14/03/2012 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

In the programme tonight: More winners and losers on the jobs

lottery. A big drop in unemployment in the

North East, but that's little comfort for these workers. 450 jobs

are to go at a leading pharmaceutical company.

Also tonight: A camping tragedy in the Lakes. A man's died, his wife

is seriously ill. The North East drugs trial that's

giving skin cancer sufferers a new lease of life.

And meet the taxi driver you could listen to all day. He's just been

crowned England's best unsung tourism hero.

In sport, a new boss for Newcastle Falcons and a some good news for

Hartlepool United. And we're tearing up the track as

we look ahead to the new speedway The jobs roller-coaster continues.

Last week we were celebrating Nissan generating up to 2,000 new

jobs on Wearside, tempered by the news that Alcan's Northumberland

plant wil close, with the loss of more than 500 jobs. Today, the

latest unemployment figures latest unemployment figures

revealed a small rise, less than 300 in Cumbria and a welcome fall

of 11,000 in the North East, the biggest reduction in the UK. But

today also brought the news that the Sanofi pharmaceuticals factory

at Fawdon in Newcastle is to close in three years with the loss of 450

jobs. Adrian Pitches is at the jobs. Adrian Pitches is at the

factory for us tonight. Sanofi is the 4th largest pharmaceutical

company in the world. In this country there are 1800 employees

and 450 of them feel that their jobs will disappear in three years'

time. That is because the buyers of the drugs made here can get them

cheaper elsewhere. The workforce streamed home after a

morning meeting where the news was broken that the plant is scheduled

to close in three years time. It was a shock for the workers and

their boss. It was a complete site meeting this

morning so everyone was gathered together and I delivered this

difficult message and the response was one of shock and devastation.

No one wishes this to happen, but this is not anything other than the

external factors that are driving us to put this proposal forward.

Three years ago, �100m was invested in new production lines. But that

money did not safeguard jobs. Obviously disappointed, but there's

not much else I can save. I gather they have invested recently? They

have been investing all the time, but obviously there are reasons

behind it. I'm very disappointed. His three years' notice a comfort?

Definitely. It is not like they're shutting the gate today.

They're saying the closure wouldn't take effect until 2015. That is

obviously to do with the time it takes to transfer lines, get

approval and detests. It is not an industry we can close today and

stopped it somewhere else on Monday. A 90-day consultation period has

now started, but without an upsurge in orders for their products, the

workforce will leave for good in 2015.

So a real blow for everyone there, Adrian, and all down to factors

that have nothing to do with the Fawdon operation.

Very much so. �100 million was invested in this plant just three

years ago, but with drugs losing their patent and being able to be

made by other companies, they can be made a lot more cheaply in the

Far East and buyers are going elsewhere. It is sad to think that

last week we heard that I'll come will close with the loss of 550

jobs. That is almost a 1000 jobs lost in the north-east within a

week. A camping trip to the Lake District

has ended in tragedy. Chris and Jane Bainbridge from Darlington

were staying in a wooden pod at the Quiet Site at Watermillock near

Ullswater over the weekend. Mr Bainbridge, an officer with

Darlington Council, was found dead, and his wife is seriously ill. It's

still not clear what happened, our reporter Alison Freeman has the

latest. Chris and Jane Bainbridge had gone

for the hassle-free alternative to carrying a tent. Staying in one of

these wooden pods at the Quiet Site in Watermillock.

But on Monday afternoon Mr Bainbridge was found dead and his

wife in a serious condition inside. Early indications were they'd

fallen victim to a tragic accident, suffering carbon monoxide poisoning.

The exact cause of the fumes has not been revealed.

At this time we are helping the police fully with their inquiries.

Our condolences go out to the family is concerned.

Friends said the couple from Darlington had come to Ullswater

for the weekend and were experienced campers. Mr Bainbridge

had worked for Darlington Council for 27 years. Chris was a great guy.

He worked with us for 27 years. All of the staff here and council

members are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragedy. All of our

thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to his wife Jane.

Camping is growing in popularity with people seeing it as a cheap

way to holiday and, although it was seem an apparently safe past time,

this is the fifth such death in the past twelve months. Those in the

industry are warning potential campers to think and take care.

Particularly in the bigger tense, there is so much space you feel at

home. People set up stall as though they have their own kitchen. If you

have the space that is fantastic, but bear in mind that the stalls

used a naked flame, tents are from a ball, even the big tense. You

have to have ventilation. Days after the couple were found,

but Mrs Bainbridge is in a serious condition in hospital.

Raymond Scott, the Wearside antiques dealer who was jailed for

stealing a priceless Shakespeare First Folio from Durham University,

has died in prison. Mr Scott, who was 55 and from Washington, became

famous for his flambouyant appearances at court during his

trial. He was pronounced dead after being found unconscious in his cell

at Northumberland prison near Morpeth early this morning. He'd

served only 20 months of his 8 year sentence, after being found guilty

of handling stolen goods and removing stolen property from

Britain. The body of a man's been found in

the River Ouse at Naburn near York. It's in the area police have been

searching for 19-year-old Jordan Sullivan since he went missing last

month. They were alerted by a member of staff at Naburn Marina

who discovered a body in the water. Formal identification hasn't yet

taken place, but a police spokesman said they've notified Mr Jordan's

family. Middlesbrough and Gateshead have

failed in their bids to be given City status to mark the Diamond

Jubilee. It was the first time that Gateshead had made an official

pitch to become a city like neighbours Newcastle and Sunderland.

It's Middlesbrough's third failed attempt.

Things are returning to normal today after the dramatic eight hour

operation that sealed off part of of a seaside town yesterday. Roads

were closed and properties evacuated around Saltburn seafront

as armed police and bomb squad officers surrounded a woman who was

carrying a backpack. The 40-year- old woman was last night detained

under the Mental Health Act and has now been released into the care of

her family. Stuart Whincup reports. This was the moment the eight hour

stand-off ended. As armed police and bomb disposal experts left the

seasfront, a 40-year-old local woman was driven away. It was an

isolated incident dealing with circumstances we are satisfied we

have brought to a safe conclusion. In Saltburn today the police

presence remained providing reassurance as people returned to

their shops and businesses. Council cleaner Chris Lynn was

inadvertently caught inside the police cordon when armed police

moved in. There were snipers, it was a bit hairy. A bit frightening.

I have seen the woman before, she had been done quite a few times,

maybe once a week. I recognised her. The police were called after

concerns were raised about the woman's behaviour and claims she

was carrying suspicious items in her backpack.

Staff at Saltburn's Sea View Restaurant said it was full with

dinners when armed police moved in and ordered them all to leave.

police came and said, everybody has to leave right now. We asked if

people could take things away and they said no. Customers said they

weren't leaving and then we all had to get out.

The woman was assessed by medical professionals before being released

in the care of her family. Police apologise today for disruption, but

said it can take no risks with public safety.

No criminal charges are expected to be brought against the woman.

Nuclear test veterans from our region, who say they were made ill

by exposure to radiation in the 1950s, have lost their legal battle

to claim compensation from the Ministry of Defence. They're among

more than a thousand ex-servicemen involved in British nuclear tests

in the Pacific in the 1950s. They later developed illnesses including

cancer. The Ministry of Defence has always denied liability. And today

the Supreme Court ended their hopes of compensation by rejecting their

bid to continue with their legal action. It certainly not about

money. I think if you speak to the other people who are there, all

they are concerned about is the fact it should be recognised what

they did. I think it is disgraceful, you know, I honestly do.

A Tyneside woman suffering from advanced, inoperable skin cancer

was so close to death she wrote goodbye letters to her children.

But she has undergone a sudden and extraordinary recovery after taking

part in a North East trial for a new cancer drug for melanoma.

Denise Wilson from Whitley Bay has gone from counting down the days to

living each and every day to the full. Our health reporter Sharon

Barbour has this exclusive report. Denise, who worked in operating

theatres, knew all about skin cancer and when hers spread to her

spine she knew there was little there could be done to save her

life. Once it was in my spine, that was

it really. When they showed me all of the photographs, it was in my

never, my lungs and all over the place. Just a very limited time.

But she, among patients across the North enlisted, on a trial for a

new drug for advanced inoperable melanoma and the results were

extraordinary. It's just really happened nearly

immediately. Before that I was writing letters and things, you

know, to my children and thinking not of living.

The first test I had, all of the tumours had gone and shrunk by it

seems hearth. She's among melanoma patients who

have a mutant gene that is causing the caner and the new drug seems to

be ale to stop it, but those overseeing the trial say it's not a

cure. We've had some patients were all of

the disease has gone away, but for a lot of the patients who get rapid

responses, I warned them that eight-month Standerline, some of

the tumour may become resistant. It's been so successful in

extending life, the drugs licensing's been rushed through.

It's now available in the UK and the NHS will decide on its cost

effectiveness later this year. But for patients like Denise, who are

alive here thanks to free access in the trial, are allowed to stay on

it. For her that really does mean the difference between life and

death. Every day it I have the best Still to come in tonight's Look

North: The latest on changes at the top at Newcastle Falcons.

And aiming for the stars. Well, almost. The would-be rocket

engineers learning not to put all their eggs in one basket.

Most places finally saw sunshine today, but what does tomorrow's

When you take a taxi, do you like to listen to your driver or would

you rather just chill out and enjoy the ride?

Well, you're about to meet one taxi driver who never shuts up and his

passengers don't want him to. Alan Fidler provides tours of the North-

East for international visitors who arrive at the Port of Tyne. He's so

good at it, he's just won a national accolade as England's best

unsung tourism hero. Our reporter Damian O'Neil took his Newcastle in

a Nutshell tour and found a man with no shortage of local knowledge.

Will start off and go and see the free trade in. They may not be open,

but it is the pub with allegedly the eight best view of anywhere in

the world. Why do you bring vote here? It is a good place to start.

You get a good view up the river and you can see the Millennium

Bridge. We are now coming up beside the

theatre to Trinity House. Trinity House was responsible for the

coastal protection and, like houses and other facilities, to protect

Mariners. These were arms houses for retired sea captains, the ones

who survived to retirement. Also is calling for young boys in Newcastle

in the 18th century. Do you talk to your fares about traditional taxi

driver stuff, like immigration um politics? I try to stay fairly well

clear of all of that. Many of them of foreigners and they may be

curious about aspects of British society, but sometimes politics is

best left alone. So where are we headed? We are arriving at South

Street. This is where George and Robert Stephenson had their engine

works. This is where the first steam engines were constructed. It

is from here that you can say the railways of the world originated.

Now, Blackfriars surviving buildings include a restaurant. The

court that runs the restaurant claims that the dining area in the

Blackfriars was where the monks would eat and claims their food is

the oldest dining room in Britain. He we are, back at the BBC offices.

I hope you have enjoyed your trip and I hope I will continue for some

years to come. So do we, Alan, you are a star.

It's finally arrived - rocket science really has been introduced

to the curriculum at some of our schools. A competition, which began

at Elvington Airfield near York, today challenges students to build

a rocket capable of reaching 800 feet, then get it back to Earth

with its rather delicate cargo intact. Peter Lugg reports on one

Is this how it started for Neil Armstrong. A misty airfield, some

cardboard tubes, a few ounzes of rocket fuel, oh, and of course, two

fresh laid eggs. The aid is to represent the astronaut. The

padding is to protect the astronaut like you would a real astronaut

with a helmet and the seat belt. Once you have done that, the cat

shall is like a seat. This is the United Kingdom

Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge - or UK Rocks as it's known. Open

to any school whose curriculum is reaching for the stars. We are

teaching physics, why the rocket will fly. Forces and energy is

involved. Also teaching them about Engineering, making a design that

they can actually make Campbell actually fly. Not a design that is

a fantasy design. We also teaching project management to some extent.

On the launchpad Ashville 1 is Their team have to design and build

a model rocket. The challenge is to climb 800 feet

in less than 45 seconds without breaking an egg.

Almost perfect, but if the egg had been an astronaut he'd have had a

bit of a sore head. Peter Lugg BBC Look North, Elvington. That is a

cracking idea! You have that one ready all day,

have undue? Newcastle Falcons confirmed today

what we told you last night, that Dean Richards will be the club's

new Director of Rugby next season even if they're relegated from the

Premiership. He'll take over in August. That's when his three-year

ban from the sport comes to an end, after his involvement in the

"bloodgate scandal". Dawn Thewlis reports.

After three years in the wilderness, Dean Richards has chosen Kingston

Park as the place for his rugby rehabilitation. A hitherto highly

respected coach, his reputation was badly damaged by his involvement in

the Bloodgate affair which saw one of his players use a fake blood

capsule to feign injury. The former Leicester, England and

British Lions number 8 is raring to get back into the game. But the

timing of the announcement may not be ideal - the Falcons have done

incredibly well under Gary Gold in his short time at the club and may

be unsettled enough by the news to take their eye off the ball in

their fight against relegation. Richards can't take part in any

rugby matters until his ban ends on August 18th including the make up

of his management and coaching team, but it's almost certain his old

Leicester colleague and Falcons ex England forwards coach, John Wells,

will remain in the set up. Should the worst happen and the

Falcons do go down, Richards has previous experience to call on. He

took over at Harlequins when they'd been relegated to the Championship

and led them to promotion the following season.

The tapes go up tomorrow night on the new speedway season. The first

match in our region sees Redcar Bears host their old rivals,

Newcastle Diamonds, in the first leg of their Northern Challenge at

It's a familiar sound, as the bikes rev up for another year of high-

speed action around the region's four Premier League tracks.

Workington are the late starters - their practice day isn't until

Sunday week, but the others have been on parade. Newcastle's Steve

Worrall's been joined by his twin brother, Richie. Berwick, who'll

stage a Grand Prix qualifying round in June, have installed a new,

secondary safety fence, to cut down on injuries. And it was a crash,

last September, which persuaded Redcar's number one, Jason Lyons,

to head off into retirement. But Gary Havelock is back for another

season. It's 20 years since he won the World title which was even

before one of his team-mates was born! I'll give it to him, the

bloke come right. I will definitely learned a lot on and off the trot -

- off the track. He is a great guy. And a lot's been done to the Redcar

track in the seven years since Gary's dad, Brian, brought the

sport back to Teesside. When I came down here in October

2005, this was a derelict site. Look what there is now, a new stand,

clubhouse, it's amazing a hard work On to football, and after years of

wrangling, Hartlepool United looks likely to be given its Victoria

Park home by the owners, Hartlepool Council. The club has tried to buy

the ground in the past, but has always been turned down - leading

to fears it might leave its home of more than a hundred years. Our

Business Correspondent, Ian Reeve, reports.

Hartlepool United has twice tried to buy its Victoria Park ground

from Hartlepool council. And twice its been rebuffed. But now a change

of heart. The council sees the club as being at the heart of a

regeneration scheme and is prepared to gift it the ground.

For the town's mayor, an enthusiastic fan, it's a way of

recognising the economic importance of the club to Hartlepool. They

generate about �5 million per year to the local economy and have

invested since they have been here. They employed over 300 people, 271

of which John Hartlepool based people. They used a lot of

Hartlepool companies for their suppliers. For the fans, the hope

is that the gift of the ground will quash theories that the club might

move elsewhere, frustrated by not being in charge of its own destiny.

If you rent a growled, there is only so far you will go before you

think about putting money into somebody else's property. If the

club want to progress further forward, then we really need to be

looking at developing that crowd. Relief amongst the fans will be

palpable. There is so much history here. This is the place where Brian

Clough put his managerial teeth. The ground was bombed by Zeppelin

in the First World War, and at that prompted their club to demote

compensation from the post-war German government. Covenants will

be placed on Victoria Park to ensure football is always played

here. And the deal will be voted on And now the weather. After today's

warm temperature, I am going to get the winter tyres of my car.

the winter tyres of my car. I'm hoping we have seen the last of

the snow. It has been pleasantly mild for many places with

temperatures staying above average. In lovely sign of spring, a Lady

Birdwood that sunshine glinting off her back. Thank you very much for

that picture. Tomorrow, bright spells for the

north-east and cloudier in the West. Cloudy put Cumbria, one or two

spots of drizzle here, but generally an overcast night with

temperatures mild as a result between four and seven Celsius.

Light winds in the morning from the south or south-west. A mild start

tomorrow with sunshine in the east, in the West it is gloomy with one

or two spots a drizzly rain and mist over the hills and fells. Hill

fog lingering through the morning. In the north-east through the

afternoon a fine skies, a top temperature here a little bit

cooler. The average temperature for this time enlarges around eight or

nine degrees Celsius above that for much of the reason, but average for

the Cumbrian coast. This should lift for the fells by the middle of

tomorrow afternoon. South-westerly breeze continues, but the weather

changes from Friday. High pressure giving way to a low pressure system

bringing rain possibly on Friday. We need the rain for the gardens,

they need watering. That spills its way eastward to the end of Friday.

A little bit, possibly for the weekend and mothering Sunday. Some

more detail for Friday and Saturday, find any rainfall Carlisle and the

rest of Cumbria. It is cloudier the the rest of the region but since

they mostly dry. Behind that band of rain, cold air. We should also

see bright spells, but heavy showers particularly Saturday

morning in the West. Showery elsewhere, but probably not quite

the same intensity. Mother's Day looks mostly bright. We will be at

dating year every evening this week, but for the moment, if you are

taking mum out on Sunday, the weather is looking pretty good.

Jupiter and Venus still on a beautiful display. Look to the West

shortly after sunset probably Saturday night the best night to

Saturday night the best night to spot those two planets.

A final look at the headlines, 22 children from Belgium have been

killed in a horrific crash in Switzerland coming back from a ski

trip. And there has been a big drop in

unemployment in the region but one of the world's biggest