29/12/2011 BBC Points West

Hello, good evening. A spate of fuel thefts from

vehicles in Bristol has led police to warn motorists and business

owners to be extra vigilant. Rather than siphoning the fuel, thieves

drilled directly into the tank of transit vans, two of which belonged

to a charity. Sarah-Jane Bungay reports.

They smashed off the fuel cover and drained the fuel tank. This garage

is used to replacing brakes and radiators on commercial vehicles

which arrive in its workshop. Recently, it is damaged fuel tanks

keeping the mechanics busy. For a basic fuel tank on a lorry: a

thousand pounds. Then the cost of the fuel. It may have to be towed

in. We can get 15 lorries in the night, a lot of money is lost.

crime isn't postcode specific, it's been reported across the west, and

has seen motorbikes to HGVs targeted. Click Sargeant has had

two vehicles drained of diesel, costing �700 so far. For those with

businesses, if you have access to CCTV, utilise that, park your

vehicles within its coverage. If you have a depot yard, make sure it

is secured overnight. In the last financial year, �28,000 of fuel was

stolen from garages across Avon and Somerset because people filled up

at the pump and drove off without paying. Add in the cost of theft

from domestic and business vehicles from fuel tanks, and it rises to

�150,000. Fuel theft is costly and inconvenient for the individual or

business, but it is also dangerous for thieves. Drilling into fuel

tanks could cause an explosion from one spark. That appears to be a

risk criminals are prepared to take. Police in Bath are conducting an

investigation after bones, believed to be human were found close to a

golf course. A dog walker made the discovery in Bathwick Woods, close

to Bath Golf Club, on Tuesday. The area has been sealed off, and

anyone with information is asked to come forward. Police say they are

currently treating the death as unexplained.

A man remains in a serious condition in hospital tonight,

after being found with head injuries on a Bristol street. The

victim was discovered in Ashley Down Road in Horfield, near to the

Lazy Dog pub. The road was closed for some time, while police

investigated. Motorists in the west are to benefit from new scanning

technology aimed at reducing the time motorways are closed after

crashes. The 3D laser equipment recreates images of the whole crash

site, instead of investigators having to survey multiple sections

of the scene. Dorset will have one scanner, while Avon and Somerset

police and the Devon and Cornwall force will each get two.

This is a massive Christmas present. If we can deliver this, then there

will be a big cheer from so many people. We estimate that, for every

hour that the M5 is closed by a fatal or serious accident, it costs

about �1 million. It is fantastic to see the police look as though

they will get this bit of kit. Egg farmers in the West say they're

worried about their future, with many saying they could be forced

out of business. From the New Year, an EU wide ban on keeping battery

hens comes into force. But nearly half of all the countries in the EU

say they plan to ignore it, which means cheaper, illegal eggs could

make their way into Britain. Luke Hanrahan reports.

For almost 70 years, chickens have been kept in cramped and confined

conditions, like these, on an industrial scale. For Peter Wood,

who has been a poultry farmer in Somerset since 1959, the new law

has been looming large on the horizon. Spending �2 million to

convert his farm was always a daunting prospect. One that has

been made more difficult by the fact that 13 European countries are

simply turning a blind eye to the new EU legislation. Basically, what

has happened, Brussels have wiped their hands of it. And it's been

left to individual countries to police. In the 52 years I've been

keeping chickens, this is the biggest change we have ever had.

Eggs from caged birds like these will soon be a thing of the past on

our supermarket shelves. But half of the 18% of imported eggs come in,

in powdered or liquid form, which is almost impossible to police.

That does not take into account the illegal eggs that are used in the

baking of cakes and quiches, effectively making an illegal egg

like this legal to sell in the UK. Which is what is worrying people.

The National Farmers' Union says it will be impossible to compete on

price, They believe they could be overrun by illegal imports, and

will lose markets on the continent. The farmers in this country have

spent over �400 million getting the system to where they are. And we

just require a level playing field to allow these illegal eggs to be

kept in the country of origin, and not come into this country. Banning

battery cages in the UK is obviously a positive step forward.

But the fact that many European countries will not comply with the

law has piled financial pressure on the south west's poultry farmers.

Have you contemplated shutting up shop?

Have you got to that stage? Um. We shall have to wait and see.

A charity in Gloucestershire, which is raising money to pay for a new

scanner, received a special visitor today. Cobalt, which is based in

Cheltenham, supports people with cancer and other life-limiting

conditions. Their treasurer Tabitha Scrivener is rowing the equivalent

of John O'Groats to Land's End, without leaving the county. This

afternoon, Beth Rodford, current world rowing champion in the

women's quad, came to offer her support. Beth began her rowing

career at Gloucester Rowing Club, and is a strong medal hope for

London 2012. Avon and Somerset cops turned

robbers today to bring some Christmas cheer to Children's

Hospice in Wraxall. The police arrived just in time to wrestle the

gifts from some naughty pirates, with the help of their dogs. Santa

arrived in style in the police helicopter and the children also

got to meet some of the horses and ride in a patrol car before he gave

The weather. The showery outbreaks of rain will slowly fade away this

evening, apart from in the west of Somerset. Temperatures will fall to

around three Celsius in parts of the countryside, and eight Celsius

in urban areas. By daybreak tomorrow, cloud will have spread

eastwards across all parts of the west, bringing patchy rain through

the morning, and heavier more prolonged wet weather later in the

day. It'll be mild with highs around 11 Celsius, but staying

If you're still suffering from wildlife withdrawal symptoms since

the BBC's Frozen Planet came to end, fear not. A brand new series starts

tonight, giving us a real "bird's eye" view of the world. Earthflight

was made in Bristol by film maker John Downer. He and his team

attached tiny cameras to birds and charted their movements across five