27/01/2014 Inside Out South

Hello, from Portsmouth. Welcome to Although Hello,

Hello, from Portsmouth. Welcome to Inside Out, more of your stories

from where we live. Here is what is coming up.

Workers complaints about a major Hampshire company, should we take

them with a pinch of salt? We investigate the budgie burglars

who snatched away one man's life 's work.

As HMS Illustrious returns home to Portsmouth, the North and South go

to war over her future. This is Inside Out for the South of

England. First tonight, salt, we get through

terms of this stuff at this time of year making sure drivers stay safe.

When two workers from a major Hampshire supplier approached us

complaining they had been plagued less than the minimum wage `` paid

less than the minimum wage, and working in unsafe conditions, we

thought we would investigate. Every year in Britain we spread up

to 2 million tonnes of salt on our roads. It is what keeps the country

moving when temperatures fall. Here at Southampton Docks we have

certainly got enough in reserve, over 100,000 tonnes of rock salt

already for the next cold snap. The stockpile is run by a company

called Nationwide Gritting Services, NGS. It is clearly visible from the

main road which runs past the docks, but what drivers cannot see the

conditions to Polish employees say they had to work in from

mid`November, 2012, until February last year. The whistle`blowers used

a mobile phone to film those conditions and the equipment they

say regularly gave them an electric shocks. They both want to remain

anonymous because they are worried about losing other jobs, but they

did agree that the company should know their names. TRANSLATION: I

think this was the worst job I have ever done in my life because the

health and safety rules were so often broken. I have never seen such

working conditions and yet you can see my CV is quite long. Some of the

jobs I have done were bad but this one was the worst.

Much of the activity involves packing salt into 25 kilograms

sacks. It is a seasonal job that only happens through the winter.

Inside a shipping container workers funnelled assault and weigh the bags

before sealing them. After working at the company for several weeks the

two employees became so concerned they use their mobile phones to film

this footage. The wires were not properly isolated. There was water

everywhere, and the wires were insecure. There were short`circuits

in the ceiling, we got electric shocks. The working conditions were

awful for any employee. The two former workers say electric shocks

from the machinery wasn't the only problem. We have seen time sheets

which show star for working 12 hour shifts with just half an hour unpaid

break, including Christmas and Boxing Day. They also were working

14 days in a row before having any time off. It is the sort of hard,

dirty job that experts tell us means workers must have somewhere decent

to clean themselves up and take a break.

There was one plastic toilet on the site which we could use, one for 12

people. I don't have to say what it looked like. Especially on windy

days it sometimes rolled over onto the side and was put back place.

There was no running water. No running water, you can see it in the

film. So you couldn't wash yourself after work, could you? After work we

went straight to the minibus, neither cleaned nor changed.

A site like this is never likely to win a beauty contest but is it

dangerous? We show the footage to an inspector with the health and safety

executive for 20 years who now works as a consultant. Now inside the

packing iron and there is some electrical equipment, I cannot say

what faulty jitters, but if it is mains voltage I would be concerned.

`` what voltage it is. Cables are not properly terminating to some of

the junction boxes. There is water dripping through the ceiling, onto

some electrical equipment. If this is the case, then suitable

protection should be provided on the electrical equipment, both in its

design and having a high standard of maintenance.

Concerned about the business `` video Matthew wanted to learn more.

We only got those high visibility jacket and gloves, the gloves were

used up in two days and you only got one per week. That was our equipment

for work when it was only one degree Celcius outside. There was a brief

but it was leaking, there was a fun, what a good get inside easily.

`` there was a roof. There are a number of areas that need attention.

The first one is the electrical systems. They say they received mild

shocks, which clearly should not be the case. Looking at the video, it

needs a thorough inspection by a competent person and if action is

required, that should be taken. It is the sort of company 20 or 30

years ago you might see more of that it is vary rare these days to see

conditions which appear to be as poor as the video shows and from the

information the lads have given me. The conditions that prevail at the

site. The whistle`blowers claim they were

paid ?5 per hour, well below minimum wage. They also claim they didn't

have a contract, and didn't receive any way Chew lips. They threatened

to take the company to an employment trade funeral. `` an employment

tribunal. According to a document from HMRC the amount of income tax

and national insurance the company was paying was for an amount much

smaller. Confused, we showed the evidence to Carl Faulds who has run

a business support firm in Fareham for 14 years. In that time he has

helped many companies with their own payroll arrangements. They claim

they were paid ?5 per hour which was on the under 21 would be below the

minimum wage. Information provided by the Inland Revenue shows they

were paid less than the minimum wage, according to Inland Revenue

document will stop the company produced payslips sometime after the

event, it appears, which shows that he doesn't tally with what the

Inland Revenue have. The documentation is not brilliant, it

should be clearer. The time sheets show the hours worked, they appear

to be consistent. The workers payroll information, according to

the Inland Revenue, seems to support the amount of money they were paid.

The only inconsistency appears to be the payslips produced sometime the

employees left the business, in support of a legal claim. On that

basis, the inconsistencies would tend to support the workers version

of events. Last year we put the workers

allegations to NGS. There has been several months of correspondence.

The programme can be made until we knew the company 's side of the

story. We did send them a detailed list of the workers allegations

concerning safety and pay. Finally the lawyers suggested the workers

could have faked some of the mobile phone footage and said... You can

continue to harass our client. Why do you ask about Polish employees,

said their solicitors, you are being discriminatory quest map we asked

you about Polish employees because they come from Poland. You are a TV

broadcasting company, said the solicitors, and not the arbiter of

health and safety. That is why we got in an expert to look at the

footage. He was so concerned he got in touch with their Health and

Safety Executive. You cannot ask about confidential pay, said our

solicitors. Our client is shocked and disappointed you have. They were

paid less than minimum wage, I will be shocked and disappointed if they

were. Let's be clear, through his lawyers the company denies all the

allegations which they should be too disgruntled former employees. They

say health and safety has visited and is happy with their operation.

We believe that is the case. Although we haven't been allowed on

site to verify whether anything has changed, or needed to change, since

the footage was shot last winter. The Health and Safety Executive

confirm they have visited the say they are unable to comment on

whether changes have been made or two conditions shown. Despite a

flurry of legal letters we are still out a lot as to how much the men

were paid. `` still at a loss. The company maintains it was that

without an employee tribunal. We are confused. But it didn't take place.

The company decided to settle out of court paying each of the men more

than ?3000 with no admission of liability. The company says it paid

up purely for commercial reasons, as it would have cost more to defend

the case in court than pay the settlement. At least there is a

happy ending for one of the men. TRANSLATION: I have a regular job

and better working conditions will stop I don't have to worry I don't

have any gloves or if it is windy. I work in a factory. It is enough for

living now. Don't forget, if you think you have

got a story drop us an e`mail. Imagine you spend a lifetime

perfecting your happy, a hobby which becomes more like a way of life,

then overnight you lose everything `` perfecting your hobby. It sent

one man distraught, and he is not the only one. Budgies are Michael

Freeborn's life. I am really sorry. He's been breeding them for over 50

years and had a prize`winning collection of 400 budgies. That was

until thieves broke into his Avery in Romsey and stole the lot.

They would have been better to shoot me. There's nothing left to get back

for me to do what I used to do. Mick's budgie theft is not an

isolated incident. There've been 30 other similar burglaries over the

last year. His collection was reported to be worth upwards of

?60,000. Aviaries across the South are being

professionally targeted ` leaving budgie enthusiasts like Mick

devastated. They took out the wiring and everything else, and inside

here, we have just got the one lonely lady now. Oh, dear. She's

completely traumatised, as you can see. She is not moving about. Here

is nothing. Normally I what got here just before five in the morning.

I've got the ball had gone, and touch the door and it just came

open. I entered and looked inside that first block of cages, and there

was nothing there. Total shock. They have of this little gone like this.

They're not that off. You said there was blood. Yes. That is put up

first. All the brown stuff is blood. Dried blood. It is heartbreaking. It

is his life. He has been doing this since before I was born. They have

got no idea of the cost to him and the stress and upset it has caused.

It is devastating. This is what he gets up for everyday. It is really

sad. Why do it? They might as Alder shoot me. There is nothing else left

to do. At the Budgie World Championships

competitors have gathered to show off their exhibition birds in the

hope they'll win Best in Show. Decades of selective breeding have

gone into producing what's considered to be the best looking

birds in the business. So these are highly desirable budgies.

Now you might not think these warning owners to beware. Police are

warning owners to be worth. John Hayward runs the National theft

register for stolen birds. This is organised crime. If our professional

fees. `` these are professional fees. I think these are being taken

because they are top exhibition birds. They are being taken to be

sold into, I suspect, the European or international illegal trade for

breeding purposes. The recent outbreak of raids on

aviaries has ruffled some feathers and put breeders on edge. Every

knock of bank outside, I find myself jumping out of bed and checking to

see if it is someone trying to breaking. We have put up security

cameras. Life have come on. `` lights have come on. If they want to

get in, they will get in. If thieves break into a knavery in the dead of

night and kidnapped is lovely creatures and bundled them away,

chances are, they will not survive the trial, being taken in this way

`` if thieves break into an aviary. They took the lot. There were cages

on the floor, carry cages. They shoved all 66 birds in this week 's

chart. Gray Targett from Eastleigh had all

of his birds snatched and fears none of them would have survived. It is

heartbreaking. Gray had recently been diagnosed

with cancer and says his birds provided him with a way of coping

with his treatment. It has destroyed me. It has taken my only bit of

enjoyment away. Nigel Darley from Tadley has been

breeding birds for more than 55 years. He too is another victim of

bird thieves ` and been forced to spend hundreds on security. I have

got a camera and CCTV system, which covers all corners of the garden.

This was under police advice. So do breeders like Nigel need to

protect their birds more carefully? They cut through the hedge with

garden tools, and cut through the two layers of wire. It is an instant

numbness. It is like a dream that is like a dream that has gone into slow

motion. I know it has. You realise something has gone. You would like

to closure eyes, open and firemen still there. It does sound

melodramatic but it's as part of the family has gone. You have got a

reason to get up in the morning, to feed your birds, look after your

bags. `` after your birds. Oh, my goodness me. That is the baby. It is

one`day`old. That is what it came out of. One of those.

Do breeders and owners need to realise what is going on and take

better security measures? Absolutely. We are incessantly

reminding bird keepers of all types, especially those of species

which are vulnerable, that crime prevention is the only answer.

But that message has come too late for Michael Freeborn. Four weeks on

from the break`in, there's still been no sightings of his prized

birds. It's only now that he feels ready to start his hobby all over

again. Michael's re`visiting the Budgie

World Championships where's he's receiving plenty of moral support

from good friends and old rivals. When we saw you, you'll have had the

wind well and truly not out of your sails. I picked myself up, and I

decided I am going to get some more birds. Fantastic. The ultimate aim

is to win this. You can still do it. I can still do it.

Police tell is, as of yet, none of those stolen birds have been

recovered. We are on twitter, by the way. Finally, we are in Portsmouth

because of this grand old lady. HMS illustrious. Built in 1982. She is

due to go out of service later this year. What happens to her when she

does? Chris Jackson has the story. From the Falklands to the

Philippines, she is one of the Royal Navy's most famous ships. Now HMS

Illustrious is due to be decommissioned and three of

Britain's most famous ports are bidding to provide her final resting

place. Portsmouth Hull and Tyneside have entered a race to secure the

navy's last aircraft carrier. We are the home of the British Navy,

anyway. I will dedicate whatever time and energy is necessary to make

it a success. We have an opportunity.

Illustrious has always been close to the nations' heart. Argentina has

invaded the Falklands. Fighting a war 8,000 miles away

meant Britain needed every ship in the fleet. But Illustrious, launched

by Princess Margaret a couple of years earlier, wasn't finished.

Could she be made ready for sea in half the normal delivery time? That

question was answered after a series of crisis meetings. Yes, it could be

done, but hundreds of tradesmen would have to work around the

clock. They did not hesitate. Soon as I saw them, I knew they were

intent on making a success of this. I think of the wonderful work that

went on to achieve this against the odds.

But the pace quickened even further when this ship became one of the

first casualties of the war. HMS Sheffield was hit by a missile. It

was really traumatic. Many others were upset. We wanted to do what

ever we could to help. `` many of us were Roxette. We could do was get

finished. So deadlines were set and beaten and Illustrious was ready for

sea. It is a milestone for the Royal Navy. It is a milestone for the

United Kingdom. It is an extremely important milestone for the

Alliance. Well done, and thank you very much indeed. The scenes as

Illustrious sailed down river were unprecedented. The emotions was

extraordinarily. We have thousands of people here. Tyneside fell for

this shift. When we sailed down the river, there were so many people

mining the banks. We have been given exclusive access

to the personal records of Admiral Sir Jock slater who later became

First Sea Lord. At his home in Hampshire, he showed his scrapbooks

and home movie of that time. It includes some lighter moments on the

voyage south such as crossing the Equator and its age`old ceremony.

Captain Slater, we welcome you here. We trust you will joiners in a

jug of beer. There was also a drama when this

sailor who had been playing in goal in a flight deck football match had

to be rescued. I think you thought he was got's gift to the England

football team. This was the moment when Illustrious

steamed past HMS Invincible to salute the ship she was relieving.

The war had been run before Illustrious reached the Falkland's

patrolling the islands and guarding against further possible attack. We

did not know what the threat was going to rain. `` what the threat

was going to be. This was just the beginning of a

32`year career which placed Illustrious in harm's way at

virtually every major theatre of conflict since then. But this is

where history meets controversy. The Ministry of Defence has been under

fire in recent years for allowing the break`up of famous ships often

abroad as filmed by including this filmed by Inside Out in Pakistan.

Now, she could be saved. The MoD `` bidders have to put in an expression

of interest. There is then an inspection phase, which will kick

off in a fortnight's time. Then we will hear the proposals. We have

lined up the contenders. I'm certain everybody in this region will be

behind a bit like that. The ship like that can be the centrepiece of

a maritime attraction. It will raise the profile of the city. I am

delighted the old girl is potentially coming up to Yorkshire

to be with me again. The city is crying out for conference facility.

This would give is the opportunity to use part of the ship for that. It

would not like any other conference centre.

Each of the contenders will have to find a birth, maybe a dry dock to

locate the ship, money we understand tens of millions of pounds and a

link with other maritime developments such as housing or

shops. `` berth. In Portsmouth, there's huge confidence. We have

been speaking about the safety of the ship. That is a big

consideration. We have the expertise in shipbuilding. We will have the

people that control. Everyone is keeping details of the

final bids close to their chests while the bidding process goes on. A

decision should be made later this year.

You never know, there could one day be one more historic ship here in

Portsmouth. That is it for now. Don't forget the e`mail. See you

next week. Next time, if you thought the flood stories were over for this

year, try telling that to these people. And how an ordinary care how

is now on Interpol's most wanted list. Give yourself in.

Jude Law has given evidence at the phone hacking trial. The court heard

a family member had sold stories about him. A former reporter said he

discussed intercepting phone calls between two