13/02/2012 Inside Out South

Hello from Guildford, welcome to Inside Out. Here is what is coming

up tonight. It is tiny unit for the high street,

but have the Olympics come too late -- High Noon. It feels like it is

on the slide. It is in decline when it shouldn't be. It is a town that

is committing suicide. They have literally lost the will to live.

As passenger numbers continue to soar, we investigate the hidden

health cost of our love affair with air travel.

You can smell it, it is hanging in the air. I can feel it in the back

of my throat. And there to be subject of men with

eating disorders. Dashed to boo. My whole life was

erected around the fact I couldn't put on weight. I couldn't allow

myself to do that because that was the in the achievement I had.

Why are increasing numbers of men suffering in silence.

When they do pay car bonnet, the stigma of having an eating disorder

is quite phenomenal -- when they do First tonight, even here in

Guildford there's no getting away from the empty stores that litter

our High Street. The economy actually shrank in the last quarter

of last year. Unemployment stands at a 17 year high, 2.6 2 million,

and even the government admits the recovery is stalling. More than a

year ago we took a snapshot of our high streets in two Dorset towns.

What has changed? Although just seven miles down the road, at

Weymouth and a daughter step were worlds apart. New businesses were

opening up in the county town -- Dorchester. By the seaside it was a

different story. Shops were closing. High Street expert Geoff Burch rode

into town to give as his word. These cheaper shops are absolutely

great but they set the tone for the neighbourhood and Burlington Arcade,

it isn't. 12 months on, what has changed? Weymouth's new link road

is open and millions have been spent on the town's infrastructure

getting ready for the Olympics. While here in daughter Esther there

are also signs of change, work on the Newcastle building is under way

-- Dorchester. There is a regeneration of the old brewery

site, and there has been a name change for one shop in particular,

but is it all good news? According to the numbers, we are officially

out of recession, just, but the high street has suffered a new year

hangover as retail sales put in their worst performance in nearly

three years. Trade is down a further 22% across the South

compared with last year. How are our high streets doing now? If only

we had the same business -- business expect as last time so we

could make some of meaningful comparison. Hello. It is hard to

park here, isn't it. Expensive as well. �4. Looking a bit sad. Things

have changed, not for the better. Not changed dramatically, they have

just we did. It has got a withered feel about it. A lot of these jobs

are in the news for being in trouble. Peacocks. Blacks. That is

the trouble. When you look up here, this is a beautiful street. The

architecture is lovely, seaside, lovely. Below what are these shops,

99 p shops, cheap shops, empty shops. It is a town that is

committing suicide. They have literally lost the will to live.

Somebody will have to do something. Back in 2010 Geoff met Robin Clark

who owns Meridian Shoes. It had to branches, one in Dorchester which

was doing well and the one in Weymouth was struggling. Geoff

didn't hold back with his advice. The feel of the shop sets the theme.

You have heavily posted a half price, market trader like. We need

that for Weymouth because that is what the customers are like. They

want something cheaper. You have consciously positioned to the lower

middle. Middle, definitely not lower. 12 months on, time to find

out what has changed. Remember this? I do, nothing has changed. It

is still trading. Shall we see how tough it has been? Yes. How have

the last 12 months been? Not very good. A bad winter, getting worse.

How does Weymouth feel? It feels like it is on the slide. There is

nothing happening here, the town is in decline when it shouldn't be.

What will be your future? something isn't done, I don't think

there is a future here. If nothing is done it will slide further and

further. It is bad enough as it is. In two years' time, unless the

council get their act together and do something it is not worth

staying on. You should be able to come down here on a Sunday, bank

holiday, lots of kids, a lovely lunch and shop round the little

shops, parcels. A day at the seaside, no matter what time of the

air. It is almost like the council have put up a sign saying, stay

away. It is not just Robin who is finding trading tough. Although no

more shops have closed, 16 that still stand empty. It would be

ridiculous to say everything is fantastic and the environment is

perfect for business. My opinion is if you do what you have always

don't you get what you have always got. Unless you start to bring in

improvement and look for opportunities we will not see one.

That is not what we are about. I don't think any of the

organisation's one that. I think Weymouth will survive and thrive, I

wouldn't be here otherwise. I believe it has got potential, there

is so much we can do working with all the partners to make it a

success. Up the road in Dorchester or last

time we were here the cash registers were ringing and empty

stores were few and far between. Simon Dabbs had just closed his

shop in Weymouth but was hoping his Dorchester store could weather the

storm. It will be tough for the next 12 months, it will hopefully

be as busy as this year, if not better. I think that is all I can

expect. Despite pulling out of Weymouth to concentrate on

daughter's death, Sports Gear didn't survive. -- Dorchester s

door. We counted a dozen empty units. While still more buoyant

than Weymouth it feels times are getting tough, even for Dorchester.

Your neighbour is no longer trading. He had to give it up and he has

been with it since he was a boy. Sad to see him go. It will get

tougher before it gets better for everybody. The next 12 months was

they the same before we get a real increase. I think we will get one

because with what is happening with the town, it is getting bigger, at

the waitress development behind. If you can just Rideout and survived

the next 12 months -- Waitrose. What is the key to surviving the

storm? The high-street guru had some ideas. People in these dark

times one little luxuries, treat, they want to have their hair done

but they did want to have it in a shop with a cardboard sign in the

window, half price on Thursday. They want to be pampered. I will

make a smoked salmon sandwich for you. You feel special. You will

handover what little money you have got because you feel good. We need

to feel good. Good, small retailers can make people feel good. There is

one business in particular we featured in 22 when I am keen to

revisit. -- 2010. Karen Butler gambled everything to open her

dream a salon. Has she survive? -- has she survived? How are things?

Fortunately business is on the up. Why do you think you're doing so

well? Everybody needs a haircut. Most people need a haircut. Don't

look at me. I can still cut the side bits. It is one of those, it

is an essential thing. People might think it is a luxury, coming to a

posh salon. Also, because there is so much doom and gloom around,

people make themselves feel better by having their hair cut. A recent

survey suggests shop vacancy rates have stabilised across the South

during 2011 but with some big names going out of business it seems the

face of our high streets is set to change. It is like a little harbour

of boats hit by a hurricane. The wind passes, some boats have been

smashed to bits, some are upside down, but there is a little ray of

sunshine. The little heads are popping out the hatchet -- hash --

We are now dealing with the damage. Next, whether you like it or not

the airports in the South oryx banding and with it comes added

pollution. -- are expanding. There are concerns about the particles

emitted which some say can cause health problems. Now a pioneering

method is being developed to measure them to stop it all starts

Like it or not, here in the South, we have been earmarked for him

massive airport expansion programme. Whether it has plans for a brand

new airport of the Kent coast or expansions of Gatwick and Heathrow.

But with all those aircraft movements, there comes at a cost,

pollution, and sometimes lots of it. And that pollution may be far more

dangerous to our health then we could ever have imagined. Back in

2009, Inside Out investigated a new pollution problem in Dover. The

dangerous emissions were called ultra-fine particles and they were

being thrown out by ships in the English Channel. Here is the

evidence these tiny particles left behind. This is just one seafront

flat in Dover. Look at that! Four years ago, scientists could measure

all defined Shipping particles but when it came to airports it was

proving difficult. Difficult that is, until now. This little bit of

kit here is about to revolutionise how we measure plane pollution at

our airports. This is Copenhagen Airport in Denmark. It is the

Nordic region's biggest airport and just happens to be pretty much the

same size as Gatwick. For our purposes, that is perfect.

Copenhagen airport has for the last year been conned -- conducting a

controversial survey. Normally airports do not invite journalists

in to show how bad their pollution levels can get, but at Copenhagen

airport we have been invited to film the scientist who worked with

on the Dover programme. We can hear in the background that the engines

are starting, this is incredible, we would never have thought of this

in the middle of a highway. major source of the pollution read

in your seeing is this, and the auxiliary power unit or APU, used

to to power aircraft on the ground, APUs cookout very high levels of

ultra-fine particles. These particles are very small, they are

nanoscale, they go deeply into the lungs, and go into the finest parts

of the lungs, they are transported into the blood and moves around the

whole body. So, just how dangerous are these ultra-fine particles? And

whose health is at risk? People living close to the airport. They

might have some exposure. But the key issue here is the health

concern for the many thousands of people working in the airport all

they for long periods of their lives. Last month, Copenhagen

Airport published the results of its ultra-fine particles study, the

key finding was that pollution levels were at least three times

higher here on the tarmac than on Copenhagen's biggest city-centre

road. It is rush-hour here at Copenhagen airport and you can

smell it. It is hanging in the air, I can feel it in the back of my

throat. I, for one, would not want to work here all day every day with

the smell. The reason the Danish government and the scientists are

worried about ultra-fine particle pollution at airports is simple.

Evidence is now emerging that it could be killing people. Even the

Chief Operations Officer at Copenhagen Airport admits this.

Four years ago, to employees were diagnosed with cancer and the civil

court told us that one of the reasons was pollution. So we

decided that we wanted to find out what kind of problem we have and

the size of the problem and if there is a problem, can we do

anything about it? What are the biggest offenders for Fine particle

pollution? There are three areas, one is jet engines, that is number

one, number two is APUs, the power units in the aircraft, and number

three is the different types of equipment like tractors and so worn

that used on the ground by ground The flat in the Copenhagen suburb

but I had have come to was supposed to be a retirement pad, truth is

it's nearly became Birger Kristensen's final home. I got

cancer in the airport. It was a particle from the power, we call it

APU, it creates electricity. Auxiliary power units? Yes.

Sometimes they run and we can smell it, it is not good. Lucky to be

alive, Birger Kristensen is one of two baggage handlers who developed

bladder cancer. When the cancer was attributed to being most likely

caused by years in hailing airport pollution his story made the

newspapers and prompted the airport to measure its fine particle

pollution levels. So what can be done to protect workers? Copenhagen

have just invested in a new fleet of electric baggage carts, to

replace the old diesel ones. But more needs to be done, especially

about the APUs. Copenhagen Airport is without doubt a trailblazer. It

is the first airport in the world to admit that ultra-fine particles

levels could be a serious danger to health. Now they want other

airports to sit up, listen and learn. For starters, the problem of

APU pollution can easily be rectified if pilots stop running

the engines once they have parked. Here, in the UK, at Gatwick for

example, there are no legal requirements to measure for Ultra

Fine particle levels. We do not know how bad the problem is, or

even if it is impacting on airport worker health. Are you surprised

that we just do not seem to measure for these ultra-fine particles in

the UK at Heathrow or at Gatwick? In one way, I am. Because large

airports like Gatwick and Heathrow, they should have followed the

debate and made some screening measurements as we have done here

in Copenhagen. On the other hand, there are no limit values, so they

are not forced to make these measurements. Meaning that if they

only want to do exactly what they are forced to do by law, you cannot

blame them that they do not measure ultra-fine particles. Copenhagen

have really led the way and that is commendable, we hope we will get

the same sort of corporation when we raised the subject with the

principle aviation experts across the UK. I hope they are as co-

operative with us at looking at this study and evaluating the

results and deciding how we move forward. So, what are the UK's two

biggest airports going to do about ultra-fine particle pollution? Well,

Gatwick's owners went camera shy and referred us to their umbrella

organisation for. As for BAA, the owners of Heathrow, it was the same

answer. I am afraid we cannot comment on this one, please talk to

hour umbrella organisation, you guessed it, these people, the

Airport Operators Association. They This year, the European Union will

fund further research into ultra- fine particle pollution at airports.

As far as the Danish scientists are concerned, the quicker other

airports realise how dangerous ultra-fine particles can be, the

better. I hope other airports will stop just hiding, stop saying there

is no problem, and start investigating the problem and

Finally tonight, when was the last time you were shocked by an image

of a man looking painfully thin? It seems we only worry about women

with eating disorders for but a growing number of men are suffering,

too. Is enough being done to help them?

It is Sunday afternoon and John Evans is catching up with his mates.

He looks like a fit and healthy 31- year-old, but a year ago his life

was very different. In fact, it was almost over. John is recovering

from anorexia. My whole life had to be directed around the fact that I

could not put on weight. I could not allow myself to do that because

it was the only thing that was good about me, the only achievement I

had was that I was thin. When you think about eating disorders, you

usually think about young girls trying to achieve the impossible

size zero figure. I have two children and I worry about my

daughter feeling under pressure to lose weight, but I have never

worried about my son. But maybe I should. Eating disorders like

anorexia and bulimia affect over one million people in this country.

There is a false assumption that it is only women or gay men that it

develop the illness, but numbers of men with disorders are increasing,

regardless of sexuality. John's problems started when he was just

eight years old, he was bullied at school and picked on about his

weight. I felt that I had to change. I thought I had to meet other

people's a expectations rather than waiting for them to stop bullying

me or to accept me for who I was. When John was at university, his

eating disorder became much worse. Finally, he decided to see his

doctor. He was dangerously ill, his liver and kidneys were failing and

he was diagnosed as anorexics. So, why are more and more men

developing eating disorders? What causes a man to get one in the

first place and why do so many men who Wighill the feel they are let

down by the medical profession? -- who are ill. Men are less likely to

read the symptoms as an eating disorder. Likewise, when they do

pick upon them, the stigma of having an eating disorder as a man

is quite phenomenal and it is very difficult for men, sometimes, to

even acknowledge it to themselves to the point where they would speak

to their GP or somebody about it. But it is not just the men who were

suffering, it is their families too. Jenny Langley is the mother of six

children. Her son, Joe, was training for the cross country

runner, his training got out of control and he rapidly lost weight.

Jenny knew something was wrong and to come to the GP. The doctor had

never seen Joe because he was fit and healthy. He checked him over

and his heart rate was fine, his pulse was fine, he gave him a

physical examination and said what a lovely six-pack he had an said

don't mothers farce? I was a bit put off, I thought it was

embarrassing, I thought maybe I was wrong, there was not anything going

on. But Joe continued to over exercise and lost more weight. He

was tested for Crohn's disease, cancer and leukaemia but only when

these were ruled out was he eventually diagnosed with acute

anorexia. Joe needed in-patient treatment but there were no beds

available. We came home, sat on the sofa, his face went green and he

said, mummy, I really do not feel very well. You could see he was

disappearing, so I took him straight back to the doctor and he

was sat in the surgery with his head like this, almost unconscious.

We had to rush him to Pembrey and they put him on a drip. Basically

he was so dehydrated that his whole body was basically shutting down,

his heart was basically stopping. You obviously knew as a mother, as

a woman, what signs to lookout in - a lookout for in it and anorexics.

How much of a surprise was it to identify that in a son rather than

a daughter? It was such a shock, we felt so isolated because we thought

we must be the only family in the world with a boy who had anorexia.

So not only do you have the guilt and fear that comes with anorexia,

you feel ashamed, you feel really ashamed. Joe has now fully

recovered from his anorexia and study sport at university. That

anorexia is not the only eating disorder affecting men. Bulimia,

which involves bingeing and purging is a big problem, too. Sam Thomas

develop the illness at 13 as a result of being bullied at school.

By the time he was 18, it had taken of every part of his life.

bulimia was quite severe rap that point, it was causing me all kinds

of issues, not just health wise but also socially, my relationships, my

career, it consumes everything. I explained that to the doctor but

still, it seemed -- it was seen to be depression, I was Proton Prozac

and on the waiting list for counselling. But it was when I

reflected that I realised there was some kind of injustice that needed

to be addressed. Some decided he wanted to help others, from his

home in Hove he set up the only national charity to help men with

eating disorders. When I first started the project, to be honest,

I was almost slightly annoyed at the fact that men were so ignored.

But as time has gone on and I have spoken to more men who are

suffering and carers, I realise that absolutely there is a sense of

achievement in that and I think it is important that this work

continues, we do not raise awareness for five-minute and it

gets forgotten again. So what can be done? Journey is taking her

experience in two schools in Kent. Persuading teenage girls and boys

to discuss body image and hoping to raise their self-confidence. A few

realise how much the media distorts everything and then feat that back

in to pressure that the boys have themselves, they are much more

likely to be self-confident in their own body and they are not

likely to try and aspire to something they cannot achieve.

While recovering in hospital, John rooted diary. It has just been

published. He hopes it will persuade men with eating disorders

to seek help quickly and not have to come close to death before

realising what their problem is. Maybe there is someone out there

like this -- like me, who might seek my book and recognise

something in there and it might stop them from going through what I

went through and maybe they will go through their GP and the wheels

will get set in motion a lot quicker than they were with me and

they will not have to live their twenties like they did not happen.

That is just about it for now. Don't forget if you think you have

a story for me, drop me an e-mail. See you next Monday.