29/01/2014 BBC Points West

Welcome to BBC Points West with David Garmston and Alex Lovell.

Our main story tonight: Wiltshire's biggest ever police operation.

Hundreds of officers stage early morning raids in the fight against

drugs gangs moving in from London. They are often linked with violence,

firearms and weapons. They are quite nasty individuals often.

But neighbouring Avon and Somerset police have been forced to announce

cuts today. We'll be asking the Chief Constable where the axe will

fall. The other stories tonight: Calling

in the big guns, the Prime Minister orders extra pumps to the levels as

criticism mounts. Good news for Yeovil as a government

helicopter deal secures hundreds of jobs.

And how a magazine cover intended to celebrate the Bath Marathon caused

offence in America. Good evening. Hundreds of officers swooped on the

homes of more than 60 alleged drugs dealers today in a massive show of

strength. 45 people were arrested. It was designed to send a clear

signal to London gangs that they should stay out of Wiltshire or face

arrest. It's feared criminals from the city are targetting Wiltshire as

a market for hard drugs. Scott Ellis reports. Police! One of 60 homes

raided today by Wiltshire Police, targeted those suspected of drug

dealing. You have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to deal

drugs. It is hoped it will disrupt as many as nine separate drugs

networks linked to London. Neighbours are alarmed that this was

happening on their street. I am shocked. I did not think anything

like this would ever happen on this street. Are you reassured by the

police action? Yes, I am. It is nice to see them doing something, isn't

it? The operation was so big the only place to brief the staff

involved was on a hanger on the old RAF line base. It led to this long

convoy through Royal Wootton Bassett in the rush`hour today. We know that

the impact will be quite substantial. We have been gathering

information on these individuals but we are not complacent that once we

take them off the street others will seek to take their place. This is

the message to those that seek to ply their trade, this is what will

happen and we are keen to send this message to them. Several shops were

also raided, the culmination of one year's police surveillance during

which undercover officers infiltrated gangs linked to the

capital. They tend to prey on vulnerable people, drug users and

other vulnerable members of the community, to use their addresses to

deal drugs from. They are often linked with firearms, violence,

weapons. They are quite nasty horrible individuals a lot of the

time and a lot of them are actually very young, but do not be fooled by

that. They will not think twice about using violence. Despite budget

cuts, Wiltshire Police hopes to launch these operations five times a

year so that new drug dealers are not tempted to move into Swindon

wants these arrests are over. The West's biggest police force is

to axe more than 130 officer posts. The government spending cuts are

forcing Avon and Somerset Police to undertake a root and branch review

of its operations. In a minute I will be talking to Avon Somerset's

Chief Constable who also refuses to rule out the closure of police

stations as his budget continues to shrink. But first Our Home Affairs

Correspondent Steve Brodie looks at what the cuts will mean.

It's the biggest shake` up in the history of Avon Somerset police.

At its peak the force was made up of more than 3,400 officers. Now it

will have just over 2,700. But it's not just posts that are going. The

review has resulted in a demands for changes in the working culture. A

staff survey revealed angry criticisms of how the rank and file

are managed. One change will see more police officers working late

and at weekends. We are at our busiest and most in demand in the

early evening. That is the peak time for policing and too many of our

people have gone home when that demand is at its peak. We will be

saying to more people that they have to work a few more late shifts and

weekends. In 2014 this review will save ?

million. 134 police officer posts will go from all ranks up to and

including Chief Superintendent Eight custody suites will close including

those at Weston Super Mare, Trinity Road, and Southmead.

The old cells will be replaced by super custody suites and stations,

like this one being built at Patchway and two others at Keynsham

and Bridgwater. And the force is about to decide whether to privitise

the staffing at the new centres A proposal not welcomed by the Police

Federation. I think that warranted officers and custody sergeants are

the key to the start of the criminal justice process, if you like. I

would be very wary about engaging with private companies, however we

have to try new and imaginative ways of working because we cannot sustain

the level of cuts that we have going forward.

With the closure of the cells here at Trinity Road, together with the

rest of the existing custody suites, the Chief Constable admits that

suspects arrested by officers will have to travel longer distances to

reach the new super stations. And Nick Gargan also refuses to rule out

the closure of police stations themselves in the future. I don t

think they should reduce police numbers at all. I think we need to

see them. Myths morning I saw one for the first time in years just

walking along the street. There are public servants and therefore they

will have to take cuts. To be honest I very rarely see a policeman apart

from in a car these days. Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens

puts the blame firmly at the hands of the Government and will not be

asking the public to meet the gap in spending. You cannot keep on cutting

the money for the police service. There has to come a point where

enough is enough and that is why, in the years to come, that I may well

be asking for a referendum. The Chief Constable says he has no

option, indeed he claims it could have been worse and he's expecting

to have to make even more cuts in the future.

And the chief cans to live with me now. You are claiming that the front

line is longer than it was before so these cuts are presumably not a bad

thing? It is not for me to say that cuts are not a bad thing, their job

of my `` the job of the Keith `` chief comes to estimate the best of

what is provided. One of the things we have been doing is taking people

who used to be an operational support and making them part of the

front line. You have found a lot of crime happens when the police go

home in the evenings and weekends, did you need a review to tell you

that? It is a constant process of reviewing and improving and

sometimes when you solve one problem you create another. The primary

architect of the changes are our own staff who have told us about their

frustrations and told us how they think the service can be provided

and how better support can be given to the front line, how we can

resolve incidents more quickly and stop passing members of the public

from pillar to post and provide a better service. You accept it was

inefficient before? You can always improve efficiency, that is the job

of management and why we do not pack up and go home. It is our job to

continually improve. We have been good at some things are less good at

others and that is why we have had a review. The workforce have

contributed brilliantly to the review and we are making really good

improvements. Crime is down by 0% so do you need as many officers

Crime is down and confidence is up but it would be foolish to say. .

The government might say you need more cuts. You would be foolish to

say you can cut and cut a police force out in the night and there

will never be a consequence. We are already seeing in other parts of the

country that some forces are finding crime going back up. We have to look

at the workforce and the high`level support services that provide

protection for the most serious threats and in a couple of years

time we will take another look at our back`office collaboration

because it will be time to take a fresh look at that contract as it

approaches renewal. Thank you very much.

The Prime Minister has promised to dredge the rivers on the Somerset

Levels to alleviate flooding. He was responding to a question by the

Taunton MP Jeremy Browne. I can confirm that dredging will start as

soon as it is practicable and as soon as the waters have started to

come down. The Environment Agency are pumping as much water as is

possible given the capacity of the rivers around the Somerset levels

but I have ordered that further high`volume pumps will be made

available to increase the volume of the pumping operation as soon as

there is capacity in the rivers to support that. The Prime Minister

today. How have the villagers reacted to those words from the

Prime Minister? Our chief Somerset correspondent, Clinton Rogers, is at

Moorland now. Oh, you are up to your knees again! Yes, surprise

surprise! Someone passed by a couple of minutes ago and said they would

believe that when they saw it. This is the road that leads into this

village and it is covered in a foot of water. It is still lapping around

people 's houses and in some cases going inside. There is a real

feeling here of, did the Prime Minister actually say that? The

Environment Agency are consistently saying that dredging is not the

answer, or at least not the entire answer. The secretary of state a few

days ago said they would not promised dredging but they would

come up with a plan in six weeks and suddenly the Prime Minister says

this. You can understand why people are wondering what was going on I

was in Muchelny when the Prime Minister made his announcement. The

Prime Minister has drawn `` promised to dredge the rivers...

The news was required viewing in the marooned village of Muchelney this

afternoon. I can confirm that dredging will start...

The Prime Minister's sudden promise to do what people here have been

demanding for years was greeted with surprise and some scepticism. 's

they could argue that they dredged last year. I think they did it for

about one day. Muchelney is still cut off. Each of

the four roads leading into the village is still under water,

undrivable.... Unless you have the right vehicle. Today the Red Cross

moved in with this, a specialist truck capable of operating in up to

1.5 metres of water. Today it was delivering much needed

heavy supplies like logs and coal. Brilliant, we are all running out of

the basic essential forms of heating so this is just fantastic really.

So, today action on the ground and in the corridors of Westminster

There is a real sense of frustration here that it has taken four weeks of

misery to get to this stage. There is no doubt that the operation was

in place because when the button was pressed it happened practically

instantly so if the button had been pressed earlier it would have saved

us a lot of anguish. It's been a worrying time for Bill

Daniel. He needs a minor heart procedure. Tomorrow they were

planning to pick him up in a specially adapted ambulance. But all

that changed when, two hours after we spoke to him, his wife had a

fall. Suddenly it's an emergency. It may be a fractured hip. She is in a

bit of pain. So now Bill and his wife are off to

hospital. The specially adapted ambulances made it in and out. They

could not have done that a couple of days ago.

We wish them both a speedy recovery. So there is some good news for the

people of the Somerset levels to celebrate with the Prime Minister

making that announcement in the House of Commons but they will not

be celebrating too much because more bad weather is on the way. Thank you

very much for that. We will pick up on that shortly

Well, joining us now from London is the MP for Taunton Deane, Jeremy

Browne. Thank you for joining us. Some would say this is a bit

embarrassing because those affected have been asking for help for ages

and now there is you'd media interest the Prime Minister has

stepped up for it. I am very pleased that he has stepped up for it and I

would have preferred he had done it earlier but I had the opportunity to

ask a question in the House of Commons today and I put it to him

very clearly that people in that part of Somerset are suffering very

severely from the severe flooding and we need action to address the

current problems and also a longer term plan to try and stop it

happening in the future. I have to admit that I was pleasantly

surprised by how unequivocal the Prime Minister was in his response,

his commitment to dredging to try and reduce the threat from flooding

in the future and also his commitment to bring in extra pumping

facilities when the river can take that extra water. It was a very

strong announcement by the Prime Minister and I was very pleased to

hear it. The residents that Clinton spoke to are of course right to wait

and see what happens and I will be staying on the case along with the

other MPs in the area. Sorry to interrupt but is it the right thing

to do? The Environment Agency say it is not and other people in the area

are saying that it is not the right thing but it is what the locals and

what David Cameron want so who is right? There is a government

emergency picket `` committee that have been looking at this and

residents have told me that dredging is a big issue. I am not saying it

is the only solution but a lot of people are clear`cut that it is a

solution and I was pleased that in response to my question the Prime

Minister made that commitment. Thank you for taking the time to talk to

us. The Defence Secretary was in

Somerset first thing this morning, announcing a multi`million pound

deal at Yeovil's famous helicopter factory. Agusta Westland will earn

?760 million pounds from a five year contract to maintain two of the

army's front line helicopters, securing over 300 jobs. Our business

correspondent Dave Harvey was there for us.

They call it the Apache and it's the Army's main battlefield attack

helicopter. In action in Afghanistan since 2006 and made here in Yeovil.

Now the company will maintain and service the Apache and its big

sister the Merlin, used to fly troops in and out of combat round

the world. There are about 350 jobs directly on this site that will be

secured by this order as well as many more in the supply chain. That

is a lot of families in this area whose security for the future is

secured by the announcement we have made today. This is a Royal Navy

Merlin which has been working in Cornwall for ten years. It has been

getting a upgrade here in Yeovilton. For many years this factory depended

on the Ministry of Defence. Thousands of livelihoods stood or

fell at the stroke of a pen in Whitehall. Not any more.

Take search and rescue, a global market, Westlands will sell to any

nation with a craggy coastline. Norway signed a billion pound deal

just before Christmas. But further afield the company faces storm

clouds. India for instance has just cancelled a ?450 million contract

after allegations of bribery at the Agusta Westland HQ in Italy. The

allegations are denied by the company. We are now going to

arbitration in India and there is a lot for us to say and a lot that we

will say but if you fall give me we will say it at the arbitration

rather than now. In other words it is with the lawyers. That India deal

is the only dark cloud over this factory at the moment and today is

really about this, the Merlin and the Apache and a ?750 million piece

of good news. A Bath magazine says it is truly

sorry after it copied a cover which was originally published in tribute

to the victims of the Boston marathon. The Bath Magazine's aim

was to promote the City's half marathon which takes place in just

over a month but it's led to accusations of disrespect and

plagiarism. Sarah`Jane Bungay reports.

A picture tells a thousand words. This one designed to pay tribute to

the victims of the terror attacks during Boston's marathon. This, to

promote Bath's half marathon. No prizes for guessing where they got

their inspiration. It's been called at best, misguided, at worse

disrespectful The Half Marathon is a major event on Bath's calender but

it's now attracted unwelcome fame across the pond The Boston magazine

tweeted... I have seen both covers and I am

sure there is no ill intent. You can see that in Boston it was associated

with the tragic events that happened that day so it is not really

appropriate for Bath to use the identical image. The Half Marathon

is a major event on Bath's calender but it's now attracted unwelcome

fame across the pond The Boston magazine tweeted... We're flattered

you liked our cover. Here's what we hope you'll do next... All the

proceeds from the image went to the fund so if the Bath magazine want to

use that idea for a cover then maybe they should also make a donation to

the fund. I have picked up a copy of the Bath Magazine which is widely

available in pubs and bars. The publishers said they were deeply

upset by what happened and offered their severe apologies to anyone who

had been distressed by the similarity between the two images. I

am not that upset about it and actually I think it is not a bad

thing because it helps people to remember the Boston Marathon. I

think in hindsight it could have been imported.

Late this afternoon the magazine said it would be changing the cover

of February's edition, involving the re`print of 18,000 copies.

Yeovil Town have slipped to the bottom of the Championship table

after losing 3`2 at Derby, a game they had led 2`0. In fact, Swindon

were the only one of our sides to get a point last night. Alistair

Durden reports. This result was hard to take for

Yeovil against one of the Championship's high flyers. John

Lundstram's fine goal had put them infront, and by half`time Ishmael

Miller had given the Glovers a surprise two`goal advantage. But

Derby always looked capable of a fightback and it arrived via Patrick

Bamford. And then with just three minutes left, Yeovil were pegged

back by Craig Bryson. But there was worse to come in stoppage time.

Chris Martin scored. A heart`breaking finish for Yeovil who

are now bottom. Swindon's record away from home has

been less than impressive and they were behind again at Walsall. But

new signing Michael Smith scored his third goal in two games to earn a

draw and keep Swindon close to the playoff places.

Aden Flint's own goal set the tone at Brentford where Bristol City lost

3`1. The highlight for the travelling fans was this superb

equaliser from Karleigh Osborne but he injured his hamstring taking the

shot. City were second best against the

leaders, and two more goals followed before half`time. A night Steve

Cotterill described as major disappointment. They're still three

points from safety Despite 19 shots at goal Bristol Rovers lost at home

to Accrington who's winner came in the 93rd minute.

My spies tell me that Accrington only sent 12 fans down for that

match! It is a long way. Talking of it being a long way, there is a

build`up to the Commonwealth games in the summer and the route for the

Queen 's battered relay has just been revealed. The Batten with the

message from the Queen has been travelling through the countries of

the Commonwealth and it will be returning to this country in May and

on Tuesday the 3rd of June it will be at Bristol Harbour and city hall.

It is an event where we are celebrating what the Commonwealth

games is all about and bringing people together. I am sure that

every region will want to put on the best event they can. They have won

the opportunity to host this event and I think they want to do

themselves proud. If the torch relay is anything to go by, everyone got

really well behind it. It was euphoric. We have been talking about

the weather again and now there are high tides and Wayne `` high tide

and rain to worry about. Yes, it is later on Friday that we

had to worry about the rain and then the tides are looking worrying on

Saturday. There will be the highest tides of the year on Bridgwater Bay

on Saturday morning and all of those things combined looked pretty

bothersome. Tomorrow by contrast a bit of rain about but there is a

much colder feel and it will be the coldest day of the winter so far.

That is not saying much compared to the rest of the weather we have had

this winter. It will gather pace into Friday and tomorrow the low is

sinking away with patchy and light rain around. As we run through the

end of tomorrow and into Friday we start to establish the influence of

the fronts moving in. This evening many of you will have patchy and

light rain in the north`east of our area. Some of it could be wintry on

high ground but there is a low risk. As the night moves on there are

patches of rain coming and going and a lot of cloud around. Temperatures

could be around freezing with some frost in the North. Tomorrow morning

picks up on the theme and it will be extensively cloudy all day from the

outset. Light rain about particularly in the first time of

the day but it will die away in the afternoon. Generally the day will

feel glum. There is no sunshine around and a cold feel will be

exacerbated by that and temperatures will get no higher than about five.

That will all change as we head through into Friday. Met Office

warnings are out for heavy rain which will march in through the

afternoon and some of it will give ten or 20 millimetres or even 3

millimetres in some spots. As the wind starts to pick up they will

become stronger. There will be showers on Saturday and the warnings

are now for wind there. The high tide will be up on Friday and remain

that way through the weekend. It could mean that by Saturday morning

we have a tidal locking problem that we saw on some of our rivers a month

ago which could be bad news. Thank you very much. Is it going to

stay mild? ISh.

You heard it here first. Let us call it a night for now.

I will return at ten. Thank you for watching. Goodbye.

'The cost of living crisis goes deep into people's lives,

'deep into the way our country is run,