14/04/2017 London News

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Good evening and welcome to BBC London News.

I'm Alex Bushill.

Rail passengers travelling over Easter are being warned

to expect disruption.

Works will be taking place on a number of main lines in London

over the Bank Holiday.

With fewer people travelling over the Easter weekend,

Network Rail say it's the best time to do the work.

Paul Murphy-Kasp has the details.

The motorways are manic.

The terminals are teeming.

And for some, rail travel gets a whole lot harder.

Yes - it's Easter weekend.

Here at London Bridge, the multi-million pound

rebuilding works continue, but works are taking

place elsewhere too.

Great for passengers in the long term, but not so great

if you want to get somewhere.

Network Rail say the number of people using the trains over

Easter drops by half, so it's a great time

to get works done.

Here at Waterloo, they're taking full advantage of that drop

in passengers by upgrading the tracks and the signals,

in order to increase the number of trains.

But compared to some of the other stations,

Waterloo gets off quite lightly.

So what about the rest of the network here in London?

For the first half of the weekend there will be no trains

to Charing Cross or Cannon Street.

And for the second half, the line into Cannon Street stays closed.

At Liverpool Street, there will be a big reduction in trains,

so if you're travelling towards Norfolk or Suffolk

you'll need to factor in a tube or a bus journey.

Then on Easter Sunday, for one day only, Southern won't run

any trains from Victoria, and there will be no

Gatwick Express.

And what about TfL services?

Make sure you don't get caught out by works on the tube,

London Overground, DLR and TfL Rail.

At London Bridge, rail users have had four years of disruption caused

by the Thameslink programme.

That's finally due to be completed next summer.

We're very confident around the works we are doing

here and we are bang on programme for where we need

to be at this stage.

There will be some finishing off works beyond Christmas,

but we're looking for substantial completion by around May 2018.

Come Tuesday, lines will reopen, trains will run and commuters

will go on as normal.

But at London Bridge, the 24-hour operation continues.

There's still much more to do and more closures to come

if they're to have it all open on time next year.

Parents of children with severe special needs in East Surrey

are fighting plans to close a local respite care centre,

which provides short breaks close to home.

Beeches Respite Home in Reigate is due to close

at the end of the year, after the NHS withdrew funding.

But families say it's a vital service.

They've been speaking to Mark Norman.

We'll get some music.

James presents himself mentally at about 18 months old.

He's got limited mobility, hardly any speech or understanding.

When Paul found out that the local Beeches respite home was closing,

it left him deeply worried about his son's future.

Thank you, James, thank you.

What that's meant for us as a family, it's means we've

continued to be able to keep James with us at home.

It's really hard to cope, and without that respite

you wouldn't be able to cope.

We are hearing from families every day on our helpline about cuts

to their essential services, such as short breaks,

like the Beeches, and this is causing families a lot

of worry and stress.

But the trust which runs the respite care told us it had taken

the difficult decision not to tender for the new service.

It says it wasn't confident to provide a viable affordable

programme, and said it found other providers were better placed

to deliver social care services.

Despite her obvious abilities on a trampoline, seven-year-old

Livvy has a range of conditions that require both social

and nursing care.

And the other providers that were being offered to look around,

they may be suitable to a certain extent, but there's no nursing care

there, and that's a worry.

That's a big worry.

The parents also argue that respite care is more cost-effective

than putting their children in residential units.

That's an argument they've yet to win with the NHS.

Hillingdon Council says it will provide funding to challenge

a third runway at Heathrow for "however long it takes to win".

The leader made the pledge as a freedom of information request

showed it was one of four councils to spend a total of

?350,000 on legal fees to fight the third runway.

Arsene Wenger has dismissed speculation about his future

as Arsenal manager at a news conference this morning.

Wenger has come under pressure after a series of defeats.

He insists his relationship with the club's board has not changed.

His contract is up at the end of the season.

Thousands of people flocked to Trafalgar Square earlier today,

to watch a full-scale re-enactment of The Passion of Jesus.

It told the tale of Christ's betrayal by Judas and his trial

before Pontius Pilate.

Our reporter Emma North joined the Good Friday crowds.

As the rest of London went about its normal noisy business,

Trafalgar Square was transformed.

For the eighth year, the performance of The Passion of Christ is fast

becoming a London fixture on Good Friday.

It started so small and now it seems to have become an event.

I looked at Google Maps and there we were, the Passion

of Jesus popped up.

The base of Nelson's Column became the setting for the Last Supper.

The lions, the backdrop for Golgotha, the scene

of the crucifixion.

With a cast of around 100, the betrayal, crucifixion

and resurrection of Jesus was portrayed on a grand scale.

It's extraordinary.

It truly was.

There were emotions that were felt certainly amongst the actors

that we've never felt in the rehearsal room.

There was something quite special today.

Afterwards, a bit of a party atmosphere developed.

We'll come next year again.

To appreciate what Easter is about, because that is very much

getting lost, I feel now, with the commercial side

of things taking over.

All the costumes and the horses, the Romans, it was very spectacular

and moving and it brought the story for everybody out.

You could see the response of the audience.

Seeing everyone here of all faiths and all cultures

is awesome, it's great.

People could rub shoulders with the star of the show,

or even have a selfie with a disciple.

Bringing fresh meaning to the idea of spreading the word.

And now a look at the weather, with Sarah Keith-Lucas.

Good evening.

It's been a fairly cloudy Good Friday, as you can see

from this scene sent in by a Weather Watcher

in Dartford earlier in the day.

We will stick with fairly cloudy skies as we head

through this evening.

Overnight, a few splashes of rain likely.

We could do with a bit of rain for our gardens.

First thing Saturday morning, you could be left

with a light shower or two.

But quite a chilly, fresh start to the day.

The showers should clear away quickly.

Saturday is shaping up to be a fairly fine day.

A reasonably good amount of sunshine.

Temperatures 15 degrees or so - 10 degrees cooler than last weekend.

A fresh feel, but in the sunshine a fairly pleasant day.

Largely dry to start off Easter Day.

Later in the day, we'll see cloud increasing.

A few spots of showery rain possible later in the afternoon.

Temperatures on Sunday around 15 degrees.

Bye for now.

That's all for now.

I'll be back at 10:20pm with our late bulletin.

For now, have a lovely evening.