15/02/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Good evening. for the news where you are.

They've travelled 5,000 miles to the United States for the surgery

Five-year-old Finley Ingles from Middlesbrough has

a rare brain tumour, which can't be operated

Stuart Whincup sent this report from Texas.

After years of planning and tireless fundraising,

This trip, they say, is Finley's last hope.

Finley's brain tumour can't be removed in the UK

because it is too deep, so surgeons here at Texas Children's

Hospital will now use lasers to try and shrink it.

It's everything, absolutely everything.

I cannot put into words just how much Finley needs this surgery.

It will change his life, and it's what we hoped for for months.

But it's still quite nerve-racking to know that you're

going to hand your child over for a procedure.

Finley's online fundraising campaign started slowly,

but support quickly grew as across Teesside people

Since leaving the UK a fortnight ago Finley has had daily tests,

Entire days have been spent in waiting rooms.

But he does have a way of passing the time.

# Yeah, Bob the builder

More than 1500 people donated to Finley's fundraising cause,

so he could travel from Teesside to Texas for this surgery.

And as well as the big cheques from local businesses,

there were his classmates and school friends who donated

All so Finley could have the surgery that his family believes

If you come across him, he's an amazing little boy,

He just trundles on through it all, you know?

Seizure after seizure, appointment after appointment -

And we can't ask anything more of him, really.

The Prime Minister has insisted she remains fully committed to plans

for a new nuclear power station next to Sellafield, amid growing

Theresa May was in the Cumbrian constituency of Copeland ahead

But she refused to be drawn on whether the Government will match

Labour's pledge to underwrite the proposed plant at Moorside.

Yesterday, the scheme's main investor, Toshiba,

said it would look to sell its stake before construction began.

It is the Conservative government that is putting

It is the Conservative government that has agreed new nuclear build.

We recognise the importance of nuclear.

Jeremy Corbyn was asked five times in one interview to back Moorside

It is the Conservative government who recognises the importance

of Moorside and the nuclear industry in the UK.

Labour has accused the Prime Minister of ducking vital questions

about new nuclear jobs in West Cumbria and the future

A full list of candidates in the Copeland by-election

A wealthy businessman has told a court that claims he abused boys

75-year-old Colin Gregg, from Gosforth in Newcastle,

is accused of indecently assaulting four boys over a period

Giving evidence at Leeds Crown Court he denied all the allegations.

When asked by his barrister if he had ever sexually abused

The court has heard Colin Gregg, a former head teacher,

had helped build the Gregg's bakery chain and raise millions

He denies nine counts of indecent assault on boys aged 10 to 14,

Teachers in Cumbria say plans to scrap the county's school nurses

The council says its six school nurses are unaffordable.

It's replacing them with a service based in Carlisle, and schools

will have to pay for it from their existing budgets.

Here's our News Correspondent, Mark Denten.

The school nurse, often cheaply dubbed the nit nurse,

but only ever behind her back, used to be a key part

Cumbria still has 11 of them for its 69,000

The council says the ?927,000 service is unaffordable.

It is being replaced by six school-age health

Schools will have to pay for them out of existing budgets.

What we are being asked to do is buy back the school nurse service,

but the implication of that is, a service that was previously paid

for through funding to health, will be shifting to being paid

Is there a money for heads to say, we can pay for that?

There has been a 13% fall in November of school nurses

since 2010, leaving 2,606 NHS nurses across the country,

You know, children are mini versions of us.

They have mental health problems, stress, emotional concerns,

they are victims of bullying, and all of those things that

they need support from a health practitioner to deal with.

But the County Council says scrapping its school nurses

will actually result in a better service for the county's children.

We are trying to integrate the whole service and make sure

that more people are, I say, responsible for the health

of our young people, rather than its just being,

"Oh, well, we will wait until the school nurse comes

I don't like to really imagine children going out

without the health care support that they need, or children

having their education impaired by loss of services,

but it is quite clear that with fewer teachers,

fewer school nurses, we are sailing into

Cumbria's school nurses will be replaced from April.

Unemployment in the North East has jumped by 11,000,

In Cumbria 4,650 people claimed job seekers'

allowance in January, a rise of about 200

And in North Yorkshire the total stands at 4,540,

The Teesside pawnbroker Ramsdens made its stock market debut today.

The Middlesbrough-based business is probably best known

for sponsoring the shirts of the town's football club.

The company is now worth more than ?25 million.

Here's our Business Correspondent, Ian Reeve.

Mandy has worked for this Teesside pawnbroking business, Ramsdens,

It's changed immensely, gone upmarket and does far

When I started, over 20 years ago, we had two branches.

We offered three products, pawnbroking was the key factor.

Then we used to do cheque-cashing and a few sales and now you can

see that we do over ten products and services.

Three quarters of Ramsden's business is now in foreign exchange.

It changed over ?300 million last year.

And figures like that, and future growth, have brought it

a stock market flotation today, trading its shares at 86p each.

But is there still something of a stigma over the industry.

People who don't understand it, yes, there is.

People who use it, no, because it's absolutely transparent.

It's a loan against an asset, so the person has got

They're raising the cash against that asset, then they repay

the loan and get that asset back, and that happens 80% of the time.

Of course on Teesside, the Middlesbrough-based business

It's the football club's shirt sponsor, something that's

sent its logo around the world, brought it welcome exposure.

And now Ramsden's is also Middlesbrough's only

A goal achieved after 30 years in business.

I enjoyed a sunny walk this morning and it did feel like Spring.

It will stay mild over the next few days but that is only part of the

story. There is rain around as well. Outbreaks of rain at the minute and

then they will tend to die away as they move to the east through the

night and in most places dry through the later part of the night. The

south-westerly breeze will prevent temperatures from dropping any lower

than five or six. Tomorrow it is a day of broken cloud, some sunny

intervals. A few showers as we had through the morning. Eastern parts

will hang on to the best of the brightness in the afternoon before

more rain comes into Cumbria by the end of the day. Temperatures on

paper will be similar to today. The West or south-westerly wind will be

quite brisk and make it feel a bit cooler perhaps. As we head towards

the end of the weaker ridge of high pressure builds for Friday and keeps

things fairly quiet and then a low pressure system pushes the weather

front towards us as we head into the weekend. It will be quite breezy at

times through the weekend. Friday looks like a mostly dry day, broken

cloud and sunny intervals. Temperatures up to ten with very

light winds, so feeling a bit warmer. Saturday and Sunday are

breezy at times and the clouds thicken after rain, especially in

the west on Saturday. Most places dry on Sunday. That is the way it's

looking and I leave you with the the weekend. Wouldn't promise you

two dry days but you never know, here is Nick with the national

picture. Hello. We put that cold weekend well

behind us now. Temperatures edging upwards and our weather watchers are

seeing plenty of signs of spring. Spending more time looking down than

looking up at the skies, we see these early blooms. They are set to

continue as we are set to stay mild for several more days to come.

Average daytime temperature this time of year around eight, but

getting into double figures all the way through the weekend. The start

of next week into the mid-teens potentially, very mild indeed. It

was 14 in Lincolnshire today. A lot of heavy rain to end the day. That

clearing from Yorkshire to the North Sea. A few showers in the west and

the odd one may continue into the night. Many becoming dry, just this

rain