:00:00. > :00:00.Hello and welcome to the Look East late news.
:00:00. > :00:00.With some Post Office staff and
:00:07. > :00:09.airport workers beginning a wave of strike action, is the region
:00:10. > :00:16.Two men remain in a critical condition tonight after they were
:00:17. > :00:22.And I'll have your weather for the week ahead,
:00:23. > :00:38.Fears for a Christmas of discontent in the region after the first wave
:00:39. > :00:41.of strikes at post offices and at airports.
:00:42. > :00:44.20 Crown Post Offices across Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk were affected.
:00:45. > :00:49.And at Stansted Airport, baggage handlers and ground staff
:00:50. > :00:52.will strike on Friday and Christmas Eve, just
:00:53. > :00:57.We'll hear from the Communication Workers Union in a moment,
:00:58. > :01:03.Despite today's strike action, the Crown Post Office in Newmarket
:01:04. > :01:07.hopes it still delivered a first-class service.
:01:08. > :01:11.The union says it is one of many key high street post offices in the east
:01:12. > :01:17.You had to wait half an hour before we got served.
:01:18. > :01:20.Here, it seems normal, you know, always courteous
:01:21. > :01:24.and everything so I didn't find any difficulty whatsoever,
:01:25. > :01:29.The Colchester Post Office was still guaranteeing a normal service
:01:30. > :01:38.It is a dispute over pensions, job security and
:01:39. > :01:41.concern the post office will no longer exist on our high streets.
:01:42. > :01:43.We are absolutely up for sitting down and talking.
:01:44. > :01:47.What we can't do, of course, is change the strategy which
:01:48. > :01:50.is about improving post office services for customers in an
:01:51. > :01:53.increasingly competitive market place, and a very changing, within
:01:54. > :01:55.changing lifestyles, you know, the Post Office needs
:01:56. > :01:58.to change and is changing and that will continue.
:01:59. > :02:03.A number of union members from region
:02:04. > :02:10.made a special Christmas delivery this morning to the Government,
:02:11. > :02:13.70,000 postcards signed by the public supporting the campaign.
:02:14. > :02:15.Meanwhile, Swissport baggage handlers here at Stansted and across
:02:16. > :02:20.the country could also go on strike before Christmas.
:02:21. > :02:24.Sue Spooner from Norfolk is due to fly to Australia
:02:25. > :02:33.But if the strikes go ahead, it could mean she can only take hand
:02:34. > :02:35.luggage leaving the Christmas presents behind.
:02:36. > :02:37.I can understand why they are doing it at this time
:02:38. > :02:41.of year because they going to get the most publicity and it is a
:02:42. > :02:43.blackmail for the Government and I just think that is outrageously
:02:44. > :02:47.Ryanair is the key airline at Stansted Airport using Swissport
:02:48. > :02:51.It says flights are expected to operate as normal
:02:52. > :02:55.but they may have to operate with hand luggage only.
:02:56. > :03:02.For employees, it's hugely disruptive, it has a
:03:03. > :03:04.massive impact on business but what we can't forget
:03:05. > :03:08.being able to strike is absolutely vital to them being able to
:03:09. > :03:12.Talks are due to be held tomorrow to try and avert
:03:13. > :03:13.the baggage handlers' strike later this week.
:03:14. > :03:16.As for the Post Office strike, Downing Street says all
:03:17. > :03:18.parties should get around the table to settle their differences.
:03:19. > :03:22.Earlier I spoke to Tim Pavelin from the Comminication Workers Union.
:03:23. > :03:25.It's been a long running dispute, so I asked him why they've
:03:26. > :03:29.We have to use the available opportunities to highlight it to the
:03:30. > :03:32.public and the media and the Christmas period has been that
:03:33. > :03:38.But most of the main branches have remained open
:03:39. > :03:40.today, you have hit them with your best shot
:03:41. > :03:46.Well, I think the strategy is not going to be a sprint,
:03:47. > :03:48.we didn't think it would be concluded in the build-up
:03:49. > :03:52.to Christmas and so we are prepared to go on until the New Year
:03:53. > :03:55.and beyond until we can get a resolution.
:03:56. > :03:57.One of your grievances is the franchising of the
:03:58. > :04:03.What is wrong in principle with that?
:04:04. > :04:09.Well, you lose a directly managed service, the highly trained
:04:10. > :04:12.staff that you find in the Crown offices and the product knowledge
:04:13. > :04:16.If you go into a high-street and you find your post office
:04:17. > :04:18.is stuck away at the back of a supermarket or newsagent
:04:19. > :04:21.and WHSmith tend to take on a few of the
:04:22. > :04:22.franchise offices this year,
:04:23. > :04:24.it's not giving you the same high street service
:04:25. > :04:27.Do members of the public need the same
:04:28. > :04:29.post office that they used to have though?
:04:30. > :04:31.I mean, people don't do their car tax any more in the
:04:32. > :04:35.They send e-mails and so on and so forth.
:04:36. > :04:37.Hasn't the Post Office got to change?
:04:38. > :04:39.Well, if you go back a few years, in 2010,
:04:40. > :04:43.and decided the Post Office did have a future, a future
:04:44. > :04:46.in the digital age and it meant that we could've
:04:47. > :04:47.been the front office for government,
:04:48. > :04:49.we could've established accounts,
:04:50. > :04:53.financial accounts through our financial services strand.
:04:54. > :04:56.But there has been no investment, it has been allowed to dwindle
:04:57. > :04:57.and what we are seeing now is
:04:58. > :05:00.really the point where we had to take action to try
:05:01. > :05:06.You feel that you do have the support of the public at
:05:07. > :05:09.the moment, is there a chance that that might wane if this starts to
:05:10. > :05:15.No, I think that the period, it is here now,
:05:16. > :05:17.it is in the very last week up to Christmas,
:05:18. > :05:20.we are still finding we are getting support and I would love to see
:05:21. > :05:23.a negotiated settlement because I don't want my members to
:05:24. > :05:26.lose their wages, they are prepared to sacrifice and defend their jobs
:05:27. > :05:29.and I do hope that the sooner the two parties, three
:05:30. > :05:33.if you include the Government who certainly are involved,
:05:34. > :05:36.can get round the table, then hopefully the sooner we can get
:05:37. > :05:45.Two men have been seriously injured in a double stabbing
:05:46. > :05:49.It happened late last night in a multistorey car park.
:05:50. > :05:56.This morning, officers from Suffolk Police painstakingly
:05:57. > :05:58.search the area around Foundation Street
:05:59. > :06:02.Yesterday evening, at ten o'clock, the
:06:03. > :06:06.Ambulance Service called the police to a serious assault where two men
:06:07. > :06:11.Both were taken to hospital in a critical condition
:06:12. > :06:15.with what were described as life-threatening injuries.
:06:16. > :06:17.Suffolk Police say that one is still in a
:06:18. > :06:19.critical condition whilst the other is now stable.
:06:20. > :06:21.The area around Foundation Street will remain
:06:22. > :06:26.cordoned off whilst the investigation continues,
:06:27. > :06:29.Blackfriars car park that has been closed all day.
:06:30. > :06:32.This morning, I have been speaking to some of the local
:06:33. > :06:34.residents who told me what they experienced last night.
:06:35. > :06:39.This must've been around about 11 o'clock I got
:06:40. > :06:43.back and there were a few police cars parked outside my house and I
:06:44. > :06:46.was told I couldn't actually enter my house because of an incident
:06:47. > :06:49.involving a few people being stabbed and they didn't really disclose much
:06:50. > :06:53.I just got told there were a few people critically injured
:06:54. > :06:55.and a few people arrested at the time.
:06:56. > :06:59.The area itself, it is what is known for drugs and stuff.
:07:00. > :07:02.There's a lot of trouble that happens down here and everything.
:07:03. > :07:06.But it is a rough area but really there should be more lights and
:07:07. > :07:09.public cameras as well for the police so they can monitor it
:07:10. > :07:13.better and I think that then it would be like a deterrent to keep
:07:14. > :07:18.Suffolk Police say they have arrested two men, a 57 and a
:07:19. > :07:20.48-year-old on suspicion of conspiracy to commit
:07:21. > :07:26.The police force are now asking anyone with any information
:07:27. > :07:36.The region's hospitals are facing growing pressure
:07:37. > :07:44.They say that months of planning mean their systems are all coping
:07:45. > :07:46.but some planned surgeries are being postponed until
:07:47. > :07:55.We have seen an increase this year of about 10% in people who are
:07:56. > :07:57.attending A in both hospitals, both at Colchester and at Ipswich,
:07:58. > :08:00.and that's a fairly consistent increase that we have seen every
:08:01. > :08:05.We knew it was coming so we have planned for it so both in terms
:08:06. > :08:09.attending A and the number of people who have to go
:08:10. > :08:11.into hospital, we have seen an increase.
:08:12. > :08:13.We've got some additional capacity, both in the hospital and
:08:14. > :08:15.outside and we do know that that will be enough,
:08:16. > :08:18.as long as we don't see either a sudden cold spell or indeed
:08:19. > :08:23.But indeed even if we have those situations, we have got contingency
:08:24. > :08:25.plans to make sure we can deal with that as well.
:08:26. > :08:28.There could be more searches of woodland around RAF Honington
:08:29. > :08:30.in Suffolk for the airman Corrie Mckeague who's been
:08:31. > :08:32.Volunteers from Suffolk Lowland Search and Rescue,
:08:33. > :08:35.with 30 members of the public, searched five square miles
:08:36. > :08:38.It's the first search to be organised by the Mckeague
:08:39. > :08:44.Councillors in Norwich have denied profiteering from fines
:08:45. > :08:49.A Freedom of Information request by the Norwich Evening News revealed
:08:50. > :08:53.?400,000 had been collected in just nine months.
:08:54. > :08:58.Norwich City Council said the money goes back into road projects.
:08:59. > :09:01.Well-wishers have donated koi carp to replace fish which were killed
:09:02. > :09:05.when vandals damaged a tank at Castle Park in Colchester.
:09:06. > :09:08.45 fish were being held in a container while their pool
:09:09. > :09:13.Many of them were around 30 years old.
:09:14. > :09:15.Four replacement koi have been added to the pond today,
:09:16. > :09:22.I'll say goodnight, and leave you in the hands
:09:23. > :09:35.Thank you. Still a lot of uncertainty in the focus on the
:09:36. > :09:38.run-up to Christmas. Tonight, largely cloudy, some clear
:09:39. > :09:42.intervals, probably some patchy Mr frost. I think some of us were
:09:43. > :09:46.actually dropped lower than these values. Possibly down to freezing.
:09:47. > :09:50.Light winds and a few showers, a few showers and bits of drizzle first
:09:51. > :09:54.thing tomorrow. Then it should brighten up, season sunshine coming
:09:55. > :09:58.through. Temperatures, near average for the time of year, about six or
:09:59. > :10:07.seven Celsius at best. Like to sell easterly winds. We finish the day
:10:08. > :10:11.light and dry. So, as it stands, I think we get off to a cuddly start
:10:12. > :10:14.with some outbreaks of rain and then it should become drier and brighter
:10:15. > :10:18.but some blustery showers expected later in the day, rattling through
:10:19. > :10:24.an egg model is to south-westerly wind. Thursday, hangs on how quickly
:10:25. > :10:27.this front actually close away. At the moment, it looks like most of us
:10:28. > :10:32.will wake up to dry skies and hopefully will see it some sunny
:10:33. > :10:35.spells developing. Friday, high-pressure building in and this
:10:36. > :10:40.Weatherford pushing in from the west, eventually bringing some rain
:10:41. > :10:44.are properly not until after dark on Friday. Friday, early mist and
:10:45. > :10:49.frost, largely fine and dry but turning cloudy as the day goes on.
:10:50. > :10:52.In a moment, Thomas will have the national forecast but I will leave
:10:53. > :10:55.you with the outlook for the Christmas weekend. It does look like
:10:56. > :10:59.we did have some rain Christmas Eve and that should then clear, just
:11:00. > :11:01.leave us with some blustery showers and some sunny spells. Christmas
:11:02. > :11:03.The rest of the weekend, some rain around, windy, but with dry and
:11:04. > :11:14.bright spells. Heavy weather is brewing, it will
:11:15. > :11:20.not reach us just yet. It will take a good few days before the stormy
:11:21. > :11:23.weather reaches us. At the moment, it's just potential, nothing is
:11:24. > :11:27.certain, but it will be different to what we've had over the last few
:11:28. > :11:28.weeks, it's been so calm.