations plummeted. Mr

Gifford sacked Andy and Leo, and then decided he wanted out as well.

Any Dave was left on board. It was a difficult decision to make

because without the three guys, it left me in quite a spot of.

main Everest skydive trip went ahead in October 2008. It was

recorded by young film-maker the Stephen Slater. This began as an

idea. It became a dream and you are the reality of this dream. We will

have a fabulous adventure. We are going to have a fabulous time.

Nobody has done this before. You are the makers of adventure history.

You are. Three dozen people certainly hope so. They had paid

Nigel Gifford's company up to �17,000 for the chance to Skydive

Everest. Mr Gifford told us that the drugs Don't was as close to

Everest as it could debt -- it could get and still jump safely.

But as the flights at -- Klein's arrived, at least one felt he had

been misled. You can see Everest 20 miles in that direction. But if you

look at the brochure, beat non- refundable deposit that we all paid

for... It has been called scandal of Everest now. Film-maker Stephen

Slater was getting more than he had bargained for. I thought we were

going to make an adventure film, lots of people excited, and

everyone seemed to be upset. I just realised that this was not what I

thought it was going to be. Nigel Gifford's publicity promised four

aircraft, but only one turned up and that was two days late. When I

put my money down for this, I wanted to make a decision in

investing in this. No one Tommy -- no one ever told me. We did tell

you that the flight was not here any more. We did. He had all my

money, it didn't you? I did not realise there would only be one

aircraft. It became even more difficult. You go around 36 people

and not one of them is happy. They are getting more and more angry.

have been trying to keep the Parachute programme up and running.

The war that has not helped as a tall, the aircraft came in late and

we know why that is, I have already explained out. -- the weather. That

is because of requirements with the Nepalese government.

To make matters worse, be a single plane it wasn't able to carry 10

jumpers like it had promised. is no chance you are going to take

10 people to 30,000 ft in any less time than a couple of hours. So we

are limited it at four people which was taking 50 minutes. It is meant

to be a fast turnaround and this has been another 45 minute

turnaround. This is just another under resourced joke of an

operation. Why call it a joke of an operation. Eventually, the jumping

got underway, only for those predictions of an accident to come

true. One jumper broke her ankle and has debtor did not fit into the

stand by helicopter so the jump Unbelievable. Nobody could believe

what was actually going on. The staff had been told that the

helicopter could take her down the mountain. They tried everything to

squeeze her into the helicopter on this stretch and it wasn't going to

happen. We had to make arrangements to load the border and take her in

the porter. Nobody had anticipated that and so consequently, the

clients were even more annoyed to find that the aircraft was now

going to be a way and not be there for them to use. Nigel Gifford

maintains the jump plane was used because it was quicker. Whatever

the truth, he was now falling out with the guy filming him.

remember going to the drop zone and he said, you are no longer welcome

in here. I want you to take your camera, take a Sherpa and you can

walk back to the airport. Stephen refused to leave and carried on

filming what to the -- what was to be High and Wild's last adventure.

Two months later, Nigel Gifford but the company into voluntary

liquidation with debts of more than �500,000. Among the creditors,

David Wood, owed his �18,000 fee. Lots of things I would have liked

to have done to the guy. I was very, very disappointed. As was the High

and Wild investor who lost �180,000. I trusted this person. I loaned him

a lot of money to be let down like that. I am a fall, but I felt very

sad and disappointed. They Nepalese company that worked with Nigel

Gifford lost �80,000. It took its case to local police who issued an

order for Mr Gifford's arrest should he reappear in the country.

But that was not the end of it. This year, five people made

complaints to the police in the UK about financial aspects of the trip,

but no action has been taken. After repeated requests for an interview,

we caught up with Nigel Gifford in his Somerset base. Nigel Gifford?

Sounds nip on the BBC. We want to ask you some questions about your

adventure holidays. Mr Gifford says his treatment of

his creditors followed the rules. My company was wound up in 2010.

That was in June. Everything was fully investigated and the DTI it

has had a report done on the company. I was not struck up as a

director. Everything I had done in the circumstances was the correct

thing to do. My company was one of many companies and many adventure

companies who got into financial difficulties in 2008. And he

insists the expedition was a success. The the majority of the

customers were satisfied. Of the top of my head, and it is back in

2008, there were probably buried at the time, at the end of the

expedition, who were not happy. addition to unpaid staff and

suppliers, we have been in touch with 10 paying customers who were

far from happy. Mr Gifford is planning a return to the adventure

travel business. I have decided that I will not offer these

holidays, but in the future come up with my record and with my success,

I intend to go back to offering adventure holidays. But one of

those left out of pocket says he has learnt an important lesson:

Always trust your wife's intuition. She warned me on a couple of

occasions that I would not be paid. I had said that we have got a

gentleman's agreement and I expected him to pay me. But I wish

I had listened to her now. Nigel Gifford is free to offer more high-

cost holidays to faraway places, but at least some of his former

associates will not be getting on board.

The High and Wild referred to it no longer exists and any other company

trading under that name isn't connected to our report.

In the south-west, we are lucky to live in one of the most scenic

parts of the UK. The great places like this are under constant

pressure from the forces of nature. Nick Baker has been to one of the

Slapton Ley is the largest fresh water lake in the South West. Home

to rare flowers and some great wildlife. If you want a good

introduction to what this is about, this is the bridge that separates

the lower ley from the upper ley and there is not many bridges in

the South West or anywhere in the UK where you can see as many

species of bird as you can from this spot. On the upper ley the

reeds have been allowed to flourish, that creates a habitat for birds

moving through. A reel reed specialist is the reed war bler.

They are feasting on the midges on the water. Over the road you get a

view of the lower ley. The muddy banks are a great place for these

young birds. On the banchs they can clean under the eye of their mother.

-- bank. This reed bunting is balancing on a reed and like the

gadwall, they in decline. But they seem to be doing well here. The

lake is separated from the sea by this feature, a three mile long

shingle ridge, known as a barrier beach. This is the formation that

makes Slapton Ley what it is today, I am referring to these countless

pebbles. This process started at the end of the last ice age, the

sea-levels rose and pushed with it these billions of pebbles, which

formed the barrier to the fresh water flowing from the land,

creating the ley. But the ridge is more than just a barrier. It is an

important habitat and full of interesting plants, like this

yellow horned poppy a speciality here at Slapton. The leaves are

covered in hairs, which limit water loss in the dry air. Take a couple

of steps up the beach and you enter this bizarre kingdom. There is not

much to grow in, there is only salty gravel. But these plants have

overcome this and my favourite is this plant. This is sea spurpblg.

It has long roots that penetrate down into the gravel and help bind

the ridge together, protecting it from the ocean. On top of the ridge

there are plants like this bugloss. Along with this rest harrow. All

are important in providing stability. Various spots you will

see these fenced off areas. They're here to preserve the flora. But

proserve it from what? Well from these, human feet. They are

detructive when they come in -- destructive when they come in their

thousands. And the difference between when is is not walked on is

quite apparent. But they will need more than fences to counter the big

erosion threat here. The single is being eaten away by storms. A

decade ago the road was part washed away and eventual think ridge will

get breached and the lake will no longer be fresh water. Many locals

want the road to stay. But it is difficult to hold back these forces.

To protect the barrier beach from the ocean, and of course everything

that lays inlapped of the ridge, the ley and the have been, these

have been created. They don't look like much, this is a single bastion

and these piles of gravel, the idea is that this single will break up

the energy of the ocean more effectively than hand standing sea

defences. But now let's enjoy what we have got. A lake that sustains a

valuable population of fish and the wild fowl that is are supported by

them. On the nature trail you come across these viewing that the forms

and in summer you should catch a great sight. Like this great

crested grebe. Its feathers were once so prized for hats the bird

was hunted to near extinge. Now it is common nationally -- extinction,

but now it is common nationally. And it is carrying a chick less

And it is carrying a chick less than a week old. That is a nice bit

of behaviour. This is what grebes do. They will nest in the edge of

vegetation area, where they will incubate the eggs and look after

the chicks. But as soon as they become active, they accompany their

parents. What better way than to bring your young to the food? It

cuts down on food miles and the adult uses less energy than going

back to the nest. Only this fish seems to be bit too big and the

chick rejects it with a shake of its head! But when every fish

counts, nothing is wasted. What the grebes are doing? Well I think that

answers it, they are fishing. The fish are depenitent -- dependent on

the creepy-crawlies in the water. And that is dependent on the

vegetation and that is dependent on the quality of water. If we mess

that around, it messes up this whole system. When you go below the

surface you can see the problem. This water contains algae that can

bloom uncontrollably and the knew trients - e nutrients come from the

farms. The algae grow at the expension of the fish. There is

concern over the number of breeding birds like grebes and that breeding

success is linked to the water quality. Poor water is also bad

news for wild fou, who depend on eating the water plants. The feed

study council have worked on study council have worked on

improving things. We go and talk to locals. Particularly farmers who

are the people farming and putting fertilisers on land that flush out

into the ley. It is working together, not just at a single

point of management strategy, but looking at the whole area and the

water that flows it into. -- into it. Where they have controlled the

impact of man they have protect rare tab at the. -- has been tated.

This area is kept looked to avoid This area is kept looked to avoid

visitor numbers. This ib like walking back in time to pre-war

Devon where many of our lanes would have looked similar. There have

been no fertilisers and it is full of life and totally unfettered.

Butterflies thrive here. This meadow brown is taking nectar from

this bramble. The pollen beetles are all over this red clover head

and a spar row hawk is on the hunt for small birds. What is amazing is

the sheer mosaic of different habitats, here there incidence

woodland with birds like this greater spotted woodpecker. But in

places they thin the wood to create a has been at the for the dormouse.

This beautiful place is a hazel wood and coppiceing is where we cut

the tree and the tree responds by sending this vaguious growth up to

the light. And after a few years, this is what you get a coppice

stand and it has been doing its for several years and created this

multiple trunk effect and all the branches interlock and that creates

this perfect runways for dormice. I'm with a local resident and

reserve volunteer, who spends time tending to these creatures. They

have 25 boxes in the woods here, finding the dormice in the day time

is an art in itself. OK. On the ground. And... This is where we

check to see if there's anyone in. Is there anybody home? And there is

no one home. But that is a perfect dormouse nest. It is not a bad

consolation prize. It is gorgeous. A lot of little bit of grass. Is

that honey suckle? No that is pussy willow seed. So a great ners, but

no dormouse. They have to have a good habitat. -- great nest. They

have to have seeds, fruit and insects. But how are they doing

here? This year has been a bad year, because of the cold winter. When

they go into hibernation they weigh about 30 gram and when they come

out, normally in April, they weigh about 15 grammes. This year they

have not come out of hibernation until May I have been weigh them at

eight and nine grammes. The cold winter took it toll. But there

could be dozens around in the trees watching us now. The woods mark the

ends of my visit. But it is obl a - - only a short walk back to the

bridge and the beach. Is not many place where you get all this within

a a half mile walk. You have fresh water, you have got woodland and

pasure and hedgerows and they have a rare shingle ridge and the marine

environment. This is the best place to watch it all from, right on top

of the ridge. Out at sea, there is a gannet on the look out for that

elusive fish. It goes into its characteristic steep dive... But no

luck. That fish remains elusive. Over the reeds a lone marsh harrier

is being mobbed by a gull. It is all here. I guess it is poignant

that this bank is vital to all that continuing to exist. If it does get

breached by the ocean, of course we lose everything. So it is a case of