:00:08. > :00:13.This is East Midlands Today with Dominic Heale and me, Anne Davies.
:00:13. > :00:21.Our top story tonight - the towns and cities fighting for every last
:00:21. > :00:28.job. So Evan hundred jobs were lost your last summoned. There is the
:00:28. > :00:32.possibility of hundreds more. also open for business, the message
:00:32. > :00:40.from the town where it is more difficult For jobseeker's to find
:00:40. > :00:46.work than anywhere in the East Midlands. Plus this boy's amazing
:00:46. > :00:56.legacy. His campaign for bone marrow donors lives on. And higher
:00:56. > :00:56.
:00:56. > :01:05.up an age a - the Web cam keeping... At is wonderful to have such close-
:01:05. > :01:12.up views of the birds. It is wonderful.
:01:12. > :01:17.Good evening. First tonight, the uphill task facing job-seekers. In
:01:17. > :01:21.a moment we will hear how in some parts of the region there are six
:01:21. > :01:26.unemployed people chasing every ante-post. But there has been some
:01:26. > :01:30.good news on the jobs front. It is hoped to call centre in Derby could
:01:30. > :01:35.eventually employ double the number of people who work there before. To
:01:35. > :01:42.tell us more, Simon Hare can join us now.
:01:42. > :01:47.Good evening. Welcome to the late shift at HEROtsc. That stands for
:01:47. > :01:51.telecom service centre if you have ever wondered. This site has always
:01:51. > :01:56.been a call centre. Of course the internet back Egg used to be here.
:01:56. > :02:06.It was the founding firms on Pride Park but last year 700 people lost
:02:06. > :02:11.their jobs. Today it is much better news.
:02:11. > :02:17.From HEROtsc, I knew major employer has emerged. 200 staff so far come
:02:17. > :02:24.up by the summer - 800 people were work here. The HEROtsc answers
:02:24. > :02:29.queries from satellite TV customers. You don't get very many good
:02:29. > :02:33.contact centres from day one. So the people we are finding was
:02:33. > :02:37.important, the infrastructure was important. But the people we have
:02:38. > :02:44.employed early on, the greatest majority of them were new to the
:02:44. > :02:52.sector. Abigail was the first person to be appointed. She had
:02:52. > :02:55.been job-hunting for two years. confidence completely goes away.
:02:56. > :03:02.You feel you are not worth anything and the amount of time you came out
:03:02. > :03:09.of work the harder the jobs were to come by. The cause I have never
:03:09. > :03:14.done call-centre before it was a shock. You cannot see the person
:03:14. > :03:17.you're speaking to. N the current economic climate, it is not easy to
:03:17. > :03:22.magic up new jobs. But the City Council has promised to cover half
:03:22. > :03:30.the building's least she should HEROtsc struggle to find another
:03:30. > :03:40.client. They would not have come and they acknowledge that. We have
:03:40. > :03:42.
:03:42. > :03:49.used a fund to stimulate the local economy and bring new jobs again.
:03:49. > :03:53.So if HEROtsc can find another client, a further 800 jobs will be
:03:53. > :03:57.created here and that will double the number of people the work in
:03:57. > :04:04.this building. As you can see, at the moment they certainly seem to
:04:04. > :04:08.have the space for them. So, is there cause to be more
:04:08. > :04:13.optimistic about the region's economy? Not according to one
:04:13. > :04:19.think-tank. The Institute for Public Policy Research once that
:04:19. > :04:25.unemployment will continue to rise. -- warns. John has has been looking
:04:25. > :04:29.through his findings Forest. What sort of picture is emerging? Their
:04:29. > :04:32.rapport makes for some sober reading. To start of its as
:04:32. > :04:36.unemployment is going to be in excess of 2 million for the next
:04:36. > :04:39.three years. What has done and its findings is that us compare the
:04:39. > :04:45.number of jobs to gos in the East Midlands with the number of
:04:45. > :04:52.vacancies that are available towards the end of last year. Derby
:04:52. > :04:59.had 8,000 jobseeker's chasing 1800 vacancies. That is a reissue of 4
:04:59. > :05:04.in 1. But Mansfield has a different picture. 2,700 job-seekers and just
:05:04. > :05:06.446 vacancies. That is six to one. According to the Institute for
:05:06. > :05:12.Public Policy Research, that makes Mansfield the most difficult area
:05:12. > :05:16.in the region to find a job. Today Mansfield's Meir Tory Eddington
:05:16. > :05:19.used the latest figures to press the Government to include as a
:05:19. > :05:28.gaffe of Central Nottinghamshire in the next wave of enterprise zones.
:05:28. > :05:34.And without an enterprise zone? will see a get even worse. What
:05:34. > :05:42.have families, what chance have they got of getting a job? What are
:05:42. > :05:44.those chances? Will this as tell us it is bad. We cannot let that go
:05:44. > :05:49.worse. A latest figures are released
:05:49. > :05:53.tomorrow. For most of last year, their East Midlands but the
:05:53. > :05:57.national trend. The rate of unemployment was fairly static. But
:05:57. > :06:07.not any more. If the latest figures want include the latest round of
:06:07. > :06:13.public sector losses. The DVLC a -- DVLA announced today plans to close
:06:13. > :06:17.regional offices. Staff collected signatures and protest. The DVLA
:06:17. > :06:23.wants to centralise its operation to its Swansea H Q by the end of
:06:23. > :06:27.this year. The DVLA are kissing goodbye to public service were
:06:27. > :06:32.there are plans to close local offices. That will oblige our
:06:32. > :06:37.customers to deal directly with Swansea and it is goodbye to our
:06:37. > :06:41.jobs with all the come nomack knock-on so flat. Another worrying
:06:41. > :06:46.statistic is that a third of job- seekers have been unemployed for
:06:46. > :06:48.more than one year. It is around this group that the Government is
:06:48. > :06:53.designing its new job creation programme, its apprenticeship
:06:53. > :06:58.schemes to get the young and those with skills, will fly back into
:06:58. > :07:06.work. Still to come on the programme: Big
:07:06. > :07:16.in America. Tall Paul Sturgess from Leicestershire and he has just
:07:16. > :07:16.
:07:16. > :07:20.joined the Harlem Globetrotters. In other news: A man has been
:07:20. > :07:26.killed in three vehicle accident on one of Leicestershire's busiest
:07:27. > :07:31.roads. It has just been partially reopened after it closed all day
:07:31. > :07:35.between the A six turn-off and there roundabout. Two men aged
:07:35. > :07:37.between 21 and 24 have been released on bail after being
:07:37. > :07:41.arrested in connection with the incident.
:07:42. > :07:47.A man has been arrested after a 90 some year-old woman at the rings
:07:47. > :07:52.pulled from her fingers after two men who got into our home in South
:07:52. > :07:56.Derbyshire. Winifred Bloor was at home last Wednesday when the men
:07:56. > :08:03.took her rings, a gold necklace and cash. And 19-year-old man from
:08:03. > :08:06.Derby was arrested on suspicion of robbery and released on boil -- on
:08:06. > :08:09.bail while the investigation continue as.
:08:09. > :08:13.If we can exclusively reveal that Nottinghamshire's Chief Constable
:08:13. > :08:16.has agreed a compensation settlement after being sued by her
:08:16. > :08:24.former deputy. Howard Roberts went to an employment tribunal after
:08:24. > :08:28.losing his job last year. This all stems from an acrimonious
:08:28. > :08:33.row between Howard Roberts and his form his boss, Julia Hodson. At the
:08:33. > :08:37.time the Nottinghamshire force was under fire over its performance
:08:37. > :08:41.under the shake-up he was replaced as deputy Chief Constable. But he
:08:41. > :08:46.did not go quietly. He went to an employment tribunal in Nottingham
:08:46. > :08:50.to suit both their Chief Constable and her police and authority. The
:08:50. > :08:53.his main claim was being victimised for blowing the whistle on Julia
:08:53. > :08:57.Hodson's behaviour and that his allegations would have been very
:08:57. > :09:00.damaging. But now we will not hear the details are whether there
:09:00. > :09:10.denied by Nottinghamshire Police. That is because the settlement
:09:10. > :09:15.
:09:15. > :09:18.means the case will not be aired in public. Why has he settled?
:09:18. > :09:24.matter -- he is likely to be getting a substantial compensation
:09:24. > :09:28.pay-out. We have not been given any details. Howard Roberts cannot make
:09:28. > :09:33.a comment. I have spoken to a former chairman of
:09:33. > :09:39.Nottinghamshire's police other two, John Clarke. He will be expects a
:09:39. > :09:43.Mr Robert's compensation payment to run to six figures.
:09:43. > :09:48.Work has started to clear the route to the next phase of Nottingham's
:09:48. > :09:51.farm system. About 40 trees are to the shot down in the Meadows. But
:09:51. > :09:56.there are hopes that many more will escape the axe as the project
:09:56. > :10:02.develops. They are clearing the way for phase
:10:02. > :10:07.two. These trees along Queen's Walk in the meadows are being felled to
:10:07. > :10:11.make way for Nottingham's new tram route. Initially 42 trees will be
:10:11. > :10:16.removed and the fate of a further 48 trees will be decided later.
:10:16. > :10:25.Some residents are not please, although others were more pragmatic.
:10:25. > :10:31.The loss of the trees of these mature trees and what is a
:10:31. > :10:37.promenade to, a linear park planned, is just for the community and
:10:37. > :10:41.Nottingham, it is a great loss. This is progress. You can stand in
:10:41. > :10:48.front of progress if you want to but this what has changed many
:10:48. > :10:53.times. We have in place plans for turning the trees into wood
:10:53. > :10:57.carvings and also benches, a simple play equipment for children. That
:10:57. > :11:04.will have to do for now. The council says they will not remove
:11:04. > :11:08.any more trees. But the tram is here to stay.
:11:08. > :11:12.The Under-Secretary of State for justice Crispin Blunt officially
:11:12. > :11:17.opened a new victim Support Centre in Leicester today. Each year
:11:17. > :11:21.Leicestershire Police refer 30,000 people to victim Support. This new
:11:21. > :11:26.building is in the heart of the city, on Bishop Street, and is the
:11:26. > :11:30.first centre to have such a high profile high street location.
:11:30. > :11:34.He has been called an inspiration - a lively six-year-old boy who
:11:34. > :11:39.cheerily called for more bone marrow donors even when he was too
:11:39. > :11:44.ill to benefit from one. Since his death from leukaemia, thousands of
:11:44. > :11:49.volunteers have come forward across Nottinghamshire in a campaign the
:11:49. > :11:52.charity Anthony Nolan Trust Nolan - - has called amazing. In our CVs
:11:52. > :12:02.Life after Loss we look at the lights being held following the
:12:02. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:10.loss of a loved one. For tonight the story of Joel Picker Spence.
:12:10. > :12:20.Because somebody is giving me a bone marrow I can do other things
:12:20. > :12:29.like swimming and playing with my brother. I will not be here if this
:12:29. > :12:34.does not work. But he never got his operation. He died in November 2008.
:12:34. > :12:38.We did get a transplant for him but he was not well enough for it. That
:12:38. > :12:48.is the only reason, if not for the fact that we did not get a donor
:12:48. > :12:48.
:12:48. > :12:53.because he did. And it was that fact that inspired this woman to
:12:53. > :12:59.keep trying for others. He helped out while he could even naming his
:12:59. > :13:05.campaign join full job. So-far in the four years we have had 5,000
:13:05. > :13:09.potential donors. One locally and so it is just amazing. Together
:13:09. > :13:14.that many matches from that group of people is also extraordinary. We
:13:14. > :13:19.would normally expect to go one match for every 1000 people on the
:13:19. > :13:23.register and thus the passes that. So his legacy is outstanding.
:13:23. > :13:28.part of that legacy as Alan from Nottingham, one of the eight
:13:28. > :13:33.matches found. He is on standby to be a new bone-marrow marriage --
:13:33. > :13:39.new bone marrow donor. You do not know who that person is. It could
:13:39. > :13:42.be anybody in the world. It is brilliant. A few days a slight
:13:42. > :13:46.inconvenience for me as some deals is a second chance of life, what
:13:46. > :13:52.better thing could there be to do really? What else inspires me to go
:13:52. > :13:57.on? He's the aspects of life that no one will see again. Every day he
:13:57. > :14:07.would make a funny comments are he would smile with his eyes. He saw
:14:07. > :14:09.
:14:09. > :14:14.the best of everything. We are all in this together and from his point
:14:14. > :14:18.of view to have only look for six years and to have inspired myself
:14:18. > :14:24.and so many other people to do something that will help other
:14:24. > :14:27.people, what a great way to be Now, you may remember the story of
:14:27. > :14:29.two peregrine falcons who raised their brood on a lofty rooftop in
:14:29. > :14:32.Nottingham. Last year the Nottingham Trent
:14:32. > :14:35.University webcam that filmed them got almost a quarter of a million
:14:35. > :14:43.hits. This year, they and their chicks, which are due to hatch in
:14:43. > :14:47.April, will be filmed in high definition. Tom Brown reports.
:14:47. > :14:52.They are back and this time, they are in high-definition. Footage
:14:52. > :14:56.like this is being broadcast around the world as a two peregrine
:14:56. > :15:02.falcons build a nest on top of a building at Nottingham Trent
:15:02. > :15:07.University. We have two cameras, both in age the, one which focuses
:15:07. > :15:11.on the nest, the other want we can control. Last year, we found that
:15:11. > :15:15.the chicks were moving around and we were losing them. One of the
:15:15. > :15:20.things we have this year is a steerable camera which allows us to
:15:20. > :15:28.zoom in and focus in on the action. This was the view from last year's
:15:29. > :15:33.standard definition web cam. This is the view now. Experts hope the
:15:34. > :15:38.high-definition will lead to a better knowledge as well as better
:15:38. > :15:43.pictures. We have been observing them for a decade, but a lot of
:15:43. > :15:49.people do not know that the birds are flying over their heads. More
:15:49. > :15:53.people will know about it now and they can comment on it, what the
:15:53. > :15:57.life cycle is, what is happening, their quirky behaviour, and give
:15:57. > :16:05.people the package. I'm pleased with the pictures we have. I don't
:16:05. > :16:07.think there is any other site that broadcasts in such Heide tell. We
:16:07. > :16:13.are lucky to have the infrastructure to do that. Last
:16:13. > :16:17.year, the chicks were born on the day of the royal wedding. This
:16:17. > :16:23.year's Falcons are expected at a similar time. You can follow their
:16:23. > :16:28.progress live on the university website.
:16:28. > :16:31.Who needs to call a midwife! Still to come on the programme.
:16:31. > :16:33.Roses are red, violets are blue, but guess what's most popular on
:16:33. > :16:36.Valentines Day? It seems more of are choosing tulips. Not from
:16:36. > :16:46.Amsterdam, but the flatlands of Lincolnshire.$$NEWLINE Coming up, a
:16:46. > :16:56.
:16:56. > :16:59.I buy my own tulips, I'm afraid. They do go a bit floppy!
:16:59. > :17:02.And I wonder how many young boys or girls watching dream of playing
:17:02. > :17:05.professionally. A decade ago, Callum Ball was at home in
:17:05. > :17:15.Leicestershire doing just that. And now he's become a regular at Derby
:17:15. > :17:18.
:17:18. > :17:24.When it Callum Ball scored his first goal for Derby against
:17:24. > :17:31.Bristol City in December, it moment for him. I started playing for a
:17:31. > :17:35.local side in Leicester when I was a boy. I started playing little
:17:35. > :17:41.games and tournaments and then I got a phone call from Derby wanting
:17:41. > :17:44.me to train with them so I went and trained. Aged nine, can are moved
:17:44. > :17:49.to Derby County and waited nine more years to make his first
:17:49. > :17:55.substitute appearance nearly two years ago. Once I got signed, I
:17:55. > :18:01.always wanted to play professionally. People think it is
:18:01. > :18:05.is the -- it is easy. But it is hard work. When you are young, you
:18:05. > :18:09.have to commit to football, not go out. A lot of kids did not want to
:18:09. > :18:13.do that, but I was willing to do that. He broke into the team in
:18:13. > :18:17.December and has not looked back. He has a three-year contract and
:18:17. > :18:23.his only disappointment was when the game was postponed. I was a
:18:23. > :18:26.disappointed when I heard it was off, but it happens. I'm looking
:18:26. > :18:32.forward to be in the squad and playing again. He is a young man
:18:32. > :18:39.playing -- living his dream up. He is looking to hold on to his place
:18:39. > :18:42.as the more senior strikers return to fitness.
:18:42. > :18:52.Derby are at home to Reading tonight, and there are games too
:18:52. > :18:54.
:18:54. > :18:58.for Leicester, Forest and Notts Who can guess where Leicester will
:18:58. > :19:01.finish at the end of be season, but after a win against Cardiff on
:19:02. > :19:07.Saturday, they are being asked again, can they finish in the top
:19:07. > :19:17.six? Yes, I think we can. More importantly, I think the players
:19:17. > :19:20.
:19:20. > :19:25.Forest 12-0 in their first win of the season. Forest have struggled
:19:25. > :19:29.since then, that they improve on Saturday. First, we got the
:19:29. > :19:36.defenders in, we did not have done in so you can see a state -- a
:19:36. > :19:41.change straight away. This was Notts County's last man.
:19:41. > :19:46.They have not played since because of the weather, but they have added
:19:46. > :19:51.a two new loans to their poor of strikers. We cannot keep having
:19:51. > :19:55.good performances and not scoring, we need goals. There will be common
:19:55. > :20:01.trees on all of those games on your BBC local radio stations tonight.
:20:01. > :20:03.They start at 7pm. Results will be in our late
:20:03. > :20:07.bulletin as well. Leicester Tigers coach Richard
:20:07. > :20:10.Cockerill says it's all still to play for as they push for a top two
:20:10. > :20:13.Premiership finish. They lost away to Exeter at the weekend and face a
:20:13. > :20:17.tough match this Sunday at Saracen's, but today Cockerill has
:20:17. > :20:21.said they're still in the mix for the play-offs.
:20:21. > :20:25.We had a poor start to the year for many reasons, we have dragged
:20:25. > :20:31.ourselves back into the play-off contention spot and we have to
:20:31. > :20:33.fight for it. Saracens are a tough game at. But that is the game,
:20:33. > :20:37.sometimes you lose and you have to deal with it.
:20:37. > :20:40.He's getting on for eight foot tall. And he's made his way from school
:20:40. > :20:50.in Leicestershire to one of the world's greatest sports team. Paul
:20:50. > :20:55.
:20:55. > :20:58.Sturgess is the latest signing for He is Britain's tallest man. At
:20:58. > :21:03.seven feet a inches, he is now the Harlem Globetrotters's tallest ever
:21:03. > :21:12.player, and he ate the he is at one of the world's most tallest --
:21:12. > :21:19.tallest building. It is great, I loved every moment. I'm at the top
:21:19. > :21:25.of the Empire State Building. I am having a great time. Need tall Paul
:21:25. > :21:29.Sturges. We first met him when his name was tall Paul. He was signed
:21:29. > :21:33.up to play in the States and we met him on that day.
:21:33. > :21:38.The best we could do. This is a huge opportunity, how does it feel?
:21:38. > :21:42.I'm over the moon. It is a great opportunity to progress my career
:21:42. > :21:46.hopefully and be a professional basketball player. Six years and
:21:46. > :21:50.four into his later, he has reached new heights. According to the
:21:50. > :21:54.Guinness Book of Records, he is the tallest basketball player in the
:21:54. > :22:02.world. I guess I made people look tiny one-night stepped on to the
:22:02. > :22:09.court. The short his play is 5 ft two up so we had a bit of fun with
:22:09. > :22:14.it. We have had a couple of guys over seven put on our roster before,
:22:14. > :22:19.none as big as him. He has a great personality and fans love him. It
:22:19. > :22:26.also takes the pressure off us as well. I'm glad to have him on the
:22:26. > :22:28.team. Paul will be bringing his side's 21
:22:28. > :22:33.she is it to the Nottingham there been a with the Globetrotters next
:22:33. > :22:39.month. I'm sure we will be there to see
:22:39. > :22:44.Now, you might think, on this the most romantic of days, that roses
:22:44. > :22:48.would be the number one choice for the lovestruck. But you'd be wrong.
:22:48. > :22:51.Apparently more of us choose tulips. And you don't have to go to
:22:51. > :22:54.Amsterdam to get the pick of the bunch. Millions of extra flowers
:22:54. > :23:02.have been grown in Lincolnshire to meet demand this year. As Siobhan
:23:02. > :23:09.Robbins discovered on a visit to a tulip farm near Spalding.
:23:09. > :23:12.It is that time of the year again, giant hearts, cards and flowers. In
:23:12. > :23:18.the tulip growing capital around Spalding, millions of them have
:23:18. > :23:24.been planted as they frantically prepare for Valentine's Day.
:23:24. > :23:30.Lincolnshire alone, I estimate the industry is worth up to �17 million.
:23:30. > :23:33.Our main request is a red tulips. We will double our production to
:23:33. > :23:40.accommodate that usually. After picking, tulips are cut and wraps.
:23:40. > :23:46.On average we spent 36 years -- that is �6 on flowers a year each.
:23:46. > :23:50.Most of them, we x4 ourselves. Flowers are a multi-billion-pound
:23:50. > :23:54.industry in the UK and Lincolnshire is at the heart of it. 3 million
:23:54. > :23:58.extra red tulips have been grown for Valentine's Day alone soak
:23:58. > :24:03.bouquets like this one did not to say I love you, they are also a
:24:03. > :24:06.huge boost to the local economy. Roses maybe tradition, but many
:24:06. > :24:12.florists say that increasingly popular tulips are the real flower
:24:12. > :24:18.of love. More and more people are going for two lips now because they
:24:18. > :24:22.are the Dutch flower of laugh. The ones grown in our country are
:24:22. > :24:27.absolutely beautiful. We are finding that the younger generation
:24:27. > :24:32.actually prefer it tulips. They are obviously it slightly cheaper than
:24:32. > :24:36.roses. Once the romance has died down, the work is not over. With
:24:36. > :24:45.Mother's Day around the corner, the tulip growers are looking towards
:24:45. > :24:51.their busiest time of the year. Mother's Day!!
:24:51. > :24:57.It is a never ending. Remember when he sent photos of and
:24:57. > :25:04.then he waited to get them back? Occasionally be just did not reach
:25:04. > :25:07.their rightful owners, just what happened to this couple. This film
:25:07. > :25:11.it was delivered to the wrong address in Derbyshire and has been
:25:11. > :25:15.in a cupboard ever since and are now all. The recognise anyone in
:25:15. > :25:22.this wedding film? I do not.
:25:22. > :25:27.Or perhaps, are you this little boy?
:25:27. > :25:36.If you recognise anyone, do get in touch with us. It could be a lovely
:25:36. > :25:40.Valentine's Day surprise for Another Valentine's mystery, the
:25:40. > :25:42.weather. Were you the man who made this very
:25:42. > :25:46.romantic gesture at Nottingham bridal shop this morning? A card
:25:46. > :25:56.surrounded by rose petals was left in the doorway to a Claire Taylor.
:25:56. > :26:00.
:26:00. > :26:06.But who is she? The staff at the We would love to find out. Staying
:26:06. > :26:14.with the romance, tonight's weather photo. It was taken on a recent
:26:14. > :26:17.trip in Newark. Beat Sky trails forming the perfect case in the sky.
:26:17. > :26:21.And I could not resist this lovely photo.
:26:21. > :26:25.We have got high pressure sitting out in the west of the UK. This
:26:25. > :26:29.means we are seeing the milder air staying with us over the next two
:26:29. > :26:33.days. There is a lot of cloud around. If you had any bright
:26:33. > :26:39.spells earlier this afternoon or any clear spells now, the cloud
:26:39. > :26:43.will increase in the evening. It is thick enough to bring a few spots
:26:43. > :26:49.of rain at times. The cloud will be acting as a blanket and keeping
:26:49. > :26:54.those temperatures up tonight. Five is your minimum. We do expect a lot
:26:54. > :26:57.of cloud tomorrow morning, but gradually through the day we will
:26:57. > :27:05.see it becoming brighter, particularly across Derbyshire and
:27:05. > :27:09.Leicestershire. Some sunshine and a high temperature of nine degrees.
:27:09. > :27:13.Breezy with a north-westerly wind. Further ahead, Thursday is staying
:27:14. > :27:18.cloudy with some broken cloud giving up the odd sunny spells.
:27:18. > :27:23.Still fairly breezy. Further ahead, you will notice temperatures
:27:23. > :27:26.continue to get higher, double figures by Friday! But into the