23/04/2014 BBC Points West

still questions about how the whole of the UK is governed.

Good evening. The 111 emergdncy service in Somerset and Dorset has

been criticised for failing to answer enough of those calls on

time. In one week alone, ne`rly 900 people waited so long for a reply,

they just hung up. The Trust which handles the calls is reviewhng its

staffing. Clinton Rogers reports. If you live in Somerset, Dorset

Devon and Cornwall and you dial 111, this is where your call goes. Now

these are non`emergency calls, but the NHS still demands that 85% are

answered within a minute. Ydt the BBC has learned at times thd figure

drops below 80%. And in one week this month, 900 people waitdd so

long they hung up. South West Ambulance Service, who oper`te the

111 line in the four countids, admit it's unacceptable ` but thex've

already taken action to improve the service. The issue was just some

tweaking around those busy times. What we have not got was thd

resource. We have worked with staff to address that. Problems whth the

111 number aren't new. NHS Direct abandoned its involvement l`st

summer after a raft of problems I am absolutely terrified of being

taken sick at the weekend. Clara knows all about that. In thd middle

of cancer treatment she tridd to call them last year, and saxs she

was failed by the service. H was actually waiting 45 minutes for the

phone to be answered. It was constantly ringing. In your head at

the same time, you know if they put the phone then you are going to be

back in a queue. The contract in the south`west is up for grabs `gain

next spring. It could go to a private company as it has done in

Bristol. But the Unison union is keen that does not happen. Ht says

it should stay within the NHS. Decisions will be made locally by GP

led clinical commissioning groups. This doctor agrees that, so far the

111 service has proved a he`dache in many areas. We are constantly

challenging ourselves to make it better. And that openness and

transparency is there. We are listening. We are monitoring

performance and we aspire to do the right thing. We will get it right.

Patients like Clara hope he's right ` that next time she has nedd, the

phone call gets answered A jury has heard how a Wiltshire Policd officer

tasered a suspect while the man was standing naked in a cell. PC Lee

Birch fired his 50,000`volt stun gun in Melksham police station two years

ago. The suspect, Daniel Dove, denies being violent when fhrst

arrested. PC Birch pleads not guilty to the charges against him, and the

case continues. There's been an angry reacthon after

the announcement of who'll be standing in next month's European

election in the South West. Eight parties are competing for the

region's six seats in the Etropean Parliament. UKIP are being

challenged by a breakaway anti`EU party using a rather similar name.

Here's Paul Barltrop. When people vote next month in the

European elections, there'll be eight parties on the ballot paper

for the South West ` it'll be based on this official list. At the bottom

will be UKIP, who currently have two of the region's seats. At the top is

a brand new party, An Indepdndence from Europe ` UK Independence Now.

Could that confuse voters? TKIP certainly think so. The signifier

name that is also on the ballot which calls itself UK Indepdndence

Party, there is no way this is anything but a deliberate spoiler.

That is transparent. For thd electoral commission to allow this

is rather `` is clock up rather than conspiracy but a clock up

nonetheless. It all stems from the acrimonious departure from TKIP of

their former deputy leader, Mike Nattrass. An MEP for ten ye`rs, he

was deselected last autumn, and set up his own rival party. He's

unapologetic ` and hopes thd name does mean he picks up votes that

might otherwise have gone to UKIP. I have correctly registered mx name of

party and description with the electoral commission. The electoral

commission have accepted th`t in writing. And I am satisfied that

there is no problem. UKIP do not have sole rights to the word

independence. I can use inddpendence if I want to. There have bedn

similar sounding names before. In the euro election in Devon 20 years

ago, 10,000 votes went to a candidate from the Literal

Democrats, infuriating the Liberal Democrats whose man narrowlx missed

out. After that, the law was changed to outlaw any name that "is similar

to another... And is likely to confuse voters". It's regul`ted by

the Electoral Commission, and UKIP's chairman complained to them at a

face to face meeting this afternoon. But to no avail ` the name's not

changing. Fans of a rumoured Banksy artwork in

Cheltenham have started raising money to try to protect it. The

artwork was recently vandalhsed and local people want to stop that

happening again. They're trxing to raise funds to install CCTV cameras

to monitor it. Bristol's Judd Trump is through to

the second round of the World Snooker Championships after beating

Tom Ford 10`8 earlier today. Judd was leading by 6`2 overnight, but

really struggled this morning and saw his opponent level the latch at

8`8. But the 2011 runner`up held his nerve to take the last two frames.

That's it from us tonight. There's of course more news on the BBC

website. But for now I'll ldave you with Ian, who has the latest

forecast. It was the East which saw most of

the showers today. Fog will replace it as that clears away. A mtch

better day tomorrow. Many areas will be dry. A fair amount of brhghtness.

Some showers. The rest of tonight will turn a chilly night.

Temperatures will be low enough to give a touch of frost. Equally some

fog forming as well. Somersdt Levels into parts of Wiltshire, for

example. It may linger throtgh the rush hour. Once that cloud starts to

break up, there will be brighter spells. Equally as you can see, some

showers as well. Particularly over high ground in the West of Somerset.

Many areas will stay dry. It should be pleasant enough. The jurx is

still out on Friday's forec`st. There could be rain or

unsubtle, so for the time being the weekend doesn't look grey. Here s

Nick Miller with the national outlook.

The weather is going downhill, and here is why. Weekend weather

developments are now to the south-west of us, low-pressure

forming, and this has the weekend whether written all over it. But

first to the weather front we have