11/02/2014 East Midlands Today

That is all from us. There is a first look

And now the news for the East Midlands, I'm Anne Davies.

First tonight ` 0 Midlands, I'm Anne Davies.

First tonight ` a faster rail service between the region and

London that should have saved commuters' time has left passengers

furious at what they call 'broken promises'. East Midlands Trains

announced the quicker times last year but it made those 0

announced the quicker times last year but it made those promises

knowing it may not be able to deliver. Jo Healey's been

investigating. Two months ago in December at Derby

station there was quite a fanfare. The Transport Secretary announced

the new faster link to London, trains travelling at 125 miles an

hour knocking minutes off the journeys from the East Midlands. Two

weeks before the announcement, East Midlands Trains knew that network

rail had not completed critical work on the lines which could have slowed

the trains at times. Last week East Midlands Trains talked of network

rail failing to deliver the promised line speed improvements on time.

They say they underestimated the scale of the work and it was, they

said, completely unacceptable and has meant some delays. This is what

some passengers said. My last few journeys have been late which is an

issue if you have connections. Every day I come to get the train,

it is always ten minutes late. It is normally on time and also

coming back. It is annoying because I had to

catch a connecting bus in Leicester to get to work on time. There was a

more united front from the companies apologising for the delays insisting

they are small. But look at this, a record, one

passenger kept it in January logging the delays she 0 0

passenger kept it in January logging the delays she has 0 0

passenger kept it in January logging the delays she has experienced

between East Midlands and London. Trains were cancelled, many trains

were late and in one case there was a half hour delay. She is furious,

passengers were told in December there will be faster links even

though East Midlands Trains and Network Rail knew they may not be

able to deliver them. Today, East Midlands Trains told me they went

ahead with the announcement in December thinking they could

mitigate some of the delays but were caught out by problems like bad

weather. They say work should now be completed by April after that the

timetable they promised in December will finally be up and running.

16 people have been arrested during a series of drugs raids in Derby.

Officers from the National Crime Agency helped Derbyshire police with

the operation. A total of 12 homes were raided in the Peartree area and

suspected Class A and B drugs were seized. Four dogs, thought to be

banned under 0 seized. Four dogs, thought to be

banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act, were also recovered. It's part of an

investigation into an organised crime gang and follows complaints

about drug dealing. The 0

about drug dealing. The impact has been unbearable for

them and frustrating from their point of view. I understand the

frustration because they see the drug dealing going 0

frustration because they see the drug dealing going on daily and

wonder what the police are doing. Today is to show we have been doing

stuff in the background. There's anger at a decision to spend

sixty five thousand pounds of public money sending Nottingham City

Council delegates to the French Riviera. Council representatives are

attending the Annual International Property Fair in Cannes. They say

it's an opportunity to attract investment. But the Tax Payers'

Alliance argue it's a waste of money, at a time of budget cuts. For

the past three years, the cost of the trip's been met by private

backers. Elsewhere cutting the number of

councillors and merging councils could save ?30 million a year on

running costs according to an independent report. The shake`up

proposed for Leicestershire would create one single big authority but

it could reduce council tax and help balance the budget. Our Political

Editor John Hess reports. Emptying the bins is one of 0

Editor John Hess reports. Emptying the bins is one of the most

valued of services but is it time to tidy up the councils? In

Leicestershire there are seven councils and County Council.

Accountants suggest 0 councils and County Council.

Accountants suggest replacing them all one powerful authority, the

report was commissioned by a politician, the leader of

Conservative run Leicestershire. If you 0 0

Conservative run Leicestershire. If you believe the Chancellor going

forward, in the next ten years the savings will get greater.

Maybe the time has come for a sensible debate about local

government. The report target duplication, eight chief executives

and 19 council directors, merging those could save ?15 million.

Merging the districts and County would save ?31.4 million annually.

Setting up a new council would cost ?13 million, says the report but the

move would cut council tax. The number of councillors would be cut

from 316 to 100. Even if Leicestershire opted for the new

council, the chamber here would have to be expanded to take more

councillors to ensure there was fair representation. For the district

councils, are the recommendations are cut too far? This leader of one

of the smallest councils says this. You end up with less representation

and less ability to connect. Tories say it isn't a grab for cash or

power but it may take more than a chocolate cake as a sweetener for

this District Council leader. Onto football and tonight's results

In 0 0 0 Onto football and tonight's results

In the 0 0 Onto football and tonight's results

In the Championship it was Huddersfield zero Nottingham Forest

three which means Forest extend their unbeaten run to 16 games. And

in League Two Mansfield's game with Bury was called off because of a

water`logged pitch. That is the picture across the

country. Goodbye. A lot of whether going on, we saw

some snow today but now the attention is focused back on the

wind and rain. Another area of low pressure pushing in. There is the

chance of snow tonight, a few showers around and we can see some

pushing in in the Airlie hours of the morning. Temperatures below

freezing. The snow replaced tomorrow with the rain, the rain started off

quite liked and patchy but you will see more persistent and heavy rain

from the middle part of the day. It eases off but as the rain eases off,

the wind will pick up. Gusty winds tomorrow evening, gusts of 50 or 60

miles an hour. Another wet and windy when, I leave you with the Outlook.

That is when the wind is going to pick up. Thursday looks like a

quieter day. Good evening, a roller-coaster ride

of weather continues across the British Isles. We want to get off,

but unfortunately we have got more white knuckle rides to come. This

area of low pressure is bringing wet and extremely windy weather. It

happens again on Friday with another deep low moving in from the

south-west. That means that potentially over the next five days

we could see as much a 60 - 80 millimetres of rainfall, among's

worth in just five days. Before that there are lots of tricky conditions

out there at the moment. We have got snow across Scotland and Northern

Ireland. As these showers pushed further inland and temperatures fall

away, we could see snow at lower levels as well. It is a similar

story for South Yorkshire and into Derbyshire and perhaps the Midlands.

Even if we do not get the snow, and we keep the showers, it will be a

cold night, so that could lead to icy stretches on the roads. That

will pale into insignificance because the wind is already picking

up and an intense band of rain continues to push in across the

country. This time it will be a bit more prolonged for tomorrow. The

wins either significant feature There is an amber warning for the

gusts of wind. Let's look at the afternoon. In the Northern Isles and

the far north of Scotland it is quite quiet. Snow continues across

the mountains and sharp showers in northern Ireland and northern

England. The winds pick up into the North West and the South of Wales.

The band of rain is still clinging on to East Anglia and the Essex and

Kent coasts. Blizzard conditions are possible overnight in Scotland and

on the higher ground. By Thursday things potentially get a little

quieter. There will be some showers around, but wet and windy weather

set to return as we move towards Friday.