:00:08. > :00:11.Hello and welcome to Wednesday's Look North. Tonight: One of the
:00:11. > :00:15.North's top police officers faces a vote of no confidence.
:00:15. > :00:20.Please slow down - the message to motorists from the mother of a
:00:20. > :00:25.teenager killed in a road accident. You walk into the room and there is
:00:25. > :00:28.all the machines and tubes, and you hold his hand and you hope that he
:00:28. > :00:31.will show signs that he is OK, but he never did.
:00:31. > :00:35.All our yesterdays - a nostalgic look back at the early days of
:00:35. > :00:39.regional television. We once had a letter from a lady, following a
:00:39. > :00:45.breakdown in the programme, and I was filling in. And she wrote and
:00:45. > :00:48.said she was laughing so much that she burnt her husband's tea.
:00:48. > :00:51.And sacked - the police dog that was too "softly softly" to catch
:00:52. > :00:54.criminals in the act. In sport, tough new rules for
:00:54. > :00:57.Newcastle away fans after those pitch invasions at the Darlington
:00:57. > :01:07.Arena. And aiming high, but this Olympic
:01:07. > :01:16.
:01:16. > :01:20.hopeful will have to be patient One of the north's top police
:01:20. > :01:22.officers came under the politician's microscope today.
:01:22. > :01:26.North Yorkshire's Chief Constable Graham Maxwell faced a vote of no
:01:26. > :01:30.confidence from Lib Dem county councillors. But unlike his police
:01:30. > :01:32.colleagues in London, he remains in post tonight. Mr Maxwell was
:01:32. > :01:37.recently given a final written warning after a �300,000
:01:38. > :01:42.investigation. He'd admitted "gross misconduct" by helping a relative
:01:42. > :01:44.in a police recruitment drive. Lib Dems said taxpayers had suffered
:01:44. > :01:49.badly because Mr Maxwell should have admitted the allegations
:01:49. > :01:56.earlier. But the ruling Conservatives backed the Chief
:01:56. > :02:00.Constable and told him to get on with his job. John Cundy reports.
:02:00. > :02:04.The man behind the vote of no confidence. Liberal Democrat leader
:02:04. > :02:09.on the Council for Geoff weather. It is not a discrepancy and talking
:02:09. > :02:15.about. It is the way that he, for six months, as he flitted around,
:02:15. > :02:20.trying to avoid answering the charges and wasted public money.
:02:20. > :02:26.Think of the public perception of Mr Maxwell, said his opponents.
:02:26. > :02:32.is so disappointing bad people in these positions locally, it is
:02:32. > :02:36.throughout the country. When I read about the fellow, it sounds like he
:02:36. > :02:42.has his head screwed it the right way. You think he is all right to
:02:42. > :02:46.carry on? Yes I do. He has still got his job secure and safe, even
:02:46. > :02:50.though he has been in the wrong. is certainly unanimous across the
:02:50. > :02:53.general public, who cannot understand why a man who has
:02:53. > :02:58.effectively wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds of public funds
:02:58. > :03:02.can still sit on a comfortably-off salary, closing police stations or
:03:02. > :03:06.reducing hours and reducing the number of policemen on the beat.
:03:07. > :03:11.But only eight people voted for the motion. Graham Maxwell will shrug
:03:11. > :03:15.off today's failed attempt to bring a vote of no confidence against him,
:03:15. > :03:20.despite being the first Chief Constable in 35 years to admit
:03:20. > :03:25.gross misconduct. Mr Maxwell told Look North recently that he fully
:03:25. > :03:30.intends to carry on. It is time to put this behind us. I have a force
:03:30. > :03:33.that needs to be led and I am the right person. Graham has said that
:03:33. > :03:38.he will rebuild his reputation and he wants to move on and the
:03:38. > :03:42.authority will support him. apparent son North Yorkshire County
:03:42. > :03:47.Council Saudi rebuff, -- his opponents on. Today was one of the
:03:47. > :03:50.better days for Graham Maxwell been a difficult year.
:03:50. > :03:54.A mother from Sunderland, whose teenage son was killed after being
:03:54. > :03:57.hit by a car, is supporting a major summer road-safety campaign. 14-
:03:57. > :04:01.year-old Daniel Evans died after he ran into the road and was knocked
:04:01. > :04:09.over outside his school. Now his mum is calling on drivers to cut
:04:09. > :04:11.their speed to 20mph in all built- up areas. Lyttanya Shannon reports.
:04:11. > :04:16.It's been three and half years since Karen's 14-year-old son
:04:16. > :04:23.Daniel was knocked down. But the memories of seeing him in hospital
:04:23. > :04:26.for the first time are still as vivid. It was horrible, I wouldn't
:04:27. > :04:32.want anybody else to go through it. You walk into the room and there is
:04:32. > :04:35.all the machines and tubes, and you hold his hand and you hope that he
:04:35. > :04:39.will just grip it and start coming round, and shows signs that he is
:04:39. > :04:41.OK, but he never did. Karen is now supporting the road-
:04:41. > :04:50.safety charity Break in their campaign to ask drivers to slow
:04:50. > :04:55.down to 20mph in residential areas. It is the start of the summer
:04:55. > :04:59.holidays, so they will be venturing out during the day more and more.
:04:59. > :05:04.Just keep your speed slow. When you are driving through a built-up area.
:05:04. > :05:07.You never know when a child is going to just pop in front of you.
:05:07. > :05:09.According to the Department of Transport, in the north-east in
:05:09. > :05:15.2009, 163 children were killed or seriously injured on the region's
:05:16. > :05:23.roads. In Cumbria, 22 children were killed or seriously injured.
:05:23. > :05:28.For bereaved parents like Karen, those figures are hard to stomach.
:05:28. > :05:32.People are not getting the message and they still think they can drive
:05:32. > :05:38.down at speed without consequence. There is a consequence. You are
:05:38. > :05:44.going to take some body's live and devastate a family. Think of other
:05:44. > :05:54.people, not just what you want to do and way you are getting too.
:05:54. > :05:57.
:05:57. > :06:02.Think of the consequences that Teachers at a Gateshead school have
:06:02. > :06:05.been on strike in protest at plans to turn it into an academy.
:06:05. > :06:09.Whickham School and Sports College closed, as more than 100 members of
:06:09. > :06:13.the NAS/UWT walked out. The school's governing body wants it to
:06:13. > :06:16.leave council control. The union says it could affect jobs, pay and
:06:16. > :06:18.conditions. The headteacher Steve Haigh claims the strike is
:06:18. > :06:26.politically motivated, and says the school will gain financially from
:06:26. > :06:29.academy status. Police in County Durham say they're
:06:29. > :06:32.dealing with thousands of hoax, silent or frivolous 999 calls each
:06:32. > :06:35.year. Response times are going up, and it's preventing officers from
:06:35. > :06:40.dealing with genuine emergencies. Officers are urging people not to
:06:40. > :06:50.abuse the service. On one occasion, a teenager rang 999 over a minor
:06:50. > :07:10.
:07:11. > :07:14.A thief who was caught on camera as he tried to disable CCTV and cover
:07:14. > :07:17.up his tracks has been let off with a caution from police. The 19-year-
:07:17. > :07:21.old climbed up a pole to tamper with the security equipment at a
:07:21. > :07:24.boatyard in Blyth, in Northumberland. After just hours of
:07:24. > :07:28.his picture being released by the police in June, people began
:07:28. > :07:31.ringing in with the teenager's name. He has has now been cautioned for
:07:31. > :07:35.criminal damage. They've been the subject of much
:07:35. > :07:38.protest and controversy. But now the Mayor of Hartlepool has
:07:38. > :07:42.promised there'll be no more landfill sites created in the town
:07:42. > :07:46.for the next 15 years at least. He says for too long the town's been
:07:46. > :07:50.seen as "a soft touch" for landfill developers. There are currently
:07:50. > :08:00.three sites in Seaton Carew alone. Stuart Whincup reports.
:08:00. > :08:01.
:08:01. > :08:08.Every morning, Anne Wise wakes up She's been here for seven years and
:08:08. > :08:15.this what living next door to a landfill site is like. The smell,
:08:15. > :08:18.the stench, the seagulls. The lorries. The noise. This is five
:08:19. > :08:22.days a week. The area has been an easy target for landfill, according
:08:22. > :08:28.to the town's mayor. He says they've listened to the protests
:08:28. > :08:31.and there'll be no new ones built for the next 15 years at least.
:08:32. > :08:35.message is out there now that people know that Hartlepool isn't a
:08:35. > :08:39.soft touch. Some of the smells and the noises then there have been
:08:39. > :08:43.disgusting. I have the utmost sympathy with the people who live
:08:43. > :08:48.there. We have been trying to work with the site owners to try and
:08:48. > :08:51.minimise any disruption. But all of this doesn't mean an end to
:08:52. > :08:57.landfill. While the council is against all new applications, it is
:08:57. > :09:02.in talks with Able UK, who owned this side, and are looking to
:09:02. > :09:08.extended. Back at home, Anne says many of her neighbours have tried
:09:08. > :09:16.to move but can't. People can't sell their houses because of that
:09:16. > :09:18.over there. We are not even going to try for a couple of years.
:09:18. > :09:21.Still to come on tonight's Look North - Wednesday's Sportsdesk.
:09:22. > :09:30.Plus: the man who's giving his right arm to help protect wildlife
:09:30. > :09:35.in Turkey. We have had more than a fair share of summer rain today,
:09:35. > :09:41.things do look right for the Cup -- next couple of days, I will have
:09:41. > :09:44.Every parent wants the best education for their children. And
:09:44. > :09:48.getting them into the best school is a priority for many. But gone
:09:48. > :09:51.are the days when your son or daughter was guaranteed a place at
:09:51. > :09:54.the secondary school of their choice. These days, schools can
:09:54. > :09:57.choose who they admit - leading to claims that it's a lottery. In
:09:57. > :10:04.tonight's Look North report, Richard Thomas examines how the
:10:04. > :10:08.system is working in the north-east and Cumbria.
:10:08. > :10:12.What are the effects of exercise? The heart rate increases.
:10:12. > :10:15.They are said to be the best years of your life. But choose the wrong
:10:15. > :10:18.school and they could be anything but. In Stockton, for example,
:10:18. > :10:25.there are a dozen secondary schools. With hundreds of places on offer,
:10:25. > :10:28.some schools will be more popular than others. Penny and her brother
:10:28. > :10:32.Tom have managed to get a place at oversubscribed Egglescliffe School
:10:32. > :10:39.near Yarm. It's actually outside their primary school's catchment
:10:39. > :10:43.area and has an excellent reputation. I love the fact that we
:10:43. > :10:48.have got a choice, that you can go around the schools and see what is
:10:48. > :10:53.best. You have that position, really. I think we are quite lucky
:10:53. > :10:56.here, in that we had a good choice of schools. Almost all of the
:10:56. > :11:02.schools that we could have chosen you would say are good schools.
:11:02. > :11:06.There are some areas where you don't quite have back. Parents
:11:07. > :11:10.really have the power, they can shop around. I know people look at
:11:10. > :11:13.fiscal and compare it to different schools, not just in Stockton but
:11:13. > :11:17.in Darlington and Middlesbrough -- at this school. And inevitably
:11:17. > :11:19.where some schools are doing well, there'll be others that lose out.
:11:19. > :11:21.In Stockton Borough, for example, some schools are heavily
:11:21. > :11:31.undersubscribed, leading to accusations that the system is
:11:31. > :11:31.
:11:31. > :11:35.unfair. Certainly in Stockton, we try and work as a collaborative. In
:11:35. > :11:40.an age of falling rolls, that is difficult. Every school in Stockton
:11:40. > :11:45.is doing a good job. The fact that some are more oversubscribed is not
:11:45. > :11:49.a reflection on how good they are. It does create competition. People
:11:49. > :11:53.want the best pupils in their schools so they can be seen to be
:11:53. > :11:57.raising standards. It should be equitable right across the patch,
:11:57. > :12:00.of whatever kind of school it is. These days, selecting a school is a
:12:00. > :12:04.time-consuming job. Prospectuses, form filling, the list goes on. And
:12:04. > :12:07.at the end of it, there's no guarantee you'll get what you want.
:12:07. > :12:10.But here's the good news. Because we live in a part of the world
:12:10. > :12:13.where a lot of parents get the school they want their children to
:12:13. > :12:20.go to. There are 15 local education authorities in the north-east and
:12:20. > :12:25.Cumbria. In 14 of them, more than nine in 10 children are offered
:12:25. > :12:30.their first choice school, an average of 95%. Only Middlesbrough
:12:30. > :12:35.is the exception, at 82%. That is partly because one school,
:12:35. > :12:38.MacMillan college, is oversubscribed by almost 140%. But
:12:39. > :12:44.there are more than 1,000 children who won't get their first choice
:12:44. > :12:49.school. Few people, though, believe there is a better way will stop I
:12:49. > :12:51.think the system we have got is probably the best we can have at
:12:52. > :12:55.the moment. There may be some consultation with the Government,
:12:55. > :12:59.but I think what it does do is it allows children to hopefully get
:12:59. > :13:03.their first preference and it is difficult to actually see whether
:13:03. > :13:07.other systems could do better. These days, schools are not just a
:13:07. > :13:12.place for learning. They are businesses competing in a market
:13:12. > :13:17.environment. Pupils equal money, and the more seats you fill the
:13:17. > :13:20.more cash you get. The first lesson in economics for more than 40,000
:13:20. > :13:30.children starting secondary school for the first time in the north-
:13:30. > :13:30.
:13:30. > :13:34.How often have you heard someone say they would give their right arm
:13:34. > :13:40.for something they really want? One man has come up with a novel way of
:13:40. > :13:45.doing just that. Tristan Reid is having his entire right and --
:13:45. > :13:51.right arm and shoulder tattooed with per to compete wiped out if a
:13:51. > :13:55.huge dam is built in Turkey. He is raising money online to protect
:13:55. > :14:01.Turkish what life. Tristan Reid is a serious birdwatcher, even from
:14:01. > :14:06.his own garden. But a recent trip to Turkey left in determined to do
:14:06. > :14:14.something about its threatened speeches. All the water ways have
:14:14. > :14:21.been sold off to private companies, and there is a plan to create over
:14:21. > :14:28.1,700 Hydro-Electric power plants. There are a dozen dance being built.
:14:28. > :14:32.This means that a lot of the really important habitats in Turkey would
:14:32. > :14:38.be completely drained. solution? To give literally his
:14:38. > :14:42.right arm, tattooed from the shoulder down with the birds in
:14:42. > :14:47.peril. We took him to a tattoo parlour to talk about what might be
:14:48. > :14:53.involved. I do not like needles at all. But it is something I have
:14:53. > :14:59.thought about having done four years, but I have not really got
:15:00. > :15:04.the build, the big muscles that people have. If I was going to get
:15:04. > :15:11.something, I would want it to mean something. He has asked people to
:15:12. > :15:16.vote for the birds and donate money. He hopes to raise �10,000. To every
:15:16. > :15:21.person is different, and every piece of skin is different. Some
:15:21. > :15:31.bits will be comfortable, and some bits he will have to sit there for
:15:31. > :15:35.A brave man! 50 years ago, regional television programmes like Look
:15:35. > :15:39.North were very new and experimental. Times have moved on,
:15:39. > :15:43.and new technology means that we can bring you the latest news live
:15:43. > :15:51.from anywhere in the north-east and Cumbria. Tonight, BBC for is
:15:51. > :15:58.celebrating the early days of regional programming. He is quick
:15:58. > :16:05.preview, featuring our first newsreader, Frank Bough, presenting
:16:05. > :16:10.Home At Six. Here is Lucinda. have recently been to which the
:16:10. > :16:16.bees -- Whitley Bay to see how all Scots people when they each and
:16:16. > :16:23.every year. I took some photographs. No doubt this one of these two
:16:23. > :16:33.ladies enjoying their holiday. first, hopefully, Diana. Have you
:16:33. > :16:34.
:16:34. > :16:39.got the film yet? It has been one of those funny days! We once had a
:16:39. > :16:47.lady on following a breakdown, and I was laughing so much that I'd
:16:47. > :16:55.burnt my husbands to the! I was livid that he missed the break
:16:55. > :17:01.down! Could he repeat it? We did, frequently but not deliberately!
:17:01. > :17:08.Over in Carlisle, Border Television did not have much of a record in a
:17:08. > :17:15.higher age documentary making. It had more sheep than Dewar's! The
:17:15. > :17:25.rising stock was Derek BT, a local ventriloquist who trained as an
:17:25. > :17:31.
:17:31. > :17:41.accountant. He was a perfect host for an unusual show. He would say,
:17:41. > :17:42.
:17:42. > :17:50."I saw that programme, what a load of rubbish!" 8 committee of us
:17:50. > :18:00.wrote the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet in Jordi! Or I broke the
:18:00. > :18:01.
:18:01. > :18:11.last bit. I rewrote one of the lines as to Iraq! I am sorry you
:18:11. > :18:15.
:18:15. > :18:21.That programme, Regional TV: Life Through a Local Lens, is on at 9pm
:18:21. > :18:26.on BBC for. We know you watch every night, Mike, and we still love you.
:18:26. > :18:32.A local police dog has been fired because he would not bite. Vegas
:18:33. > :18:40.the German shepherd had her employment terminated when she
:18:40. > :18:45.would not tackle criminals. A nervous disposition is not the best
:18:45. > :18:49.qualification for a police dog. It seems Vegas is good at police dog
:18:49. > :18:53.theory, running and jumping, but not so good at a police dog
:18:53. > :18:58.practice, sinking her teeth into criminals. Riper than take the
:18:58. > :19:04.gamble on Vegas, police have found her new home away from the force
:19:04. > :19:11.kennels. David Davies was a Durham police dog handler for 30 years. He
:19:11. > :19:16.and his patrol dog any retired two years ago, and now he runs his own
:19:16. > :19:23.police dog training business. get nervous dogs who tend to part
:19:23. > :19:32.with their front teeth. All dogs tend to use their front teeth --
:19:32. > :19:36.front teeth first. They are known to change their real teeth. They
:19:36. > :19:43.are trying to distance themselves from getting hold of them. If you
:19:43. > :19:49.would like to find Vegas a new home, police are looking for a home with
:19:49. > :19:56.no other dogs and no children. She is a lovely character. We are
:19:56. > :20:04.putting the number on our screen He looked far too nice to be a
:20:04. > :20:08.police dog! Time for the sport. Big news at son James's Park. Newcastle
:20:08. > :20:13.fans are very unhappy. Newcastle United have banned non-members and
:20:13. > :20:17.those without season tickets from attending away games after violence
:20:17. > :20:24.erupted at the pre-season friendly game at Darlington at the weekend.
:20:24. > :20:28.Many fans say the club has over- reacted. This was the incident but
:20:28. > :20:33.caused the action. Hundreds of fans flooded onto the pitch after
:20:33. > :20:37.Newcastle United's second goal last Friday. It took 10 minutes to clear
:20:37. > :20:42.up the fans from the pitch. At the club has taken the strongest
:20:42. > :20:45.possible action, and by banning fans who are not members from away
:20:45. > :20:49.games, they have been true to their word. No one was available for
:20:49. > :20:55.comment yesterday, but the news has not gone down well outside St
:20:55. > :21:01.James's Park. Because of a handful of people, you are punishing
:21:01. > :21:07.everyone, and that is not right. They have to try and control it
:21:07. > :21:15.somehow, but people pay good money up front. It is sensible to keep
:21:15. > :21:24.them coming. I feel that some stuff that goes on here isn't worth
:21:24. > :21:28.repeating. I go to away games. Identikit will be much of a problem.
:21:28. > :21:33.Many people feel that it has driven a wedge between fans and the men's
:21:33. > :21:36.-- men at the top. There is a lack of communication with the
:21:36. > :21:41.supporters, and they need to deal with it, because otherwise that is
:21:41. > :21:46.going to happen again and again. It is a class difference. It is saying,
:21:46. > :21:50.if you are not in possession of the season ticket, you cannot go to
:21:50. > :21:56.away games. Nothing surprises me with Newcastle United. The club
:21:56. > :22:03.says that fans who have already bought a ticket against -- a ticket
:22:03. > :22:08.for the game against Leeds who do not have a season ticket can attend.
:22:08. > :22:13.Last night, Durham beat Hampshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 match.
:22:13. > :22:19.Begin Bridge their hopes of getting to the semi-final. Paul Collingwood
:22:19. > :22:27.once again showed all his experience. He hit 73 off just 63
:22:27. > :22:37.balls. He shared a century partnership. The game was rain
:22:37. > :22:45.affected and reduced to 35 overs. Hampshire never had any chance of
:22:45. > :22:50.reaching their target. It can be a spectacular sport to watch. How
:22:50. > :22:57.many of you knew that trampolining was in the Olympics? It is its 4th
:22:57. > :23:07.games. It is a long process, but we have met an athlete with high hopes
:23:07. > :23:10.
:23:10. > :23:18.What would it mean to compete in London 2012? Everything. To compete
:23:18. > :23:25.in front of her home crowd, it can't beat that. Meet Kat Driscoll,
:23:25. > :23:34.who left Kent when she was 18. loved training with pill, and so
:23:34. > :23:38.when I was 18, I moved up here full-time. She is a very confident
:23:38. > :23:45.young lady. It is a mental toughness she has, which is
:23:45. > :23:47.allowing her to be one of the best competitors in the world. Now 25,
:23:47. > :23:50.Catt is based at the Apollo Trampoline Club at Washington
:23:50. > :23:59.Leisure Centre. She has just returned from events in China and
:23:59. > :24:04.Japan with three silver medals, justifying her day job being given
:24:04. > :24:10.up. When others working full-time at HSBC, I was not doing any
:24:10. > :24:17.conditioning work, and when I gave up working full-time, I am doing
:24:17. > :24:21.over 20 hours for time. I am going to to dated stadium a lot, and it
:24:21. > :24:26.is helping. Catt has shown that she has got all the skills to do well
:24:26. > :24:36.in London 2012. Now she needs a lot of patience. The decision will not
:24:36. > :24:42.
:24:42. > :24:51.be made for the Great Britain team I was not expecting that! Time for
:24:51. > :25:01.the weather now. If there was not enough, the great British weather
:25:01. > :25:03.
:25:03. > :25:11.We concentrate on clouds tonight. There has been no shortage of
:25:11. > :25:18.concentration of clouds over Cumbria. You can see this funnel
:25:18. > :25:24.cloud. You can see the bottom of the final here, and that is a
:25:24. > :25:28.tornado not quite touching the ground. This is a picture of the
:25:28. > :25:33.sunshine and showers. Thank you to Stephen for that shot. We have a
:25:33. > :25:36.Met Office warning out for more rain. Things will improve as we
:25:36. > :25:41.head through the night. A quieter spell of weather for the next
:25:41. > :25:49.couple of days. Still some heavy bursts of rain as we head into the
:25:49. > :25:59.later part of the evening. Overnight, still one or two showers
:25:59. > :25:59.
:25:59. > :26:04.around, but it will move away. Ten Celsius the typical temperature. We
:26:04. > :26:09.start off tomorrow with a fairly cloudy picture. One or two showers
:26:09. > :26:15.here old bear. Do the cloud will break up. The showers will be
:26:15. > :26:20.fairly well scattered. There's always a risk of one or two showers.
:26:20. > :26:29.Elsewhere, most reach dry with some brightness. Even some sunshine. It
:26:29. > :26:33.is not going to feel that warm. More like 13 or 14 Celsius way you
:26:33. > :26:38.are more exposed to the north- easterly, somewhere like Berwick,
:26:38. > :26:42.for instance. The low-pressure news a way, and we have a week high-
:26:42. > :26:49.pressure building as we go through Friday ended to the began. It
:26:49. > :26:57.should be drier than it has been. The winds will come from a
:26:57. > :27:06.northerly direction, so tempters will not break any records. Showers
:27:06. > :27:11.left -- less widespread as we move to Friday. Cold wet exposed.
:27:11. > :27:17.Remember at 7:30pm on BBC One, don't miss the programme. The
:27:17. > :27:22.British summer, what happened to it?! In the phone hacking row, the
:27:22. > :27:27.Prime Minister admits that he would not apply at Andy Coulson de finos