30/04/2014 BBC Oxford News

been found not guilty. My view was that to release the media

prejudicial to my officer. An hour before, Daniel Dove had been

arrested outside this Trowbridge night club in December 2012 for

being drunk and disorderly. He's then brought here to the

custody suite at Melksham police station. He's booked in standing

handcuffed in front of PC Birch. The jury were told he was drunk and

difficult to handle. After the Tasering, he was charged with

assault, but after he took out a private prosecution against PC

Birch, the CPS dropped the allegations and prosecuted PC Birch

instead. The chief constable agrees that justice should be seen to be

done. I fully support open justice. There is an ongoing investigation. I

am the responsible authority for ensuring investigations are fair. It

could have prejudiced an investigation to release it. The

force has carried out a revision of its policy towards tasered.

Meanwhile, PC Birch has returned to his job.

Free transport to Oxfordshire's hospitals could be further cut back

in efforts to save the NHS money. Every year the health service

organises 107,000 trips at a cost of almost ?4 million. It's hoping to

cut around a third of these journeys, and save up to ?325,000 a

year. It's already become harder to

qualify for free transport in recent years and voluntary groups which

take people to hospital appointments are already struggling with the

demand. These Witney`based volunteers say people with smaller

incomes, who need care, stand to lose out.

The Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group says the public

will be consulted on any changes and services for the most vulnerable

patients will not be affected. There will be people who say they cannot

get there. The next time they see the hospital will be in an

ambulance. I think it is a false economy. The Oxfordshire Clinical

Commissioning Group says the public will be consulted on any changes and

services for the most vulnerable patients will not be affected.

Millions of pounds of Government money's on offer to Oxford

businesses to connect them to super`fast broadband for free. The

thing is, no`one seems to want it. It's six weeks since the scheme

launched and so far, not a single business has applied. Helen Catt's

here. Helen ` why's no`one interested?

It's not entirely clear. Having a decent broadband connection is

becoming more and more important for businesses. This creative agency

near Oxford for example needs to send large graphics files and videos

to clients around the world every day. Before it put in its own fibre

line, that used to take hours ` and sometimes didn't happen at all.

Without it, it would not be possible to think in terms of operating in

these market. Things have to happen quickly, within minutes, sometimes

hours, certainly not days or weeks. William sorted out his own line, but

six weeks ago a government fund opened to businesses in Oxford to

get superfast connections installed for free. So far, though, nobody's

taken it up. And the South's other so`called super`connected cities

aren't seeing much interest, either. In Brighton, nine businesses have

applied since the end of February, and in Portsmouth, just four since

December. In Oxford, fast broadband is already available ` and there are

questions over who needs superhigh speeds. Only about 1000 businesses

are bigger than about five people. You end up with this provision of

what larger companies made. It is a relatively small intersection.

Bob thinks money would be better spent getting all rural broadband up

to a workable speed instead. We asked the Minister for Broadband Ed

Vaizey for an interview but his office declined. Instead it sent us

a statement saying it expects to see considerable interest in Oxford's

scheme in the coming months and that in the other super`connected cities

around the UK "take up is increasing month on month."

A self`employed music teacher is demanding Thames Valley Police

reimburse him almost ?1,000 in lost earnings. He says his application to

work with children took three months to be approved. Steve Vintner, who

lives near Bicester, was unable to teach drums and percussion because

it took 13 weeks to run a series of background checks on him. It usually

takes four. Mr Vintner says the delay prevented him from earning a

living. I think it is a big problem. The system is faulty and there

should be a system to claim back lost earnings. Thames Valley Police

says it does more than 57,000 checks a year and has been struggling with

increased demand, but it carries them out as quickly as possible.

Plans for a ?15 million redevelopment of part of Aylesbury

town centre have been unveiled. The first phase of Waterside North would

see Exchange street car park and some of the old county council

offices replaced by restaurants and homes. A former police station and

the back of the old office buildings would be demolished. A planning

application will be submitted in June.

It's a scientific breakthrough that could lead to the end of a ban on

taking liquids on board foreign flights. An Oxfordshire company,

based at Milton Park has built a scanner capable of detecting whether

what's in your bottle is a dangerous substance. Cobalt Light Systems is

now up for a top industry award for its work ` which could revolutionise

airport security. Stuart Tinworth has the story.

2006, and a failed terror plot to use liquid explosives on foreign

flights, which resulted in a ban on travellers taking drinks, suncream

and other toiletres onboard planes. Eight years on, and we're still

restricted to what we can carry onboard, but that could be set to

change. This device is capable of cross checking what's inside a

bottle in just a matter of seconds. How does this work? You take the

bottle and put it into the system, closed the door. It is a five second

screening. At the end, it would tell you it is clear, which means it is

safe to take on board. Inside, a laser analyses the

contents of the bottle. It's able to identify within seconds the chemical

composition of the liquid. And that is then cross`checked against a

programmed library of banned substances. The product, which costs

around ?40,000, has already been supplied to more than 60 airports

across Europe. Most of the content of the product are made in Britain.

We employ twice as many people as we did a year ago. It is a great

success story for the region and the country.

The trade body for UK airports told me European airports are spending in

excess of ?150 million in equipping passenger screening areas with the

latest technology. Airports are now working to

streamline the process, to minimise the additional time it takes to test

liquids. Even so, it could be some years before the existing hand

luggage rules are changed. That's all from me for the moment.

I'll have the headlines at eight and a full bulletin at 10.25. Now more

of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

to bring it under control. Still to come in this evening's

South Today: What price football success ` the Cherries count the

cost of promotion. A Southampton man has described the

moment he and two of his colleagues were blown off a lorry when it was

struck by lightning. 26`year`old Kyle Taylor was unloading

scaffolding from a vehicle in Camberley when it was hit by

lightning. He does not know how long he was unconscious for but remembers

being taken to Frimley Park Hospital. Pictured here with a

co`worker 20 minutes before the incident happened, he claims he's

lucky to be alive. I saw this massive blue flash, and I was in

agony, I flew 12 feet, apparently, I woke up and the pain I was in was

excruciating, I had pins and needles down my body. I couldn't feel my

body, apart from pins and needles, I was in agony laid on a cold wet

floor. The Prime Minister has paid tribute

to the five servicemen who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Four of those on board, three soldiers and an airman, were

stationed at RAF Odiham in Hampshire. The fifth, an Army

reservist, was based in London. The Ministry of Defence said the crash

near Kandahar air base appeared to have been a "tragic accident". The

Prime Minister paid tribute to the victims of Saturday's crash in the

Commons. These tragic deaths reminders of the continued

commitment and sacrifice of our Armed Forces, and I know that our

deepest sympathies are with their families at this very difficult

time. It was money which was meant to

provide transit sites for gypsies and travellers ` but instead it's

being used to put the barricades up against them. One travellers' group

has described Poole Council's decision to use nearly a quarter of

a million pounds in this way as "crazy". The council says it's

spending tens of thousands of pounds every summer to clear illegal camps.

Steve Humphrey reports. People in this part of Poole say it

was a nightmare last year when travellers set up camp on this

recreation ground. A worrying time. Residents didn't feel safe, children

wouldn't go on the road because of the travellers. To get increased

powers from moving travellers from unauthorised sites, the council

wanted to build two temporary transit sites but after a heated

meeting a few weeks ago, that plan was thrown out. The council has now

decided that instead of spending ?230,000 on those travellers's

transit sites, it will improve security at recreation grounds like

this and other public open spaces. It will be investing in more

barriers and by Lars. I feel we need to keep the spark it, it would be

better if they had better security boulders to keep them from coming

in. The Conservative run council says it is not just try to keep

travellers out. We are still trying to negotiate with government for

changes in the law which would allow us to work with our neighbours on

providing a site so there are a number of strands to this. But the

funding switch from provision to prevention has appalled travellers

groups. There should be permanent sites and transit sites for those

who still travel in search of work. This sort of crazy merry`go`round of

evictions is costing you and I and the taxpayer something like ?18

million a year. Meanwhile Poole council want central government, but

a national strategy for providing traveller and gypsy sites.

MPs have called for a new polar research ship to be built in

Portsmouth. The ?200 million vessel is due to replace the UK's two

current polar exploration ships. City MPs Mike Hancock and Penny

Mourdant have requested meetings with Business Secretary Vince Cable

and Chancellor George Osbourne. 900 jobs were cut last year when BAE

ended shipbuilding in the city. The English Democrats have launched

their campaign for the forthcoming European elections. The party, which

is putting up a full slate of candidates in the South East and

South West, says it is looking after English interests. It argues it's

unfair for the English to pay prescription charges and tuition

fees when they are free elsewhere in the UK. It's leader says being

English, not British, also makes them different from other parties.

In the 2011 census results we have 32 million people, over 60%, say

they were English and not British. In the year of the Scottish

independence referendum, clearly we have something to say that UKIP

simply is not interested in saying. Time for the sport now. We will

start with a success story but it is kind of a bittersweet one. Yes, AFC

Bournemouth have had a successful season. But it tells a bit of a

story. The cost of AFC Bournemouth's promotion to the Championship last

year has been revealed in the club's annual accounts. The headline figure

is that the club made a loss of more than ?15 million in the financial

year ` that's an increase of ?11.9m from the previous 12 months. And

player and staff wages soared to ?11m, a jump of around ?7m year on

year. These number represent the cost of promotion to the

Championship. The next set of figures may bear some heavy numbers,

in terms of the Cherries' success in staying there. The celebrations of a

season that thrilled unsurprised in equal measure. But success doesn't

come cheap. The financial figures reiterate their reliance on their

Russian benefactor. He doesn't want to be shelling of that kind of

money. We're trying to put things in place and produce our own players.

But in those figures, there are a range of things, not just player

wages and transfer fees, there is investment going on for the future

as well. Lasted's promotion was Catholic is to be worth around ?5

million `` last year 's macro promotion was calculated. They

retain their long`term vision. You don't get some of the football we

have played this season without investment, so to push the team, it

will cost us money we don't have. The board were not available for

interview but the chairman did release a statement. He says he is

keen to put the loss into perspective and there by achieving

promotion, the end justified the means. The statement also reiterated

their benefactor's long`term investment. He will have his own

aims and dreams for the club and I think he will want to see them

realised. The challenge for us is to make it happen as quickly as

possible. They finished their season at Millwall. Also exciting for

Reading and Brighton. In cricket's County Championship,

two poor batting efforts from Sussex left them on the wrong end of an

innings defeat to Somerset at Hove. Despite 93 from skipper Ed Joyce,

Sussex were bowled out for 219 in their second innings, 11 runs short

of making Somerset bat again. And at the Ageas Bowl in Division Two,

Hampshire and Surrey ended up scrapping only for bonus points in a

drawn game, after losing large chunks of their game to rain. The

former Cheltenham Gold cup winner long one has missed out on winning

the Irish rain. He was forced to settle for third place. The horse

was returning after his fall in the Grand National.

A Dorset club has become one of only a handful of organisations around

the country to provide archery for blind or visually impaired people.

The weekly sessions have been part`funded by a charitable

foundation ` and they've already attracted some enthusiastic and

skilful participants. Bob Everett reports.

Normally, archery requires a careful combination of hand and eye. Yet

these archers are all either blind or visually impaired. I thought it

was unreal. Absolutely fantastic what they are doing. They are

practising together at the Bournemouth Society for the visually

impaired, following a collaboration between the Steve Balmer foundation

and a local club. We set up a foundation in honour of my son who

was killed in a car crash. We decided to set up a sports

foundation to help those with a disability in elite sports. The

foundation asked for provision to be made for disabled and youth sport.

They didn't expect blind archers, but the scheme is clearly working.

Did you think you would ever be able to do this? No, I didn't think

visually impaired people would be doing archery. I'd never heard of it

before. So I thought, I will give it a go! We just initially set them up,

they get a few arose to set themselves up and off they go. ``

arrows. I'm not very good with my our site, `` eyesight, it is mainly

colour, it just goes blurry. I aim for the centre and if I get the

centre I am doing well. Soon these archers will move on to shoot

outdoors over longer distances. Their proficiency and enthusiasm for

the sport suggests this is one sporting initiative that's really

hitting the mark. And finally, congratulations to

Itchen College Girls football team from Southampton. They won the

British Colleges FA cup final, beating York College 12`0. Striker

Millie Farrow scored eight of those goals. She is one to watch! Well

done! Ever planted a tree? Not a tree, no, maybe a view plant on the

windowsill! There is still time! Just imagine what you would need.

Acres of land? Bit of space? Yes and a lot of help! Well, Wendy Davis,

who's a teacher in Andover, had none of these but that didn't stop her.

She was determined to rope in the whole community. Caroline Richardson

has been to see how her project is ` if you'll pardon the pun ` taking

root. Today the children are planting cowslips in harmony would.

10,000 children, from 25 schools, guides and scout groups, will be

involved in the ten year project, which started two years ago. I think

they thought I was mad to think we could get a piece of land where we

could collectively get the children to plant trees on but we managed it.

She persuaded a land land owners sell the land to the County Council

had handed it over. We have 44 acres that will be woodland and in the

middle of it, there is this little seven acres, that the children of

the town, supported by families and volunteers, will grow into a wood.

Where'd you get your trees from? A charity which exists solely to get

trees to children to plant in nurseries and schools, they look

after them for a while, Dick, when they are a `year`old and we bring

them out of the wood to plant them. We're getting rid of the weeds so

they don't die because the woods take all the good stuff and the

trees can't get anything so they will be forced to die. When we die

and everything, people will be able to see the trees we planted here. I

like it because we are making it a bit more greener. Even though it's

hard work? Yes! Many of the total are now part of a scheme at the UN.

Do you wish you might be able to live for another hundred years so

you could see it? I would love to see it in the future. I'm looking

forward to the tent and a bursary. That to me will be very special. You

need somebody with energy and vision to get a project like that going.

Well done. And on a similar theme, let me tell

you that Roger Finn will be back tomorrow with another Finn's

Country. This week he's at Iffley Meadows, famous for Oxford's iconic

wild flower ` the Snakes Head Fritillary. A few weeks ago the

meadows were flooded waist deep and the Wildlife Trust wasn't sure how

badly the flowers would suffer. The only way to find out is to count

them. Which is exactly what he is still doing! Hopefully he will be

here tomorrow with the film! Onto the weather.

Maureen Coles captured a foggy start to the day at the entrance to

Portsmouth Harbour It brightened up pretty quickly ` though ` thanks to

Bob Boyd for this shot of a nightingale in full song at

Pulborough Brooks. And there's a bluebell theme at Chilworth near

Southampton from Lorraine Lambeth ` taken at two o'clock as shown by the

dandelions! Good evening. We have some quite

unsettled weather to come over the next 24 hours or so. Thereafter,

things get better. As we head into the holiday weekend, hopefully the

sunshine will be back out all the gardeners beware, there is a risk of

frost into the weekend. Some quite heavy showers possible tomorrow,

even with the risk of hail and thunder. An area of low pressure is

moving over us, that will introduce some unstable air so the showers are

quite big ones over the next 24`hour is. That cloud and rain will creep

in so it will go downhill, temperatures should be falling no

lower than around nine or tell. Ten. It will be a bit murky tomorrow

morning, some mist around, temperatures not as warm as today

but then the showers get going. 12 of them could be quite heavy. There

is a Met Office warning about them. Looking further ahead, we see things

improved. Along the coastline, the winds are south`westerly, those

times of high water are for Portsmouth. This is the area of low

pressure generating those showers. It starts to move away from us, and

eventually these