:00:10. > :00:14.Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West.
:00:14. > :00:24.Our headlines tonight: An amazing escape. A helicopter pilot tells of
:00:24. > :00:24.
:00:24. > :00:29.his life saving decisions as the engine died. My choices were a red
:00:29. > :00:33.fur or a tree it so I picked the fluffier still looking tree.
:00:33. > :00:36.At the scene of the crime, but now a union warns cuts could affect the
:00:36. > :00:38.gathering of evidence. ASBOs and a ban on buying bread for
:00:38. > :00:41.the pensioners who refuse to stop feeding the birds.
:00:41. > :00:51.And meet Big Ben, the giant of a player making a name for himself
:00:51. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:56.The pilot of a helicopter, which crashed in Wiltshire yesterday
:00:56. > :00:59.injuring three men, has been talking about his ordeal. Andrew
:00:59. > :01:07.Ridings from Bath was at the controls when the aircraft hit
:01:07. > :01:12.trees on an industrial estate in Salisbury.
:01:12. > :01:20.The helicopter crash to the ground and smashed into pieces, but
:01:20. > :01:28.amazingly nobody died. He's stiff, sore, has 70 staples in
:01:28. > :01:33.his head, but he's alive. Fighting is something to be in still been t
:01:33. > :01:37.EU, but there was no time to become frightened and well on it. It was
:01:37. > :01:40.just something went wrong and I had to do something about it. Little
:01:40. > :01:43.more than 24 hours since his helicopter crashed and Andy Ridings
:01:43. > :01:47.was back at work at his waste management business near Bath
:01:47. > :01:49.reflecting on what might have been. Yesterday morning he was taking off
:01:49. > :01:53.after a meeting in Salisbury, almost immediately he realised the
:01:53. > :02:03.engine had failed and there was very little time to react - he
:02:03. > :02:03.
:02:03. > :02:11.feared the worst. I certainly thought that all the way, but the
:02:11. > :02:18.human body is built to it, you know, fight or flight, the adrenalin
:02:18. > :02:22.kicks in and you do your best. I would say, really, it is 10% scale
:02:22. > :02:26.and 90% good fortune. Somebody was smiling on us that day.
:02:26. > :02:30.Andy opted to land the aircraft in a tree to soften their landing. His
:02:30. > :02:33.two passengers, Ian Sutton and Mike Rosser, also escaped serious injury.
:02:33. > :02:37.It's not yet known what caused the problem and Andy will submit a
:02:37. > :02:47.report to the Air Accident Investigation Branch. So, has this
:02:47. > :02:47.
:02:47. > :02:53.put him off flying. No, I have been flying since I was 16. This is the
:02:53. > :02:56.first time I have written an aircraft of, but we all walked away
:02:56. > :03:00.and anyone you walk away from is a good one.
:03:00. > :03:05.There will though be scars and memories of this crash - and the
:03:05. > :03:08.day that all three cheated death and survived to tell the tale.
:03:08. > :03:11.Planned cuts to the numbers of Crime Scene Investigators will
:03:11. > :03:17.leave Avon & Somerset police unable to carry out more than one big
:03:17. > :03:21.investigation at the same time. That's the claim this evening by
:03:21. > :03:24.unions representing police civilian staff who are facing the axe. They
:03:24. > :03:28.say that if the police were faced with a murder investigation on the
:03:28. > :03:33.scale of the Jo Yeates case as well as a motorway pile, up they
:03:33. > :03:38.couldn't cope alone. This exclusive report by our Home Affairs
:03:38. > :03:40.Correspondent, Steve Brodie. The familiar white suited crime
:03:40. > :03:46.scene investigators play a vital part in gathering evidence and
:03:46. > :03:48.solving crimes. But now, CSI men and women who have worked on high
:03:48. > :03:51.profile investigations, like the hunt for Melanie Hall and the
:03:51. > :03:57.recent shooting down of Rico Gordon in Easton, are set to lose their
:03:57. > :04:00.jobs. Senior officers have been told to
:04:00. > :04:06.cut civilian police staff by 20% in line with �40m budget cuts handed
:04:06. > :04:09.down by the police authority. The force told the BBC that its ability
:04:09. > :04:19.to deal with several major incidents at the same time won't be
:04:19. > :04:20.
:04:20. > :04:25.affected - a claim strongly rejected by Unison. I think that is
:04:25. > :04:29.a naive position for any police force to take. If you are going to
:04:29. > :04:34.cut the number of police staff roles, then in some way or another,
:04:34. > :04:40.that will have a fundamental effect on frontline police officers that
:04:40. > :04:44.are out on the streets. Forces come into criticism all the time because
:04:44. > :04:49.police officers are not divisible. Unison says the loss of CSI posts
:04:49. > :04:54.will also have a direct affect on levels of crime. The force will
:04:54. > :04:58.tell you that crime has fallen, but that is because these posts are
:04:58. > :05:02.already there and the part that they play in making sure that crime
:05:03. > :05:05.is detected and we find out who the criminals are, that is why crime
:05:05. > :05:08.has fallen. Unlike their civilian colleagues,
:05:08. > :05:11.police officers cannot be made redundant. The force is recruiting
:05:11. > :05:16.up to 24 new officers every year, but with older officers retiring,
:05:16. > :05:26.overall police numbers are falling. In the next four years numbers will
:05:26. > :05:27.
:05:27. > :05:31.drop from 3,100 to 2,700. If you take 400 police officers out of the
:05:32. > :05:35.constabulary, it will have an effect somewhere. If people are
:05:36. > :05:38.saying it will not have an effect, the tax payers are going to want to
:05:38. > :05:41.know where their money has been going.
:05:41. > :05:44.This evening Avon & Somerset police laid the blame squarely with the
:05:44. > :05:49.Government in a statement it said, "These are difficult times for all
:05:49. > :05:52.public services. Avon and Somerset Police are not exempt. We must find
:05:52. > :05:56.more than �40m of savings over four years on top of the anticipated
:05:56. > :06:06.�20m we expect to lose each year as a result of the way the government
:06:06. > :06:06.
:06:06. > :06:09.funds police forces." An offender who went missing from a
:06:09. > :06:12.secure unit in Taunton has been found. 75-year-old David Marker,
:06:12. > :06:19.was detained indefinitely 47 years ago, after an indecent assault on a
:06:19. > :06:23.seven-year-old girl. He was found in Cornwall this morning. The
:06:23. > :06:27.police have thanked the public for their help.
:06:27. > :06:35.You're watching BBC Points West. David and Alex with you this
:06:35. > :06:39.evening. Coming up on tonight's programme: It is a question that
:06:39. > :06:44.every producer wants to know the answer to, how do you guarantee a
:06:44. > :06:48.hit? Now they could be a mathematical formula to help you
:06:48. > :06:56.predict one. And join me later for some fabulous
:06:56. > :06:59.food prepared by chefs that might surprise you.
:06:59. > :07:02.That looks tasty. Two Wiltshire pensioners have been
:07:02. > :07:06.given anti social behaviour orders after attracting hundreds of
:07:06. > :07:08.pigeons by feeding them excessive amount of food every day. The women,
:07:08. > :07:12.from Trowbridge, had ignored previous orders by Wiltshire
:07:12. > :07:15.Council to stop feeding the birds. As Sarah-Jane Bungay has been
:07:15. > :07:25.finding out, council bosses say the pigeons have caused damage to some
:07:25. > :07:30.of the town's most historic buildings.
:07:30. > :07:36.This lady had become a familiar sight on the streets often spotted
:07:36. > :07:40.with carrier bags of pigeon food. To her, it was innocent, but the
:07:40. > :07:45.excessive amount she was putting out had a detrimental effect.
:07:46. > :07:50.The number of pigeons here has increased dramatically. Each pigeon
:07:50. > :07:55.can produce two eggs every 18 days and with growing numbers, at the
:07:56. > :08:01.council says that is creating a daily hazard. The pavement was
:08:01. > :08:07.becoming covered in pigeon theses. When mixed with the rain, that was
:08:07. > :08:11.an absurd and people were falling over, potentially into the red. I
:08:11. > :08:17.witnessed two children get off the pavement and go into the red rather
:08:17. > :08:24.then use the pavement because it was so covered. There are a
:08:24. > :08:30.nuisance in the total number of them now. They cause problems, it
:08:30. > :08:35.is a mess. The actual toxic waste they produce. She has now been
:08:35. > :08:40.banned from feeding any birds. Margaret Reynolds who also fed
:08:40. > :08:48.pigeons was given the same band. Have you been feeding the birds
:08:48. > :08:55.today? Very minute stuff, yes. Nothing much out there at all. I am
:08:55. > :09:00.not supposed to, no. Noah. I just love my birds and that is all I can
:09:01. > :09:10.say. Like them or loathe them, pigeons are here to stay, but in
:09:11. > :09:16.
:09:16. > :09:19.this town, they will not be getting a warm welcome.
:09:19. > :09:23.The mayor of Stroud is facing fines or even imprisonment after failing
:09:23. > :09:25.to fill in his census form. He says he's making the protest because the
:09:25. > :09:28.firm organising the census also sells arms. Here's our political
:09:28. > :09:30.editor Paul Barltrop. He's in trouble with the law. John
:09:30. > :09:33.Marjoram's normally a pillar of society. He's Stroud's mayor, for
:09:33. > :09:40.the tenth time. He's the area's longest serving councillor. But he
:09:40. > :09:45.refused to take part in last year's census survey. I could not face
:09:45. > :09:50.myself if I actually felt that for me in. It would be with me that I
:09:50. > :09:53.actually helped a military target. The census was paid for and
:09:53. > :09:55.promoted by the government, to help it assess the needs of Britain's
:09:55. > :09:58.changing population. But the �150m pound contract to gather in the
:09:58. > :10:02.information went to Lockheed Martin, an American firm better known for
:10:02. > :10:12.supplying arms here and around the world. This brought protests from
:10:12. > :10:13.
:10:13. > :10:18.pacifists, like John Marjoram. will cost me �1,000, no doubt there
:10:18. > :10:22.will BP probe prepared to give me extra money. I am not a rich man,
:10:22. > :10:24.but I will stay with it. Nearly 95% of forms did come back,
:10:24. > :10:30.and the data's being processed. That still means more than two
:10:30. > :10:35.million didn't, leading to several hundred prosecutions.
:10:35. > :10:40.He has been summonsed to appear here on 8th February, but trials
:10:40. > :10:44.have already begun. Another peace activist was due in court today,
:10:44. > :10:53.but he refused to come. John Marjoram will argue his case
:10:53. > :10:57.in court. He'll pay if he has to, to ensure
:10:57. > :11:02.he's not locked away from his work serving his community.
:11:02. > :11:06.At the start of the year, the Prime Minister urged us all to go for it
:11:06. > :11:10.in 2012 with the global drama of the Olympics and the glory of the
:11:10. > :11:15.Diamond Jubilee. It may be the right spirit, but a
:11:15. > :11:20.few towns and villages say they cannot afford to put up official
:11:20. > :11:25.bunting to mark the arrival of the Olympic torch in May.
:11:25. > :11:29.It is tradition, last spring at much of the West was covered in
:11:29. > :11:34.flags and bunting to celebrate the Royal Wedding and soon it will be
:11:34. > :11:39.up again for the Olympic torch relay. Yeovil is one of the Ritz
:11:39. > :11:44.chosen, but how on officials have said no to official decorations
:11:44. > :11:50.because they feel the cost is too much for the tax payers.
:11:50. > :11:56.decorate Yeovil nicely will cost a huge sum. Tens of thousands I would
:11:56. > :12:01.anticipate. In the light of things in the current climate, I don't
:12:01. > :12:08.think it would be wise to spend money that way. The official
:12:08. > :12:14.Olympic bunting cost around �92 for 20 metres. In Somerton, decorating
:12:14. > :12:18.the route would cost �15,000 and it comes with restrictions. I can't
:12:18. > :12:22.tell you the writ, but it is fairly obvious it will come through the
:12:22. > :12:27.town centre. Every building is a commercial building so we would not
:12:27. > :12:34.be able to put flags on those buildings. The only one we would be
:12:34. > :12:39.able to his Lloyds-TSB behind you. If they want flags and bunting,
:12:39. > :12:48.shouldn't they pay for it themselves? What benefit to
:12:48. > :12:54.Somerset and summer term is it? course we do not we want it, why
:12:54. > :12:58.would we buy into anybody's anything? The organisers of London
:12:58. > :13:05.2012 say towns are not under any obligation to use official Bunting,
:13:05. > :13:14.but with the Queen's Jubilee on the horizon and more decorating to come,
:13:14. > :13:19.many towns are looking to keep He was born in Bristol and played
:13:19. > :13:23.in Gloucestershire but now he has been picked for England. Ben Morgan
:13:23. > :13:28.has been playing for the Scarlets in the past two seasons and could
:13:28. > :13:36.have chosen to play for Wales on residency grounds. But last week,
:13:36. > :13:43.he committed himself to England. Emma Morgan. 22 years old. 6 ft and
:13:43. > :13:48.three inches. Over 18 stone. -- Ben Morgan. Gloucestershire raised but
:13:48. > :13:53.now playing at the highest level in Wales for the Scarlets. But he has
:13:53. > :13:58.been forced to make a choice. Fleur De Lys of Wales or the Red Rose of
:13:58. > :14:02.England. For me, playing for England was the right thing to do.
:14:02. > :14:07.It was in my heart and I have always grown up supporting England
:14:07. > :14:13.and watching England and dreaming of playing for them. The decision
:14:13. > :14:20.has paid off quickly. I did not expect this to happen. I put my
:14:20. > :14:25.name out there and hopes for the best. That was it. His inclusion
:14:25. > :14:30.has been well received at Dursley Rugby Club, where he played as a
:14:30. > :14:35.junior. He is one of the nicest lads from this club. He has worked
:14:36. > :14:40.hard and he is dedicated. We are very pleased for him and I am
:14:41. > :14:46.delighted personally. From an early age, there were signs that he was
:14:46. > :14:51.good with a ball in his hands. But he has not always been a forward.
:14:51. > :14:57.When he was 10 he was one of the winners. Because he was very quick,
:14:57. > :15:04.he was able to out run many opposition players and the tactic
:15:04. > :15:10.was to get the ball through as fast as we could to him. Benn kept on
:15:10. > :15:16.growing and if at times it was a bit too much. I was more than 132
:15:16. > :15:21.telegrams. I have lost a bit since then. -- kilograms. It has been a
:15:21. > :15:28.lot of hard work. I have been running around the stadium, burning
:15:28. > :15:34.calories. The hard work is paying off. I have got to go in there and
:15:34. > :15:39.knuckle down and work hard and show what I can do and show my worth. I
:15:39. > :15:49.have got to share that commitment. Without that, I did not think you
:15:49. > :15:50.
:15:50. > :15:56.will be a top-class player. He will Also in the elite Performance squad
:15:56. > :16:02.is another former Dursley player, Charlie Sharples from Gloucester.
:16:02. > :16:06.David Wilson and Lee Mears are included as well, from Bath. It was
:16:06. > :16:10.not the start he was looking for but the new Yeovil manager Gary
:16:10. > :16:18.Johnson is optimistic for the future. Just a couple of days into
:16:18. > :16:26.the job, his team were beaten 4-0 at Sheffield United. Here is our
:16:26. > :16:31.Picking up where he left off six years ago, in charge of a yokel
:16:31. > :16:37.Town dressing room will stock everybody gets changed --.
:16:37. > :16:44.Everybody gets changed. The man he has replaced as manager is now his
:16:44. > :16:49.trusted assistant. Terry has done a fantastic job and I must have told
:16:49. > :16:55.him that 500 time since I had been here. We hope we can create that
:16:55. > :17:00.little spark together. His return has been a popular move with
:17:00. > :17:06.supporters. They remember the promotions he got first time.
:17:06. > :17:13.he can do his motorbike and get the best out of the players. His record
:17:13. > :17:19.is undisputed. -- motivate. A game against a Sheffield United is
:17:19. > :17:25.hardly the ideal start but Yeovil did have early chances. But they
:17:25. > :17:31.were made to pay for not taking them. Sheffield scored once. And
:17:31. > :17:37.then again before half-time. 45 minutes later, much to ponder for
:17:37. > :17:44.the new management team. What they did not need was to concede an
:17:44. > :17:49.early second half goal. After that the third, a 4th. The manager will
:17:49. > :17:54.have learned plenty from the team in defeat and the size of the task
:17:54. > :18:00.ahead. It is a big job but I think he can turn us around. Give him
:18:00. > :18:03.time and get some players. We will get the improvement, I promise. The
:18:03. > :18:08.great thing about this place is people trust me and we can get it
:18:09. > :18:15.going. We need supporters first. Then I will try and get the players
:18:15. > :18:25.to catch up. Saturday's game will be a proper homecoming for Johnson.
:18:25. > :18:27.
:18:28. > :18:34.Bristol Rovers won in the league for the at times in two months.
:18:34. > :18:39.Shawm 0 it took charge of the 2-1 victory at Hereford. -- shawm north.
:18:40. > :18:44.The winner was 20 minutes from the end. Everybody was desperate for
:18:44. > :18:48.the point because we were at the foot of the table. When we
:18:48. > :18:52.controlled and past, we controlled the game. Swindon Town are
:18:52. > :18:57.favourites for Wembley after drawing the first leg of the
:18:57. > :19:07.Johnstone's Paint Trophy final at Barnet. Aden fled puts them in
:19:07. > :19:08.
:19:08. > :19:11.front. Barnet equalised. -- fled to put them in front. A restaurant in
:19:11. > :19:18.Gloucestershire is trying to win awards for quality feed. The chefs
:19:18. > :19:21.and the front of how staff have all got disabilities. -- front of house
:19:21. > :19:24.staff. They aim to get the customers the sort of experience
:19:24. > :19:34.they would get in any top restaurant. Here is our
:19:34. > :19:37.
:19:37. > :19:42.What can I get you for lunch? Can I have that, please? The first
:19:42. > :19:49.ordered his crew, with technological help. This is a real
:19:49. > :19:54.restaurant with an award-winning chef and understanding barriers to
:19:54. > :20:01.disabled people. This man had a brain tumour and his preparing
:20:01. > :20:06.bistro quality food and is hoping to change a few attitudes. Some
:20:06. > :20:13.people in this world do not think about people and do not think that
:20:13. > :20:21.they are any good. Some people are like that and I want to prove that
:20:21. > :20:26.I can do it right. All my colleagues want to do the same as.
:20:26. > :20:31.Students here have got a range of disabilities. Be adapted kitchen
:20:31. > :20:38.means that they can work safely and worried -- running it safely is an
:20:38. > :20:42.inspiring experience. It is awesome. It is a great experience because
:20:42. > :20:50.the chef keeps me busy and I like getting things ready for other
:20:50. > :20:54.people. It is the brainchild of Cotswold chef, Rob Rees. He wanted
:20:54. > :20:59.to make sure people did not feel patronised by the project and that
:20:59. > :21:04.is why the food is deliberately challenging to prepare. This is a
:21:04. > :21:09.beautiful local lamb shank. It is wonderful and that is what these
:21:09. > :21:12.people are doing. They are pushing the boundaries. You are making a
:21:12. > :21:19.difference to the lips of a lot of people and having a great
:21:19. > :21:25.experience. -- the lids. It cannot operate at a loss and the way they
:21:25. > :21:30.perform for the public is vital. is about how we work with the
:21:30. > :21:35.community and the skills. We must show what we can do and not what we
:21:36. > :21:38.cannot. They are determined to make this work and they are aspiring to
:21:38. > :21:48.create award-winning food and I think it is well within their
:21:48. > :21:48.
:21:49. > :21:55.Passionate, enthusiastic. A good recipe for the start of a business
:21:55. > :22:02.and it looked delicious as well. Good luck. Every pop star dreams of
:22:02. > :22:05.having a Top five hit. I know I do! We all dream of the guarantees but
:22:05. > :22:12.even expected judges have trouble predicting what will be successful
:22:12. > :22:18.and what will not. My dad always new. But researchers at Bristol
:22:18. > :22:24.University think they have got the secret of pop success. It all boils
:22:24. > :22:32.down to mathematical formulas. have got three great big years and
:22:32. > :22:36.a wonderful team. This was essential viewing back in the 1980s.
:22:36. > :22:41.The guests were predicting next week's successful singles. There is
:22:41. > :22:44.something about forecasting a head. This one did all right. The
:22:44. > :22:48.producers loved it and the fans loved it and the University of
:22:48. > :22:54.Bristol have got a mathematical formula to try and predict if it
:22:54. > :23:00.will sell. They look at factors like the tempo. Can they danced in
:23:00. > :23:06.it? Has it got simplicity? They give them a score and that
:23:06. > :23:16.mathematical formula should predict chart success. A kit for cars is
:23:16. > :23:16.
:23:16. > :23:19.anything that reached the top five. -- a successful song for us. The
:23:19. > :23:26.formula is able to distinguish successful songs from unsuccessful
:23:26. > :23:30.songs. If you guess at random, you would get about 50 %. It is about
:23:30. > :23:37.getting computers to understand the music. It is a pretty good place to
:23:38. > :23:42.start, here. But they did not get everything exactly right. It is
:23:42. > :23:47.Britain's brand new No. 1. Kylie Minogue singing one of the best
:23:47. > :23:52.songs of all time and Band Aid was always going to be successful. But
:23:52. > :23:57.it should not have been according to the formula. This Christmas,
:23:57. > :24:06.these are my whites. You will have heard the song and the formula has
:24:06. > :24:10.said it was not a kit for this Christmas number one. -- hit.
:24:10. > :24:16.social aspect and the popularity of the artist and the marketing budget,
:24:16. > :24:21.that is not taken into account. there is Maltese selling records
:24:21. > :24:31.Dannatt writing a saleable song. -- more to selling records than
:24:31. > :24:33.
:24:33. > :24:39.writing. We might never know beetroot for certain. -- betrays. -
:24:39. > :24:45.- what is certain. I can never tell the weather but somebody can. Now
:24:45. > :24:48.the weather but somebody can. Now the weather. We can have a
:24:49. > :24:55.reasonable guess in the next few days but it might be -- but it
:24:55. > :25:01.might get a bit complicated. This is above average but it will get
:25:01. > :25:07.colder by the end of the day. Rain but generally dry. The temperature
:25:07. > :25:10.will change. These are the maximum temperatures early to Morris.
:25:10. > :25:17.Temperatures them are dropping and this is what we can expect on
:25:17. > :25:25.Friday. 5 and 6 degrees down. Quite a change. This is the dominant part
:25:25. > :25:29.of the pattern. This is moving across East. This is coming south.
:25:29. > :25:33.The air is getting colder and as we look at the sequence above the
:25:33. > :25:38.region, this is what it is looking like until 6 o'clock on Friday
:25:38. > :25:43.morning. This is moving south and by 6 o'clock on Friday morning, we
:25:43. > :25:51.will be looking at a bit of freezing fog. It could be a
:25:51. > :25:57.difficult rush hour. Many of us will be without frost. BSkyB is
:25:57. > :26:06.starting to clear. The lowest temperatures are somewhere between
:26:06. > :26:11.here and Somerset. Sky's starting - - sky is starting to clear. We can
:26:11. > :26:17.see on the chart that we have got the lowest urban temperatures here.
:26:17. > :26:23.This is somewhere around Yeovil. We could get a bit of frost. Less
:26:23. > :26:33.likely further north. Tomorrow, more wind than today. Patchy Bryan
:26:33. > :26:35.
:26:35. > :26:40.but generally dry. -- patchy rain. As we get through to tonight and
:26:40. > :26:44.tomorrow, the wind is getting towards the north of the region. We
:26:44. > :26:53.have got an advance in chance of frost and that will continue
:26:53. > :26:58.tomorrow night and Friday. We will get a bit of fog and a bit of frost
:26:58. > :27:07.across much of southern England. Temperatures between 10 and 12
:27:07. > :27:13.degrees. But that will drop as the weather system changes by tomorrow.
:27:13. > :27:19.High pressure remains on Friday and through the weekend and it retains
:27:19. > :27:27.in the centre of the British Isles. Frost and sea toad -- fog likely to
:27:27. > :27:34.be with us. What happens then is be with us. What happens then is