15/12/2011 Look North (North East and Cumbria)


15/12/2011

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Hello and welcome to Thursday's Look North. Tonight.

:00:13.:00:16.

Two die and another person is seriously injured in an horrific,

:00:16.:00:22.

early morning crash. Balancing the Boro's books - Ray

:00:22.:00:25.

Mallon confirms plans to save �14 million from the council's budget.

:00:25.:00:28.

But for some, it's spend, spend, spend! Why business is booming and

:00:28.:00:30.

bucking the trend in this Cumbrian shopping centre.

:00:30.:00:34.

# It was a big river #. Joe McElderry joins us live in the

:00:34.:00:35.

studio to talk about his latest success.

:00:35.:00:38.

And in sport, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew talks of incomings and

:00:38.:00:48.
:00:48.:00:55.

outgoings in the new transfer Two people are dead and two others

:00:55.:00:57.

are seriously injured after an horrific, early morning crash in

:00:57.:01:00.

Cumbria. It happened on the A7 at Blackford, north of Carlisle, at

:01:00.:01:04.

around 7.30. A mini bus, a car and a lorry were involved. A woman in

:01:04.:01:08.

her 20s and a man in his 40s were killed.

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The road has been closed for most of the day. Our reporter Alison

:01:11.:01:19.

Freeman is live at the scene now. Alison, what's the latest? It has

:01:19.:01:24.

been a terrible day here. Two people lost their lives in that

:01:24.:01:29.

crash that happened around at 20 to 8 this morning. Despite that crash

:01:29.:01:39.
:01:39.:01:42.

happening, the road has been closed all day. Investigators have been on

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the scene up trying to work out exactly what happened.

:01:48.:01:51.

It was a difficult scene that faced officers. A collision between a

:01:51.:01:55.

lorry, a minibus and a car on a busy route in Cumbria. The debris

:01:55.:01:59.

showed the ferocity of the impact. The lorry driver, a man in his 40s,

:01:59.:02:04.

lost his life. His vehicle came right off the road into a field. A

:02:04.:02:08.

woman in her 20s who had been travelling on the bus also died at

:02:08.:02:12.

the scene. The lorry was being driven north on

:02:13.:02:16.

the A7 when, for some reason, the police don't know why, it crashed

:02:16.:02:21.

into this minibus. The driver of a car also involved escaped with just

:02:21.:02:28.

minor injuries, but the passenegers on the bus weren't so lucky. The

:02:28.:02:30.

56-year-old bus driver from Newcastleton suffered serious chest

:02:30.:02:37.

and leg injuries. A 61-year-old man from Canonbie was also seriously

:02:38.:02:41.

hurt. Both are being treated at Cumberland Infirmary. A 33-year-old

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:02:51.:02:52.

woman woman from Newcastleton escaped with minor injuries.

:02:52.:02:59.

I think we were lucky there were not more serious injuries. I

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understand there were only four or five people on the minibus. It was

:03:04.:03:11.

not fool. Was the ice to blame? It's only

:03:11.:03:17.

speculation at this stage, but our officers are investigating. We

:03:17.:03:22.

would appeal for anyone who saw the accident to get in touch.

:03:22.:03:24.

The clear-up operation went on throughout the day as officers

:03:24.:03:34.
:03:34.:03:38.

tried to piece together how and why this terrible crash happened.

:03:38.:03:43.

Police do not know exactly what happened. What will be key to

:03:43.:03:47.

finding out is if people who were at the seams of what happened come

:03:47.:03:55.

forward. The police want anyone who has any information to speak to

:03:55.:04:00.

them. It's a budget reduction of nearly

:04:00.:04:04.

�14 million. And it means Middlesbrough will face cuts to

:04:04.:04:06.

services across the board. Sports and leisure facilities will be

:04:06.:04:09.

closed, and council tax will rise by 3.5% from next April. The town's

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mayor, Ray Mallon, says his administration has been forced to

:04:12.:04:18.

make some extremely difficult choices. Peter Lugg reports.

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The headlines made grim reading. A 3.5% rise in council tax and cuts

:04:23.:04:29.

to services right across the borough. Sports and leisure

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facilities, crossing patrols, street wardens and CCTV. Among the

:04:32.:04:35.

casualties, the Middlesbrough deaf centre and the Clairville Stadium,

:04:35.:04:38.

the latter to be replaced sometime in the future by a state-of-the-art

:04:38.:04:46.

sports village. But today's users were unconvinced. They might shut

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this term and nothing else will get build. -- shut this down.

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The council will end its funding for the Park End community centre,

:04:58.:05:03.

but remains hopeful it will stay open. The council calls this its

:05:03.:05:06.

big society solution. They give up the lease here and hand it back to

:05:06.:05:10.

the residents themselves allowing them to take over the running of

:05:10.:05:20.

the building. But we will be get the money from? -- but where will

:05:20.:05:27.

we get? We do not know what is going to happen.

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The Southlands Centre, though, will stay open as will a number of

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branch libraries. The mayor says the town has done the best it could

:05:33.:05:39.

under difficult circumstances. whole economic landscape has been

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transformed the present time. We will never get back to where we

:05:43.:05:47.

wear. We were a country that lived on debt, and where we are now is

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not normal. Hopefully, we will be balanced ourselves in the future.

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In total �13.8 million in savings with three more rounds of cuts

:05:57.:06:07.
:06:07.:06:13.

still to go. Peter Lugg, BBC Look Most of the Alcan aluminium smelter

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in Northumberland is still out of action tonight more than 36 hours

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after a massive power cut at the plant. A spokesman for the

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operators says work is continuing to try to restore electricity to

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about three-quarters of the site. The owners, Rio Tinto Alcan, want

:06:24.:06:29.

to close the smelter next year, with the loss of 500 jobs.

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New figures show that we spent less money in the shops last month

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despite it being the run-up to the usual festive frenzy. Retail sales

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fell by 0.4% in November compared with October. And the statistics

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indicate that our high streets and shopping centres could be in for a

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tough Christmas. However, in our region, one shopping centre is

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defying that gloomy trend. Our Business Correspondent Ian Reeve

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reports. Look at the figures and they tell

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you the retail market is weak. Come to Carlisle's shopping centre and

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the crowds tell you the opposite. The Lanes has seen growing crowds

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of shoppers for a number of weeks, pretty much from last month's

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strike day. We had a 42 per cent increase in football that day. Then

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the Friday and Saturday of that week, every day was a record day

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:07:25.:07:26.

for the year in terms of foot fall. So what explains that contrary

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behaviour? Well, one reason is that Carlisle's shoppers are paying with

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cash, more than with credit cards. And that big rise in sales

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coincided with many people's payday, suggesting that shoppers had

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weighed up in advance precisely when they were going to start

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Christmas shopping. And there's another theory. The mild weather

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that depressed sales in much of the country turned with a vengeance in

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Cumbria last month. You notice a difference in the mindset with the

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cold burst that has been kicking in and the mindset is really good now.

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There is a real appetite for it within the store.

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And in this shop, part of a national chain, there's no

:08:08.:08:12.

discounting going on. Very unusual. Just a lot of canny buying, with an

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eye on the post-Christmas sale. It sells the second highest amount of

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gift cards out of the whole nationwide chain. I think our

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shoppers a lot cleverer with their money compared to people down south.

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They probably just buy it, whereas up here, we are more clever with

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our cash so a gift card is a great gift because you can give it at

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Christmas and that person can get what they want and they will get

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double for their money. So Carlisle's shopping appears more

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than buoyant. The real test though comes in January with the release

:08:43.:08:53.
:08:53.:08:53.

of another set of stats - December's retail sales figures.

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The leader of Sunderland City Council says the new bridge that

:08:56.:08:59.

will span the River Wear in 2015 could bring 6,000 jobs to the city.

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The Government announced yesterday that it was allocating more than

:09:02.:09:05.

�80 million to the new Wear bridge. Construction work should start next

:09:05.:09:15.

year. Adrian Pitches reports from It will be the tallest bridge in

:09:15.:09:18.

England with twisted steel towers reaching 600 feet into the air. But

:09:18.:09:21.

it won't be just a landmark. This new transport route could transform

:09:21.:09:31.

the south bank of the River Wear. The north bank has already being

:09:31.:09:34.

regenerated with enterprise parks booming there. Here on the South

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Bank, this is where investment is needed. The council says the new

:09:40.:09:46.

bridge will bring investment and thousands of jobs potentially.

:09:46.:09:50.

need to open up the south bank of the river, that used to be the

:09:50.:10:00.
:10:00.:10:03.

industrial heart of the city. The Pallion New Road site. It is pretty

:10:03.:10:08.

landlocked it there with the road network. If we can open it up, we

:10:08.:10:12.

can bring in jobs. But do the people of Sunderland

:10:12.:10:17.

think they need a new bridge? think it does, for the jobs as well.

:10:17.:10:24.

It will bring employment into Sunderland. At the moment, with the

:10:24.:10:31.

economy, it needs a bit of a lift. A lot of people come from different

:10:31.:10:41.
:10:41.:10:43.

ends of the North East. At the moment, it is too congested. People

:10:43.:10:49.

might just come and visit to look. The North East is defined by its

:10:49.:10:52.

iconic bridges. The new Wear crossing looks set to become

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another one. Adrian Pitches, BBC Look North, Sunderland.

:10:58.:11:03.

You're watching Look North. Still to come this Thursday evening. Joe

:11:03.:11:06.

McElderry's live in the studio to talk about his latest venture. It's

:11:06.:11:09.

a messy picture weatherwise, but it will certainly stay cold.

:11:09.:11:19.
:11:19.:11:21.

For many of us, Christmas Day involves lots of eating and

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drinking in a warm house, surrounded by loved ones. But for

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hundreds of homeless people in the North, the day will be very

:11:27.:11:30.

different. Help is at hand though from the kind-hearted volunteers at

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the People's Kitchen in Newcastle. They look after some of those who

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are at their most vulnerable at this time of year. Stephanie Lloyd

:11:36.:11:40.

has been to the centre as part of our series of films to find the

:11:40.:11:50.
:11:50.:12:13.

A lot of dancing and a lot of saving. Just a lot of happiness.

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lively jazz band provides the music at a Christmas party.

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At first glance, it's like any carol service. But behind every

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face here there's a story of hardship and homelessness. However,

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tonight, all that matters is celebrating Christmas and

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friendship. Some have got a bed in a hostel -

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the lucky ones. Others still face life on the streets. Hearty meals

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are prepared for them by chefs from a local department store. They're

:12:34.:12:44.
:12:44.:12:49.

served up underneath the railway arches. When they come here, they

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come to our home were people laugh them and look after them. The party

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is the culmination of that. All year round, the People's

:12:57.:12:59.

Kitchen volunteers work with hundreds of disadvantaged people,

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and surprisingly, 60% of those helped are under the age of 24.

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Like 21 year-old Daniel. I am in a hostel. It means a lot to me. It

:13:09.:13:19.
:13:19.:13:20.

needs help, support, friends. It is just absolutely brilliant. They

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helped me with bits of furniture. I was homeless. They have kept coming

:13:26.:13:33.

back. If it wasn't for the volunteers, everybody would be in

:13:33.:13:43.
:13:43.:13:45.

trouble, there would be no where. If it wasn't for the volunteers, we

:13:45.:13:48.

would be here. More than 100 volunteers who give

:13:48.:13:51.

up their time to provide friendship and food and, over 25 years, many

:13:51.:13:58.

lives have been transformed. Last week, we did carol-singing. A lady

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came up with a pushchair who opened her purse and gave me some money.

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She said, I used to the homeless and came to you. She walked off,

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reasonably dressed with a child in a pushchair. She was a success.

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Colin is one of several volunteers who will be giving up his Christmas

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Day to help. When they go round, they say you do so much good. But

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that is rubbish, because we get so more much -- so much more out of it

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than we give her. They it is bitterly cold. But people here face

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that every single night. The volunteers do not get paid, but

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they say they get much more in return. Friendship and the

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knowledge that they are showing a lot of people that they care.

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Some terrific work there. And we'll bring you more stories on

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the true spirit of Christmas right up to the big day.

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Still on a big theme, a host of Tyneside celebrities are starring

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in a new DVD which is in the shops for Christmas and is raising cash

:15:11.:15:14.

for charity. Big River Big Songs features Sting, Jimmy Nail, Mark

:15:14.:15:17.

Knopfler and Joe McElderry among others. We'll talk to Joe here in

:15:17.:15:21.

the studio in a moment. But first, we went along to meet the two men

:15:21.:15:23.

behind the DVD - Lindisfarne's Ray Laidlaw and top music video

:15:23.:15:33.
:15:33.:16:02.

MUSIC. Blaydon Races, it is one hell of a song. It sums up

:16:02.:16:07.

everything that is great about Newcastle to me.

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:16:17.:16:35.

But the one I love is to meet the # I came along... #

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:16:45.:17:01.

I love this stuff. I love this It is such beautiful Geordie

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musical humour. -- music-hall humour. Another one from the DVD I

:17:10.:17:20.
:17:20.:17:27.

love is still I love him. She performs it beautifully. # I'll go

:17:27.:17:37.
:17:37.:17:43.

We asked Joe McElderry to be part of this. The only song he wanted to

:17:43.:17:47.

do was Big River. # I want you all to know that I'm so very proud.

:17:47.:17:53.

# This was a very big river. # But that was long ago.

:17:53.:18:03.
:18:03.:18:14.

# That's not now it... In my heart I know it will rise

:18:14.:18:24.
:18:24.:18:25.

Great voices. We had a lot of fun doing it. It is a celebration of

:18:25.:18:32.

the music of Tyneside. We were so pleased to do it. I could not put

:18:32.:18:42.
:18:42.:19:01.

Well I'm delighted to say Joe McElderry, one of the stars of that

:19:01.:19:05.

DVD, is with me in the studio now. How did you get involved in it,

:19:05.:19:11.

Joe? It was a lot of fun. I was asked by the guys if I wanted to be

:19:11.:19:18.

a part of it. I am all for putting the North East on the map. It is a

:19:18.:19:23.

great thing to celebrate songs from here so I jumped at the opportunity.

:19:23.:19:29.

I came up from London in between rehearsals. They always all I said

:19:29.:19:34.

I would do is Big River because it is such a good song. I was the sure

:19:34.:19:41.

of it was going to be included. -- I was not sure if it was going to

:19:41.:19:48.

be included. It's not the only thing you're

:19:48.:19:51.

doing at the moment - the Classic Album is selling nicely and so is

:19:51.:19:55.

the Christmas Album? Yes, it has been a brilliant here. I am looking

:19:55.:20:00.

forward to some time off at Christmas.

:20:00.:20:05.

And South Shields is in the news again! Jade and Perrie from Little

:20:05.:20:07.

Mix, following in your footsteps and winning X-Factor - that's

:20:07.:20:17.
:20:17.:20:18.

extraordinary! I think the girls are incredibly talented. But people

:20:18.:20:21.

in the North East are extremely supportive. The girls deserve to

:20:21.:20:27.

them. They did incredibly well. I am really good friends with Jade.

:20:27.:20:31.

It is quite strange watching one of my friends go through. I am sure

:20:31.:20:36.

they will do amazingly well. The girls have been catapulted into

:20:36.:20:40.

a whole new world - any advice on how to cope with it all? I give

:20:40.:20:50.

them some advised to start them they went to London. It is quite a

:20:50.:20:57.

stressful time. This next week especially. But it is brilliant.

:20:57.:21:02.

is a different world, you are suddenly different world of

:21:02.:21:12.

property. The decree that you would not have expected. -- it is a

:21:12.:21:17.

career. They're hoping to have a Christmas

:21:17.:21:20.

number 1 with their new single - any chance of Big River being

:21:20.:21:24.

released? It is not planted to be a single, but I will definitely

:21:24.:21:34.
:21:34.:21:34.

perform it in my shows. Great to see you again.

:21:34.:21:37.

On to another young man enjoying life at the moment! Going to

:21:37.:21:40.

Buckingham Palace to receive one of the highest awards for bravery

:21:40.:21:43.

would make for an unforgettable day in anyone's book. But for one

:21:43.:21:46.

soldier, it got even better. After receiving his award, he went down

:21:46.:21:49.

on one knee and proposed to his Geordie girlfriend and won a

:21:49.:21:56.

fiancee to go with his Military Cross. Gerry Jackson has the story.

:21:57.:22:00.

He got this for his bravery under fire. She got this for his bravery

:22:00.:22:04.

at the Palace. Glasgow born Bryan Johnson had just been presented

:22:04.:22:08.

with the rare Military Cross by the Prince of Wales. The Royal Scots

:22:08.:22:10.

private had rescued a wounded comrade after their patrol was

:22:10.:22:13.

ambushed in Afghanistan. But after the medal ceremony, the pressure

:22:13.:22:20.

wasn't over. With Prince Charles, I was all right. I knew that was

:22:20.:22:30.
:22:30.:22:33.

coming. But proposing, my heart stopped. For Kirstie Ward, from

:22:33.:22:36.

Newcastle, her pride in her soldier boyfriend could not have been any

:22:36.:22:39.

greater until, suddenly, he was her fiance. I just wanted the day to be

:22:39.:22:44.

about him, but he turned it around. And to do it in front of so many

:22:44.:22:54.
:22:54.:23:01.

people in such a high class plays as well, it was the biggest shock.

:23:01.:23:04.

Kirstie describes her husband-to-be as amazing. He's probably earned

:23:04.:23:10.

enough brownie points to be getting on with!

:23:10.:23:12.

It's just over two weeks before the transfer window reopens. And

:23:13.:23:15.

Newcastle United Manager Alan Pardew says one player will

:23:15.:23:18.

certainly come in, maybe two. But that's if they don't lose

:23:18.:23:20.

anybody. After their great start to the season, there's increasing

:23:20.:23:23.

speculation that some of their players could be transfer targets

:23:23.:23:25.

themselves. We have some players here that top clubs will be

:23:25.:23:28.

interested in. But they will have to be a lot of money to take

:23:28.:23:38.
:23:38.:23:45.

anybody out of here. We are always on our guard. The players are all

:23:45.:23:49.

very important. Blyth Spartans have parted company

:23:49.:23:52.

with their manager, Steve Cuggy, after just seven months in charge

:23:52.:23:56.

at Croft Park. Cuggy picked up only two wins from his 20 league games

:23:56.:23:59.

in charge, leaving the club bottom of the Blue Square Bet North. The

:23:59.:24:01.

former Sunderland player previously enjoyed success as Whitely Bay's

:24:01.:24:04.

assistant boss when the club won the FA Vase three years running.

:24:04.:24:07.

Rugby Union finally, and the Newcastle Falcons are gearing up

:24:07.:24:10.

for their rematch with Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon in the south of

:24:10.:24:14.

France. Although 6 points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, Alan

:24:14.:24:17.

Tait's side have performed well in the Challenge Cup. They currently

:24:17.:24:20.

top their group after beating Toulon 6-3 in the first leg at

:24:20.:24:26.

Kingston Park. I think they will look to relieve

:24:26.:24:30.

the roll the ball about and play in the style that French sides are

:24:30.:24:38.

accustomed to. But that is good for us. I do not want to go down there

:24:38.:24:42.

and pick up any injuries. The more open the game, the better it is

:24:42.:24:51.

sometimes. He was well wrapped up sometimes. He was well wrapped up

:24:51.:25:01.

Yes, very necessary. It is a bit of a messy picture today. Some chaotic

:25:01.:25:08.

skies this afternoon. Over the next few days, there will be some sleet

:25:08.:25:17.

and snow, some icy lights. But one thing is for certain, it will stay

:25:17.:25:23.

cold. As we heard through this evening -- as we head through this

:25:23.:25:33.
:25:33.:25:34.

evening, wintry showers moving him. A mixture of sleet and snow over

:25:34.:25:42.

high ground. Temperatures falling to freezing. Widespread ice in the

:25:42.:25:50.

north of the region. Not such a problem for the south. After the

:25:50.:25:57.

Cold start tomorrow morning, still a lot of showers around. Snow makes

:25:57.:26:04.

him around the showers. Temperatures will struggle once

:26:04.:26:13.

again, typically around five degrees. The wind is coming more

:26:13.:26:22.

from the north. And that is a trained that carries on through the

:26:22.:26:28.

weekend. It will be cold with the wind coming down from that

:26:28.:26:31.

direction. But we will get a bit of shelter from the high ground of

:26:31.:26:36.

Scotland. There will be some wintry showers around, but it may be icy

:26:37.:26:40.

roads and pavements that will be the major problem over the weekend.

:26:40.:26:45.

For Saturday, a few showers with sleet here and there, but there

:26:45.:26:50.

will be gaps in between and many places might makes the showers on

:26:50.:26:58.

Saturday. Temperatures of four or five Celsius at very best. On

:26:58.:27:05.

Sunday, the wind will turn to the north-west. That brings in a bit of

:27:05.:27:10.

protection so we will miss most of the showers. Most places dry and

:27:10.:27:16.

bright. But that a week winter sunshine will not help temperatures.

:27:16.:27:20.

That is the way it is looking for the weekend. We will keep you

:27:20.:27:30.

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