02/01/2012 East Midlands Today

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Carol Hinds. From

today, rail passengers are facing fare increases of nearly 6% on some

services in our region. One company, East Midlands Trains, says it'll

help pay for improvements to the network as the government cuts the

amount taxpayers contribute to the 72p, that is what East Midlands

Trains says is the increase on the average fare per journey. Some

passengers here at Nottingham railway station are unhappy about

the cost of rail travel. I'm paying �155 a month to travel to Leicester.

That will go up to 170. It is a small increase per month but it

eats away. I'm going to Devon to see my mum. It's cheaper to get a

train to Manchester and get down on the coach than it is to get the

train from here. The fares are going up by an

average of 5.7%. Cross Country says a seven-day return ticket from

Nottingham to Birmingham is going up by nearly 6%. East Coast is

putting up fares by an average of Two security guards are still

critically ill after an explosion at a disused coal mine. The blast

happened at an electrical substation at the old Welbeck

Colliery in Nottinghamshire. Investigations are being carried

out by the police and the Health and Safety Executive. The injured

men are both being treated for severe burns to their faces.

A pensioner says she's devastated after learning that a new relief

road will cut straight through her garden. �16.5 million is to be

spent moving traffic away from the centre of Loughborough so that it's

for pedestrians only. The local council says it will improve safety

and increase shopping in the town. But for Mavis Bexon, the project

will destroy the garden she's created for her husband who has

Parkinson's disease. I detest it, of course. I don't

want it and I don't think anybody wants that.

The thought of sitting in that house while the bulldozer does it

is beyond what I can live with. It just crumples me. I don't cope with

it very well, I'm afraid. On to sport and a special day for

Notts County. They are famous as the world's oldest Football League

club and today they begin celebrating their 150th anniversary.

It may not be the fullest trophy cabinet and it may not be the

biggest club but the heritage Notts County have is special and

something they want to hang on to. They had a beer brewed for the year.

It is nice on just about every level.

All the fans here are long-term fans. They haven't just turned up

for the glory today. We are a small club and we don't

have much to boast about but what we've got we are proud of.

It is not hard to persuade the old players to come back and enjoy the

atmosphere of Meadow Lane all over again.

Many of people that have played for Notts County are living in the area

and would break a leg to get back down here to celebrate.

As the balloons rose into the sky, they started thinking about the

next 150 years and that meant starting with this afternoon's game.

Well, there was a game in the middle of all the celebrations and

it finished with Notts drawing against Huddersfield 2 - 2. In the

Championship, all our teams travelled away for their games and

won. Leicester beat Crystal Palace. Derby County won at Hull and

Nottingham Forest put three past Ipswich.

If you are heading back to work tomorrow morning after the

Christmas break, be warned because it could be a tricky commute

because during tonight, things will turn increasingly wet and windy as

well. You will notice the breeze increasing as we go through this

evening and during the second half of the night, the wet weather piles

in from the west. The dark blue colours show we will have some

heavy downpours over the Peak District. Lows of three Celsius

overnight. This is tomorrow morning's rush hour. Wet and windy

with winds reaching 60 mph in places. Things will steadily

improve through the day. The rain clears to the south and a couple of

wintry showers in the Peak District later on. Highs of 10 Celsius.