23/11/2017 East Midlands Today

he hopes to prove the earnings

forecasts wrong.

And now the news for

the East Midlands.

I'm Elise Chamberlain.

Good afternoon.

Nottinghamshire man

who was conned out of £200,000

in an online scam

is sharing his story to try to stop

other people falling

victim to fraudsters.

The man, who wants

to remain anonymous,

has lost his home and pension.

He's working with

Nottinghamshire Police to raise

awareness of online fraud.

Sarah Teale reports.

It started out as a

friendship forged online.

The Nottinghamshire man,

who we are calling Simon to

protect his identity, began chatting

to a woman called Dora.

He fell for her sob story

that her father had

died being awarded gold

from a mine in Ghana

where he had worked

and the

only way to release the gold

was to pay security costs.

Simon paid up.

Over the space of three years,

he ended up giving the

fraudsters £200,000.

I was pretty upset with myself

for getting caught out, really.

I'd go five or six

days without eating.

And then I plunged into depression.

Now I fully understand

how people could take

their own lives because of shame,

embarrassment or just the fact that

all the money has

been taken from them.

When Simon eventually realised he'd

been scammed, he went to the

bank and the police.

He is now working with

Nottinghamshire Police

to stop other people becoming

the victims of online fraudsters.

I think we've seen

an increase in this

type of crime over the last

few years in connection

with the use of the internet.

Never send any money

over the Internet.

We simply do not know

who these people are.

I think that would

be our best advice.

Simon has lost his pension,

half a house that he

owned with a relative,

and other savings.

But I have the strength to say

to myself, "I need to get out of

this and dust myself

down and move on."

There was a big increase

in the number of people dying over

last winter in the East Midlands

partly because the flu jab failed

to protect the elderly enough.

Over 3,000 more people died

between December and March,

compared to the summer months.

Our health correspondent

Rob Sissons is here.

How big was the rise

in deaths last year?

In our region in the last year it

was far worse than the year before

with the number of excess deaths up

50%. That is called the excess death

figure for winter. Across England

and Wales, the total last winter was

more than 34,000 excess deaths.

We're up on the year before. In the

East Midlands, in our region there

were 3200 excess deaths. The bulk of

those were down to respiratory

problems.

Can anything be done?

This

has prompted some campaigners to

press for more help with pensioners

in fuel poverty. Particularly making

sure they have the flu jab. There

was a strain last year that the

vaccine didn't offer people enough

protection against. This year we are

told that the movie much better

match. The East Midlands has the

third highest number of deaths. The

reasons aren't clear, but poverty,

the population and the legacy of

industrialism are all likely to be

factors.

factors.

Nottingham's bid to become

the 2023 European Capital

of Culture appears to be over

after the European Commission stated

the UK will not be

able to take part.

The city submitted its

proposals earlier this

year, with the winner expected to be

announced next week.

But the commission says,

with Brexit due in 2019,

the selection process should

be immediately discontinued.

The city council's meeting this

lunchtime to discuss the decision.

They hope the situation can be

resolved after liaising with the

Government.

Government.

A main road in Derby

was closed for four hours this

morning following a serious crash.

It happened on Warwick Avenue

in Littleover, at the Manor Road

junction, at around six fifteen.

Three cars were involved.

Amazingly, two people escaped

with non life-threatening injuries.

Police are appealing for witnesses.

Plans to build a series

of massive warehouses on a business

park in South Leicestershire

are being discussed tonight.

Two developers have submitted

proposals which would see Magna Park

near Lutterworth double in size.

But campaigners say the site's

already big enough.

Giles Taylor reports.

Along the busy A five in

Leicestershire it

sets Magna Park. New plans have been

submitted for expansion. Residents

are unhappy.

It means we will lose

about 800 acres of farmland and

those will be covered in the large

warehouses that will be much higher

than the existing warehouses on

Magna Park. It means they will bring

additional traffic, not just HG

views, but lots of commuter Tracker.

The proposals are into sections of

the northern side. Builders say if

approved, it will bring thousands

more jobs to the area, but for those

living in the nearby villages, it is

a step too far.

We are going to be

covered and overrun with warehousing

and I reckon we are going to have a

surplus.

There is so much interest

in tonight 's meeting that the

council has hired out an aircraft

hangar to host it. Meanwhile, they

and the developers have told us they

will not be commenting until its

conclusion. In the last few minutes,

one of the two developers have

issued a statement saying it will

continue to work with the local

community to mitigate any effects.

It's known for its bustling market

and history, but Newark and the

surrounding area is now winning

praise for growth and innovation.

The local authority has been

nominated for Council of the Year

for investing in a number of

projects including the brand-new

£7 million council

house in the town.

A place of growth

and a place of development -

two of the reasons a Nottinghamshire

local authority has been nominated

for the title Council of the Year.

Newark and Sherwood District

Council's invested heavily

in the town centre and,

it appears to be paying dividends.

Geeta Pendse is in Newark Market

place and can tell us more.

Good afternoon, Geeta.

The local Government Chronicle

awards are a bit like the Oscars for

local authorities and network and

District Council have been nominated

in arguably the most prestigious

category which is council of the

year. What have they done to deserve

this nomination? -- Newark.

It's known for its bustling market

and history, but Newark and the

surrounding area is now winning

praise for growth and innovation.

The local authority has been

nominated for Council of the Year

for investing in a number of

projects including the brand-new

£7 million council

house in the town.

Very significant change.

Previously, we were three

miles out of work in a

very old, grade one listed building,

a completely different environment

for the staff to work in.

But it's part of our

overall investment in

the district.

Over the last three years,

we have invested in a new

leisure centre, in the National

Civil War Centre, and all of those

activities - our investment

in the community, investment

in the economy of the community,

are designed

to save money for our

council taxpayers.

And it seems the business committee

has noticed a change, too.

I just see that the town is getting

more and more vibrant all the time.

There are more and more events

happening, more initiatives coming

from the council about how can

we encourage visitors

to come into the town?

And how can we make the town

that the best it possibly can?

And all those opportunities then

transfer into good business.

The council will find

out next year if

they've convinced judges at the

local Government Chronicle awards

that they are the best

in the country.

Now, it's time to take

a look at today's weather forecast.

Now, it's time to take

a look at today's weather forecast.

Alex, how's it looking?

It's looking quite cloudy this

afternoon, but very time this

morning we had bright blue skies,

but that cloud is already starting

to increase. Breezy and the Isa

buyers packed tightly together, but

drifting further apart is go through

this afternoon. -- isobars. Just the

odd patches of showers this

afternoon, but mostly dry and highs

around ten is obvious. Overnight

tonight, conditions continuing. --

10 Celsius. 0 Celsius in rural

spots. Frost particularly in the

countryside. Lows of three or 4-mac

Celsius in towns and cities.

Tomorrow, starting bright but a few

are out and about in the sunshine,

make sure you wrap up warm. I will

leave you with the outlook. Not

looking to that of the because of

the weekend, some showers, sunshine

and quite chilly, so do make sure

you wrap up warm.

That's all from your lunchtime team.

Anne and Dominic will be back

with East Midlands Today at 6:30pm.

Goodbye.