06/03/2017 Look East (West)

1,500 people directly employed and thousands more in the supply

We want to know what they're going deal mean for Luton?

We want to know what they're going to do, we are limbo.

Improving air quality using hybrid cabs,

but where can you install checkpoints

Help for the homeless in a new hostel as the number of rough

And the extraordinarily realistic flint mineshaft being open to the

public the time. First tonight -

what the Vauxhall deal As you may have seen,

the French car manufacturer PSA, the company behind

Peugeot and Citroen, has agreed to buy Vauxhall and Opel

in a deal worth almost ?2 billion. It has national and

international ramifications, but more directly, it

will affect the 1,500 people who work

for Vauxhall in Luton and the thousands of employees

of local suppliers. For them, more certainty

that the deal will be done, but no guarantees over

the long-term future. Nicola Haseler is in

Luton for us now. Workers here have enjoyed a

nerve-racking few weeks, not knowing what will happen to their jobs. And

Vauxhall is 1 of Luton's biggest employers. While this plant is

secure for the short-term, the new owners PSA will need to make cuts

somewhere in Europe. At shift changeover in Vauxhall this

lunchtime, many staff had still not been told that they were now

employees of the French car giant PSA. We don't know anything yet. I

have heard nothing. Not allowed to speak about it. The commitment to

continue production in Luton has been secured until 2024 but beyond

that the PSA chairman said today that its future depends on improving

performance. Their future is in their hands, based on their ability

to give themselves the level performance that will ensure the

sustainability of company. We know we've got a good workforce,

hopefully they will take that on board, that's all we can say. We'll

do our bit. Let's hope they do theirs. I looked over when her show

as well as they thought. We haven't as well as they thought. We haven't

been told if our jobs are safe, we have families and bills to pay so as

someone on the front line of the production, we want to know what is

going on. Today was reassuring in that they say they are going to keep

our contracts until at least 2025, if they stick to that, everyone will

be caught happy. The plant is 1 of the most productive in Europe. But

2000 jobs were lost in Luton when Vauxhall stopped making cars here 15

years ago. I think we're quite unique, we used to have the Vauxhall

car plant, we know what happened in 2000, that's why we wouldn't want to

see the van plant going down the same road, we need to preserve the

jobs here and there is no reason we can't, we have an efficient,

flexible workforce, why wouldn't we continue here? There has to be

serious concern whether as a big announcement like this, we are

reassured that they are saying they want to invest in the brand and make

sure the iconic brand of Vauxhall continues, for our part, we were

watching with government and working with Vauxhall and trade unions to

make sure that Vauxhall is a long-term business pollutant. Just

how long-term is still in question. The plot's future will depend on the

kind of savings that the new owners PSA want to make and on the Brexit

deal that the government negotiates stop while there was cautious

optimism here, there are many businesses around Luton that penned

on Vauxhall, there are now facing a more uncertain future.

There's a lot of politics behind this story,

not just because Vauxhall is a major and long established employer

but because its future under Peugeot Citroen

will be very much determined by what happens in the

Brexit negotioations which are about to begin.

Our political correspondent Andrew Sinclair reports.

It's a sign of the level of concern felt about Vauxhall that the

Business Secretary was called to the Commons this afternoon to update MPs

on the deal. These have been worrying times for the workforce. He

acknowledged the uncertainty felt in places like Luton. But he said the

new owners had given welcome commitments, PSA's strategy

committee said, was 1 of expansion not plant closures and felt that the

UK in a good place. It is an area in which we are strong and have a high

reputation, there should be an opportunity to make what is good

even better. The Beds MP asked for reassurances for those who works in

the Luton supply chain, he said it may well expand under this deal. The

Corby MP asked if this could benefit steel, very possibly, came the

reply. Labour were cautiously welcoming but could see possible

problems. Our employment laws make it easier to sack workers in the UK

compared to those who work in France and Germany, which puts them at an

immediate disadvantage. The feeling at West by Mr is that at the moment

Luton are safe but there is 1 big uncertainty. Brexit. What sort of a

trading religion trip will we end up having with the EU? A free-trade

deal, so that parts and cars can freely move in and out of Europe

will keep this plot competitive, but what if tariffs are applied? The

uncertainty over our trading relationship will deter investment

unless the government can nail down a trading relationship as quickly as

possible and they have said the UK's leading the single market, leaving

the customs union, that means a lot of uncertainty in the car industry

to makes it difficult for the of Peugeot to commit to the UK. But 1

of Luton's MPs isn't so concerned. The reality is that it is a big

market in Britain, they won't want to upset the market and having a

manufacturing footprint here is an manufacturing footprint here is an

important part of having a good relationship with their market.

Until Brexit negotiations are concluded, it's hard for anyone to

say what the long-term future will become Luton forced everyone is

hoping for the best. Earlier I spoke to Gavin Shuker,

the MP for Luton South. I asked him for his reaction

to the news of the deal. This is a good 1st step in the

future of the model here in Luton because we now know what the

ownership is going to be. But no 1 should be under any force conception

here, we need to work hard to secure the future jobs both here at the

plant, this is 1 of the most efficient and most productive parts

of General Motors and will be in the newly formed company, but with the

risks of Brexit and the possibility of a very hard Brexit, we know we

are going to work hard to make sure the government delivers on that

commitment as well as PSA. What commitments would unite the

government to deliver on? The government has studied it will push

for a hard Brexit, and currently pushed some addictions here in the

UK, without that, we note there will be tariffs, taxes on vans going into

the continent and parts coming back in, that would be disastrous for a

plant like this and Vauxhall's Val Smith port, they can take the risk

of that and say they will cover the costs of that, if they don't

negotiate with they need to all they can push for a softer Brexit, which

allows us to be 1 of the best places in Europe that manufacturers vans.

There are 8 years left on the current contract in Luton, what do

you think will happen after that? 8 years is a long way away, in

automotive terms, its relatively short. We need a decision on a new

van in 5 years' time, the good news is we will probably have an idea of

what the future sake of putting's Russian ship with Europe will be,

but in the short-term, GM lost money on its operations in Europe in the

last 16 years, continuously, under new ownership they would be crazy to

get rid of 1 of the parts of this business that is making money, ie

the van plant here in Luton. PSA the van plant here in Luton. PSA

have given reassurances today over the future of jobs, are you

satisfied with what they have said? I'm thankful for their interjections

that guarantee the future of this plant, it makes good business sense,

but probably the bigger part of this story is now putting's relationship

with the EU, which is why we need the government to do its bit. --

Britain's relationship. So that's the local

politician's view. Let's hear now from our

Business Correspondent Richard Bond. How important is this van factory

to the region's economy? Symbolically, it is enormously

important commit 1 of our last big factories. The 1500 workers are

there, thousands more in the supply chain and what's there is the legacy

of the fantastic industrial heritage that Vauxhall has, going back to

that Vauxhall has, going back to 1905.

So how well do you think Luton has fared in light

Not bad, I think the omens are better for Luton than 4 thousand

airport, which security until 2021, which in the meantime, Putin has it

The worry must be that Luton is safe for the time being.

1 of its strengths is it is the last man factory in Britain, Ford has

closed in Southampton, LDV vans has closed in Birmingham and the UK is a

massive market for commercial vehicles. Would it really make sense

to close the last man factory in the country and then serve that vast UK

market simply by importing what are bulky things? -- the last van

factory. I struggled to see how that would be commercial sense.

You're watching Look East from the BBC.

Still to come, Julie will be taking a look at the week's weather.

And a new excavation at one of the region's oldest

One of the region's councils is bidding to become the first local

authority outside London to ban diesel taxis.

Air pollution levels in Cambridge have begun to drop.

But diesel emissions in the city centre continue to be a problem.

Now the council wants to phase out the most polluting cars.

As part of the BBC's So-I-Can-Breathe week,

Mousumi Bakshi has been to see one firm already

It's the 1st fare of the day for Apple and time the charges cap. It

is 1 of the electric caps that crisscross the congested streets of

Cambridge system running costs have dropped with fuel bills cut by

around 90%. You save a lot of money by driving an electric car, my fuel

costs are a lot lower now, and you do get better economy driving an

electric car. There are just a handful of charge points of the

county and while the current generation of electric cars can only

travel so far on 1 charge, the technology suits short taxi ride in

a city can to terms with green energy. Some of our market research

and experience is that people do ask for them and there are people very

aware of the need to be greener, so we can get requests for them, we are

looking to increase the Fleet so we can facilitate that properly. So yes

there is a demand. Cambridge is now on the cusp of a clean energy

revolution, the City Council is bidding for government funding for

up to 40 dedicated taxi charging points. But access in this medieval

city is proving to be a problem. Putting street furniture in the

historic city has issues with it, we have chosen locations that are

fairly uncontroversial for the 1st few locations in car park, stations,

where aesthetically it won't be an issue. While air quality in

Cambridge is broadly improving, nitrogen dioxide levels remain

higher than the national average, at certain points in the city centre,

and that has printed a rethink. This mother of 2 had too many school runs

in the most polluted part of Cambridge. It's not nice, you can

see it, smell it, I was driving a 4x4 and thought, what am I doing? I

thought, there is technology out there and thought, there is electric

cars, hybrid, why am I driving this? If the City Council gets its way,

all of us will be looking low emission caps in Cambridge within

the decade. The push now is to convince the rest of the population

to drive electric so we can all breathe in cleaner air.

Two people have been treated for injuries after a fire

ripped through an Asda supermarket in Luton.

The alarm was raised this lunchtime in Wigmore Lane and led to the store

At least 16 fire engines and three aerial platforms were used

Luton Airport sent its own fire engine to help.

People living in flats nearby were also told to leave their homes.

Rough sleeping has been on the increase in this region

In Luton for example, at the last count, there were 76 people

In Bedford the figure was 59, making them two of the worst

In Northampton the figure was just 14.

A month ago a new homeless shelter was opened there.

The former social club for railway workers can provide beds for

Our reporter Mike Cartwright joined them for breakfast this morning.

Running time at the shelter, now a month old, Brian, 1 of the 1st to

move in. From the street, this place, yet others, has put his life

straight. Even finding work now. I have managed to find a job now, they

have referred me, I have met so many new people, it's been wicked. I was

attacked, I lost everything when I was 50, everything went down the

pan, it's just a rocky road and fell away. And before you know where you

town. After 2 weeks here, now hoping are, you on the street. For

town. After 2 weeks here, now hoping for a place on his own. I am going

to bed and still working with these people, and try and get a proper

place to live with and I'm hoping to give a bit back and come down on

volunteer myself. 20 can spend the night, arriving at 9 in the evening

and leaving 9 in the morning. Anna helps run it. Tends to be anywhere

between 5 and 14 people a night, guests have the be working alongside

the other agencies in Northampton so it could be probation, the Hope

Centre, as long as they are engaging them they can stay with us.

Beforehand it was derelict, a former railway worker site, transformed in

its 1st 4 weeks, more than 30 have stayed here. The shelter is funded

for 2 years. It's safe, it keeps them warm, it encourages them to

communicate with the various organisations who are able to help

them and we can move them on. In Northampton like most towns across

the region, numbers of homeless have increased. The shelter, a place to

help people in their lives back on course.

Business and education leaders in our region

are criticising the government's plans to expand apprenticeships.

It wants 3 million by 2020 and is trying to do this

by forcing bigger businesses to pay a tax to fund them.

But while the number of people taking up

apprenticeships is rising, but the number completing

Gregory has always screamed of working with cars. Unlike his dad,

he has chosen the apprenticeship route. I'm not academic myself. I am

more hands-on, they were pleased I got this apprenticeship. He has

managed to fight off the competition to get this apprenticeship in

Northampton. And it is hoped a lot more businesses will start offering

apprenticeships to teenagers like Gregory. The government's plans to

expand the system will be funded by a new levy, or businesses with a pay

bill of more than ?3,000,000 will have to invest in apprenticeships.

Essentially, it's a tax, big businesses will have to pay Norburn

5% of their total wage bill to the government. But will it actually

create more apprenticeships? Phil Everly is going to use it for the

existing workforce rather than recruit new apprentices into the

businesses. With new princes they have to find the money for money,.

Employers could employ somebody for a year, not give them a permanent

job at the end of it or offer them only part-time employment. Last year

in our region 46,000 students started an apprenticeship and member

completing their apprenticeship is falling. In 2010, it was 76%. 4

years later, it was less than 72%. So will again be perceived as a good

option to go for compared with university? -- young people? I think

they are in a different level, I know people who have left them

because they are not getting anywhere. My little brother is going

in for an apprenticeship. It's very useful if you want to go straight

into the workplace. The government says that by 2020 they will have

spent ?2.5 billion on apprenticeships and it's doing

everything possible to make sure Princess gets the quality and

apprenticeship they deserve. Also, why the war on drugs has

already been lost according to an undercover policeman.

The battle for promotion in League Two is intensifying,

with Luton in fourth and Stevenage in sixth ..

Now well set in the promotion places with thumping victories on Saturday.

This weekend though they face each other and have two

of the Football League's finest strikers going head to head.

Back in mid January, Stevenage and looked set for mid- table obscurity.

8 Games later even the manager says they are overachieving, winning 7

and drawing 1. Leading the line is signing from Ebbsfleet, fast

becoming 1 of the most talked about strikers in the football league,

with 11 goals in 12 matches. This sets the stage for this weekend's

game at Kenilworth Road, Luton thumped Yeovil 4- 0 and have their

own on fire struck, Danny Hilton scoring his 21st and 22nd goals of

the season. This is hugely supported, Stevenage nicked it in

the return fixture they won in injury time, that will be hurting

Luton and the fans right that forget that so this is a huge game for the

Hatters fans. The same applies for the Boro supporters. It is perfectly

geared up for a perfect match. Cambridge considered late against

Colchester, costing them a crucial to put in their promotion chase. The

player ambitions of Peter Brewer suffered another setback with a

comedy of defensive errors -- Peter Boro. Robbie Neilson has Microsoft

with 1 win in 6. Northampton are chasing their tail and with a string

to Magri spring in their step after the 1st win over Charlton in 50

years. Jonjo O'Toole on fine scoring streak.

Cycling, and Jody Cundy has won his 13th track world title at

the Paracycling World Championships in Los Angeles.

Cundy, who's from Cambridgeshire, rode to victory in the C4

The 38-year-old is unbeaten in world kilometre events since 2006.

2017 didn't start brilliantly for high-jumper Robbie Grabarz - he

had his appendix removed but yesterday in Belgrade

he was back in the groove, jumping a season's best 2 metres 30

and winning silver at the European Indoor Championships.

He missed out on gold by 2 centimetres.

And in Rugby's Championship, Bedford secured a vital

away win at Nottingham, winning 24-21 and climbing

5,000 years ago East Anglia was home to one

of the most important industries in the world -

It was mined at Grimes Graves near Thetford,

where a new mine shaft is being opened to the public

Hundreds of prehistoric flint mine shafts come to the surface. Now a

2nd shaft here is being opened to visitors. But you will need a head

for heights. It incredible to think this shaft was made about 2000 BC.

The signs I'm looking at would have been exactly what the Neolithic

miners would have seen all those years ago. They radiate off from the

shaft in different directions... Work between 3000 and 1900 BC, some

tunnels stretched for 60 metres. It's an industrial site because they

were clearly getting the raw product outcome in some cases working in

some basic shapes but it was travelling some distance. We found a

green stone axe in here. It's incredible to think this shaft was

dug by miners equipped with little more than pics fashioned out of

antlers, this is what they were after. Flint Broadstone. Prize

material. It is called after the cannon who expected the shaft.

Greenwell excavated this bit in a syndicate to 1870, and there were

later excavations by the British Museum in the night in 70s. But the

public have never seen it? Never seen it. Flint used to be a prized

commodity. Hopefully you can see and ex- emerging. For the Neolithic, the

great change was the farming, the clear up of land, which you need to

start thinking about is getting an axe into a handle for the 1st time,

so you can do that. But underground, the pit will soon welcome small

guided groups. They are concerned with the need to protect this

historic relic for future generations. Time for the weather.

Plenty of blue sky and sunshine to start the day for many of us, this

was certain in East Cambridgeshire, is that they went on, we saw more

cloud, and a few showers, most of those have stayed in more Eastern

counties, but 1 or 2 are proving quite heavy and producing a bit of

hail. But tonight, any showers will be isolated, some clear spells,

underneath is clearer skies, out of the wind, we could see temperatures

lower than these values. But I think it will be fairly patchy, actually

start tomorrow, this weather front will push towards us from the

south-west, but it has already slowed down considerably since

lunchtime. After that cold start to tomorrow, it should be largely fine

and dry, more cloud compared to today but some spells of sunshine,

it could be a bit milky at times. We will have mainly light winds from a

south-westerly direction. That is Tuesday, it finishes on a fine and

dry note but as we had into Tuesday night, into Wednesday, travel

increase and some outbreaks of rain moving through, some of it could be

on the heavy side. The front responsibility on our pressure

chart, it could drag its heels on Wednesday so on Wednesday, a lot of

cloud around to start the day with further outbreaks of rain. Some

uncertainty as to how quickly it will clear but hopefully the most of

us it will brighten up, temperatures could get as high as 13dC. And then

the uncertainty really sets in the end of the week, the moment high

pressure is building in, another front pushing in from the

south-west, Thursday will be fine and dry and again, we should see

some sunshine and brightness, with the rain arriving during Thursday

night into Friday. If all goes to plan, Friday is looking a cloudy day

with occasional rain, still on the mild side. As we head into the

weekend, it is looking pretty unsettled, some wet and windy

weather expected on Saturday, on Sunday, blustery showers but feeling

colder.