:00:10. > :00:14.Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West. Our headlines tonight.
:00:14. > :00:16.The babysitter accused of betraying his trust. He appears in court
:00:17. > :00:20.charged with indecency against some of the children he was looking
:00:20. > :00:28.after. A Royal opening for Weston Pier as
:00:28. > :00:30.the town hopes tourists will breeze Bath considers chopping its chief
:00:30. > :00:40.executive amid public concern about their pay.
:00:40. > :00:42.
:00:43. > :00:45.And we go under cover looking for a statue of Tennis Girl.
:00:45. > :00:53.A court has heard that a former foster parent from Gloucester
:00:53. > :00:56.sexually abused children as young as five. It is alleged that William
:00:56. > :00:59.Barber indecently assaulted eight children over a 13-year period. Our
:00:59. > :01:01.Gloucestershire reporter, Steve Knibbs, was at Crown Court for us
:01:01. > :01:04.today. The prosecution opened its case
:01:04. > :01:06.against William Barber by telling the jury that the accounts of what
:01:06. > :01:11.happened to the alleged victims would be harrowing and distressing
:01:11. > :01:18.to hear. There are eight victims in this case - seven girls and one boy.
:01:18. > :01:20.They were all aged between 5 and 12 at the time of the alleged offences.
:01:20. > :01:24.William Barber is charged with 16 counts of indecent assault against
:01:24. > :01:30.them and two of indecency with a child - that is that he compelled
:01:30. > :01:33.them to perform an act on him. The jury heard that this case will, in
:01:33. > :01:36.effect, be an abstract lesson in the methodology of a paedophile.
:01:36. > :01:38.William Barber was at one point, along with his wife, a foster
:01:38. > :01:42.parent, although none of his alleged victims were his foster
:01:42. > :01:45.children. The court heard he would offer to babysit some of his
:01:45. > :01:48.victims to help their parents out. The prosecution said William Barber
:01:48. > :01:51.would make his victims feel special, he would praise them, but then
:01:51. > :01:54.threaten them to say nothing. In one case, the court heard William
:01:54. > :01:56.Barber told his young victim that what was happening was perfectly
:01:56. > :02:00.normal, but that if he said something, then something would
:02:00. > :02:04.happen to him. Over the next two weeks, all of the
:02:04. > :02:07.alleged victims in this case, some who live outside the UK, will come
:02:07. > :02:12.to this court to give evidence. All now grown adults, the jury heard
:02:12. > :02:14.they have been traumatised by what happened to them as young children.
:02:15. > :02:18.In police interviews, William Barber admitted he knew all the
:02:18. > :02:22.children involved in this case, but when faced with the charges he told
:02:22. > :02:25.police that most of them were lying. William Barber denies 18 charges
:02:25. > :02:35.against him and the case continues here tomorrow when the first of his
:02:35. > :02:36.
:02:36. > :02:40.alleged victims will give evidence. A woman caught on CCTV smuggling
:02:40. > :02:43.drugs into Bristol Prison has escaped a jail term. Lisa Mundy,
:02:43. > :02:50.who had previously pleaded guilty to smuggling cannabis into the
:02:50. > :02:53.prison, was made the subject of a two-year supervision order. Mundy
:02:53. > :02:56.will also have to attend a drugs rehabilitation testing programme
:02:56. > :03:00.during which she will be tested at least once a week. The judge told
:03:00. > :03:01.her that if she failed to comply with the order, she would face a
:03:02. > :03:04.prison sentence of more than 12 months.
:03:04. > :03:07.Three years after the town's pier was devastated by fire, Weston-
:03:07. > :03:10.super-Mare celebrated today with a Royal visitor. Princess Anne came
:03:10. > :03:13.not only to officially open the rebuilt Grand Pier, but also to
:03:13. > :03:15.name a new public space. So will today mark an important turning
:03:15. > :03:25.point in Weston's fortunes? Our reporter, Sabet Choudhury is there
:03:25. > :03:29.
:03:29. > :03:34.for us now. When the weather is like this,
:03:34. > :03:42.there are very few places in the country that can match Weston-
:03:42. > :03:51.super-Mare's beauty. That is the kind of whether they were hoping
:03:51. > :03:55.for when there was a royal visitor here, to show of this town.
:03:55. > :04:00.Applause greeted the Princess Royal this morning as she began her tour
:04:00. > :04:05.of Weston-super-Mare. After beating the dignitaries, a quick word in
:04:05. > :04:09.the visitor's book to mark her visit. A more about what she wrote
:04:09. > :04:15.a little later. Princess and then went on a stroll all all the
:04:15. > :04:22.seafront, seeing for herself the views that have made this the sort
:04:22. > :04:27.so popular. That walk led her here, the newly rebuilt Grand Pier. The
:04:27. > :04:37.last time she was here, the pavilion was a pile of ashes. Three
:04:37. > :04:46.
:04:46. > :04:51.years later, it has been reborn and It has been an arduous journey at
:04:51. > :04:58.times, but now we are at the end of it, you cannot remember the bad
:04:58. > :05:03.times, only the good times. We are very proud to have reached today, a
:05:03. > :05:09.fantastic milestone. The people are here, the sun is shining, it is
:05:09. > :05:14.great. Before leaving Weston super Mare, there was one more engagement.
:05:14. > :05:20.This time across the road at from the Grand Pier to the newly rebuilt
:05:20. > :05:27.at Princess Royal at square. A quick word from her Highness about
:05:27. > :05:34.her visit. Can I offer my congratulations to everybody
:05:34. > :05:40.involved. This has been a fantastic transformation for Western and I
:05:40. > :05:50.thought that anybody who comes here will appreciate the effort. --
:05:50. > :05:58.
:05:58. > :06:03.Weston-super-Mare. Thank you very After that, it was time to say
:06:04. > :06:13.goodbye. Leading Weston-super-Mare to get back to normal. That message
:06:13. > :06:21.in the visitor's book. It simply said, and at the date. -- her name
:06:21. > :06:26.and to the date. There are still a few visitors around here on the
:06:26. > :06:32.Pier, but during the day, it was a completely different place, you
:06:32. > :06:36.could not walk along the seafront. The beach is actually empty at the
:06:36. > :06:40.moment, but earlier we spoke to some of the visitors to find out
:06:40. > :06:46.what it is they like about Weston Super Mare. Lovely ice-cream, the
:06:46. > :06:49.fish and chips as great, lovely sand. It has got lots of lovely
:06:50. > :06:55.memories of when our children were young and they used to love coming
:06:55. > :07:02.here every year. It has improved even. The they get is a wonderful
:07:02. > :07:11.place to come. -- a rethink. We have not got enough time to go and
:07:11. > :07:21.do everything. There are arcades, pubs, fish and chips. What more can
:07:21. > :07:22.
:07:22. > :07:32.you what? We like to come, become regularly and enjoy it. We love the
:07:32. > :07:32.
:07:32. > :07:36.peer and the shops. Everything. -- we love the pier. If you look
:07:36. > :07:39.across there, most of those buildings are hotels. They are
:07:39. > :07:49.hoping for the custom that they so desperately needed to survive in
:07:49. > :07:49.
:07:49. > :07:55.the next few years. Most of those people I spoke to earlier say they
:07:55. > :08:03.are on day visits. Why can you not get them to stay for a week?
:08:03. > :08:09.think that this year they will do. -- that next year. There will be so
:08:09. > :08:12.much more to do, entertainment around the area and lots of leisure
:08:12. > :08:19.activities. Are you happy with the way that Weston-super-Mare is
:08:19. > :08:23.going? The leisure dome, will that bring in more people? I think it
:08:23. > :08:28.will bring people to the area, bring employment to the area and
:08:28. > :08:34.bake as an all year round resort. And you are happy with the way that
:08:34. > :08:43.the place is going? Hotelier's are pleased with the way this summer is
:08:43. > :08:50.going. There are restaurants that produce a fish and chips up to
:08:50. > :08:53.Michelin star or restaurants. weather is not too bad here, but if
:08:53. > :09:01.the weather continues like this, lots more people will be coming
:09:01. > :09:04.here. Thanks very much.
:09:04. > :09:07.Figures suggest women giving birth in parts of the West have some of
:09:07. > :09:09.the lowest ratios of midwives to patients in the country. The Royal
:09:09. > :09:12.College of Nursing says each midwife should attend only 28
:09:12. > :09:15.births a year. But, as Health Correspondent Matthew Hill reports,
:09:15. > :09:17.some are present at many more. The latest satisfied customers at
:09:17. > :09:27.this maternity unit in Bath. Emma was born through caesarian on
:09:27. > :09:28.
:09:28. > :09:32.Thursday. We have been very well cared for. There might have been
:09:32. > :09:38.moments when we had to wait five minutes, but that has not been a
:09:38. > :09:43.problem, we have never felt that we had been left in the lurch by
:09:43. > :09:46.anyone. But when it comes to the numbers of
:09:46. > :09:49.midwives here, there are fewer than what is recommended. The RMC say
:09:49. > :09:57.there should be one midwife to every 28 births a year, but here,
:09:58. > :10:02.it is 1 to 33, and in Swindon, it is 1 to 37. I think an appropriate
:10:02. > :10:07.measure would be the number of times that women have at someone
:10:07. > :10:15.with them when they are in labour. It is an area that we are looking
:10:15. > :10:19.to progress. We have started an audit on this. But some mothers are
:10:19. > :10:25.paying up to �2,000 for independent midwives in order to make sure they
:10:25. > :10:32.know the person supervising this life-changing moment. I do not want
:10:32. > :10:36.a stranger. I was told that if I had a home birth, I would not have
:10:36. > :10:39.a midwife that I know coming to the home.
:10:39. > :10:42.There's now a drive to give mums- to-be more choice by having more
:10:42. > :10:45.midwife-led units. A birthing centre in the old Cosham Hospital
:10:45. > :10:54.in North Bristol is due to open next year. But it seems there may
:10:54. > :11:01.not be as many as had been hoped. In 2005, there was a document
:11:01. > :11:05.proposing 10 but centres and it was hoped that the second one would be
:11:05. > :11:12.in this area. We are working on that at the moment, but it has been
:11:12. > :11:19.put on hold because of changes in the PCT. The number of midwives per
:11:19. > :11:29.berth is not everything. In this unit, the insurance risk is two out
:11:29. > :11:38.
:11:38. > :11:48.of the reef. Numbers are important, This is Monday's Points West with
:11:48. > :11:48.
:11:49. > :11:52.David and Alex. Coming up on tonight's programme. Hoping to
:11:52. > :11:56.reach the heady heights of an Olympic medal. We meet the next in
:11:56. > :11:59.our series of 12 for 2012. And put that fag out. The 19th-
:11:59. > :12:06.century pipe factory uncovered on the site of a 21st century smokers'
:12:06. > :12:09.corner. Bath and North East Somerset is the
:12:09. > :12:13.latest council to try to save large amounts of money by restructuring
:12:13. > :12:16.senior management posts. Councillors have just been meeting
:12:16. > :12:25.to discuss the possibility of closing down the chief executive
:12:25. > :12:29.role. John Maguire has just sent this report from Bath.
:12:29. > :12:37.Here in Bath, councillors have been discussing the same sort of issues
:12:37. > :12:47.that their colleagues had been discussing across the country, how
:12:47. > :12:50.
:12:50. > :12:56.to cut costs. Staff is 11 of the biggest -- staff is one of the
:12:56. > :13:00.biggest costs. One that bring being mooted here is to cut the chief
:13:00. > :13:05.Executive's called to save his salary. But the council has decided
:13:05. > :13:15.against doing that tonight. Other authorities across the West
:13:15. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:22.sometimes share their very senior executives. I went to see how the
:13:22. > :13:26.system is working. It is very difficult when there are only a few
:13:26. > :13:31.of you shearing. When we first started shedding three years ago,
:13:31. > :13:35.it was quite difficult to move things forward. The more you share
:13:35. > :13:39.within the organisations, the better value you get out of our
:13:39. > :13:45.whole range of resources and the better expertise in that certain
:13:45. > :13:50.key areas. That allows you to reduce costs in the services
:13:50. > :13:59.without reducing quality of services. Senior managers in local
:13:59. > :14:06.authorities do take home a lot of money, but they do have a lot of
:14:06. > :14:10.responsibility. If there are jobs are shared, there could be a lot of
:14:10. > :14:17.savings to be made. But the main challenge for all local authorities
:14:17. > :14:27.is to try and make savings while providing the same at, decent level
:14:27. > :14:29.
:14:29. > :14:32.of services that council tax payers expect. That challenge it goes on.
:14:32. > :14:35.The former Swindon MP Anne Snelgrove has been selected to try
:14:35. > :14:41.to regain her South Swindon seat for Labour. Ms Snelgrove lost the
:14:41. > :14:43.last election after five years as the MP there. She was chosen as the
:14:43. > :14:49.party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate by Labour members at a
:14:49. > :14:51.meeting in the town on Saturday. If the selection is approved, it means
:14:51. > :14:58.Ms Snelgrove will fight against the Conservative MP Robert Buckland at
:14:58. > :15:01.the next election. It has now been confirmed that a
:15:01. > :15:06.man who died when the helicopter he was flying crashed in North
:15:06. > :15:10.Cornwall is from the Bristol area. The accident happened at about 3.30
:15:10. > :15:20.yesterday afternoon in a field near Bude. The pilot, a man in his 40s,
:15:20. > :15:25.was the only person on board. lucky it did not cause any other
:15:25. > :15:29.fatalities. There was debris on the road. It could have caught a car,
:15:29. > :15:32.it was lucky there was no animals in the field. It narrowly missed a
:15:32. > :15:37.property. It was lucky that it did not cause any more damage. But it
:15:37. > :15:41.was shocking. Work has started today on a �270
:15:41. > :15:44.million redevelopment in Taunton. It is part of the regeneration of
:15:44. > :15:47.the town's old cattle market. The first stage of Project Taunton, one
:15:47. > :15:50.of the largest town centre renovation programmes in the South
:15:50. > :15:54.West, is the building of the new headquarters for waste company
:15:55. > :15:59.Viridor on the Firepool site. Those behind the project say it will
:15:59. > :16:05.eventually create 4,000 new jobs and 800 new homes in Taunton.
:16:05. > :16:13.is the start of long-held ambitions to turn this into army jeep
:16:13. > :16:23.strategic employment site and I welcome -- into a major strategic
:16:23. > :16:27.
:16:27. > :16:29.employment site and I welcome Viridor here.
:16:29. > :16:32.They were a must-have item for any Georgian smoker and their
:16:32. > :16:34.popularity continued all the way through Queen Victoria's reign.
:16:34. > :16:37.Delicate clay pipes were the most common way to smoke before
:16:37. > :16:40.cigarettes were invented. Now a small pipe factory has been
:16:40. > :16:48.uncovered by archaeologists in Bath and they're hoping there could be
:16:48. > :16:53.more secrets hidden beneath the ground. Here's Jules Hyam.
:16:53. > :16:58.Archaeology really is a little bit like time trouble. That is a
:16:58. > :17:03.Georgian fireplace. -- a time of travel. Under the threat is
:17:03. > :17:10.evidence of medieval housing. Beneath that is a Saxon dumping
:17:10. > :17:16.ground. Then it is the Roman level. A already, they are starting to get
:17:16. > :17:25.a really good picture of how it would have looked in Georgian times.
:17:25. > :17:30.A row of Georgian housing, quite small houses. A few gardens in
:17:30. > :17:40.between. One of those gardens was used as a cottage industry where
:17:40. > :17:41.
:17:41. > :17:51.clay pipes were made. They would have been originally bad along. --
:17:51. > :17:53.
:17:53. > :18:01.that long. They are marked with the manufacturer's name. These are
:18:01. > :18:05.early 19 century. The pipes are uninteresting find. But it is the
:18:05. > :18:15.prospect of finding something even grander that is intriguing the team.
:18:15. > :18:17.
:18:17. > :18:23.A few yards behind me, all around me, there had been a Roman finds.
:18:23. > :18:27.We are hopeful that we might find some were down there. Fingers
:18:27. > :18:34.crossed. But this is Bath and you never know what you might uncover
:18:35. > :18:37.underneath the surface. And staying in Bath, about 100
:18:37. > :18:40.people were evacuated from Bath Spa yesterday afternoon after a fire
:18:41. > :18:44.alarm. As you can see from this picture, sent in by a viewer,
:18:44. > :18:47.customers waited outside in their bath robes. After 30 minutes, it
:18:47. > :18:56.was confirmed as a false alarm caused by a technical fault. The
:18:56. > :18:59.spa apologised and offered people the chance to extend their visits.
:18:59. > :19:02.Bristol's oldest building has reopened its doors today after a �4
:19:02. > :19:04.million restoration project. St James Priory, a medieval church and
:19:04. > :19:07.now rehabilitation centre for recovering addicts, dates back to
:19:07. > :19:17.the 12th century when it was founded by Benedictine monks. The
:19:17. > :19:19.
:19:19. > :19:22.restoration has taken two years to complete.
:19:22. > :19:24.Turning to sport and we're continuing our series looking at
:19:24. > :19:27.the West's athletes hoping for Olympic glory at London 2012.
:19:27. > :19:34.Tonight we meet trampolinist Laura Gallagher from Westonzoyland in
:19:34. > :19:37.Somerset. The 22-year-old is aiming for a medal at the games but has
:19:37. > :19:43.had to battle back from a serious crisis of confidence which saw her
:19:43. > :19:48.unable to jump for an entire year, as Zoe Gough has been finding out.
:19:48. > :19:50.It is a career always spent high in the air. Turns and flips timed to
:19:50. > :20:00.absolute perfection. But Laura Gallagher's journey hasn't always
:20:00. > :20:03.
:20:03. > :20:06.run to plan. I won my first major thing in 2007, and just a few weeks
:20:06. > :20:16.after that, I lost all my confidence and could yet get on the
:20:16. > :20:22.
:20:22. > :20:25.trampoline. -- could not get. I used to wake up and nightmares.
:20:25. > :20:28.Laura's 22. She still lives and trains in Somerset. Her event made
:20:29. > :20:34.its Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000. At the same time, Laura's talent
:20:34. > :20:43.was spotted. Mum Sarah has watched every bounce since. It has its high
:20:43. > :20:53.points and its very low point. It is a bit of a roller coaster. Ups
:20:53. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:03.and downs. She can come home and it Away from the trampoline, Laura
:21:03. > :21:09.makes and sells jewellery. She receives cash from the lottery and
:21:09. > :21:17.a sponsorship deal, but her craft allows a little extra for herself.
:21:17. > :21:22.This is a good little sideline. I enjoy it. It is so come here, does
:21:22. > :21:28.that help when you have been at the height of competition? Yes, and it
:21:28. > :21:33.gives be something to do in the evenings, in between training. It
:21:33. > :21:36.allows my body to recover as well. This year has seen Laura finally
:21:36. > :21:44.return from a long injury. After her past problems, she believes
:21:44. > :21:50.she's back to her best. There are about five girls who are very
:21:50. > :21:56.strong in the world and she set somewhere in there. We are not sure
:21:56. > :22:04.yet, probably top two. Laura hopes to make things certain
:22:04. > :22:08.in the coming months. How does she do that?
:22:08. > :22:16.Momentum. You have to be very fit as well.
:22:16. > :22:19.I am glad she is getting her confidence back.
:22:19. > :22:23.It is one of the most iconic images of the 20th century. It has graced
:22:23. > :22:26.many a teenage boy's bedroom wall. It has sold over 2 million copies.
:22:26. > :22:29.Have you guessed what it is? Well, it's that poster of the tennis girl,
:22:30. > :22:33.and she has now been recreated as a lifesize gold statue. Simon Lewis
:22:33. > :22:36.went to find out more. Now, I can see it, but you can't!
:22:36. > :22:40.Because of copyright restrictions, I am unable to show you the picture.
:22:40. > :22:45.For many, many men of a certain age, it needs no introduction. But for
:22:45. > :22:53.the rest of you, I can show you this.
:22:53. > :22:56.The original model Fiona Walker has been recast in gleaming gold. It's
:22:56. > :22:59.the work of Bath based sculptor Ben Dearnley, who was commissioned by
:22:59. > :23:08.the art director on the original shoot back in 1976 for his new book
:23:08. > :23:16.about the infamous pic. Fiona was willing to do this shot, but she
:23:16. > :23:20.could not to play tennis. She had not got the swing. In desperation
:23:20. > :23:24.at the end of the day, with the light fading, the got her a
:23:24. > :23:31.standing on the tennis court, looking like she had finished a
:23:31. > :23:39.game of tennis. -- we got her. think it was cheeky more than
:23:39. > :23:41.anything else. And that is how it has carried on.
:23:41. > :23:45.Because of copyright restrictions, Chris, unable to use the photo
:23:45. > :23:48.decided to recreate it out of his own pocket. Fiona has long kept
:23:48. > :23:56.quiet about being "that girl", but she agreed to be covered in plaster
:23:56. > :24:00.and cast in gold. I am working of our life cast. 30 years of time
:24:00. > :24:09.have passed and I need to make the sculpture have a youthful nature to
:24:09. > :24:12.it. She performed like a supreme athlete, holding her posture.
:24:12. > :24:16.Many pub debates have raged about the merits of Tennis Girl. But
:24:16. > :24:20.perhaps, if it's not too cheeky to say, the answer is quite simple.
:24:20. > :24:30.I am really pleased that that has captured the essence of the
:24:30. > :24:31.
:24:31. > :24:35.original. Many hours of study. That is a shot to finish on. I am
:24:35. > :24:45.surprised the model kept it quiet. If that was me, I would have told
:24:45. > :24:53.
:24:53. > :25:00.everyone. Generally speaking, we have a
:25:00. > :25:10.largely dry and settled picture for the rest of this week. A good deal
:25:10. > :25:18.
:25:18. > :25:24.of sunshine yesterday. This is a These are the sort of scenes you
:25:24. > :25:31.might be seeing if you head out tonight. And it tomorrow. It should
:25:31. > :25:40.be a decent day. A fair amount of cloud has been spilling in through
:25:40. > :25:46.the course of today. That trough is being stretched out and showers are
:25:46. > :25:52.becoming fewer and further between. Under the satellite image, you can
:25:52. > :26:02.see how that cloud associated with the trough has become quite
:26:02. > :26:02.
:26:02. > :26:10.extensive. The rainfall sequence will show a bit of a glitch.
:26:10. > :26:14.Effectively, light showers for the most part. We will see some of
:26:14. > :26:22.those for the rest of this evening. But they will become fewer and
:26:22. > :26:27.further between. Elsewhere will be dry. Tomorrow morning, temperatures
:26:27. > :26:32.will have dropped back to around ten Celsius. Tomorrow, we could
:26:32. > :26:37.still start with cloud thick enough to be giving a sprinkling of light
:26:37. > :26:46.showers, particularly in eastern and central spots. After that, the
:26:46. > :26:51.sunshine gets to work and the rest of Somerset should be favoured.
:26:51. > :26:58.Reasonable amount of sunshine for most of us. Driver of the rest of
:26:58. > :27:04.the afternoon. Temperatures tomorrow up to 21 Celsius. -- dry
:27:04. > :27:08.for the rest of the afternoon. Looking beyond that, Wednesday
:27:08. > :27:14.brings a broadly similar day. These weather fronts are trying to come
:27:14. > :27:22.in from the West, but dying a death as they do so. By Friday, and into
:27:22. > :27:28.Saturday, it is looking decent enough.
:27:28. > :27:33.Lovely, thank you very much. If it you want to watch the Panorama