06/04/2017 London News

On the programme tonight. and on BBC One we now join the BBC's

The battle to prevent another Dale Farm, after travellers move

in and build more illegal camps on the green belt.

They say they have nowhere to go, but local residents

Could help be on the way for diesel drivers, after being encouraged

I thought they were better for the environment,

and we were led to believe by the previous Mayor that diesel

Plus, the unlikely rise to prominence for a Romford jockey,

who's tipped to win the Grand National.

I'm just excited to be riding such a good horse, in such a big race.

What's this about? Something deeply shocking...

And, we hear from the stars of a new Brit-flick,

adapted from one of the London's most popular novels.

Good evening and welcome to BBC London News with me, Louisa Preston.

First tonight, the battle to stop another two illegal

Six years ago, it cost Basildon Council millions of pounds

to evict people from parts of Dale Farm.

Now there is a new legal fight, less than two miles away.

The authority is going back to the High Court to try

The Travellers say they have nowhere else to go.

Green belt land in Basildon, which the council says should

Last month, people living nearby on Hovefields Avenue

Tarmac was laid, and mobile homes appeared.

That's despite an injunction by the High Court back in October,

banning any further development on two specific sites.

If you develop an area, you have to have infrastructure,

The council has to agree, you cannot just set up,

be it a caravan, a house, a bungalow, just where you think

you will, because you have decided to develop.

It matters not that they are Travellers, it's just an individual

or a group of people cannot develop illegally.

Basildon Council is now taking legal action.

On this one, we've had injunctions down for a number of months now

which have been breached, and that is a criminal offence.

The unauthorised development is just three miles away

from the Dale Farm Travellers site in Wickford.

There are two separately-owned pieces of land in question,

one is west of Hovefields Avenue, the other is known as

And, if nothing's done, some people fear a repeat of this,

the chaotic clearance in 2011 of the part of Dale Farm that had

been illegally occupied and developed by Travellers

80 families were evicted from unlawful plots,

the process costing Basildon Council more than ?4 million.

Six years on, and Dale Farm, to the right of the existing legal

site, is slowly returning to green belt.

But those who work with Travellers say there aren't

People have to exist, and they have to have a place to live.

They can buy their own property, they can put in for planning

permission, but sometimes that takes years to go through.

And in the meantime, 99.9% of Gypsy and Traveller

Lawyers for Basildon Council will come here to the High Court

tomorrow to ask for an order giving them permission to go onto the land

west of Hovefields Avenue, to undo some of the recent

developments, and restore the site to how it was in October

when the injunction banning further development was issued.

Although, it could be just the start of a long

Still to come this evening, as the tall ships return to Greenwich, we

meet some of the new crew learning the ropes, quite literally. And a

new squatter has moved into Eltham Palace. It's munching on the

exhibits. Find out who the pest is, later in the programme.

We all know that diesel car drivers in London could soon have to pay

a so-called "toxin tax", but is it fair?

Many of us were encouraged to buy diesel cars, with tax

Now the Mayor has written to the Prime Minister to ask

for help for those motorists, but should City Hall be doing more?

Do you own a diesel car? Many Londoners do. But the mayor wants to

make it more difficult to drive them through the city. He says is our

toxic air leaves him no choice. But it's not welcome news to drivers

like Saffy crew who has just bought a diesel car. I went diesel because

of economic reasons because it's good on petrol. They tend to do more

miles than a petrol car. I thought they were better for the

environment. We were led to believe that diesel was the way forward and

many people still think this. It was a bit of a shock, really. The

mayor's plans include the need to charge, drivers of the worst

polluting cars would pay an extra ?10 in the Congestion Zone. Today he

wrote for the Prime Minister calling for the government to set up a

diesel scrappage scheme. He suggested fans and many ...

The mayor recognises he's in a difficult position. On the one hand

he says it is vital to clean up the capital's air. On the other, he is

under pressure not unfairly penalised London's drivers. Who were

once encouraged by diesel cars. And encouraged by the mayor's own party.

It was a Labour government who love the tax diesel at a time many

believed it was green. I think it's a good thing for politicians to

politicians to listen to experts. I don't apologise for listening to

experts. Now the experts say that diesel is responsible for a lot of

the air pollution we suffer from. I don't want to leave families worse

off, I don't want to leave businesses and charities. I'm

saying, the government has got to step up and help. But are worried

whether they will get the help they need. Most car that this dealership

in Willesden diesel, because they say that's what most customers still

want. My concern is for the long term. At the moment a lot of our

vehicles are diesel. Obviously Sadiq Khan is looking at a scrappage

scheme and it'll affect us in the long run because we could have

diesel vehicles we can't sell and customers who are very concerned.

The mayor agrees the message to consumers must be clear but says it

is now over to the government to play its part. He wants drivers

discouraged from using diesel but not punished for buying a car in

good faith. Karl, the Mayor's asking

for the government's help, Let's face it, he's put it at the

top of his agenda. He campaigned on this and said he'll clean up their

pollution. Why is he so keen? It's what he promised to do. He also

believes it's the right thing. There's also that issue about how it

plays in the polls. Privately they've done polling and it works

well but he needs the government to step up as well. In February the

Department for Transport was talking to the Treasury trying to sort out

some details of the scheme where people would get money back if they

traded in their more polluting cars. The Prime Minister hinted they were

thinking of it but she said that we don't want to punish people who we

encouraged back in the data by these cars, they bought them in good

faith, we shouldn't be punishing them. It looks like the government

are moving towards it, no yet of what that will be. Thank you.

Police investigating a sex attack in South London have

released footage of a man they want to speak to.

A woman in her 20s was dragged to the floor on Binfield Road

It happened in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Police are asking anyone who recognises the man to come forward.

The victim doesn't know the suspect, she had had no

He approached her in the street, and dragged her from one side

There will be extra patrols in the area,

we've released the CCTV, and we urge the public to come

forward if they think they know that male.

A woman from St Albans, accused of knocking down and killing

a 70-year-old cyclist, has been cleared

Michael Mason was knocked off his bike on Regent Street,

and died three weeks later from a brain injury.

The case, brought by a cycling charity, is believed to be

the first to be paid for through crowd funding.

And the Prime Minister has used the launch of her party's local

election campaign to attack Labour for its handling of the Ken

Theresa May said the Jewish community had been betrayed

A Labour Party, which just this week revealed the depths

to which it has now sunk, betraying the Jewish community

in our country by letting Ken Livingstone off the hook.

It could not be clearer that the Labour Party is now a long

way away from the common centre ground of British politics today.

Kurdish leaders in South London say refugees need to be treated

It comes after an attack on a 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian

asylum seeker, who was severely beaten at a bus stop in Croydon.

Members of his community have been visiting him in hospital,

and Emma North has been speaking to one of them, to find out how

With a broken spine, fractured eye socket

and a bleed on his brain, Reker Ahmed had trouble recognising

But when he did, he told them what was going through his mind

He thought he was really going to die.

That's what he said, he thought he is gone.

You could see from his face when he was trying to move,

that he was in quite a bit of pain and agony.

His left eye, he couldn't quite open it, it was black and blue.

The 17-year-old had been settling well into his local community.

He had fled the regime in Iran last year.

What is it that drove Reker to the UK?

There's a huge repression and oppression against

So he fled from the persecutions and oppression over there,

He's been living there, and for something like this

to happen to a refugee who has gone through so much suffering

13 people have been charged in connection

The teenager was beaten and kicked by a gang as he waited

Since then, more than ?50,000 has been raised to help him.

When I actually conveyed the message to say that the British people

were well behind him, that they were totally

against this attack, it put a big smile on his face,

and he actually lifted his hand and put it on his

So he did really appreciate that, and that was something I think that

I hope that he's going to make a steady recovery, and this will not

cause him any further complications as a result of this attack.

But nevertheless, I think this will stay with him

You could see from the extent of the injuries to his face

and body, he will never forget about this attack.

I'm on the red carpet for a film set entirely in parts of London you will

definitely recognise, talking to the stars Charlotte Rampling and Jim

Broadbent. I'm on board a tall ship to find out why two trainee plumbers

are learning the ropes instead of just fixing leaks.

The Grand National takes place at Aintree this weekend,

and a leading contender to win the great race is 33-year-old

It's an unlikely rise to prominence for the jockey.

He was born and raised in Romford, but didn't start

Chris Slegg has been to Yorkshire to meet him and Definitly Red,

the horse he hopes to ride to glory on.

Spring cottage stables in North Yorkshire. This is where Danny Cook

is preparing for Saturday's Grand National. Biggest day of your life?

It will be if he wins. It's one I'm really looking forward to. It's a

world away from where he grew up in Romford. All my friends and family

are either landscape gardeners, my brother Tony, my cousin Craig and my

mates are all landscape gardeners, window cleaners or electricians,

builders. They are all in that trade. Obviously an Essex there's

plenty of houses to work on. If you're trying to make a life as a

jockey in Essex you would struggle. This is Danny's horse, Definitly

Red. Today priced as 10-1 joint favourite. How have you ended up on

the joint favourite for the National? More luck than judgment.

He went and bolted up at Doncaster and then obviously he's been well

backed since then. We always knew all season he's been well

handicapped, his form last year was very good. He's just got better and

better each run. How does this make you feel, it's a lot of pressure on

you to find yourself on the joint favourite for the National. Yeah, it

does. Again, it's the build-up, it puts pressure on things. When I get

out there and get on the horse, it's all forgotten about and we are just

riding the horse and jumping the jumps. It's quite a turnaround for a

man who missed a year of racing with a broken leg and served a six-month

ban after testing positive for cocaine in 2015. How difficult has

it been to overcome but? It's been really tough. Obviously a lot of it

was my own doing and having the injuries and stuff. It's tough but

I've had a lot of support. What sort of emotions with your family be

going through on Saturday? I think they will be apprehensive, nervous,

excited. Pretty much the same as I would be on the horse. They are all

really proud and looking forward to watching the big race. Danny Cook

has cleared many hurdles already, now to see if Definitly Red can

carry him over Aintree's famous 30 fences.

Now for years, clothes moths have waged war on our wardrobes,

feasting on our favourite frocks and jumpers, but now they also pose

a threat to the very fabric of fine furnishings in some

Our reporter Alpa Patel is at Eltham Palace

Welcome to Eltham Palace, which dates to the medieval age. It's also

home to this magnificent ceiling, and lots of interesting exhibits and

fabrics, as you can see. Lots of rugs and carpets. But a squatter has

moved in and it's causing lots of damage here. It's the clothes moth.

Last year the clothes moth actually tripled in number. One woman who

knows all about this infestation is Rebecca Bennett. Why have we seen

this increase in the clothes moth here? We think it's a combination of

factors including temperatures rising in our homes and also

outside. Also the fact pesticides are less toxic these days, which is

good for humans but means the moths aren't eradicated as effectively any

more. If we go over to this table we can have a look at this Victorian

gun case where the moths have been munching away. Give us a

demonstration. I'm pleased to say this is historic damage. If I lift

the lid you can see that the Phelps has been well and truly decimated.

-- the felt has been well and truly decimated. This is the type of

damage that can be done. It's not actually be moth doing the damage,

it's the larvae. The eggs are laid within the fabrics and they borrowed

their way out, eating as they go. That's the problem, it's the larvae.

If you were to leave this infestation what would happen to

Eltham Palace? Within 12 months we would see decimation of the

collection at that kind of scale. It's a really important programme of

housekeeping and monitoring. You are actually having a good old fight of

the clothes moths. We are, the properties are now just fully

reopened. English Heritage across London and across England as well.

Over the winter we've been fighting them. We do this every year and it's

a very deep winter clean, we remove all the objects, clean underneath

them, check them and put them back so we know we have no damage. We

also use traps to get a sense of the scale of the problem. You've got

something you want the public's help with. Absolutely. Today we are

launching operation clothes moth. We would like the public to come to our

sites, pick up a free trap. Ten sites across London have the traps

available. Come along, pick one up, put it in your home and go to the

website to find out exactly how you can help us map the problem.

Rebecca, thank you for being with us. Did you know that one moth can

lay up to 300 eggs over three weeks. I was speaking to one pest control

company who said they'd seen an increase in call-outs in homes. If

you find a hole in your clothes or carpet, it's very likely you have an

infestation. You may know it as the award

winning novel by London author Julian Barnes,

but now "The Sense of an Ending" The brit-flick has been shot

entirely here in the capital, and has an exceptional

home grown cast. Wendy Hurrell has been

talking to them, but first This is my story. I'm divorced, very

happily so. My daughter is choosing to have a child on her own. Then one

day... Dear Tony, I think you should have the attached. Perhaps you will

find it is an interesting if painful memento... We have acting pedigree

on the red carpet. Good evening to Charlotte Rampling, Jim Broadbent. I

think between you you've acted in something like 250 films. That's

what my research says! Have you been in a film together? I know you've

done a TV drama, have you been in a film together before? I don't think

so. This is a grand premiere. First time we are together. But we aren't

really! We hardly were in the story. It's very intense moments between

you. You're not actually on-screen very much but great moments of

intensity. Tell me a bit about your characters. I play a chap called

Tony Webster who claims a happily divorced man. He gets a mysterious

legacy from his first girlfriend 's mother. Charlotte plays the first

girlfriend. So he doesn't know why he's been given this diary, or left

this diary, so he tries to find out what it's all about. It turns out

that she's withholding the diary. For me as a Londoner it was great to

watch because there's all these neighbourhoods I know so well. What

was it like filming on location in the capital? Lovely, Highgate,

Clapton, Hampstead. We had lots of running round. It was good, you can

get home at night. Isn't it wonderful to get home at night? For

a film people who go all over the place, it's a joy to work in a city

and use what is really beautiful about the city that you don't

necessarily come across all the time. We were going or later. Is

there a nostalgia at all, I know you live in Paris some of the time,

you're up in Lincolnshire. Is there nostalgia coming back to London or

is it just the city that keeps moving? It keeps moving and you have

to move along with it, you can't stop. London is lovely. It comes

over well, I think in the film. As you say, areas that you don't

normally see in films. Tufnell Park, Tufnell Park doesn't get into movies

enough I'm sure! I really enjoyed the film, I hope you enjoy your

evening. You can see the film on April 14.

With a week to go before dozens of tall ships grace Greenwich

for a regatta over the Easter weekend, a few lucky Londoners have

had the opportunity to learn the ropes, quite literally.

Gareth Furby has been to Woolwich Pier to meet some

of them, and find out what life is like on the water.

It's an event that has a distinguished history.

Some of them have already raced here from Plymouth.

Now they are waiting for the second of the two races...

And now that legacy continues on the Thames.

Today, more than 30 sail trainees gathered at Woolwich,

among them two trainee plumbers, Tom and Harry, from Bromley.

Finding learning the ropes very different to fixing the pipes.

Plumbing, you're in a building, fixing something.

Here, you're in the middle of nowhere, because you're in the sea.

So they could fix all the leaks, I don't know.

Well, he'll find out soon enough, during the two-week tall

The idea is that the sail trainees are people who benefit most

Nicola Staples is 52 years old, from Greenwich, and unemployed.

She hopes her life will change after this experience.

If I put this on my CV, I don't know how I can't get a job!

If I've been two weeks sailing to Portugal,

doing team-building, I've got a grandchild

He's into pirates, he thinks I'm going to be a pirate on the ship.

Greenwich Council is spending ?1 million bringing the tall ships

to London for this event, which runs over the Easter weekend.

One, we've invested in infrastructure.

We've got one of the largest waterfronts in London,

The last tall ship event in 2014, many of our local

The race starts soon after the ships leave London,

and then the trainees will get their first

It's been a lovely day, is it going to continue,

Yes, it's a stunning day today. We've got a few days of beautiful

weather on the way. I'll stand here and you can see the lovely flower!

Tomorrow we've got another sunny day, really beautiful weather on the

way. You can see cloudless skies across most of the South and the

south-east, I can't wait to finish my shift and enjoy the evening

sunshine. Tonight, not much happening on the weather front, like

twins. -- light winds. In rural areas first thing tomorrow morning

it could be quite nippy, it might even dipped down to 5 degrees.

Tomorrow a bit of cloud floating around here and there. Overall a

pleasant day. Temperature is modest, around 15 degrees. If you like it to

warm up, it is certainly warming up this weekend and quite significantly

as well. This weekend temperatures. Rising on Saturday. We could already

be approaching around about 20 Celsius in the city. We've already

had that so far this year. It won't be far off the 20 degrees mark. A

bit fresher outside of town and the coast, by the time we get to Sunday

we could see temperatures up to 23 degrees! That is well into the 70s.

This is more like a June temperature. Gorgeous weather on the

way. The pollen level is high over the next few days. One thing I want

to point out, the sun is very strong. We aren't used the strong

sun this time of the year. UV levels are high, not spectacular but enough

to burn if you are sunbathing this weekend. Be very careful. On Monday,

it cools down. I think the weather is behaving for once this weekend.

A father who refused to pay a fine after taking his daughter out

of school for an unauthorised holiday has lost his case

A previous hearing had ruled that a holiday wasn't

regular absenteeism, but today that judgment

Syria's Foreign Minister has denied the government was behind a chemical

attack on the rebel-held town of Idlib.

More than 70 people are reported to have died

Labour has pledged to provide a free school meals for very primary

pupil in England if the party wins the next election.

It says it would charge VAT on private school

A legal attempt to stop the building of more illegal travellers sites

The camps are less than two miles from Dale Farm,

which was cost millions of pounds to clear six years ago.

And the Mayor has called the Prime Minister to introduce

a scrappage scheme to help families get rid of their diesel cars.

That's it, I'll be back later during the 10 o'clock news,

but for now, from everyone on the team, have a lovely evening.

Stacey and Chris are preparing for marriage by spending

a few days living alone with their in-laws to be,

and asking them all kinds of questions.

Did you get a kiss on the first date? No.

What does their in-laws' marriage tell them about each other's

I expect you'll want to become a schoolmaster, sir.

That's what most of the gentlemen does that get sent down

for indecent behaviour. Evelyn Waugh's classic novel.

Have you ever been in love, Mr Pennyfeather? No, not yet.

The fire escape is very dangerous and never to be used.

I've got spit on them now, haven't I?

HORN BEEPS That car.