:00:00. > :00:12.Wollaston, the MP who first brought to the attention of parliamentary
:00:13. > :00:15.Wollaston, the MP who first brought Good evening. Communities ddvastated
:00:16. > :00:19.by flooding in Somerset werd told today how millions of pounds will be
:00:20. > :00:23.spent to reduce the risk of it happening again. Some of thd high
:00:24. > :00:26.priority schemes could be completed before the end of the year. Our
:00:27. > :00:31.Somerset Correspondent Clinton Rogers has more.
:00:32. > :00:40.After months of misery Spring sunshine is rather welcome hn
:00:41. > :00:45.Somerset. It is fitting that we are here this morning...
:00:46. > :00:50.But not as welcome as today's announcement on flood prevention
:00:51. > :00:58.schemes. ?20 million promisdd. In the shattered battered commtnity of
:00:59. > :01:02.Moorland they just hope it works. There was three feet of watdr in the
:01:03. > :01:06.house for almost a month. They said it.
:01:07. > :01:09.That this time. That cross our fingers and hope so.
:01:10. > :01:13.The worst flooding ever flooding ` no`one wants to see a repeat of
:01:14. > :01:15.this. So the county council is spending ?4 million here, ilproving
:01:16. > :01:19.an artificial drainage channel called the Sowey built in the early
:01:20. > :01:30.'70s, but overwhelmed by thhs year's floods. One of the problems this
:01:31. > :01:34.year is that the road behind me actually acted as a damn, trapping
:01:35. > :01:39.water on the Moorland over on the other side, so what they pl`n to do
:01:40. > :01:45.is raise the level of the road, increase the size of the Culbert so
:01:46. > :01:48.that the water flows a lot puicker. They say that. Flooding in the
:01:49. > :01:51.village of Moorland. There's good news too for the village of
:01:52. > :01:54.Muchelney which became a national icon of the Somerset floods `
:01:55. > :01:58.marooned for months, every road underwater. Now a million pounds is
:01:59. > :02:02.to be spent raising the levdl of one of those roads. So hopefullx
:02:03. > :02:15.villagers won't be completely cut off again. Happy today?
:02:16. > :02:18.Content. Why not happy? Because we don't know if it is going
:02:19. > :02:23.to work. I will be happy if it works.
:02:24. > :02:26.I don't control the elements, but we do control a significant amount of
:02:27. > :02:29.money to help reduce flooding as much as we can. We have takdn a big
:02:30. > :02:33.step. And a relatively quick step. The council says the two mahn
:02:34. > :02:37.schemes will be completed bx the end of the year, which is about the time
:02:38. > :02:46.it will take to dry out the houses in Moorland and people back into
:02:47. > :02:51.their homes. Tonight on the Somerset Levels there is some critichsm that
:02:52. > :02:56.of the ?20 million announced today, 12 million is actually going on road
:02:57. > :03:01.repairs and improvements. How, say the critics, is that flood
:03:02. > :03:03.prevention? The council say that much of a government grant they have
:03:04. > :03:13.been given is ring fenced and it has to be spent on roads.
:03:14. > :03:16.A man who drowned after falling into the River Avon in Bath has been
:03:17. > :03:19.named as Donovan Weale. The 42`year`old was pulled from the
:03:20. > :03:23.water on Friday night close to his home on Norfolk Crescent. L`st year
:03:24. > :03:26.fencing was installed along part of the river to improve safety after
:03:27. > :03:30.several deaths. Avon and Somerset Police is to be
:03:31. > :03:32.the first force in the country to have a drug referral servicd for
:03:33. > :03:37.addicts brought into police stations. The idea is to reduce the
:03:38. > :03:41.cycle of re`offending. But will it work? Our Home Affairs
:03:42. > :03:47.Correspondent, Steve Brodie reports. Garry Brandrick was a heroin addict
:03:48. > :03:51.for 25 years. He's now drug free and works to help others fight their
:03:52. > :03:58.addiction problems. He says being an addict is a terrible ordeal.
:03:59. > :04:03.You lose all your friends, relatives. I lost my first wife
:04:04. > :04:10.through suicide. It is a colplete mess, and it is driven by a chaotic
:04:11. > :04:14.lifestyle where all you want and all you think about is where yotr next
:04:15. > :04:18.hit is coming from. At the loment, when drug users are arrested they
:04:19. > :04:21.are brought to five custody suites where separate organisations carry
:04:22. > :04:23.out tests. From next month just one not`for`profit charity, Swanswell,
:04:24. > :04:29.will offer immediate help if a suspect is tested positive for a
:04:30. > :04:36.Class A drug. The police sax new service will also save monex and
:04:37. > :04:41.reduce crime. If we can engage them about why they
:04:42. > :04:45.are there and get them to accept that maybe they are there bdcause of
:04:46. > :04:49.that substance misuse probldm and that we can do something about that
:04:50. > :04:52.together with them, then we're going to prevent crime.
:04:53. > :04:56.Swanswell staff will be working at this new custody centre at Filton `
:04:57. > :04:58.one of three such centres now being built in the region. Crime
:04:59. > :05:05.Commissioner Sue Mountstevens is funding the new service.
:05:06. > :05:12.A typical heroin user spends over ?1400 per month. Most peopld haven't
:05:13. > :05:15.got access to that sort of loney, so they are the ones who will be
:05:16. > :05:18.committing crime. If we can break that cycle, we can reduce crime But
:05:19. > :05:24.Garry Brandrick isn't sure there's an easy solution.
:05:25. > :05:28.Relapse rates are still verx high. Drug`related crime in prison is
:05:29. > :05:31.still very high. That has not changed for many years, and I don't
:05:32. > :05:34.see how this system will ch`nge any of that. What everyone agreds is
:05:35. > :05:41.that breaking the addiction habit the only way to win the battle
:05:42. > :05:45.against drug`related crime. The South West's six MEPs are in
:05:46. > :05:49.Strasbourg for the final medting of the European Parliament before
:05:50. > :05:53.elections. At the end of Max 40 million people across Europd will be
:05:54. > :05:57.entitled to vote for who thdy want to represent them. Much of the
:05:58. > :06:00.debate for our MEPs is expected to focus on whether Britain should
:06:01. > :06:04.leave the EU. Now, just before we go to the
:06:05. > :06:07.weather a beach warden at Brean in Somerset made a rescue with a
:06:08. > :06:12.difference at the weekend. @ couple parked and left their car btt forgot
:06:13. > :06:15.the tide was coming in. Warden Kevin Williams rescued the Vauxhall Tigra
:06:16. > :06:24.and returned it to the owners before the sea`water caused any dalage
:06:25. > :06:27.Well that's about it from us. There's more news on the BBC
:06:28. > :06:30.Website. We'll be back with you tomorrow. But for now I'll leave you
:06:31. > :06:33.with Ian who has the latest weather for us.
:06:34. > :06:35.tomorrow. But for now I'll leave you Tomorrow will bring similar
:06:36. > :06:41.conditions to today. Once again it will be a chilly start button will
:06:42. > :06:47.turn into a dry, sunny and pretty warm day. Tonight, by contr`st,
:06:48. > :06:56.under clear skies it will ttrn chilly. Temperatures could be down
:06:57. > :07:00.to two or three Celsius. Thd likelihood of ground frost hn some
:07:01. > :07:04.spots and missed as well. It should be a glorious start tomorrow
:07:05. > :07:08.morning. Clear blue sky, a little cloud in the afternoon. No threat of
:07:09. > :07:14.showers. One difference to today is the wind direction. It is coming in
:07:15. > :07:19.from the south south`east. That means that the fresher condhtions
:07:20. > :07:23.will be towards the south coast Towards North Devon will have warmer
:07:24. > :07:29.temperatures benefiting frol their coming off the top of the l`nd.
:07:30. > :07:32.Temperatures 15 or 16 Celsits Pleasant and warm. Similar for
:07:33. > :07:33.Wednesday. More cloud on Thtrsday and Friday but still dry.
:07:34. > :07:38.will be fresher than today. 12 degrees along the vestry and 16 in
:07:39. > :07:43.London. More sunshine for Wednesday and clouding over towards the end of
:07:44. > :07:45.the week. Your regional forecast will have offered you another fine
:07:46. > :07:52.day tomorrow. That is the story nationwide. High
:07:53. > :07:56.pressure is plonked on top of us. This evening it has been turning
:07:57. > :08:00.quite chilly quite quickly and it will be cold for the middle of April
:08:01. > :08:06.overnight. In larger towns and cities it will be down to single
:08:07. > :08:08.figures and rural areas by Dawn will be close to and below