19/07/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

North. In the headlines tonight: Smoked out. The illegal tab houses

where counterfeit cigarettes are sold even to young children.

tax on everything, I have actually got a packet in my hand now. Blown

away. Locals learn the biggest wind farm in England could be built on

the their doorstep. Holy Cow! It's Batman live in Newcastle! But

where's Robin? Find out later in the programme. And from bats to

birds. Young ospreys hatched at Kielder meet the media at their

weigh in. In sport, in the football season hasn't even started and

Sunderland already have injury worries. And could this young man

be an Open champion of the future? We meet the Newcastle teenager

Cheap cigarettes, smuggled into the country by criminal gangs, are

being sold from private homes in our region, to children as young as

seven. Tab houses as they're known sell illegal cigarettes and tobacco

at half the price of legitimate shops. Look North has learned that

50 of these houses are currently operating in Middlesbrough alone.

Everyone knows where the tab houses are. Even children. Cigarettes are

often sold individually so they can afford them. One by one, they come

and go. We've seen children as young as seven or eight it would

appear. They are certainly of lower secondary school age. Many are 13

or 14 which is definitely younger than those legally allowed to buy

cigarettes. This isn't holidaymakers looking to make extra

money. It's organised criminal gangs making them in factories and

transporting them in huge containers around the country. Then

they are broken down and sold from private homes known as tab houses.

Hello! Customs! Open the door! in Middlesbrough and the

authorities say they know of 50 tab houses selling illegal cigarettes.

It is no longer a secret, many people now freely admit buying them.

I buy them all the time, how can you not with everything going up.

With the tax on everything, I have actually got a packet in my hand

now. Thank you very much. They are dirty, horrible, disgusting. Before,

they used to be worth it but now they are not. And there's a reason

they taste so bad. The are made from waste tobacco and tests have

shown they can contain rat poison, battery acid, wood and dead flies.

A recent seizure of cigarettes in Middlesbrough contained a

staggering 130 per cent more tar than the usual ones. Illegal

cigarettes are seen as a safe option for criminal gangs. If

caught, the penalties are not as severe as drug dealing, but the

trade it is as lucrative. It can seem a very low-risk business. The

share of the market is falling but it is still a serious problem.

of all smokers die as a result of their habit. Now there's concern

that cheap illegal cigarettes are getting the next generation of

smokers hooked. Electricity giant EON has promised to pay out �11.5

million to local people, if plans for the biggest wind farm in

England are given the go-ahead. The company wants to erect up to 45

wind turbines, in an area of County Durham that straddles the A1

motorway near Newton Aycliffe. Nearly half a million pounds would

be paid into a community fund every year for up to 25 years, if the

scheme is approved. Despite this incentive, many locals are opposed

to the plans. It really is a huge site. You need to imagine giant

wind turbines straddling the motorway here and stretching off

out into the distance over there. The good news is it is lots of

green energy but the bad news is if you live near by now you might not

be so keen. This man's position is there is a house up for sale and

now there is a plan for giant wind turbines. We have heard it could

knock 30% off the house price. We need that to be substantiated. We

need to find buyers who want to live in a lovely village like this

but do not mind not having a pub and do not mind having the largest

wind farm in the country on their doorstep! He lives on the doorstep

of the proposed site. Some farmers have agreed to the turbines on

their land, yes, the accept there are concerns over visual impact but

the energy company would also put cash into local villages. There is

top of �400,000 coming into the local community in the area. That

must be a massive bonus. These new wind turbines will be similar in

height to those over there. EON says it might build them in one

tight cluster but then again they might build them in small pockets

and spread them around this site. We do need more wind farms for

renewable energy. We need wind farms whenever they are appropriate.

Some may think we just have too many wind farms. If we want the

landscape to contain more than just wind farms, we are getting into

saturation point with them. To have them just a kilometre away from

build up areas is in the wrong place. I spoke to people today who

said they can see it is a good thing, green energy, they just do

not want it dominating the view. Before this site is transformed

there is a lot of work to do. It will probably be a couple of years

yet before we see any wind turbines are arriving at this site in County

Durham. An inquest will open tomorrow into the death of a doctor

who died in a diving accident of the Northumbrian coast. She had

worked as a medical adviser for the Health and Safety Executive for 20

years. Today her sporting friends and colleagues in the medical

profession paid tribute to the women Basie was at real inspiration.

They say in the end it is not the years in your life that count but

the life then you years, if that is the case Ruth Fletcher's life was a

huge success. She lived life to the cool and as a doctor helped many

others. She was world champion at the quadrangle on, running, cycling,

swimming and kayaking. She was a very talented sportswoman and it

was how she would inspire others around her to join in. She was 60

and from stocks would, after diving of this coast she surfaced

unconscious and died. She will be sadly missed but I believe she will

never be forgotten. investigation into her death is

under way and an inquest is due to open tomorrow. There are many ways

you can go about finding a job, scouring the situations vacant

column, sending off you're curriculum VT or or simply knocking

on doors. This man decided to stand on a roundabout in Sunderland. Most

people picked their CV on paper but this man White is on a placard. He

hoped that someone passing this roundabout in Sunderland would like

what they see and offered him a job. He may know a thing or two, his

last job was for call centre plus advising the unemployed. I advised

people to do this. The pub I was crazy. I said, I may be crazy, but

I am trying to get myself noticed so it did get a bit cold towards

the end of the day but needs must. He has spent the last 18 months

sending off CVs in the regular way, he has had a few interviews but no

job. By standing at the side of the road he has had a few insults but

also a couple of potential leads. have had offers of sales job leads

but not in my usual type of work. If I inspire other people that his

gate. Apart from the odd encouraging beep from a passing

motorist this could be a discouraging business of for Liam.

His partner is about to lose her job in a few months' time and if

she does not get something else soon he may encourage her to join

him here. Still to come, the locals who raised hundreds of thousands of

pounds to buy their local. And Batman the stage show goes on tour.

The shower clouds have been working overtime today. Plenty more to come

in the next 24 hours. I will have the latest shortly. We are often

told the future for pups is a bleak one as the prospect of closure

hovers over many of them. There seems to be an appetite for local

people to take-off their local -- takeover their local. We met a

bunch of people who managed to buy villas in just three weeks. This is

a picture perfect North Yorkshire village. It will be even better if

the local pub reopens. Residents have got together �300,000 to do

just that. If it does, it will be only the country's 5th community

pub. There has been fantastic support in terms of money, ideas

and enthusiasm. We had a meeting in the village hall to bring people

up-to-date and over 100 people came. The pub needs another �50,000 to be

ready for a Christmas opening, but is it really a good idea? Last year

1,500 pubs closed across the country. We are currently using 25

every week. But this pub will have benefits others do not, it will

open debt fee and investors are not looking for a return, merely for

the pup to become the hub of their When the pub gets up and running,

this public house could see what it will be like. This pub has been

community on for a year and smashed its turnover target of �120,000.

What advice would they give a new venture? You have got to promote

yourself and offer a service that people find welcoming and friendly.

They will come back for that service. You have to be everything

to all people and offer them something they cannot get at home -

socialising. If that lesson has learned in Carlton, the heart of

the village in the start to beat again. -- may start. What a great

idea. By day he is Bruce Wayne, a billionaire philanthropist. By

night he is Batman. With his trusty sidekick, Robin, he's coming to

Tyneside and the dynamic duo star in a spectacular stage show at

Newcastle Arena. Our entertainment reporter has been behind the scenes

of this comic book caper and she meets the actor from Wearside whose

Robin is in danger of upstaging Batman. Prepared to be transported

to God than city. They will see something they have never seen

before. This is what you have been waiting for! The death of Batman.

We have a Batman show but from the very beginning I said it had to

have had very good story. It is the origin of Robin. Besides that, we

have stunt sun fights, flying and pyrotechnics. We have all the sort

of thing you would expect from a Batman story. This show is called

Batman lives but it is all about Robin - that is good for you.

it is good for me, I get to go through this story as a young boy

and then become Robin. Bruce Wayne takes on his young boy. He finds

out that he is Batman. He said this, he wants to fight with them. He is

very stubborn and turns into Robin with their help of Alfred. It would

not have worked if you're called Dec! No, not really. Now to the

Batcave. Batman has something to show you - this is the bat Mobile.

It was specially designed by a Formula One car design legend -

Gordon Murray. It is a real car. It is very aerodynamic. If it had a

real engine, it would go at 120 miles an hour on the ceiling. The

ceiling is not the limit. That man! You need to get out of here, it is

a trap. -- Batman. It is a theatrical 3D experience created by

one of the world's top stage designers. This is one of my

favourite moments. We are creating the face of the joker out of his

people. The teeth are made out of acrobats. This is just one scene.

Your brain must have been exploding with ideas for the show. We knew it

was incredibly important that the audience were given a event after

event. We wanted to banish boredom. What about the caped crusaders!

Will Robin Steel the show or will the joke could get the last laugh?

Join in next week to find out. channel! I used to love all that.

The old TV series was wonderful. The films were very dark. I liked

the more ridiculous television programme. Shall we get on with

sport? Shane Ferguson has not gone on the

tour to the USA and the Sunderland's tour to Germany has

not got off to the best of starts. Defender John O'Shea is coming home

after being ruled out of the remainder of the tour through

injury. The 30-year-old who signed from Manchester United just two

weeks ago tweaked a muscle during his debut for the club on Sunday.

After Darren Clarke's win in the British Open at the weekend, golf

is definitely the sport of the moment. And while the Northern

Irishman was wowing the crowds at Sandwich, a Newcastle teenager was

doing the same at the under sixteens equivalent. 15-year-old

Jack Hermeston is only the third boy from the north to win the

prestigious McGregor Trophy. Jack Hermeston is simply the best. He

proved this on their South Moor Golf Club in County Durham. The 15-

year-old won one of the biggest events of its kind in the world.

The under 16 England Boys' Open. People come from all round the

world for this so I was definitely really pleased. Jack plays off plus

one and is renowned for his putting. His secret of success is simple.

I have always had natural ability but nowadays they say it is about

99 % practice. He started playing when he was four. They reckon he is

the best young golfer they have ever had. He has the potential to

go all the way. He saw Tom Lewis playing the Open Championship. Jack

has five years to go and there is no reason as to why he should not

be in the same position. His Kadir looks familiar but it is not Rory

McIlroy. -- his caddie. It is 15- year-old Liam Shanley. He always

know what club to give me. I want to play in them majors. I have

watched people when the majors, like Darren Clarke in the last few

days. Jack is so young he can defend his title next year.

One to watch! Durham's cricketers are on -- in action tonight. The

game could give useful pointers in what they might be a begins next

month in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20. Durham lost Jim mustard

46. Durham at 100 for a one off 16 overs.

Time for Country File. It has been a historic day for forest rangers

at Kielder in Northumberland. They met two of their new est residents.

There the second clutch of osprey chicks to hatch in the forest this

year. Kielder is unique in England. The trouble with ospreys is there

not sociable. This pair nested at the top of a 50 ft spruce in the

middle of nowhere. It was the job of the forest ranger to climb up

there and find out how many had successfully hatch. Mum fled the

nest when she saw us coming and watched from a far as the

youngsters were Lord to the ground for a full health check and to be

rings for the future. -- they were lowered into the ground. A birds

are very placid. They are in great condition. They should do fine.

They are very good birds. A his only his second was prepared to

breed at Kielder. The first pair had been nesting here for four

years. There was a disappointment when two of the fledglings died

during the storms. The discovery that two healthy chicks had

survived was welcome news. It is fantastic. With the first pair a

few years ago and now this pair, it looks like a in the future we will

get more pairs in Northumberland as a whole. It is unlikely these birds

will be photographed here again. They will head south to Africa at

end of September and it is thought unlikely they will come back to

their breeding grounds. We can follow their progress. When it

comes back to Britain from Africa, it might be seen somewhere in

England or Scotland and with that colouring on the, we have a good

chance of recognising it. The good news is we hope others will fall

these breeding pairs here to Kielder Northumberland. -- follow.

A couple of months ago we were told the other mass -- Ness there was

washed out. Talking about bad weather and, here he is. There is

more bad weather on the way. We have more heavy rain on the way as

we head through the next few days. The next 24 hours will see most of

The next 24 hours will see most of the rain. There will be thunder and

lightning as well. It is a messy pressure chart through the rest of

the week. By the tail-end of the week, the showers are less of a

problem but by then we have a cold northerly winds. We lose some of

the showers and we lose some of the warmth as well as things cool down

later in the week. Meantime, there is a Met Office warning - a yellow

warning for rain tonight so there could be potential problems because

they are ahead the outbreaks of rain around. Some of them will

become enhanced overnight. Across the Pennines and into North

Yorkshire, that's where we are most at risk. Heavy and prolonged

downpours. Many places will see the showers. Parts of Cumbria will

escape the showers. Lows of 11 Celsius. Reasonably mild but many

of us will see their heavy showers with the odd rumble of thunder as

well. The Met of his warnings extend into tomorrow. Not a great

deal changes, more rain for many of us. Up over the North Pennines and

into County Durham and North Yorkshire. Basically, most of us

will see showery outbreaks of rain tomorrow. Western parts of Cumbria

will see the best of the drier and brighter weather. Getting on for

three inches of rain. We can expect to see localised for -- localised

flooding. It is certainly a risk for much of the North East as we

head through the night and into tomorrow. Temperatures around 17

degrees. The winds settle into a north-easterly breeze. Bright is

perhaps along the North East coast. -- brightness. Showers widespread

over the next few days. By Thursday still the risk of a few showers but

they are becoming less widespread. We should seek a few more bright

spells as we head through Thursday. Temperatures peak at 18 Celsius. By

Friday and Saturday, although the showers are still a slight risk,

the winds are coming down from the north and temperatures will

struggle. Hard to believe it is to live. Mid-50s Fahrenheit. Keep your

July weather pictures coming. Send them to us or e-mail them. Watch

out for the heavy rain over the next 24 hours.

Thank you very much, we know you're Thank you very much, we know you're

not personally responsible. The headlines - Rupert Murdoch has been

attacked while facing MPs over the phone hacking scandal. He was hit

with a plateful of shaving foam. The former police commissioner was

also questioned. The former chief executive of News International,

Rebekah Brooks is now being questioned. Cheap cigarettes

smuggled into the country by criminal gangs are being sold from