08/11/2017 Look North (East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire)

Here on BBC One, it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening.

for the news where you are.

The headlines from BBC Look North

this Wednesday night.

Struggling high streets

in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

will be dead within a decade -

according to a top retail expert.

The problem high streets will not be

around in ten years and I don't

think they should be.

David Prescott -

the son of Lord Prescott -

is suspended from his job

in the Labour Party.

Patients say they're

being repeatedly let down

by a private ambulance service that

has been given a big NHS contract.

I sit here in trepidation waiting to

see if it turns up.

A lot of

sunshine to come over the next few

days. Join me for the updated

forecast.

High streets in market towns

across East Yorkshire

and Lincolnshire will be dead

within a decade.

That's the claim of a retail expert,

speaking as new BBC research

suggests the UK high street

is continuing to decline.

In Market Rasen in Lincolnshire,

which was given a special government

grant to reverse its fortunes five

years ago, vacancy rates

have continued to rise.

Our Business Correspondent

Katy Austin reports.

Being a pilot to gave Market Rasen a

boost.

Mary Portas has now gone,

so has this veg shop -

and so has the hope the high street

would be revitalised.

What is the long-term effect of it?

I don't think the long-term effect

has been lasting.

Have you seen any

effect at all?

Not particularly.

The

mood varies.

I think the people here

are rather negative and that they

actually walked up the high street

and saw her many independent

businesses that are, there are tones

that would love that many

independent businesses.

Do you think

it has got better in the last few

years?

It has gone downhill. What is

here is too pricey.

Mary Portis

admits the scheme she headed up

hasn't revived high-street fortunes.

It was a nice shiny PR campaign that

looks like we were doing something

and of course we were doing

something and I thought it would

kick-start much more.

But it didn't.

There was an effect but for me, the

problem with town centre is much

bigger than the pilot scheme. It is

infrastructure, housing, things that

need to come together to make a real

and significant contribution.

Although many high streets continue

to struggle, nearby brick only has

one empty shop.

We have two hours

free parking and even more on a

Saturday, which brings even more

people into the town and keeps it so

busy.

Some people think the

reintroduction of parking charges

and the fact some banks have left

town have put off shoppers. What is

clear is that high streets across

our nation are shrinking and

changing and the need to survive.

Retail expert Harjeet Johal,

who's the former managing director

of a clothing chain,

says small high

streets are finished.

We are crippled by our nostalgia and

to Hamas. It means vital resources

are sent away from vital projects.

You have said they would be a

high-street in ten years' time.

Those are strong words but you don't

really believe that?

I do believe it

but there are different types of

high streets, the majority of

smaller high streets are problem

high streets. I don't think they

will be around in ten years and I

don't think they should be.

Customers have decided they prefer

to shop in larger high streets and

out of town and crucially online and

on their telephones.

You are seeing

the customers call the shots and we

can't change human behaviour and

they want to go to big places the

high-street dies?

Absolutely, the

customer is always right and they

have told us with their feet they

don't want to go to the smaller high

streets so must respond.

An 86-year-old man has died,

after being hit by a van

in East Yorkshire.

t happened just

after 11 this morning

at Pocklington.

Police say the man was

pronounced dead at the scene.

The A15 north of Lincoln

was closed for hours this

morning after a crash.

One person was seriously

injured in the incident,

just north of RAF Scampton.

There'll be armed police

officers at Lincoln's

Christmas Market this year.

Some roads will also be blocked off

to protect crowds following a number

of terror attacks across Europe.

Lincolnshire Police say the extra

security is not based

on a specific threat.

The son of former deputy prime

minister and Hull MP -

Lord Prescott - has been suspended

from his job in the Labour

Party.

David Prescott is a key

advisor to Jeremy Corbyn

and a former BBC employee,

who in recent years has attempted

to become an MP in East

Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

Our reporter

Crispin Rolfe has been

following the story.

What else do we know

about the suspension?

A senior Labour source has told the

BBC that David Prescott has been

suspended from his post in the

Labour Leader's office over

allegations. He has not been

suspended by the party, that

suspension happened a few days ago

and it is being investigated. It

comes amid widespread allegations of

misconduct in Westminster. No formal

complaint has been made to the

Labour Party and it has declined to

give reasons for the suspension is

saying, we do not comment on

staffing matters.

And why is his suspension

of such interest?

He has become an influential figure

behind the scenes. He was a BBC

producer and joint Jeremy Corbyn's

office just over a year ago and

became a communications manager to

the Shadow cup and it. He has also

tried to get into front line

politics and stood in Gainsborough

and there were this year he failed

to win the nomination to replace

Alan Johnson. That was won by Emma

Hardy. The BBC has approached Mr

Prescott for comment but so far no

response.

Patients relying on transport

to and from hospital say they've

been repeatedly "let down"

by the private company

paid to provide it.

Thames Ambulance Service has

been given NHS contracts

in Hull and Lincolnshire.

Our Health Correspondent

Vicky Johnson has more.

Sheena lives just north of Lincoln -

but has to go to Castle Hill

hospital in East Yorkshire twice

a week to have her leg seen to.

She relies on Thames

for patient transport,

but has been left

stranded several times.

Every time I know I have transport I

sit in trepidation, waiting to see

if it turns up.

Sheena believes these

missed appointments

are delaying her recovery.

It has been a long time as it is.

Sheena's experience

is not unusual - judging

by the number of disgruntled

patients who get in

touch with Look North.

A spokesman

for Thames has offered

their apologies in a statement,

saying "TASL delivers a reliable

quality service to the huge

majority of our patients

across Greater

Lincolnshire and Hull.

Regretfully there are occasional

disruptions to our service

and patients may be inconvenienced."

Former Thames staff

say their working life became

increasingly stressful,

especially after many volunteer

drivers walked out in a row over

expenses.

Once they had gone we just don't

have the resources. We feel we are

playing God because ultimately we

are deciding who makes the

appointment and who isn't which is

awful to deal with. It has had a

massive detrimental effect on

everyone in the office.

The military breaks

people to build them up

but Thames are just breaking people.

This woman served

in the armed forces -

but says that was nothing compared

to working as a manager with Thames.

They were crying in cupboards are

generally wanting to walk out on a

scale I have not seen before.

Thames insist they do have

enough people and vehicles

to run the service -

and Sheena is full of

praise for the drivers -

when they turn up.

The different health groups

with a stake in patient transport

are now urging people like Sheena

to get in touch with them

so they can get a more complete

picture of how the

service is running.

That's the news tonight, let's get

the forecast.

The seedling, a lot of

sunshine to come over the next few

days. A cloudy start but increasing

amounts of sunshine, a cold and

crystal weekend with lots of

sunshine and frost inland. The

chance of a few coastal showers on

Sunday. Pretty cold already with a

touch of frost but cloud is

increasing from the Northwest, that

might bring a little patchy rain in

places but mostly remaining dry and

the temperature at its lowest value,

rising slowly through the night.

Cloudy and in places dumps start but

otherwise dry and we can see the

cloud pushing southwards, increasing

amounts of sunshine, a slightly

milder day with the temperature of

around 12-13 with a mainly sunny

outlook.

Thank you for watching, we're back

with more local news in the morning

on BBC One from 6:25 a:m.. Join me

then if you can, good night.