:00:00. > :00:00.shaking your head. That is horrible. That is all from the
:00:00. > :00:00.pounded by a new year storm, 8 pounded by a new year storm,
:00:00. > :00:16.teams where you are. Tonight on BBC London News, an embarrassing mix`up
:00:17. > :00:20.for transport bosses. Spilt cement brings disruption to commuters. I'm
:00:21. > :00:29.at Warren Street with the latest on the disruption which could last
:00:30. > :00:32.until tomorrow. Also tonight: the mother of a schoolboy who died after
:00:33. > :00:36.taking ecstasy at a rave speaks about the loss of her son. Then the
:00:37. > :00:44.door went and it was the police and it is like your worst nightmares. It
:00:45. > :00:47.is what you dread always. And three weeks on, the flooded sewage works
:00:48. > :00:55.still bringing misery to hundreds of homeowners. I was born and brought
:00:56. > :00:59.up here, I went to school here. I have wonderful family connections
:01:00. > :01:04.here. Plus, Angela Lansbury returns home to London ` to tread the boards
:01:05. > :01:14.in the West End for the first in 40 years.
:01:15. > :01:21.Welcome to the programme. First tonight ` some breaking news. The
:01:22. > :01:24.journey home for thousands of commuters has been disrupted because
:01:25. > :01:31.the control room at Victoria Station has been flooded with a mixture of
:01:32. > :01:34.water and cement. The service between Warren Street and Brixton
:01:35. > :01:37.has been suspended with major delays on the rest of the Victoria line.
:01:38. > :01:42.Lets get more from Warren Nettelford, who's at Warren Street
:01:43. > :01:50.station for us now. And what more do we know? Well it seems it is down to
:01:51. > :01:54.a mistake by engineers who are working on the station to expand the
:01:55. > :02:00.station. They pumped by accident cement into the signal box. You can
:02:01. > :02:06.see pictures of that. That has meant big delays. The line is suspended
:02:07. > :02:13.between Warren Street down to Brixton. We spoke to some passengers
:02:14. > :02:18.at Oxford Circus. Brilliant people, managed to pour concrete all over
:02:19. > :02:23.the control box. We may have to take a bus. But it is always congestion.
:02:24. > :02:30.I don't know what to do. It is not the best thing to have happened. It
:02:31. > :02:35.is the first I have heard of it. I will reserve judgment until I hear
:02:36. > :02:39.the reasons. Do we have any idea how long it will before the line is up
:02:40. > :02:44.and running again? Well transport for London have said it could be
:02:45. > :02:48.some time before it is. It could be tomorrow morning before it is fully
:02:49. > :02:54.operational. It is one of the busiest lines on the the
:02:55. > :02:58.underground, servicing 200 million people a year. Transport for London
:02:59. > :03:06.said people should check before they travel and use alternative routes.
:03:07. > :03:12.Thank you for that latest. And you can always get the latest travel
:03:13. > :03:18.details on our web`site and our radio station. Union officials have
:03:19. > :03:21.condemned plans to draft in hundreds of volunteer workers to keep the
:03:22. > :03:25.Tube running during next month's strikes. So`called ambassadors will
:03:26. > :03:28.swap their normal day jobs and take the place of the station staff who
:03:29. > :03:31.are involved in the two 48`hour walkouts to minimise disruption to
:03:32. > :03:34.passengers. But unions claim it will do little to dent the impact of the
:03:35. > :03:46.industrial action. Emma North reports. Now please come on
:03:47. > :03:54.everybody... They were the stars of Olympics, the games makers helped to
:03:55. > :03:58.fill the city with good will. Now, volunteering is taking on a
:03:59. > :04:04.political element in a particularly nasty dispute. Next month's tube
:04:05. > :04:16.travellers face troubled journeys ass workers `` as workers stage two
:04:17. > :04:21.two`day walk outs. So TfL has asked back room staff to step in and they
:04:22. > :04:26.say a thousand have said yes. Many of the people will be in the public
:04:27. > :04:30.areas giving advice to passengers. Other staff have been trained to
:04:31. > :04:35.give them licences to work on this side of the barrier. But unions say
:04:36. > :04:42.they haven't heard of one volunteer coming forward. I think that it is a
:04:43. > :04:46.big lie. Why would people who are facing attacks on their wages and
:04:47. > :04:51.their pensions volunteer to break a strike? I think most will be showing
:04:52. > :04:56.solidarity to those coming out to make sure that we have a safe Tube
:04:57. > :05:06.in the future. We asked to meet one of the volunteers, but TfL said it
:05:07. > :05:09.wasn't appropriate. They are proposals. We want to go for
:05:10. > :05:13.meaningful consultation and get around the table and have the
:05:14. > :05:18.discussion. It is too early for industrial action. These changes
:05:19. > :05:22.won't take place for about a year. So get around the table and let's
:05:23. > :05:28.keep London moving and talk and get the right plan to improve efficiency
:05:29. > :05:33.and customer service on the Tube. The signs of an automated future
:05:34. > :05:39.have been around for a while. But whether the volunteers are strike
:05:40. > :05:46.breakers are stopping the capital grinding to a halt, they could be
:05:47. > :05:49.sending industrial relations in a whole new direction. Coming up later
:05:50. > :05:50.in the programme: Gone walkabout ` why there are fewer Australians on
:05:51. > :06:02.London's streets. The parents of a Croydon teenager
:06:03. > :06:08.who died after experimenting with ecstasy ` have warned that drugs are
:06:09. > :06:11.too easily available and cheap. Speaking about the death of their 16
:06:12. > :06:14.year`old son, Tim and Fiona Spargo`Mabbs also warned other
:06:15. > :06:22.parents that a teenager will know people who've taken drugs. Chris
:06:23. > :06:28.Rogers reports. I would give him a big kiss and a hug and say, I love
:06:29. > :06:33.you Dan, he said I love you mum, I promise I won't die. That happened
:06:34. > :06:38.on the last time you saw him? Yeah. That was the last thing #4e said to
:06:39. > :06:44.`` he said to me. Absolutely the last thing. The couple had no idea
:06:45. > :06:50.their 16`year`old son was heading to an illegal rave with friends. His
:06:51. > :06:55.decision to experiment with ecstasy cost him his life. The door went and
:06:56. > :07:03.it was the miss and it is your complete worst nightmare. It is what
:07:04. > :07:10.you dread. Always. He was unconscious Ha got all these tubes
:07:11. > :07:16.and machines and just... It was just... Bizarre. But at the same
:07:17. > :07:23.time, he looked like Dan. I thought he is just going to sit up and just
:07:24. > :07:30.go, yeah, Ha Ha sort of thing, but obviously he didn't. Metropolitan
:07:31. > :07:34.Police have arrested three men from Croydon on suspicion of supplying
:07:35. > :07:39.controlled drugs. I don't think there's going to be a single
:07:40. > :07:44.teenager in London and most of the country who doesn't, if they haven't
:07:45. > :07:51.tried something, knows somebody who has and can say it is amazing and it
:07:52. > :07:58.is like whatever. And... They're out there, just so available and they're
:07:59. > :08:04.cheap. We had done a lot of the things we had advised to do and even
:08:05. > :08:09.went to a course called how to drug`proof your kidded. To be fair,
:08:10. > :08:16.they did say there is nothing you can do to rule it out. He was such
:08:17. > :08:21.an amazing boy and we were so blessed to have him in our lives for
:08:22. > :08:29.all of those, well what a blessing, we may never have had him and we had
:08:30. > :08:35.him for 17 years. The parents of Daniel Spargo`Mabbs speaking about
:08:36. > :08:38.the death of their son. The father of an 11`year`old girl has been
:08:39. > :08:41.jailed for 20 years after admitting strangling her at their home in
:08:42. > :08:44.Bushey in Hertfordshire. Rebecca Thompson's body was found by her
:08:45. > :08:46.mother who said it's left her totally destroyed and devastated.
:08:47. > :08:48.52`year`old Simon Thompson pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the
:08:49. > :08:55.grounds of diminished responsibility. Police have made 428
:08:56. > :09:00.arrests so far today in an operation to crackdown on domestic abuse.
:09:01. > :09:05.4,500 officers were involved in the raids. And they're now using
:09:06. > :09:11.alternative ways to make life difficult for offenders, as Alice
:09:12. > :09:17.Bhandhukravi explains. Police officers out today just up with of
:09:18. > :09:20.many raids happening all over London targeting suspected domestic
:09:21. > :09:24.abusers. Organisations working in this field say though more people
:09:25. > :09:30.are reporting abuse, on average a victim will have suffered 35
:09:31. > :09:36.incidents before they go to police. Lisa is trying to put her terrible
:09:37. > :09:42.experiences behind her. The last incident was quite horrific. It
:09:43. > :09:48.resulted in me being held captive in a room for five hours and in that
:09:49. > :09:56.attack, let's put it this way, I was scared for my life and it resulted
:09:57. > :10:02.in broken bones. At this address, a man is suspected of stalking his
:10:03. > :10:09.victim, his victim alleged to have put up with this for years. If you
:10:10. > :10:14.commit violence and harass or stalk a partner or ex`partner, the police
:10:15. > :10:20.will not tolerate it. We are looking at a range of tactics and if that
:10:21. > :10:24.means we want to pursue somebody's driving licence and get it
:10:25. > :10:28.restricted, that is what we will do. We may look at their tenancy and
:10:29. > :10:33.what welfare benefits they're on and what job they're doing. Through
:10:34. > :10:37.speaking to the police and then doing something about it and things
:10:38. > :10:43.being put in place for me, I'm able to walk down the road. Something so
:10:44. > :10:48.simple, without hyper ventilating and thinking I'm going to have a
:10:49. > :10:55.heart attack, he is there, where is he? He will kill me. The police
:10:56. > :11:02.still have their work cut out, but for victims like Lisa, it could be a
:11:03. > :11:05.matter of life`or`death. Thames Water has apologised to hundreds of
:11:06. > :11:08.people in Berkshire who've been left with blocked sewers ` after a
:11:09. > :11:12.pumping station was flooded three weeks ago. Residents haven't been
:11:13. > :11:16.able to flush their loos and equipment has had to be brought in
:11:17. > :11:19.to pump out millions of gallons of waste water to stop their homes from
:11:20. > :11:25.flooding. From Wraysbury Helen Drew sent this report. We flush the
:11:26. > :11:31.toilet. What my husband's done is he has take an pipe from the toilet, so
:11:32. > :11:37.the toilet empties into a bucket and then when the bucket is full, he
:11:38. > :11:42.emis the it into a water Butt. Deborah is one of hundreds who have
:11:43. > :11:47.been without a working sewer system for nearly three weeks. A pumping
:11:48. > :11:51.station flooded this month and as a result the machinery has not been
:11:52. > :11:56.able to remove waste. It is awful. It really is awful. There doesn't
:11:57. > :12:00.seem to be any, there is no answers coming from anyone. No one wants to
:12:01. > :12:07.help us at the moment. So... I don't know what to do. Others are having
:12:08. > :12:12.to come up with similar solutions or use friend's toilets in near by
:12:13. > :12:18.towns. Part of the problem is the town is on the banks of Thames and
:12:19. > :12:26.is close to several reservoirs, making it susceptible to flooding.
:12:27. > :12:31.The water still got in desite sandbags. Thames Water is trying to
:12:32. > :12:36.fix it. It was severely flooded and we have had generators in a for a
:12:37. > :12:40.week. We are working adds fast as we can. How long before it is fixed? We
:12:41. > :12:44.hope within a week we should see the pumps up and running again. They say
:12:45. > :12:51.they are looking at flood`proofing the site for the future. Although
:12:52. > :12:56.some are skept skal `` sceptical. We were told in 2003 they would make
:12:57. > :13:00.the stations resilient and they would make the water system and the
:13:01. > :13:04.telephone system resilient. Nothing has happened since 2003 and my fear
:13:05. > :13:10.is nothing will happen this time. People are living in 18th century
:13:11. > :13:17.conditions. For the residents, working sewers can't return quickly
:13:18. > :13:21.enough. Surgeons at St George's Hospital in Tooting are the first in
:13:22. > :13:26.the world to carry out a new type of operation to treat Deep Vein
:13:27. > :13:29.Thrombosis. DVT affects one in 1,000 people. In extreme cases some
:13:30. > :13:32.patients are in so much pain that they choose to have their limbs
:13:33. > :13:45.amputated ` which doctors now hope will longer be the case. As Alex
:13:46. > :13:51.Bushill explains. Ary Ed is 25 and a word's first, the first to receive
:13:52. > :13:55.this pioneering surgery for deep vein thrombosis. I started to feel
:13:56. > :13:59.pain in my left groin one night. And I thought maybe because I was
:14:00. > :14:03.sitting on the sofa, maybe it was because of the position or something
:14:04. > :14:13.like that. I went to work and the following morning, I couldn't walk.
:14:14. > :14:19.I started to feel... It was... The pain was awful. She was told she had
:14:20. > :14:30.deep vein thrombosis because of a genetic blood desishlt si and ``
:14:31. > :14:34.deficiency. But thanks to surgeons at St George's this will change. I
:14:35. > :14:42.had one patient referred to me to have an amputation and we put a
:14:43. > :14:48.stent into his veins and he has returned to cycle and running. So
:14:49. > :14:51.there is that potential in patients with such pain that they would
:14:52. > :14:57.rather lose thier leg than carry on as they are. This us how the
:14:58. > :15:03.technology works. A catheter will deploy a mesh into the vein that is
:15:04. > :15:07.affected. When it is removed the stent springs into place. When the
:15:08. > :15:16.stent reaches the same temperature as the body, it is at its strongest.
:15:17. > :15:24.This is how it works in the vein, before the blood is constricted and
:15:25. > :15:30.muched to other minor areas. Then the flow is restroered `` restored.
:15:31. > :15:35.When you consider 25,000 people a year die in the UK from deep vein
:15:36. > :15:46.thrombosis, it is clear many lives could be transformed. Still to come
:15:47. > :15:53.before 7: I talk to the students who stumbled across a supernova on their
:15:54. > :15:57.first day using a telescope. And from the East End to the West End `
:15:58. > :16:08.Angela Lansbury on her early life in London and latest stage role. There
:16:09. > :16:11.was a time when half the bar staff in London seemed to be Australian
:16:12. > :16:14.but it appears the Antipodean appeal of the capital has worn thin. The
:16:15. > :16:17.number of Australian visas issued by the Home Office has halved since
:16:18. > :16:20.2006, while 10,000 Aussie residents appear to have left the UK, leaving
:16:21. > :16:34.several Australian themed pubs and shops closed. Tarah Welsh has been
:16:35. > :16:38.finding out why they've gone. A few years ago this area and plenty of
:16:39. > :16:44.others would have been heaving with Aussies, but not any more. This pub
:16:45. > :16:48.used to have an Australian theme, but now it does not because it seems
:16:49. > :16:54.fewer Australians are coming to the UK. They avoided most of the
:16:55. > :16:59.economic downturn that we have seen over here, so people will tend to
:17:00. > :17:04.stay more in Australia, particularly the people who used to come over for
:17:05. > :17:09.a working holiday, the bar staff. You do not want to come here now and
:17:10. > :17:12.work for the minimum wage when you could get a pretty good job in a bar
:17:13. > :17:21.in it is not hard to see why we are
:17:22. > :17:27.still tempting them from their shores. There are still some with a
:17:28. > :17:30.taste for the capital. I love it that London is at the doorstep of
:17:31. > :17:37.Europe and you can travel to anywhere in Europe within a couple
:17:38. > :17:41.of hours and the people I nearly dashed are really nice and there is
:17:42. > :17:47.a community that helps each other out. But the number of visas issued
:17:48. > :17:55.has halved since 2006. That has led to a number of Australian pubs and
:17:56. > :18:00.shops closing in the capital. There is a different sense of freedom over
:18:01. > :18:05.here, not only about driving, but jumping on the Tube and the bus and
:18:06. > :18:09.being able to go anywhere because it is so compact. You can be on the
:18:10. > :18:16.other side of the city in half an hour. Will they stay? If they do,
:18:17. > :18:25.they will get one of my special badges. Are you staying or going
:18:26. > :18:29.back? I am definitely staying. I am staying. We have got to stay in, but
:18:30. > :18:34.that cannot make up for the thousands who have already left.
:18:35. > :18:39.Next, it is the sort of thing astronomers dream of seeing, a
:18:40. > :18:44.supernova, or a dazzling, exploding star. But a group of students at
:18:45. > :18:48.University College London have pulled to stumble across one during
:18:49. > :18:52.a lesson and it is the closest supernova that has been spotted in
:18:53. > :18:57.decades. Katharine Carpenter is at the observatory where the discovery
:18:58. > :19:03.was made. It sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie.
:19:04. > :19:07.These four students were learning how to use this telescope when
:19:08. > :19:12.they're quite literally could not believe their eyes. Their lecturer,
:19:13. > :19:18.Dr Fossey is here now. At what point did you realise you were looking at
:19:19. > :19:21.something special? We took our first images and I had seen this galaxy
:19:22. > :19:27.before and I thought there was a star in the wrong place. I said it
:19:28. > :19:32.was looking interesting, it could be a supernova and we did not quite
:19:33. > :19:37.believe it. I said you better check online and find out if this has been
:19:38. > :19:40.reported because it is so obvious. They did some online checks and
:19:41. > :19:49.found nothing and we thought this could be new, this is exciting. Why
:19:50. > :19:54.is this super neither soap `` supernova so important? The galaxy
:19:55. > :20:01.it is then is relatively close by, it is just up the road relative to
:20:02. > :20:05.our galaxy, so to have a bright supernova so accessible and to be
:20:06. > :20:09.able to study it with instruments over the next few weeks gives us an
:20:10. > :20:17.insight and understanding of the physics. How did it feel to be
:20:18. > :20:22.making history? It was very exciting, we did not know how to
:20:23. > :20:29.deal with it, practical lessons do not get much better than this. What
:20:30. > :20:36.was the atmosphere like? It was building up. How are you going to
:20:37. > :20:40.top this? I hope I have not peaked yet and I hope it is a sign of
:20:41. > :20:45.things to come and it is a great start to the astronomy course. We
:20:46. > :20:51.have been very lucky, the weather has been kind to us. This live image
:20:52. > :20:56.was taken just a short while ago. The good news is you do not have to
:20:57. > :21:02.have this kind of impressive kit to see it. Even an amateur astronomer
:21:03. > :21:06.should be able to look through a telescope and at the end of this
:21:07. > :21:10.month you should be able to see it as it gets brighter through a pair
:21:11. > :21:14.of binoculars. How incredible is that? Some very
:21:15. > :21:20.happy students. She is best known as the crime
:21:21. > :21:24.solving Jessica Fletcher in the TV series Murder She Wrote. Now at the
:21:25. > :21:28.age of 88 Angela Lansbury is returning to the West End stage for
:21:29. > :21:33.the first time in 40 years in a Noel Coward play, Blithe Spirit. She has
:21:34. > :21:40.been speaking to Brenda Emmanus about that and why she is proud of
:21:41. > :21:44.her London origins. Her career spanned seven decades
:21:45. > :21:49.with acclaimed performances on stage and screen, but it was her role as
:21:50. > :21:53.Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote that made Angela Lansbury a
:21:54. > :21:58.household name. The genteel detective was a character she helped
:21:59. > :22:04.producers to develop. Last night the police arrested him. I wanted to
:22:05. > :22:10.slow her down and make her more of a real woman and more liberal minded
:22:11. > :22:15.and not so cute. I did not want to play her cute and for laughs. So I
:22:16. > :22:21.gradually prevailed upon the writers to turn her down and make her more
:22:22. > :22:26.of a genial, easy`going, liberal woman, a bit of an Everywoman. I
:22:27. > :22:35.wanted her to represent women at their best. Seen here in Broadway,
:22:36. > :22:40.Angela Lansbury now reprises her role in the West End production of
:22:41. > :22:46.Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. It sees your first return to the West End
:22:47. > :22:53.for almost 40 years. Are you as excited as we are? I am enormously
:22:54. > :22:59.excited and nervous and I am just keeping everybody crossed at this
:23:00. > :23:06.point. I hope I can bring it off and live up to everybody's expectations.
:23:07. > :23:14.As Londoners we feel excited we can play new as our own. Out proud are
:23:15. > :23:18.you of being a Londoner? As proud as I can possibly be. I was born and
:23:19. > :23:24.brought up here, I went to school here, I have wonderful family
:23:25. > :23:28.connections here through my grandfather George Lansbury who was
:23:29. > :23:35.a tremendous influence on me and my family as we were growing up. We
:23:36. > :23:39.spent a lot of time in Brno and in Poplar and those places and that is
:23:40. > :23:45.very much part of my life, the East End. So I feel completely at home in
:23:46. > :23:52.London and I have to tell you that. Blithe Spirit is at the Gielgud
:23:53. > :23:57.Theatre from March. She is wonderful. Let's return to
:23:58. > :24:02.the story about plans by transport bosses to bring in so`called
:24:03. > :24:06.ambassadors, volunteers, to keep the Tube station is open during the
:24:07. > :24:37.strike. You have been getting in touch with your views.
:24:38. > :24:45.Thank you very much for those. Now Sara is here with a check on the
:24:46. > :24:51.weather and thankfully clear skies for that supernova spot.
:24:52. > :24:58.But it means it is going to be quite chilly as we go through this
:24:59. > :25:03.evening. We have got more rain in the forecast and there will be
:25:04. > :25:07.overnight frosts as well. The reason is because the showers we had
:25:08. > :25:10.earlier are clearing away and we have got clear skies and the
:25:11. > :25:19.temperatures are starting to fall away. Elsewhere, clear skies with
:25:20. > :25:24.temperatures falling away. The blue will disappear on the map for a
:25:25. > :25:32.time, but in the second half of the night we have got thicker cloud
:25:33. > :25:37.moving in from the west. We do not have much time before rain starts to
:25:38. > :25:42.move in tomorrow and for the temperatures to start to rise. It
:25:43. > :25:47.comes in at about nine o'clock in west London and it makes more
:25:48. > :25:51.progress towards the east. Wherever you are from late morning cater for
:25:52. > :25:56.rain and do not be fooled by the temperatures. The temperatures are
:25:57. > :26:03.going to be stuck for much of the day tomorrow and it is not until
:26:04. > :26:07.later on in the evening that we will see the temperatures rise. That rain
:26:08. > :26:14.is going to be with us through much of the day tomorrow, overnight
:26:15. > :26:19.tomorrow night, and into the start of Saturday morning as well. It is
:26:20. > :26:24.bringing slightly milder air with it. We will start with mist and fog
:26:25. > :26:29.on Saturday morning. Saturday is the best day of the weekend by a long
:26:30. > :26:36.chalk. Later we have got rain moving towards as for Sunday, so it means
:26:37. > :26:40.we will start with a bit of frost on Sunday morning, but then rain as
:26:41. > :26:48.well. The main headlines: Some hospital
:26:49. > :26:52.waiting times cannot be relied upon according to unofficial watchdog.
:26:53. > :26:56.The National audit office discovered errors inconsistencies after
:26:57. > :27:02.discovering hundreds of nonemergency cases. Overall crime has fallen by
:27:03. > :27:09.10% to its lowest level for a number of years. A woman has been found
:27:10. > :27:13.guilty of throwing acid into her friend's face leaving her scarred
:27:14. > :27:18.for life. Mary Konye disc `` disguised herself with a Muslim veil
:27:19. > :27:24.while carrying out an attack on Naomi Oni in Dagenham. Thousands of
:27:25. > :27:30.Tube passengers are facing major delays tonight after a control room
:27:31. > :27:37.at Victoria flooded with water and cement. It is unclear when the
:27:38. > :27:43.service will be back to normal. If you are concerned about tomorrow
:27:44. > :27:47.morning's commute, you can get the latest news on BBC local radio and
:27:48. > :27:48.on our website. Have a lovely evening.