08/08/2011 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Good evening and welcome to BBC Look North. The headlines tonight.

Farmers take extreme measures to increase security after a sharp

rise in rural crime. It is my sister I am protecting.

With her to take control of our own destiny. -- it is my stuff.

The Hull businesses that have had enough of paying extra to promote

the city centre. Why people are frightened of buying fake vodka in

Boston. We are told by customers they would only select certain

supermarkets because they are frightened. This stuff is poisonous.

We find out if drivers would still stop by the roadside to pick up

hitchhikers. Some of us saw thunderstorms this

afternoon, a quieter day tomorrow, Criminals are deliberately

targeting rural areas of Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire

according to new research. The insurance company NFU Mutual says

farmers are being hit hard by a sharp rise in crime, and it's

costing businesses millions of pounds. In Lincolnshire and the

East Midlands, agricultural crime rose by sixty-one percent in 2010.

In Yorkshire and the North East, it grew by 12%. It's estimated to have

cost both areas a total of nearly nineteen million pounds last year,

With its rolling landscapes and picture postcard views you wouldn't

expect the Lincolnshire Countryside to be the scene of rising crime.

For beetroot farmer Chris Moore, security is a major concern. His

last job of the day is positioning 'indoor scarecrows' to deter

intruders. It is another thing, something to put people off. There

is a burglar alarm and cameras. Most farmers have been the victim

of crime. We have had a couple of pick-ups stolen. The internet Cable

was annoying. The NFU says he is right to have a security plan as

tractors and heating or at thefts have risen. Organised crime is

focusing more on countryside and you have expensive equipment out

there. Some tractors are worth up to �100,000. But is a keen to

stealing a Ferrari. Over in East Yorkshire, Quad bikes have topped

the list of stolen property. Membership of the Farmwatch scheme

is growing. It alerts members by text of suspicious activity.

benefit is we have a success rate of catching people in the act of

perching on land and it's been successful. Using things like

alarms for the shed, if they can afford CCTV, or using other

security products that will make a piece of equipment definitive to

the farm. The days are gone where tractors could be left in fields

overnight and sheds unlocked. The NFU say ignoring this threat - will

cost farmers dearly. Linsey joins us now from a farm in Beltoft in

North Lincolnshire. Linsey, do farmers seem to be taking the

warning? Yes, typically on a farm like this

in harvest time we would see machinery in the fields overnight

waiting for work in the morning. It has all been brought into the yard,

it is waiting to be locked up in the sheds behind me and the

nightwatchman is also due to start his patrol shortly. Farmers tell me

this does not just affect them, it affects the whole community. I was

in East Yorkshire and one farmer has extra cameras on his CCTV

systems trains on the village church because it is close by, when

thieves go on the rampage, the village church also gets let stolen.

It is up to farmers and parishioners to club together and

replace it as well as taking responsibility for replacing their

equipment. This is hitting them from all angles.

In a moment: As a thousand steel jobs are created at in the North

East - we ask would workers swap Scunthorpe for Redcar?

Local businesses in Hull have begun a campaign against the organisation

which promotes the city centre. All retailers pay a compulsory fee to

be a member of the Hull Business Improvement District - which is

known as BID. However, some think it's a waste of money. And as the

city prepares to vote on its future, the rebels are raising their voice.

Our business correspondent Paul Murphy has the story.

This man is one of the rebels, he wants nothing to do with the

business improvement districts but like 700 other city centre

businesses, he has been paying the compulsory fee for five years.

is another tax, another backdoor tax. It cannot improve the city

centre. That is the council's job, it can't reduce crime and increase

policing, but is what we pay the business rates for. The annual

festival is one of the achievements as it strives to market the city.

The owner of this restaurant says it is doing great things. It would

be great if every business got behind it because with the right

attitude and force, we can bring Hull further ahead, we have to

compete. If we don't have anything to work with, we will lease. Each

shop pays 1% of its ratable barley, a couple of hundred pounds the year

for small shop. They collect levies of �450,000 a year. Expense

�120,000 on salaries and at men. The rebel businesses believe it is

a waste of money. At the heart of the rebel business argument is they

already pay for policing, marketing and cleaning of the city centre

through business rates. An additional levy to do business

improvement districts is unnecessary and unjustified. Not so,

says Hull BID. They wanted the City to be clean and tidy air with

higher foot fault and we can demonstrate that is what we have

done. We have seen a reduction in crime and graffiti has virtually

been eradicated in the city centre. The businesses will be voting in

the coming weeks whether it stays. The rebels claimed the campaign is

gaining momentum. We just heard from Kathryn Shillito

from Hull BID in Paul Murphy's report. Earlier I asked her if she

could understand why some businesses aren't happy.

Yes, I can. Businesses are struggling these days, the economic

climate is difficult. But I think it has come all in leaps and bounds.

We started in 2006 and have achieved against objectives. They

say you have made little difference. The businesses are expected, would

say differently. I have had meetings with many of them to

listen to the concerns. How can be justified charging businesses which

don't want be part of your group but they had no option? They were

introduced in 2004 and we have one hand and 12 bids. Businesses

recognise it is a direct influence over how funds are spent. We have

lots of people moaning. These businesses already paid for police

think in the business rates, why pay again? We don't replace, we

enhance. We don't subsidise. When you look at the graffiti statistics,

we have removed 6,000 pieces of graffiti, many of private premises.

If you ran a bed shop, the feet first becomes long bring people in

but you will not go after your German hot dog and decide you want

to bed. These events raised foot fall significantly. People go into

the shops, bars and also solicitors and accountants might say we did

benefit but they want to see the city looking busy with a vibrant

feel with football coming in. you say to the rebel businesses?

would like to visit them and explain more how I can help them

and I would like to see them becoming part of it and using it

for the benefit. You will go to everyone? I hope so. You will be

busy. Well is your business affected by this? Is enough being

done to attract people into the A man who stabbed his estranged

wife over a hundred times in front of their two year old son has been

found guilty of her murder. Linda Merigo from Driffield was attacked

in broad daylight outside her Driffield home last year. Police

have described 43-year-old Alfred Merigo as a "violent and ruthless

murderer". He's been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum

term of twenty eight years. The banks of a river in Grimsby are

being cleared of weeds after local residents complained that the area

had become infested with rats. The River Freshney runs through the

town and is near to homes and a playground. People in the area say

the rats are a danger to health and the river has become overgrown and

clogged with rubbish and weeds. The Environment Agency is working

with the council to clean up the riverbanks.

An off-licence owner in Boston says people are becoming frightened to

buy vodka in the town following last month's explosion at an

illegal distillery. Robert Hancock says the full scale of illicit

alcohol is only just becoming known. His comments come as the health

service says there's been a rise in people becoming ill from fake

alcohol. Phillip Norton reports. Rob Hancock has long been aware of

a problem with fake vodka in Boston. As a careful off-licence owner and

a member of pubwatch - he's been in competition with a black market and

has seen problems fake vodka caused with his own eyes. One customer, I

witnessed him at being ill, he could hardly talk, his lips were

dry. He went to the doctors who said he should drink lots of water

and to go to hospital. He had the bottle in his hand. It smelt very

bad. Doctors in Lincolnshire says there's now been a rise in the

number of people seeking treatment, with symptoms of poisoning from

fake vodka. Patients complain of abdominal pain, blurred vision and

to they can also complained of dizziness. More people are

describing those symptoms. It is quite frequent.

Last month's explosion at an illegal distillery on an industrial

estate in the town killed five Lithuanian men and left another

fighting for his life. They're believed to have been producing

fake Smirnoff vodka, which had flooded the streets in recent

months. Millions of pounds is spent every year to protect market

leading brand names and the quality of their products. We've spoken to

the company which owns Smirnoff today, Diageo, which says it was

shocked to learn what happened in Boston, adding that it works

closely on anti counterfeit matters through the industry body, the

International Federation of Spirits Producers. They say the actual

scale of counterfeiting is difficult to judge but reassured

the public that the vast majority of spirits sold in the UK are

genuine, and they're pushing for maximum sentences for those caught

producing fake alcohol. Mr Hancock says his customers have been

increasingly cautious. They are very wary. We are being told by

customers they will only selected supermarkets and certain shops

because they're frightened. This stuff is very poisonous. The advice

from trading standards is to only buy alcohol from reputable stores

and off-licences. If you're in Lincolnshire are you

thinking twice about where you buy your alcohol from? Let us know in

Thanks for getting in touch after Friday's show about a call for a

public vote on capital punishment. Coming up on Look North: Still

ahead tonight: The new season has begun, but it

was a tough weekend for Hull and Scunthorpe.

As hitchhiking becomes a thing of the past, drivers tell us whether

they would still pick up on the Edwin Wilson took this this morning

at 5:10am from his garden in Withernsea of the early morning sun

Katie says, my father record every night's Look North. Sad at all

This is what happened at Stamford Bridge earlier after a torrential

downpour. There was nearly half an inch of rain fall in just one hour.

On with the forecast, will it get better? Yes, it will. Tomorrow,

eight dry and bright day. If you look further out into the Atlantic,

another area of low pressure will bring unsettled weather macro. Back

to this afternoon, this is the radar sequence: It has been a

mainly East Yorkshire, northern and eastern parts of Lincolnshire. That

is where the showers are at the moment. They are still torrential

in places. But they will die away as we go through the night. Skies

will clear from the north. Temperatures will drop to nine-at

ten Celsius. Looking at at the Sun, it will rise at 5:30am. Tomorrow,

still some cloud to begin with, but it will break up and we will see

sunny spells developing. The best of the sunshine will be through the

morning, as the cloud all fell again as we head through the

afternoon. The most of us, it will be dry. It will not be as breezier

as today, but the wind is coming from the north-west and will fill

cool for the time being. Make the most of Tuesday if you can. That

wet weather returns on Wednesday. This from Alex who rides, he is on

the train because he is opening a garden party tomorrow. See you

garden party tomorrow. See you tomorrow.

To stay in work these days often sees families being forced to move

to a new part of the country. For steelworkers in Scunthorpe, where

1,200 jobs are under threat, it is an option which many may soon have

to consider. The industry has been in decline for years, but now new

hope has emerged on Teesside where today, 1000 new steel jobs have

been advertised. Phil Connell reports.

The two northern towns dominated by its steel. But in at Redcar on

Teesside, the industry is showing signs of new beginnings. The firm

which bought the steel plant has unveiled a massive recruitment

drive. On their website, 1,000 jobs are being advertised, and the 1,200

workers facing redundancy are being encouraged to apply. Still making

is a very precise science, anyone be foolish not to bring in people

with expertise. But we are also looking to the younger generation.

For those who attempted the journey from Scunthorpe to Redcar, it is

110 miles. The move has good and bad points. In a Redcar,

unemployment is 4% higher. While the town may tempt people with its

beach, school performance tables are lower than those in Scunthorpe.

For the town's steelworkers, there is a lot to consider, but with

1,200 jobs under threat, a move away from Scunthorpe maybe the only

option. He will have to go where the work is. He if transferring to

another region means I will keep my job, I have to do that. There is

nothing here whatsoever. Today's's jobs boost comes after years of bad

news. Workers made redundant here perhaps

should not be too optimistic. Demand for the jobs will be high,

with around 10,000 applicants expected.

Our reporter Ian Reeve is in Redcar this evening. Redcar is a steel

town like Scunthorpe. How big an attraction are these jobs for

people coming to the town? company is stressing that the jobs,

1,000 posts, are not earmarked for people from Teesside only. People

from other places of the country, their applications will be accepted.

The company is also stressing the jobs are not just for steelworkers.

A two years ago, 500 people lost their jobs. There were many

management, technical staff, those kind of applications would be

accepted. There is another plus said, the guy who runs the plant

knows the calibre of the Scunthorpe workforce. And you very much indeed.

We will continue to follow that story.

It was the opening weekend of the new football season. Damian Johnson

is here with me. Is it fair to say there were mixed fortunes for our

two League sides? Just about sums it up. Only two League sides now.

Football League or the way. Scunthorpe United boss, Alan Knill,

described the draw as they have real confidence booster. Jimmy Ryan

signed in the summer. After a disappointing pre-season,

Scunthorpe United might have travelled to Wycombe in some

trepidation. But they secured a point thanks to this equaliser. The

manager reflected on a fine display. The performance was everything we

asked for. We took the game to Wycombe, even though we were and

are wayside. I thought we were excellent, and really encouraging.

It was a big confidence boost for everybody. It my to be even better

after Wycombe had a man sent off. Tomorrow, they travel to Accrington

in the Carling Cup, and an early reunion for a Scunthorpe player on

holiday. I was on holiday, and my dad text did make. It was just my

luck, really. I am looking forward go back there.

It was a night of missed They paid a heavy price all those

misses. Tomorrow, the Tigers will look for an improved performance in

the Carling Cup at home to Macclesfield.

Hull FC have poured cold water on rumours that coach Richard Agar is

quitting the club for Wakefield Trinity. The Guardian newspaper had

suggested Agar would leave after being offered a role as director of

rugby by new owner Adam Pearson. One of Hull Fc's most colourful

characters from the 1980s has written a book about his life in

rugby. Lee Crooks has been telling listeners of BBC Radio Humberside

about his career before heading to the Humber St Andrews Social Club

in the city to sign copies for fans. It explains things people do not

know went on, without upsetting too many people as well. It is not a

sensational piece of writing, it is just absurd an expression of what

my life has been. Once they were a familiar sight by

the side of the road. But it seems the hitchhiker is becoming a thing

of the past, especially in East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire,

where a survey shows people are less likely to hitchhike than

anywhere else in the country. Simon Spark has more.

Hitchhiking has been around long before there were even cars on the

roads, with varying the techniques. And if you picked up this a lot,

you would have escorted a moment in history. But today, we are more

likely to see just cars and a change of mood. Many people are not

sure as they used to be. According to a new poll, the amount

of people who would not pick up a hitchhiker has risen from 75% to

95% in just two years. People in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire are also

the least likely to even give it a go. And I am certainly getting

nowhere here. At this cafe, they have almost

forgotten what a hitchhiker is. have been here nine years, and I

have never seen a hitchhike on this road. It is a thing of the past.

There are a few strange people about! Not many, mostly they are

lovely, but not any of my customers. They are perfect!

And we could not find many people who would hitchhike, apart from

Martin. So from an age of free spirits to uncertainty, but maybe

we do not need to hitchhike any more. Maybe it is just the end of

the road. Let's get a recap of the national

and regional headlines: There's been more violence on the

streets of London tonight. Shops in Hackney have been looted and police

pelted with missiles. And new research shows farmers are

being hit hard by a sharp rise in crime which is costing millions of

pounds to improve security. Tomorrow's weather: A fine start

with plenty of sunshine. Staying dry all day, getting cloudier later.

Not as breezy as today but still feeling cool with a maximum

temperature of 18 Celsius. Some response now for the business

district: We run a small shop, and the bed has done a wonderful job in

cleaning up the High Street and promoting businesses. Another one

here, yet another silly quango, keeping a silly people in the silly