:00:07. > :00:11.Trapped underground, the race against time to save four miners
:00:11. > :00:14.stranded in a flooded colliery near Swansea. Tonight a major rescue
:00:14. > :00:17.operation is under way to save the workers.
:00:17. > :00:25.Three other men managed to get out this morning following an accident
:00:25. > :00:28.at the mine. It is a difficult rescue situation. It is dynamic but
:00:28. > :00:31.everybody that needs to be there from the emergency services,
:00:31. > :00:35.including the mine rescue teams are there.
:00:35. > :00:40.Also tonight:. Jubilant scenes in Libya as David
:00:40. > :00:44.Cameron and France's President Sarkozy become the first western
:00:44. > :00:51.leaders to visit since Gaddafi was ousted.
:00:51. > :00:54.It is great to be here. In free Libya.
:00:54. > :00:59.The Prime Minister and French President also visited the capital
:00:59. > :01:02.Tripoli, where they promised to help rebuild the country.
:01:02. > :01:07.A 31-year-old man is arrested in London after the Swiss bank UBS
:01:07. > :01:11.says a rogue trader ran up losses of more than �1billion.
:01:11. > :01:16.Preparing for eviction next week, the travellers at Dale Farm in
:01:16. > :01:20.Essex, we have a special report. Within the space of a generation
:01:20. > :01:23.Irish travellers have become more assertive, and organised.
:01:23. > :01:31.And what a waste. How the Government plans to stop us
:01:31. > :01:35.throwing away billions of pounds worth of edible food every year.
:01:35. > :01:39.In sport: Lancashire have won their first County championship title for
:01:39. > :01:49.77 years. They beat Somerset while Warwickshire managed a draw with
:01:49. > :02:02.
:02:02. > :02:05.Good evening, welcome to the BBC News at Six. A dramatic rescue
:02:05. > :02:10.operation is under way to try to reach four miners who are trapped
:02:10. > :02:12.underground in a colliery in South Wales. They were stranded after the
:02:12. > :02:16.Gleison mine flooded near Cilybebyll this morning. Three
:02:16. > :02:24.other men managed to get out. A short time ago the company, MNS
:02:24. > :02:27.Mining Ltd, issued a statement saying: All our thoughts are with
:02:27. > :02:29.the miners and their families. We are just waiting for news. Our
:02:29. > :02:31.correspondent Sian Lloyd is at the scene now.
:02:31. > :02:37.This is as close as we can get to the Gleison colliery, the narrow
:02:37. > :02:41.track that leads up to the site was cordoned off when the rescue
:02:41. > :02:47.operation began. Eight hours on, and four men remain trapped
:02:47. > :02:51.underground. Hidden in the trees, the small
:02:51. > :02:57.privately owned pit is one of only a handful left in South Wales.
:02:57. > :03:02.They've been mining coal here for decades. This morning, seven men
:03:02. > :03:12.who were working underground became trapped, three managed to escape,
:03:12. > :03:12.
:03:12. > :03:16.and one was airlifted to hospital. Rescue teams were scrambled around
:03:16. > :03:20.9.30am. They say they face a challenging situation underground.
:03:20. > :03:24.Everybody that needs to be there from the emergency services,
:03:24. > :03:28.including the mine rescue teams, are there. They've all the support
:03:28. > :03:33.from the other emergency services, including the local authority.
:03:33. > :03:37.Gleison colliery is a small drift mine bored straight into the ground
:03:37. > :03:41.and running deep under a hill. One description from a few years ago
:03:41. > :03:45.talks of severe water problems. We don't know what happened
:03:45. > :03:49.underground today, but the four miners are trapped behind water in
:03:49. > :03:52.the shaft. A few miles away relatives are
:03:52. > :03:59.being looked after at this community centre where they wait
:03:59. > :04:03.for news. The police are telling us the water caved in, and there's
:04:03. > :04:07.four people still there. REPORTER: Where were you when this happened?
:04:07. > :04:14.I was working somewhere else. were underground? No, I don't work
:04:14. > :04:19.there. Friends of yours? My father. Alongside the rescue operation an
:04:19. > :04:22.investigation into what happened is under way. Members of the team
:04:22. > :04:26.working underground say they won't stop until they get the four miners
:04:26. > :04:33.out. A desperate wait for the families
:04:33. > :04:37.there, what is the latest? Well, we have been told that the miner who
:04:37. > :04:41.was airlifted to hospital is in a critical condition. We have been
:04:41. > :04:45.given some more information this evening about what is actually
:04:45. > :04:50.happening at the mine as part of that rescue operation and that is
:04:50. > :04:58.that four pumps are being used to suck water out of that shaft. We
:04:58. > :05:03.have also been told that there is a lot of concentration down under the
:05:03. > :05:07.ground and that we have been told that they're working desperately,
:05:07. > :05:11.they will be working against the clock to bring those miners out. We
:05:11. > :05:14.have also been told that a press conference will take place here in
:05:14. > :05:24.the next five minutes and we will hope to have more information from
:05:24. > :05:24.
:05:24. > :05:27.that. Thank you. There've been jubilant scenes in parts of Libya
:05:27. > :05:29.today as David Cameron and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy
:05:30. > :05:32.flew in for talks with the country's new acting government. In
:05:32. > :05:35.Benghazi, the city in eastern Libya that was the rebel stronghold,
:05:35. > :05:38.David Cameron told the cheering crowds that they'd showed the
:05:38. > :05:41.courage of lions in standing up to Colonel Gaddafi. Earlier in the day
:05:41. > :05:44.they visited the capital Tripoli, but he warned that the job of
:05:44. > :05:51.defeating the Gaddafi regime wasn't entirely over. From Tripoli, Andrew
:05:51. > :05:56.Harding reports. It's not quite mission accomplished,
:05:56. > :06:01.but the French and British leaders arrived in Libya today inclined to
:06:01. > :06:04.celebrate. A very good day for us. We are very proud to be here.
:06:04. > :06:07.Britain played a role which I am very proud of but in the end this
:06:08. > :06:13.was what the Libyans did themselves and I wanted to congratulate them
:06:13. > :06:17.and work out how we can help next as they rebuild their country.
:06:17. > :06:22.A helicopter ride into the heart of Tripoli, the tightest security and
:06:22. > :06:28.the country is still at war with Colonel Gaddafi's dwindling band of
:06:28. > :06:35.loyalists. But listen to the adulation at this
:06:35. > :06:40.hospital. It's genuine, without NATO air
:06:40. > :06:43.support they know their unlikely revolution would have stumbled.
:06:43. > :06:49.It's a honour to be here, are you getting everything you need here?
:06:49. > :06:56.Some of the injured will now come to British hospital thes, Bart of
:06:57. > :07:02.of -- part of a plan to nudge Libya back on its feet. Need support, not
:07:02. > :07:07.from England and France, all the world to help us. They're helping
:07:07. > :07:13.us from the beginning for our revolution and I hope they continue
:07:13. > :07:21.helping us until we get to normal. It's seven years since Tony Blair
:07:21. > :07:25.first came here to try to bring Colonel Gaddafi in from the cold.
:07:25. > :07:27.Today, David Cameron is visiting what feels in many ways like a
:07:27. > :07:33.completely different country, there's still serious fighting here
:07:33. > :07:38.and plenty of political instability. But in many ways this is a country
:07:38. > :07:42.that's stablising every day. What I have seen is impressive.
:07:42. > :07:46.This is people who want to take the lead, to sort out their country.
:07:46. > :07:50.It's very important that we help them, rather than try and lecture
:07:50. > :07:54.them. Swapping gifts with the Libyan team now trying to fill the
:07:54. > :07:59.political vacuum here. There were strong hints today that Britain and
:07:59. > :08:04.France might be rewarded with oil contracts by a grateful nation. Mr
:08:04. > :08:09.Sarkozy insisted no deals had been done. And Mr Cameron stressed that
:08:09. > :08:14.Libya's war isn't over. This work isn't finished yet. There are still
:08:14. > :08:20.parts of Libya under Gaddafi control and the message I think to
:08:20. > :08:26.Gaddafi and all those still holding arms on his behalf is, it is over.
:08:26. > :08:30.Give up. The mercenaries should go home. No sign of that, though. The
:08:31. > :08:35.frontlines outside Gaddafi's home town, his loyalists could still
:08:35. > :08:42.destablise Libya. And yet in Benghazi this afternoon
:08:42. > :08:47.it felt like a victory parade. Colonel Gaddafi said he would hunt
:08:47. > :08:53.you down like rats, but you showed the courage of lions and we salute
:08:53. > :08:57.your courage. A moment of elation in Libya's
:08:57. > :08:59.messy end game. Andrew Harding is in Tripoli now.
:08:59. > :09:05.Extraordinary scenes there in Benghazi, but it is very clear
:09:05. > :09:10.there is still a lot of work to be done? Exactly. In practical terms
:09:10. > :09:13.Britain is now pushing for a UN Security Council resolution perhaps
:09:13. > :09:17.as early as tomorrow, that will help to normalise relations with
:09:17. > :09:22.the new Government, allow it to start importing arms and give it
:09:22. > :09:25.access to, for instance, in Britain �12 billion worth of frozen Gaddafi
:09:25. > :09:29.assets which will help in the reconstruction process here
:09:29. > :09:32.enormously. As for Colonel Gaddafi, the hunt for him goes on. David
:09:32. > :09:37.Cameron today said NATO would help in that hunt. The air strikes
:09:37. > :09:40.continue, but from what I have seen on the frontlines around Tripoli in
:09:40. > :09:43.these four towns that Colonel Gaddafi still controls, very hard
:09:43. > :09:47.to tell at this stage whether we are looking at a few more days
:09:47. > :09:56.before they're captured or perhaps many, many weeks.
:09:56. > :09:58.Thank you. A British soldier, serving with 1st Battalion, The
:09:58. > :10:01.Rifles, has been killed in Afghanistan. The Ministry of
:10:01. > :10:05.Defence says he was shot while on patrol in in the Nahr-e Saraj
:10:05. > :10:10.district of Helmand province. His family have been informed. Here a
:10:10. > :10:16.soldier has died during a training exercise in Kent. Dean Griffiths,
:10:16. > :10:26.who was 21, was shot at a Ministry of Defence training base yesterday.
:10:26. > :10:28.Kent Police have started an inquiry into his death.
:10:29. > :10:32.Police in London have arrested a 31-year-old man after a rogue
:10:32. > :10:35.trader ran up more than a billion pounds in losses at the Swiss bank,
:10:35. > :10:38.UBS. Kweku Adoboli was taken into custody in the early hours of this
:10:38. > :10:41.morning. The losses at the bank's investment arm could now tip it
:10:41. > :10:45.into the red. Our business editor Robert Peston reports.
:10:45. > :10:50.Kweku Adoboli, a new entrant to the bankers' Hall of Fame or should
:10:50. > :10:57.that be hall of shame? The London- based trader at the bank UBS is
:10:57. > :11:02.alleged to have racked up unauthorised thoss of �1.3 billion.
:11:02. > :11:07.He was arrested. At 1.00am this morning the City of London police
:11:07. > :11:11.were contacted by UBS about an allegation of fraud by one of their
:11:11. > :11:16.employees. At 3.30am detectives from our force arrested a 31-year-
:11:16. > :11:19.old man on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position. Here at UBS
:11:19. > :11:25.sprawling network of offices in the heart of the City of London it's
:11:25. > :11:29.where the alleged trader worked. His losses are likely to tip this
:11:29. > :11:33.giant bank back into loss for the latest three-month period but it's
:11:33. > :11:37.not the money, but the embarrassment that is likely to
:11:37. > :11:43.prove most painful, because this is a bank that after the great crash
:11:43. > :11:47.of 2008 claimed it was taking much, much less risk.
:11:47. > :11:51.UBS was among the banks worst hit by the last crisis incurring losses
:11:51. > :11:54.of more than �35 billion. Bailed out by the Swiss Government it
:11:54. > :11:59.changed its management and the way it does business. So what went
:11:59. > :12:04.wrong? You can put in these technological systems that limit
:12:04. > :12:06.how much people can trade, but in the end the problem is if you are
:12:06. > :12:10.employing intelligent people and they want to get around these
:12:10. > :12:15.systems, there is sa chance they will find a way. That is why what
:12:15. > :12:18.is needed is a moral compass from the top of the organisation so
:12:18. > :12:21.people know what's right, know what's wrong and they don't even
:12:21. > :12:25.think of doing these sort of things in the first place.
:12:25. > :12:30.So if it turns out that Kweku Adoboli is a big-time rogue trader
:12:30. > :12:36.how would his loss of �1.3 billion rank against others? The biggest
:12:36. > :12:40.loss ever, �4.3 billion was in 2008 by the French dealer Jerome Kerviel,
:12:40. > :12:45.at Societe Generale. That's rather more than the �827
:12:45. > :12:49.million loss of Britain's most famous rogue trader Nick Leeson who
:12:49. > :12:53.destroyed the bank Barings. After Jerome Kerviel was arrested
:12:53. > :12:57.in France the British regulator the Financial Services Authority, put
:12:57. > :13:03.pressure on banks to tighten up their scrutiny of traders. If that
:13:03. > :13:07.hasn't worked, what might? Unless you separate out that wild west
:13:07. > :13:10.casino operation from the world of banking inhabited by ordinary men
:13:10. > :13:14.and women in the high street and ordinary businesses we are in real
:13:14. > :13:17.trouble and that's what Sir John Vickers proposed this week and why
:13:17. > :13:23.we have to get on with implementing that report as fast as possible.
:13:23. > :13:28.This advert is how UBS likes to see itself, a virtuoso in the global
:13:29. > :13:37.world of banking. It's been humiliated by the attempt to forge
:13:37. > :13:40.a solo career by one of its bankers. Five of the world's leading central
:13:40. > :13:42.banks say they will take coordinated action to try to ease
:13:42. > :13:44.fears gripping the financial system over the eurozone debt crisis. Our
:13:44. > :13:47.economics editor Stephanie Flanders is here.
:13:47. > :13:49.What are they going to do and how significant is it? They're trying
:13:49. > :13:51.to tackle what's been a worrying side effect of the eurozone crisis
:13:51. > :13:55.over the last few weeks, which is that banks, particularly the big
:13:55. > :13:58.French and German banks which lent a lot of money to governments like
:13:58. > :14:00.the Greek Government and Italy and Spain, people have started worrying
:14:00. > :14:04.whether they're going to get their money back and they've actually
:14:04. > :14:07.been putting pressure on these banks, taking their money out so
:14:07. > :14:09.shares have fallen and the banks have been finding it hard to fund
:14:09. > :14:13.themselves in the market. We know from when this happened in 2008
:14:13. > :14:17.that can have a terrible effect on the real economy, because if banks
:14:17. > :14:20.can't borrow easily they can't lend on themselves so businesses and
:14:20. > :14:25.consumers. In effect,ed Bank of England, the euro Central Bank and
:14:25. > :14:27.the US Central Bank and the bank of Japan were not going to let that
:14:27. > :14:31.happen today, they said they'll make as much money available to
:14:31. > :14:35.these banks as they need in the next few months. That has reassured
:14:35. > :14:38.the markets. Bank shares have gone up, the key key French and German
:14:38. > :14:41.bank shares and the euro has strengthened but it's a short-term
:14:41. > :14:45.measure, it doesn't tackle the long-term problems affecting the
:14:45. > :14:55.eurozone causing this crisis because only politicians acting
:14:55. > :14:58.together can resolve those. Thank you. The Royal College of Midwives
:14:58. > :15:01.is warning that the safety of mothers and babies is being put at
:15:01. > :15:03.risk in some parts of England by staffing shortfalls. It says rising
:15:04. > :15:06.birth rates and increasing numbers of complicated deliveries mean
:15:06. > :15:14.5,000 more midwives are needed. The Government says record numbers are
:15:14. > :15:17.now being trained. Our health Three days old and getting ready to
:15:17. > :15:21.go home for the first time, his mother has stayed in hospital to
:15:21. > :15:26.make sure she gets the hang of breast feeding. She is lucky to be
:15:26. > :15:29.able to. Northumberland is one of the areas are the country with the
:15:30. > :15:33.highest rate of midwife care, but a rising birthrate are putting
:15:33. > :15:37.pressure on services across the country. Mothers here are very
:15:37. > :15:41.happy with the level of care they get, but it is a different story in
:15:41. > :15:44.other parts of the country. The Royal College of Midwives says
:15:44. > :15:47.there are significant variations in the level of care depending on
:15:47. > :15:51.where you live. It says the shortage stretches right across
:15:51. > :15:58.England but his greatest in the East Midlands and East of England,
:15:58. > :16:01.where they need 41% more midwives. The south-east needs 35% off and
:16:01. > :16:05.the West Midlands 19%. Pressures are much less in the UK because of
:16:05. > :16:11.different priorities in the health services of Scotland, Wales and
:16:11. > :16:15.Northern Ireland. Suzanne knows how bad it can be when midwives are
:16:15. > :16:19.overstretched. When she had her son, she was left for hours without
:16:19. > :16:24.being checked and eventually had Anna Merson -- emergency Caesarean
:16:25. > :16:28.section after his heart stopped beating. I felt like I was just on
:16:28. > :16:33.a production line, they just wanted me to come in, have the baby and go
:16:33. > :16:37.home. There was no care. college wants the 5,000 extra
:16:37. > :16:42.midwives in England and says shortages beans mother's missing
:16:42. > :16:46.out on choice and more serious consequences. -- means. Safety goes
:16:47. > :16:52.if you do not have one-to-one care. In labour, something might be
:16:52. > :16:57.missed. Once we get to a critical point, our maternity services will
:16:57. > :16:59.not be safe. The Department of Health says all women should be
:16:59. > :17:02.able to expect an excellent maternity care and that record
:17:02. > :17:07.numbers of midwives are being trained, but training does not
:17:07. > :17:14.guarantee work. Individual health trusts decide on staff numbers, and
:17:14. > :17:18.as Lehane knows, many are not hiring. She cannot find a job
:17:18. > :17:24.within an hour of home. It is soul destroying, it is quite distressing,
:17:24. > :17:27.the fact that we are willing to fill those vacancies, but because
:17:27. > :17:30.of the powers that be, they will not release jobs for us. She has
:17:30. > :17:34.just been born into a health service that is being squeezed as
:17:34. > :17:41.never before, leaving many midwives asking whether pressures are about
:17:41. > :17:45.to get worse. Our top story tonight: A major
:17:45. > :17:49.rescue operation is under way to save four miners stranded in a
:17:49. > :17:53.flooded colliery near Swansea. Coming up, have plans to erect
:17:53. > :17:57.thousands more electricity pylons in the countryside have angered
:17:57. > :18:01.conservationists. Later on the BBC News Channel, I
:18:01. > :18:06.will have all the business, including five central banks
:18:06. > :18:16.offering more cash to kick-start the economy. And B&Q owner
:18:16. > :18:17.
:18:17. > :18:21.Kingfisher unveils plans to create Preparations have started to affect
:18:21. > :18:24.hundreds of travellers living illegally at Dale Farm in Essex.
:18:24. > :18:29.The eviction is expected to start on Monday following a ten-year
:18:29. > :18:31.legal battle. During their campaign, the travellers won the support of a
:18:31. > :18:36.United Nations committee and activists from around Britain and
:18:36. > :18:40.Europe. Fergal Keane has this report from inside the community at
:18:40. > :18:44.Dale Farm. After weeks in which this
:18:44. > :18:48.claustrophobic camp has become the unlikely object of international
:18:48. > :18:52.scrutiny, some families are now leaving. Among the majority, there
:18:52. > :18:56.is no desire for physical confrontation, and there is already
:18:56. > :19:00.a sense that travellers have achieved unprecedented attention
:19:00. > :19:04.for their cause. What is happening here at Dale Farm has a
:19:04. > :19:08.significance beyond immediate events. Growing up in Ireland were
:19:08. > :19:12.the traveller is he was and still is a constant social problem, it
:19:12. > :19:15.would have been impossible to imagine a campaign like this. --
:19:15. > :19:25.travel or issue. But within the space of a generation, Irish
:19:25. > :19:26.
:19:26. > :19:32.travellers have become more This was the Irish travel a world
:19:32. > :19:36.of old, of roadside camps and constant movement. The people kept
:19:36. > :19:40.to themselves, feared and resented by the settled community. In the
:19:40. > :19:46.1960s and 1970s, then began to emerge from the shadows and
:19:46. > :19:50.organise. Today, this morning... Candy Sheridan, of Irish roots but
:19:50. > :19:54.raised in England, is a symbol of change, the first in her family to
:19:54. > :19:57.get a formal education, she entered politics and was elected as a
:19:58. > :20:02.Liberal Democrat councillor. It is the women in the community, she
:20:02. > :20:05.says, there were the agents of change. They do not want to know
:20:05. > :20:09.the poverty of Roadside living. They want their children to stay in
:20:09. > :20:14.school and have an education. It has politicised the mothers. They
:20:14. > :20:18.know they can go to meetings and hold their own now. It is a world
:20:18. > :20:21.in a state of flux between old ways and new, the symbols of modern
:20:21. > :20:27.prosperity for some, alongside icons of our older religious
:20:27. > :20:31.devotion. The desire to educate the next generation set against the
:20:31. > :20:34.fall of the nomadic lifestyle. And the traveller tradition of living
:20:34. > :20:40.in large extended plans is a challenge to any authority trying
:20:40. > :20:44.to accommodate them. -- clans. What would it mean to give up travelling
:20:44. > :20:50.and settle in one area? I would not give up being a traveller. What
:20:50. > :20:55.not? No oak, we are very close, tight community. Like you moving to
:20:55. > :20:57.a house, you would never see your family. Travelling up these leafy
:20:57. > :21:01.lanes near Dale Farm, and the concerns of local residents are the
:21:01. > :21:05.same you will hear from settled communities in Ireland. There is
:21:05. > :21:10.anger over what is seen as flouting of planning laws and antisocial
:21:10. > :21:14.behaviour. We have had rubbish dumped in a lane. Len says he has
:21:14. > :21:18.received death threats for his opposition to the camp. They want
:21:18. > :21:23.everything and asked to give everything. Unfortunately, no, we
:21:23. > :21:27.have had enough. They will take me out in a body bag out of my home,
:21:27. > :21:34.and I am not moving. preparations are made for the
:21:34. > :21:39.eviction, feelings on both sides are running high. Shame on you!
:21:39. > :21:43.Whatever success they have had been lobbying internationally, the fact
:21:43. > :21:47.remains that the cause is profoundly unpopular in Britain,
:21:47. > :21:57.and scenes like this are certain to be repeated as other councils move
:21:57. > :21:58.
:21:58. > :22:00.Every year, billions of pounds of perfectly good food ends up in a
:22:00. > :22:05.bin in Britain because consumers are confused about sell-by dates
:22:05. > :22:08.and thin food has gone off. Now the government has issued new
:22:08. > :22:11.guidelines which they hope will clear up the confusion. Danny
:22:11. > :22:15.Savage reports. Millions dollars do it every time
:22:15. > :22:20.we go shopping, pick up the item and check the date. -- millions of
:22:20. > :22:26.us. Different dates mean different things, used by, best before. Some
:22:26. > :22:30.items even have two their aides. This is display until tomorrow but
:22:30. > :22:36.best before Sunday. It is causing confusion. I cannot really
:22:36. > :22:41.understand it, no. And if it said display until a certain day, would
:22:41. > :22:45.you be inclined not to use it after that? Yes. If it said display until
:22:45. > :22:50.yesterday, what would you do? would throw it away. New guidelines
:22:50. > :22:56.are being proposed to do away with the display until and sell-by dates,
:22:56. > :22:59.which are mainly to do with stock control. And this is why the
:22:59. > :23:06.government wants the label's changing. They say misunderstanding
:23:06. > :23:10.day sounds as part of the reason we waste so much food. -- Date stance.
:23:10. > :23:16.Around �12 billion of edible food is thrown away in the UK each year.
:23:16. > :23:21.That works out at around �680 for each household with children. But
:23:21. > :23:25.some people seek out bargains to buy on their best before or use-by
:23:25. > :23:28.dates. There is so much food that goes to waste, supermarkets
:23:29. > :23:34.throughout so much. Morally and ethically, I think it is worthwhile
:23:34. > :23:39.taking advantage. This is what the health experts say. It is very much
:23:39. > :23:44.have tea with the best before date, to use your judgment and eat it if
:23:44. > :23:48.you feel comfortable. -- it is very much up to you. For the use-by date,
:23:48. > :23:51.you should go by the manufacturers date. You cannot necessarily tell
:23:51. > :23:59.if something is going to poison you. The purpose of the labels should be
:23:59. > :24:01.all about food quality. The National Grid says it is
:24:01. > :24:05.thinking of directing thousands more electricity pylon is to
:24:05. > :24:09.connect a new generation of power stations and a wind farms to the
:24:09. > :24:13.grid. Conservationists say it will have a massive visual impact on the
:24:13. > :24:15.countryside and the cables should be buried underground. Rural
:24:15. > :24:19.affairs correspondent Jeremy Cooke is at Ratcliffe-on-Soar near
:24:19. > :24:24.Nottingham. This is what we are talking about,
:24:24. > :24:28.pions. There are thousands across the country, and with this new
:24:28. > :24:33.generation of power stations, solar energy and wind farms coming on
:24:33. > :24:36.stream, there will be demand for thousands more. They have been with
:24:36. > :24:41.us since before the Second World War, and they have always been
:24:41. > :24:44.controversial. They stand as icons of an
:24:44. > :24:50.industrial age, pylon spring power from where it is generated into the
:24:50. > :24:54.National Grid. -- pylon as brain. They keep the lights on, and now
:24:54. > :25:00.there is a demand for thousands more. In a bid to get us all too
:25:00. > :25:06.low pylons, there are new state-of- the-art designs, but for many the
:25:06. > :25:11.pylon will always remain essential but and loved. -- In a bid to get
:25:12. > :25:20.us all to lock nylons. The ideal solution is to bury the cables in
:25:20. > :25:24.the ground. They have always been controversial. How about this for a
:25:24. > :25:30.bit of direct action 1940s style? By the 1950s, the network was
:25:30. > :25:34.almost complete, even if health and safety still needed some work. All
:25:34. > :25:38.along way from the hard hats and high visibility of today, but the
:25:38. > :25:45.one constant is that moving 440,000 volts of electricity across the
:25:45. > :25:48.countryside is hard work. So what is the alternative? Well,
:25:48. > :25:52.conservationists insist more cables should be put underground, like
:25:52. > :25:57.here in the Wye Valley. Burying cable may sound easy, but in
:25:57. > :26:01.reality it looks like this, a 65 metres wave cut through the
:26:01. > :26:05.countryside. On each side of this temporary road there will be
:26:05. > :26:09.trenches dug to take the cables themselves. And all of it, of
:26:09. > :26:14.course, comes at an immense cast. Indeed, the National Grid says the
:26:14. > :26:20.price tag for burying cables is �22 million per kilometre, some 10
:26:20. > :26:24.times the cost of pylons. The cost of underground cables are very high,
:26:24. > :26:27.and that does go through to consumers in their bills. It is a
:26:27. > :26:31.question of how much we want to pay for electricity against the visual
:26:31. > :26:36.impact of the power lines. Conservationists argue it is a
:26:36. > :26:42.price worth paying, but persuading hard-pressed consumers to agree may
:26:42. > :26:44.prove a tall order. We got a glimpse there are some of
:26:44. > :26:48.the entries in his national competition to come up with a
:26:48. > :26:54.potential successor for this classic old design, but can we ever
:26:54. > :26:57.learn to love the pylon? That is a question.
:26:57. > :27:04.They look at the weather now with Alex Deakin, lots of lovely
:27:04. > :27:08.sunshine today which I have a Absolutely right, it is all change
:27:08. > :27:11.with the weather, going downhill. One consolation is that it will not
:27:11. > :27:16.be as cold tonight as it was last night thanks to a thickening
:27:16. > :27:19.blanket of cloud that is gathering out in the Atlantic. A beautiful
:27:19. > :27:25.swirl of cloud is heading towards Northern Ireland and will
:27:25. > :27:28.eventually provide some rain here. For most, it will be a dry night.
:27:28. > :27:33.Some clear spells across eastern England and northern Scotland, and
:27:33. > :27:37.it could still drop down to single figures there, but for most that
:27:37. > :27:41.cloud will make for a milder night, double digits to start Friday. We
:27:41. > :27:44.start with quite a lot of cloud, outbreaks of rain across Northern
:27:45. > :27:48.Ireland, widely across northern Britain. Hazy sunshine across the
:27:48. > :27:52.south, not a bad day for southern counties of England, but for the
:27:52. > :27:56.Midlands and northern England, expect outbreaks of rain which will
:27:56. > :28:00.be quite heavy. It turns wet and wet across Scotland, rain spreading
:28:00. > :28:05.into the far north, where we should at least start dry and bright.
:28:05. > :28:09.Northern Ireland starts with rain, sunny spells in the afternoon, but
:28:09. > :28:14.still showers. As a result, it will be cooler. Outbreaks of rain across
:28:14. > :28:18.North Wales, dry in the afternoon. Sunny spells in the south, but
:28:18. > :28:22.showers as well, which may affect Cardiff and the cricket. Showers in
:28:22. > :28:25.the south-west, but a decent chance it will be dry and bright. The
:28:25. > :28:31.southern counties of England will be generally fine, a touch warmer
:28:31. > :28:34.than today, reaching 21 Celsius in London. Cooler for all of us on
:28:34. > :28:39.Saturday, showers across the country, maybe not so many across
:28:39. > :28:45.eastern and southern areas, but lots of showers across Wales and
:28:45. > :28:49.the south-west. Try in the north on Sunday, but there will be sunshine
:28:49. > :28:52.and a whole host of showers. Not quite as many as last weekend.
:28:52. > :28:56.Chilly and breezy for the Great North Run.
:28:56. > :28:59.A reminder of the main news: A major rescue operation is under way
:28:59. > :29:03.to save four minor stranded in a flooded quarry near Swansea. In the