09/03/2017 Look East

Hello and welcome to the Look East late news.

In the programme tonight: Fears of another Dale Farm

after travellers move on to a nearby land.

The Local Council in Essex says a change in the law is needed.

Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock on why he's training harder than ever,

but will not be competing for the next six months.

And after some fine weather today, a cold night follows. Join me later

for all the details. People living near an illegal

travellers site in Essex say they believe another

Dale Farm could be created as the travellers

move onto more land. The site is at Hovefields

in Wickford near Basildon. The local council says it needs more

help from the government Last weekend, residents

of Hovefields Avenue noticed multiple lorries filled with gravel

travelling down the road. Soon after, green belt land

was covered in asphalt. Jill has lived in the area

for over 16 years. I felt devastated and when we saw

the amount that was going down there, we knew it was going to be

a major development. It has been plotted off

and looking at it, it will be The danger is it will turn

into Dale Farm but bigger. Dale Farm, less than a mile down

the road, was Europe's The eviction of 80 families

left 15 police officers The leader of Basildon Council says

that due to the laws not changing, Hovefields could end

in a similar way. The residents think this is going

to become another Dale Farm. Should the government not have

stepped in and change these laws? I can only work in the legal

parameters and the framework People have to exist and they have

to have a place to live. They can buy their own property,

they could put in for planning permission but sometimes that takes

years to go through and in the meantime, 99.9% of Gypsy travel

applications get refused. Nobody involved wants another

Dale Farm but with no clear answers, everyone fears history

will repeat itself. Head teachers in Essex have written

to their MPs this evening criticising the Chancellor

of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, over his stance on school funding

in yesterday's budget. One of his sharpest

critics is the current head at Shenfield High,

which is Mr Hammond's old school. Our political reporter

Simon Dedman is there now. MPs have got mail tonight. It is a

second letter in as many months from headteachers and it says schools in

far-reaching cuts that are already far-reaching cuts that are already

stretched to breaking point and this comes from the headteacher of the

School be Chancellor went to. She says she has had to make

redundancies and if nothing is done, and entire department might have to

go. I spoke to her earlier. We are very proud of Philip Hammond as an

exploit of the school. He has been to visit us here and has talked to

our sixth form but perhaps he has forgotten his roots and we are very

sad about that. We talk to our students about having aspirations,

supporting those aspirations, you too perhaps could become Chancellor

of the Exchequer but Philip Avent hasn't remembered that schools need

appropriate funding to do the excellent things they can do. Is

there any reaction from the Treasury to night? Not directly. This letter

has just gone live in the last two hours but the government has said it

is investing in schools so pupils everywhere can prosper but that will

not wash with headteachers here at academies and comprehensives. They

say they face real term cuts of 8% and they have been neglected by the

government with their focus on selective schools and free schools.

Schools are following suit and writing to their MPs.

There's been a huge wave of support for the mother of Corrie McKeague

after she apologised on Look East last night to thousands of people

who have supported the search for her son.

The RAF serviceman has not been seen since September,

after a night out in Bury St Edmunds.

Day four of the search of the landfill site.

There is a growing conviction that the remains of Corrie

A bin which took waste from the area when he vanished was far

His mother told Look East she feels responsible

for the hurt that will be felt by her online supporters.

I am so upset that I have brought over 120,000 people into this

with us and I am making other people upset because I needed

Hundreds who watched that interview took to our Facebook

Scores of volunteers searched the countryside

The man who did then said he and they would do it again.

I can say on behalf of 120,000 people that she doesn't need

to apologise to anybody for anything, so she needs

This hotel is a base and a refuge for Nicola when she travels

Cheryl, who runs it, has got to know her well.

Even now she is worried about other people, but others

have taken this journey, they chose to take it

and they are going to be heartbroken, but they chose

This is still a missing persons enquiry.

Support is now edged with the movement and frustration

that the search of this landfill has only now got underway.

There is a growing realisation that this 23-year-old gunner

could soon be found, but not safe and well.

About 120 jobs are at risk at a book printing factory in Suffolk.

Clays, which printed the Harry Potter series,

was established more than 200 years ago.

It employs 700 people on the Norfolk-Suffolk border.

The double Olympic gold medallist Max Whitlock is taking a six-month

His aim is to prepare for the World Gymnastics Championships in October.

The 24-year-old will continue to train full-time

at the South Essex Club in Basildon, but says he needs time away

from competing to practice new and more difficult routines.

He's been speaking exclusively to our sports reporter Tom Williams.

At just 24, Britain's greatest ever gymnast.

Careful of your shoulders moving backwards and forwards too much.

But there's always room for improvement.

After winning double gold in Rio, Max Whitlock now needs time away

My target is to go on for another eight years, definitely four years,

everything is driving towards Tokyo, but eight years is my real dream

I need to take care of my body now if I want to do that and the next

reason is I didn't want to go into competitions with

I want to be pretty new and improved with brand-new skills,

To achieve that he says he doesn't need to work harder but smarter.

He will still train full-time but behind closed doors,

He's hoping one daring move will be named after him.

Is there a lot more to come from you?

With the new skills that I am preparing.

I cannot stand still and sit there and be happy with those

He's become one of British sport's famous faces.

Only last month he was Buckingham Palace.

What is it like being referred to as Max Whitlock MBE?

Very weird, very strange, but a really nice feeling as well.

That's one of my proudest achievements for me and to go

there and be awarded by the Queen, I was so, so nervous,

He's got six months to perfect his new routine before the pressure

is back on performing in front of the world.

Good evening. Temperatures climbed to 16 degrees today, tonight they

will drop close to freezing because we have clear skies across most of

the region. We could be down as low as two or three degrees by first

thing tomorrow morning. Further west, temperatures recovering. Cloud

pushing in tied into this weather system here. We hold onto high

pressure so a fresh start to the day but we will see a lot of sunshine

through the morning. Turning hazy in the afternoon and this cloud

increasing from the West which could produce the odd spot of light rain,

but further east it was to find. It should still feel quite pleasant in

the sunshine, up to around 11, 12 degrees. In the evening, cloud

coming in and bringing in a few spots of light rain. It is turning

unsettled for the weekend day. On Sunday, cloudier, maybe

spots of rain. Good evening, in the spring sunshine

we saw temperatures as high as 17.5 Celsius. Not as warm or Sonning on

Friday.