:00:00. > :00:12.And that is all from us for this evening. Now on BBC One,
:00:13. > :00:20.Good evening. Police have arrested a 43`year`old man on suspicion of the
:00:21. > :00:26.murder of a seven`year`old girl more than 21 years ago. Nikki Allan was
:00:27. > :00:30.found dead in Sunderland in 1992. Since then, her mother has fought to
:00:31. > :00:33.keep the investigation alive, and a renewed appeal was made on the BBC's
:00:34. > :00:38.Crimewatch programme last September. Sharuna Sagar reports.
:00:39. > :00:41.Nikki Allan's murder is a case that has never gone away for Northumbria
:00:42. > :00:48.Police. The circumstances of her death appalled detectives and the
:00:49. > :00:51.public alike. A seven`year`old girl, playing near her home in the Wear
:00:52. > :00:59.Garth area of Sunderland ` found dead in the`then derelict Old
:01:00. > :01:03.Exchange building. It's been redeveloped into a venue but then it
:01:04. > :01:09.was used by vagrants and drug abusers. Police are still keen to
:01:10. > :01:12.speak to anyone who hung round here in those days to see if they
:01:13. > :01:16.remember any information that will them with the case. There was an
:01:17. > :01:24.arrest ` and trial at the time ` but the defendant was cleared. While the
:01:25. > :01:27.investigation has continued over the decades. For Nikki's mother, the
:01:28. > :01:39.impact of her daughter's death is still raw. I have been in hospital.
:01:40. > :01:48.I have lost that much weight, I am on drugs from the doctor. I still
:01:49. > :01:50.have the strength to carry on. Last September, the BBC's Crimewatch
:01:51. > :01:57.programme stepped in to give a further impetus to the efforts of
:01:58. > :02:00.the police's Major Crime Team. It was hoped a reconstruction of events
:02:01. > :02:03.leading up to Nikki's death might jog a memory somewhere to provide
:02:04. > :02:06.that vital snippet of information. This evening, as a man arrested on
:02:07. > :02:09.suspicion of murder is bailed pending further enquiries, the fresh
:02:10. > :02:16.call for witnesses is as important as ever. Sharuna Sagar, BBC Look
:02:17. > :02:19.North, Sunderland. A controversial plan to scale down
:02:20. > :02:23.children's and maternity services at the Friarage Hospital in
:02:24. > :02:25.Northallerton is to go ahead. All sick children who need overnight
:02:26. > :02:29.care and mothers having high`risk births will now have to travel
:02:30. > :02:32.elsewhere. Doctors say it's the only way to provide sustainable care,
:02:33. > :02:38.while campaigners believe it could threaten patient safety. There were
:02:39. > :02:46.not prepared to listen to anything other than their own solution which
:02:47. > :02:56.came forward well over two years ago and has not been changed one iota.
:02:57. > :03:01.Children should be looked after in big units with lots of well`trained
:03:02. > :03:08.staff who do emergency stuff every day. When people say it is a
:03:09. > :03:15.world`class service, you think it is not? I think it has been but other
:03:16. > :03:21.services have improved the standards. The leader of
:03:22. > :03:25.Northumberland County Council has pledged that each and every pothole
:03:26. > :03:28.on the county's roads will be filled by the end of June. Our Political
:03:29. > :03:29.Editor, Richard Moss, reports. Suspension`wrecking, tyre`bursting,
:03:30. > :03:32.anger`inducing: Potholes are part and parcel of driving in
:03:33. > :03:36.Northumberland. But if you believe the leader of the County Council,
:03:37. > :03:54.not for much longer. He says they'll all be gone by the end of June. When
:03:55. > :03:59.we became the administration we had 35,000 potholes. We whittled it down
:04:00. > :04:02.to just over 12,000 and believe over the next 18 weeks, by adding the
:04:03. > :04:06.additional money from the insurance fund, we can eliminate them by that
:04:07. > :04:10.time. The Council says it can make that pledge because it has invested
:04:11. > :04:13.in kit like this jet patcher which can fill holes quickly. And because
:04:14. > :04:24.it's putting a further ?600,000 in to the roads budget. But some are
:04:25. > :04:39.deeply sceptical. It shows a lack of understanding. . To think the
:04:40. > :04:43.problems can be fixed by June is clou` cuckoo land. Will you have a
:04:44. > :04:51.day of celebration when you fill in the last one? We will introduce a
:04:52. > :04:55.meter on the web page and people will see the numbers drop. I am sure
:04:56. > :04:58.they will put a smiley face at the bottom when they are done. And the
:04:59. > :05:02.challenge to achieve that smiley face ` fill the small matter of 100
:05:03. > :05:09.holes a day for the next four months.
:05:10. > :05:12.Rail enthusiasts have been flocking to the Locomotion Rail Museum at
:05:13. > :05:17.Shildon this week for a unique event in steam rail history. Six A4
:05:18. > :05:20.Pacific locos have been on show, attracting some 60,000 visitors
:05:21. > :05:27.already, with three days of the exhibition left. Jonathan Swingler
:05:28. > :05:30.reports. The museum predicted 68,000 visitors
:05:31. > :05:35.over nine days. They went through that target yesterday. Entry is
:05:36. > :05:42.free. A train enthusiast from China landed at Heathrow this morning. I
:05:43. > :05:46.did know it was a unique gathering. I thought it was a
:05:47. > :05:52.once`in`a`lifetime opportunity. John is happy. He sold his painting. A
:05:53. > :05:57.gentleman came from Ipswich for the exhibition and saw it. His father
:05:58. > :06:06.drove the engine and wanted it for his collection. The owners of this
:06:07. > :06:09.pub are amazed people are coming from all over, with one customer
:06:10. > :06:14.coming in from America. Somebody came from Los Angeles? Yes, he flew
:06:15. > :06:22.in and out the next day, just to see the trains. Did he come in here? .
:06:23. > :06:26.We generally have 100 people on Thursday, and at the moment it is up
:06:27. > :06:29.to 300 people. It is fantastic. Visitor numbers today did not
:06:30. > :06:34.disappoint with people queueing for 45 minutes to stand on the
:06:35. > :06:38.footplate. It is great. Very unusual and probably the last time they are
:06:39. > :06:44.together. They are here for another three days and staff can expect to
:06:45. > :06:46.be busy. And they had some decent weather there. Can we all have some
:06:47. > :06:57.tomorrow, Hannah Bayman? There will be some sunshine for the
:06:58. > :07:05.north`east and North Yorkshire in particular but a few showers in the
:07:06. > :07:11.West. Showers will be wintry over the hills but there will be bright
:07:12. > :07:18.spells of global temperatures will be lower than this afternoon. They
:07:19. > :07:27.will be tempered by brisk south`westerly wind is which
:07:28. > :07:31.continue to be strong. Things will go downhill after the start of the
:07:32. > :07:32.weekend when on Sunday there will be heavy rain on the way.
:07:33. > :07:33.weekend when on Sunday there will be the outlook. On Sunday, we have grey
:07:34. > :07:44.skies and a bit of drizzle, too Good evening. You may have had the
:07:45. > :07:49.latest from the Met Office about the rainfall we have had this winter,
:07:50. > :07:53.the wettest winter on record. It is sometimes difficult to visualise the
:07:54. > :07:57.numbers. Let me explain how much rain we had. If you think about a
:07:58. > :08:02.stretch of land across the UK, we had about half a metre of rainfall
:08:03. > :08:06.falling so far this winter. That is, if the water didn't sleep into the
:08:07. > :08:11.ground. We have a huge amount of water brought in by areas of low
:08:12. > :08:16.pressure. 15 of them have been big storms, causing lots of damage. As
:08:17. > :08:20.far as the shorts is concerned, it is just a breeze. We have a few
:08:21. > :08:23.shells on the horizon and that is pretty much it. You can see where
:08:24. > :08:27.the weather is coming from the moment. It has come in from the
:08:28. > :08:33.Atlantic. Just a few scatter shower words here and there. It is going to
:08:34. > :08:34.be a bit colder tonight compared to last night. Last night tempered