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

That's all from the BBC News at One

- so it's goodbye from me -

Good afternoon.

The headlines from BBC Look North

this Wednesday lunchtime.

David Prescott, the son of former

deputy prime minister Lord Prescott,

is suspended by the Labour Party.

The town where one in five shops

is empty despite a high profile

campaign to revamp the high street.

And patients relying on hospital

transport say a new service keeps

missing their appointments.

Every time I know I've

got transport, I sit

here in trepidation.

Waiting to see if it turns up.

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.

It comes amid widespread allegations

of misconduct at Westminster.

Our reporter Kate

Sweeting is with me.

You've been following this story.

What else do we know

about the suspension?

We understand that David Prescott

is being investigated

by the Labour leader's office

after he was suspended

a few days ago.

It comes amid widespread allegations

of misconduct at Westminster.

No formal complaint has been made

to the Labour Party,

which declined to give details

on the reason for the

suspension saying...

"We do not comment

on staffing matters."

Mr Prescott, who is a former BBC

producer, joined Jeremy Corbyn's

office over a year ago,

initially as a speechwriter before

becoming a communications manager

to the Shadow Cabinet.

He stood as Labour's

candidate in Gainsborough

in the 2015 election,

but lost to Conservative's

Sir Edward Leigh.

Earlier this year, he failed

to become an MP for Hull West

and Hessle after former home

secretary Alan Johnson

announced he was standing

down in June's election.

Mr Prescott has been approached

by the BBC for a comment.

But he has not come back to us yet.

In 2012, Market Rasen

in Lincolnshire was one of 12 places

in England given a special

government grant worth

£100,000 to try and

reverse its fortunes.

The money, which was meant

to revamp its dying high street,

came with advice from the TV retail

expert Mary Portas.

But five years on, new BBC research

suggests one in five

shops there are empty,

and the council is looking

at a new plan for the town.

Katy Austin reports.

The cash and support that came

with being a Portas pilot town

was meant to help regenerate

Market Rasen town centre.

Early on, it was being

hailed a success.

Market Rasen has excelled, really

excelled.

Five years on have it had

a lasting effect?

Not

excelled.

Five years on have it had

a lasting effect?

Not particularly.

We have lost quite a few shots of

Market Rasen has struggled in the

High Street.

One way you could

measure success is the number of

vacancies. In 2012 there were 71

units available, 12 empty and since

then numbers have fluctuated but in

2070 there are fewer shop units, 63,

but 14 are fewer shop units, 63, but

14 vacant, two more than when the

Portas Pilot started. Merry admits

the scheme has not revived

high-street fortunes.

It was very

much a kind of nice, shiny, possibly

weighted PR campaign that looked

like we are doing something and, of

course, we were doing something and

I thought that would kick-start much

more. It did not.

The local council

leader agrees but says building new

homes to provide more customers is

what is needed.

We need to progress

our three-year structure plan for

the town. In consultation with the

town council. We need to get more

people coming to the town, Phil the

empty shops on the High Street and

go from there.

With the rise of out

of town shopping centres and

customers looking to buy things

online, it was always going to be a

challenge to breathe new life into

Britain's struggling high Street but

you shop owners here think that M2

macro did much help them.

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,

which is employed by clinical

commissioning groups across Hull

and Lincolnshire, has already come

under fire from volunteer drivers

for the way it pays expenses.

But now a former manager has

also criticised the way

the company is being run.

Here's our health

correspondent, Vicky Johnson.

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

got transport, I sit

here in trepidation.

Waiting to see if it turns up.

That's making me anxious.

Sheena fears these

missed appointments

are delaying her recovery.

If they are not actually cleaning it

up, it's not helping it to improve.

It's been a long time as it is.

Sheena's experience is not unusual.

Managers from the Hull

and East Yorkshire Hospitals' Trust

have told us in a statement...

Working for Thames has become

increasingly stressful,

especially after many volunteer

drivers walked out in

a row over expenses.

Once they've gone we just haven't

got the resources to do it.

Thames haven't supplied

us with the resources

to move our patients.

Patients are missing apppointments,

patients are late for appointments.

Obviously the company itself

suffers but as we're

the troops on the ground,

we're the ones that suffer.

We're the ones that have

to deal with the agro

and grief from the patients.

This woman served in

the Armed Forces but says

that was nothing compared to working

as a manager with Thames.

We have changed her voice

to protect her identity.

I've not come across people

self-medicating with Kalms.

They were crying in cupboards

or just generally wanting to walk

out on a scale that I've seen over

the past few weeks.

We have approached Thames

and the different CCGs.

They are the bodies who buy

in the services for a comment

but nobody has yet been available.

Vicky Johnson, BBC Look North.

A charity which helps military

veterans in Hull will be

featured on DIY SOS tonight.

Hull4Heroes has helped

dozens of ex-servicemen

since it was set up two years ago.

Paul Matson got the idea

after volunteering on the BBC

show on a special street

for veterans in Manchester.

Tonight shows a gang of volunteers

from East Yorkshire helping finish

off the street's last house.

Presenter Nick Knowles, has become

a supporter of their work.

They have done the most

extraordinary job and as a result

they are rebuilding homes and doing

renovations in homes for veterans.

At various stages I have stayed

in contact to try and give them some

advice along the way but they need

very little advice from me.

We have come up with some new ideas.

It's going to expand and get bigger

and bigger and they are a kind

of unstoppable force.

They should be very much

appreciated for the city

of Hull because they are

doing extraordinary things.

Now a look at the weather forecast

with Owain Wyn Evans.

Hi, everyone.

Well, what a lovely day it has been

so far for most of us across

East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

A bit chilly and this afternoon

is looking good, as well.

We are hanging on to that cool feel.

We will enjoy plenty

of sunshine out there.

I think the sunshine will tend

to turn increasingly hazy as we head

through the afternoon but,

as you can see, the map

is looking pretty good.

Maybe a bit more in the way of

thicker cloud down towards The Wash.

In the sunshine, the temperatures

aren't responding fabulously,

we are looking at highs of eight

or nine Celsius.

We are in for a change overnight.

With that veil of thin cloud that

moves down from the north and west,

we will also see thicker cloud

behind it and with that outbreaks

of light rain or drizzle.

More than likely across western

parts of our region.

Lows tonight of about

four or five Celsius.

Yet again a chilly start

to the day tomorrow.

Cloudier than this morning

with a few spots of light rain

or drizzle, we are not worrying too

much about those.

They will clear and yet again

we will see some sunny spells

developing as we head

through the day.

Our top temperatures tomorrow,

up a notch, we will probably get

to about 12 or 13 Celsius.

This is the air mass.

You can see the blue colours

as we move towards the weekend start

to extend further south.

This is a colder air mass

and that will get to us

on Friday and on Saturday.

Feeling a bit cooler but plenty

of dry weather to come.

That

of dry weather to come.

That brings

of dry weather to come.

That brings you

of dry weather to come.

That brings you up

of dry weather to come.

That brings you up to

of dry weather to come.

That brings you up to date

of dry weather to come.

That brings you up to date this

of dry weather to come.

That brings you up to date this

lunchtime. We will have a round-up

of the day's news at 6:30pm. Until

then, have a lovely afternoon. Thank

you for watching. Goodbye.