14/02/2014 BBC Oxford News

to British coastlines, with winds of up to 80 mph. That's all from the

Hello and welcome to South Today from Oxford. In tonight's programme:

The army arrives to stop a village from flooding.

They're building temporary barriers to protect South Hinksey from rising

water levels this weekend. Meanwhile, David Cameron visits

farmers in his constituency to hear how the flooding is affecting them.

Also tonight: Not a job for the faint`hearted ` the challenge of

moving more than a hundred crocodiles to a new home.

And later on: Saved for the nation and on display to the public ` the

ring which was stopped from heading across the Atlantic.

Good evening. The army has arrived in Oxfordshire

to help build flood defences before more storms arrive. People in South

Hinksey just on the edge of Oxford have been flooded several times this

year and were dreading the arrival of more rain this weekend. But after

much pleading and planning, defences arrived in the form of concrete and

manpower. Tom Turrell reports. Is this the light at the end of the

tunnel for South Hinksey? 80 Army service personnel have arrived to

dispatch sandbags and build a concrete flood wall around the

village. The hope is to protect it from further flooding due over the

weekend. We have come with our logistic equipment, also we have got

JCB trucks, lighting rigs and a significant number of manpower.

Floodwater has been an unwelcome visitor since Christmas. In January

these homes were hurt by the worst flooding since 1947. But will the

arrival of the Army put local `` locals' minds at rest? Seeing the

level of response is incredible. I had a villager on the phone who was

whooping with delight down the phone.

The Environment Agency are overseeing the operation. They say

desperate times mean they are prepared to try new techniques. What

is being built is a flood wall, which will be built using concrete

barriers, the type you would see on motorways. It is an innovative

solution, and it is not using defences that will be used elsewhere

`` would be used elsewhere. For the people of South Hinksey,

they are hoping prevention is better than cure.

Elsewhere there's been more bad news for train passengers. The rail line

between Banbury and Leamington Spa has been closed.

Heavy rain caused a landslide near the village of Bishop's Itchington.

There are still no trains southbound and a very disrupted service going

north. A replacement bus service has been provided.

Farms are still flooded across the region, but many farmers are helping

out those worse off than them. Robert Smith's land in Bampton has

been underwater for eight weeks, but he's been collecting hay and straw

from neighbouring farms. They've each given five to ten bales to help

farmers in Somerset, and some businesses have even given money.

Tesco has delivered the loads today. Humanity, it is a great thing. There

is always somebody worse off than you. We are bad, but there is

somebody worse than ours. Animals need to be looked after.

David Cameron has been to meet farmers in Bampton. The Prime

Minister was there to see the impact of the floods in his West

Oxfordshire constituency. Our political reporter Helen Catt went

to meet him. Helen's with me now. What was the Prime Minister's

reaction to seeing the impact of the flooding?

Mr Cameron was visiting Cote Lodge Farm in Bampton. Now, you might

recognise it as the farm we went to visit earlier this week. As you can

see from these pictures, conditions were pretty atrocious and Mr Cameron

was quite surprised I think at the scale of the flooding ` he said that

he was sympathetic to the situation farmers like the owner here Tim Hook

found themselves in, and reiterated that Government money is going to be

able to help, for farmers it's a fund of ?10 million. People are keen

to know the details of how that money will be spent. Have you got

any word on that? The one thing you are going to know is when you can

get hold of that financial help. I did as Kemp how quickly he thought

that would happen. It is going to take some days to get the details

set out. Obviously farmers plan for the long term. His worry is some of

his crops to feed his `` are to feed his cows for the next winter. We

will get on with it. So in summary, it'll take a little

bit of time but the money will be there. He also said that the

Government is looking into applying for funding from the EU to help too.

The A34 is partly closed following a crash between two cars and a lorry.

Three people have been taken to hospital. The leasehold to open one

lane shortly. `` release hope to open.

Managing sugar intake and treats is hard enough for most people, but it

can be a real battle for children with type one diabetes when they're

at school. Now Diabetes UK wants better support and training for

staff and pupils, and wants people in our region to take part in a

Government consultation. Charlotte Stacey has been to meet 11`year`old

Liam O'Hickey, who was diagnosed with the condition at ten months

old. Liam cannot ever forget he has type

one diabetes, but having staff who understand his condition really

helps. For parents and carers, sending people `` pupils to school

can be scary. I was so nervous, even though I trusted the staff, I was

still worried, what if they do not take up a hypo? `` pick up. I was so

worried he would have this hypo and nobody would know what to do.

Diabetes UK say one in three parents and carers of children with type one

diabetes do not have the support they need at school, and 14% are

worried they will not be properly looked after if they have a glucose

did. It is important to have members of

staff around the children who know whether or not they can have an

extra biscuit or two at lunchtime. At this school there are several

numbers `` members of staff who have been specially trained.

They know how to help Liam take his blood, measure his sugar levels, and

inject his ancient and every day. He can takes part in all the sport.

Without training I struggled to think how you could deal with

situations. It is just vital to know that knowledge.

Parents and carers now have a rape chance `` rare chance to shape how

type one diabetes policy will be managed in schools. On online

consultation is open until next month for people to set `` have

their say. It should mean that in the future all children with baking

dish and can have a taste of a more normal school life.

`` with the condition. Trains between Oxford and Bicester

Town will be suspended from tomorrow morning until next summer.

Chiltern Railways is building a new line from Oxford to London

Marylebone. It's the first new rail link between two major British

cities for 100 years. Replacement buses adapted to take bikes will be

operating from tomorrow. The new line ` and Oxford Parkway station `

will open in the summer of 2015. Oxford Parkway station will be

transformational for travel connections. Currently the only

option is Oxford city centre, which is very difficult to get to. This

will be an out of time transport hub, providing fast collectivity for

an area which has not had it before. `` out of time.

`` out of town. A crocodile farm in West Oxfordshire

has proved so successful that it's had to move to bigger premises.

Crocodiles of the World has been a tourist attraction in Witney since

2011 ` but it's now expanded and set up a new home. Stuart Tinworth

joined the removal men. Difficult, dangerous and exhausting

work. For the staff, the enormous task of

moving more than 100 creatures to a new home several miles away. They

have been running this educational attraction for three years, but

always wanted to expand. Now the crocodiles, alligators and other

reptiles have a purpose`built bigger home at Brize Norton. The move has

gone really smoothly. Obviously catching crocodiles is very

dangerous, we cannot chemically restrained them, which is why we

have to capture them fully awake. Our top priority is the animals'

welfare. We have escaped any injury to any animal, and any injury to any

people as well. You have to have a lot of trust in

the other guys, because there are situations where you may need to

call on them to help you may even need to turn your back on the

animal. They are your eyes and ears as well.

It has taken two days to move everyone across. How are they

adjusting to life no? They have been in a couple of days and they are

starting to see visitors, they asked and not try and go and hide in their

hiding places. I think they are settling in very well.

Crocodiles of the World officially opens this weekend. Just make sure

you do not get too close. Before I go, here's how the

inspirational Mary Tame from Dorchester has been celebrating her

100th birthday. Mary took a ride in a motorbike

sidecar this morning. She still plays an active part in the village

and was recently given an MBE. Mary says she's always loved motorbikes,

and used to choose her boyfriends by the type of bike they had.

That's all from me for the moment. I'll have the headlines at 8:00 and

a full bulletin at 10:25. Now more of today's stories with Sally

Taylor. The historic ring which has been

brought back home. There are three severe weather

warnings tonight for areas along the south coast, as the storms show no

signs of abating. Lymington and Keyhaven, Christchurch Harbour and

Portland have all been put on alert, with a severe warning meaning danger

to life. It follows another day of heavy rain, with strong winds now

picking up across the region. The Army has been out in Reading helping

with sandbags and the Navy has been trying to avert flooding in Romsey.

It's from just outside Romsey that we can join our reporter Ben Moore

tonight. Ben. Thank you very much, Sally. You can

hear that the wind is getting up behind me. We are not of Romsey and

under this bridge which the Army have been reinforcing the river of

all`day and what that has done is divert the river, as you can see out

onto the flood plain. It is a difficult river to manage. It split

into four different parts and the idea is that the water can be put

onto the flood plain, and to those channels that is divert around the

town of Romsey. That's channel that goes through the main part of Romsey

will stop flooding and perhaps homes and businesses can be saved. We were

on one area to the where businesses are worried you to the closure

because of the flooding and they cannot get supplies in or out.

Selling cars as nigh`on impossible when abroad as a river. Garage owner

Steve Carlyle had only 20 minutes to bring staff and supplies into work

this morning. I totally understand that it has to be shut but I feel as

a business, you cannot simply stop the business. We have things to do

and bills to pay, customers that wants to collect vehicles and I am

willing to carry on but they are not letting us. The roadblock here is

designed to stay, concrete blocks rather than sandbags banning all

traffic. There are 30 to 40 businesses on this trading estate,

no deliveries is not an option. If we do not get the order so we do not

get paid. We are an independent company and we must remain open to

survive. Homes are also being defended from the bloated river. HMS

Collingwood was again making the trip inland to sandbagged houses in

this area. Just north of year, the river terrace separates into

multiple channels. The main channel runs through the centre of town and

the others run past the outskirts. More water is being forced into

these, hopefully to protect the centre of Romsey. Israel that

prevention is better than each year. They are some areas that are free or

five feet submerged underwater. I think they have done well. At least

there is no shortage of defence 's ear. The Army have been using

thousands of sandbags secured from local farms by MP Caroline Dinenage

to secure the local river banks. Some places it completely broke down

and we have tried to reinforce that. River levels continue to rise as her

fears for homes and businesses in this tone. Joining me now is David

Robinson from the Environment Agency. How are you managing to

shore up the river terrace? It is very difficult and Romsey, we are

right on the edge year. There is a huge amount of water coming down the

river at the moment and we have had unprecedented volumes of rainfall.

We obviously have a lot of rain falling on saturated ground already,

so it is a real problem managing the water over the river terrace. What

we are doing and Romsey is having a look at how we can manage the flow

through the central channel that runs through the town. The Army has

been making sure that the river banks are strong as they can be and

we will be looking over the next couple of days with our professional

partners, the Lukla authorities, with the Army, with the emergency

services, is what he can do to try and make things better around the

flood plain. You have warnings in place and have some advice. That is

correct, three severe warnings are around the coast for Lymington,

Christchurch and Portland. That means there is a risk to life, so we

are urging people to call our flood plain number. You can get that

online. Please stay safe, if you have any concerns, listen to your

local radio station or tune into local TV. Thank you very much,

David. You can see the river levels continue to rise but hotly there

will be some respite over the weekend. `` but hopefully.

On the Sunday Politics this weekend we're going to be asking whether we

can afford the cost of protecting everywhere that may be at risk of

flooding and whether we need to change regulations about where you

can and can't build. That's Sunday Politics, on Sunday, on BBC One at

11am. Six people have gone on trial

accused of murdering a jeweller at Fernhurst in West Sussex.

59`year`old Michael Griffiths' body was found tied`up at his home which

had been set on fire. It's claimed burglars had tortured Mr Griffiths

to try to steal two valuable diamonds. Six people deny murder.

Sean Killick reports. It was seven o'clock in the morning

on January the 24th last year when a woman noticed smoke coming out of

her neighbour's house and West Sussex. She raised the alarm and

firefighters found the front door jammed but forced their way inside

and discovered behind the door the body of a man. Prosecutor Christine

Lang told the jury to the that the man had known X `` legs between the

knees and he had not managed to escape the blaze. Once the

firefighters had tackled the fire, Ms Lang said they had discovered

this was no tragic accident. The man was mad legs and hands had been tied

with cables and his head`series and injured. Later examination showed he

had been tortured and the fire was started deliberately with petrol.

Sussex Police has since launched a murder investigation. The victim was

59`year`old Michael Griffiths who had worked at an auction years and

was a self`employed jeweller at a workshop at his own home. Ms Lang

said that it was common knowledge that Mr Griffiths owned two diamonds

worth around ?40,000. The prosecution believe the burglars

tortured him to try to get him to open the safe but he did use and it

remained locked. Mr Griffiths was killed and his house set on fire to

destroy the evidence. Anne Hall seven people are on trial in

connection with the death of this man. One woman and five men deny the

murder. Six defendants denied the conspiracy to prevent the course of

justice. Three of these people have pleaded guilty. The child is

expected to last for several weeks. Measures aimed at increasing

capacity, reducing congestion and increasing average speeds may be

introduced on the M3. The Highways Agency is consulting on the plans

which would also see the day time speed limit reduced to 60 miles per

hour between Junctions 3 and four ` Lightwater to Farnborough. That's to

reduce emissions that are forecast to breach air quality limits. The

weather is likely to hit this weekend's sporting programme. Tony's

here to look ahead to a big weekend in three different cup competitions,

weather permitting. Tony. The situation is very fluid, thank

you, Sally. In what's sure to be a wet weekend,

we did have interest in three FA competitions across the region with

teams in the FA Cup, the FA Trophy and the FA Vase. Southampton hope to

keep their cup hopes alive at the Stadium of Light. There's Anne Hall

Hampshire tie in the semifinals of the FA Trophy with that first leg

between Havant Waterlooville and Gosport Borough. While Sholing are

still in the hunt for Wembley, and the last hour their FA vies fifth

round tie against Larkhall has been postponed. Southampton travel to

Sunderland for the third time this season hoping to win on Wearside for

the first time. They are safe in the Premier League so a cup run would be

a big bonus for them after making several changes in victories in

rounds three and four, while the manager moved closer to a food then

say tomorrow? There is a great incentive for us to proceed in this

tournament. We will try to do something special and this

competition. But we have a difficult day on Saturday against Sunderland.

We have not beaten them this season. They have had great form recently

and they dominated the first half against us in the last match. So it

will be a difficult game but we are desperate to do well in this

competition and get you into the next round. That kicks off tomorrow

at 12:45pm. You can listen to it on Radio

Solent. And the FA Trophy we told you about

Havant Waterlooville hosting Gosport Borough. That is subject to

a 9:30am pitch inspection tomorrow. Wembley is in sight for both clubs

but manager Alex Pike summed up the significance of this all Hampshire

tie. This will go down in non`league folklore history, regardless of who

gets to Wembley. Everyone will remember this type.

BBC Radio Solent also has live coverage of that high. `` tie.

Sholing were hoping to reach the last eight of the FA Vase but their

match has been postponed. It will be rearranged for next

Saturday. Reading are the latest league club to back proposals to

investigate safe standing on grounds.

They travel to Queens Park Rangers on Sunday. Nigel Adkins' men are

hanging on in the play`off positions in sixth place. Harry Redknapp 's

MAC team are in third place. Heavy rain has affected the Dean Court and

they will be a pitch inspection at 7am tomorrow morning. Swindon's game

against Colchester tonight is still on at the moment. At his MK Dons

against Oldham. In sky get weak to Oxford take on Mansfield. No pitch

inspection planned at Portsmouth despite the club saying that the

pitch was waterlogged earlier today. The worst of the rain has been

drained away. Pompey are looking for their second win of the campaign and

revenge over their opponents MK Dons tomorrow. Half of the players were

not here at the time. I have watched the DVD and it could have been a lot

worse than 4`0. Those sorts of results have led to as being in the

current position that we find ourselves in and we must make sure

we are not beaten like that again. Hampshire are set to sign Australian

Glenn Maxwell for his second spell at the Ageas Bowl ground. He

initially was an Hampshire in 2012. He decided to play the 20 over

format but could stay on for other games. London Wasps are playing

rugby tomorrow. The base of the Premier League title

continues as well. Here are the matches... `` the ice hockey Premier

League title. First a piece of jewellery that once

belonged to Jane Austen is on display in Hampshire. It was feared

the ring would be taken out of the UK after it was bought by an

American singer Kelly Clarkson. She was banned from exporting it because

it was deemed as a national treasure. It is tiny but a national

treasure. This ring was worn by Jane Austen

and is one of only three acres known to have belonged to her. After Jane

Austen 's death it was passed to her sister who passed it onto a relative

and it went through a number of female Austen relatives down the

line. The tortoise and gold ring was bought at auction by the American

pop singer Kelly Clarkson in 2012. She bit more than ?150,000, but

bidding the Jane Austen HOWZAT! New Zealand. They decided that it

was of such national significance that it could not be removed from

the country without another organisation or museum to come

forward and have the chance to bid for it. Today is the first day the

public can view the ring. Visitors to the museum were

serenaded to celebrate the treasure that was almost lost. It is

charming, understated but had a beauty of its own. I am glad that we

never lost it. It looks really cool because it looks really authentic.

Would you like to wear that? Yes! The museum must `` launched a

successful campaign to find a donor. It has ensured the ring now has a

permanent home. It is on display to the public,

really good, saved for the nation, fabulous! Let us move on to the

weather, because I am sure you have all been waiting for the latest

details. Alexis, the wind has been picking up, we saw Ben talking about

how strong the wind was at the River Thames. That is correct. Dorset was

one of the wettest places today. The wind is already gusting along the

south coast at 73 mph. We have severe weather warnings and a

further risk of coastal flooding. John Amis sent us this picture.

Alberto Ferrone thanks to Cindy Billington for this picture.

There will be some dangerous conditions along the coast tonight.

Up until midnight tonight and the early hours of tomorrow morning,

that Amber wind warning as in force. A yellow weather warning in force

for inland areas as well where we could see up to 60 mph gusts. On the

coast we could get up to 80 mph which could produce large waves and

heavy showers mixed in with some thunder. Temperatures are around six

or seven Celsius. Very blustery conditions. The wind will not ease,

we are expecting gusts of 40 to 50 mph, more so along the South coast.

Those showers will rattle and from the South West with the risk of

thunder but gradually easing from the West into the afternoon. We

expect highs tomorrow of nine or 10 Celsius. It is only tomorrow evening

that we will finally seals Windies. The showers will disappear and the

skies will clear so that temperatures will fall rapidly. We

expect their risk of ice on untreated surfaces. Also where we

have showers through the course of the day tomorrow. Down to freezing

in the countryside. Also the risk of frost on the first thing on Sunday.

The good thing is we have a respite from the rain and from the wind on

Sunday. The wind is much lighter on Sunday. You can see the eyes of ours

widening. It will be a mainly dry day with some sunshine before this

next area of low pressure pushes and another weather system, not as

intense as the last few stars we have had, but it will give some

rainfall, the wind is not as strong either. Here is your summary for the

rest of the week and into the weekend. And amber warning in force

for the South coast but those winds will be brisk inland as well, they

may bring some trees down and there will be some coastal flooding.

Thank you, Alexis. BBC local radio is the place to listen to for the

latest information. Have a great weekend. Good night.