:00:06. > :00:09.On Look East tonight: At first it appeared to be a tragic accident
:00:09. > :00:17.but now detectives are treating the death of this driver as
:00:17. > :00:22.manslaughter. This is a very serious crime that has caused the
:00:22. > :00:28.loss of life of this woman. She started her journey up unaware she
:00:28. > :00:32.had damaged a tired. Because her her life.
:00:32. > :00:34.Also tonight: Taking the law into their own hands.
:00:34. > :00:41.The householders mounting their own security patrols to protect their
:00:41. > :00:45.property. You are looking out for your area and your wives and
:00:45. > :00:51.children and your family and friends. We are here to protect our
:00:51. > :01:01.town and area. Powering up. Buses go electric in a
:01:01. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:11.country-first in Milton Keynes. Raising the curtain on a year of
:01:11. > :01:11.
:01:11. > :08:26.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 434 seconds
:08:26. > :08:29.celebrations for the region's Hello, good evening. Services for
:08:29. > :08:37.the elderly and vulnerable in Northampton are putting increasing
:08:37. > :08:39.pressure on budgets at a time when extra savings are needed. An
:08:39. > :08:44.independent audit report commissioned by the council has
:08:44. > :08:47.concluded that the savings are unsustainable. So far the council
:08:47. > :08:50.has already taken �150 million out of its budget by finding savings
:08:50. > :08:55.and expects to have to find another �27 million of savings from next
:08:55. > :08:59.year's budget. In total, another �120 million needs to be found over
:08:59. > :09:06.the next four years. However, the chief executive of the council
:09:06. > :09:11.insists services for the vulnerable remain a top priority.
:09:11. > :09:17.What you have to do is look for initiative solutions. We have been
:09:17. > :09:21.making sure we have people who need help. We are asking for people who
:09:21. > :09:27.can help themselves, how can they play a greater role in society? How
:09:27. > :09:30.can they help the council provide services in a different way?
:09:31. > :09:33.One of the agencies used by the council to provide services is Age
:09:33. > :09:36.UK Northamptonshire. Last year, their funding from the council was
:09:36. > :09:42.nearly �700,000, but this year that funding was cut to just under
:09:42. > :09:51.�440,000. That compares to more than �1 million five years ago.
:09:51. > :09:56.They say they are having to help more people with less funding.
:09:56. > :10:02.If we remove the services that we provide to older people, we will
:10:02. > :10:07.find those people landing up in hospital beds and in nursing homes,
:10:07. > :10:10.which will be financial madness. The details of the auditors' report
:10:10. > :10:13.will be discussed by county councillors tomorrow, but it is not
:10:13. > :10:16.until the Autumn Spending Review that the council will know just how
:10:16. > :10:19.much of a saving it needs to make. A planning inspector has today
:10:19. > :10:22.heard the arguments for and against a free school which opened without
:10:22. > :10:26.planning approval. 200 pupils began at Bedford Free School two weeks
:10:26. > :10:34.ago, despite the site being rejected on traffic grounds. The
:10:34. > :10:40.inspector will decide what happens next.
:10:40. > :10:48.A school at under scrutiny. The children do not put a step wrong
:10:48. > :10:57.but, at least not when they come into school. I walk or cycle.
:10:57. > :11:03.it difficult to get to the school? No. We all know that parents will
:11:03. > :11:10.be parking beside it soon. Do you think it will cause trouble? More
:11:10. > :11:14.than likely, yes. What school doesn't? A in June, the council
:11:14. > :11:19.first rejected their plans, saying it would cause too much disruption.
:11:19. > :11:24.In August, are a fresh application was made but that was rejected. The
:11:24. > :11:31.school said it would appeal. Two weeks ago, Bedford Free School
:11:31. > :11:37.opened with nearly 200 pupils. Taking the wider community, the
:11:37. > :11:42.borough, this will only cause great congestion and further the time and
:11:42. > :11:47.the delays to get through town and in to town in the mornings and at
:11:47. > :11:50.the end of the afternoon. Now it is out of the hands of politicians and
:11:50. > :11:54.with inspectors, we are confident when they announced the decision,
:11:55. > :11:59.it will go minor quake. Accounts will have threatened to take
:11:59. > :12:02.enforcement action next week which will close -- forced the school at
:12:02. > :12:07.into temporary accommodation on the other side of the road. They have
:12:07. > :12:11.worked hard to get us in the school. Now there is a big argument.
:12:11. > :12:15.planning inspector says the decision will be made of one issue
:12:15. > :12:19.of how one issue alone, the impact on traffic. He watched the road
:12:19. > :12:23.outside this morning and will make an official visit later today. His
:12:23. > :12:26.decision is not expected for a few weeks.
:12:26. > :12:29.Police divers have been searching a river in Cambridge in connection
:12:29. > :12:33.with the death of 76-year-old Llwelyn Thomas. Divers have been in
:12:33. > :12:36.the river at Grassy Corner in Fen Ditton today. Mr Thomas was found
:12:36. > :12:41.dead at his home in Chittering in December. Two men who were arrested
:12:41. > :12:44.are on bail. Bedfordshire Police say they
:12:44. > :12:49.believe a medieval jug stolen from a Luton museum in May has been
:12:49. > :12:57.recovered. Two people have been arrested. The Wenlok jug was taken
:12:57. > :13:01.from a high-security cabinet at the Stockwood Discovery Centre in Luton.
:13:01. > :13:03.A bus route in Milton Keynes will be the first in the country to use
:13:03. > :13:05.a state-of-the-art self-charging electric bus. It's a five year
:13:05. > :13:15.trial which aims to reduce emissions and noise.$$NEWLINE
:13:15. > :13:17.
:13:17. > :13:21.It looks like a regular bus but the technology is cutting edge. It is
:13:21. > :13:26.possible to charge this bus on its route. Milton Keynes has been
:13:26. > :13:30.chosen as the place to trial it. Eight of these buses will be
:13:30. > :13:36.driving on the street and today many factors, designers, the bus
:13:36. > :13:40.company and the council met to seal the five year deal. We were one of
:13:40. > :13:45.the first places in the country to start installing electric charging
:13:45. > :13:50.posts for ordinary cars, electric cars. This particular project moves
:13:50. > :13:55.that forward. The standard customer who uses the route will not know,
:13:55. > :14:05.apart from a quite a journey to work. They will see a new work bus
:14:05. > :14:07.
:14:07. > :14:15.and a quieter bars. Each bus will save around 500 tons of Co2 being
:14:15. > :14:20.pumped into the atmosphere each year. It will also save on fuel. In
:14:20. > :14:28.just one year, the buses will be on the road so keep your eyes peeled
:14:28. > :14:32.because you will not be able to hear them. Football, it is a big
:14:32. > :14:35.night for MK Dons in the capital one cup. Karl Robinson's side
:14:35. > :14:38.entertain Premier League side Sunderland in the third-round tie.
:14:38. > :14:40.Dons, who will be looking to reach the last 16 of the competition,
:14:40. > :14:43.knocked out Championship side Blackpool in the last round. Full
:14:43. > :14:46.commentary on BBC Three Counties Radio.
:14:46. > :14:49.A giant statue of Olympic medal winner Louis Smith beside the East
:14:49. > :14:52.Coast railway line could soon become a reality. A farmer has
:14:52. > :14:55.offered a piece of land beside the line in Cambridgeshireto allow an
:14:55. > :15:04.artist to put up the larger-than- life sculpture of the gymnast. He
:15:04. > :15:10.wants it to be the region's answer to the Angel of the North.
:15:10. > :15:14.Three years ago, Look East saw this artist set out plans for a giant
:15:14. > :15:18.legacy to two Olympic medallist Louis Smith. He needed to win a
:15:18. > :15:25.major competition to secure half a million pounds to realise his
:15:25. > :15:29.ambition. But he lost. He almost gave up hope. Until now. It was an
:15:29. > :15:36.Olympian task to get it done. I was beginning to think we will never
:15:36. > :15:41.see this. Now, through Stephen's intervention, I am now in a
:15:41. > :15:45.position to say it is a possibility we can make this. If he has been
:15:45. > :15:50.busy redesigning the images of the sculpture, taking inspiration from
:15:50. > :15:54.Louis Smith's silver medal winner at the Olympics. Instead of using
:15:54. > :16:04.steel for part of the construction, it will all be made from timber.
:16:04. > :16:07.
:16:07. > :16:15.Were it is a natural -- Wood is a natural thing from around here.