22/12/2016 London News

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me,

A rising football star whose career was wrecked after he was allegedly

abused at two London football clubs speaks out.

It comes as other former players raise concerns at the pace

of the police investigation into the football abuse scandal.

The train operators with the worst performance in a decade.

The Mayor says they're failing passengers.

And I'll be looking ahead to the Christmas commuter shutdown -

I'll have the details you need to know if you're

Plus the Surrey Wildlife Park helping hedgehogs

And a taste of Christmas past - ever wondered how some

Welcome to BBC London News with me, Riz Lateef.

First tonight - a rising football star whose future in the game

was wrecked by the trauma of alleged abuse at two London clubs

Paul Collins buried his medals to shut out painful memories.

He was just 12 when he was targeted by paedophile coach Eddie Heath -

But now, as other players have come forward,

Playing football was Paul Collins's cream, a dream he says was shattered

by the abuse he suffered at the abuse of talent scout Eddie Heath

while he was a teenager athletic. He would slap your leg, you played well

today, but he moved his hand to the top of my thigh and a squeeze me.

His hand went much deeper than it should have done, but I would just

normally go quiet, looked to my left and look to see if the player was

looking. Nine out of ten times, I felt as if they knew and were

looking out of the window quiet. You just carry on as normal, as if

nothing had happened. He says the abuse went on for years. We would go

into a little room if I got cramp, he would rub you down. He would make

sure he rubs you down quite high. He would get aroused of robbing you,

and you could tell he would get aroused. There was times I lay there

in hopes on a knock on the dole. He has locked his mettle in the garage.

Three decades later, he wants to look at them now and show his wife.

I feel proud. You should be proud. Such a long time. I knew this moment

would come eventually. I feel very hurt. It feels good to see them

again. It's been a long time. Oh. Since last month when other former

players came forward saying how they were abused as children, the NSPCC

has received more than 1700 calls. Paul has kept the memories about

what happened to him locked up here in a garage where he grew up more

than 30 years ago. He believes his story like many others may well be

just the tip of the iceberg. This isn't just a football problem. These

people, these paedophiles, will always grab the tide towards

situations where they can get access to young people.

-- gravitate towards. I wouldn't be surprised as we do see as the story

evolves over the weeks and months to come, that there will be other

sports and areas of society that will similarly have these problems

coming to light. In a statement to us, Charlton athletic say there is

an internal investigation underway at the club and they are taking the

matter seriously working alongside the police. Everything comes out in

the end. If you would have stopped that in the beginning, someone like

me and hundreds of others would never have gone through, because he

would have been stopped. Eddie Heath would have been penalised 40 had

done, and imprisoned, dubbed the one have been hurt. The investigation

continues, said by some to be the biggest in history.

Well Emma North is here now - because you've been looking

What's the latest on other clubs implicated in the abuse scandal?

In addition to what happened to Paul Collins, Eddie's name has come up

again and again in the context of goes against -- bees against

players. Gary Johnson, Chelsea youth player, was one of the first victims

to come forward. He has now died. Last year, Chelsea paid Gary Johnson

?50,000 compensation, but told him not to go public. Eddie Heath was

also at Leyton Orient in the 1950s and 60s, where there are also been

allegations. Chelsea also had links to a convicted paedophile who was a

scout at the pub. -- at the club. Crystal Palace and Millwall say they

have no trace or contact of him, despite him saying he had links to

them. They are investigated all allegations against him. A third

name has been linked to abuse in London, QPR's scout until his death

in 2000 and talk... 2002. It is found that he was allowed to go back

to work for QPR after an investigation into allegations of

abuse. Concerns raised today by another former player about the pace

of the police investigation. This whole thing that has snowballed in

the media was started by one man, Andy Woodward, a former youth player

at Crewe. He has let all these people making all of these claims,

all these investigations to come forward. Today, he said five weeks

after he first went public, the police haven't even asked him for a

statement. He says this hurts. He needs to let go of that pain still

waiting, has kept quiet about it. The Met police say 30 clubs are

participating in an investigation, and the National police chief

Counsel says they are trying to deal with the claims as swiftly as they

can, but they're getting more calls than expected which is what is

leading to delays. Thank you very much.

I'm in a pub in the middle of the Buckinghamshire countryside. Find

out why this is a must visit spot for the Chinese, who have also

decided to buy it. It may come as no surprise to

passengers who have endured much of disruption on Southern Railway and

Thameslink that the company who runs them has recorded its worst

punctuality figures in more than a decade.

Laura-Jane Silverman, a mother from St Albans,

Like most parents, time with her children is precious to Nora Jane.

She has a demanding job as a careers consultant in London, and relies on

Thameslink trains to get him to St Albans in time to put the children

to bed -- to Laura Jane. Great and reliability on trains means that is

increasingly hard. If you know you're going to be late, I have to

call my parents to add them to get across town during rush hour to take

over the nanny has to get home to her children. And we are paying

extra for childcare in terms of extra time, and taxis. What usually

is ready a really expensive journey becomes a journey that is just not

worth making, because you are working at a loss at the end of the

month. It's now not a feeling of frustration or anger, it is just

complete powerlessness. What do we want? Trains on time. Last week, she

organised a protest against Thameslink at St Albans Station.

Like many, she pays nearly ?4000 a year. Standard servers. Her campaign

group's now calling for compensation. -- a year for

substandard service. Analysis released today by London's mayor

Sadiq Khan's office found that between the 13th of November and the

10th of September this year, only 62% of -- trains were on time. That

is the worst performance by any rail country in the country. Southern

services were the worst, with just 57% of trains on time. Thameslink's

it was just over 60%. Nobody from Govia was available. The process has

been blamed on strikes, London Bridge development and signal

failures. Transport for London and the May have put together a strong

business case to take over those suburban Southern and railway lines

and run them much more tightly. On top of worsening services, Govia's

commuters raise average fare rises of nearly 2% in the new year, which

they say is adding insult to injury and should be scrapped.

Well unfortunately delays aren't the only issue

for commuters this Christmas - with even more rail closures

Marc Ashdown, who's at Paddington for us -

He Southern railways continue as you heard. Pretty much whether you're

travelling from throughout this festive period, you can expect

disruption. At Paddington tomorrow things will grind to a halt.

There'll be no trains from Christmas Eve all the way through until the

29th of December. Things are shutting down for six days due to

Crossrail works. Services will start instead at Ealing Broadway. At

Liverpool Street, no trains on the great Eastern line from Christmas

Eve until the 2nd of January. Trains will start at Ingatestone autumn

instead. West Anglia trains are not affected. Timetable changes between

Christmas Eve and the 27th of December at Charing Cross. If you

are planning to travel through Waterloo, there are various line

closures. Timetables will be affected over the festive period.

Expect disruption wherever you are travelling from. Add to that a tube

strike in the New Year? That's right. London Underground workers

announced this afternoon they will be walking out for a 24-hour strike

in the New Year over a long-running dispute over jobs and ticket office

closures. That strike is due to happen at 6pm on the 8th of January.

It involves both the unions, RMT and TSSA, so thousands of workers

involved. One glimmer of good news, there was due to be a driver's

strike on the Central line on Christmas Eve, which has this

afternoon been expanded. If you're travelling over the festive period,

it will be very difficult to -- has been suspended. You're likely to

face disruption, so the advice is to check before you travel and keep on

top of things with the BBC London travel team, who will have regular

updates on our radio station and the website as well. Thank you very

much, the latest from Paddington. So exasperated commuters,

packed and delayed trains, and Britain's worst strike in 20

years - has meant misery Well, BBC London is hosting

a special Question Time style debate about the ongoing crisis

on Southern's rail services on Sunday the 8th of January

and we'd like to hear from you. If you live or work

in London or the South East and want to be in the audience,

please send an email to bbc rail you've been affected -

and you could be Just seven months ago,

he led Crystal Palace out at Wembley for their first FA Cup final for 26

years, but today Alan Pardew Chris, is it fair to say

the pressure had been It certainly had. The run to the FA

Cup final where they lost to Manchester United after extra time

couldn't mask what has been a dreadful year in the league. They

have only one in six league games in 2016, most recently only one of

their last 11. On Saturday the loss to Chelsea, which left them just a

point above the relegation zone. It is Premier League results on which

all managers are judged these days. No one can afford relegation from

the Premier League. He was popular when he was appointed two years ago,

who is appointed by the chairman, he is still chairman that has left

power after American investors bought the club. Alan Pardew's

position has been in doubt ever since the Americans arrived. It was

today said that it wasn't only the Americans wanting to leave, but it

was time to leave. Pardew said he was sad his time had ended and that

he hopes his special bond with the club hasn't been affected.

Indications as to who will replace him? People are already in

speculation is mounting that Sam Allardyce will be the first choice.

He was sacked by England in September after just one game in

charge after newspaper exposed him apparently advising agents how to

get around FA rules on player signings. He is a favourite, a

specialist in keeping clubs up. Chris Coleman, Wales manager and

former Palace packed and has also been linked with the job, but it

looks like Sam Allardyce is the man that they wanted the diverse --

Palace captain. Thank you very much. I'll be finding out

how you can help these guys survive the winter

in We take a journey through time

exploring 400 years of seasonal traditions in English

homes, with a visit to a perennial favourite

for Londoners, the Christmas Past

exhibition here at the Geffrye When the Chinese President

visited Britain last year - our then Prime Minister,

David Cameron took him out Well the pub they visited

in Buckinghamshire, has since become a hot favourite

with Chinese tourists. So much so that a Chinese

businessman has not only bought the pub, but wants to recreate

it across China. Let's join Asad Ahmad who's

at The Plough in Cadsden. It's nice out here, but come inside,

because it's a bit chilly. Have a look at what the fuss is about here

at The Plough in Cadsden. If this is where Chinese tourists are coming.

This is where they have put on the map when I come to London. They take

half a day to come out here to the Buckinghamshire countryside to enjoy

this traditional English pub. It's beautiful in here, lovely lighting.

It goes back hundreds of years. Like you say, the reason they come here

is one of that. It's because of this, this picture. This picture of

David Cameron having a drink with the Chinese premier and enjoying

fish and chips afterwards. They actually sat at this table

afterwards in order to enjoy their fish and chips. Speak now to the

proprietor here. What an odd thing to do. As lovely as this pub is,

they come here just because the Chinese premier came here. It's not

so odd. If you have three English guys having a drink, they go to a

Chinese. You'll have three Chinese guys offer a drink and they'll go,

let's go for an English. It's not that different, is it? Only say that

Chinese tourists are coming here, how many upcoming? Yesterday, how

many came? 58. What are they ordering? They want fish and chips

and the same drink that the president drank, IPA. You have been

taken on, a Chinese member of staff, to deal with the Chinese tourists.

Are you surprised at how many upcoming? Actually, there are more

and more Chinese tourists coming here. They want to try what our

president tried. He's a bit of a pop star, isn't he? Everyone likes him,

really popular. Difficult for us to comprehend, but that is what is

going on. Let's hear from the businessmen who is buying the pub,

where he wanted to put it on his list.

There is no concept like the British pub in China at the moment.

For example, people could drink, having

brunch and also a afternoon teaor talk about business, watching

football and drink until late evening.

That's why we think there's huge opportunities in China like that.

Let's speak to some locals. Andrew, you have been coming here for years.

Are you surprised? It's very surprising, but ever since the

Chinese president came we have been stunned by the number of Chinese

people coming here. They seem to think it brings them luck in their,

they are very suspicious people -- superstitious people, nice people,

coming here regularly. Mick, DC many Chinese tourists here before? Not

really. -- DDC? Hopefully the pub will stay the same, because it's

nice that the locals can come in here after work, and come and have a

drink and hopefully it stays the same. It is a lovely atmosphere in

here this evening. If I get the camera to spin around here, you'll

see another spot watch Chinese tourists want a picture taken

exactly where I'm standing, because of that picture. That is exactly

where the Chinese premier stood, and they want to do everything he did in

this pub. It's very odd, but there you are. Back to you. Of course they

did! Thank you very much indeed. Seeing a hedgehog in the capital

can be a rarity today - as numbers of hedgehogs

continue to decline. Rescue centres are warning that many

newly born hoglets are too small Caroline Davies reports

from one of Europe's I'm here in the Wildlife Aid

Foundation in Leatherhead with some Quite a few of these have

been brought in this year to this centre

because of the mild winter. If we go through here,

we can see a few more. There have been around

200 hedgehogs that have Simon is the one

who runs the centre. Simon, why is it

important to keep these Basically, their population has

dropped so much since the 1950s, from 30 million

down to 1 million. So they need all the

protection they can get. They've got to be

our most iconic, and These two are pretty

different sizes, but shouldn't they both be

in hibernation at the moment? He is about 1100 g, but he's been

on medication, so he could be hibernating, that

would be no problem. He would not make it

through the winter. He would go into hibernation,

but he'd never come out the other side because he's got not

enough body fat on him. So that's the sort

of size comparison. He will grow into that

by next spring with a So other than these hedgehogs,

why has the decline been But it's all sorts of

factors within that. It's loss of hedgerows,

it's more use of pesticides and It's use of slug pellets, you know,

to stop bugs and things. More cars, more roads,

everything added together and a hedgehog population

is absolutely plummeting. So you've got quite a few

hedgehogs here at the moment. So, is this your normal amount

here at this time of year? And I think really because

the winter has been not It's been a mild autumn,

people have been out in their gardens more so they're seeing

them and managing to pick them up. So it's good for the hedgehogs

that they're brought in. But it causes us

an awful lot of work. And I can see there's

an awful lot of newspaper that's been involved

in keeping them warm. But you have a problem

with that at the moment. Normally we have loads of newspapers

and each of these cages will use about half

a newspaper at least a day. And with all the hedgehogs we've

got in, that's about 40 or 50 newspapers

a day in total we need. So we're doing a big appeal,

asking people to ring us up and if they've got

newspapers let us know. But we're desperate

for newspaper at the moment, and obviously

desperate for their food, because they eat their way

through 15,000 cans of cat food If you have some

leftover newspapers and you want to save the hedgehog,

give these guys a call. So if you hang stockings,

send Christmas cards or even kiss under the mistletoe,

the museum can tell you when and why Each year, the Geffrye

in Shoreditch, recreates Our Arts Correspondent

Brenda Emmanus has been The decorations, the food,

the communion of family and friends. It's all part of our festive

tradition, and for a quarter of a century, in east London's Geffrye

Museum has offered an insight into how we celebrated over

the last 400 years. You start it in the 1630s,

why is that significant? This time is when kind

of the middle classes, the middling sort of as we know

at the time really coming to kind It's a really interesting

time because at this stage, this dinner that we see

here hasn't changed very much since So we've got lots of

kind of sweet food. Sugar at the time would have

been a real luxury, so they're showing off that they can

kind of display all their wealth. Christmas Past is an annual festive

exhibition which allows us to step back through the centuries

and discover how the popularity of Christmas has waxed

and waned over time. So we're back to grandeur

and opulence in this 18th-century We have the main centrepiece

in this room is this As you can see, it's

very decorative. It would have been decorated

with kind of icing sugar. Some cakes they'd

have used green food colouring, and it would

have contained arsenic. So you'd have some people

getting quite sick from But luckily, our cake is pink,

so we don't have any This would have come as part

of the big 12th night celebrations, so it would have been

eating the cake and people will have You have shopkeepers displaying

these beautiful cakes and people being so absorbed

looking at the displays. Through 11 period living rooms,

Christmas past brings to life the origins and meanings of many

traditions, from feasting and kissing under the mistletoe,

to sending cards and parlour games. This is our Victorian room,

and as you can see, it's kind of so There's a bit of a misconception

that the Victorians Although they did kind

of revive lots of customs, quite a lot of what they popularised

lots of things that had been I think for the Victorians,

it's all about children. For the first time, we have

some toys in our room. So these are some lovely

wooden toys here. But they all have a kind

of moral message. So you have a cathedral building

blocks, or Noah's ark. So it's all about learning

or a religious message. How much has Christmas

evolved by then? Lots of the traditions

we see in this room have I think a of things

will be the same, but I Looking forward,

I think there's a real concern about living green and kind

of looking at the environment. Things may have changed over time,

but this exhibition has been an essential part of the Christmas

tradition here in the capital Let's get a check on the weather

shall we - John Hammond Dreams of a white Christmas are

fading. Another one bites the dust. In fact, it will be remarkably mild

on Christmas Day. Beautiful shots taken earlier this afternoon in

Clapham. Red sky at night, doesn't necessarily mean a fine day

tomorrow. We have Barbara looming out in the Atlantic. That is

whistling towards us. Towards the more northern part of UK, we will

just get a glancing blow, no great dramas. There are some rain and wind

forecast. Relatively quiet overnight tonight. Last night, we saw quite a

lot of fog forming. There will be a few patches of fog later on, but not

as dense or widespread as we saw last night. Quite chilly, you might

have do scrape the windscreen tomorrow morning if you're on the

move. It looks like being a fine and bright start to the day. Plenty of

sunshine up there. For the most part, it will stay dry for the bulk

of the day, but as Barbara approaches, we will see an increase

in cloud and wind, and eventually some rain knocking on the door by

the end of the afternoon. Ahead of that, after that chilly start,

temperatures will pick up into double

figures, so a relatively mild day. Where is his entree, it should feel

quite pleasant. We'll see a splash during tomorrow evening. Heavy rain

for a time, and gusty winds. That'll clear, and Christmas evil start on a

dry, bright note. Another winner system looming in the Atlantic, but

ahead of that run of westerly bright and breezy. On Christmas Eve, if you

have last-minute shopping today, though I will not -- Christmas Eve

will start. It won't be terribly cold out there, temperatures should

get into double figures. Maybe a bit cooler than that in one or two

places in the breeze, perhaps not feeling all that one. Looking to

Christmas Day, another weather system carpet ahead of that really

one hour. No sign of slow, but temperatures in the mid-teens. That

is one. German police say they now believe

it's likely their main suspect, Anis Amri, did drive the lorry that

ploughed through a Christmas market on Monday killing twelve

and injuring 49 people. A former youth player has spoken out

allegations of abuse at two Paul Collins says he was targeted

by the paedophile coach Eddie Heath. That's it for now, we'll be back

later during the 10pm news. From me and all the team here -

do have a lovely evening.