31/03/2014 Look North (Yorkshire)

That's all from the BBC News at Six - on BBC One we now

That's all from the BBC News at Six Good evening and welcome to Monday's

Look North. On the programme tonight: Could

there be an end to scenes like this? Rail passengers in Yorkshire are

promised more trains, more seats and bigger, better railway stations.

We look at how long it will take for improvements to be made.

Also tonight: Another day and another twist in the tale of Italian

businessman Massimo Cellino and Leeds United.

And how does it feel to be stranded and drifting in the Atlantic Ocean?

We hear from the Wetherby rower rescued by a cargo ship.

Castle Howard was looking beautiful on Saturday afternoon. Will this

beautiful weather last? Join me for all the details.

More trains, more seats and bigger, better railway stations. That's the

promise today from Nework Rail which says its going to spend around ?5

billion improving train travel across the region. Some of the

improvements could take up to five years to deliver but others are

imminent. Here's Spencer Stokes with the details.

What Network Rail have done today is look at how much money they've got

and announced all the projects they want to spend that money on over the

next five years. We now know for certain that main Trans`Pennine

route through Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Leeds and York will be

electrified. Tracks are also being upgraded to allow 700 more trains

every day in the north of England. There'll be faster trains on the

mainlines to London from Leeds and Sheffield and four new stations are

going to be built in West Yorkshire. They'll be at Kirkstall Forge,

Apperley Bridge, Low Moor and Elland. Now all of that should be

complete by 2019, but other improvements will go ahead in a few

weeks as I've been finding out this morning.

The Trans`Pennine route through Yorkshire to the North West is

officially one of the most overcrowded in the country. In peak

hours 22% of passengers had to stand. Regular users do not need to

see the statistics. Jonathan experiences sardine tin conditions

on this three carriage train every morning. I would like them just to

have six carriages running all the time on this route and to staff them

so we can use them and relieve the pressure of it because it is quite

unbearable sometimes. Trans`Pennine has seen phenomenal growth in the

last ten years. Passenger numbers have gone up by 85% so to cope with

the growth there is a new timetable this May. Chris is overseeing the

changes. There will be five trains an hour between Leeds and Manchester

and 21 extra carriages being moved from Scotland to Yorkshire. From one

week to the next passengers in Yorkshire will feel the difference.

The extra carriages will go into service and be used from May 18. We

hope passengers do not find it a surprise. Some trains are not

changing and other changes are getting bigger and we need to

encourage people to use the capacity on the trains where the extra

carriages are going in. The other projects announced today by Network

Rail will take longer to deliver but in time they should allow more

people to travel in comfort. I think it is extremely ambitious. If you

take Leeds for an example, currently we get 25 million passengers through

Leeds and in five years time we expect that number to increase by

five million to 30 million. In the next five years we expect to run 700

more trains on every weekday, moving 44 million passengers in the North

and in Yorkshire on a daily basis. That is very ambitious. A day of

good news on the railways but there is a sting in the tail because next

year 18 of Trans`Pennine's new carriages will be moved south. Get a

seat while you can because it might not be there in 2015.

How significant is this announcement today?

That announcement about Trans`Pennine is particularly

significant. From May there will be 55,000 extra seats on the main line

so it is very significant. The shadow is hanging over the franchise

in that some of those trains could disappear down south in just one

year. Really that reflect the situation in the whole of the rail

network. Network Rail is investing money in tracks and stations but the

private rail companies who run the trains have quite sure contracts so

they are not willing to go out and buy the new trains that are needed

to operate on those tracks. There is the potential that in 2019

will have a lot of new infrastructure but no new trains to

run on the refurbished network. ?4.2 billion is being spent in our region

over five years, where's all that money coming from? It is a large

amount of money, big investment programme, the biggest since the

1950s. 40% is directly granted from the government and 55% will come

from passengers on the rest is from other pots of money. The results

today are `` the announcements today are interesting because we have

heard these before. Network Rail are saying that these are the definite

projects they will carry out in the next five years and in the next few

months we should start to see shovels it in the ground.

Many thanks for explaining that. Next tonight, new inquests have

begun today into the deaths of 96 Liverpool football supporters,

including three from Yorkshire, who died in the Hillsborough stadium

disaster in 1989. The hearing in Warrington is expected to last up to

a year. It's being held because the original verdicts of accidental

death were quashed last year after family pressure and the Hillsborough

scrutiny panel report. Our Correspondent John Cundy is there

for us now. John what's happened there today?

In the months leading up to this historic enquiry, hundreds of people

in the Warrington area have been answering questionnaires, are they

suitable and are they able to sit through this marathon enquiry? From

that list 25 were short listed and from that 11 potential jurors have

been chosen, with ten reserves. They were asked several questions this

morning, are they supporters of Sheffield Wednesday warned Liverpool

or Nottingham Forest? They also had to look through a marathon list of

witnesses who are going to be called over the coming months.

What will happen next? Starting perhaps tomorrow, but

certainly some time next week, we will go into a fortnight of family

/victim impact statements. These will include one on behalf of Tony

Bland, the 22`year`old from Keighley who was the last to die after the

disaster nearly four years later when a feeding tube that had been

keeping him alive was finally removed. There will also be an

impact statement from the family of Sarah Hicks, the 19`year`old and her

15`year`old sister Victoria who was the youngest female to die in this

disaster. Their father is Trevor Hicks who has been a leading

campaigner in this case and he is also president of the Hillsborough

Family Support Group and he spoke to reporters briefly as he arrived this

morning. You cannot underestimate just how difficult this is going to

be for everybody. All we can do is do our best and trust in the judge

and everything else. Tomorrow morning after the jewellery are

finally sworn in, the coroner will begin his impact statement, or

rather his opening statement to the court, and that is expected to take

probably the whole of tomorrow. `` after the jury finally sworn in.

Later on Look North: The hidden art going back on show in Wakefield.

This work depicts the fallen of No Man's Land in World War I but it

urgently needs an expensive restoration.

Next tonight, around 100 campaigners took part in a protest in South

Yorkshire today. Pensioners and people with disabilities are unhappy

about changes to the rules on when they can use their free travel

passes. Now the Sheffield Citizen's Advice Bureau has written to the

transport executive saying they don't think the changes are legal.

It could even apply for a judicial review. Tom Ingall was at the

protest. Just who should get a ticket to ride? It is not many times

that transport police are required that transport police are required

to accompany pensioners onto a train but today they want to make a

point. For us in Barnsley travel on the trains is much more practical in

many cases than travel on the buses. Getting to Meadowhall or Sheffield

is much more effective on the train. From today in South Yorkshire bus

passes will only be valid after 9:30am and they will not be accepted

at all on trains. The changes to the system also affect passengers with

disabilities. We go to various hospitals for our different eye

conditions. Sheffield is a teaching hospital and we need a carer with

us. At Meadowhall, groups converge for a rally. Some had not been

challenged for tickets at all. The Sheffield citizens advice bureau

have written to the South Yorkshire transport passenger executive saying

that the changes do not comply with their duties under equality laws. We

have sent a formal letter saying why we think their decision is unlawful

and warning them that if they are not prepared to change it then we

will consider applying to the High Court for a judicial review of their

decision. In a statement the transport executive said the cuts

came because of cuts in government funding.

The campaign is now say that they will repeat their demonstration next

Monday. Let us get some other news in brief:

A father who was convicted of the manslaughter of his son has handed

himself in after three weeks on the run.

Shaun Stewart's son Brent Campbell was killed by a massive electric

shock while the pair were trying to steal overhead wiring in a field

near Barnsley. Stewart, who's 53, absconded during his trial at

Sheffield Crown Court and was found guilty and jailed for five years in

his absence. He gave himself up to police this morning.

Two prisoners have been found guilty of threatening to kill a prison

officer at Full Sutton jail near York. Feroz Khan and Fooad Awalee

were accused of holding the officer hostage in May last year. At the Old

Bailey the men were cleared of false imprisonment. However Khan, here on

the left, was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm on

the officer and both Khan and Awalee, on the right, were convicted

of making threats to kill him. They will be sentenced next week.

Now we know more of us are living longer, in fact the number of people

reaching 100 has increased by 73% in the last decade. That means a

spiralling care bill and now a private care group in North

Yorkshire is campaigning for a change to the tax system to allow

them to adapt to the growing market. That's because at the moment they

have to pay VAT on overheads but they can't claim it back and they

can't charge it to their customers. Our business correspondent Danni

Hewson has this. It is a game of numbers. More people

need care, there is no magic pot of cash to pay for it so how could tax

be the solution? Unlike most businesses the care sector is VAT

exempt. In a nutshell, they do not charge tax for services that they

can't claim them back. If that were to change the boss of this

Scarborough home believes it could free up millions of pounds. I am not

talking about us charging it, I am talking about is reclaiming it. I

think many people that I have spoken to do not realise that, so it costs

us all. Telephone bills, everything. Why not change it so that we can

deliver better services to the public, that is what we are asking

for. It is not about us creaming off additional profit. It is what's

called zero rating and it's already been used as a carrot to get people

to redevelop empty buildings. For the most part pensioners here are

supportive. Money is very tight at the moment and we just haven't got

it to do things with. These kind of places tend to get washed under the

table, don't they? I should want to know a lot more about that. That's

an open`ended question, isn't it? The scepticism is well placed, there

would be a cost that the taxpayer would have to fund. He is hoping

that he can have his cake and eat it in a way. Certainly when we put the

case to Norman Lamb he was very sympathetic and a decision will be

made by the Treasury and you know how difficult they are to be

persuaded to be giving up any of their tax revenue. It has not been

ruled out and could be a less painful way of funding extra costs

which providers say are inevitable. The government and everybody's

expecting the quality of care to go up. Quite rightly, and I do not have

any objection to that. But, in fact, they don't seem to be able to pay

for it. VAT might not be the answer but it could be a starting point.

Sports now. Another Wembley final for

Chesterfield but unfortunately it ended up being a frustrating match

for the Spireites. Another day, another chapter in the

saga that is Leeds United. Massimo Cellino, the colouful Italian

businessman hoping to take over the club, has been appealing against the

Football League's decision to turn down his bid. They decided he didn't

pass their fit and proper person test after a conviction for tax

evasion in his home country. Tanya's here now. What's happened now?

It will keep going. The appeal has been heard but the judgement has

been reserved by the independent QC that is hearing it so the wait goes

on. You will remember that he failed this test after being found guilty

of tax evasion for failing to pay import duty on a yacht he was taking

into Italy. Some of our viewers tonight will

wonder why it is important. At the end of last week Leeds

appeared to run out of money. They could not pay the players `` players

and the players agreed to pay `` defer part of their wages. There was

a stand`off between the people who are currently running the club as to

who would pay the wages. Basically Massimo Cellino has been bankrolling

the club since his bid to buy a 75% stake was accepted in January and

everyone is wondering if he does not get the club whether they have any

money to keep running it. He has been making his feelings

known about the club, hasn't he? He has. He was rung up by a fan and

engaged in a conversation which was recorded but he did not know it was

being recorded and it has been put on the Internet. The word colourful

as one to use. It was forthright language that you would not wish to

use at 6:30pm on BBC One. He spoke in a fourth run `` forthright way

about the current MD of the club and have a team were doing and also

about the past owner. By the end of listening to that conversation one

can only assume that if he does get charge of Leeds United you can

expect fireworks. We will wait and see.

Well, it doesn't get any better for Leeds United on the pitch where they

lost for the fifth time in six matches. David Cotterill was given

all the time in the world to shoot Doncaster Rovers into the lead. It

got even better for Donny when Billy Sharp showed strength and balance

before making it 2`0 just before half time. A goal from top scorer

Ross McCormack wasn't enough for Leeds. They continue to slip down

the table as Doncaster climb away from the relegation places.

So a good win for Doncaster and they weren't our only side to pick up an

important victory at the weekend. Barnsley crushed fellow strugglers

Yeovil while Rotherham's march towards promotion seems unstoppable.

But we start the round`up with yesterday's cup final at the home of

football. Could Chesterfield win the Johnstone's Paints Trophy for the

second time in three seasons? Ian Bucknell reports.

Chesterfield fans gathered in the Wembley Sun in high spirits. The

odds were against their Cheam as they were taking on a strong side

from a higher division but the magic of the cup can do mysterious things.

The game itself soon took a mysterious turn and the referee

failed to give Chesterfield the penalty for what looks like a clear

foul on Owen Doyle. Moments later Peterborough took the lead and by

half`time they were 2`0 up. Chesterfield hit back but their

opponents won a soft penalty of their own and won the Game three `

one. Everyone is so disappointed but we have two move to the remaining

league games and trying get promoted. Football is about

decisions and we got a couple today and we missed `` wish Peter Ball the

best. In the championship Chris O'Grady put Barnsley ahead at

Yeovilton. The same player kept his cool and scored a second as they

went on to win 4`1. Still in the relegation zone, but only on goal

difference. A fantastic strike now from Rotherham defender James

Taverna. It was only ever going in. Bristol City pulled one back but he

was not done and his free kick meant it finished 2`1 to the Millers. They

sit pretty in the league one play`off zone. Bradford City have

found wins hard to come by this year but this finish from a corner was

enough to see of Leyton orient 1`0. You can watch the highlights from

all of our team is on tonight's Late Kick Off on BBC One at 11:25pm.

Following that we have the super league show.

It's been hidden away for more than two decades, but today a powerful

work of art depicting the fallen of No Man's Land has gone back on

display at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. The plaster frieze by

Yorkshire artist Charles Sargeant Jagger was part of the design

process behind a bronze cast in the Tate London. It will now form part

of the Hepworth's World War One commemorations and they've launched

an appeal to help restore it. Danny Carpenter reports.

The battle that it commemorates was almost one century ago. The work

itself has not been seen for decades. The depiction is striking,

Stark, uncompromising, but its condition is as fragile as the

message is strong. It is a block of plaster and the only reinforcement

is a wooden frame rock from behind but if you look closely there are a

lot of stress cracks within the structure because of how it is made

and this is and is now part of the work that it will deteriorate over

time. Charles Sargeant Jagger was born near Rotherham. He was not a

pacifist observer of the conflict from afar, he was a participant. He

was wounded at Gallipoli on the Western front and he was awarded a

military Cross. When you look at this work you can really see his

first`hand experiences coming through. This was not an official

commission, it is actually very much his own response to battle. That

response included an inscription on this work, a line from a poem, or

little mighty force that stood for England, that with your bodies for a

living shield guarded her slow awaking. Controversial at the time,

provocative. No one knows whether this piece was ever intended to be

seen. Certainly the inscription with its brutal irony does not feature on

the finished bronze that is in Tate Britain. This, however, was

certainly never intended for public view, but it does highlight just how

fragile, how delicate this piece now is. It will cost many thousands of

pounds to conserve this piece in its present state. A decision is yet to

be made on whether to restore it but somehow it seems right just the way

it is, worn, battered, damaged. Next tonight a tale of sheer

tenacity in the face of adversity. When Lauren Morton from Wetherby

entered the Talisker Transatlantic Rowing Challenge last December she

and her friend expected to be home and dry by the middle of January.

Three months later though they were left drifting after a series of

problems but were still determined to finish. It was only when they ran

out of food that they threw in the towel and were rescued by a cargo

ship. Well, Lauren finally made it back to Yorkshire yesterday and she

joins us now. Have you got your land legs back

yet? Just about. Just getting there but I am a bit wobbly. Hopefully the

next couple of days. It is an extraordinary thing to do. You rode

across the Atlantic, white? The inspiration was really easy. In May

2012 we lost a friend to cervical cancer who was just 23. That was the

starter to the whole challenge. Hannah, my rowing partner, wanted to

do it since you are 16 and when Eleanor died it was a kick`start and

we'd decided to go ahead and do it. You really were plagued with

problems from the word go, won't you? It was just problem after

problem. We can see a head wound there. That was during a capsize.

About 6am in the morning the boats did a 360 roll and my head was

knocked on the metal rim of the cabin. There was a seven centimetres

split in my head. That is a fire on board, one of our batteries quarter

light and burned through our charts. This is a fairly small vessel, how

do you do things like sleep on an ocean with 30 foot waves? Not very

easily and not very comfortably but there is a cabin which is about 1.5

metres in length and we would cram in there with our legs up to our

chests and it was the only way we could fit in so it was not the best

nights sleep. Were there times when you thought you would have to give

up because everything was against you? There were loads of times.

Every time something happened we thought we would have to stop but

you learn to try and get over that so every setback you have initially

seems like the worst thing in the world and then you learn that you do

not actually need that in comparison to being able to carry on. What is

your contact with civilisation? You have communications on`board so how

do you communicate with the outside world? We had a satellite phone

which works like a mobile except that it is ?1 50 a minute and is

really only meant to be used in emergency circumstances. Contact was

very minimal. I rang my parents on Christmas Day and birthdays and

stuff. You had to eventually give up which was difficult because you

thought of your friend but what made you have to get onto that cargoes

ship? Our rudder broke on day 51 and we had drifted them for 44 days

trying to get it fixed but we waited for 26 days for the support vessel

to get out to us but when it arrived the new router that they brought did

not fit our boat, it was made for a six`man boat so we waited for

it done. Final question, would you it done. Final question, would you

do it again? Absolutely. 100%. You are going to finish it this time?

Yes, we are going to finish it. Good for you.

Now, from the tenacity... Now, from the

I think we have got the next challenge for Harry and Amy, haven't

we! Let me show you three pictures that have come in over the last 36

hours. Keep the pictures coming in. Air

pollution levels in Leeds have been above the EU safe limits for the

last 48 hours. Air pollution levels will come down a bit in the next 24

hours but they will remain quite high which is an unusual warning. A

grey start tomorrow which turns brighter later but it is a slack

setup. You may have noticed some dust on your car which has come up

from North Africa, Saharan dust in the last 24 and was and there could

be more of that. An active weather system is coming through Wales right

now and it will give us boundary rain later. It is mostly fine at the

moment with a few showers in the West. Towards midnight we will see

outbreaks of rain pushing up from the south`west. Heavy bursts and the

odd clap of thunder. Highest rainfall totals in the West with

less rainfall to the east. The lowest temperatures will come in at

seven degrees. A grey start, there may be patchy

rain across North and West Yorkshire bursting. It will soon clear away to

the North. Low cloud and mist and fog. In the morning the skies will

brighten and there will be sunshine in the afternoon with just a few

showers. Many places tomorrow will be dry and bright. After the slow

start it should not be too bad. The wind will be light and variable

indirection. Top temperatures not bad. Highs of 14 degrees. There may

be a few spots in South Yorkshire, Sheffield and Rotherham could nudge

15 degrees tomorrow afternoon. The weather outlook tomorrow is similar

with a grey start and drizzle in places. It will brighten up later

and some places towards the coast will stay dry and grey. Thursday is

a cloudy start but it brightens up. Friday will have patchy rain at

first and then brighter later. That is the forecast. Thank you so much.

96 days at sea and then, in a studio with us lot, how are you feeling?

That is all from us, back at 10:25pm. Good night.