28/07/2011 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening and welcome to Thursday's Look North. On the

programme tonight: From waste land to work place, thousands of new

jobs promised as the Government announces enterprise zones for

Yorkshire. Also tonight, making a stand - why a Leeds pensioner

refuses to obey council orders to remove flowers and ornaments from

outside her home. And the 13-year- old paraplegic swimmer who dreams

Cooler tomorrow, all the details First tonight, thousands of rail

passengers in Yorkshire face rush- our delays, after a power cut in

Leeds. At one point this evening no, trains were able to move in or out

of the city's main straigs. Emma Glasbey is in the newsroom. The

signalling problems may be over, but severe disruption continues

this evening for people who are trying to get home. At one point

there were no trains moving through Leeds station for more than an hour

at the height of rush hour, causing real problems for thousands of

commuters. Now although services are now back up and running, there

is, of course, a back log that needs to be cleared. Still a very

frustrating time tonight for the people who have been crowding into

Leeds City station. Network Rail say they apologise to the many

passengers who have been delayed. We've mentioned a power cut, but

what happened exactly? It was this power cut at around 4. A15pm, we're

told in the area around Leeds City station. We don't know exactly what

caused that cut. That is now being investigated. But tonight, East

Coast told us it's not likely to have been a result of cable theft.

The power outage was outside the station area. The power was out for

a couple of minutes that. Caused signalling fault at Leeds station.

Engineers managed to fix that problem before 5.30pm. By that time,

the crowds of commuters had already built up. Can you broadcast any of

the things that people are saying about it? It is a very frustrating

time tonight for all those commuters crowding into Leeds City

station. This is what some of them told us. Trains are coming into

Leeds, none of them's going out of Leeds, so basically, we're just

stuck here and trying to find a way to get home. I haven't heard

anything. I might just go home and try again. You can just wait. It's

frustrating. But the only thing can you do is wait. For the latest

information about the situation on the railways your BBC local radio

station will have regular updates. Now thousands of new jobs and

hundreds of new businesses could be create add cross Yorkshire under a

scheme announced by the Government today. Ministers have unveiled

details of two new enterprise zones. Jobs are promised in the Sheffield

zone. That's about key sites along the M1 motorway. They say it could

create nearly 13,000 jobs in the next four years. And in Leeds,

there could be 4,000 jobs. They could have discounted business

rates, superfast Broadband and relaxed planning rules. First Emma

Blackburn reports on the south Yorkshire plan.

Designing for the future, it's pioneering technology like this

that's the focus for Sheffield's new enterprise zone. Already based

and working at Rotherham's advanced manufacturing park, the idea is to

build on this and create hundreds of advanced technology businesses

along the M1 corridor of south Yorkshire. Chosen to promote maid

in Sheffield brand, today the Communities Secretary paid a visit

to a proposed site to confirm his belief in south Yorkshire.

thing about the enterprise zones, are just something to get things

moving. They'll have an effect wider than the seeds sewn

themselves. In talking to the leader of Council and the chief

executive, and I'm convinced that we've made the right decision to

come to Sheffield. Over 400,000 square metres of land is expected

to be used across the sites, including this one, to hold 250

businesses by 2015. And it's expected that will generate over

12,000 jobs. But the idea of creating this site isn't new. 15

years ago, we were reporting about the former mining area of the

Dearne Valley being transformed into an enterprise zone. Today, the

site has businesses there, but how successful has it been? It's a car-

based area. Many of the jobs are taken by people outside, call

centre jobs, which are important, but not a sense of a new economy.

Gordon is a professor of urban regional studies and has researched

tools used for strengthening the economy. The enterprise zone is not

an answer to the wider economic problems of the cub tri. There's a

lot of uncertainty in business areas, if this is sufficient

investment, is there wider operating environment supported

more generally? Those are more important issues. Work has started

on the site in Rotherham. Because of the relaxed planning regulations

it's expected that it won't be too long before other businesses start

to move in. The Lower Aire Valley, once a part

of industrial Leeds, soon to be put back to work. It's a perfect

location, a brand new road divides it and leads straight to the M1.

Plans are already well advanced for its development and enterprise zone

status will give it advantages with business rates and planning. One of

the reasons for choosing this site rather than any other is that it's

ready to go. Developers have told me they can make a start within

months, creating hundreds of new jobs. Within four years, that could

be thousands of new jobs. Instant growth, all in time for the next

election. It's good to see the economy is

growing. But it's not growing as fast as we would like it to. This

initiative helps get that acceleration in growth. I wouldn't

be too cautious. I think our manufacturing base, especially in

Yorkshire and elsewhere, has been doing really well in the last 12

months. They need our support and encouragement. They're going to get

it. Site is in Leeds, but its supporters are keen to stress the

benefits will eventually be felt throughout Yorkshire. The rates

that are generated from here will not go to Leeds city. So to a

degree there is a loss there for Leeds City. It goes into the pool

for the benefit of the whole region. But there is still some unease.

Bradford missed out. The zone would spread from behind the back of the

university all the way across to the top end of town. The need is

obvious. The benefit, they say, would be long-term. But now they'll

have to wait years to benefit from spin-off investment generated in

Leeds. That is a clear concern, which is

why we're trying to look at other avenues for attracting in both

private sector investment and public sector investment. Clearly

the enterprise zone would have been great benefit to the City centre

and the people of Bradford. As a council we're getting on with the

job. They'll just have to wait and see if the enterprise zone down the

road delivers. The mother of a soldier, killed in

Afghanistan s, calling for greater support for bereaved families.

Private James Backhouse died two years ago this month. His mum

Sharon says she doesn't feel that the Ministry of Defence has given

his family the help that they've really needed. She's planning to

set up a group to support other families who find themselves in the

same terrible situation. Two years ago, rifleman James

Backhouse was flown home from Afghanistan in a coughin. He was 18,

for his family memories of the day they learned of his death remain

vivid. I just thought no, he's still in Afghanistan. They've got

the wrong person. They've got the wrong one. It's not him. And I

couldn't get it in my head. I kept saying, "I need to see him. Please

let me see him." They said, we can't, until we've seen him Sharon,

we have to know. And I think if they hadn't let me seen him, I

still think to this day that he probably weren't dead. James, known

to his friends as Jimmy, was buried in his home town of Castleford. His

mother said initial support from the MoD was good, but she now feels

let down. We've got after care now, which is a joke, because she's from

Wales and if you've got a problem, you have to ring Wales and get in

touch with them and say whatever your problem is and get them to

assist you on the phone. In a statement, the MoD says, "When a

soldier dies, the family is appointed a military visiting

officer for practical support. Then they're put in kuch with the Army

welfare service who provide bereavement support and are visited

by a local welfare manager. Then they're given the details of

charities and support groups, but it's up to them to make contact.

"Direct support from the MoD is usually only available to next of

kin. Sharon says James's three brothers have no support. She now

plans to set up a group for all family members. James would have

been 21 this year. For Sharon, memories of the man he was will

always remain. Absolutely beautiful kid and amazing. Watching that

report is a bereavement counsellor. Looking at Sharon it's really

upsetting two. Years on, she clearly needs help. Yes. There

isn't a cut-off time, how long it takes for people to greefr.

Everybody's different. And it can take up to five, six, seven, you

know it will never go away, it gets a bit easier to live with. I think

that Sharon saying that she's trying to set up this group, we've

known her for the two years since her lovely son James died, I

suppose talking to other people in the same situation is so important,

isn't it? Yes, it does help to compare what each other are going

through and to see people a little bit further down the line, that

you're not on your own and how they're coping with it. But also,

it's important to have somebody for yourself, like a counsellor or

supporter to talk to. In that report it was suggested there was

help available, if she would answer the phone and so on. That in itself

is difficult when you've been through and are still going through

what she is. Yes, it's often difficult to ask for help at a time

when you are very low. It's difficult to pick up the phone and

a lot of the local organisations you have to pick up the phone and

refer yourself, your neighbour or friend can't refer you. Wales seems

a long way away. They were the numbers she was given. Sharon has

done wonderful things, amazing fundraising and brought people

together. I suppose what she's going through is entirely natural.

It is, yes. Whether it's a traumatic or an expected death, the

things and the feelings that people go through and experience are very

similar - shock and anger and disbelief, but because it's a

traumatic and sudden death, then the feelings are intensified.

played out in the national media. Then they get a lot of attention

from the media and they're not allowed the privacy to be

themselves and to feel the grief. Thank you very much. We hope your

words help Sharon as well. Sharon, if you're watchling, -- watching,

our thoughts go out to you. We can't thank you for all the work

you've done. Solving a puzzle - could these

bones actually be the remains of a Roman gladiator? We think we have

the proof. A Leeds pensioner is making a

stands, after the council told her and her neighbours to remove all

pictures, plants and carpets from the communal areas of their

sheltered housing complex. Leeds Council designated the hallways at

their home as sterile areas, that's their words, raising concerns about

fire safety. Sylvia is making a stand. Once all the halls of

Midland house looked like hers. Sheltered housing, but home. But

look at what most have turned into. A letter from the council

designated the halls sterile areas and any personal belongings had to

go. Coming in at the door, you're at home. All the way through the

building you're at home. You don't just come in and then you're home

when you go through the door. But they're calling it a sterile public

area, as if it's not part of your home. It's sort of taking it away

from us. It's not just the space is outside their front doors. The

notice also said carpets, wall hangings and curtains in communal

areas must go. Card making club suddenly would seem a somewhat less

cosy affair. We like it tos bright and cheerful. We like flowers. We

like pictures. And the way the letter read, it said that all

artificial flowers would have to go. We decide today would look like a

work house if we did that. That upset everybody. If you're an older

person and you've had to go into sheltered accommodation, you still

want to make sure that your home is personalised that you can offer a

welcome to guests that are knocking on your front door. To call them

sterile areas and ask people to remove any aspect of personality

from their doorstep, I feel, is a bit of a hammer to crack a nut. Yes,

there needs to be health and safety, but let's be sensible about it.

a statement the council said "We appreciate these requests may seem

over the top, but it would be unforgivable if a serious accident

occurred because we'd not followed professional advice. But we

appreciate that these residents are proud of their homes and we'll see

what can be allowed to make communal areas more homely." Sylvia

and her friends say they've always been very happy with the council

and Midlands house, but without their personal touches, it just

wouldn't feel like home. Lots of passion there. Actually, if

anyone wants to knit Joe another scarf, he did come from the south,

he feels the cold obviously. Six Roman Skeltons found buried in a

York garden, are put on display for the first time. Apparently it's

incredible. The exhibition in Coppergate opens on Saturday and

will allow people to see the remains which are described as a

really unique find. Theories are raging as to how the Romans died.

Strong evidence points to their being gladiators.

Nearly 2,000 years after his death, the bones of this man are the cause

of much fascinating discussion. He's one of 80 Skeltons found

buried in a York garden seven years ago. All but one were men and half

had been decapitated. Now six are going on display for the first time

in York. Visitors can decide for themselves how these men might have

met their grisly deaths. Theory number one is that these men were

glatiators and this is the single bone that gives rise to that

interpretation, it's a pel vision, which is in pieces, but it has bite

marks on it, possibly from a large carnivore, maybe a lion, a tiger or

even a bear. You can see them really clearly. This man would have

been trained in the art of animal combat and he was called a

bestiarious. He would have fought in an arena armed with just a spear

or knife with basic leather armour. And despite appearances, fighting

animals was less risky than fighting a fellow gladiator, that

was brutal. There's a huge amount of trauma that's evidenced on the

Skeltons in terms of sword cuts, decap taigs, lots of brutality

involved around the time of death. Theory number two is that the bones

belonged to soldiers killed in battle, but decapitated after death,

because Romans believed that would stop them haunting the living. The

third theory is that they were executed criminals or victims of a

political massacre. We want to get people involved in the discussion

really, who these people were, so we want them to enjoy it. We want

them to learn something and want them to think about it as well I

think. That's for everybody, from children right through to adults.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the gladiator theory is most people's

favourite and even better, it raises the possibility of an arena

yet to be discovered, under the streets of modern Europe.

expecting about two weeks after we finish the report on this, that

we'll find the arena and we'll have to write something completely new

about it. In your dreams. Oh, yes! In rugby league the Bradford Bulls

have snapped up Jarrod Sammut. The 24-year-old Australian moves from

the troubled Welsh side to Odsal next season. The Bulls say the move

was sorted out before crusaders withdrew from Super League.

We love this story. We like people who are really inspirational. We're

about to meet another. A teenager from otly has take ton a new sport

like a duck to water. She's absolutely brilliant. It's not been

easy for Danielle Bailey. She's had all four limbs amputated when she

was young. But she's skill excelling at swimming. People are

talking big things, Paralympics, not London 2012, that might be too

soon. We're pretty sure four years later she could do it. ( nine years

ago, Danielle Bailey from otly was left fighting for her life. She'd

been diagnosed with meningitis. She had to have all four limbs

amputated. Doctors were not even sure she'd live. But now just a

year after learning to swim, she's well on her way to sporting glory.

The whole thing about it is about teaching the same as you teach

anyone else. I've taught Danielle exactly the same as I'd teach any

other person who comes through the scheme, exact lit same and we just

adapt the sessions and adapt the skills and drill that's we do to

suit the athlete. She's won one national title already. Yesterday

evening she was in action at the youth championships. Today, it was

time to reflect on the race. Good. Good time, or do you think you

could do better? I could have done a bit better. You know that, which

is good. Does that make you think next time I'm going to do better?

Yeah on Saturday I'm doing my backstroke, so I'll do that well.

Danielle says Paralympic and world shun Ellie sn simmons is an

inspiration. She don't care how people think of her and she just

gets on and does it. You think that's how you'd like to be? Yeah.

Does it surprise you how quickly she's become? She has surprised us

all how good she's become, you know it hasn't been that long at all

really. You know her trainers are fantastic. And Danielle's attitude

is good as well. So together it's a winning combination really.

Danielle, she's been really nice about you, is she like this all the

time? Yeah. Honest? No. That is a champion snt making. -- in the

making. It's not often that the venue gets more publicity than the

person performing in it. Then not all venues are as impressive. Is it

pronounced Spiegletent? I presume so, yes. Thank you for that support.

It's in Harrogate, an old fashioned glamour making the headlines. The

event kicks off with a folk extravaganza complete with Morris

and clog dancers. Sthai tent?

Yes, Spiegletent, it literally means mirror tent in Dutch. This

one dates to 1900s in Belgium, where they used them as dance halls.

The mirrors were used to shoot secretive glances to other dancers.

Tonight it's a music venue and these are the demon bashers.

MUSIC Fantastic stuff. It's all part of

the Harrogate international festival. I'm joined by the chief

scek. What prompted to you bring this tent? It's an exciting venue.

We've seen it around a few festivals. With the help of the

Arts Council it's a great finale to the end of our festival. It's

massive. It must have been fun to bring it in. We have h a few

problems bringing it through customs. But we've got a full

weekend of activity. An exciting time for the festival. We just

heard from them, I'm joined now by the Demon Barbers. Damain, have you

ever played anything like this? Never. We do a lot of folk

festivals, they tend to be the standard white marquee. This is

absolutely gorgeous. We have morris dance ing as well. You're trying to

get Chris Moyles to take part. are. We do traditional dancing,

clog, sword and pour ris dancing. We came across Chris Moyles morris

dancing video online. It would be great to get him here to do

workshops. You're going to play us out. Lots more to see over the next

few days? It's a family fun weekend. You can turn up 8 o'clock. They'll

play us out, the tickets are on the Very good. Even you were jigging up

and down a bit? Yeah, a bit. and join in and look enthusiastic.

I am, it's fantastic. I'm more excited about 25 degrees at church

Fenton. That's why I was distracted. Let's have a lock at this view from

Tomorrow though, we'll have a six degree Celsius drop in temperatures.

The cloud returns from the North East. A grey start, damp perhaps.

Brighter later. We're on course for a pleasant weekend. Variable cloud

but sunshine and pleasantly warm as this ridge of high pressure pushes

this ridge of high pressure pushes in over the weekend. Right now we

have cloud increasing from the north. It's brought one or two

showers to northern areas. That sunshine is hanging on, especially

in more eastern areas wr, temperatures reach 24, 25 degrees.

It's a lovely rare event, a warm, bright evening, but clouds will

continue to increase. A risk of showers in the west. Some in from

the North East too. The night turns cloudy, a bit damp in places with

drizzle. Lowest temperatures down to 11 Celsius in Skipton, that's 52

Fahrenheit. The sun rises in the A very different start of course

this morning, clear blue skies. Tomorrow leaden skies. Drizzle,

patchy rain in places, not amounting to a great deal. It

clears out of the way. Improving through the morning. The afternoon

we will see some sunny spells breaking through. The breeze,

north-easterly, it's a chilly one alock the coast. 15 in Scarborough.

18 through the vale of York. The best temperatures in Leeds and

Sheffield. We have that ridge of high pressure coming in for the

weekend. On Saturday all parts will be dry. Variable cloud at times,

especially along the coast. The sun breaks through. We should have

temperatures of 21 or 22 degrees Celsius. This is a rare event, a

warm southerly breeze on Sunday. Northerlys all month, southerly on

Sunday. Temperatures up to 24 degrees.

Good news for a change. It is. Good news for a change. It is.

Enjoy it while it lasts. Now an update on the top story. At

one point no trains were getting in or out of Leeds station. Power was

fully restored at 5.30pm. Massive back log up and down the lines. The

latest news is that the passengers that we saw there, about an hour