02/03/2017 Look North (North East and Cumbria)

Newcastle Council's denied claims it's running a campaign

against drivers after a single bus lane in the city brought in more

Over 60,000 drivers were caught by the camera

on John Dobson Street - raising ?5000 a day for the council.

But the council says it's not using motorists as a cash cow.

Here's our news correspondent Mark Denten.

As he drives around Newcastle, something annoys him.

Still no sign of any warning signs at all at the moment.

We're about to turn onto John Dobson street.

David was snapped by a bus lane camera on John

He has since won his money back on appeal but thousands of

other drivers have shelled out because this is

It is a record breaker, taking more fines in

It is just 70 yards long, but 62,975 fines were handed out

to drivers illegally using this bus lane between February

and October last year, making a total of over ?1.5 million,

It's part of a wider campaign throughout the city that seems to be

about making the city as unattractive as possible

The fact of the matter is, lots of people need to use their cars.

The rest of the road on John Dobson Street is open

to the general public but a tiny little bit at the bottom there,

which isn't an accident hotspot or congestion hot spot,

yet apparently they have decided to make this unavailable

The number of the people who were being caught in

The council should have immediately realised that there was

The did not react to the fact that many people,

being used to John Dobson Street, were being taken by surprise by this

bus lane and still find it very difficult to understand why

the council would think this is a sensible way of organising

the traffic in the centre of the city.

Of course, you can change your route to avoid the camera but

Somewhere on here I need to manage to carry out a three-point turn.

Bearing in mind, fortunately there was an empty space here,

I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do it in three points.

If I was in a wagon or a large van, I wouldn't be able to do

Well, a little earlier tonight Mark spoke to the council's

Director of Development, Tom Warburton.

It's not about fining people, it is about improving

65% of people who come into the city centre come in by bus.

Most of those come up John Dobson Street.

You have been accused of running a campaign to make

this city as unattractive as possible to motorists.

We want drivers to come into Newcastle. Why should they if you

find them? They do not get fined if we obey

the rules of the road. Tell me one thing you're

going to use that for? We have not made our mind up

yet but we will spend It might be an improving public

realm areas for the whole It would be a delight for me

if nobody drove through that. Even when in it is bringing

you in over a ?1 million? Is this a badge of pride

to make so much money? Do you go to parties and say,

look at us, we have got We had a spike when we first

introduced the gate, When the BBC asked for the freedom

of information request, For all I know another camera

in another city which is now higher. A coach travelling on the A1 caught

fire today, causing long It happened around 9:30am

near Junction 63, south There were no passengers on board

and the driver got off the vehicle County Durham and Darlington Fire

and Rescue Service say no-one The incident caused

lengthy delays on the A1. A murder investigation's under way

tonight after the body of a man was found in a wheelie bin

in a Tyneside back alley. The body was discovered

in Northbourne Street, and has now been identified

as 23-year-old Craig Police say Mr Eade's family have

been informed and specialist One man's been arrested

in connection with the killing, but Police are still appealing

for any witnesses to come forward. Durham Police have been judged

the top performing police force in the country,

for the third year running. 43 forces in England

and Wales were assessed by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of

Constabulary. Durham Police was deemed

outstanding at preventing crime All the region's other forces

were given an overall good rating. A man from North Yorkshire has

become only the fourth person in the world to survive a pioneering

multiple organ transplant. Adam Alderson, from

Preston-under-Scar near Leyburn, underwent a 17-hour operation

to replace several organs, at the same time as having

a huge tumour removed. He's now recovered and is planning

a wedding and a fundraising trip At his worst, Adam was told nothing

more could be done and he was sent But he was determined not

to die at the age of 36. He'd heard about pioneering surgery

carried out on the England rugby league plater Steve Prescott Steve

sadly died just three weeks later The same operation was

the last chance for Adam. I didn't really know how long

I would have left to live. It was a difficult question to ask

but it was as little Refusing to give up,

stubborn Yorkshireman I am, I turned to the Internet

and I followed a guy, Steve Prescott, former

England rugby player, rugby league, who had the same

disease as me and one of four people in the world to have gone

through this and done very well. The 17-hour operation meant 30

people working shifts and the removal of Adam's stomach,

large and small bowel, gall bladder, pancreas, appendix,

abdominal wall and spleen. He is forever grateful to the donor

who gave him another chance at life. The reality of this is sadly

somebody has died for me to survive. That is easy to forget and we must

thank people that do this selfless I'm now back to work full time,

eating and drinking as normal, having a really good social life

and living life and enjoying life. That's all thanks to

the medical team that believed Obviously, my partner, my fiancee,

Laura, we're getting married in May this year,

I could not have done She's been with me at

every step of the way. Now Adam's taking on a gruelling

transcontinental rally to raise money for the Steve Prescott

Foundation and It's a 15,000-mile trek

through Europe and into Asia in this 15-year-old Suzuki that's seen

better days but we are There is massive risks

involved with this. If I get into any medical

trouble in the middle of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia,

we could be in trouble. And after all his challenges so far,

Adam will be embarking on his next 11 towns and cities,

including Sunderland, have now put their names forward

to become UK City Joining Sunderland on the list

are places including Perth, Hereford, Warrington,

Portsmouth, Swansea A short list will be announced

in July, and the winning The Heritage Lottery Fund

has pledged to give There were big celebrations

at Buckingham Palace today as Newcastle Eagles' player-coach

Fab Flournoy was presented to Prince William to be made an MBE

for his services to basketball. The 43-year-old American is the most

successful coach in the history of the domestic game,

with the club having picked up 24 national titles in the 13 years

he's been in charge. Great to see, he certainly looked

chuffed. Time for a look at the weather now,

and with all the details, After a fairly decent they were in

for a cloudy day tomorrow with some outbreaks of rain as we head into

Friday afternoon. This is how things look tonight, if you outbreaks of

rain across parts of Cumbria and Northumberland, we could see a touch

of snow on high-grade but generally a dry night. Temperatures will drop

down to three Celsius, we could see frost in spots and the wind will die

down. Friday morning, we still have that rain across northern part that

generally a dry start, thoroughly cloudy with a few breaks so expect

some sunny spells but on Friday afternoon this rain pushes in from

the south, temperatures could get up to 10 Celsius. That rain spreads to

all parts on Friday night and by Saturday morning, still with us for

a time but lots of clothes on Saturday, the rain will come and go

through the morning and by Saturday afternoon that rain a little heavier

and more persistent, temperatures up to seven or eight degrees. Looking

further ahead into the weekend, Sunday looks like the better day, or

cloud and that will be drier, temperatures are around seven or 8

degrees and we keep the generally unsettled