18/10/2013 BBC Points West

from the BBC News at Six. So it s goodbye from me, and on

Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West. Our headlines tonight:

900 stolen handbags. This woman is jailed after making a fortune

shoplifting designer bags and selling them online.

A bridge closure too far ` the locals who claim roadworks are

costing them millions in lost trade. Graffiti wars ` a setback for Banksy

as the Mayor of New York says his work is not art.

And a snapshot of Bristol ` an appeal tonight for thousands of us

to take a local photo. A woman from Wiltshire has been

jailed today for stealing more than 900 handbags during a three`year

shoplifting crime spree across Britain. A court's heard Jayne Rand

would walk into stores, cut off the security tag of a designer handbag

and leave with the bag on her shoulder. Police who searched her

country home in Wiltshire found she'd been selling hundreds of them

online. Scott Ellis joins us now from Purton.

Yes, a one`woman crimewave living here in Purton. The village is about

four miles from Swindon and the judge said today that Jayne Rand

made more money from shoplifting than most professional gangs. Yet

she lives here with her two grown`up children and a husband, in a large

detached house on the outskirts of Purton, surrounded by farmers

fields. It has come as a great surprise, not just for her

neighbours but also her family. Jayne Rand admits stealing 905

designer handbags and purses over a three`year period. She was jailed

today for 18 months. These are some of the bags police seized, taken

from shops in Bath, Bristol, Manchester and Liverpool. Police

found another 50 at her home in Purton and found she'd made ?88 000

` selling the handbags on line. Neither her husband nor two children

were aware of the crime spree. Her neighbours were equally shocked No

reason at all to imagine that she would need to do anything like that.

How shock to you that she stole as many as 900? `` how shocked are you?

I can't even imagine you would get that far. Do you scoop them up, take

them one at the time, how long did it take? How long has she been doing

it, I have no idea at all. I just can't get my head around it. I think

it is very sad. Rand was eventually caught by store detectives in South

Wales. The judge at Newport Crown Court said Rand had "made a business

of stealing." The court heard Rand would on

occasions cut the security tag off the handbags, but usually didn't

have to. Tonight in Purton, neighbours say have deep sympathy

feel most sorry for Rand's family. From my point of view, anything we

can do to help them, we would do. Rand led a double life. Telling

police she needed the money to fund her lifestyle. The court heard she

bitterly regrets everything that she's done and that she'd become

almost immune to the feeling of wrongdoing.

Shops have got CCTV, security guards, how on earth did she get

away with doing this on an industrial scale? The bags were only

worth about ?200 each, they are going to be on display, they are not

behind glass, they can be picked up by customers. She may have cut of

the security tags but I have been told there are other ways of

compromising those tags and she knew what she was doing. I have spoken to

a security expert who says that shops are using fewer and fewer

store detectives, they can't afford them. They are using more CCTV,

which he says is not as effective as catching people. Jayne Rand was

travelling around the country, Manchester, Liverpool, Bath,

Bristol, South Wales. She will go to jail for 18 months and there will be

a proceeds of crime hearing so the police will look at how much money

she made, and balance it against assets and try to seize back some of

her assets. Two men have been arrested in

connection with a serious sexual assault on a 19`year`old woman in

Bristol. The attack happened on Belgrave Road in Clifton in the

early hours of last Thursday morning. Police say the two men

both aged 24, remain in police custody.

The closure of a road bridge in Somerset is costing the local

economy millions of pounds, according to the area's MP. Network

Rail is closing the road bridge over the railway at Ansford for 19 weeks.

The MP David Heath is so incensed, he's raised the issue in the House

of Commons. Our Somerset correspondent, Clinton Rogers, has

the story. From the air you can see the bridge

is just 100 metres from Castle Cary railway station on the busy London

line. But if you're approaching from South Somerset, this is as far as

you get. Now you face a 17`mile diversion to catch your train. It is

infuriating for commuters, but spare a thought for lorry drivers whose

diversion is 32 miles long to avoid low bridges. And for haulage

companies like this, that's expensive. It is costing us in the

region of 55,000 pounds in extra fuel, time and drivers hours. It is

quite a significant impact. The Road Haulage Association carried out a

survey among seven of its members who estimate their collective losses

will be more than ?860,000. Network Rail closed the bridge in July for

essential strengthening work and it won't reopen until the end of

November. That is 19 weeks. We couldn't see anyone working on the

bridge today and that's part of what's annoying local traders, who

say the drop in trade is alarming. July and August were pretty bad We

rely on visitors at that time of the year. I would say my business was

down by about 50%. The local MP raised the issue in the House of

Commons this week. He says Network Rail should be working seven days a

week, day and night. Can you imagine a major road in London being closed

for 19 weeks, and if people then had to have a deep tour of 17 miles in a

car, 32 miles in a lorry, can you imagine that being acceptable? Of

course it would not. Network Rail had no one available for interview

but in a statement, they told us they recognised local concerns and

had now decided to replan this work so that one lane of this bridge will

be open for the last two weeks of the budget. Too little, too late say

the critics. It is 6:35pm. A very warm welcome to BBC Points West on

this Friday evening. Ian will be here later and there's still plenty

more to come, including ` life through a lens, a 24`hour snapshot

of city life. A Government minister has admitted

that the badger cull in Somerset and Gloucestershire could temporarily

increase bovine TB in places. This is the recording of the Sunday

politics West this afternoon. The minister agreed that diseased

badgers may have been frightened away, spreading TB. This is what

they call the perturbation effect, and this came out from the last

trials. That badgers initially, in the short`term, moved to other areas

and it can lead to short`term increase in the infection in the

ring around a colour area. But it is a short lived experience `` cull

area. But in the long`term bovine TB does go down.

As we've been hearing, the Home Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has spoken

out today about the hundreds of thousands of elderly people in this

country who say they feel isolated and alone. He said we should learn

lessons from how other cultures care for older people. His wife is

Chinese ` and he said he's struck by the reverence and respect for older

people there. In China and Japan it is quite normal for elderly parents

to live with their children and family. The Indian government has

even announced it plans to name and shame people who abandon their

parents. In those countries, when living alone is no longer possible,

residential care is a last, rather than first option. Recently in China

a law was passed to force children to look after their elderly parents

and grandparents. But would such an approach work here? Alice Bouverie

has been investigating the challenges of caring for an ageing

population. I think there are a lot of lonely old people out there, and

I was one of them. And it is heartbreaking.

For many people, getting old in Britain is no fun. Frieda lives on

her own in Bristol. She's 84, and has no children. I was so isolated,

I got really timid to go out. I could not make conversation or

anything. At least Frieda has her basic state pension. In China,

there's little or no state pension at all. By 2050, one in four of the

entire population of this country is expected to be of retirement age.

That figure is exactly the same in China as well, but in China they are

taking an interesting approach to the problem. In the summer, a new

law was passed called the elderly rights law. Adult children were

ordered to visit their ageing parents. Xiaojing Sun studies

International Relations in Bristol. She speaks to her parents via the

internet every few days. She thinks the law is actually quite a good

thing. It is a little bit difficult for some old people in a village,

and there children move to cities to work. The government did something

for them. How many of us were there in the house...

The Soo family were the first Chinese family in Cheltenham in

1948. Karen's now taking over her father's business ` she sees it as

her duty as a daughter. But even within the Chinese community here in

Britain, attitudes are changing All the older Chinese are still

following the old customs. It is only the new younger ones who are

coming over now, who have their independent spirit and way they want

to live. Isolation among the elderly is a huge problem. The charity

Contact the Elderly helps by holding monthly tea parties in people's

homes. It estimates over 1 million older people are lonely. Everybody

is so busy and that is always the excuse. When I speak to my own

grandma, she said were used our family lunches on a Sunday. It is

ironic that even with all the technology, people are so isolated.

It's something Government is find it hard to legislate against, but it's

something many elderly people can't protect themselves against either.

New York Police have denied that they are out to arrest the Bristol

street artist Banksy. It had been reported in the American press that

detectives want to charge him with vandalism. But today the Mayor of

New York has criticised Banksy's work, saying it's not art and it

defaces public property. Here's Andrew Plant.

What have Bristol and the Big Apple got in common? America's a bit

bigger, of course, but Bristol had Banksy first. His last piece sold

for 400,000. Now the anonymous artist has made New York his new

canvas and the city's citizens have been snapping up his famous

spray`painted stencil style. A new one is appearing almost daily on the

streets, which prompted The city's Mayor Michael Bloomberg to say in an

interview that defacing public property wasn't his definition of

art. A feeling clearly not lost on the artist. Several have already

been defaced ` or even erased completely. Banksy's artworks have

become huge part of Bristol's international reputation. When his

stencils first started appearing around the city in the 1990s, a lot

of them were considered graffiti then and quite often they were

painted over. Do you think graffiti is art? It can be, some of it. What

do you think of this? Does it brighten the city? I thought it was

just a bit of building work, to be honest. The graffiti or art debate

still divides people here. But with original Banksy's now worth tens of

thousands of pounds, perhaps New Yorkers will find it rather easier

to learn to love their new artwork. From midnight tonight a unique

record will be created of life in Bristol. From the SS Great Britain

to the Suspension Bridge, to the view from your bedroom window,

images of the city are being collected over a twenty`four hour

period. The pictures will form part of an exhibition in the city next

month, and is already attracting photographers from across Europe.

Lizzie Way has been checking out the sights.

Capturing a moment. A look. A landmark. The aim of the competition

is to photograph the essence of life in Bristol. It will show a side of

Bristol that most people may have never seen before. A lot of

photographers are out doing recce is, a guy has been jogging every

morning, just to find out what is going on at that time, as background

research. Each entrant is allocated a one hour slot to take a photo to

submit. Sightseeing buses will let the entrants travel free around the

city, taking them to inspiring places. But some have, of course,

been allocated an hour in the middle of the night ` not that it seems to

faze them. I have decided I am going to try to do 24 hours continuous

photography was not to get the best of Bristol you have to be there for

the whole day and I would be afraid to miss something jarring that time.

I come from Paris originally, I have been living in Bristol for three

years. The things that struck me are the food, the people, their spirit

of independence. It is definitely something I would try to emulate. I

come from Hamburg in Germany, I have been to Bristol before. I really

like Bristol a lot. I am hoping to take a photo that captures street

life. Around a hundred of the images will be on display in the Guildhall.

You don't need one of these two enter, you can just use your phone

because it is all about the image, not the equipment. You can still

enter until midnight tonight. It is going to be a full moon tonight so

you can expect to see 24 hours of images a little differently.

From today listeners to local radio in many parts of Gloucestershire can

tune in on digital radio. New DAB transmitters were officially

switched on at a special ceremony in Cheltenham this morning. Around

400,000 people will be able to receive the new service, although

listeners will have to rescan their digital radios first. And a reminder

of the website to check your postcode for DAB coverage in

Gloucestershire. It's getdigitalradio.com. 11 games into

the football league season. Traditionally a time when managers

take stock of their progress and we are doing the same in our regular

team talk feature. This week, Bristol City played host to Geoff

Twentyman, Scott Murray, Mark Cooper and Siobhan Chamberlain. The top

performing team so far, what is the secret to making football management

look easy? I wish it was easy, a new group in the summer, a lot of young

players. They have taken a bit of time to gel. We have some decent

players who are technically very good and they are starting to come

together and play well. What kind of manager are you? Pretty calm. As you

get older and experienced, you have to calm down and realise you can't

be jumping up and down all the time. With the age of the squad we have

got, we have to try and pick up You know Gary Johnson well, Scott. When

he was here he famously threw the hand grenade in the dressing room

after a bad result, will he have a few hand grenades in the pocket At

Yeovil the dressing room is not as big. He did chuck a few down here

and there are a few lads who were on the end of a few. It is a tight

group at Yeovil and a lot of good mates, I think they will be all

right but it will be a tough season. Linda has a question for you,

Siobhan. What are the expectations of restore Academy for next season?

`` for Bristol Academy? A priority is to keep the players we had

together with the squad this year. Everyone wrote us off and said we

would finish seventh or eighth. To come second is a great achievement.

If we can keep the squad together and keep the three Spanish girls,

and add a couple more, I don't see why we can't be in the same position

challenging again. Does it frustrate you, the money in men's football

compare to what is in the women s game? It is or is hard to compare

and say, I wish we could get the same kind of funding and money that

there is in the men's game. If you don't draw in the crowds and you

haven't got the media and the publicity, you're not going to get

that money and that coverage. What we have shown with Bristol Academy

is you don't need a massive budget to be successful. We have the FA Cup

final and Champions League have finished second in the WSL. Not a

bad season, is it? Let's talk about Bristol City. 23rd in league one, no

one yet in the league. It is marched since they won a game. Scott, what

is your take on the season so far? The main thing is to be patient

Performances in the last four or five games are improving. It will be

a long season but the main thing is everyone sticks together. The other

week they led twice but you one 3`2, what is you `` you won 3`2. What is

your take? It was a good game, very open, they have a real attacking

threat in Thomas. If they get a result they could easily go on a

run. We have all played in teams that have had bad spells, what is

the secret to bring in a team out of a sequence of no wins and poor

results? You have to keep believing. If you are strong in your belief in

how you play, you have to keep believing and get that across. We

went wrong with Gary Johnson and I think we lost nine on the spin, it

is one of the worst feelings in the world. You go on the pitch and

you're not expecting to lose but as soon as something happens, your head

goes down, no one once the ball `` wants the ball. We are desperate to

get the first win and get the monkey off our back. Careful with that one!

Cheltenham, 17th in league one, is it hard for Mark Yates to keep

reinventing the wheel? They have done brilliantly for two years. They

have been really unlucky. I thought last year they would do it. Like you

say, it is rude difficult for them, some big clubs and big budgets. ``

really difficult. They are constantly punching above their

weight. Steve Mildenhall, the goalkeeper 's union is probably one

of the strong list in football. He looks me in the eye on our first

team talk and he told me that Bristol Rovers would be promoted.

They are 20th at the moment. Would you give him some advice? There is

still time. If you go into the season thinking you're not going to

be promoted or challenging, what is the point in playing? You want to

win and be at the top. It only takes that one is old to turn around the

season and get a few more wins under your belt. A big thank you for

Siobhan Chamberlain, Scott Murray and Mark Cooper.

APPLAUSE From football to Rugby. Gloucester

face a tough trip to Ireland tomorrow as they take on two time

Champions Munster in the Heineken Cup.

From rugby to the arts, it was the red carpet premiere of One Chance

last night ` the movie about the life of Bristol born opera singer

Paul Potts. The former supermarket worker became an international

superstar after winning Britain s Got Talent. And now his story,

including life growing up in Bristol, has been told in a star

studded movie, with James Corden playing Paul. You were there ` what

was it like? It was an amazing night. It must have been an

incredible night for Paul Potts We were there earlier seeing the team

setting up, making sure everything was perfect before the celebrities

arrived. Fans queued to meet stars including James cordon, who played

Paul Potts. We see the young Paul Potts, Christopher Bull from

Bristol. And Paul Potts himself arrived to greet fans as he walks

down the red carpet with his wife to watch the movie. Gary Barlow was

there. All your heroes! And you spoke to James cordon? Yes, he was

keen to clear up misunderstanding about his accent. A lot of people

think he is Welsh but he is not he just lives in Wales and he is from

Bristol. I had to make that clear to a lot of people who are telling me I

should do a Welsh accent. I said I think you will find it's more like

that. He was very good at that Bristolian accent. The film is not

out just yet, you will have to wait until next Friday to see that. Let's

catch up with the weather. Thank you. This photo will characterise

much of the weather through the course of the weekend.

There will be brighter phases, it will be a breezy weekend. There will

equally be some parts of the weather which will be wetter in the shape of

showers, they could be heavy, possibly thunder mixed in. The

rainfall radar has been showing the encroaching threat of showery

outbreaks of rain across our districts. Some of it is becoming

more prevalent. There will be moderately heavy outbreaks of rain

for a while. If we spin forward towards midnight, the first cluster

of Sharon Ringo have moved northwards. A second one follows in

its wake. Then there will be a window of reasonable weather until

the afternoon, when we get heavy showers coming through. And we do it

again on Sunday. If anything on Sunday per square mile and per hour

of the West Country, there will be more showers more widely

distributed. It is certainly not a right of despite the threat of

periodic wet weather. The threat of what weather others as we run

through towards mid`evening. He heavy fist `` the

the second phase will be with some of you by daybreak tomorrow and

temperatures will be mild again tonight. 12 or 13 Celsius will be

typical. A lot of low cloud associated with the lighter outbreak

of rain as it moves northwards. We get this window of drier and

brighter weather. It will be breezy and feel warm but as the trough

moves in through the early or mid afternoon period, we run the threat

of about an hour of thundery showers. Not everywhere seeing those

but the possibility that a fair number of you will. Temperatures

tomorrow will be quite warm, 17 or 18, a similar story for Sunday. Not

a similar story for Monday. A very wet start for next week. Thank you,

umbrellas at the ready. That is all from the Friday team. There will be

a quick update at eight o'clock and then 10:00pm. Have a lovely weekend,

see you Monday. Good wife.