19/04/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

An investigation is launched after one person dies

Hartlepool's Iain Wright becomes the second MP in our region

to announce he won't be fighting the General Election.

The outcry after a 95-year-old war veteran is charged ?130

for over-staying his welcome in a hospital car park.

Thousands of excited fans queue to see singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran,

And the Great North 10K is ready for the off.

Good thing there's time for this lot to be given a bit of coaching!

First tonight, one person has died in a fire at a tower block

The top three floors of the 12-storey building

were evacuated after the fire broke shortly before two

Ten fire engines were needed to bring the blaze under control.

No other injuries have been reported.

So far no details of the dead person have been released,

and investigators are looking into the cause.

Gerry Jackson joins us live from the scene.

it was around 12 hours after a fierce fire swept through a top

floor flat here in Thornaby with the body being a woman who lived here

for a number of years was finally removed. Frenzied lovers is moving

in and out of this property and for the residents, it was a night of

shock and up evil. The pictures tell of the bare facts, but data tails

are yet to emerge. The house is one of the tower blocks that dominated

the town centre skyline. Just after 1:30am, fire crews from the

stranding area were sent here. The rat number was rapidly doubled. The

fires are complex by nature, and if they spread, they can cause mass

casualties and mass evacuations. You can see from the outside that the

flames have linked up the building. Unfortunately with it being on the

top floor, -- fortunately with it being on the top floor, the fire did

not spread to other floors. It was like a couple more as the fire was

going on, exploding. It must have been a shock for you. Seeing it in

real life, you see it on TV, but seeing it in front of you, where you

live, it is very shocking. Dozens of residents from the top three floors

were evacuated and sent to the pavilion leisure centre in the early

hours. A joint police and fire brigade investigation has continued

since the first light. The top floor of the building still sealed. So far

there is no indication that the death is being treated as

suspicious. A postmortem examination is due to be taken on the victim.

This will be an indication of whether the investigation as to what

caused this tragedy is to be taken further. Thank you for that.

Meanwhile, firefighters on Wearside have been tackling a blaze

at a former soft play centre in Washington.

It broke out at Junglerama on Victoria Road this afternoon.

The blaze is now out and it is not believed anyone was inside.

Go North East said the nearby Concord Bus Station was closed,

and services were avoiding the area due to the number of people

A second politician in our region has announced he won't be standing

in the snap general election on June the 8th.

The decision by Iain Wright not to fight the Hartlepool seat comes

after Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP

Tom Blenkinsop revealed yesterday he was leaving Parliament.

Here's our news correspondent Mark Denten.

2004, Ian Wright born and bred in Hartlepool still in his early 30s

and only a couple of years is a local councillor suddenly found

himself in the political deep end. Peter Mandelson steps down, Ian

Wright held the seat for Labour at a by-election, a key issue in that

contest was the future of T-Town oh, my God spittle. Labour said it was

safe in hands, but it was soon circling. Despite pledges, there

were soon threatens to maternity services. He resigned. He came back

later but found his niche in the cut and thrust of chairing a select

committee. Last summer his finest moment,. The docking of 15 minutes a

if you are led, who said that up? I honestly don't know is the truth. I

do not know when that started. It definitely was not a policy I put

them. But since 2005, Ukip have been closing in on his seat, going from

fourth place to second in 2015, bullets by others, they came within

3000 votes of victory. They believe Ukip will take the seat in June. I

got the best results against the Labour country in the whole country.

If people want change in Hartlepool, they have got to go further you

because we are the only ones that can beat the Labour Party in Halep

all. What they make of the departure of their MP? I think it is sad

because I do not know whether they will get anyone else suitable in the

town. I have always found him approachable, so it depends who

comes into replace him. I do not know why he is not standing for the

election because he was a good with the people here. Hanley Bob's man

heads for other projects, his successor will be plunged straight

into the middle of a crucial election contest.

So Mark, do we know any more about why Iain Wright is stepping down?

To be honest, not an awful lot. We have been calling him all day to

find out a bit more detail. He put this tweet out about nine o'clock

saying it was a privilege to serve as the MP, you wanted to do other

things with his life. Half an hour after, you was chairing the business

committee and in front of him, Greg Clark.

In all of the areas in which you have

concentrated, you have achieved great progress on some of

the most difficult and controversial issues and you will be very greatly

I know in this house and I know as a fellow north-easterner and via

So he is not standing at the next election, but another collision we

thought was going to be off isn't. Roy Campbell, he said at the 2015

election it was probably going to be his last election. Today he said no,

I am going to fight the election in June, but stay with me on this one,

also today, he was one of only 13 MPs who fated against having that

election in June. We know it will happen in June.

A soldier, who's denied murdering his ex-girlfriend,

has told a court she was "insecure" and had accused of him

Alice Ruggles, who was 24, was found dead in her flat

in Rawlings Road in Gateshead in October, 2015.

Lance Corporal Trimaan Dillon - who's 26 - is accused of breaking

into her home to kill her, after she ended the relationship.

Today the defendant told the court he'd been behaving "immaturely"

when he received a restraining order against another former partner,

after she accused him of spitting in her face.

It seems the experience of a 95-year-old war veteran

could have forced a change to parking policy at

There was an outcry when former World War II airman Douglas Newham

was charged ?130 by a firm which manages car parks at the

Douglas had been attending a routine appointment which over-ran.

Douglas Newham had been at the hospital for an appointment

that was usually over within the hour.

Instead, it was late, and outside, on the windscreen of the 95 year

I just think it is totally unjust, not just for me, but I mean,

For Douglas, it was less an inconvenience than a show

of heartless inflexibility, and he was determined

It got to the point that never mind the money,

let's just try and get the company to have some feeling

All I can do is top stir public opinion.

It is not a supermarket car park, it is a hospital car park,

and I think they should have appropriate procedures.

Douglas Newham has now coughed up the ?130 he was charged,

but his refusal to accept what he believes is the injustice

of that levy seems to have forced the hand of the trust here.

It told us in a statement today that by the end of the year,

pay-as-you-leave gates will be installed here.

If they have a lifting barrier system and you go in and you only

pay for the period that you are there, that would be

an infinitely fairer system than what they have got

Mark McAlindon, BBC Look North, Carlisle.

A Teesside engineering company is looking to bring shipbuilding

Macdonald Offshore and Marine is building a fishing

vessel 20 metres long, with other contracts in the offing.

The river was once home to about 30 shipbuilding yards,

but the last major launch was in 1986.

Our business correspondent Ian Reeve reports.

VOICE-OVER: The second of two 45,000 toners

from the Furness Yard at Haverton Hill .

The Tees has a long and notable history of shipbuilding,

An industry that sustained work on the river for 600 years.

This, though, was the last major launch, Smiths Dock in 1986.

This Middlesbrough workshop, making a fishing vessel

15 people work here, but the aim, with more contracts,

It was a great skillset in shipbuilding and there

is still a lot of guys and shipwrights around in the area.

Hopefully bring more of those skills that

were here on the river some years ago, bring some new guys in,

hopefully get the apprentices coming in and take it from there.

It's a subcontracted job, won by the Whitby boat builder Parkol.

But he's happy to see it bring work to the Tees.

We are delighted to see that other people are benefiting out of

It is excellent to see Work coming to places

He lost his job when Redcar's steel works closed.

Boat building ensures his skills aren't lost.

At my age, I though I would see it out through to retirement.

Obviously, that did not happen, so I am starting again.

The scallop dredger should be finished in June.

A seagoing vessel once again launched onto the River Tees.

Ian Reeve, BBC Look North, Middlesbrough.

You're watching Wednesday's Look North.

We're live at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle as excited fans

And the fairly quiet weather continues. It should be a little bit

milder than today. Join me later. So, we know a general election

is on the way in June, but there are also local elections

to come next month. And all 126 seats on Durham County

Council, the region's biggest, It looks to be Labour's safest

bet, in an area it's There've been some turbulent times

there, recently, but, as our political editor Richard Moss

reports , there's no Durham Cathedral and Labour have

that in common in this county, the party currently holds 94 of 126

county council seats. So, a bit like this place,

an imposing presence But just like the cathedral

as well, Labour has had With significant cuts and big

decisions have come protests, over teaching assistants' pay

and the decision to close But Labour insists it has

adapted to tough times. The DLI Museum may have gone,

but some of its treasures, at least, are on display here at this free

exhibition in the heart of Durham. Despite the huge budget cuts that

have been forced upon us, Labour is delivering services

across Durham and Labour is still looking to the future,

in terms of job creation, in terms of economic regeneration,

and I honestly believe that Labour are the only party with an ambitious

vision to take But despite its dominance,

Labour does have rivals, and some think they could have done

even more with less by saving We proposed things in 2013

that would have saved over ?5 million by now,

and in that way, it would not have had to make savings

like closing the DLI Museum Looking forward to the big issues

like do we really need to be spending ?60 million on a new county

hall which we do not think we do, and why is the council sitting

on ?200 million plus of reserves? They have predicted ?62 million

reduction in reserves, they have actually seen

134 million increase. So what we would have done

differently is we would not have We would certainly have

protected youth services, we would have sought to protect

education, transport and also day The Lib Dems and Conservatives

aren't the only ones More than 80 independents

are standing this time, convinced that people are tired

of party politics. When a whole party, be

it the Conservatives the Liberal Democrats

or the Labour group, that they find, like me,

difficult to swallow, they know that the independent group

vote the way they want But two parties trying

to win their first seats on the council think the key

to avoiding protests is offering People feel excluded

from decisions decision-making, even in simple things that are very

basic, local level. Things that affect

the quality of their lives. People feel that they can't really

participate in this, so we have got a range of ideas

and innovative solutions to try and get people

to have more influence. We have got ideas for actually

working with online systems, for bringing issues online to allow

them to be debated online, There's no shortage of rivals

who want to chip away It's unlikely to crumble,

but it remains to be seen whether any damage will be cosmetic

or leave more long-lasting cracks. Richard Moss, BBC Look

North in County Durham. Right now, thousands

of excited fans are converging on the Metro Radio Arena

in Newcastle to see unquestionably Ed Sheeran, the singer/songwriter

from Suffolk, has gone His two latest singles shot straight

in at number one and two Jim Knight is live

for us at the arena. Yes, do you realise that standing

where I am now, I am just that far from the hottest thing in music in

the world right now. Not my words, that is the words of Rollingstone

Magazine. Ed Sheeran has usurped Justin Bieber to take that title.

When he announced this to, can you believe 5 million people applied for

tickets? I said 5 million. He is busily doing something right. That

is probably why we came here earlier snaked all around the building work

teenage girls here camping out all day to get first chance to get to

the front of the stage. Here is what they had to say. Whose idea was it?

Mine. What was it like at that time? Called. There was no one here. We

went to Primax to get some blankets. You're going to be within touching

distance, and you? Yeah! You can have a good relationship with Ed

Sheeran at the front is. I will purchase hands and I will cry. -- if

I touch his hands. As you can see, the excitement is mounting here was

that I suppose the question is what is it that Ed Sheeran has that has

catapulted him to the top of the music world, what is it about this

acoustic folk with the rapper lyrics that has taken the music world by

storm periods with one of his earlier hits.

SINGS obviously quite a night in start.

We're on a hunt for a ticket. It is sold out tonight, the whole two has

sold out. Could be quite a night in style.

Good luck thank you very much. She made her first Olympic

final in Rio last summer, finishing behind her old rival

Hannah Miley. Last night, Middlesbrough's Aimee

Willmott, who was runner-up to Miley in the Commonwealth Games

and the 2016 British Championships, was hoping to get the better

of the Scot when GB's best swimmers gathered in Sheffield

for this year's event. Willmott, who was third

for much of the race, pushed hard in the 400 metres

individual medley and forced her way into second place, but once again,

Miley was just a bit too strong, finishing nearly

three seconds ahead. Meanwhile, nearly four

months after being named in the New Year Honours List,

Matt Wylie, from Washington, The 20-year-old City of Sunderland

para-swimmer was formally made an MBE by the Duke of Cambridge

for services to swimming. It was partly in recognition of him

becoming Paralympic, European and British Champion

in his favoured event, the 50 metres freestyle,

all in the same season. In basketball, Newcastle Eagles need

one more win from their final three games to secure runners-up spot

in the BBL. But tonight, they're away

at the champions, Leicester Riders, who they'll meet again

at Sport Central on Friday night. The Eagles will wrap

up their regular season This year's Great North 10K

in Gateshead will take It's one of the region's biggest

road races, attracting Today's launch at the International

Stadium involved a group of toddlers, and as Andrew Hartley

reports, all didn't quite An impromptu run for

toddlers to launch one of the region's top road races -

what could go wrong? they say don't work with animal and

children. Juno what that means now? Yes, we are here to do it and have a

great time. It will be a fantastic atmosphere on the day. The toddlers

love it. When the on the track, they will continue to run. It will be a

great day. The toddler dash over 70 metres is part of a series of events

on the grown-up version, the Tang K. He actually broke his leg when he

was younger, so he was in a cast for about six weeks or show. Ironically,

he broke it whilst he was running. Since he had his cast off, he has

not stopped running. He runs everywhere. He was born with a

condition which meant his oesophagus was not connected all the way down,

so he needed surgery immediately, so he spent the first month of his life

in a special care unit which is why we are fundraising for this charity.

Might want to lie down in a darkened room after this. Yes, I will lie

down! Organised chaos. Very grey skies today. Some Cumbrian

bluebells from Paul some Northumbrian tulips in a lovely

light there. Oilseed rape in full bloom there. Lovely shot there.

Tomorrow, there will be fairly cloudy skies again. Will be a mostly

dry day and a few gaps in the cloud, a wee bit higher than they were

today. Figures in the odd spot for rain, but most places will be dried

and fairly cloudy. What the cloud will do is hold the temperatures up,

nothing lower than seven, eight Celsius through the night with light

winds. Tomorrow, a cloudy start, there will be a lot of cloud around

on the whole. Figure enough to produce rain and drizzle over the

fells. Most places will be dry and there will be a few breaks in the

cloud. The odd glimpse of blue sky here and there and temperatures will

be up. You can add a couple of degrees on today's's figures. That

is 59 Fahrenheit. The Windsors stay fairly light. High pressure in

charge of the weather chart. A couple of weather fronts coming,

bringing some patchy rain at times. North-westerly direction of wind so

things could turn cooler as we head into the weekend as well. Friday is

fairly cloudy again, but fairly dry. Similar temperatures. The weekend

sees the numbers take a bit of a dip, and especially overnight, we

could see things cold enough for a touch of frost, say Saturday night.

Sunday, mainly dry, highs around 13 Celsius.

The weather almost as bright as our ties! We will see tomorrow goodbye.