:00:09. > :00:14.This is East Midlands Today with Anne Davies and me, Dominic Heale.
:00:14. > :00:22.Tonight: on the eve of a crucial inquiry into Bombardier's lost
:00:22. > :00:26.contract, the Government's accused of an "act of vandalism".
:00:27. > :00:30.As Bombardier's supplies a struggle, Whitehall is accused of turning its
:00:30. > :00:36.back on a world-class business. will potentially destroy it and it
:00:36. > :00:40.is tragic and it is a vandalism. Also tonight, Y Kate and Gerry
:00:40. > :00:44.McCann want to have their say at the phone hacking inquiry.
:00:44. > :00:48.Plus the other victims of 9/11, the East Midlands soldiers fighting the
:00:48. > :00:52.war on terror. I still expect him to come bounding through the door
:00:52. > :00:56.and it is something I will never get used to.
:00:56. > :01:06.And ploughing on, have allow farmers cope with the longest dry
:01:06. > :01:12.
:01:12. > :01:15.Welcome to Tuesday's programme. First tonight, the local businesses
:01:15. > :01:19.losing out because of Bombardier's failure to win the Thameslink rail
:01:19. > :01:22.contract. Many fear they'll suffer from the
:01:22. > :01:26.knock-on effect of reduced sales and lower spending in the Derby
:01:26. > :01:30.area. One supplier's told us it's going to wipe out their plans to
:01:30. > :01:33.create new jobs. All this comes on the eve of a
:01:33. > :01:38.much-anticipated hearing into how the contract came to be awarded to
:01:38. > :01:48.the German firm Siemens. Mike O'Sullivan can tell us more from
:01:48. > :01:50.
:01:50. > :01:54.Derby. Good evening, Mike. Good evening. Workers from
:01:54. > :01:57.Bombardier will be heading down to London on a specially chartered
:01:57. > :02:00.train tomorrow morning to a select committee of MPs, he will be asking
:02:00. > :02:04.tough questions about why the Thameslink trains are due to be
:02:04. > :02:08.built near Dusseldorf instead of Derby. Today, there was more
:02:08. > :02:14.evidence from the City about how it could suffer from the loss of that
:02:14. > :02:20.big rail contract. A small engineering fear -- firm at
:02:20. > :02:25.the heart of the �34 billion -- part of the Bombardier supply chain.
:02:25. > :02:28.They make lots of things for trains here, the metal strips that hold
:02:28. > :02:34.down the seeds, grab handles, even the desolation display boards that
:02:34. > :02:38.you see in front of May. But the loss of the 1.4 billion pound
:02:38. > :02:43.Thameslink contract at Bombardier means there will be less of work
:02:43. > :02:47.around. The supply firm employs 45 people. Plans to create another 30
:02:47. > :02:54.jobs now look like being wiped out. We would have expected to have
:02:54. > :02:58.taken on another 25-30 staff to cater for the work that we would
:02:58. > :03:02.have accepted -- expected to have won with Thameslink. These are
:03:02. > :03:08.still jobs requiring not only existing skills but also training
:03:08. > :03:15.of staff for the future as well. That won't happen now? If the
:03:15. > :03:18.decision is not reversed, those 30 jobs will not exist. There are also
:03:18. > :03:23.concerns from firms not connected with the rail industry. After
:03:23. > :03:29.Bombardier announced 1,400 job losses. Shown in a survey of
:03:29. > :03:35.businesses in Derby, by a chamber of commerce. 92% said that
:03:35. > :03:39.Thameslink contract should have stayed in the UK. 67% say the loss
:03:39. > :03:44.will mean reduced sales. 61% say they will need to lower spending in
:03:44. > :03:47.the local economy. The chamber is accusing the Government of ignoring
:03:47. > :03:52.a world class train maker, risking an important part of manufacturing
:03:52. > :03:56.in the UK. The Government has done nothing to protect it at all and
:03:56. > :04:00.the decision it has taken well actually potentially destroy it at,
:04:00. > :04:04.and that is tragic and it is vandalism. The supply firm has been
:04:04. > :04:09.around for 50 years. It hopes to be around for another 50, but it is
:04:09. > :04:14.not sure if Bombardier will be in the City as well.
:04:14. > :04:17.So a big day tomorrow, who will be on the train to London?
:04:17. > :04:20.Dominic, a real cross-section of campaigners who all want the
:04:20. > :04:25.Government to overturn that decision on the Thames TEC
:04:25. > :04:28.contracts. The workers and management here will be joined by
:04:28. > :04:33.union representatives, or representatives from the Derby and
:04:33. > :04:37.Derbyshire Rail Forum that represents the supply its affirm we
:04:38. > :04:42.had a bad, councillors from all of the main parties in Derby City
:04:42. > :04:45.Council, and some of the campaigners will be protesting
:04:45. > :04:50.outside the Houses of Parliament as the select committee goes on.
:04:50. > :04:54.What will actually happen in the Select Committee?
:04:55. > :04:58.First up, you could say it would be the case against the Government. It
:04:58. > :05:02.will be Bombardier themselves appearing first, then an two
:05:02. > :05:06.academics who have been critical of the way the Government had given
:05:06. > :05:11.the contract to Siemens, and the Government has said they cannot
:05:11. > :05:16.reconsider. Then Siemens, the arch rival of Bombardier, they will give
:05:16. > :05:21.evidence. Next up is the EU's Director General for the internal
:05:21. > :05:26.market. How the EU rules have been interpreted by the Department for
:05:26. > :05:30.transfer it is a big controversy. - - transport. Bennett is the star
:05:30. > :05:33.witness, Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary -- then it is.
:05:33. > :05:36.What sort of evidence are we talking about?
:05:37. > :05:40.Well, they are going to hear oral evidence and then after that, they
:05:41. > :05:44.might decide to launch a full inquiry into the country's rail
:05:44. > :05:46.procurement process. If that happens, they could make
:05:46. > :05:50.recommendations to the Government. The Government doesn't have to
:05:50. > :05:53.stick by them but they do have to respond within 60 days. The
:05:53. > :05:56.committee could recommend changes to the way the country plays the
:05:56. > :06:01.game in these big rail contracts, especially when faced with foreign
:06:01. > :06:04.competition. It might not tell people in the short term facing
:06:04. > :06:08.voluntary redundancy or forced redundancy, but what the people in
:06:08. > :06:14.Derby want to hear is that the Government is prepared to
:06:14. > :06:24.reconsider this big rail contract. We shall see. Thank you.
:06:24. > :06:33.
:06:33. > :06:40.Next tonight: then Kate and Gerry McCann have offered to be core
:06:40. > :06:42.participants in the Leveson Inquiry. The couple don't believe their
:06:42. > :06:44.phones were hacked, but they're happy to contribute to the wider
:06:44. > :06:47.inquiry about press standards. Their press spokesman Clarence
:06:47. > :06:49.Mitchell has already spoken to police about suspicions that his
:06:49. > :06:52.mobile phone was hacked. Our political correspondent Ross
:06:52. > :06:55.Hawkins was in court this morning. I spoke to him a little earlier
:06:55. > :06:58.from our Westminster studio and started by asking what a core
:06:58. > :07:03.participant actually is. Basically, it is people who believe
:07:03. > :07:07.they could be central to this issue. Central to the inquiry which is
:07:07. > :07:12.going on at the moment, looking into all sorts of things, including
:07:12. > :07:16.not just phone hacking, and it is worth saying that the McCanns did
:07:16. > :07:20.not believe their own phones were tapped, but much broader issues.
:07:20. > :07:24.Notably, how the press and broadcast media deal with the
:07:24. > :07:28.public. They think they can make a contribution to that debate. They
:07:28. > :07:32.obviously have a unique perspective through what they have had to
:07:32. > :07:37.undergo and they are going to try and contribute to this inquiry.
:07:37. > :07:41.What do they want to achieve? What is in their interests are to do it?
:07:41. > :07:44.In short, nobody contributing necessarily get anything out a bid,
:07:44. > :07:48.particularly in the first year which will look at the broad issues
:07:48. > :07:51.of the structure of the press, how it deals with politicians and the
:07:51. > :07:55.public. You speak to a great deal of money people who have had
:07:55. > :07:59.dealings with the media, the newspapers, not media people who
:08:00. > :08:03.suddenly find themselves in the eye of a newspaper storm and they talk
:08:03. > :08:07.about a tough and difficult times. There are a great many people, the
:08:07. > :08:10.McCann's included, who want to make sure their experience of that sort
:08:10. > :08:15.of time is reflected in the evidence given to the judge leading
:08:15. > :08:19.this inquiry. You mentioned a year, that would
:08:19. > :08:22.suggest this inquiry will go on for some time.
:08:22. > :08:26.What the Prime Minister wants is in a year Rossouw to have a report
:08:26. > :08:30.back, and quite a wide range of issues -- or so. To do with the
:08:30. > :08:34.structures and the ethics of the way the press works and how it
:08:34. > :08:37.deals with people. Beyond that, there is another a whole set of
:08:37. > :08:40.work about what went wrong at News Of The World, and there will be
:08:40. > :08:44.major limitations on what can be done with that until the police
:08:44. > :08:47.have finished their investigations. We will leave it there, thank you
:08:47. > :08:52.very much. Still to come, the sporting passion
:08:52. > :08:56.that unites a father and a daughter. Yes, after years of supporting
:08:56. > :09:06.triathletes Hollie Avil, her dad has been inspired to take up the
:09:06. > :09:09.Police have identified the body of man found in a canal in Nottingham.
:09:09. > :09:13.The body was found by a member of the public at 6:30 this morning at
:09:13. > :09:16.Wilford Street in the Meadows. His family have asked for his name not
:09:16. > :09:20.to be released. Officers say they're not treating the death as
:09:20. > :09:23.suspicious. A 15-year-old boy will appear in
:09:23. > :09:26.court again next week after being charged with stabbing a man in
:09:27. > :09:31.Derby last weekend. The 22-year-old was assaulted outside an off
:09:31. > :09:35.licence. He suffered stab wounds and remains in a stable condition
:09:35. > :09:40.in hospital after the incident on Sunnyhill Avenue on Saturday night.
:09:40. > :09:43.The 15-year-old was arrested the next day.
:09:43. > :09:45.Everyone knows these are tough economic times - confirmed by a
:09:45. > :09:55.rise in the most recent unemployment figures - so any
:09:55. > :09:58.glimmer of hope is to be welcomed. So here is one. On its first
:09:58. > :10:01.anniversary, a free careers service says it's advised more than 60,000
:10:01. > :10:09.people in the East Midlands and many people have now found jobs.
:10:09. > :10:13.Quentin Rayner met one of them. 21-year-old Lauren Buchanan is a
:10:13. > :10:16.success story. She has recently been given a permanent job as a
:10:16. > :10:23.purchase Clarke at the cash and carry in Nottingham, a city with
:10:23. > :10:27.one of the highest Adam Parr rate in the country. I did the same at
:10:27. > :10:32.another country. -- unemployment rates. They couldn't offer me the
:10:32. > :10:36.hours I wanted to look after my son. She got in touch with Next Step, a
:10:36. > :10:40.free step for adults, online face- to-face or on the telephone. It
:10:40. > :10:45.advises about the way to get jobs, polishing CVs and improving
:10:45. > :10:50.interview techniques. I thought an interview was one person, but
:10:50. > :10:53.obviously sometimes you can have a panel of people all firing
:10:53. > :10:59.questions at you and you don't know what to say. So they help me deal
:10:59. > :11:03.with that. We need to find a few suppliers and play some orders.
:11:03. > :11:08.Lauren was lucky and got the second job she went for, despite the tough
:11:08. > :11:13.times, perseverance paid off. In its first year, Next Step has
:11:13. > :11:19.offered career advice to more than 60,000 adults in the East Midlands.
:11:19. > :11:25.54% were aged between 25 and 49. 76% were out of work. So what is
:11:25. > :11:30.the success rate in finding a job? We have contacted 20,000 so far and
:11:30. > :11:34.around 20 -- 10,000 have gone into learning all volunteer
:11:34. > :11:38.opportunities and a further 3,000- 4,000 people got into work. There
:11:38. > :11:42.is a good deal of jobs that they, more than people think. Lauren may
:11:42. > :11:46.be in charge of checking paperwork at the moment but she already has
:11:46. > :11:51.her sights set on becoming a buyer. Next, the lives turned upside down
:11:51. > :11:53.by the 9/11 attacks in New York. The atrocity almost ten years ago
:11:53. > :11:58.prompted the war in Afghanistan, where Vicki Holmes from Clifton in
:11:58. > :12:01.Nottingham, lost her son, Kieron Hill.
:12:01. > :12:05.He's one of 20 East Midlands soldiers who've been killed in
:12:05. > :12:15.Helmand Province. She's been speaking to our Social Affairs
:12:15. > :12:21.
:12:21. > :12:25.We had got the Radio 1, we were in the kiosk in the petrol station on.
:12:25. > :12:29.-- radio on. It was big news. Little did I know a few years down
:12:29. > :12:35.the line, it would be devastating me as well. If it wasn't for the
:12:35. > :12:41.bombings, Patrick wouldn't be out in cannot stand and Kieren would
:12:41. > :12:45.have been here today. -- Afghanistan. He was only 12 when
:12:45. > :12:48.the twin towers came down and was looking forward to joining the army
:12:48. > :12:52.cadets. This was in seven years later when he passed his lance-
:12:52. > :12:57.corporal exams, a teenager preparing to fight in Afghanistan
:12:57. > :13:02.for a second time. I was just worried sick, basic impulse of he
:13:02. > :13:07.had nightmares and things like that, so I knew how it affected him --
:13:07. > :13:11.basic it. I just thought it would be the same, he would come back the
:13:11. > :13:15.second time. But he didn't come back alive, he was killed by a
:13:15. > :13:19.Taliban bomb. His coffin was brought back to Nottingham so he
:13:19. > :13:23.could be buried with full military honours. He has said to have one of
:13:23. > :13:28.his friend's mothers that he would be on it to come back in a coffin
:13:28. > :13:33.with the Union Jack draped over it. Bash on it. So he did believe in
:13:33. > :13:39.everything he was fighting for, but for me, it was not worth it. I have
:13:39. > :13:42.lost too much. It has changed my life completely. I still expect him
:13:42. > :13:47.to come bounding through the door. It is something I will never get
:13:47. > :13:51.used to. Never. I will never get used to the fact he is not coming
:13:51. > :13:55.home again. I think to myself, has he died for nothing? Things are
:13:55. > :13:58.still happening they were hoping to stop, so has he died for nothing,
:13:58. > :14:01.because things have not been solved?
:14:01. > :14:08.That's Vicki Holmes speaking to our Social Affairs Correspondent,
:14:08. > :14:12.Jeremy Ball, who's with us now. Jeremy, obviously, military
:14:12. > :14:15.families are affected so very deeply by the war on terror. On a
:14:15. > :14:19.much lesser known, what about the rest of us?
:14:19. > :14:24.I think the most obvious effects RFU travel by plane, you will have
:14:24. > :14:27.seen all of the extra security -- are iffy. The chances are you will
:14:27. > :14:35.have bought some of these little Bagster put your toothpaste and
:14:35. > :14:39.potions in. -- backs are to putt. Last year, you might remember this.
:14:39. > :14:42.When the freight terminal got caught up in an al-Qaeda plot last
:14:42. > :14:44.year. They found a bomb in a printer cartridge, in a parcel from
:14:44. > :14:47.Yemen. That was being sent to the United States but it was security
:14:47. > :14:51.services here that dealt with it. It is not only air travel that has
:14:51. > :14:55.been involved. No, for all of our police forces,
:14:55. > :14:58.terrorism has become an X -- increasingly expensive priority.
:14:58. > :15:01.There have been high-profile arrests in this region and they
:15:01. > :15:05.have had to protect Muslim communities against the backlash
:15:05. > :15:07.and we will hear tomorrow how they walked a tightrope between keeping
:15:07. > :15:11.those communities on side and all of us safe.
:15:11. > :15:15.Still to come on the programme: Remember the scorcher of 1976?
:15:15. > :15:21.Well, the last seven months have been the driest since then. So how
:15:21. > :15:25.have farmers coped? We'll be finding out later.
:15:25. > :15:29.And we may have been lacking the rain over the past few months but
:15:29. > :15:39.we are certainly not lacking in the wind department. I will have a
:15:39. > :15:41.
:15:41. > :15:44.fault when the forecast later. In other news, police said they are
:15:44. > :15:48.growing increasingly concerned about a 46-year-old man missing
:15:48. > :15:53.from home since yesterday. David field left his home in Sheffield on
:15:53. > :16:03.Monday morning but he never arrived at work in Nottingham. His car was
:16:03. > :16:04.
:16:04. > :16:07.found in the park and ride at Phoenix Park.
:16:07. > :16:09.Here's an interesting statistic. Nearly a third of all accidents on
:16:09. > :16:11.the road are work-related. And here's another. One in three
:16:11. > :16:14.company drivers has an accident each year.
:16:14. > :16:16.The stats come from researchers at the Department of Transport. Now a
:16:16. > :16:19.safety organisation in Leicestershire is calling on
:16:19. > :16:23.employers to do more to protect workers when they get behind the
:16:23. > :16:29.wheel. Tiredness, distractions and time
:16:29. > :16:32.pressures. The three main causes of accidents on the road. Now the
:16:32. > :16:37.Institution of Occupational Safety and Health is calling on employers
:16:37. > :16:41.to do more to protect their staff. Unfortunately, it is still very,
:16:41. > :16:45.and that companies will pressure drivers to go from A to be very
:16:45. > :16:49.promptly and will ring them on route to ask where they are, get
:16:49. > :16:55.there quickly, and people need to think again, because the risks are
:16:55. > :17:00.out weighed by the benefits. This is why. Research suggests one-third
:17:00. > :17:04.of traffic accidents are work- related. That amounts to 14 deaths
:17:04. > :17:08.and 160 serious injuries per week. One in 10 people killed or
:17:08. > :17:12.seriously injured in the East Midlands were in a goods vehicle.
:17:12. > :17:16.There is an element of haulage companies out there that are
:17:16. > :17:20.struggling to make a living up. Thankfully, I don't believe we are
:17:20. > :17:24.in that, but in terms of pushing drivers, making them drive harder
:17:24. > :17:29.and longer. I can understand the pressures on the industry, the cost
:17:29. > :17:33.of fuel and the cost of vehicles and the margins. But companies like
:17:33. > :17:36.foxes fit their optic lorries with the latest sake -- safety
:17:37. > :17:40.technology to help protect their drivers. Why have adapted cruise
:17:40. > :17:44.control which monitors the speed of the vehicle in front and it will
:17:44. > :17:49.adjust this vehicle's speed to compensate. If the vehicle in front
:17:49. > :17:53.stops suddenly, it will momentarily apply the brakes in this vehicle.
:17:53. > :17:57.We also have acted Lane control, this black box, and it monitors the
:17:57. > :18:03.white lines on a dual-carriageway or a motorway and will alert the
:18:03. > :18:06.driver fired a buzzer if he treats out of his lane. They are now
:18:06. > :18:10.calling for all serious work related driving accidents to be
:18:10. > :18:14.reported to the Health and Safety Executive, so companies are more
:18:14. > :18:16.accountable. Next tonight, would you or your
:18:16. > :18:19.company like to run two of Nottinghamshire's best-known
:18:19. > :18:21.tourist attractions? The County Council is looking for
:18:21. > :18:26.entrepreneurs and private investors to help manage a new visitor centre
:18:26. > :18:36.for Sherwood Forest and the water sports centre at Holme Pierrepont.
:18:36. > :18:40.Geoff Maskell has the details. Running a facility like the
:18:40. > :18:44.National Watersports Centre isn't always plain sailing. It is two
:18:44. > :18:49.years since the county council took over managing Holme Pierrepont from
:18:49. > :18:54.Sport England. When they did, it was making an annual loss of �1.2
:18:54. > :18:59.million. That has now been cut by a third. We have it -- invested a
:18:59. > :19:04.significant amount of money, around �400,000, and into a campsite as
:19:04. > :19:06.well and we are seeing returns on that investment. What the centre
:19:06. > :19:11.needs is some transformational change, some significant capital
:19:11. > :19:14.investment. That is where the private sector could come in. The
:19:14. > :19:21.council insists the two sides are not for sale, they want a part that,
:19:21. > :19:25.not a buyer. Sherwood Forest needs a centre. It is tired and old and
:19:25. > :19:29.needs an investor. We need people who can work with us. It is not
:19:29. > :19:34.about selling them off, we want them viable, enjoyable experiences
:19:34. > :19:38.for the public of Nottinghamshire. The legend says Robin had kept
:19:39. > :19:43.Sherwood Forest save for ordinary people -- Robin Hood. Councillors
:19:43. > :19:48.say today they want access to the public maintained and don't oppose
:19:48. > :19:51.private sector involvement but insist both sides must remain in
:19:52. > :19:57.public ownership -- but sides. It will go to Cabinet next week before
:19:57. > :19:59.being discussed by the full council. If there are any chocolate
:19:59. > :20:05.factories they want us to run, we are up for that.
:20:05. > :20:08.Yes, volunteers here-and-now. Time for the sport now, with Colin.
:20:08. > :20:11.Nottingham hurdler Andy Turner says winning a bronze medal at the World
:20:11. > :20:13.Championships has given him a huge pre-Olympic boost. It was a
:20:13. > :20:16.controversial third place - awarded after the original winner was
:20:16. > :20:23.disqualified - but as Turner arrived back from South Korea and
:20:23. > :20:26.met his family at the airport, he wasn't worrying about that.
:20:26. > :20:30.Chris Loader confident. My last three championships, I have taken
:20:30. > :20:34.medals away. -- loads of confidence. I am looking forward to London. I
:20:34. > :20:38.have a lot of work to do but I am confident things can go well.
:20:38. > :20:41.Well, Turner's reached the top - but life as a parent to a young top
:20:41. > :20:44.athlete is often one of sacrifices. It's a life of ferrying your child
:20:44. > :20:48.around the country, often at unearthly hours, as they try to
:20:48. > :20:51.reach the elite. Of course, it has its rewards. Hollie Avil is a
:20:51. > :20:54.former World Junior Triathlon Champion. And now, as she trains
:20:55. > :21:04.for London 2012, she's inspired her dad so much that he's taken up the
:21:05. > :21:10.
:21:10. > :21:15.Triathlon. Give-and-take, a mile swim, 20 mile ride and six-mile run
:21:15. > :21:20.and one of the fastest sports and growing in the UK. Hollie Avil
:21:20. > :21:25.loves it and now, so does her dad. I will get the towels. Since she
:21:25. > :21:30.was eight, Mark was the taxi. For 10 years, his life revolved around
:21:30. > :21:33.his daughter's training. Then she left home. Dad got me into
:21:33. > :21:37.triathlon and he wasn't doing it himself at the time but in the back
:21:37. > :21:41.of my mind, I thought he would start to give it a go. It is in
:21:41. > :21:47.sight left home and he has had more time on his hands to train. --
:21:47. > :21:50.since I left. Yes, I got used to getting up at 4:30am to take care
:21:50. > :21:55.to the Lakes and the swimming pool to swim and suddenly she went off
:21:55. > :22:00.to love pre-university and I was still getting up at 4:30am, so I
:22:00. > :22:06.thought I would be useful learning to swim properly -- Loughborough
:22:06. > :22:11.University. Sunday morning, holly and a bad compete for the first
:22:11. > :22:17.time together. An open water swim over a mile -- Hollie and her dad.
:22:17. > :22:22.She is now have competing for Ironman events. In the last two
:22:22. > :22:27.years, Mark has lost four stone and it needs a whole new wardrobe.
:22:27. > :22:33.Hollie won the race at a stroll but she has London 2012 on the radar.
:22:33. > :22:41.Dad came in Sidath dad was first to congratulate her. Well done, you.
:22:41. > :22:43.That was a surprise. Thanks, Dad! In Beijing, I didn't qualify until
:22:43. > :22:49.the end of May 2080 so I have been patient and just enjoying racing
:22:49. > :22:51.and hopefully I will be on top form by the end of this year -- 2008.
:22:51. > :22:56.Hollie has moved back to Loughborough to train full-time and
:22:56. > :22:59.if she does make it to London, that will be there at the sidelines,
:22:59. > :23:04.swimming, biking and running all the way.
:23:04. > :23:07.If he ever overtakes the, he might enjoy it. -- her.
:23:07. > :23:10.Just a couple of quick bits of news to finish. Derby County's Chief
:23:10. > :23:13.Executive has told us that the club will have to move players on before
:23:13. > :23:16.they can sign any more. Nine players arrived during the summer -
:23:16. > :23:18.and Tom Glick says any more would unbalance the books.
:23:18. > :23:23.In cricket, fast bowler Charlie Shrek is leaving Nottinghamshire to
:23:23. > :23:29.join Kent. Shrek, who was twice player of the year, is keen to get
:23:29. > :23:34.regular first team cricket. There you are, you are up to date.
:23:34. > :23:39.I love Hollie's bad. Fantastic. On a grey and windy day
:23:39. > :23:44.today, it is strange to report that 2011 has a lot in common with a
:23:44. > :23:49.scorching summer of 1976. I don't remember it! Figures out
:23:49. > :23:59.today show that across the Midlands, we have had the driest January to
:23:59. > :24:03.
:24:03. > :24:05.August period for 35 years. So now that this year's harvest is
:24:05. > :24:08.complete, we sent Mark Heathcote out to a Nottinghamshire farm to
:24:08. > :24:15.see how they are coping. Peter farms 80 her tears of land.
:24:15. > :24:20.He has been here for 50 years -- hectors. This year, it has been
:24:20. > :24:25.strange. The we have had a year of great variation. Will we had a very
:24:25. > :24:29.harsh winter, and that was followed by a very dry spring which took us
:24:29. > :24:33.into a drought situation in this region in the East Midlands, and
:24:33. > :24:37.then through harvest combat it has been a mixed bag of weather forced
:24:37. > :24:40.up recently, farmers could only stand and watch.
:24:40. > :24:46.Bash recently, farmers could only stand and watch as they feared
:24:46. > :24:52.crops would rot in the ground. This year, they could not hardest at all.
:24:52. > :24:56.It was a hardest of catch it while you can, it was sunshine one moment,
:24:56. > :25:00.you could get its quality, and the next minute it was raining and we
:25:00. > :25:06.were back into the shed, so a lot of ground had to go through an
:25:06. > :25:10.expensive drying system to get it fit. This year has seen the price
:25:10. > :25:18.of oil seed rape go up by 15%. Barley prices have fallen and wheat
:25:18. > :25:21.crops have also dropped by 15% on average. The same farming... They
:25:22. > :25:25.say in farming, no two years are the same at this is the year to
:25:25. > :25:30.prove all of that. From what I could tell, we are ready for
:25:30. > :25:34.another harsh winter. Add that is probably what none of us wanted to
:25:35. > :25:37.hear -- and that. I have read that, another harsh
:25:37. > :25:44.winter on the way. As if they can tell!
:25:44. > :25:49.You are supposed to be able to tell by the berries. Sally will know.
:25:49. > :25:50.You can't expect me to be an expert on that. I was picking blackberries
:25:50. > :25:54.yesterday so signs of autumn on the yesterday so signs of autumn on the
:25:54. > :26:00.way and today has felt autumnal. Windy with share was blowing
:26:00. > :26:05.through. They are fizzling out but the strong winds continuing --
:26:05. > :26:11.showers. Thank you for this lovely picture of the sunset. If you have
:26:11. > :26:15.got any photos of the wind, that would be great -- when the photos.
:26:15. > :26:18.Between January and August, it has been the driest across the East
:26:18. > :26:22.Midlands since 1976. You have been complaining we have had of rubbish
:26:22. > :26:28.summer, maybe that it has not been as rubbish as you thought, we are
:26:28. > :26:32.not lacking in the wind department. Plenty of strong winds, these
:26:32. > :26:35.isobars squeezing together as they circle around the area of low
:26:35. > :26:42.pressure. We have seen one or two share was blowing our way through
:26:42. > :26:47.the day but they are starting to fizzle out nicely -- showers. One
:26:47. > :26:51.or two isolated showers, over the Peak District, but most places dry
:26:51. > :26:55.with clear spells. Temperatures not too bad, a little cooler than last
:26:55. > :26:58.night, 12C as your minimum temperature. We will start with a
:26:58. > :27:02.much brighter note on Wednesday, sunny spells through the day but
:27:03. > :27:07.with the chance of an occasional shower into the afternoon. Many
:27:07. > :27:12.areas getting away with a dry day. We will see rain spreading in later
:27:12. > :27:17.on in the evening, temperatures around 18 or 19C, but the wind will
:27:17. > :27:21.not ease off until Wednesday evening. That eases off but we get
:27:21. > :27:25.further rain starting to spread in and that makes Thursday a rather
:27:25. > :27:29.wet looking day, even though the wind would be quite as strong. Then
:27:29. > :27:31.we seem to see a little return of summer come Friday. Although it
:27:31. > :27:35.will be quite blustery, it will be will be quite blustery, it will be
:27:35. > :27:41.quite warm, with temperatures into the low twenties.