06/01/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

The club says it wants to concentrate on football. On the

pitch, we look ahead to FA Cup weekend as Sunderland reiterate

their Jermain Defoe is not the sale. It's been in business

for more than 170 years, but tonight the vast majority

of staff at AEI Cables The firm in Birtley -

now owned by a parent company based in Dubai -

announced earlier this week that its loss-making

factory was closing. with 40 more retained for three

months to fulfil existing orders. Our Correspondent Mark Denten

is in Birtley tonight. Yes, Jeff, Birtley today, five

Celsius, torrential rain. In Dubai, 25 degrees, glorious nonstop

sunshine. Very different places, but they are connected, because an

organisation based in Dubai owns the AEI Cables factory, which is just up

the end of the high streets down there. The company had sales last

year of ?1.2 billion, and yet, it wants to not pay redundancy payments

through a legal move. As my colleague Adrian Pitches reports,

Birtley is preparing itself for an economic shock.

North East England has seen a meltdown in manufacturing

We've lost our mines, our steelworks, our shipyards.

AEI Cables is just the latest casualty, albeit a company that has

And the loss of the cable workers' jobs will be felt

In the small town of Birtley, other businesses will also suffer,

the businesses that rely on AEI and its workers for their custom.

Quite a bit from AEI. We do deliver to them as well, a couple of times a

day. The ones on different shifts, but wheels have them coming in the

shop all the time, so it will be a massive impact for us.

I think it is absolutely disgusting. People's livelihoods that have been

working there a long time. Might family work there, I have a cousin

who has been in there for about 40 years now. It is all he has known

since he has left school, so what is he going to do? There are a lot of

people in Birtley who have either worked their work there now. What

are they going to do? I think, yes, there are a lot of

people going back over generations of the same family who have worked

at AEI Cables. People who live locally in Birtley, but also in the

surrounding towns as well, people who don't have to travel a huge

amount of distance to work, and obviously, anything we can do as a

council with our partners to minimise the effect on them and

hopefully get people into employment as soon as possible will make a big

difference. Birtley has been a centre for heavy

manufacturing for nearly 200 years. This plant here's the last remaining

plant, with 400 workers, but with the loss of AEI Cables and the move

of BAE Systems five years ago to Washington, this is the last

bastions of manufacturing in the poorest part of Gateshead borough.

Tough times ahead by the sounds of it.

Mark, the unions at AEI Cables have had more to say tonight?

Yes, in a strongly worded statement, the GMB have issued a statement this

afternoon. It says that the Dubai group as a callous group for local

people. -- a callous disregard. They are concerned that the land on which

the factory stands could be sold, and that could raise the money for

redundancies for the staff. No interview from either ten macro or

their parent group today, but we understand there will be a' meeting,

where a decision will be made whether to go for the Company

voluntary arrangement, which would allow the company to not pay those

redundancy payments. Those skilled jobs, then, for many people tonight,

who will be starting light at night without a job at AEI Cables, I

suspect we will not have heard the last of angry much. -- the last of

it. Thank you very much.

Next tonight, the remarkable story of a woman whose life

was saved after she collapsed in a supermarket entrance.

On Christmas Eve, Catherine Maguire was shopping with her

husband and three children in the Arnison Centre in Durham

She was helped by supermarket staff, a police officer and an off-duty

paramedic, who gave the 48-year-old life saving treatment.

Today, Catherine got to meet them to say thank you.

Meeting those who saved Catherine's life was an emotional reunion for

the Maguire family. After she collapsed in the store entrance, so

many played a part in helping her, and luckily for everyone, the store

has its own disability. -- has its own disability.

Steve gave a couple of jolts, and then the paramedic turned up, and

they just worked their magic. Absolute heroes, from the

Sainsbury's staff for looking after the kids, right the way through. To

the air ambulance guys, the police guys who gave me a lift over. Just

everybody pulls together and did an amazing job, especially with

Sainsbury's having the machine here, ready.

The quick thinking of this team store staff and an off-duty

paramedic and police officer, being praised today.

When we got there, for all intents and purposes, she was dead. There

was no pulse or breath. Hair colour was terrible. She was purple. To see

her again today is fantastic. I spoke to the youngest one and said,

what did you get for Christmas? And she said, my mum. When she said

that, it was just too much. You know, the fact that they had a

defibrillator and knew how to use it and recognise she was in cardiac

arrest, I think they deserve a huge amount of recognition and praise for

that. We do it as a job, and that is our everyday thing, but for them to

see that and know what to do and act on it, I think they deserve a lot of

credit for actually saving as Lady's life will stop -- this Lady's life.

Well done to all involved. Two men have been charged

with murder, following the death of a man in Sunderland,

nine months after he was attacked. 34-year-old Michael Stead

was assaulted on Brady Street in the Pallion area of the city

in March last year, but died Five teenagers have now been

released after they were arrested on suspicion of raping

a 15-year-old girl in Cumbria. Three 13-year-old boys and

two 14-year-olds were arrested following an incident

near the Cloffocks car park One 13-year-old was freed

without charge, and the other four Former Easington MP John Cummings,

who represented the County Durham constituency for almost 23

years, has died. Mr Cummings, who was 73, had been

suffering from cancer and passed He was Labour MP for Easington

between 1987 and 2010. Police say a man found in the back

of a van in Northumberland still has The 29-year-old from the Durham area

was found in a purple Mercedes Vito It was parked next to

Low Leam Farm in West Woodburn, His ankles and wrists were tied,

but he was confused. The last thing he remembers

was driving in the Durham It's a huge issue for hospitals

in Cumbria and one of the main reasons for the proposed changes

to children's and maternity Recruiting and retaining senior

staff is a major challenge, which is leaving hospitals

with huge locum bills. But now staff themselves have

launched a recruitment video to persuade other professionals

to move to Cumbria, Generally, if your doctor recommends

a course of action, you listen. I started my nurse training in this

trust in 2002, found it to be a really friendly and supportive place

to work, so I stayed here ever since. Did my degree and then my

masters in this package and it's, and I'm now finishing my

practitioner training in filling in the slot of the medical rotor.

Only in this video, they're appealing to colleagues to come

What will turn to do with the video is to promote Cumbria as a place to

live and work. -- what we're trying to do. To live and work, to study,

to bring up your families, and to live and work across both the

community and the Acute Hospital trust.

The trust, which remains in special measures, is under a special resume

appointed by the government, and has acknowledged retaining and

recruiting staff is among the most difficult in the whole of the NHS.

In this video is to make a distance, -- a difference, the question is, is

it too late? This is just one initiative, so I

don't think it is too late. We have been using other initiatives and

recruitment campaigns. We have been looking at reward packages for

consultants to come and live and work in Cumbria, but this campaign

and all the others we have been doing are made to bring in

consultants to work permanently within the trust. That is the aim of

it. Don't just come to Cumbria for a

holiday. Come to stay. It's hoped the video can help

attract consultants, doctors and nurses to sites

across north and west Cumbria. And to another lovely part of the

region now. It's a tourist destination known

for its beauty and tranquillity. But in the north Yorkshire

market town of Hawes, the peace has been shattered

after holidaymakers accused one local shopkeeper

of being "rude and offensive." Steve Bloom, the owner

of Bloomindales Bookshop, He claims it's his right and says

the money goes to charity. It is the book shop with certain

rules. But in the market town of Hawes, some believe Steve Bloom's

customer service is falling short. John Blackie, the leader of the

parish council, has received 20 letters of complaint.

And this is typical of one of the letters that we have received. Let

me just read a paragraph. Personally, I found the man's

attitude most offensive, and I am sure it will reflect on the town's

businesses. Have you bought anything here

before? No, we came here about five years

ago. I will tell you how it works. It is

50p to come in. And it is this more entry charge

that has made things less than civil here, with some customers refusing

to pay. A lot of what gets categorised as

rudeness is simply me asking for the 50p, doing what I am doing. From the

point of view of someone who doesn't want to pay it, he says, what, I'm

not paying 50p to go in a shop, if you were to stop them on the street

outside, they were probably say that I had been rude to them.

The owners of the building say Mr Bloom has not breached any terms and

conditions, though in the village, comparisons are now being drawn to a

certain Fawlty Towers. If you want to charge people,

Ferrer, but it is the way you treat people.

If the disease shop, he can do. It is a bit maybe.

-- if it is his shop. The damage to our reputation in the

wider world is quite considerable, and it comes at a time when enough

is enough. It is my shop, it is my little

world. This is my little world, I run it, I am comfortable with people

coming in and appreciating it, and I feel it is my right.

The council hopes peace can still be restored here, with Steve agreeing

to display a sign telling customers what to expect.

Plenty more to come in tonight's Look North.

Dawn's here with a look ahead to the weekend sport,

How this Cumbrian firm is planning to grow its order book,

with the help of some prestigious contracts.

And it should be a mostly dry weekend, but fairly cloudy at times.

Join me later for the forecast. For the last seven years,

it's hosted some of the biggest But that could all be

coming to an end after Sunderland Football Club confirmed

today there would be no more concerts at the Stadium of Light

for the foreseeable future. Bruce Springsteen, Oasis

and Take That have all performed there in recent years,

as Stuart Whincup reports. It has hosted some of the biggest

names in music. But all this could be about to end, with Sunderland

football club confirming there will be no more music concerts at the

Stadium of Light for the foreseeable future.

I have been to a couple of them myself in my time. They were

fantastic, but I think if we are a football club, the first thing is

you do the right thing for the football team. I think it will

hopefully allow us to have some preseason games, maybe a small

tournament, whatever we choose to do.

Just last month, Sunderland City Council announced it was removing

its financial support for the concerts. The decision was made

after the Conservative group revealed the council had paid a

football club ?400,000 in recent years to help stage the event.

I think it is ludicrous, and the idea you can spend ?400,000

subsidising gigs and not spend enough money on these vitally

essential services, is absolutely mad.

Sunderland football club were also concerned the concerts were damaging

the pitch and not really generating a great deal of money. But the event

will be missed. That is a shame. We have been to a

few. We went to Kings of Leon and also Beyonce, and it was really

good. It will be less of a reason to visit

Sunderland. I think it is a shame, because there

is really not much else to bring Babel to Sunderland, so I think it

is a bit a loss. -- to bring people to Sunderland.

Double bull Godzilla would never rule out having concerts again in

future, but it is unlikely music's biggest names will be stopping off

in Sunderland any time soon. -- the football club says it will never

rule out having concerts again. Bruce Springsteen was good. I

remember that one. A Cumbrian manufacturer

of artificial grass is planning to expand, on the back of demand

for its sports pitches. SIS Pitches of Maryport has already

supplied artificial turf for a number of rugby and football

clubs, with the final of football's 2018 World Cup set to be played

on one its surfaces in Moscow. Our Business Correspondent,

Ian Reeve, reports. Saracens rugby club

is doing rather well. The London outfit is at the top

of the game's premiership. England players Owen Farrell

and Mako Vunipola have helped But then, the stadium pitch may also

have something to do with it. This product is 65

millimetres high, We then fill in this with sand

and a rubber crumb on the top. It is made here, in

Maryport, in Cumbria. It plays like turf but

withstands heavy use. The potential, the company

says, not just in rugby. It also weaves its artificial

product into grass pitches There is a massive potential,

because obviously, sport in this country is of high

importance to a lot of people, especially

five-a-side football, and hockey is becoming

a lot more popular now. The main pitches that we are

surfacing at the moment are rugby, hockey, some tennis and some

cricket wicket as well. hockey, some tennis and some

cricket wickets as well. At the moment, the factory supplies

600,000 square metres of its products to sports clubs

and the homes market. But it has ambitions to hit

a million square metres. If it does, Cumbria

could feel the benefit. The knock-on effect for that will be

that we will have more employment in the Maryport area,

Workington, and the Cumbria We would like to

recruit local staff. We will get new machines,

and the upgrade of machines will bring general business

into the area. Good news for people who might

want to emulate apprentice Daniel, for whom this unusual business

is now second nature. It is like normal to me. I have

never worked anywhere else. Lots of opportunities. You go away working

with the company and they have put me through my forklift license and

things like that, so there are plenty of opportunities within the

company and the business. And there'll be more,

if more clubs, football and rugby, decide a Cumbrian pitch solution

is just right for their patch. Time for sport, and it's

all about the magic of the FA Cup Does it still exists?

Of course it does! It should be about that this weekend, but it is

kind of half and half. With our lower league sides already

out of the competition, the third round sees Sunderland,

Middlesbrough and Newcastle enter the fray for the first

time this season. And while the FA Cup may be

the world's most famous domestic competition,

Sunderland in particular have other pressing concerns,

including a battle to keep hold of their talismanic

striker Jermain Defoe. At 34, Jermain Defoe

is having his most successful season Without him, most fans feel the club

might as well surrender to relegation right now,

and Moyes is clearly frustrated by attempts to lure the striker away

from the Stadium of Light. West Ham made an offer, which we

rejected, and we have also said he is not for sale. I don't think we

have to say an awful lot more. I think there is an awful lot of talk

going on, but not from this football club, because we have made our point

when we were asked about it. West Ham claim to have

ended their interest in Defoe, but just in case they change

their minds, they shouldn't We have said he is not for sale and

we are not selling him. So, again, I don't want to feel loads of calls

and a lot of time on your programme. Other people are doing that for me.

I am just saying no, he is not for sale.

There will be changes tomorrow but with so many players out injured

or away at the Africa Cup of Nations Defoe is likely to play

some part in the FA Cup clash with Burnley -

his was Sunderland's only goal in a 4-1 thrashing

We will need him to be around, that is visual, because we just don't

have enough people to say, sorry, we are resting you this week. We are

not in that position any more. One striker who could be on the move

though is Beth Mead. At at time when the women's game

is growing Sunderland have announced the Ladies team will revert

to part time status. They'll struggle to survive

in the top flight on that basis, but the club won't admit it's

a cost cutting measure. I think it is just what the club see

as the right thing at the moment. After team are part-time and half of

them are full-time, so I think what they have done is brought it into

line. They are going to be part-time.

Meanwhile Middlesbrough, who've added Aston Villa striker

Rudy Gestede to their ranks this week, have an extra day to prepare

for the visit of former Championship rivals Sheffield Wednesday,

who are looking good for the play-offs again this season.

The Middlesbrough boss, who enjoys the FA Cup, is expecting a tough

test. We had a lot of problems with them

last season, to beat them in the league. They scored every game, and

they were very good. So they did us a lot of problems, and we have to

ensure they don't create us problems, because again, they aren't

good coach, experienced players, and I am sure they will want to win

again. Middlesbrough followed up their

narrow and unfortunate defeat at Old Trafford with a hard earned but

scrappy point against champions Leicester, and new signing Rudy

Gestede is unlikely to start the next game. This could prompt

departures. Iraq would not be specific. -- Karanka would not be

specific. Anyone who wants to go, I said I

would help anybody who wants to leave, all wait for them to get the

right offer, because again, with the market to buy players, and to sell,

if one player wants to leave in the right offer arrives, it will help

them. Still on the January shopping list,

two more attacking players. Watch this space.

A tricky-looking third-round tie at fellow Championship club

Birmingham City could be well timed for Newcastle United,

who have lost four of their last eight league games and have

struggled for results without suspended creative

So how many re-inforcements does Rafa Benitez intend

Easily, we know that in January, the transfer window is open, and maybe

we need a couple of additions to balance it a little bit, the team,

but at the same time, as you say, we have done really well, and in the

last game, we have 25 attempts. So if we can bring someone else to help

the team, fine, but I am very pleased, and obviously, tomorrow, if

we can have confidence in all these players, they have been working so

hard the whole season. Benitez, a friend of new Blues

boss Gianfranco Zola, is confident the current dip

in results is a blip and has re-assured fans that striker

Aleksander Mitrovic, who's slipped down the United

pecking order, WILL start After reaching a league cup

quarter-final already this season, though, are the players seriously

eyeing a run in the FA Cup too? For me, and anyone else in the

squad, the manager has said on the pitch as well and no matter what

team or what player he picks, he wants to win the game, so we will be

going there to win the game. In League Two, 24 hours

after revealing that goalkeeper Trevor Carson's shoulder injury

could see him miss the rest of the season, Hartlepool have

made their second transfer window signing - young forward

Devante Rodney joining Pools host a Grimsby side that took

all three points away 3rd placed Carlisle will look

to bounce back from that 3-1 defeat when they travel to in-form

Colchester. Commentary on BBC Tees

and Radio Cumbria respectively. There's a double bill

of basketball ahead Tonight they're at home

to Cheshire Phoenix, in a game at Sports Central

which tips-off at 7.30. And tomorrow Fab Flournoy

takes his team to Derby, with the League leaders looking

to extend 2016's good We are competitive, and we want to

stay that way. I think now is the time when things will change a

little bit, because now, I think we have seen ourselves as having a

target on our back. We are still the team to beat. We have a cup final

looming. We are still very much alive in all foul competitions and

we want to win as many as possible. We will win all four of possible.

And good luck to them. They take on Bath tonight.

If you're going out there, you will need to get wrapped up, I think!

Time for the weather with Jennifer. What have you got? It is knowledge

and too bad this weekend. We have a change in the way for our

weather. Gone are the scenes earlier this week, when we had bright, blue

winter sunshine and a hard frost. Thank you to Capability Brown

presenting a ten. This week, likely to be more like this, Misty and

murky, like this picture from Karen earlier today. So a lot of cloud

around this weekend. It will be a mostly dry weekend, though we can't

rule out the odd spot of drizzle, and milder than it has been over the

last few days. We have had a weather front today forcing some outbreaks

of rain. That has largely cleared away now. They will be a few patches

of drizzle over the cells overnight, but generally, a cloudy night with

patches of mist and hill fog as well. Temperatures overnight will

fall back to around 6 degrees Celsius, so we not expecting frost

by tomorrow morning. Morning, it is a cloudy start to the day. Misty and

murky in places, but generally, Saturday works out as a decent day.

Outbreaks in places, so we could season good spells of sunshine. Here

is how things like that around three in the afternoon. For Cumbria, we

could still be here there were hanging on to hill fog over the

felony afternoon, but we will see sons -- spells of sunshine coming

through. The north-east, a fairly cloudy picture through the

afternoon, but whether cloud breaks, we will see that sunshine, and

temperatures will reach a high of eight Celsius. Through Saturday

night and into Sunday, a dry night again. Mist and Merck developing.

Further hill fog over the fells, and bridges will drop down to five

Celsius. On Sunday morning, we do it all again. I Misty, 30 start, lots

of low cloud around, and on Sunday, likely to be slightly cloudier than

Saturday. Cloud will break in places, so some spells of sunshine

are possible and the temperatures on Sunday, milder, up to a high of 10

degrees. Through Sunday and into Monday, we start to pick up some

spells of rain, but brighter on Tuesday.

Thank you very much. And that is it. The end of our first week back. I

couldn't remember what day it was at the beginning of the week! Have a

good weekend. See you on Monday. Goodbye.

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