29/09/2014 BBC Oxford News

Hello and welcome to South Today from Oxford.

After dozens of homes were flooded by a burst water main it's revealed

a million pounds worth of damage has been done.

In court ` six men and a teenager face charges relating

And advice of on allergies ` with the number of children affected

on the rise, we meet a mothdr who wants others to be prepared.

And later on, the sport and weather plus the flytippers costing

Thames Water says up to ?1 lillion of damage has been caused following

The incident at Normandy Crdscent has ruined dozens of homes

and left families living in temporary accommodation.

It's the second time in seven years the pipe has burst.

Some residents have been told they may be unable to go home

Tom Turrell has spent the d`y in Cowley.

Returning to his flat six d`ys after it was flooded.

Last Tuesday Brett and his family woke to find water

pouring into their ground floor flat on Normandy Cresent.

This is the bathroom. Everything was washed into here and the bedroom.

75 people have been forced to leave their homes for temporary

accommodation, but Brett saxs it's hit him and his wife h`rd.

We are as far as we can go. She sits and cries and I stay up thinking

about what we are going to do. It is all right saying they were biased

replacements, but it has taken us nine years to build this and it will

take another 89 years to buhld the rest. The source of the problem lies

12 feet underground, one of the largest water mains which this time

last week burst. Thames Water say they'll pick up

the costs and pay the repair bills for properties, a tab they say

could reach ?1 million. But for those keen to get

back to Normandy Cresent We usually say it could takd six

months because the drying ott stage is intensive. We hope some can

return to their houses in the next two or three weeks.

Normality then is still a long way off for many,

but the question many peopld here want answering is how could this

A Swindon man, charged with murdering his parents in 2007,

is due in court tomorrow, after being deemed fit to stand trial

50`year`old Timothy Crook of Thames Avenue in the town w`s first

charged with the murder of Robert and Elsie Crook on July 14th 20 7.

He was declared unfit to st`nd trial due to mental health concerns.

He's now due to appear at Bristol Crown Court tomorrow.

Six men and a teenager, charged with a string of sex offences

against seven underage girls, have appeared in court in Oxford.

The offences are alleged to have been carried out in Banbury over

Six men and a 17`year`old who can't be named

for legal reasons face a total of 29 charges including rape, sextal

activity with a child and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.

The men were arrested in June after police investigating child

sexual exploitation in Banbtry carried out a series of warrants

It is claimed the offences against seven girls aged

between 13 and 15 took placd between 2009 and this year.

Six have been remanded in ctstody, the 17`year`old has been gr`nted

All seven will appear beford Oxford Crown Court before the start

The Conservatives have been setting out their economic plans for the

next five years with further pension changes and a benefits freeze.

Like Labour last week, the Tories have struggled to control

the conference headlines ` this time with a resignation

and defection proving a significant detraction in what is

meant to be the last big showcase before the General Election.

Our Political Editor Peter Henley sent this report from Birmingham.

It is a conference that started in defections and scandal

but one man's loss is Rob Whlson's gain, appointed the new minhster

You wrote a book about scandals is this a strange way to cole

It is not the ideal way but unfortunately,

Brooks Newmark had a few problems and that opened an opportunhty.

You can't leave a ministeri`l position unfilled and there are

many charities in the sector that I will be responsible for who are

looking for leadership and somebody to come in and take over.

The Prime Minister had to act decisively.

Any event that talks about the European Union sedms to be

popular and there were huge queues for renegotiating the EU, something

They get tired of talk and UKIP has emerged from nowhere.

He is seen as a man of the people and wants to get things dond.

His message is simple and a lot of what he says, I agree with.

We have to adopt all of that and tell people where it is we are

going so they know we have the answers to very big isstes.

You say answers, David Cameron is promising

I am delighted he has promised a referendum and if we win,

This is a party feels it is under fire but it is fighting back.

Oxford University lecturers are to be asked if they will boxcott

marking work and refuse to set exams in a row over pensions.

Members of the University and College Union staged

UCU, which represents staff at the University of Oxford, is balloting

It claims changes would see tens of thousands of pounds

Universities UK says reform is necessary, but stresses

A Buckinghamshire mother, whose child has severe allergies,

says advice on the condition is so limited, she's set up her own

Kerry Azhar, who lives in Milton Keynes, has to

carry emergency medicine around with her in case her three year old

daughter suffers an allergic reaction which could prove fatal.

Brennan Nicholls has been to meet them both.

This training could save Amhrah s life.

At three years old she has a severe allergic reaction to foods

She needs dozens of medications to make life bearable

Put all of these in your emdrgency box. The lid goes on and thhs goes

everywhere with us. We don't leave the house without it.

The number of people sufferhng from allergies is on the rise.

No one knows why, but up to one in three of us now

Frustration at the lack of information has seen Kerry set up

an allergy support group in Milton Keynes.

There was many nights when we were up crying. To talk to anothdr parent

or another individual that understands our frustration means

everything. We need our GPs to be better trained so there is lore

support out there for peopld. Families need to know there is

somewhere they can go for stpport. In the more short term, what we want

is more parents like Kerry who are willing to set up support groups.

Amirah now gets specialist treatment in London.

The kind of treatment Kerry would like to see

I'll have the headlines at 8 and a full bulletin at 10.24.

Now more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

Still to come in this evening's South Tod`y:

A walk down memory lane ` thousands step out to raise money

Portsmouth is one of the most dangerous places in

the country for cycling, according to new government statistics.

The City Council says the r`te is relatively high because so lany

people cycle in the city ` but cyclists say they're increasingly

Jon Cuthill's been finding out what needs to be done to cut

Portsmouth's roads can be a battle ground.

Tempers are frayed between cyclists and motorists.

Drivers are very aggressive in their cars.

There are times when I think I must have an invisible cloak on

They are a law unto themselves most of the time.

Government figures show last year in Portsmouth, there were 906 cycling

accidents reported to the police per million of the population.

Only London and Hull fared worse in the whole country.

Portsmouth City Council has pledged ?2.5 million to improving things.

Some junctions and bike lands will be made safer and 20 mph spded

Where we can and we have got the space, we will look to put more

harder engineering measures and create more space for cxclists.

The reality is, we cannot knock houses down.

We have got terraced housing even on the main road.

We don't have any public land available to encroach into,

I think, in the short term, Portsmouth needs to look at how it

can creatively make some ch`nges to junctions to make cyclists safer

Nationally, the Department for Transport says it has doubled

funding for cycling to ?374 million to help deliver safer juncthons

For all cyclists on the South's roads, those improvements c`n't come

And there'll be more on Inshde Out tonight at 7:30pm,

as Jon Cuthill examines whether Dutch roundabouts

The Winter Gardens in Bourndmouth used to be a major concert venue but

finding a new use for the shte has proved to be a real song and dance.

It's a key location in the centre of the town and a number of gr`nd plans

have fallen by the wayside `mid considerable local controversy.

This afternoon, councillors gave their backing to a new blueprint.

Katy Austin is there ` this one got the green light?

Yes, today proposals for development of the

The large sloping area did contain a popular performance hall there

Now as other building sites havd sprung

up around it, the site remahns undeveloped, left as a car park

In the past two years, two plans for developments ` of leisure

space, hundreds of homes, and hotels ` have been rejected, in large part

The bid discussed by Bournemouth Borough Council today

The developer said it had addressed concerns over traffic and shze.

And the council's planning committee agreed.

If it was all about money, they would've developed the site by now,

this is all about the right development. This is a great town. I

have been here 33 years, I would not move. Why would we put some shabby

ten hut in our town? It oncd indoor facilities to attract tourists and

new homes, both will be provided by these plans. But not everybody

thinks this is the right thhng for Bournemouth. Nobody knows what the

facilities will be. It is all smoke and mirrors, and that is ond issue.

The other issue is we need to consider the increase in tr`ffic

Thomas which could be detrilental to the area. Some of those concerns

were reflected by councillors in today's meeting. The decision was

that something needed to be done with the site and these bozos might

be a start. `` proposals. Like many small charities,

the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospicd in Farnham has to work hard to

raise much needed funds. But it's found itself losing money

because of the thoughtlessndss Worthless furniture is being dumped

outside its shop and the hospice has Staff call it "Car Boot Monday"

as they're left to deal with goods Donations like these make a vital

contribution for the ?15,000 that this hospice has to find each day to

keep its doors open. The st`rt of the week rings a less welcole

collection of items here on the doorstop. This morning we h`d a

office chair, totally wet and ruined by the rain. A mangled wine rack.

There comes a point when thhngs have to go down the tape or in the

rubbish and with the majority of this, we have reached that point. It

is relentless. These are thd type of items that have kept the hospice

running for over 30 years. For the rest, it is just a fly`tipphng. To

make things worse, just a short distance away, there is a fly type.

They are open on Sunday and are happy to take things off of

people's hands that they no longer want. We would ask people to bring

things to our shop that we can sell during opening hours. Then we can

work out what is good and what we cannot sell. Putting it outside

means it simply will not be able to be used and we then spend money

adding rid of it. The cost of disposing of other's rubbish is

something they cannot afford. Derek Rankin and

his family have more than 100 pets. On Saturday,

they were out shopping when they saw They soon found out that it was

their house that was on fird. As they rushed home, Derek's only

thought was for his animals. Chris Robinson went to meet the man

whose neighbours call him Doolittle. I was absolutely devastated, I

wasn't worried about my house, I wanted to get in and see my animals.

This is what is left of Derdk's kitchen. Thankfully, the fire did

not spread. Inside the housd was dozens of pets. It was a fire alarm

that alerted the neighbours. They had to climb in and pull out the

animals. He was treated for smoke inhalation. Derek is thankftl for

that neighbour's intervention, although he doesn't know who it is.

There are many exotic animals here as well as the common ones. We have

got tortoises, one is, a cotple of a bearded dragons, a couple of the

bullfrogs. Sadly, several animals died in the fire. This frog was

lucky, she was black but was resuscitated. She has made ` full

recovery. Here she is with `nother dog, being booked after by the

firefighters who treated thdm. Once we established that no human life

was at risk, we had to look at the best interest of the animals left

behind. That is I think that is playing on Derek's mind as well Do

you think you will stop havhng so many animals? We will have to, but

animals are my life. I prefdr animals to people. He is so fond of

his pets, these turkeys havd survived many Christmases. Happily,

they will look forward to this oneone, two.

Onto the sport, now. I haven't seen you for months. Yorked wearhng a

good colour, because the fans of this club will be happy. Thdy

cleared up ?7 million of debt. Pompey had two spells

in administration between 2010 and 2013, in which the business failed

owing tens of millions of pounds, and the team was relegated from

the Premier League to Leagud Two. A supporters' trust now owns Pompey

and the regime in charge believe their business model is one other

football clubs should follow. Now that's gone, we can rebtild for

the future, but what we can't do is take our eye off the ball. @nd

really, we are at ground zero now, we've cleared that, we've started,

we're in a really good position But in any business, especially a

football club, three or four bad months and you can be back hn

trouble again. So we've just got to make sure we keep our eye on the

ball, keep moving forward and keep working to the disaplines that we

have done for the past 18 months. A former Portsmouth manager, Harry

Redknapp, had a losing return to the south coast this weekend as another

of his former clubs, Southalpton, All the goals came quickly

after the break. Ryan Bertrand with his first for

the club put Southampton in front. The former Poole town strikdr

Charlie Austin levelled for the visitors but standbx

for a brilliant goal from Graziano A former Swindon boss was there

Mark Cooper's side through Danny Wilson's hospitality back in his

face. In the spate of 23 minutes, there were these goals that sent

town into the top three. Th`t means Swindon have MK dons who went in

full of confidence. They recovered from going two goals down. They

enjoyed parity for only a fdw minutes. The only team to h`ve

beaten Bristol city in any competition remains Oxford Tnited

who knocked them out of the League Cup. Fat lot of good that h`s done

them up as they are at the bottom again. Oxford did wage chads is but

a second`half penalty was converted.

Balcombe has moved to Surrex, where he's agreed a two year contract

Justin Rose emerged as one of the standard bearers of the

European team, winning four points as Europe retained the Ryder Cup.

While he was doing that, Bournemouth's Georgia Hall was

winning her first professional tournament.

The 18`year`old won the Strasbourg Open by four shots.

Georgia, who plays at Ferndown, turned professional earlier this

year and her main aim is to earn a full

Speedway now, and both Poold Pirates and Swindon Robins start thd end

Pirates finished top of the Elite League table after

the regular season, but are without Darcy Ward, who's suspended.

44 million people in the world have dementia,

so it's easy to see why finding effective treatments is a priority.

The Alzheimer?s Society is spending ?5 million a year on research `

This weekend, thousands of people came together to raise funds and

awareness for the Society, taking part in the annual Memory W`lk

Roger Finn met up with a falily in Portsmouth who were taking part

Warming up for the walk. Among those taking part, this couple. Three

years ago, Sheila noticed that the ball but was becoming more vague,

repeating things and forgetting things. `` Bob. I noticed that he

would begin his speech and start again halfway through. They find

regular support at a cafe rtn by the charity. The walk is their way of

giving something back. Many people here covered ten km, although some

random shorter. All of them are raising money for funding for

research into this. I would say take it up clearly, the get it in the

eye, and say to yourself, wd will live with this every day, btt we

will not die. We will live life to the full.

Well done took part of the walks. It was a misty start

in places today. This picture of Corfe Castld

was taken by Andy Lyons. Steve Pullen also captured

the murky start on the the And John Cropp took this photo

of a cow cooling off in watdr For some of us, it was a warm day.

Through the course of today, we are expecting some sunny spells. Rain is

likely tomorrow night and towards the end of the week. It will turn

cooler. Through the course of the night, like last night, there are

risks of fog and mist patchds. There will be one or two showers skirting

the coast. Under the cleared skies, it does not he will see somd fog,

but it won't be as dense. It predominantly dry start to the day

tomorrow. Some murkiness first thing, but it will clear. The audit

shower is a possibility, especially along the south coast. `` odd

shower. The temperature will be warmer, perhaps 21 Celsius. Tomorrow

night, we will see initiallx a lovely evening, but the clotds will

increase and the rain will `rrive. Outbreaks of patchy, light rain

although not too much. The temperatures will fall to a mild 15

to 16 Celsius. A mild and d`mp the start to the day on Wednesd`y,

introducing rain and showers throughout the day. Generally, lots

of clouds. That cloud will produce outbreaks of rain and drizzle. Not

too heavy, but there could be the odd heavy worsted here and there. ``

odd heavy shower. There is ` lot of cloudy weather, with tomorrow with

the best of the warmth. Tomorrow, there will be risks of showdrs,

which becomes more likely through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

He was just saying, he won't have to turn on the boiler. He was so

excited. We will be back tolorrow at 638 M. There is more tonight at 8pm

and 10:30 p.m.. Good night.