15/04/2014 BBC Oxford News

President Putin calls for the West to condemn it. Now it

Referring to the apologies, he added:

Disability campaigners welcome his resignation, saying his remarks

expose a deep seated ignorance. I think the fact that disabled people

should be questioned whether or not they have sex is ridiculous.

Disabled people are having sex just like everybody else around the

country is having sex. It is now one's business. There are local

elections next month. Swindon's Tory's are defending a one seat

majority. Opponents say the mayor should now resign as a councillor.

Spent six months denying he actually said it. He is coming out with an

apology which is very half`hearted. One statement, one slip of the time,

should not necessarily mean you should not remain as a councillor.

This evening there is a protest demanding he resigns. He has told us

he has no intention of leaving politics.

A woman in Bicester's been taken to hospital after a car crashed into

the shop she was working in. Here's what the Co`op store on Bassett

Avenue looked like after the crash this lunchtime. Emergency services

were called and the female driver was treated for shock. People

working nearby said it was extremely lucky nobody was more seriously

hurt. The road was closed while police recovered the car. We heard

the bang, rushed out to see what had happened. Crowds of people were

flocking towards Co`op so we went across the road to have a look and

see what had happened and there was a car inside the shop. Fire engines

and ambulances came pretty quickly. The main concern is, is someone

hurt? Improvements to health services in

Buckinghamshire have made them much safer for patients, according to a

new review. The county's hospitals were placed in special measures last

year following a damning report into 14 NHS trusts across the country.

Today officials have been explaining what changes have been made and what

lessons have been learnt. It was a report that came as a

severe blow to Buckinghamshire health care NHS Trust. Numerous

examples of poor care and nursing standards, a list of worrying

problems, not least that more people were dying out of hours because of a

lack of staff. Work on rectifying the situation started quickly. It is

now nine months later and the review of what has changed has been

completed. Health bosses have been in the building behind me answering

serious questions about improvements. They say they have

employed more staff, more people with the right skills working at the

right time of day. The result, they said, is that fewer people have

died. Overall the Trust says things are improving at hospitals in

Buckinghamshire. Hospital infections like MRSA and C. Difficile have been

reduced. The number of patients dying at weekends has gone down over

the last three years. The Trust has also reported that the overall risk

at hospitals has been decreased but there is still work to be done. We

have to ensure there is the right health delivery for the residents of

Buckinghamshire bearing in mind the national changes that all of these

trusts have to make throughout the country. For patients, it is a

start, but some feel there are still problems. There are places and parts

of the service that has to be improved. I was talking to somebody

last night about the out of hours service in Buckinghamshire and there

are parts of it that are not very good. He had a long wait. The Trust

agrees. It recognises it still has a long way to go. But it says overall

the standards of health care in Buckinghamshire have gone up. The

real test will be in two months when the results of a new inspection

carried out just a few weeks ago will be published.

Thousands of fish have had to be hauled out of a canal in Swindon

because of problems caused by illegal fishermen. The borough

council says it's caught and removed more than a tonne of fish from the

Wiltshire and Berkshire canal at Kingshill. It follows complaints

from dog walkers about the illegal fishermen. The council says it took

thousands of fish out and moved them to lakes because it can't afford to

pay for round the clock patrols. We always used to get the herons along

here and with them taking the fish out there is no food for the herons

so the herons are going to be gone as well. We are running out of

wildlife down here. Buying a house is said to be one of

the most stressful times of your life. Now an Oxford woman is pushing

the government to change the law to protect house buyers. Kate Astley

was days away from buying her first home when the seller increased the

price by ?13,000. It is every house buyer's worst

nightmare. You have spent hundreds if not thousands of pounds on fees

all ready for the big move, only to be told the seller is demanding more

cash to complete. This is exactly what happened to Kate. We went all

the way through the process, engaging solicitors, paying the

survey fees, and getting our mortgage set`up. Right at the last

moment, we were about to exchange contracts, and we got a phone call

saying we are ready to go if you put in an extra ?13,000 towards the

property. Kate fell foul of a new phenomena being named ghost

gazumping. Sellers hike up the price at the last minute despite there

being no other buyers. She is so angry about what happened she is

campaigning for a change in the law. I want there to be a small agreement

put in place at the beginning of the conveyancing process which shares

the risk between the buyer and the seller. It means that when the buyer

puts in money, if the seller does not go through with the sale they

are liable for that payment. If they have done it in bad faith. Local

estate agent Mark says his profession is not to blame as they

want the deal to go through as much as anyone else but he is confident

he knows what is going on. It is looking after number one. If they

are seeing house prices rise, a small increase is quite a lot of

cash and it takes a long time to earn that cash and therefore it is

protecting our own position. For the government's part they insist the

current system works. They say there are a range of options for both

buyers and sellers to agree upon if they want to get more commitment

from one another so it seems for people like Kate the fear of ghost

gazumping may be around for some time yet.

One of Oxfordshire's busiest roads is to close over the summer. A

section of the A420 near Shrivenham will be shut for seven weeks for

major resurfacing work. People living in the area are worried about

the closure, but the council says it needs to be done.

This is a quiet village on the edge of Oxfordshire but then a few weeks

thousands of extra vehicles could be using it to get around roadworks

when the A420 is closed for repairs. The A420 has around 20,000 vehicle

movements a days you can imagine all of that traffic coming through the

High Street, it is going to be potentially lethal. Everyone

recognises the A420 is in need of repair is. Potholes and subsidence

are evident. From July the 21st round two and a half miles of this

road will be closed from year and will be almost completely

restructured. The council says it will put weight limits in place and

have diversions for each GB 's but it means journeys will take longer

for everyone. Smaller cars and vans will have to navigate the back

roads. The roadworks have to be done. It is a question of how best

to manage the traffic. We have closed it for the job to speed of

time during the summer holidays. If we decided to do it by temporary

traffic lights there would be traffic jams and even more

bottlenecks. The council says it is confident the work will be done on

time and the road should be open again by early September.

I'll have the headlines at 8pm and a full bulletin at 10:25pm.

right in the autumn. A major road through West Sussex was closed for

several hours today following an accident. A car, van and lorry

collided on the A27 at Arundel just before midday. A 57`year`old woman

from Littlehampton was taken to hospital with suspected pelvic

injuries. The 36`year`old lorry driver, who's from the Netherlands,

was arrested on suspicion of causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Still to come in this evening's South Today: It's a full`on assault

as England's women rugby players prepare for the World Cup.

A waste of time, energy and money ` that's how a group of parents have

described trying to open a new free school in Wokingham. It was due to

open in 2016 and they'd started recruiting parents and finding a

site. But seven months after giving their backing, Wokingham Borough

Council says it will open its own school instead. Ben Moore reports.

Starting a new school from scratch is no walk in the park as school

group will tell you. The say the very council who supported them is

no undercutting them by building its own academy. It was a big shock

because we had always been in consultation with the borough

council and had kept them involved with what we were doing. We do feel

let down by the Council, the question now is whether they can

deliver. School places are in short supply here. The council admits it

will run out of secondary school places by the 2017 academic year. A

new academy the say was always within its plans. There are beds

going forward to the Department for Education where groups of parents

have done it also alongside the local authority. We would be happy

to support them doing that if they wanted to as well. This was the most

likely site for the free school. Some say the council's plans to open

its own school in 2016 are ambitious. Parents say they hope the

council school plans are not a ploy ahead of upcoming local elections.

Pubs and clubs in Southampton could be charged extra for selling alcohol

after midnight. The City Council is to start consulting on introducing a

late`night levy from next February. It will be used to fund taxi

marshals, extra CCTV and street cleaning. The same levy was

introduced in Newcastle last autumn. How has that been working in

Newcastle? Initially all be licensees were against it because

turkeys do not vote for Christmas. Nobody wants to pay tax. We found

out by working with the City Council and getting the best reduction in

the tax it is working very well. Do you see that you should contribute

to the city centre? Nightlife causes disorder and disruption for those

living nearby. It does but our local newspaper did the calculations and

find out that the 35 top premises, there are 400 in a square mile,

already paid enough to cover all the bills so we are already doing our

sheer by paying late`night levy but if it is spent correctly it can

benefit everybody. I'd macro do you think it is being spent correctly?

Absolutely. I have just left the meeting thrashing out where we all

believe it should be spent. We did that successfully. Listening to that

is a counsellor from Southampton. Is this levy the only way you can pay

for these services bearing in mind you already pay for business rates

and they have put up night`time parking in the city? Absolutely. It

is a lot of money. The situation we find ourselves in is either we have

to withdraw our support for the city centre economy or find another way

of paying for it. The idea behind the levy is to find another way of

paying for it. Like Newcastle, we will work with the trade to

establish how this money will be spent. I think it could lead to a

better outcome for the city. 77% of this levy goes to the police to

support the policing of the night`time economy. That takes half

of the policing resource that is on duty on a Friday and Saturday night

in the city. We think there is an opportunity to invest that money and

free up some for the outer suburbs. Newcastle are ahead of the game, a

party city, Southampton is a big student city. I think that is a big

driver for us. We have seen how successfully it has been introduced

in Newcastle and we hope to do it the same way. What advice would you

give to Southampton? They must give a reduction to those who have best

practice. That draws standards upwards. Thank you. It is estimated

as many as 50,000 people in the UK are lower limb amputees. Research is

at Southampton University have no developed pressure sensors. These

could also be used in other ways to prevent unnecessary pain and

treatment. This man had an amputation below his right knee soon

after he was born and then above the knee in his teens. Now 26, he is

helping researchers develop an early warning system to ensure artificial

limbs remain well fitted despite the stresses and strains of everyday

use. It is thought there are about 50,000 lower limb amputees in the

UK. There is long`standing evidence that many do not use their

prospective cleanser as much as they would like because of discomfort.

The Stump can change in shape and size even during the course of a

day. It can rob, create source, blisters. Because it hurts every

step because you are having to put all of your weight on it you are

less likely to want to do things. The sensor is thin and flexible like

a small postage stamp. It is take to a liner, essentially a sock. It is

then placed within the artificial limb. Off you go. The sensor is now

picking up information about pressure on the stump and whether it

is robbing. That information is being passed on to researchers and

clinicians who can identify the need for any adjustments to prevent

discomfort and pain. The research is planned to develop a system of

alerts for tablets and smartphones in the sensor acts as a second skin

warning of potential problems. A large number of lower limb amputees

may suffer from nerve damage and with a reduced skin sensation, that

means they do not feel the pain of tissue injury. It may be too late

because once the soft tissue is compromised then it could get

infected and it could be really serious. If all goes well the

sensors could be available to NHS patients within three years and

there may be more uses like shoe insoles for diabetics and in

wheelchairs and mattresses preventing pain and distress.

Opponents to plans to build a second runway at Gatwick Airport have

launched their campaign to fight it. Those behind the Gatwick's Big

Enough campaign have sent out thousands of car stickers and

leaflets. Earlier this month, the airport began consulting on its

expansion plans. There are three different options with a new runway

to the south of the existing one. Nearly all of the south's beaches

tested in this year's Good Beach Guide have passed with flying

colours. The latest report to be released from the Marine

Conservation Society shows that all East Dorset beaches bar Boscombe and

Swanage made it into the very top category. On the Isle of Wight,

Bembridge and Shanklin were also the only ones not to get full marks.

While in Hampshire the only beach falling short of outstanding was

Southsea. No sport. I was worried you were not going to come back to

the newsroom today. You have been doing hard`core training? Yes, you

will see I was unleashed on a cargo net and I wondered if I would make

it back. Reading moved back into the play`off places on goal difference

after a one`all draw with Leicester City last night. Defender Alex

Pearce headed the Royals in front from Jordan Obita's free`kick early

on. But Danny Drinkwater drove in an equaliser to pull Leicester level

after half an hour. Reading are now winless in seven at home and with

just one win in five overall. Let's look at the play`off contenders in

the championship. separated into four teams, competing

against one another and the clock. The idea is to overcome obstacles on

the course and then transferred back to the dog the pitch. It is about

decision`making under made it two wins from two to start

the defence of their Elite League title. A maximum 15 points from new

captain Macheck Janovski helped them to a 49 to 41 victory over Coventry

at Wimborne Road. Next up for the Pirates is a double header against

Swindon on Friday. In Cricket, after Day three of their County

Championship Division One match against Warwickshire, Sussex are

looking good for a win tomorrow. Despite England's Ian Bell scoring

an impressive 180 not out, Sussex now require wickets for the victory.

No the weather. Inland we reached a high of 12 to 15 Celsius today.

Let's look at your weather pictures. Today was a little cooler than

yesterday but still pleasant in the sunshine in sheltered spots. Tonight

with clear spies there will be a widespread frost even with some mist

and fog patches in low lying areas. We might see a little bit of cloud

increasing towards the south coast and the Isle of White. Temperatures

will be going to force of these in parts of Oxfordshire. We start the

day dry and sunny in most places. Mist and fog patches will be

swiftly. Temperatures will warm up quickly in the sunshine. Still the

onshore breeze making it slightly cooler on the costs. The best

temperatures will be in northern and eastern areas. A lovely end to the

day tomorrow with lots of sunshine. Clear skies initially overnight but

cloud will thicken overnight and the weather front will introduce more

cloud but it will stay dry. Temperatures should be above

freezing. Still the risk of the touch of frost in the countryside.

The dry start to the day on Thursday. It will stay that way.

High pressure still hanging on in towards Easter weekend. There will

be more cloud during the morning and through the afternoon than we have

seen of late. The best of any brightness through Thursday morning.

Looking ahead to the Easter weekend, it will start mainly dry at first,

you will be some bright or sunny spells. Those likely Friday

afternoon and into Saturday but it will harden unsettled on Sunday into

Monday. `` turn unsettled. Thank you very much. Now a Dorset sheep has

produced six healthy lambs and what is believed to have been a first.

Scans of the EU had suggested she would give birth to five lambs but

an extra one popped out. Two are normally good, three is a bonus, but

six? Their claims are delayed in being processed

normally good, three is a bonus, but six? That is all from us, have a

lovely evening. Good night. Good night.