26/02/2014 Look East - East

soon. That is all from the BBC News at Six, goodbye from me. On BBC

In Look East tonight: two men are missing presumed dead after

apparently jumping off a ferry heading to Holland. We'll be live

with the coastguards who ran the massive search and rescue operation

without success. Also in the programme: the Tory MP

taking on the Treasury over Bingo. Robert Halfon says bingo halls are

paying too much in tax. An eye in the sky. How new

technology is helping the RSPB protect our wildlife.

And on a Norfolk beach, returned to the wild. The orphaned seal pups

heading for open sea. Good evening and welcome to Look

East live from the ops room at the Coastguard centre in

Walton`on`the`Naze in Essex. This morning two men thought to have been

deported from the UK jumped off a ferry heading from Harwich to the

Hook of Holland. That sparked a huge rescue effort, which was

co`ordinated from here. They called off the search at lunchtime. No`one

was found, We'll speak to the coastguard manager in a moment, but

first this report from Gareth George. Archie Turnbull is the

manager of the Coastguard Centre. On the water and in the air. A search

for two passengers seen jumping from a North Sea ferry. This is the ferry

that raised the alarm. The Stanek Britannica. Its sales the route

between Holland and Harwich. This is Harwich where the ferry set sale.

The ferry 's owners says it is believed to passengers jumped

overboard at 9:45am, three quarters of an hour into its voyage. It's

normal route takes it straight across the North Sea but today, he

joined the search for the missing passengers. The ferry turned back on

itself, looping around in circles. It finally had to continue to

Holland, delayed by 75 minutes. Meanwhile, a search and rescue

helicopter from RAF Wattisham was scrambled as lifeboats and Turks

from the port of Felixstowe headed for the area. When the guys first go

out there, it is all eyes looking in every possible direction, it is a

very co`ordinated effort. There is an awful of emotions running because

there are people in the water and we know what the potential outcome

could be. I believe some clothing was recovered but nothing has been

found. Nothing definitively tied into the people reported overboard.

When nothing is found and it is called off, there is a real sort of

down at that point. Earlier this comedy lifeboat returned to base.

The search was stood down after 1pm. It is understood the items of

clothing found with two leather jackets.

This is the man who coordinated the search today. The ferry left the

port of Felixstowe. It was a peer just before 10am. That is when we

got information that the two guys had jumped overboard. The

information changed. It had gone over ten minutes and then once the

captain on`board the vessel interviewed the wit is it then

transpired he jumped over near the beach end. `` the whip is.

What are their chances of swimming that? Unless they were really strong

swimmers, their chances of getting to the shore were pretty unlikely.

If they had jumped a little sooner? The tide would still have taken them

out of the port. How many vessels did you have in the search this

morning? We had a number of vessels. We had lifeboats, commercial

vessels, small fishing vessels as well. And all in all, we had 21

resources out today. That included the aircraft and the police

helicopter and also our own volunteer coastguards. If they had

been in the water, you would have seen them. I am pretty confident the

way that we saturated that area, from the air and the vessels, we

would have found them. It is a very tall ship. If someone jumps off

that, what are their chances of getting away from the boat? They

could easily get sucked into the propeller. If they jumped off the

stern, they could probably clear the ship. But you think it would be

difficult to reach the shore. I think it would be difficult the way

the tide is in a part of the coastline for them to reach the

shore. Fascinating. Thank you for telling us. We will be back here

with the latest information. Now back to the studio.

Other news now and dozens of people from this region have gathered in

London to protest on behalf of the bingo industry. They say it's unfair

that the game is taxed at 20%. The figure compares to 15% for

bookmakers and 12% for lottery tickets. Bingo is big business in

the East, with 13 bingo halls across Suffolk, Essex and Norfolk. In a

moment, I'll be speaking to Robert Halfon the MP backing the campaign.

But first this report from our political correspondent, Andrew

Sinclair. This is the Harlow bingo hall. It is

one of the most popular in the country with 54,000 members. Even on

a weekday night in February, there are around 100 people in. It is just

a night out, isn't it? Isn't it `` great. I have been coming up here

for years. You see other people that you know. But for us, it is at

social night out. According to the latest figures, there are 41 million

visits to bingo halls every year. Compared with 23 million visits to a

league foot or match. 19 million visits to a National trust property.

This is an industry in crisis. Membership is halved in the last

seven years. The smoking ban is partly to blame but also says the

industry is the high rate of tax. We are asking for the government to

level the playing field. We would like to build state`of`the`art

premises so that we can attract more numbers. Which is why bingo players

from Harlow joined others from around the region today to

demonstrate outside Parliament. A petition containing 300,000

signatures was wheeled past Number ten. The home of `` it is important

because bingo clubs are a massive social resource. It is the most

innocuous form of gambling but I believe the one that is most social.

It produces revenue for the Treasury but the danger is that if you

overtax it, you are killing the goose that lays the golden egg. It

is back in 2009 that Alistair Darling changed the way that bingo

is taxed. He said it would benefit the industry, it is not. Ministers

tell me that they are simple heading to this issue but with cutting the

deficit is still a priority and now with extra demands for more spending

on flood defences, it is by no means clear if the Chancellor will be able

to find the money. Cutting the tax would cost ?20 million. Campaigners

say it is a price worth paying. And Robert Halfon is at Westminster

now. Is this really a priority, given the state of the country 's

finances? Yes, it is incredibly important. I know Harlow bingo club

very well. I am a member myself. It has 54,000 members. 100,000 people

went through the club over the past year. And thousands of people use

bingo clubs across the East of England. And it is a social good, a

community activity, thousands of people come together, it is a place

that women like to go to because they feel safe and it is ending that

we should support and boosting bingo means boosting jobs and boosting

investment. But your party and the government says the priority is to

reduce the deficit and yet your campaigns on fuel and SR about

getting more money out of the Treasury the Treasury are going to

raise 300,000 `` ?300 million through this taxation and they

should give a little bit of this back to ensure that it is taxed

fairly. We face an unfair situation. Bingo

is taxed at 20%. The companies do not have the money to invest. Other

forms of gambling are taxed at 15%. All we are saying is there should be

a level playing field to boost bingo, boost jobs and boost prizes

as well. We heard in the report that the tax was changed in 2009. Why was

it changed and why was it thought that the time that it would benefit

the industry? It has always been an anomaly that bingo clubs have been

taxed in this way. It is quite technical why the Treasury decided

to do it. It is a game that has been going on for a number of years. What

the clubs around the country need is much more investment. We can create

jobs, get a bigger prize for the thousands of people who play bingo

and it is a social good. People love it, it brings people together, it is

more like a club. If you come to the Harlow bingo club, you will see

hundreds of people there at all times of day.

The future of the Deanes School in Essex has been decided after months

of uncertainty. Protests were held when the council said it would close

the school in Thundersley and replace it with a smaller one. But a

government inspector has ruled the school can remain as it is.

Still to come, high`tech bird`watching from the RSPB and the

seals or fund after the tidal surge in December, today eight of them

were strong enough to return to the sea.

All this week on Look East, we're marking the centenary of the

outbreak of the First World War. Tonight the bombardment of

Lowestoft. It happened in the spring of 1916 when the port was attacked

from the sea by German destroyers. They were hardly visible sitting

miles out virtually on the horizon. The onslaught left four people dead

and more than 200 buildings damaged. Here's Kevin Burch.

This was London Road South in Lowestoft on April 25 1916 after a

pounding from the sea. 60 German shells struck in little more than

ten minutes. Hard to imagine today. We knew it was a big naval gun and

we realised what was happening. Bombardment. Mike Sims is reading

from an account of the attack written by his great`grandfather,

Alfred Turner. One struck the cable end of a series of cottages.

Alfred lived at 137 London Rd S. And had a vantage point from this attic

window. After this, there was a lull. We all

went up and saw the torpedo pod destroyers steaming north to meet

the dreadnoughts. It must have been horrendous, the

noise and the sense of isolation because of the noise. They could not

see or hear anyone else around them. The whole world must have sounded as

if it was falling apart. And to some extent, it was. Why the attack? The

Germans wanted to disrupt the port, also to draw the Navy into open

warfare at sea. And they were keen to support the Easter uprising by

nationalists in Ireland. The idea being that it might draw some Army

reserves over towards the east coast, perhaps the thought that

there was an invasion about to take race and when the uprising began in

Ireland, the reserves that might have been sent there might E.ON the

wrong side of the country. I met John at the kitchen Centre,

opened in 1919, in memory of the man with that iconic face and finger.

And there are the reminders of the conflict. The brothers created the

tinned steel that were the Russians for the troops in World War I. It

was the first ready meal in a tin. Produced in Lowestoft, the rations

became world`famous but they were not to everyone's taste. There is

one phrase from World War I which says warm, they were edible, cold

they were a man killer. 100 years on their desperate to

document even more the role played by the brothers. Likely bombardment,

it is a cheeky piece in this town is his torrid jigsaw. This was the

first time in the north`east in 1914 but British citizens had come under

attack since the Norman conquest. It is hard to imagine how much damage

could have been caused and yet there is very little trace of it today. It

was a precursor of what was to come during the Second World War and what

could have happened during the Cold War as well. It is hugely

significant and it is important that we remember it locally and

nationally as well. Tomorrow on Look East, the

remarkable story of Bernard Vann. He was a priest from Northamptonshire

who rose up the ranks and won a Victoria Cross after leading his

battalion to victory at the Somme. Present day vicar Richard Coles

retraces Vann's footsteps to find out how a man of a God could become

a man of war. Football now and following last

night's games, it's hotting up in both League One and Two at the top

of the table and at the bottom. Phil Daley has the details.

Northampton 's fortune is needed to change if they are to stay and the

foot or lead and after that win over Hartlepool on Saturday, lightning

would have to strike twice against Southend. It did, and they found

themselves... It was enough to move them off the bottom of the table.

Safety is still five points away from them though. The horrible

things, the defending, what we needed to do, which we have done

really well over my time here, it was first Sam Davies the opportunity

later to get on the ball and try and come to from there. Stevenage remain

at the foot of the table in league one. It took them five Mr scoring is

cruel. `` it took them five minutes to score against Crewe. Stevenage

held on for the win. They are now four points from safety. Colchester

remain close the danger zone after picking up nothing from their match

with several United. A penalty in the final minute sealed their fate.

There was better news for MK dons. They kept their slim hopes of

promotion alive with a win at Oldham.

The RSPB has come up with a new way of bird`watching ` using a small

remote`controlled helicopter. The charity says it's hard to monitor

certain species by foot, simply because it scares the birds away.

But this eye in the sky is opening up new horizons. Mike Liggins has

been to see it in action. This is the RSPB 's Q division. These men

are perfecting the use of this special helicopter. But doesn't it

scare them? Apparently not. It is a completely alien shape as it sees a

dip in the sky and we find that from a test so far that they can BT

ignore the helicopter. Today we got some great images. Nigel and Andy

have also trialled the use of a camera at night to try and spot the

bird. They are very sneaky and difficult to find. They hang around

in tall, dense vegetation. That makes it difficult for us to count

them. We are seeing if we can use a similar imaging camera to use at

night. And this is not the only new toy. The RSPB want to know more

about how goals reactor structures at sea and to do that, they plan to

scrap this device to some lesser black backed gulls. At the moment,

we know very little about how birds respond when they come up against

the structures. This is all in one. We will put it on the back of a

bird. It is unbelievable. Andy and Nigel admitted is still

early days but if the helicopter works as well as they hope, we

should be able to find out much more about those hard to reach mammals

and birds. From the RSPB to the RSPCA and seals

orphaned after the tidal surge in December have been released back

into the wild. More than 100 pups were taken to the wildlife hospital

in Norfolk in one of the biggest rescue operations in its 25`year

history. Kim Riley witnessed the first batch returning to the sea.

They have been driven 60 miles from the hospital. Eight now very healthy

pups carried onto the beach by the RSPCA teams, about to be released

from their stretcher hammocks. After the surge, the centre had been

overwhelmed. Staff working around the clock to keep very sick orphaned

pups alive. They cried for their mothers and had

to be fed fish soup through a tube every four hours. It has taken a

long time for the week is to learn to feed on their own. The fittest

and fattest recovering in outdoor pools.

This morning, fully recovered grey seals were confronted with the open

sea. They have had months of tender loving care in the centre. Just

about to be released and the big test now is will they head straight

for the water. A diddle hesitation, perhaps put off by the herd of

photographers watching their every move. It finally, into the waves

they went. It is up fantastic. It is a job well done. It is fabulous. It

is great. They have never actually been in the water for any period of

time. You never know what they are going to do. But they have gone off

really well. For those who happen to come along, a wonderful spectacle.

We did not know the news. We were just lucky to be here. It is nice

for Alfie to see them going back to the wildlife and natural habitats.

Wonderful. It was pure chance we were here. Today's release was just

down the coast from the sand dunes where the orphaned seal pups were

found washed ashore after the violent storms. Over the next few

weeks and months, further batches will be released. For some time

today, their heads bobbed up and down off the beach. Eight healthy

young seals. Now it is up to them. Back now to our top story and a

massive search and rescue operation off the coast of Felixstowe. The

authorities say two men, thought to have been deported from the UK,

jumped off a ferry. Stewart is with the coastguard at Walton now.

Yes, at the operations centre, we have had a 999 call come through.

For that moment, you see how things slip into operation but actually, it

was one that was eventually found to be not something that they needed to

get involved in but they were very busy here this morning when the

alarm was raised just before 10am. The search was largely off the coast

at Felixstowe which is about five miles up the coast from here. Kevin

Birch has the latest details. Because this very had only just left

port and Conor PSG re`that's gone up the estuary when the alarm was

raised, it meant the vessel was still fairly close to the shore when

the search was under way. A lot of people were able to stand and watch

the drama unfold. One of those was James Hayes. He is a bar manager. He

told me a little bit about what happened. I looked out of the front

window. I saw a lot of activity, the helicopter, a lot of boats. I

thought it was a training exercise. And then I heard a little bit later

that someone had gone off the ferry. It is still only nine hours since

this happened so there is still a lot more information to come out to

explain why this happened. This is a strong seafaring community. As

someone said to me a short while ago, whatever the wise and

wherefores, this is a tragedy. This is the loss of two lives.

This is one of those stories where we are getting information

throughout the day. It started off, we had the first reports coming in

and then we were getting more information dripping through to us

throughout the day. What is the latest we have? The speculation is

that the two passengers missing from the ferry are actually Eastern

European is from Albania. The speculation is that they arrived

with a party of 15 Albanians on a previous ferry that arrived at

around 3:30am. They were not allowed into the country so they were put

back on the ferry which was then going to take them back to Holland.

And that sort of ads up if the speculation is that they jumped from

the ferry at the point when it was closest to the shore. The other

information that we have heard is that perhaps the captain of the

ferry was not aware that the passengers had gone overboard for

half an hour or so and he was told by one of the other Albanians in the

party. The speculation is that did that half an hour give the missing

passengers half an hour to get ashore? Dutch police are on board

the ferry in Holland. Yes, it arrived in Holland a short time ago.

The police will have been waiting for the ferry there. No doubt

interested to speak to the Albanians in the same party. That is it for

now. Back to the studio. Time for the weather forecast.

We have got some changes on the way. This is a rain bearing weather

system out in the Atlantic. It will bring some rain but not till much

later to make. And it will be a fine evening with some clear spells to

start the night. Looking largely dry as well. Then increasing amounts of

cloud. A freshening breeze will be a sign that this weather front is on

its way. It will bring heavy rain into the early hours of tomorrow

morning. Temperatures will probably not get lower than five degrees.

Quite blustery conditions by the end of the night. It is not the best of

starts to the day tomorrow. It will be quite cloudy with outbreaks of

rain first thing. The sunshine will eventually come out. We could have

some heavy showers in the evening. Once we have got rid of this rain, a

lot of cloud around. It should break up and we should see the sunshine

come out. In the sunshine, temperatures are expected to get to

10 Celsius. It will be quite a blustery day. The wind blowing in

some showers and these really could be on the heavy side for the

afternoon. Then the weather forecast gets quite interesting. We have an

area of low pressure that is expected to move in on Thursday

night into the early hours of Friday morning. There is some uncertainty

on the East track of this but it does look as if it will bring some

heavy rain and strong winds and possibly something a bit wintry. To

not be surprised if you wake up on Friday morning with a bit of sleep

on the grass. Stay tuned to the forecast. The detail will be nailed

down in the next 24 hours. A couple of cold nights will follow one

Friday and Saturday. It will certainly not feel great on Friday.

The weather is staying unsettled until we get a Sunday.

Thank you very much. That is all from us. We will have any

developments on the ferry story on our late News at 10:25pm.