25/01/2017 Look East

Hello, welcome to BBC Look East. In the programme tonight:

A Conservative councillor is suspended by his party after this

video images of him confronting a hunt protester.

I'll tell my husband there is, shall I?

One of the biggest financial brands in East Anglia

is about to disappear, as Norwich Peterborough

building society is swallowed up by the Yorkshire.

We will report on the latest phase of work to preserve this iconic

lighthouse. And after 40 years of snowdrops,

we say goodbye to the First tonight, the huntsman

from Norfolk who's been suspended as a councillor after a video

emerged of him making lewd comments Until recently, Charles Carter was

the master of the West Norfolk hunt. He is also a Conservative

councillor for Breckland. Tonight, the Conservative

leader of the council told us he was appalled

by the video. Gareth George is that council

headquarters now. Charles Carter's behaviour under

intense scrutiny here. The leader of the council told us, I immediately

took action and he has been suspended from the conservative

group. North Yorkshire Police said they were called with reports of an

altercation. They say they're investigating too.

Excuse me, hunting is banned. The Middleton Hunt in North

Yorkshire, felled by a hunt protester. She challenges Charles

Carter, it he begins filming her, and makes lewd comments.

Pardon? I'll tell my husband that, shall I?

Charles Carter has been on Breckland Council since 2011. In a statement,

the council leader said, ... Mr Carter represents the ward of

Saham Toney. Disgusting, a man in a position

should know better, and women shouldn't be spoken to that -- like

that by anyone in any position. It's just not on.

It makes you feel awful. People shouldn't say things like that.

Especially councillors or anything. Not nice at all.

He shouldn't be representing anybody if he holds those beliefs anyway.

Totally wrong. The thing is, Meera Carroll, now I know that connection,

I won't vote for him. In 2011, Look East filmed the east

Norfolk can't, and interviewed Mr Carter.

Having to look over at the shoulder is is not what the country should be

about. You're very pretty.

Sewer foxes. The council described Mr Carter's

comments as inappropriate and offensive.

The Islwyn take in Yorkshire, the council has suspended Mr Carter. We

have tried to get hold of Charles Carter several times today, but so

far have failed. The Norwich Peterborough

Building Society brand will disappear from our high

streets later this year. 28 branches across the East

will be closed and hundreds The society is owned

by the Yorkshire Building Society, which says it wants

to focus on the main brand. This from our business

correspondent, Richard Bond. It's been a trusted name on our High

Street for decades, with 45 branches across the region. But soon, the

Norwich Peterborough name will completely disappear. Its owner, the

Yorkshire building society, plans to close 28 N branches, including

best one, on the outskirts of Norwich.

A lot of people use that branch, this project every branch, I should

think. It's a shame, our elderly customers

are going to feel the impact more. They rely upon the convenience on

their doorstep of being able to withdraw their money and spend it at

local businesses. The changes but at risk 340 jobs.

They branches and at the Society's headquarters. The N was formed in

1986 through the merger of the Norwich and Peterborough building

society is. Throughout the 80s, the business thrived, but suffered a

setback ten years ago, when selling the products of a company called

Keydata, which went bust. The scandal cost N ?15 million and led

to the Yorkshire takeover. The Yorkshire says the banking market is

changing. More customers are conducting their business online,

and use of High Street branches like this is declining by 7%a year.

Further investment in that network can't be justified. But that

argument will disappoint thousands of members who suspect a building

society to provide a good branch network in places where the big

banks aren't represented. These are some of the places set to close. The

changes are due to take place from September this year. Members are

being encouraged to embrace online banking, but some elderly customers

may find that difficult to do. Mike Regnier is the chief executive

of the Yorkshire Building Society. When I spoke to him

late this afternoon, I asked him if it had been part

of the merger agreement that the name Norwich

Peterborough would disappear. We agreed that we would retain

the brand for a period of two years Obviously, it's now six

years ago since then. In that time there's been some

pretty significant changes to the way that customers

as a whole, but our customers We're seen a move away

from branches towards digital. So the changes that we're

announcing today just Because, as an organisation, we're

not immune to those changes either. You will be aware that there

could be people in some of the smaller locations

for whom you are the only bank, and this will mean great

difficulty for them. Yes, as you imagine,

we've done a lot of analysis around exactly how far our existing

customers might have to go In the vast majority of cases,

it's a matter of a couple of miles Of course, there are other ways

we can help them as well. What I'd certainly urge customers

to do, if they have any concerns, please come and talk to us,

pop into the branch, and we'll do everything we can

to help them and make sure they continue to have banking

services or whatever As I understand it,

between headquarters and the branches, about 340 people

will lose their job. At this stage, we haven't,

obviously, confirmed anything. This is still proposals

and now about to enter the consultation process,

where we work with all the colleagues that could be

affected by these changes. The announcements we've made today

will not take effect In fact, up to 18

months in some cases. So that gives us as much time

as we can tell find roles for as many of those people

as we possibly can. My aim would be to find roles

for everyone, if we possibly can. That's unlikely, but we'll be

redoubling efforts to make sure as many of those colleagues that

are affected, we can help, and find other roles

within our business. Does that apply to the

headquarters as well? Do you intend to keep that open

for the foreseeable future? We've not got any plans for

the site, which is in Lynch Wood, That will remain part of the

Yorkshire Building Society Group. We have several hundred

people working there, and will continue to work

there in the future. So, yes, this is mainly about some

branch closures and some of the central themes in Lynch Wood

that support the branches. But when you say you are consulting,

it does mean that some of those It's likely some of them

will lose their jobs, yes, but my objective is to find roles

were as many as we can. Richard Bond is here -

are these branch closures just Think it shows building societies

are not immune from those forces that are causing banks to close

their branches. But both societies are different from banks, they're

mutual organisations, owned by members, not shareholders. Building

societies are supposed to use the money they save by not paying

dividends to do good stuff from members, such as paying decent

interest rates and maintaining good branch networks. I think the trouble

today's announcement it risks making the Norwich Peterborough, or the,

look like any old bank, and that's not a place they want to be an.

But this region still has some smaller building societies?

Yes, you have the Cambridge and the Ipswich bullock societies. Cambridge

have nine branches and say they have no plans to close any of them and

are still committed to investing in them. When you consider 50 years ago

this region had more than 50 building societies, we now have

three, a precipitous decline. New figures show that hundreds

of patients are bed-blocking Yesterday, we heard from a man

who had spent more than two years at the James Paget Hospital

in Norfolk before he was evicted. But he's far from alone, here's

Katherine Nash with the details. Adriano Gueres spent two years

refusing to leave his hospital bed. He's an example of someone offered

alternative care and accommodation, His case may be extreme,

but he's not alone. The term is used to describe

patients who are occupying a hospital bed that they don't

strictly need. They're often medically fit, ready

to be discharged from the ward, According to the NHS,

there are 445 people in the region who are fit

to leave, occupying beds. And in Norfolk, that

figure stands at 78. Commonly, delays are caused by

patients who require further care. For example, if medical assessments

aren't completed on time, or funding for social care hasn't

been arranged, the patient Patrick Thompson has

sat on health boards He says releasing someone

from hospital is a complex process. There's a lot more people involved

than just the health service. It's to do with social care,

whether or not it's local council, county council, private health care

assistance and neighbours - Not all bed-blockers fall

under those categories. There are those, like

Adriano Guedes, who simply reject their care plan,

choosing to stay At hospitals in Essex, there are 27

patients opting to stay. There are 18 in Suffolk,

and in Norfolk there are 13. If you or a family member have been

struggling to leave hospital, You can contact us via e-mail,

phone or social media. Plans to provide an extra 1200

school places in Essex have been The council is expecting the demand

for places in secondary schools in Chelmsford to increase this year

as more homes are built. If planning permission is granted,

a school for children of all ages will be created

in the Springfield area. A new primary school

and early years building A 900-place secondary school

would open the following year. Alex with news of even

colder weather to come. Saying goodbye to the gardener

at Anglesey Abbey after 40 years. And after all that bad

news about the tidal surge earlier this month,

the silver lining on The latest phase of work is now

underway to protect the iconic lighthouse Orfordness from the

scene. Avril once the ways that been taken away, had been giving

something back. The East of England Ambulance

Service has seen a huge increase in the numbers of calls over recent

years, and it reached record levels The service says it's

been its busiest winter ever. Today, the board of directors

met in Cambridgeshire. Among the items up for discussion,

growing demand, a shortage of paramedics and handover

delays at hospitals. But the trust says it is making

progress on response times. In a moment, the chief

executive Robert Morton, after this from our chief reporter,

Kim Riley. Pressure on the Ambulance Service

has been steadily building over the winter, with demand leaping

by almost a third last month. Between Christmas Eve

and Boxing Day, control room staff handled just under 7000 calls,

800 more than last year. The Department of Health national

standard requires paramedics treat 75% of the most serious

life-threatening calls In December, the East

of England Ambulance Service While not hitting the national

targets, the trust claims, week-by-week, it's consistenyl now

one of the best-performing Our hospitals are under

intense pressure too. The report, at today's meeting,

highlighted that delays handing In December, delays of over 15

minutes reached over 7800 hours. The equivalent of some 682

12-hour ambulance shifts. Southend, Colchester,

the Norfolk and Norwich and Peterborough among

the top contributing hospitals. A national shortage of paramedics

has led the trust to back up its recruitment drive at home

by looking overseas. Nine candidates have

been offered employment It's now considering furtehr

recruitment in Australia The trust says it's treating more

of its sickest patients within the eight-minutes target

than ever before, and is moving towards meeting national

performance standards. But the recruitment problem,

an ongoing dispute with the main union,

Unison, and a significant financial deficit are among problems that

still have to be faced. After that board meeting, I asked

the Chief Executive Robert Morton about the financial measures at the

trust. He said the need to to spend more than they had in order to keep

patients safe. If we did not spend this money now,

effectively, we would not have sufficient capacity to respond to

the huge rise in demand we're experiencing across the east of an.

Secondly, there would be tremendous pressure on our workforce. Us, as a

trust board, the pressure wave had to maintain this deficit to ensure

we have sufficient capacity to respond to patients, maintain the

safety of service and the well being of our workforce.

You talk about your workforce, the trade dispute relating to late

finishes are still ongoing. I spoke to you about that when you first

joined, 18 months ago? We have worked in partnership with

Unison and developed a number of measures to address the issue of

late finishes and disturbed meal breaks. The feedback we've had from

our workforce generally is that those changes have been positively

received. But Unison has reiterated the threat

to ballot for strike action if its demands aren't met?

One would expect a trade union to continue to maintain that option.

The reality is, we do continue to work together in partnership, we do

continue to talk between our organisation and Unison. So whilst

the statement is there, the reality is the risk of industrial action is

low at this stage. You're still, as a service, failing

to hit your targets. How much of that is down to the problems you

have with handovers at hospitals? Is good percentage is due to hand

over delays at hospitals, particularly across the festive

season, we've seen continued correlation between weight for

ambulance in areas where there are a long hand over delays.

So you haven't got enough money, you have difficult relations with the

union and you're dealing with a creaking NHS. What would your

message to beat the Health Secretary this evening about those pressures

you're facing? Clearly, we would want or money and

want it now. I think the Secretary of State with gift us that money if

he had available to him. But thing, accordingly, what we also need is

continuing recognition of the pressure we're all under and that's

where a micro doing our best underdog but circumstances. I've

heard is a recognition that is it case from the Secretary of State.

Thank you. Two weeks ago, our coastline was

bracing itself for the devastating effects of strong winds

and spring tides. Thousands of homes were

evacuated, and the sea But while many places

were left counting the cost, at Orfordness in Suffolk,

they were counting their blessings. There, the waves dumped thousands

of tonnes of shingle on the shoreline, and that

could prove vital in a battle Once again, the volunteers are

stepping into the breach on the beach. This, the latest phase of

work costing more than ?6,000 to try to delay the now redundant

structure's collapse, using these shingle-filled sausages. While it

has weathered the recent swell, for once, the waves proved friend, not

phone. We felt that the old girl was

putting up a good fight, so we decided we would help her. Given

some fair winds and a kind tail end to the winter, we should be able to

get visitors over here again this year.

Built in 1792 using three quarters of millennium breaks, it's over 750

feet tall, with another 20 feet underground. It was decommissioned

in 2013, now owned by a trust driven by passion and pride.

It's landmark that everybody loves. Went you drive in, the first thing

you see out to sea as the lighthouse. It would matter be --

Orfordness without a lighthouse would be disastrous.

We will take it year by year and at the end of each winter we will be

able to assess how she's got through the winter. Will have time from when

we can't get visitors here any more, but the lighthouse still saved, if

that makes sense. That's when we will start dismantling and moving to

the next phase of the plan. These are voice pipes, Wessels would go

all the way down to the kitchen. The keeper good summer his mate come up

here and give him a hand. They will hope to salvage an exhibit

in the museum this and other artefacts from the inside. The very

top of the building will be taken away preserve too. They know that

they will sue calm, but for now it is all about digging in and battling

on. Surrender, never. I always loved those moments when

you say, I never knew that. Powered by whale oil, well I never.

If you say Anglesey Abbey to most people, especially

at this time of year, most people will say snowdrops.

Over the years, the Abbey - which is run by the National Trust -

has built a reputation for its winter garden.

For the last 40 years, the man in charge has been Richard Todd,

but now he's stepping down as head gardener.

The nationally acclaimed winter garden, here at Anglesey Abbey -

From red dogwood to whitewash bramble.

That's the beauty of a winter garden.

You can't be unhappy about what you're seeing,

because they're fantastically bright.

Richard Todd has worked here since he was 22.

He planted much of this garden and designed a lot of it.

Now he's retiring, his successor will need to constantly maintain it

It's not a job for the faint-hearted.

Not only are you running the garden, making sure

maintaining all of those things - big team to look after,

Obviously, there's lots of emotions around that, because it's

But think it's the right time for me to hang up my boots, as it were.

The real jewel in the crown here are the snowdrops,

What are the challenges facing the new head gardener?

We've got one right here, this is the first of our named

We've got 350 in the collection, you've got to get your head

round that, to tell the stories, tell the differences

Richard is now going on to become the garden consultant

for the National Trust in our region.

If you'd like to fill his shoes here, applications close

Does look lovely. Beautiful, very cold, but don't get

colder? Yes, it today wasn't called enough.

Promoter us across the region, it was misty and foggy, temperatures

just above freezing. Beautiful photographs, a misty scene and

Norfolk this morning. Another one here in Northamptonshire. That's how

we start the evening, a lot of messed around and low cloud. Spots

of drizzle possible, even the odd snow through the night. That throws

up a problem of ice on untreated surfaces through the night.

Temperatures will drop below freezing quite rightly, down to

around minus two Celsius. In those frost-prime spots, it could go a

degree or two lower than that. As we get drier, colder, continental air

bossing the region overnight. That is going to be a feature of the

weather tomorrow. High-pressure starting to head eastwards, we get

this south easterly wind. A lump of cold air across the continent,

across us tomorrow. We start tomorrow on a cold note anyway, a

widespread frost. Potential for icy conditions as well. Cloud around,

and once more at the of drizzle, a snow flurry as well. Essentially, a

dry day. Is this dry air comes in, we'll studies ease and brightness,

perhaps even sunshine in parts of the region, across that southeastern

corner. Temperatures were some of us, not above freezing all day.

Factor in the wind-chill, as easterly breeze, it will bitterly

cold. It will feel subzero for Match Of The Day. The good news is it

won't last, but it's going to be a widespread frost. A shift in

pressure pattern, Friday a transitional day. High-pressure

starting to rake down, Atlantic weather systems pushing and from the

west. We'll study get more of a southerly wind. Celeste Coles, not

warmer, but less cold. The potential for more cloud, and patchy rain on

Friday. Not raining on Friday, but cloud around, dry interludes and

spells of patchy rain. Temperatures recovering, up to 7 degrees on

Friday. The weekend a similar pattern, dry, cloudy at times,

chilly at night, but not as cold as it will be tomorrow.

Thank you. 80 degrees on Saturday? Hardly

swimsuits! -- 8 degrees on Saturday. See you tomorrow, bye-bye.