:00:05. > :00:08.Good evening. Welcome to Wales Today live from Machynlleth.
:00:08. > :00:12.Tonight, police have arrested a 46- year-old man in connection with the
:00:12. > :00:17.abduction of April Jones. The five- year-old has been missing for
:00:17. > :00:27.almost 24 hours. Police say there were actively looking for the man
:00:27. > :00:27.
:00:27. > :00:32.and their priority remains to find April alive. We are still pursuing
:00:32. > :00:39.all lines of enquiry in the view that the Pru is still alive. We
:00:39. > :00:42.will continue to do so until we find her. Tonight, roads around the
:00:42. > :00:51.town are closed. Police are concentrating their search for
:00:51. > :00:54.April near the Dyfi Bridge. Hundreds of volunteers have spent
:00:54. > :01:04.the day combing the surrounding area, looking for any clue that may
:01:04. > :01:19.
:01:20. > :01:24.Good evening. Police have arrested a 46-year-old man in connection
:01:24. > :01:28.with the abduction of a five-year- old girl from Machynlleth. The
:01:28. > :01:32.police say that he is a local man and that they were actively looking
:01:32. > :01:35.for him. Police say that he has a vehicle very similar to the one
:01:35. > :01:40.described in the abduction of April Jones and that has been found and
:01:40. > :01:47.will be examined by police. The police are now concentrating their
:01:47. > :01:53.search for April by the Dyfi Bridge just outside Machynlleth. She was
:01:53. > :01:56.abducted at around 7pm last night from the street she lives on. It's
:01:56. > :01:59.thought she was walking home with a friend from a neighbour's house to
:01:59. > :02:06.her own home on the Bryn-y-gog estate in Machynlleth when she
:02:06. > :02:11.willingly got in to a grey van. Police have described that van as a
:02:11. > :02:14.Land Rover or Ford Connect type vehicle. Hundreds of people from
:02:14. > :02:24.the town and further afield have been gathering here at the leisure
:02:24. > :02:28.
:02:28. > :02:33.centre to do what they can to help. It is nearly 24 hours since April
:02:33. > :02:41.Jones went missing. At 5 o'clock this evening, police made this
:02:41. > :02:45.announcement. Within the last hour we have arrested a 46-year-old male
:02:45. > :02:51.from the Machynlleth area who has been detained at Aberystwyth police
:02:51. > :02:57.station. The arrest was made just outside Machynlleth and we hope
:02:57. > :03:04.this individual will assist us in locating April Jones who is still
:03:04. > :03:11.missing. We are still pursuing all lines of inquiry with the view that
:03:11. > :03:18.she is still alive and we will continue to do so until we find her.
:03:18. > :03:22.The 46-year-old man was arrested walking along the side of the road.
:03:22. > :03:27.Police were actively looking for him and he had a similar vehicle to
:03:27. > :03:33.the one eye witnesses had described seeing April Jones getting into.
:03:33. > :03:43.They have now located that vehicle and will examine it. Police are
:03:43. > :03:46.
:03:46. > :03:52.focusing their efforts on finding Throughout the day police and
:03:52. > :04:01.volunteers have continued to look for the five-year-old girl. Many of
:04:01. > :04:11.those lending a hand knew her personally. It is just shocking for
:04:11. > :04:14.
:04:14. > :04:20.the whole community. Everybody looks after each other here. April
:04:20. > :04:24.Jones was wearing a purple knee- length coat when she went missing.
:04:25. > :04:29.She was last seen playing on a bike with friends when she went missing.
:04:29. > :04:35.It is believed she was taken around 7 o'clock in the evening. Police
:04:35. > :04:43.were called less than half-an-hour later. They established she had got
:04:43. > :04:52.into a light coloured vehicle which then drove off. They now believe it
:04:52. > :04:57.could have been a Land Rover or a Ford Connect vehicle. The three
:04:57. > :05:05.girls came back to my house. My daughter wanted to come back in
:05:05. > :05:12.because she was cold. Beating the time of my house and their garage
:05:12. > :05:20.at the road, it happened. Her mother came to the door, she was
:05:20. > :05:23.hysterical. She said her daughter was missing. Part of the street
:05:23. > :05:28.where April Jones lives has been cordoned off. The only people who
:05:28. > :05:36.saw what happened were all other children was up getting information
:05:36. > :05:42.from them was a long and delicate process. Police say she was seen
:05:42. > :05:47.getting into the vehicle on the driver's side willingly. Within
:05:47. > :05:52.hours, hundreds had gathered at the town's leisure centre offering to
:05:52. > :05:56.help search for the missing girl. Those who know the girl have been
:05:56. > :06:03.struggling to come to terms with what happened. The school has been
:06:03. > :06:07.in touch with the family. Our thoughts are with them.
:06:07. > :06:17.community has pulled together today to search for April Jones. But the
:06:17. > :06:19.
:06:19. > :06:29.events of the last 24 hours have shocked everyone. The search for
:06:29. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:32.her goes on and police at renewing their appeal for any information.
:06:32. > :06:37.Police have been constant in their efforts this afternoon to ask for
:06:37. > :06:41.more and more information from the public. Anything, however
:06:41. > :06:47.insignificant you may think it may be. As you drive into the town, the
:06:47. > :06:53.first thing you see at huge banners over the streets but you would
:06:53. > :06:58.normally associate with an event such as a festival. Tonight, they
:06:58. > :07:03.say have you seen the girl. Shops have been closed and signs are in
:07:03. > :07:07.the windows. People are out searching. There is a real sense
:07:08. > :07:11.tonight that the whole community has come together, not justice
:07:11. > :07:16.committee but people have been gathering in the leisure centre
:07:16. > :07:26.from as far afield as Manchester to try to comb the gardens and fields
:07:26. > :07:28.
:07:28. > :07:33.in the area around. Machynlleth only has a population of 2,000. But
:07:33. > :07:38.they managed to field hundreds of volunteers through the night. The
:07:38. > :07:46.news that the girl was missing spread like wildfire through social
:07:46. > :07:50.networking sites. We were on Twitter and Facebook. I saw an
:07:50. > :07:57.alert from a gentleman who lives in Machynlleth. I then realised how
:07:57. > :08:00.serious it was. It is a basic human thing. We need to help each other.
:08:00. > :08:05.Everyone wants to help in this community. We are all very
:08:05. > :08:10.concerned. It is a complete shock. Things like this do not happen in
:08:10. > :08:18.Machynlleth. It is a small community with 2,000 people. We are
:08:18. > :08:28.a strong community as Today has shown. Many here have given up work
:08:28. > :08:36.to try to help search the area. Others have taken to putting up
:08:36. > :08:42.missing leaflets to try to spread the word. April Jones is one of my
:08:42. > :08:46.customers. She is everybody's child. I would ask everybody to be
:08:46. > :08:50.vigilant, look at the picture and see if you can see her. It does not
:08:50. > :08:56.matter Haw-Haw way you're, looked to see if you can find her.
:08:56. > :09:01.Everybody is networking and getting together. She has to be somewhere.
:09:01. > :09:05.That is a sense here that everybody wants to do their bit. Supplies are
:09:05. > :09:10.being drafted in for such teams. This garage told us they stayed
:09:10. > :09:14.open last night to help fuel the volunteers. We received a phone
:09:14. > :09:22.call from the Leisure Centre last night asking could open the garage
:09:22. > :09:29.because people wanted to go out? They were running low on fuel. I
:09:29. > :09:34.have been here since about 11 o'clock last night. The search
:09:34. > :09:44.continues along with the vigil tonight to pray for the safe return
:09:44. > :09:45.
:09:45. > :09:53.of April Jones. I am joined now by the local MP. It has been an
:09:53. > :09:55.extraordinary day. A dreadful day. It is a quiet and peaceful place.
:09:56. > :10:03.People have said something like this does not happen in places like
:10:03. > :10:07.this. It is difficult to imagine. It is the last possible thing you
:10:07. > :10:16.can imagine. It has happened and everyone has come together with
:10:17. > :10:21.huge concern. Hopefully she can be found alive and returned to her
:10:21. > :10:27.parents. It is difficult. Everyone has come together in the most
:10:27. > :10:32.magnificent way to help search overnight. People are concerned. It
:10:32. > :10:36.is almost 24 hours since she disappeared. The worry is there. I
:10:36. > :10:41.am worried and the people I am talking to or are worried and
:10:41. > :10:48.concerned. Police say they are still looking for her and hoping to
:10:48. > :10:56.find her a life. It is one of the most rural places in the country.
:10:56. > :11:04.It is an enormous challenge to the rescuers. It is a huge challenge.
:11:04. > :11:12.But having arrested a local man it seems to suggest police believe it
:11:12. > :11:19.is local. Maybe the concentration will be here now and it will help
:11:19. > :11:23.scents to locater. There are many open spaces and forests and
:11:23. > :11:28.potential Foxham want to disappear. How have the emergency services
:11:29. > :11:35.been co-ordinated was wrecked brilliant. They have reassured
:11:35. > :11:39.people. The police and the community have come together. They
:11:39. > :11:44.worked to reassure everybody and they are doing their best. None of
:11:44. > :11:48.us can control the tragedies that happen but the police and the local
:11:48. > :11:52.community have done everything you could hope from them. Thank you
:11:52. > :11:58.very much and we should make it clear that police tell us tonight
:11:58. > :12:08.they are still very much hoping that they find April Jones alive.
:12:08. > :12:18.
:12:18. > :12:25.We will have more later but first the rest of the day's news. The
:12:25. > :12:35.Welsh government has set out a draft budget to stimulate growth
:12:35. > :12:45.
:12:45. > :12:50.The first step to revealing how next year's budget will be spent.
:12:50. > :13:00.In art as in politics the devil is in the detail. Balancing the budget
:13:00. > :13:02.
:13:02. > :13:08.is as much of an art as a science. Today's draft we now have to be --
:13:08. > :13:12.will have to receive enough opposition party votes to succeed.
:13:13. > :13:20.But how much of the detail will have to be taken apart to be
:13:20. > :13:29.accepted? This is all about growth and jobs. We are midway through the
:13:29. > :13:35.current spending review period. We are responding to the continuing
:13:35. > :13:45.difficult economic context. There is an attempt to boost the economy
:13:45. > :13:58.
:13:58. > :14:06.For the Conservatives, the message has not changed. This is Groundhog
:14:06. > :14:10.Day for the health service facing a cash crisis. When we are seeing the
:14:10. > :14:14.health service going through potential changes, it is more
:14:14. > :14:21.important that the health budget is ring-fenced and protected. That is
:14:21. > :14:27.what the people want to see. From the look on the Plaid Cymru's
:14:27. > :14:31.leader's face, her party will need convincing. It is disappointing for
:14:31. > :14:36.us. There is very little the government can do but they could
:14:36. > :14:42.try to stimulate the economy in Wales. It may be down to the
:14:42. > :14:46.Liberal Democrats to strike a deal. For Welsh Liberal Democrats, we
:14:46. > :14:49.want to see more money going into our schools to help the poorest
:14:49. > :14:56.pupils and to that address the funding gap that exists between
:14:56. > :14:59.Welsh and English schools. bargaining can now start.
:14:59. > :15:01.The Shadow Welsh Secretary, Owen Smith, has told the Labour
:15:01. > :15:05.conference that devolution is delivering a confident country at
:15:05. > :15:08.ease with its place in the United Kingdom. Mr Smith said it had
:15:08. > :15:18.brought more local democracy and Wales was better off as part of the
:15:18. > :15:22.
:15:22. > :15:27.UK. Separation or independence is a minority interest. It is outweighed
:15:27. > :15:31.by the economic and emotional attachment in Britain for us to
:15:31. > :15:34.stick together. A record number of people in Wales
:15:34. > :15:37.are turning to food banks to survive. In the last year, food
:15:37. > :15:40.banks have fed 23,000 people here and one in four of those have an
:15:40. > :15:50.income. It comes as figures analysed by BBC Wales show that the
:15:50. > :15:52.
:15:52. > :15:56.average household income has dropped by �80 a month. She appears
:15:56. > :16:02.arrives home after a day's work with her shopping. She has not
:16:02. > :16:05.bought it at this supermarket for that she was given it by the
:16:05. > :16:11.Flintshire food bank was that she is one of a growing number of
:16:12. > :16:21.people in Wales who are earning but not earning enough to live on.
:16:21. > :16:30.can only find so many hours of work. She has been getting parcels since
:16:30. > :16:35.June. There is a network of banks across the country. What does it
:16:35. > :16:45.make you feel like Kazakh not even a second-class person. Something
:16:45. > :16:46.
:16:46. > :16:51.that is beneath a slide. It is just not right. This food bank has
:16:51. > :16:58.already fed hundreds of people. It was the first one in North Wales.
:16:58. > :17:05.There are now planning to open them across the region. Individuals and
:17:05. > :17:14.family arrived for many reasons. People come whose benefit has been
:17:14. > :17:24.stopped after assessment. When it needs to get assessed, it gets
:17:24. > :17:26.
:17:26. > :17:34.stopped. With such a demand and 23 banks now operating across Wales,
:17:34. > :17:43.wholesalers have been asked to help. The company has brought 40,000
:17:43. > :17:50.portions of food here. Up until a few years ago, this would go to the
:17:50. > :17:58.bin. Now, we do not send it to landfill. Because I have my own
:17:58. > :18:08.distribution network and bacon deliver its and it is a win win
:18:08. > :18:13.
:18:13. > :18:16.Derek's here now with the weather It looks like September was sunnier
:18:16. > :18:22.but cooler and wetter than average overall. However, parts of the
:18:22. > :18:25.southwest were drier. In Milford Haven, rainfall was below average.
:18:25. > :18:28.There is more rain and showers to come this week but I can promise
:18:28. > :18:32.some dry weather and sunshine as well and that goes for tomorrow. At
:18:32. > :18:34.the moment, there are two flood alerts in force. One in the Upper
:18:34. > :18:37.Dee Valley from Llanuwchllyn to Llangollen, including Corwen. The
:18:37. > :18:40.other around Swansea Bay and the Gower Peninsula. At Mumbles Head
:18:40. > :18:42.today, the wind reached force 8 with a gust of 54 mph. Tonight,
:18:42. > :18:45.further blustery showers. Heavy in places. Some dry weather too,
:18:45. > :18:51.especially towards the border. Breezy on the coast. Lighter winds
:18:51. > :18:58.inland. Lowest temperatures between 6 and 10 Celsius. Here's the
:18:58. > :19:01.picture for 8.00 in the morning. Mixed fortunes. Some places dry and
:19:01. > :19:06.bright with sunshine but not everywhere. There will be showers
:19:06. > :19:13.around. Heavy in places too with gusty winds. The air tomorrow will
:19:13. > :19:16.be unstable that means towering clouds and showers. Heavy downpours
:19:16. > :19:21.in places with hail and thunder but I can promise some dry weather and
:19:21. > :19:27.sunshine as well. Cooler than today. Top temperatures 12 to 15 Celsius
:19:27. > :19:36.with a westerly breeze. The wind gusty near the showers. Tomorrow
:19:36. > :19:42.night, further showers. Mainly in the south and west. Many inland
:19:42. > :19:45.areas becoming dry. The wind easing and chilly. Thursday a better day.
:19:45. > :19:48.Fewer showers. More in the way of dry weather and sunshine. Lighter
:19:48. > :19:51.winds as well. On Thursday night into Friday, though, there is a
:19:51. > :19:55.risk of heavy rain. The Met Office has issued a warning but there is
:19:55. > :20:01.some uncertainty as to how far north it will get. The good news.
:20:01. > :20:08.The weather should improve over the weekend. Becoming dry with sunshine.
:20:08. > :20:11.Ground frost, mist and fog patches as well.
:20:11. > :20:21.More on our top story now and the hunt for the missing five-year-old,
:20:21. > :20:26.
:20:26. > :20:31.April Jones. Let's return to Jamie He fought a six-year-old man has
:20:31. > :20:35.been arrested in connection with the abduction of April Jones. In
:20:35. > :20:40.the last hour or so the focus of police attention has been around
:20:40. > :20:44.the river. We will know more about that in the next hour or so. In the
:20:45. > :20:51.last few minutes police have been giving a press conference. Let us
:20:51. > :20:57.hear from them now. We are continuing our investigation to
:20:57. > :21:04.find April Jones. Within the last hour we have arrested a 46-year-old
:21:04. > :21:10.male from the Machynlleth area. He is being detained at Aberystwyth
:21:10. > :21:15.police station. We made the arrest just outside Machynlleth. We are
:21:15. > :21:25.hopeful this individual will assist us in locating April Jones who is
:21:25. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:36.still missing. Matthew Richards is on the Bryn-y-gog estate, the home
:21:36. > :21:36.
:21:36. > :21:40.Her house backs on to this street. She was playing here 24 hours ago
:21:40. > :21:46.when she was seen getting into the light coloured fan and being driven
:21:46. > :21:51.away. People I have spoken to Today have sent they are still hoping and
:21:51. > :21:56.praying for positive news. We have heard about the hundreds of people
:21:56. > :22:01.who have been at the Leisure Centre today trying to help the search.
:22:01. > :22:07.People have been at work and have not been able to help. As soon as
:22:07. > :22:10.they came home from work they turned up at the leisure centre to
:22:10. > :22:17.ask if they could do something and they would be willing to do their
:22:17. > :22:22.part. Posters have been up all around the area. People and still
:22:22. > :22:29.holding on to that hope. It is about an hour ago that members of
:22:29. > :22:32.the Brecon rescue team went into back gardens, checking bins and
:22:32. > :22:36.looking for any clues that could lead to the discovery of April
:22:36. > :22:42.Jones for the people are doing their best to stay positive. All of
:22:42. > :22:50.the young children we have seen have been in the company of adults
:22:50. > :22:54.holding their hands very tightly indeed. I am just here in that
:22:54. > :22:59.police are asking volunteers who are gathered behind me in great
:23:00. > :23:09.numbers to stand down. The search will take the form of heat-seeking
:23:10. > :23:11.
:23:11. > :23:17.helicopters were. There is one just coming to land. He is flying over
:23:17. > :23:23.now. That helicopter we understand is going to be using heat-seeking
:23:23. > :23:26.equipment as the search for April Jones continues this evening.
:23:26. > :23:29.When a child goes missing, it is not just the local police involved
:23:29. > :23:33.and the Child Exploitation and Online Protection unit known as
:23:33. > :23:35.CEOP was called in at the outset to help police in their hunt for April.
:23:35. > :23:37.Charlie Hedges, the CEOP manager for missing, abducted and kidnapped
:23:37. > :23:40.children has been liaising with Dyfed-Powys Police all night,
:23:40. > :23:43.helping them to mount the nationwide appeal for information.
:23:43. > :23:53.He joins me now from London. What has been the involvement of CEOP in
:23:53. > :23:56.
:23:56. > :24:05.This looks like and relatively well rehearsed operation, what happens
:24:05. > :24:09.when you get the call? It is about talking to the team and supporting
:24:09. > :24:17.what they are doing and offering options as we did through the night
:24:17. > :24:22.last night. Thank you very much for your time this evening. I just want
:24:22. > :24:27.to give you an idea of what is happening now. There is another
:24:27. > :24:35.helicopter. I do not know if our cameraman can turn around. It is
:24:35. > :24:39.coming in just behind. This helicopter is the second one in
:24:39. > :24:49.just a matter of moments to be co- ordinated in the search that is
:24:49. > :24:55.taking place this evening. I want to talk now to one of the people
:24:55. > :25:02.who co-ordinated the search here earlier this evening. What happened
:25:02. > :25:09.when you first turned up? I had a call from a friend from the local
:25:09. > :25:14.motor club. They were here at 10 o'clock last night. They took over
:25:14. > :25:20.locally, organising people to go to different areas put up we have a
:25:20. > :25:25.lot of local knowledge of the roads, forests and maps. People who were
:25:25. > :25:30.sent out to different eras from 10 o'clock last night until about 11
:25:30. > :25:37.o'clock this morning. From then we have helped the police are gathered
:25:37. > :25:41.teams of about 25 people to go out. There is a team leader from the
:25:41. > :25:46.mountaineering rescue team. We have been covering different sections of
:25:46. > :25:51.Machynlleth. They have just finished that search now. It is
:25:51. > :25:55.probably getting too dark. They were now be using the helicopters
:25:55. > :26:01.to take over from now on. This is an extraordinary gathering of
:26:01. > :26:07.people. This morning, when I was taking the names and expertise are,
:26:07. > :26:12.I had a couple from Manchester at around 9:30am. I had a gentleman
:26:12. > :26:20.from Abergavenny who was a qualified search-and-rescue person
:26:20. > :26:28.who had his dog. They joined the rescue teams. Local people from
:26:28. > :26:31.around 20 miles away have come down with sand ridges to keep the rest
:26:31. > :26:41.was fed and watered. I do not know how many people are here,
:26:41. > :26:42.
:26:42. > :26:46.thousands! I work for Powys County Council and my e-mails as if you
:26:46. > :26:52.wanted to volunteer to go along and help. That is what I have been
:26:52. > :26:58.doing since 9 o'clock this morning. Just to give you an idea of what
:26:59. > :27:05.happens now. These are volunteers from all over the country. They are
:27:05. > :27:08.being told to go home tonight. The rest of the search for April Jones
:27:08. > :27:12.over the course of this evening will involve these helicopters
:27:12. > :27:17.which have been arriving in the last few moments. They will be
:27:17. > :27:21.using heat-seeking equipment. The focus of the police investigation
:27:21. > :27:29.is now over at the river. We will have more on that during the course