29/05/2014 BBC Oxford News

News at 6.00pm. For this evening, it's goodbye are from me, on BBC One

Hello and welcome to South Today from Oxford.

A year after a health unit was told to make urgent changes,

why it still needs to make improvements to patient care.

The 300`year`old housing charity that says it could be forced to

The cat that needed a ?600 operation to save its life.

The pensioner who's holding Barclays to account.

A care unit in Oxford where a teenager died, still needs to make

improvements, despite being ordered to make urgent changes last year.

The latest report by the Care Quality Commission about Slade

House in Headington follows an unscheduled inspection to the unit.

Connor Sparrowhawk drowned there last July ` an inquest found

Sinead Carroll is here with more on the story.

Slade House first came to our attention last July when Connor

An independent report found his death was preventable

Then, in September, inspectors released a damning report.

Slade House was given warning notices and two units were

By December inspectors said Slade House had made improvements `

so warnings about cleanliness were dropped.

This week, the Care Quality Commission published their finding

It said further improvements have been made so there are

It told us it was delighted to have the warning notices lifted

and will continue to scrutinise every area of care to ensure

But in a statement the CQC said the service was still not effectively

respecting and involving people in significant personal decisions.

For example, following the death of Connor Sparrowhawk,

It's something that's angered one former service user.

It is wrong. Will the staff leave them to have another accident?

Connor Sparrowhawk's stepfather thinks Slade House should be closed.

It appears to easy first sub standard care to be maintained for

The unit still isn't open for new patients.

The CQC wants Slade House to make improvements by next month.

Inspectors have warned they could return, unannounced, at any time

Our Health correspondent David Fenton has been looking

Earlier I asked him how much of an improvement Slade House has made.

Overall things do seem to be getting better.

After the previous dreadful reports you would expect that.

Inspectors looked at seven areas ` things like care and welfare,

making sure patients were not abused, managing medicines properly

But they did fail on one area, because they banned patients from

having baths, without asking them if they thought that was a good idea.

And the inspectors found that out because one of

This inspection was at the John Sharich unit.

There are just 5 patients there and one told inspectors he couldn't

What happened was that staff decided they were going to stop doing that

because a previous patient had died after a bath and they were going to

But they didn't ask any of the patients if they thought that

What about the future of these units?

Do we know what's going to happen to them?

There are plans to reduce the number of beds in units

Those plans are still being kicked around but I think they may become

But fewer people treated in places like Slade House, and more

getting care in their own homes or in open community settings.

Final note ` seven members of staff have been suspended

because of previous failings and I understand disciplinary hearings

A 42`year`old man has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping

after a father and his daughter went missing in Oxfordshire.

Ewan Donald and his three year old daughter were

The man arrested is also being questioned on suspicion of

A housing charity in Buckinghamshire,

which is more than 300 years old, says it's at risk of closure

The Winwood Almshouse Trust says the land which provides

its income could be ripped apart by the proposed high speed route.

It says it needs compensation quickly

This woman had no where to look. I do not put by big do `` I do not

The land is rented from the charity. Potentially the whole area

will not be able to be used. How much land will be taken due to

construction and how much will be left usable, we do not know. The

Department for transport says it is committed to engagement and

compensation. They say they will continue to have effective

discussions with all parties involved.

People say they want to be treated fairly.

People living in a village in north Oxfordshire say it's taking too long

to fix a wall which partly collapsed last year, closing the road.

Some of the stone work has fallen apart on Old Bridge Road in Bloxham.

The road's been shut for 14 months and some people living nearby claim

The repairs are expected to cost around ?100,000.

Oxfordshire County Council says the work is a low priority.

Teachers at a nursery in Bicester have met with Network Rail to

discuss a footbridge it's built beside the school.

Staff at Child First nursery say it's now not safe

Network Rail has offered to build a canopy over the playground

but that idea has been rejected by the nursery.

Plans to build a new Tesco Express store in a South Oxfordshire village

have been rejected by parish councillors.

More than 2,000 people have already signed a petition against plans

Tesco wants to build it on a former pub site ` and says

But there are concerns it would lead to village shops losing trade

Police are investigating an air rifle attack in

It needed a ?600 operation to save its life.

Nationally, more than 300 air rifle shootings have been reported to

On the prowl once again in his Kennington home.

But it could have been a very different story

for Paddy the cat who was recently shot in the leg by an air gun.

It's left his owner upset and suspicious of those living nearby.

This is a nice village. I have always felt safe year. It is very

frightening that somebody has an airgun and does not think twice

The X`ray showed the pellet had penetrated

The injury, so serious it required a vet to perform surgery using

But it seems the kitten was lucky something could be done.

It could have been a lot worse. If it had involved the knee joint it

could have required extensive reconstruction of that joint. Even

Air guns are legal in this country and you don't need a

licence, but using them in this way is most certainly against the law.

Thames Valley Police have said an official investigation is underway.

The police are seeing this is a criminal act.

As for Paddy ` well he's back on his feet ` and I

I'll have the headlines at 8 and a full bulletin at 10.25.

Now more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

Still to come in this evening's South Today:

In full bloom ` Chichester Cathedral celebrates with

Each day, families in the South are affected by road accidents.

In 2012, there were more than 900 accidents

in Dorset, 1800 in West Sussex, and more than 3000 in Hampshire.

But statistics don't convey the whole story.

Evey Staley was ten years old when she was killed in

Today, families gathered on the island, to set up a new charity to

support victims and highlight the dangers of this everyday tragedy.

20 months ago, Evey and her parents were

As they pulled out of the driveway, the car was hit at speed

Evey was in the back and died instantly.

Life stopped for us on that day in August 2012.

This is very much why we want to start this charity,

to stop this happening to other families on the island.

Evey's tragic loss and the crumpled remains

of the family car have already been used by Hampshire Police

Now the family wants to build on this work.

Today, the first steps in setting up a road

Anne and Melvin Campbell were at today's meeting.

They lost their son in a car accident 13 years ago.

Not a day goes by where you do not think of them.

I think they are very brave, because I couldn't have done it.

You are in a state of shock for years afterwards.

Police are supportive of the charity and will work with

It is not just us through drink`driving that have

It is multiple other families on the Isle

of Wight that have been affected by people's standard of driving.

That's something we want to address and educate people on.

There is no name or logo for the charity yet.

But today's families are already united in a single aim,

and that's to get every single driver on the island thinking more

about safety every time they get behind the wheel.

Do you trust them to look after your money?

Do you trust them to protect you from fraud?

And if you are targeted by scammers, do you trust

Well, it's been claimed today that a fraudulent bank account, set up

to scam thousands of pounds from unknowing members of the public,

was allowed to remain open for ten days after first being reported.

Ten days ago, teacher from Hampshire received a call. The person on the

end of the line weren't that his had been compromised and he should

transfer his money. They even offered on a cruise as a reward. I

knew that no bank gives of money. I knew for certain that it was a

scam. Peter reported at an expected their account to be closed. A BBC

reporter tried to pay ?1 into the account. It was only ten days later

that the account had been frozen. Please serious `` Barclays say the

combat fraud with technology. Jenny from Christchurch transferred over

?60,000. I thought they would give Jenny Ecole. `` the call. With the

line still connected, I answered the call. I really could not believe

that I had fallen victim to this. I didn't want to go out. I felt

ashamed and stupid. Jenny eventually got her money back but hopes more is

done to protect others. We are working closely with phone providers

to change this. Luckily for Peter, he spotted the scam and can afford

Much of the South's wildlife was really set back by the long wet

For this week's Finn's Country, Roger has been hearing

After years of dramatic decline, their numbers had been recovering.

I reckon that's one of the best views in Southern England.

For many years, a group of people have been working

to turn that entire area into a huge wildlife haven.

Right beside the busy railway line from Arundel

It's a nature reserve, one of many here, and is managed

I'm being given a tour by Mike Russell.

He trained in law but he gave it up 30 years ago to work with wildlife.

People know it as mayblossom, but it is actually hawthorn.

Mike is setting traps for voles to see how many there are and how they

are faring, because they are a vital food for barn owls.

This area was very flooded last year, and so the voles moved away,

so barn owl numbers have dropped over the last two years.

They used to be common in the first half of the 21st Century.

In the second half, when agriculture started to intensify,

plus losing barns and hedgerows, they were losing habitat.

The good news is that the ravages of the winter don't seem to have had

a lasting effect on many other creatures.

We've lost so much of our wetland and this is a great place for

so many species of bird, especially in winter when it floods.

But you get all sorts of wildlife here.

There are all sorts of bushes and scrubs around.

This is a sedge warbler, recently arrived from Africa.

This is his courtship song and has territorial song.

He is marking his territory from the others.

Mike, I know this is the Sussex Wildlife Trust, but there is

Arun is a wonderful area for wildlife, but in the past it

We are working with our partners at the RSPB and Arun Wetland Trust

as part of the Living Landscape project.

It is to connect patches of land so that wildlife has

the ability to colonise and create a self`functioning ecosystem.

In a sense, the wildlife can look after itself

instead of being heavily managed by organisations like us.

South Today viewer Mick Janner captured this rare footage of a barn

The hope is that, as the Living Landscapes project progresses, this

You get wonderful light on this reserve.

It is a great place to see them swoop over the grass

Roger Finn there, really enjoying his job.

Now you may remember that, over the last few weeks, Roger has

been showing us some of the tools he has found at the Rural Life Centre,

in Farnham, and challenging us to guess what they are.

Here he is with a reminder of last week's item, and the answer.

A log of wood with spikes on the bottom to hold it in place.

Then a blade here, and a groove down the side.

That is a spill, a little taper that you use for lighting fires.

Oxford`based London Welsh are now within touching distance

of promotion to the top flight of English rugby.

A sparkling performance against Bristol last night saw them

establish a 19 point aggregate lead in the Championship playoff final.

A crowd of over 5000 at the Kassam Stadium helped spur

the Exiles to victory by 27 points to 8 in the first leg.

The second leg takes place at the Memorial Stadium next Wednesday.

Britain's rowers are preparing for the biggest regatta

50 rowers across 17 disciplines will be in Belgrade this weekend.

There are 15 Olympic medallists included in the squad

The men's eight will include Hampshire's Olympic medallist

Olympic Champion Helen Glover is back in partnership with

Some cricket news, and Hampshire's T20 blast campaign

Owais Shah will remain with the Royals for the remainder

Shah initially signed a short`term deal for three matches, the last

of which was due to be against his old club Essex tomorrow.

Kevin Peterson will play for Surrey tomorrow night against Middlesex.

If you've travelled to the Isle of Wight by car or ferry

during the last few years, you may well have noticed a charity

Southampton's Gus McKechnie set himself a target

of cycling 50,000 miles while the ferry sailed back and forth.

Today, for the last 100, Gus, who has cerebral palsy,

was on dry land at the ferry terminal to complete his challenge

raising money for several charities in the past three and a half years.

Effectively, there is a distance of twice around the equator.

Having a disability, I don't think I would ever have got that far.

Well done, Gus! A fantastic effort. He has raised thousands for

charity. Get well soon, look sure. High pressure starts to build

tomorrow, but there is the risk of one or two thundery downpours.

Possible thunderstorms overnight, the Met office have a yellow warning

in force. Heavy rain is expected until 10:00pm, which could cause

localised flooding. Shoppers will ease through the night and we will

see one or two clear spells, but there is a lot of cloud

across`the`board. Mild temperatures overnight, with lows between 11 and

13 Celsius. The winds fairly light and variable. High pressure will

build towards the North tomorrow. We start with patchy rain or drizzle in

the morning. That will break in the afternoon to allow for sunshine, and

heights of up to 18 Celsius. The winds will be fairly light. The slim

chance of a shower but most places will escape and we will see a late

evening sunshine. Tomorrow, temperatures will fall to nine or 11

Celsius. The good news is that high pressure is building from the

Atlantic. We do have an area of low pressure close by, meaning that it

will make its way in. We will see high pressure through Sunday,

bringing in a weather front later on Sunday. It starts off cloudy with

bright spells, with rain arriving in the afternoon. Further reading on

Monday and Tuesday. Armed only with a few roses

and the odd gladioli, they transform and brighten our

churches up and down the region. But today they've

outdone themselves. Because a floral army of the South's

best flower arrangers have descended We sent our Sarah Farmer

along to the Festival of Flowers. It is regarded as the gold standard

of flower festivals. Chichester Cathedral is patch to the rafters

with colourful creations and the aroma of 50,000 blooms. This year's

seem is music. Moments from the musicals, and everything from Bath

to the Beatles. Music and flowers go so well together. One of my remit

was to produce flowers and designs to show off the Cathedral. The

festival takes place every other year with a different subject. 500

volunteers support the event. My students have created crocodiles,

and penguins to illustrate Norma's arc. `` Noah. I find it very

interesting to make crocodiles. The festival attracted 15,000 people in

2012. It looks like this one will be another success for the restoration

of the Cathedral. We have raised 8 million over the last few years.

We're going to have two treble that over the next ten years. The

Cathedral is over 900 years old, so the funds are warmly received. It is

so joyful and colourful. It is a pleasure to see people enjoying the

Cathedral. Music is very much at the heart of the festival, which is why

this year's seem bring so much life to displays. I will leave you with

Somewhere Over The Rainbow. If you are in Chichester, it is

worth going to see the displays. Join us tomorrow as we look into the

D`day invasion. Good night.