06/02/2012 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening. Traffic chaos as the weather causes morning misery on

Yorkshire roads. Lorries jack-knife and dozens crash as black ice takes

its toll on the A1. I am beside the busy A1 with the

latest on the traffic situation. Also, they survived the might of

the Soviet empire. Inmates of the notorious Russian Gulags are

awarded the Siberian Cross in Bradford.

And the bedbugs bite in Yorkshire as infestations increase by as much

as 40%. This merry scene in Sheffield was common across the

whole of Yorkshire -- this snowy scene. There will be plenty of

frost and ice this week. Join me later.

Good evening. The A1 became the most dangerous road in the country

this morning after black ice caused scores of accidents. A 25-mile

stretch of the road in North Yorkshire was closed as cars

skidded off the road and lorries jack-knifed. The chaos between

Catterick and Allerton Park was caused by rain falling on the

freezing road surface. In a moment, we'll be talking to our transport

correspondent about what tonight and tomorrow holds for traffic on

our roads. First, Ian White joins us from the A1 in North Yorkshire.

I am glad to say that things have got back to normal on the A1 after

a miserable morning. Tonight, the journey home is better. Things went

wrong at about 2am when rain fell on the road that had already been

gritted. Temperatures froze. Almost-nine degrees in some parts.

Instead of being free-flowing, it was more of a car-park.

Off the road and in a ditch, one of more than 50 accidents on the A1 as

lorries jack-knifed and car skidded off the road on black eyes.

Temperatures plummeted to-nine degrees, -- crisis. Miraculously,

nobody was seriously injured. The red had to be closed between

Weatherby and Catterick. It became frustrating as drivers tried to

find alternative routes. We have rain, it hit the cold road surface.

It washed the sort of solution off. It froze. We had a phenomenon

called black ice. Our guys were out there and gritting the roads again.

And there was nothing motorists could do but wait, or have a

cigarette. You are looking at four hours. Just past the Weatherby

services. It has been a nightmare. AE 150 miles to go. For the

emergency services, the biggest problem has been recovering crashed

cars and lorries. A lot of time has been spent checking ditches for

cars and possible casualties. Councils were out in force,

gritting town centres in the early hours. It was too late for some

unlucky drivers. It followed a weekend of disruption caused by the

snow. This was the centre of Sheffield. And this was the

motorway at Leeds on Saturday night. In some places, Yorkshire resembled

a picture postcard. Some people enjoyed it. They are good time was

had by some over the weekend. A much happier drive home this

evening. A1 flowing freely. It has been a headache for the emergency

services. The road reopened at 11:30am. That was after a nightmare

having to deal with the congestion and frustration motorists suffered.

Also, an accident and road works meant another road was reduced to

one lane for part of the morning. Some people had tailbacks of three

hours' travelling east and west on the M62 motorway. What went wrong

with the road network today? Our correspondent is at the Highways

Agency operation centre. It is not every morning you wake up

and 25 miles of the A1 is closed. It meant hours of misery and a poor

start to the working week. Two questions. What went wrong and what

is it looking like for tomorrow? the M62 motorway, we had road works

planned. But there was an incident, which meant it had to be closed for

three hours. It ran into the peak hour this morning. We apologise we

could not open it until it was safe. On the A1, we had freezing rain.

There were jack-knifed lorries. We have to close it until it could be

made safe. Could you have created the A1? Regretted both routes. We

are gritting all of the time. -- we gritted. A bigger overnight

operation to keep things save? Absolutely. We will be back

throughout the night. It will be very cold tonight. Can you keep us

moving tomorrow? We are doing everything we can. We are out there,

gritting. We are asking drivers to help pass and be mindful of the

conditions. Freezing rain, we cannot predict it. We ask drivers

to help by driving to the conditions. The usual advice. If

you are commuting tomorrow, leave a lot of time, drive safely and

hopefully, you will arrive safely. Good advice. We will keep you

across what is happening. Join us at 8:00pm and ten o'clock for the

latest. Thank you for the images you centres on how the weather

affected your part of the region. Please keep them coming. We will

show them later in the programme. You can post them on the Facebook

page. You can send an e-mail. You can also use Twitter. Of course, we

will have the weather forecast at the end of the programme.

They endured unbelievable hardship and terror during World War Two,

but their story barely features in the history books. I'm talking

about nearly two million Poles who were forcibly transported to

Siberia by the Soviets in February 1940. Around half died. The others

ended up scattered round the globe. Some now live in Bradford. Today

they were awarded medals in recognition of their suffering and

bravery. It could be a school reunion. In

fact, the history shared by a these diners is dark and barely known.

They are here to remember and on of these survivors of mass deportation

of Polish people during World War Two by the Soviet Union. Families

were sent on cattle trains to Siberia and forced to build their

own prisons in temperatures of -50 degrees. Their reward was 400 grams

of bread. Thousands died in the conditions. This man was nine years

old when his family was given 20 minutes to board the train and

leave their home. Anybody that guided, they were disposed of by

the Russians. The train carried on. 22 survivors, including this man

were awarded the Siberian Cross today in recognition of their

suffering. Their story was suppressed by the Soviets. Only

with independence could Poland town is history. Christina was three

years old when she was sent to side -- Siberia. Her father was thrown

from the train. She also lost her mother and sister. I get upset. It

reminds me of my family, of my mother, my sister, who died. It is

an honour to get a medal from that from the President of Poland.

guests shared a Polish meal in memory of those who died. It is a

normality restored, but the past is not far from their minds. Later in

the programme. Millions of pounds are secured to

keep Yorkshire on the movie map. The company that funds screen gems

is handed an EU lifeline. Police are investigating claims of

racist abuse against the Archbishop of York following comments he made

about gay marriage. Dr John Sentamu said in the Daily Telegraph that

marriage must remain between a man and a woman. The Archbishop's

office said he had received a small number of abusive and threatening

emails of a racist nature. North Yorkshire Police are treating the

emails as hate crimes. The former Chief Constable of South

Yorkshire Police, Med Hughes, has told the BBC that he will seek the

Labour nomination to be the county's elected Police

Commissioner. Mr Hughes stood down from his job last October. The new

commissioners will be elected in November. Investigations are

continuing after a gas explosion at the weekend. 10 homes were

evacuated after the blast caused damage to a house. Two people were

taken to hospital. The country's most famous chip shop,

Harry Ramsden's in Guiseley, West Yorkshire, is being saved from

closure. The site is being bought and refurbished by the people

behind the Wetherby Whaler chain. Work is expected to cost half a

million pounds and be finished by the summer.

The first place in the world to produce stainless steel cutlery

could be sold off unless campaigners raise a quarter of a

million pounds to buy it themselves. Portland Works in Sheffield was

built in the 1870s and is still a workspace for specialist trades.

But the owner now wants to sell it. It means local businesses will have

to move out, unless they raise enough money to run it themselves.

Stewart has been making knives here for 27 years. It is part of his

family business and part of history. The first stainless steel knife to

be produced in the world came from this workshop. The prospect of it

being sold sparked concern. I have spent my working life here. It is

important. Also for my customers. The history of the building is

important for them, as well. There are 20 businesses based at this

grade 2 listed building. They are engravers, craft workers, and even

artists and musicians use the space. To stop it being sold, campaigners

want people to buy it with them and turn Portland Works into a

community enterprise. If we have people who donate �5, �10. Quite a

lot of people who are not well off, they have put in the minimum �100

shareholding. They say it is worth it to save a bit of Sheffield.

Rather than have it converted into flats or offices. �150,000 of

shares have been sold. The committee says they need another

250,000 to seal The Deal. The owner says he will be making a

substantial loss if he sells to Portland Works committee. He is

prepared to do that if they reach their target. If the money is

raised, the committee will want to carry out repair work before

opening new businesses and education programmes. If they

cannot get the funds, it will be sold to an outside buyer and this

part of history will be lost. The organisation that put Yorkshire on

the cinematic map has sealed a deal to keep itself in business for the

next three years. Screen Yorkshire which has helped Bafta and Oscar

productions to be made here was in danger of being closed because of

It is pretty and realistic, shot largely on housing estates in at

Leeds and Wakefield. It has already won awards and is tipped for

success at a prestigious after awards. This is Tyrannosaur,

released last year to great acclaim and out on DVD today. But it would

not have been made without financial support from this

organisation in Leeds. With public spending cuts it is possible but

Screen Yorkshire could have seen his long list of successful

productions coming to an end. But today's news of European money has

reversed all that. This fund means everything. Pygmy to huge amount to

us as a company. More importantly, it is a huge investment in

production creation in Yorkshire and Humber. But to create more in

Yorkshire a cinema successes there is another part of this European

funding equation. Private investors have to be persuaded to match the

European cash. In a deal that has not been struck anywhere else in

the UK, Screen Yorkshire says it has convinced the European

authorities that it can raise that much money.

Before seven o'clock. We'll be rounding up the weekend's sport.

And at managerless Leeds, the caretaker lets the performance do

the talking as the Whites cruise home to a comfortable win.

There's been a boom in the number of bed bug infestations across

Yorkshire, with experts saying the rise is as high as 40%. Researchers

at the University of Sheffield are trying to control the tiny

creatures, but say their resistance to modern pesticides is growing.

Lucy Hester reports. In a terrorist house in Leeds, Ryan

at Bedingfield is on the hunt for some unwelcome deserters. These

tiny pests hiding from the light up bedbugs. Once almost eliminated

from our homes, numbers are soaring again, and this house is crawling

with them. These bedbugs have been feeding on the students in this

house, sucking their blood and leaving them with nasty Swarland

bite marks. My play was solemn and you concede marks here. They are

extremely tricky to get rid of. They could hide in the most minute

places which makes it extremely hard for us to point where they are

and to destroy them. Cities are the favourite home of the bedbugs. On

luggage, cloaking, public transport, they can hitch a lift into cafes,

hotels, work places and ultimately into your home. Sheffield

University is a leading bed but research centre. They have been

keeping thousands of them here for years. Their work shows that

bedbugs are developing a resistance to pesticides. We keep some strains

that are being culture for 30 or 40 years which resist the -- which

predate the pesticides. We can compare these with one's collected

in London recently and we find that these are thousands of times more

resistant. It is a gloomy outlook. Now, more than ever, the advice for

good night is to sleep tight and hope that the bedbugs do not bite!

I did not enjoy the story! And you can see more on this, on

Inside Out, tonight at 7.30 on BBC One.

How long did it take back from Huddersfield on Saturday? No snow

at all until I hit the motorway. The conditions were very bad indeed.

And Paul Hodson cottagers to bear right with his predictions. I was

following him on twitter and help people out to have broken down.

There's a lot of speculation still going on about who will take over

at Leeds. Some people might have thought this would be resolved

quite quickly. Yes, even myself last week, has boasted when I saw

the statement when they said there were only 18 games left in the

season, I thought they would appoint one someone pretty quickly.

But perhaps Nel Redfearn getting the win has made Ken Bates think

again and think perhaps this guy knows the players. They have all

come out about him over the weekend. He is a smashing chap. And there

are a few other new names come into the odds. Neil Warnock and Lee

Clark were being bandied about. Coming up now we have David James

and also Billy Davies, who was at Derby and Nottingham Forest. Neil

Redfearn with some bookies is the third favourite. But to put it in

perspective, Gianfranco Zola is the 4th favourite! There would be

really interesting. Unigate to every player that Ken Bates has

were without Chelsi?! Yes, there are a lot of Chelsea players there.

That is the obvious place to start with the round-up from this weekend

with the trip by Leeds to Bristol City.

The aim of Neil Redfearn had to be a win for Leeds after being

appointed caretaker boss. It took Leeds until just before half-time

to score, the finish from Robert Snodgrass. Bristol had a man sent

off either side of half-time. Ross McCormack scored his 15th of the

season and Luciano Becchio got the third in injury time. It was their

first win in five thought Leeds. Huddersfield manager Lee Clark has

been linked with Leeds. His side were pegged back by MK Dons.

worked extremely hard at what I do. Whoever employs us knows they will

go 100% from us, they will get total commitment and total focus.

That is what I bring to this club every single day. And late goal was

enough to grate a tense finish. Back in League One, Sheffield

Wednesday fell behind against Yeovil but a brilliant strike from

Johnstone pulled it back. Wednesday are up to second. Chesterfield had

a disappointing end to do week in which they reached a Wembley final.

Despite taking the lead, they lost 2-One, and a bottom of League One.

He probably grazed his knees, it was that cold! That looked quite

painful. All these football fixtures were called off but none

of the rugby league. Bradford Bulls possibly regretting it. Volunteers

cleared the pitch and the stands and they got thoroughly beaten. It

leads us on to the Super League Show, which has a new presenter

tonight. We will give you a little bit of a taste. We will give you

all of the weekend's action. Probably the pick of the wind was

Huddersfield beating Wigan. This is a prop forward, what a turn of

pace! We have a new feature called the eggs chasers, which Castleford

take on the challenge this week. And we have a disgustingly talented

young man by the name of Brian Hall, one of the best winners in the

world, also plays several music in shreds and can do the rebukes tube

in 50 seconds. Wayne Rooney is a fan of rugby league at he supports

the Leeds Rhinos. How did that happen? That is remarkable turnover.

He tweeted about the Super Bowl that he was enjoying a but

preferred rugby Dick. All the Leeds United fans to support the Ramphal

be delighted. We were singing your praises

because she was spot-on. What was hilarious was that Harry was

tweeting from Huddersfield St there was snow and then three years later

he has stuck in a snowdrift on the A 64! We have had lots of pictures

of the weather conditions. You'll see more after the forecast. This

was taken at dusk this evening. I tweet the forecast and the latest

If you want more snow in the next couple of days you're going to be

sadly disappointed. Other than a little bit late on Thursday, should

not amount to much and it will be a predominantly try a week, but a

cold one with Frost, ice and Fokker has it at times. -- and fork.

Currently we have minus six with freezing fog. I think we could

match the minus nine that we got last night. Tomorrow, some sunshine

at first and the fog should lift as cloud pushes in from there North

Sea. High pressure over the Scandinavia or keep the feet of

cold air. It is a messy picture at the moment. We have fog reforming

in the Vale of York. That weather front has brought one a to whether

showers down from the north. That is adding to moisture on already

wet roads. So ice is the main issue this evening and overnight. Then we

will see the freezing fog. Generally, temperatures down to

minus three or minus four. One small, rural parts of the Vale of

York could be down to minus nine. But we had minus 19th last winter,

so we are not down to those levels just yet. A bit of a mixed picture

first in the morning. Bright and frosty in western areas. Freezing

fog in the Vale of Pickering. Then we get the cloud cover pushing him

from the North Sea. They could be one or two wintery showers but it

looks essential like a band of cloud. It means the sunshine will

go away from the Pennines and it turns grey and Chile. These cloud

sheet should act to help lift the freezing fog pouches. -- patches.

Top temperatures are still struggling. The average for

February is around seven degrees. High temperatures of four Celsius

across the Pennines were the sunshine is out first thing in the

morning. Tuesday night, we are back in the cold continental air so

there will be a sharp frost. Bright with some sunshine in western areas.

We will have a week weather front pushing down from the north on

Thursday. It is not expected to cause too many problems. Gradually

the hint is that temperatures Cradley recover into the weekend.

Basically it is predominantly dry The snow may have caused some

disruption but we should not forget that lots of you love it how could