:00:13. > :00:21.In The West: Good Evening. There have been dramatic
:00:22. > :00:23.developments today in the government's attitude towards the
:00:24. > :00:26.Somerset Levels. First the Prime Minister personally ordered new
:00:27. > :00:35.equipment to help move the flood water. I can confirm that dredging
:00:36. > :00:40.will start as soon as it is practicable, as soon as the waters
:00:41. > :00:45.have started to come down. The Environment Agency are pumping as
:00:46. > :00:48.much water as is possible but I have ordered further high volume pumps to
:00:49. > :00:52.be made available to increase the volume of the pumping operation as
:00:53. > :00:54.soon as there is capacity in the rivers to support that.
:00:55. > :00:57.And tonight the Environment Secretary Owen Patterson effectively
:00:58. > :01:03.put the army on stand`by in case conditions get worse over the
:01:04. > :01:07.weekend. We had a very constructive discussion with Somerset County
:01:08. > :01:12.Council who have asked for assistance today. As we speak the
:01:13. > :01:16.Ministry of Defence and the Department of local government are
:01:17. > :01:19.discussing how we could deploy specialist vehicles which could help
:01:20. > :01:24.some of those villages that have been cut off to help people travel
:01:25. > :01:27.backwards and forwards and get fuel and food in and out and also help
:01:28. > :01:31.with transport from dry land. The announcement came at the end of
:01:32. > :01:33.a hectic day which saw the government heavily criticised in
:01:34. > :01:36.some national newspapers. Clinton Rogers reports on how the
:01:37. > :01:44.developments have gone down on the sodden Somerset Levels.
:01:45. > :01:51.The Prime Minister has promised to dredge the rivers... The news was
:01:52. > :01:55.required viewing in this marooned village this afternoon. The Prime
:01:56. > :02:01.Minister's sudden promised to do what people here have been demanding
:02:02. > :02:04.for years was greeted by surprise and some scepticism. You could argue
:02:05. > :02:15.that they did dredge last year. I think they did it for about one day.
:02:16. > :02:19.Muchelney is still cut off. The roads leading into the village are
:02:20. > :02:24.undrivable unless you have the right vehicle. Today the Red Cross moved
:02:25. > :02:30.in with this. It is a specialist truck capable of operating into our
:02:31. > :02:35.`` in up to 1.5 metres of water Today it was delivering much`needed
:02:36. > :02:40.heavy supplies like logs and coal. Brilliant. We were running out of
:02:41. > :02:46.the essential forms of heating so this is just fantastic really. The
:02:47. > :02:51.ambulance men have been in? It has been a worrying time for Bill Daniel
:02:52. > :02:55.who needs a minor heart procedure and they were planning to pick him
:02:56. > :02:59.up in a specialist ambulance tomorrow but all of that changed
:03:00. > :03:04.when just two hours after we spoke to him his wife had come fall.
:03:05. > :03:10.Suddenly it is an emergency. It could be a fractured hip. She is in
:03:11. > :03:14.a bit of pain. Now Bill and his wife are both off to hospital. The
:03:15. > :03:34.specially adapted ambulances made it in and out and they could not have
:03:35. > :03:36.done that a couple of days ago. We wish both of them are speedy
:03:37. > :03:38.recovery. Tonight in flooded villages across the Somerset levels
:03:39. > :03:41.there is a feeling we will believe it when we see it. The Prime
:03:42. > :03:43.Minister has made his promise and now they want him to deliver on it.
:03:44. > :03:46.There is another reason why they are not celebrating too hard here, more
:03:47. > :03:47.bad weather is expected at the weekend. There is another
:03:48. > :03:50.development tonight. The MOD have dispatched military
:03:51. > :03:54.planners to Somerset this evening and they will star work the morning.
:03:55. > :03:57.Now two other news: Hundreds of officers raided the homes of more
:03:58. > :04:01.than 60 alleged drug dealers today in a massive show of strength.
:04:02. > :04:04.45 people were arrested. It was designed to send a clear signal to
:04:05. > :04:17.London gangs to stop targetting Wiltshire. Scott Ellis reports.
:04:18. > :04:21.Police! 160 homes raided today by Wiltshire Police, targeting those
:04:22. > :04:26.suspected drug stealing. You are arrested on suspicion of supplying
:04:27. > :04:29.heroin in crack cocaine. You don't drugstore and undercover police
:04:30. > :04:34.officer. It is hoped to disrupt many as nine are drug wrecked `` networks
:04:35. > :04:38.linked to London. Neighbours are alarmed at what is happening on
:04:39. > :04:42.their street. I am shocked. I did not think anything like this would
:04:43. > :04:47.happen on the street. I you reassured by the police action?
:04:48. > :04:50.Yes, I am, it is nice to see them doing something, isn't it?
:04:51. > :04:54.The operation was so big the only place to brief all 400 staff
:04:55. > :04:57.involved was in a hangar on the old RAF Lyneham base. It led to this
:04:58. > :05:06.long convoy through Wootton Bassett in this morning's rush hour. We know
:05:07. > :05:09.that the impact will be substantial. We have been gathering
:05:10. > :05:13.intelligence on these individuals but we are not compilation that we
:05:14. > :05:18.take one of the street and others will seek to take their place. This
:05:19. > :05:21.is a message to those people, this is what will happen and we are keen
:05:22. > :05:24.to send that message. Several shops on the Manchester Road in Swindon
:05:25. > :05:27.were also raided. All this the culmination of a year's police
:05:28. > :05:34.surveillance during which undercover officers infiltrated gangs linked to
:05:35. > :05:38.the capital. They tend to prey on vulnerable people, drugs users and
:05:39. > :05:43.other vulnerable members of the community, to use their addresses to
:05:44. > :05:47.deal drugs from. They are often linked with firearms, violence,
:05:48. > :05:51.weapons. They are quite nasty, horrible individuals a lot of the
:05:52. > :05:55.time. A lot of them are actually very young but do not be fooled by
:05:56. > :05:58.that. They will not think twice about using violence. Despite budget
:05:59. > :06:01.cuts Wiltshire Police hopes to mount these high profile operations four
:06:02. > :06:08.times a year so new drug dealers aren't tempted to move into Swindon
:06:09. > :06:13.once this operation's over. Avon and Somerset Police is to axe
:06:14. > :06:17.more than 130 officer posts. At its peak the force was made up of more
:06:18. > :06:23.than 3,400 officers, now it will have just over 2,700. It's set to be
:06:24. > :06:27.the biggest shake up in the history of the force.
:06:28. > :06:31.Now to the weather and Ian Fergusson has our evening forecast.
:06:32. > :06:37.has our Thank you very much. The easterly
:06:38. > :06:40.flow continues to keep things chilly tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow will
:06:41. > :06:45.be the coldest day of the winter so far but it will not last long.
:06:46. > :06:49.Patchy rain is about and on Friday more meaningful rain spreads in from
:06:50. > :06:55.the opposite direction, from the West. Tonight the temperatures are
:06:56. > :06:59.getting down to freezing. There will be patchy and light rain around
:07:00. > :07:03.which will continue to be a feature into tomorrow, accompanied by
:07:04. > :07:09.extensive amounts of cloud. It will be a gloomy day which will
:07:10. > :07:13.accentuate how chilly it feels. Temperatures tomorrow will be round
:07:14. > :07:16.about three or four degrees. It will turn decidedly wet in the second
:07:17. > :07:23.half of Friday and there are warnings out for that. More on that
:07:24. > :07:28.tomorrow. Time now for us to make a move. The
:07:29. > :07:38.whole team is back tomorrow. Thank you for watching. Good night.
:07:39. > :07:45.Hello. The next dose of wet and windy weather is due to arrive on
:07:46. > :07:49.Friday from the Atlantic. Today we have had an easterly wind bringing
:07:50. > :07:52.the chill as the threat of icy patches comes to the north where the
:07:53. > :07:57.cloud breaks. More cloud further south. Maybe some sleet and snow in
:07:58. > :08:01.parts of East Wales as we engage the cold air. Temperatures in the
:08:02. > :08:05.south-east are not changing much because the rain keeps going. It
:08:06. > :08:11.will be colder further north, though. Icy patches are possible.
:08:12. > :08:13.More wintry showers in the north-east. Quite a few flood
:08:14. > :08:22.warnings in Tayside. Write to the west of the Pennines. -- brighter.
:08:23. > :08:29.Figure clad -- thicker cloud further south. We see some dampness in parts
:08:30. > :08:37.of the West Country, possibly into East Wales. In the north-west of
:08:38. > :08:44.Wales is the cloud breaks, temperatures will be close to. Not
:08:45. > :08:49.as cold as that in Northern Ireland. -- close to freezing. Tomorrow is a