:00:00. > 3:59:59Campaigners say prices are rising three times faster than wages. That
:00:00. > :00:13.is all from BBC News Welcome to BBC Points West with
:00:14. > :00:20.David Garmston and Imogen Sellers. Happy New Year! Our main story
:00:21. > :00:23.tonight: Stay away from the coast and prepare for flooding: Highwinds,
:00:24. > :00:26.heavy rain and massive waves threaten miles of coastline and the
:00:27. > :00:37.Environment Agency warns hundreds they could be at risk. The other
:00:38. > :00:40.stories making the news tonight we have a storm coming of the Bristol
:00:41. > :00:53.Channel. No further questions. Barristers are
:00:54. > :01:02.to stage a strike in protest at legal aid cuts.
:01:03. > :01:08.The charity which was started in Bristol. And how film makers from
:01:09. > :01:12.Bristol are using a fake turtle to get up close and personal with
:01:13. > :01:16.dolphins. Good evening. The West Country is
:01:17. > :01:27.getting ready for some exceptional weather heading our way over the
:01:28. > :01:30.next 24 hours. A combination of driving rain, high winds and high
:01:31. > :01:34.tides has put all the emergency services on alert. The main worry is
:01:35. > :01:37.tomorrow morning at breakfast time when coastal areas from Somerset
:01:38. > :01:40.right up to Gloucester could be affected by flooding. The River Avon
:01:41. > :01:50.is pretty full too. Steve Knibbs is in Gloucester for us tonight.
:01:51. > :01:54.Thank you. The River Severn is looking very swollen. The
:01:55. > :01:59.Environment Agency has issued three severe flood warnings for
:02:00. > :02:02.Gloucestershire. The situation is changing all the time. We consult
:02:03. > :02:08.with Dave from the Environment Agency. The severe flood warnings,
:02:09. > :02:12.we have not had those in recent years in Gloucestershire. Not since
:02:13. > :02:20.2007, I think. We are in the process of issuing three at the moment. I
:02:21. > :02:25.would urge people to check our website and see if they will be
:02:26. > :02:31.affected. What does severe flood warning mean? It does mean a risk to
:02:32. > :02:34.life serious impact to local communities, being cut off, that
:02:35. > :02:43.kind of stuff. Serious disruption within the area. Why is this
:02:44. > :02:49.happening? We know it could be dangerous. It is a combination of
:02:50. > :02:52.spring tides, which on the run would not be a problem, but we have a big
:02:53. > :02:57.storm brewing in the Bristol Channel. It is a combination of
:02:58. > :03:05.those which is difficult to predict. We do think they may top of flood
:03:06. > :03:18.defences. What is being done to try and mitigate this? All emergency
:03:19. > :03:32.responders, we will all try and make sure we have our own plans in
:03:33. > :03:42.place. This this, this is worst`case scenario, how certain can you be it
:03:43. > :03:48.will happen? We can't. If it is at the high end of expectations, we can
:03:49. > :04:18.expect to see flooding. Let us check out the tide times.
:04:19. > :04:24.Check the Environment Agency website, where they have a live
:04:25. > :04:29.flood map. Back to you. Thank you. The Environment Secretary
:04:30. > :04:32.Owen Paterson has urged us all to be prepared for a period of
:04:33. > :04:34."exceptional weather". He chaired a meeting of the Government's
:04:35. > :04:37.emergency committee, Cobra, this morning. So what's the situation
:04:38. > :04:41.like elsewhere in our region? In a moment, we'll be checking on the
:04:42. > :04:44.River Avon but first Will Glennon reports from Somerset where there's
:04:45. > :04:47.a real fear that some villages could be cut off.
:04:48. > :04:55.It is another wet new year on the Somerset levels. Fields have become
:04:56. > :04:59.lakes, and roads turned to rivers. The A361, a main route into Tauton,
:05:00. > :05:01.has been closed at Burrowbridge causing big problems for local
:05:02. > :05:13.businesses. The alternatives aren't much better. This is the road
:05:14. > :05:16.through the village of Stathe, difficult even for 4x4s. It's making
:05:17. > :05:21.deliveries to communities further down the track almost impossible. If
:05:22. > :05:29.I've tried to go through with these plans, that would be the end of the
:05:30. > :05:36.matter. Normally, we take the main road but it can be much quicker to
:05:37. > :05:42.take the smaller roads. Difficult to say until I go through. I you going
:05:43. > :05:44.to give it a go? I am going to give it a go. Needs must.
:05:45. > :05:48.Emergency services are warning not to enter floodwater. One man had to
:05:49. > :05:53.be rescued at Donyatt after getting stuck yesterday. The Rivers Tone and
:05:54. > :05:57.Parret can't take much more, but it looks like they're going to have to
:05:58. > :06:00.With more rain forecast in the coming days there's a real fear that
:06:01. > :06:03.villages here could be cut off altogether. Somerset county council
:06:04. > :06:06.says it has teamed out working hard to clear roads like this one, and
:06:07. > :06:13.preparing for more bad weather that is on the way. That is how it looks
:06:14. > :06:15.here in Somerset. Now here is Scott Ellis with how it looks on the River
:06:16. > :06:23.Avon. Once again, rain stops play. The
:06:24. > :06:28.football pitch is on the side of the River Avon, which burst its banks
:06:29. > :06:33.over Christmas. The team are well drilled when it comes to flood
:06:34. > :06:43.damage. He is nearly 12 months to the day that happened last time
:06:44. > :06:50.Bridge house has flooded again, as it did so dramatically in November
:06:51. > :06:55.2012. Further down the stream, locals are keeping a keen eye on
:06:56. > :06:59.River levels. This riverside pub has been shut since flooding on
:07:00. > :07:05.Christmas Eve. It was the same fate for this restaurant in
:07:06. > :07:10.Bradford`on`Avon. We lost Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve
:07:11. > :07:19.January, we had parties but, feathery, we had parked his blood.
:07:20. > :07:24.People had to go elsewhere. Some people have been enjoying the water.
:07:25. > :07:29.Some people are even talking about an annual regatta, so reliable are
:07:30. > :07:37.the floods. How is what? The water is lovely. A little chilly, but it
:07:38. > :07:42.is lovely. Tonight, three flood warnings remain in place on the
:07:43. > :07:46.River Avon. There is more rain on the way.
:07:47. > :07:49.Well, we should also let you know, that there is another strike planned
:07:50. > :07:58.by firefighters tomorrow morning between 6.30 and 8.30. The Fire
:07:59. > :08:02.Brigade's Union says striking crews will not leave the picket line for
:08:03. > :08:07.pumping out but will react to any serious risk to life. So just how
:08:08. > :08:12.bad is this combination of high tide and windy wet weather going to be?
:08:13. > :08:20.Ian's out on the roof for us tonight? We have the two separate
:08:21. > :08:24.issues. We have the inland river and roadside flooding versus the
:08:25. > :08:30.situation tomorrow, which is more unusual. This is the very high tide
:08:31. > :08:36.in domination with strong winds coming into areas like the seven,
:08:37. > :08:42.which are already up to capacity `` the River Severn. There are two
:08:43. > :08:48.forces coming together. The net result is a potential backing up of
:08:49. > :09:00.that river water. On the coastal fringe, you have the strong winds.
:09:01. > :09:04.It is a combination of problems Thanks, Ian, and it's at times like
:09:05. > :09:07.these that you can rely on your BBC local radio stations for all the
:09:08. > :09:15.latest travel news. Please stay safe and best to check in with them first
:09:16. > :09:19.before venturing out. A bit later in the programme ` even more water We
:09:20. > :09:20.go under the waves with the team who've been spying on the dolphins
:09:21. > :09:31.using turtle`cam. A woman from South Gloucestershire
:09:32. > :09:40.has died after being swept out to sea off the North Devon coast. The
:09:41. > :09:44.42`year`old, from Kingswood, was pulled from the water near a popular
:09:45. > :09:47.surfing beach at Croyde on New Year's Eve. She was taken to North
:09:48. > :09:52.Devon District Hospital, but died later.
:09:53. > :09:55.It's been confirmed that the Indian government has terminated its
:09:56. > :10:05.contract with the Yeovil based helicopter manufacturer Agusta
:10:06. > :10:08.Westland. The deal was for 12 helicopters which would have been
:10:09. > :10:11.used in an elite squadron to ferry around the president, the Prime
:10:12. > :10:13.Minister and other VIPs. Indian defence officials said they scrapped
:10:14. > :10:16.the deal after allegations of corruption. The firm has always
:10:17. > :10:25.denied the claims. Rail fares for train passengers in
:10:26. > :10:34.the West have gone up. The increase works out at around three point 1%
:10:35. > :10:36.on average. And tolls on the Severn Bridges have gone up too. It now
:10:37. > :10:38.costs ?6.40 to get into Wales. For the first time in 700 years
:10:39. > :10:41.barristers will be going on strike in protest at the Government's 220
:10:42. > :10:44.million cut in the legal aid budget. Lawyers claim victims and witnesses
:10:45. > :10:47.will suffer as the quality of justice falls. Trials at Crown
:10:48. > :10:53.Courts throughout the West will be halted on Monday during the
:10:54. > :10:54.unprecedented action. This report by our home affairs correspondent,
:10:55. > :10:57.Steve Brodie. In the last six years, criminal
:10:58. > :11:01.barristers' fees have been reduced by more than 40%. And now the latest
:11:02. > :11:04.cuts will, according to the West's leading criminal lawyer, result in a
:11:05. > :11:09.dangerous two`tier system of justice.
:11:10. > :11:12.It will mean if you have not got the money, not got the resources, and
:11:13. > :11:23.need help within the criminal justice system, you're going to have
:11:24. > :11:26.a two`tier system. Frankly, one rule for the poor and another for the
:11:27. > :11:30.rich. But the Ministry of Justice disagrees, and says even after the
:11:31. > :11:34.cuts, there will always be a lawyer available for those who need one
:11:35. > :11:37.most, and that legal aid is a vital part of the justice system. There
:11:38. > :11:47.has already been a 25% reduction in the number of criminal barristers
:11:48. > :11:51.working here at Bristol Crown Court. The real losers, claims the QC, are
:11:52. > :11:53.the public, with the danger of miscarriages of justice.
:11:54. > :11:57.If the criminal justice system works well, it results in the conviction
:11:58. > :12:09.of the guilty and the acquittal of the innocent. When it stops working
:12:10. > :12:12.well, because the thing becomes imbalanced because the resources are
:12:13. > :12:16.not there, you get an increase in the number of guilty people who are
:12:17. > :12:19.wrongly acquitted and, I'm afraid, in the number of innocent people who
:12:20. > :12:23.are wrongly convicted. The cuts have also had a devastating affect on the
:12:24. > :12:26.future of law graduates. Alex Bassingham studied for five years
:12:27. > :12:29.and has two law degrees. Despite her success she couldn't get a job, and
:12:30. > :12:33.fears for those still studying. People may still do law degrees just
:12:34. > :12:37.to kind of have that degree because a law degree, I think, says a lot
:12:38. > :12:40.about you as a person and your application, but yeah, you're not
:12:41. > :12:43.going to start looking at the law profession as a realistic potential,
:12:44. > :12:47.because there aren't the jobs, and if there aren't the jobs, then why
:12:48. > :12:50.flog a dead horse, so to speak? The new 30% reduction of the legal aid
:12:51. > :12:54.budget also affects solicitors. There is no practice in the country,
:12:55. > :12:59.no member of the Bar who can sustain those sorts of cuts, and let me be
:13:00. > :13:01.quite clear ` these cuts will mean, in our view, the end of an
:13:02. > :13:05.independent legal profession. Tonight, the Ministry of Justice
:13:06. > :13:14.said at around ?2 billion a year, Britain is one of the most expensive
:13:15. > :13:18.legal systems in the year. They added six barristers received more
:13:19. > :13:31.than ?500,000 in fees last year and 1,200 over ?100,000. So on Monday,
:13:32. > :13:34.with the exception of cases involving children it will not be
:13:35. > :13:45.business as usual here. Judges will be forced to adjourn trials for the
:13:46. > :13:49.duration of the historic protest. Giving up smoking may be top of many
:13:50. > :13:52.a New Year resolutions list, but in Somerset the NHS has just launched a
:13:53. > :13:55.scheme to help pregnant women to kick the habit. Hospitals there are
:13:56. > :14:11.now providing a specialist midwife, to encourage all mums`to`be to quit.
:14:12. > :14:15.Lastly, we got 17.4%, so we still have a long way to go to encourage
:14:16. > :14:21.women to quit during pregnancy, hence the investment and on the
:14:22. > :14:28.development work going into this. Issue, we're doing much better. We
:14:29. > :14:31.have only seen huge improvement The postponement of Yeovil Town's
:14:32. > :14:46.televised match against Watford has cost the club an estimated 100
:14:47. > :14:49.thousand pounds. The referee called the game off yesterday because of
:14:50. > :14:52.flooding ` these are the dugouts at Huish Park filled with water. Yeovil
:14:53. > :14:55.would have received ?80,000 from television coverage if the game had
:14:56. > :14:57.gone ahead. Five Gloucester rugby players, including James
:14:58. > :15:00.Simpson`Daniel, have signed new deals with the club. Simpson`Daniel
:15:01. > :15:03.has made over 250 appearances for Gloucester in fourteen seasons at
:15:04. > :15:05.Kingsholm. England wing Charlie Sharples has also agreed a new
:15:06. > :15:10.contract, along with Darren DAV`E`DUKE, Shaun Knight, and
:15:11. > :15:14.Elliott Stooke. A writer from Bristol will find out
:15:15. > :15:20.on Monday if he's won a major book prize. Nathan Filer has been short
:15:21. > :15:24.listed for the the Costa First Novel award for his work The Shock of the
:15:25. > :15:32.Fall ` which is set in Bristol and Dorset. Nathan's here. Your book
:15:33. > :15:38.tackles and tricky things, doesn't it? It does, I suppose. It is about
:15:39. > :15:45.a young man from Bristol who misses his brother. When there were little,
:15:46. > :15:50.his brother died and nearly nine years on, he's quite trapped in
:15:51. > :15:57.grief. Matthew suffers from serious mental illness. There is some heavy
:15:58. > :16:02.stuff there. I think as well as that, the character of Matthew is a
:16:03. > :16:09.fun person and nice to be around. What would it mean for you if you
:16:10. > :16:21.won? The world. It would be wonderful, of course. As a writer,
:16:22. > :16:27.we want people to read and enjoy our work. Just to be only short lists
:16:28. > :16:31.raises the profile of a book and hopefully means more people will
:16:32. > :16:35.read it. Your writing from experience. In a previous life, you
:16:36. > :16:43.are a mental health nurse, perhaps you still are. How does that help?
:16:44. > :16:54.It was very useful for research I spent a lot of time working
:16:55. > :17:00.psychiatric units. I suppose I have an understanding of the system and
:17:01. > :17:12.how it works, or how it doesn't sometimes. I can imagine scribbling
:17:13. > :17:19.away in a coffee break. I take it very seriously. A coffee break, in
:17:20. > :17:24.the NHS? It's a mission man. We will be rooting for you next week.
:17:25. > :17:28.Letters know how you get on. A small project started in Bristol
:17:29. > :17:42.to help the victims of crime is marking its 40th anniversary. Victim
:17:43. > :17:46.Support is now a national charity, but back in 1974 it was a
:17:47. > :17:49.revolutionary idea, which met with some suspicion. Alice Bouverie's
:17:50. > :17:52.been to meet some of its founders. In 1970s Britain, there was help for
:17:53. > :17:55.offenders, but none for victims of crime. But then a ten`month pilot
:17:56. > :18:05.project started in south Bristol. This 1975 BBC film captured its
:18:06. > :18:07.early days. This belief any body should have bothered when you're not
:18:08. > :18:19.wearing any kind of uniform. And the reaction from the public. It
:18:20. > :18:23.is good that people are interested. Nigel Whiskin, a former probation
:18:24. > :18:27.officer, vividly remembers the time. I have never been involved in
:18:28. > :18:32.anything without any government money, without any publicity,
:18:33. > :18:37.without any umbrella organisation, that just took off. It was
:18:38. > :18:46.wonderful. Wonderful days. At first, the police needed some convincing.
:18:47. > :18:54.The guide era of handing over information to people who were not
:18:55. > :18:56.police caused great concern. My chief's reaction was, well, who are
:18:57. > :19:04.these people? But so successful was the Bristol Victim Support Scheme,
:19:05. > :19:07.it quickly spread nationally. Is he The charity changed its name to
:19:08. > :19:11.Victim Support. And it spawned the start of many more initiatives for
:19:12. > :19:17.people caught up in crime. We have dozens of schemes, witness schemes.
:19:18. > :19:20.40 years on, the charity is valued as much as ever. Catherine
:19:21. > :19:28.Wells`Burr was murdered by her boyfriend in Somerset in 2012. Her
:19:29. > :19:36.mother says they would not have survived without victim support
:19:37. > :19:48.helping them. She did a lot forerunners. They helped with car
:19:49. > :19:53.parking fees, hotel fees. I sat in: Listen to the postmortem, and Audrey
:19:54. > :19:55.helped me through it. `` I sat in court and listened to the
:19:56. > :19:58.postmortem. It's now unthinkable victims would be left to fend for
:19:59. > :20:02.themselves. Many people have cause to be thankful for the Bristol
:20:03. > :20:06.Victim Support Scheme. And to find out more about the work
:20:07. > :20:09.of Victim Support and how the organisation grew from small
:20:10. > :20:16.beginnings in Bristol go to the bbc website at bbc.co.uk slash Bristol.
:20:17. > :20:20.They've given us a birds' eye view of life in a penguin huddle, now a
:20:21. > :20:23.BBC Bristol team has gone undercover again to infiltrate the ocean to
:20:24. > :20:26.film dolphins in the wild. The film makers from the natural history unit
:20:27. > :20:30.here have used cameras masquerading as molluscs, tuna, sea turtle and
:20:31. > :20:34.squid to get up close and personal to the underwater animals, capturing
:20:35. > :20:47.never seen before behaviour. We ll find out how in a moment but, first
:20:48. > :20:49.let's have a look at the programme. She soon discovers just how their
:20:50. > :20:55.extraordinary leaps are performed. Rapid beats of the tail provide the
:20:56. > :21:06.power... ..while twisting starts as they
:21:07. > :21:12.leave the water. Sheer muscle drives her spectactular
:21:13. > :21:14.aeriel display. We're joined in the studio now by
:21:15. > :21:18.the director and producer of Dolphins, Spy in the Pod, John
:21:19. > :21:21.Downer and Rob Pilley, and they ve brought some of the cameras that
:21:22. > :21:30.helped them get inside the pod with them. They have brought these
:21:31. > :21:36.extraordinary cameras. That is the one you saw in that clip. What is
:21:37. > :21:45.amazing is the scale of it. It is huge. It has a in its mouth. What
:21:46. > :21:57.have you got there? This one has cameras in its eyes. This one moves.
:21:58. > :22:01.Can we see it? She can pamper her head from side to side and have a
:22:02. > :22:10.good old look. That she can pamper her head. What was the purpose
:22:11. > :22:17.behind designing the scammers? Dolphins are always on the move We
:22:18. > :22:24.needed a range of remote devices that could stay up with them, and
:22:25. > :22:35.keep alongside them. Where were you when this was happening? Operating
:22:36. > :22:47.from a boat. It took you around the globe. Yes. We were in Florida,
:22:48. > :22:58.Costa Rica, Australia. We are pleased to see these cameras. The
:22:59. > :23:05.squid camp came to a nasty end. Yes. The dolphins like to play with them.
:23:06. > :23:13.It became lunch for a big fish. He did spit it out but it had seen
:23:14. > :23:18.better days by then. There we go. What did you find out? Did you
:23:19. > :23:28.observe anything new? About 40% of what we saw, nobody had seen, let
:23:29. > :23:34.alone film. They use seaweed like a bouquet of flowers, and give them as
:23:35. > :23:39.gifts to win the female over. You must been thinking, this is
:23:40. > :23:47.incredible. Yes. Some any time, we were gobsmacked. Suddenly, to get
:23:48. > :23:52.those moments on camera, it is incredible. And there were some
:23:53. > :24:07.amazing interaction with pufferfish. Yes. It was a young group of males,
:24:08. > :24:16.like a teenage group of boys. They seem to go into a knot trancelike
:24:17. > :24:26.state afterwards. It is like the pufferfish exceeds some kind of
:24:27. > :24:36.chemical. We were amazed. When can we see this programme? Tonight,
:24:37. > :24:47.8:30pm on BBC One. We will be tuned in. Thank you for coming in.
:24:48. > :24:54.It is now time to go up to the roof for the weather forecast.
:24:55. > :25:04.Hello, both. We start pretty much where we left last year. A raft of
:25:05. > :25:13.weather warnings. We're adding some Environment Agency warnings. This
:25:14. > :25:20.photo says a lot about some of the conditions we can expect through
:25:21. > :25:31.tomorrow. It will be a windy day. Some heavy showers around. That does
:25:32. > :25:42.not tell the whole story. This warning is for wind, for our Western
:25:43. > :25:55.district. This is for wind gusting, particularly exposed areas. The
:25:56. > :26:19.potential of high tide is potentially going to cause problems.
:26:20. > :26:30.High tide roundabout 8am, 10am. I would urge you to keep in touch with
:26:31. > :26:43.the Environment Agency. Here is the low pressure. The amount, not
:26:44. > :26:58.particularly significant. Through the rest of the evening, more rain
:26:59. > :27:16.fall. It is adding to the problems. Some heavy outbreaks of brain.
:27:17. > :27:26.Tomorrow, the winds of picking up. The showers keep rattling through.
:27:27. > :27:34.It is a bit of a lottery. Temperatures, eight or nine.
:27:35. > :27:39.Your local radio station can keep you up to date. We will be here
:27:40. > :27:43.tomorrow night, whatever the weather. The dolphin programme is on
:27:44. > :27:48.at 8pm tonight. Goodbye.