29/04/2014 Look East - West

at night. There is frost on the way. Thank you very much. Goodbye from

me. And Welcome to Look East: In the

programme tonight: Unveiled for the first time, the van that secured the

future of Vauxhall in Luton. Improving ways to fight crime. The

country's first Institute of Crime and Justice opens in

Northamptonshire. We will be here later in the

programme with the remarkable story of the war`timebomber which survived

against all the odds. And home at last. The woman who was

almost killed by a stag in Scotland goes back to work in Cambridge.

Good evening. The van which secured the future of the Vauxhall plant in

Luton has been unveiled for the first time today. Over 200 million

euros have been invested in the Bedfordshire factory to prepare the

production lines for the new Vivaro van. But the battle to secure the

future of Vauxhall in Luton has been a long one. In 2009 Vauxhall's

parent, General Motors, considered selling its European factories

altogether, including the one in Luton. The year after, GM decided

against a sale. But it became clear that the only way the Luton site

remain open was to secure another contract to build the new model

Vivaro. Then finally in March 2011, after months of lobbying, it was

confirmed the new model would be built in this region. And today the

new Vivaro was revealed to the public. Mike Cartwright reports.

Unveiling the van that Vauxhall say saved the day ` the new Vivaro. For

the factory in Luton, it means survival for at least another ten

years. The big battle to save the plant has been won. The new van is

here and we will go from strength to strength in Luton for many, many

years to come. I have no doubts about that at all. Colin Kirk is

preparing Luton's new production line. Employed here for 16 years, he

says a workforce afraid the factory would close for good, endured

everything to help keep it open. It's been a tough couple of years.

We've taken pay freezes, changes in our terms and conditions. We are

working longer hours, just to secure the future. We've got it now. We've

had 12 years of successful, good quality vehicles out there and we

are looking forward to ten or 12 years of the future with the new

Vivaro. In its heyday Vauxhall employed 25,000 in Luton, now less

than one tenth of that work here. The plant still integral to the

town's economy. In 2010 it was doom and gloom. I don't think anyone

beyond their wildest dreams expected us to get the second generation

Vivaro. We supported Vauxhall. In 2012 and 13 they said they looked

like they were going to get it. Now, of course, the rest is history. This

van has saved the factory for at least the next decade. Now the plant

will build around 55,000 vehicles a year. And that has saved around

1,200 jobs. The production line that produced this van now one of its

kind in the country. The Luton plant is now the only volume van

manufacturing plant in the UK. It means we have jobs secured at the

plant until 2025. Obviously we are in the start up phase of production

now and that will ramp up and in time that could mean more jobs at

the plant. It's a company that's built not far off a million vans in

Luton ` the newest model renewing hope for the long term future in the

town. Joining me now is Professor Mike Sweeny from Cranfield School of

Management. Just how important is the plant at Luton? We heard in that

report there 1,200 people employed there and thousands more on the

production line. Yes, well it is vitally important, for a number of

reasons. Firstly, it is vitally important to the 1,200 people who

have got employment for the next ten years or so. That's testimony to, as

you heard previously, testimony to the management and the workforce and

their commitment to producing a high`quality vehicle. It's also

vitally important to the local community. The expenditure of people

who work within the factories support local services and the

commercial market locally and it is vitally important to the UK because

this company and the products of this company ` 52% of those produced

will be exported. It is good for the economy, too. The new van is due to

be launched on to the market in September. How well do you think it

will do, considering the eurozone is still lagging behind in economic

recovery? That's an interesting issue. The status of the market at

the moment is that the volume of demand in the UK for vans has grown

at something like 1%. So you have growth of demand within the UK. ``

something like 13%. And since we are talking about large numbers of

vehicle, I mean 50,000 a year, made and sold from the UK, demand of 52%

of those go to Europe. Demand from Europe is very important to the

company B you that seems to be picking up now. `` but that seems to

be picking up now and the economy of the euro countries in central and

West Europe is growing. One can expect, I think, the demand for the

product to increase. A point to remember, though s that this is a

life cycle product. It lasts for about ten years. So we are talking

about large numbers of vehicles being produced over a long period of

time. So things looking good. Well, the contract is only for ten years,

isn't it? What more do you think that the company and its staff could

do to secure its long`term future beyond that point? What's really

important is that the company continues to produce high`quality

vehicles. More important than that, these are global companies that

place products into Britain and they expect reducing costs and increasing

productivity. So what is really critical to the survival of the

company in the longer term, is that there is continued reduction in the

cost of the product year on year. But maintaining the quality of the

vehicles that they produce. Professor Sweeney thank you very

much. It's been revealed that a Luton man

who stabbed his neighbour to death was known to police and had also

been referred to a crisis mental health team. But a judge at Luton

Crown Court has said there was no warning that 35`year`old Sameer

Babar would be violent. Babar has admitted killing 67`year`old Leonard

Flower outside his garage in Carnegie Gardens last October. Babar

as been detained indefinitely in a mental health unit.

The country's first Institute of Crime and Justice has opened in

Northamptonshire. The centre is a joint venture between the county's

Police and Crime Commissioner and the University of Northampton. It

will carry out research on crime and its causes. But the Commissioner

denies that the money spent on the new centre will mean money will be

diverted away from frontline policing. It is best seen as an

investment in the frontline, helping frontline police officers decide

what prevents crime, how to go about their job on a day`to`day basis. How

to engage with the communities and what they want back. So the learning

that will be created will give us an evidence base of where to spend

money, where to put police and where not to put them. A conference has

been held in Cambridge looking at the specialist work of the city's

new Trauma Unit. The centre opened at Addenbrooke's Hospital two years

ago and has already transformed the lives of more than 1,000 patients.

Fae Southwell reports Plans for a controversial stone quarry in

Northamptonshire have been approved but the County Council has imposed a

number of planning conditions on the application.

At the age of 15, Ben hue ton nearly died. A cycle accident last year,

left him with shattered bones and internal injuries. He was airlifted

to the new trauma centre at Addenbrooke's Hospital where he was

treat treated by a specialist team of trauma staff. The whole process,

fwaufs started so quickly meant he could go back to school in

September, despite his injuries because the treatment was started at

the scene. It is the paramedics and doctors who are first at the scene

who refer patients to the trawl divra centre. In the past they would

have been taken to the nearest A department. The Cambridge trauma

unit opened two years ago. It's one of only 12 specialist centres of its

size in the country. Every year it treats 700 patients. All have been

diagnosed with severe multiple injuries. 10% of those treated are

children. The existence of the trauma centre could mean getting

quicker treatments, which may mean the difference between life and

death T could mean the difference `` it could mean the difference between

a more prolonged hospital stay verses a shorter one. And it will

have an affect on the ability to rehabilitate patients more quickly.

Experts have now been sharing their experiences at a conference in came

Britain. Ann among the speakers. Her speech full of praise for the team

who helped her son make a full recovery.

will be shared between 42 stations across the country.

will be shared between 42 stations Now over to Stewart and Susie for

the rest of the programme. to Southend or Manningtree. Coming

up next on Look East, the region passes a health check with flying

colours. And it's a warm welcome back to work in Cambridge for the

woman who was gored by a Highland Stag A new survey out today suggests

that people living in our region are among the healthiest in the country.

We score well on everything from having our five fruit and veg a day,

to feeling less lonely. But the research by a health insurance

company shows we struggle to find time for exercise. And apparently we

worry about the impact of growing old. Our special report tonight is

from Maria Veronese. Living in the east is good for your

health. We are happy and eat our fibre date and keep well trim. I

live in a city so it is easy to come to the market. There is fish and

vegetables. When you eat vegetables your age increases. Although my body

is given up now I think by eating healthily I lose a better wave. `` a

bit of a weight. We are not so good when it comes to the gym. Getting

ready is the hardest bit. Most of us have good or excellent health. We

are happy with our lives with a lot saying our lives all worth while.

That is the highs in the country. The national average of people being

lonely is 34%. Here in the east it is just 29%. It reflect society

here. We have a strong sense of community in our towns, and that is

an important aspect of life, and it probably is one of the reasons why

we have such a low proportion. 29% is still hide? Yes, but we have more

people living by themselves. More people are living longer and maybe

widowed. Those background backs feed into that figure. Living alone

shouldn't mean being lonely. They do get out and do things. There are

lots of activities for older people. They are encouraged to form

friendships and do activities. While we may be healthy we have our

concerns, and one is getting old and what impact that will have on our

health. Nobody wants to be old. Things start to wear out. We keep

going. There is no point in worrying. You just try and stay as

fit as you can. Was that a class for women, all were

there no men there? We deserve what we get. You eat both fruits for

yourself and also my portion. In a few weeks' time there will be

events to mark the 70th anniversary of D`day, the Allied invasions,

which changed the course of the Second World War.

In a moment, we'll be hearing about a tale of war`time heroism which is

being turned into a film. But first, a special exhibition to mark D`day

at the Imperial war Museum at Duxford. Ben Bland has been along

for a preview. Even 70 years on Nick Archdale is

still learning things about those he fought alongside at the D`day

landings. Ron rushed upstairs to establish a firing division. He

startled a young French couple, lying naked. Nick himself is

featured in one of the portraits, each capturing a personal moment or

memory of the campaign. In that place, a bullet hit the wall right

beside my eye. It completely blinded me. Only for a moment. And so I

always remember that place. A Frenchwoman bathed my eyes. I could

see again. It took two years to put the exhibition together,

photographing each veteran at a key location, poignant for those on both

sides of the campaign. This was a standout moment, because she hadn't

been back to the chateau where she was a nurse for 69 years. So, to

walk around the chateau with her listening to her say how things

were, and seeing that glimmer of recognition was a standout moment.

You will never do that again. In June 1944, Jeff Paterson was just 20

years old. He remembers dodging enemy fire on patrol. His photo was

taken at the stables where he was shot in the leg. What kind of

feelings does it bring about seeing this photograph? Well, it is strange

to see yourself some 70 years ago. I'm only too thankful to be standing

there being photographed. Looking at it now it is quite poignant. Each of

these photos tells its own story, not just in the words that accompany

it, but in the faces of the veterans themselves. The exhibition is open

here until the end of this year. The true story of a German fighter

pilot, who had the crew of an American bomber at his mercy but

instead allowed them to fly to safety, is to be made into a film.

The bomber had been on a mission from Cambridgeshire in 1943 when it

happened. Now the playwright Tom Stoppard has acquired the rights and

filming could start next year. This airfield in Norfolk, former

home of the 448th bomb group. There were 3000 young Americans here

between 1943 and 1945. In the restored control tower, Pat Evison

showed me the officers' watchlog for Monday, 28 December 1943, when an

unexpected visitor made an emergency landing. At 14:29, B17 S167 landed

from the mission with one engine, one dead, one injured. They informed

division and base. 21`year`old pilot Charlie Brown was at the controls.

The flying fortress had come under heavy ground fire on a mission over

Germany. The tail gunner had been killed, an engine destroyed. When a

fighter came alongside, it's pilot, Franz Stigler, decided to spare

them. Over 40 years later the two men were reunited and became firm

friends. I looked out the right window and there parked on my right

wing is a German BF109. The little sucka looked like he owned me and

belonged there. It is hard to describe because it was so crippled.

You know positively that there were badly wounded people aboard. And for

me it would have been the same as shooting at a parachute. I just

couldn't shoot. To do something like that was brilliant. They counted up

how many people, through his act, were alive now, their children and

grandchildren and all the relatives involved. Charlie and Franz died

just months apart in 2008. Who will play them in the film based on the

bestselling novel, A Higher Call?. We have got people in mind and it

would be unfair to say who we are approaching, going to approach. It

will be the usual suspects and we are pretty excited about the names

on the list. They're holding the first open day of the season on

Sunday. Visitors can reflect on the 499 airmen who lost their lives

flying from here and on Charlie and his crew, spared by an act of great

humanity amidst the fog of war. Isn't that a truly remarkable story?

A woman who was gored in the throat by a stag has spoken of the "simple

joy" of eating solid food for the first time in nearly four months. Dr

Kate Stone was left with "life`threatening" injuries after

being struck by the animal in the Scottish Highlands. This week she

finally came home to Cambridge. Alex Dunlop caught up with her.

It's been a long haul back to work for Kate Stone, a planned week's

break for the New Year became a four`month marathon. Are you sure

you missed me? How big is the welcome body? Huge. This is what I

use to breathe through. If it was on the back, I could have been like a

dolphin and swam. Today the welcome back from her small team was

heartfelt and humorous. Kate loves baked beans, but finally she can

enjoy real food. How does it feel to eat again? Amazing, absolutely

incredible. I am sipping my cup of tea, eating my cupcake. It has been

incredible. This was Kate's diet while recovering with relatives in

Scotland, fed through a gastric tube. She had been on holiday with

friends when they startled a stag in this garden. In its panic the animal

charged. It's antlers impaled Kate's throat. During an operation in March

surgeons reopened her throat,grafting skin from her left

shoulder. My food pipe and windpipe, there was a joint between the two.

They separated them and laid it up between, whilst leaving me attached,

and over about two weeks that healed up and meant I could eat again.

Until now Kate has had to manage her employees remotely from Scotland

while undergoing treatment. The company is at the cutting edge,

using microelectronics to connect artworks and posters with

smartphones and tablets. This poster is Bluetoothed to my iPhone and

every time you touch a different button, a different sound plays and

on the screen you see all the colours. This is an interactive

advert? Yes. Kate says the accident has reinforced a personal philosophy

of hers, never take anything for granted. I couldn't breathe through

my mouth or nose. Suddenly I could breathe, and I blew on my fingers

and it was such an incredible experience, and for several hours

later I just blew on my hands and cried. It just made me realise it is

not until we are lucky enough to lose something that we get to

appreciate the most simple things. Good to be back? Good to be back. I

have two smiles. This one, and this one.

Isn't that amazing? . A reminder that the BBC is offering

apprenticeships in its local radio stations. Successful candidates will

start a 15 month apprenticeship in September. If you are 18 or over by

September, a non graduate and you want to find out more, go to the BBC

website at bbc.co.uk/las. The deadline for applications is May

12th. And so to the weather. It was a slow

start this morning, a lot of Mr round, and some of us some rain but

into the afternoon the cloud obeyed `` mist around. It is still possible

you might catch a light shower before the day is out but much of

the night is dry. Wheelhouse and clear spells overnight and the

chance of some misty patches `` we will have some. The temperatures

were only get down to eight Celsius. Once more a slow start of

the day tomorrow and there could be more cloud through the day. A risk

of some isolated showers but they do look isolated. Most of us will be

dry and that mist and Fog is slow to clear. Places like the coast may

hang on to some mist right through the day but elsewhere looks hopeful

that it will brighten up. Where we see the sunshine the temperatures

should climb to 16 degrees. The winds are generally light and

variable but a little bit cooler on the coast itself. As we get into the

afternoon we might bring in some isolated showers, looking those at

risk across southern counties. Then of course we look to Thursday

because there are some big changes on their way. We have big pressure

moving in is that means not the best day of weather on Thursday. It will

introduce some cooler air as well, so if you're thinking about the bank

weekend, it is quite early to talk about the weather but it looks

certain to be dry with some sunny spells, high pressure building in.

It will feel quite a bit cooler with a chilly night as well. So we have

that web data, on Thursday with some rain or showers `` wet day. That's

all from us. Good evening.