10/04/2017 Look North (Yorkshire)

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me

It was like a plane crash, a paramedic describes what he saw when

he arrived at the scene of a gas explosion in York. Paul Wilmot died

in the blast in Haxby. We will report from the inquest in a moment.

Also the night, bringing rail jobs back to Doncaster. We go inside the

depot where 250 people will work on a new generation of faster intercity

trains. What a weekend for Yorkshire sport as Sheffield United and

Doncaster Rovers fans start their promotion parties. If my wife hasn't

already poured me a tin of John Smith's and put it in a glass, there

will be a divorce in our house, I'll tell you, no doubt! They have just

eight days to transform this brought into eight garden memorial for their

fallen comrades. What a spectacular weekend but what does this weekend

hold in store? Join me for the weekend forecast.

Our top story, a paramedic called to the scene of a gas explosion in York

described a scene of devastation, telling an inquest that he thought a

plane had crashed. Paul Wilmot was killed in the blast last year after

a pipe fractured underneath his home. His partner told the inquest

into his death that they had noticed a strange smell in the house weeks

before but didn't think it was gas. Phil Connell was at the inquest and

has the top story. The house that was demolished is now in the process

of being rebuilt, while the houses alongside it being repaired as well.

Life here on Springwood is slowly returning to normal, but 14 months

ago things were far from normal here in this residential road, making

national headlines. On 19th Ribery last year, people living on

Springwood acquired -- a quiet residential road work to a

catastrophic scene. At around 730, number 20, a detached property, was

destroyed was later confirmed to be a gas explosion. The owner of the

house, 63-year-old Paul Wilmot, was found buried in the debris. The

inquest heard he had suffered serious head injuries and died at

the scene. Andrew Shinnie Assen, an ambulance paramedic seen on the

right, was one of the first emergency workers to arrive. Today

he described a scene of devastation. Mr humus and was asked by the

coroner what he saw when he arrived. He said it was evident one house was

completely missing. He said residents looked dazed and confused.

He was then asked, what did you think that happen? To that he

replied, I thought a plane had crashed. I had never seen anything

like it. Mr Wilmot's partner Olivia told the jury there had been a

strange smell in the house several weeks before, and ants nest though

was discovered in the wall, and that they thought was to blame, rather

than leaking gas. The inquest continues. The inquest heard that a

unique combination of stress and corrosion was to blame for the gas

pipe's fracture, while heavy rain prior to the explosion may have also

been a contributing factor, causing the ground to move. The

multi-million pound investment that is hoped will help revile -- revive

the rail industry in South Yorkshire.

Hundreds of jobs are being created at a new train depot

Look North has been given exclusive access to the depot and a chance to

see inside the new carriages, which begin running between Yorkshire and

London and Scotland next year will stop Phil Bodman is there for us. In

1878, steam trains used to be stabled on this site and it seems

140 years on we could be witnessing the renaissance of the railways here

in Yorkshire. Hitachi has spent something like ?80 million in this

new depot, creating 250 jobs over the next 27 years or so. The new

trains should cut journey times between Yorkshire and London by

around ten minutes, especially from Leeds. It means more capacity, and

extra 12,000 seats. I have been given an exclusive look

behind-the-scenes. This is the train its makers say is set to

revolutionise rail travel in Yorkshire. With faster acceleration,

more seats and greater comfort, the train built by Hitachi represents an

investment of more than ?5 billion over the next 27 years. They will be

cared for in Doncaster. First day, and the beginning of a new career

for these inductees. Among them 33-year-old Gareth Bale from

Pontefract. We'll get a VMI. A former military aircraft engineer,

switching from planes to trains. Skill sets are very similar, so

anything electrical or mechanical background fits really well with

what I did as a Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. It is a great

place to set up a depot, because if you think of all that heritage and

all that infrastructure that is already there, from years gone by.

Doncaster is very proud of its skill in this job and great care is

necessary when turning the wheel is the required size. The town has a

long association with railway engineering. The world-famous flying

Scotsman and Mullard were both built at the nearby plant works just a

stone's throw away from this new depot. And here we go. Tradition may

be important, but the new depot is a far cry from the old workshops,

packed with technology, the like of which its Victorian forebears could

never have imagined. With 250 new jobs helping the breeze new life

into Yorkshire's rail sector. Hitachi says local suppliers are

also used when and where possible. We have taken people from the local

area. We have also taken people from the forces. We need a good mix of

people. It is a very good location geographically, so it is actually a

good place to get trains back to Leeds. We have the skill sets within

the area to maintain the trains. By the time the depot is fully

operational between 18 and 22 trains will be serviced to each day,

helping maintain two fleets from virgin east coast and trans-Pennine

express the decades to come. The railways certainly ignite passion.

You will have had more comments about my tweets on the runways than

any story I have done in recent times. That the moment some 60

people working here. That will rise over the next 18 months to 250 or

so. With the opening of the high-speed college just down the

road in Doncaster, it really does seem as though the town is on the

edge of the rebirth of the railways here in Yorkshire.

A feud to its about your hat as well. I bet you have had a great

day, he lapses trains. Later on Look North, watch out, the robots are

coming. It is a new robotics research centre for South Yorkshire

the secret of the region's success or a risk to jobs?

Let's gets news in brief. Police officers from around Yorkshire have

paid their respects to PC Keith Palmer, who was killed in the

Westminster attack last month. A two-minute silence was observed at

Westminster -- West Yorkshire Police training centre near Wakefield.

Policemen and women from our region were also among those to line the

route of PC Palmer 's funeral cortege in London. To show support

for our colleagues down here, and like my colleagues are said, we are

a big family. It just made sense to come down and do our bit. The Fire

Service is treating a fire at a derelict hospital in Leeds as

suspicious. 30 firefighters tackled the blaze at the door in Leeds in

the early years of this morning. A Leeds City Council structural

engineer will later assess the safety of the site. Investigations

are continuing into a hit and run incident in Doncaster in which a

seven to -- 72-year-old man was seriously injured. It happened near

cooks treat on Saturday. The man had serious injuries but police say he

is in a stable condition in hospital. Writing on Facebook as

relatives have called the driver heartless. For not stopping. Work to

improve the A-1 in North Yorkshire has been delayed partly because of

an unexpected archaeological find. A scheme to upgrade the dual

carriageway to a three lane motorway between Leeming and bottom was due

to be finished by June but now would be completed until the end of the

year following the discovery of some Roman artefacts. Delays have also

been caused by power cables and utilities

in the area. Next tonight - it's estimated robots

could replace workers in almost a third of current jobs

in the next twenty years. So should the official opening

of a robotics research centre in South Yorkshire really be a cause

for celebration? Factory 2050 at Sheffield

Business Centre hopes Experts there are confident that

"clever computers" will boost the economy and increase demand

for human jobs in other areas. This is where the robots live.

Sheffield is fast becoming one of the most respected centres of

research for automation and robotics. The University of

Sheffield has set up factory to help companies test their theories and

machines to see if they can help business. It has been open for more

than a year but today was the official bit where the Duke of York

comes to unveil a plaque. You can even get a robot to do that to you

now. Factory 2050 has been described as a place in Sheffield where

engineers can come and have a play. If they've got an idea to make a

business more efficient, they can test it out here. That is the sort

of expertise that has already brought Boeing and McLaren to South

Yorkshire. Last month a report suggested that as machines get

smarter, 10 million workers are at risk of being replaced by them in

the next 15 years, but here they say that is not the case. That is a

common misconception that robots are taking jobs, but the figures you see

out suggest that when automation is employed, businesses become more

competitive, they win more work and those jobs are transferred into

other areas within the business. So we see it as a very positive thing.

Hi, nice to meet you. I would like to show you some of my skills. Hang

fire, I'm supposed to do some of talking about here. Across

Sheffield, the city's other universities doing research into how

robots can be used to care for elderly people. They too say robots

are here to help us, not replace us. The human body is so flexible and

they can do so many things, so many seemingly easy things that are very

difficult to make a robot do. So my expectation is that robots are not

easily replacing people. As robots do more and more it seems they have

already cracked the code into making one dance better than me. James

Vincent, BBC look North Sheffield. Should we be worried? Not at all. We

have more artificial intelligent little on with Paul Hudson with the

weather. What an inspired choice Billy Wilder

was at Sheffield. Success everywhere you looked. What a weekend it was

the Yorkshire sport. Sheffield United and Doncaster

Rovers were promoted, Nicola Adams won her first

professional fight, and in ice hockey Sheffield Steelers won

the Elite League Playoffs. More on all those stories coming up

but we start with the football where the Blades and Rovers knew

a win on Saturday would send them up Two clubs, two wins, two promotions

on one fantastic afternoon for football and South Yorkshire. For

Sheffield United, these faces tell you how much it means, after six

years in League 1. Thousands watched on a big screen at Bramall Lane,

while the match was played at Northampton Town. Their striker Mark

Richards hadn't read the script. Was the long wait set to continue? Leon

Clarke soon equalised though, and as time ticked away, results elsewhere

meant United didn't need another goal. John Fleck scored one anyway.

Absolutely amazing, honestly, the best feeling in a long time. It is a

team full of winners, the club, the manager, phenomenal the safest of

six years of pain, what a team. We don't -- went down to the

Championship I was 17, and now I like 30. That is a result of League

1! Relegated to League 2 losses in Doncaster needed to beat Mansfield

to go trip back up. Tommy Rowe's header was enough to win it. The

fans behind the goal couldn't wait to start the party. I was one of the

900 stood in the old Bellevue crying when we went down to the Conference,

so I am here today celebrating now because it is a tremendous feat they

have done. Doncaster has had a lot of down, now we are on the up again,

thank God for that. I feel very happy, they have done very well this

season. If my wife has not already pulled a tin of John Smith's there

will be a divorce in my house, no doubt! We will enjoy moments like

this. The players have fully deserved it, they will have a good

night tonight and now we want to kick on. We really want to have a

good go at League 1 now. As the two pitches turn from green to red and

white, the celebrations were only just beginning. Last night, United's

Billy Sharp and Doncaster's John Marquis won the CFL Player of the

Year awards for League 1 and League 2. There might just be one or two

sore heads on the training ground when this lot get back to work. Next

job for both clubs, win the league. We can speak live to

the Sheffield United manager He started as a ball boy -

and is now the first person to win promotion for the Blades as a player

and manager... A nice bit of personal history a

few, Chris. Do you remember what that a motion was like when the

final whistle went? Yeah, we had been pretty close, it was looking

like we were going to get over the line pretty soon, and to do it in

the manner that we did just epitomises the spirit in the group.

1-0 down, tough away game, and to turn it around and win 2-1 is a

fantastic achievement. And a special moment for all of us. You are no

stranger to promotion, you have done before as a player and of course as

a manager but how much more special this view because of your history

the club? There is no getting away from it. The highs are a lot higher

here and the lows are a lot lower, especially after the first month of

-- one point out of 12. Everyone -- one point out of 12. Everyone

stood together. There was a great leaf in what we were doing and

managed to get ourselves up and running. We have consistently

produced great performances. We have got over every hurdle put in front

of us. I am delighted for the supporters. It has been a tough old

six years. We took a lot of stick, especially in this football city,

being in League 1. We will enjoy this summer and hopefully go again

into the Championship, a level where we should definitely be playing with

a history and facilities and everything connected to this club.

Did the match itself epitomise what the team has been about? They came

from behind. Has that really been what the season has been about, that

spirit? We have turned losing positions in the draws and wins.

When we have played well, we really have played well and turned it on.

To win something, to gain promotion you have to do a lot of things right

and this team has from the day they walked through the door. We

inherited a group of players, we brought players in from different

clubs, from different leagues and they have all jailed and had a right

go together. When I came to the football club I wanted to bring

everything back together, the support to be proud of the team and

the players to play with pride and commitment. The players have done

their bit. The supporters have backed us in numbers wherever we

have been. Home and away. 6000 supporters here on Saturday

afternoon to watch the game on the beanbag. Sell-out at Northampton.

All over the ground, all-rounder ground, and then when we come back,

the scenes will stay with us forever. I have known you for a few

years, I know you like a good party, what were the celebrations like?

Thanks! Lovat yes, still going on! The lads have just trained this

afternoon and I have just bumped into a few of them at the hotel, so

they are giving it a right go and rightly so. I heard what Darren said

as well at Doncaster. Congratulations to them, both clubs

to be the first to be promoted this early is a fantastic achievement.

Darren and his group will celebrate Commander want them to do, because

you are in football, you have to go through the difficult days and the

tough times, especially the one we had the start of the season, so why

not? I fully back although celebrations that will be going on

all over Sheffield regarding the players, supporters or staff. You

said to me a couple of weeks ago you were looking forward to seeing the

city centre full of people for a civic talk. Will you go all manage

on me and say we have to go up as champions? Yes, we have four big

games, a fantastic couple of games against two local teams has the

Bradford City have done outstandingly well and we wish them

all the best after we played them on Easter Monday. A sell-out for that

game. Chesterfield at home game which we will be selling out. We

have sold out our allocation for Port Vale, and MK Dons we will be

close to selling out, we have taken close to 7000 supporters there. This

team is powering its way through to the finishing line and we won't be

satisfied with promotion. We want to go and win it in style. There are

some targets out there that we can achieve. It is back to work on

Wednesday, and we will be seeing VCs are now totally in style and

powering our way through to the finishing line. Enjoy the

celebrations, many congratulations, look forward to the civic reception

for you, Chris. In the Championship,

Sheffield Wednesday pulled off a brilliant victory

against Newcastle, who could have Second-half headers from Tom Lees

and Steven Fletcher helped the Owls to a 2-1 victory which keeps them

in sixth place in the table. Leeds United needed a good result

after losing their last two games, and they got it by outplaying

Preston 3-0 at Elland Road. But Huddersfield's chances

of automatic promotion look very slim now after they lost 2-0

at Nottingham Forest. All three clubs are still

in the playoff places. In League One, Chesterfield

kept their survival hopes alive for another week by beating

Port Vale 1-0. And Bradford look set

for the playoffs for the second successive season after winning

2-0 at Bury. Lovely strike here

from Mark Marshall. Yorkshire's double Olympic boxing

champion Nicola Adams has won The 34 year old from Leeds beat

Argentina's Virginia Carcarmow Adams was vastly superior

in the flyweight contest, which was held over

four, two-minute rounds. Her next fight will be

in Leeds on the 13th of May. It was an amazing experience for the

first time. I think I tried a little bit too hard to get the stoppage.

Virgil says it will come with experience, the more times I box and

the more rounds I get in, I will get used to settling down and placing my

punches a bit more. Congratulations to Sheffield

Steelers who have won the biggest match in UK ice hockey -

the Elite League play-off final. With the game all square

in the second period of overtime, Levi Nelson fired home the winner

for the Steelers. They denied Cardiff Devils

the Grand Slam with a nailbiting 6 - We were prepared to carry on pushing

and offending, we knew our energy levels were not going to drop Amey

kept going and going. We were positive whole time. What a great

game of hockey. In Super League, Wakefield Trinity

scored six tries as they eased Widnes were on the receiving end

of a thrashing by 30 points to 4, as Wakefield leapfrogged last

season's champions Wigan And you can see all the weekend's

action on the Super League Show I am quite liking my nice little

studio. Since they moved into Dishforth Camp

near Thirsk last year, soldiers from 6 Royal Logistic Corr

have been making But after sprucing up the buildings,

they found they lacked a place to pay tribute

to and remember their That's about to change

with an ambitious plan to build a memorial garden that will first go

on show at Harrogate It's the biggest show garden ever

attempted there and they have just Cathy Killick's been to see how

they're getting along. It looks serene but it is action

stations at the Yorkshire Showground. Next week it is hosting

the Harrogate Spring flower show and the whole place will be transformed,

especially this corner plot. MUSIC Taking shape here is a memorial

garden for an army regiment that has recently moved towards Mac Dishforth

in North Yorkshire from Germany. Moving into the Cabaye became

apparent there was not any specific areas that we could remember those

that have served with the regiment, so it seems an ideal opportunity to

create something that will be lasting for the whole regiment to

honour those who have passed and to inspire those currently serving with

the regiment too. The Japanese-style garden will feature a prayer house

and memorials originally cited in Germany that remember fallen members

of the regiment. It is designed to be calm and respectful. This is the

central rail that will run down the whole of the garden and flow towards

the prayer house. The prayer house is going to be a beautiful

construction where people want to come and reflect and isolate

themselves from the hustle and bustle of army barracks. We have

some great help so hopefully in eight years' time you should see a

slightly different picture. The work is being done by members of the

regiment and recovering service men and women, being looked after by

help the heroes. Bringing the guys along to a project like this is

truly beneficial for their recovery. There is the banter, the

companionship and the new skills they can take forward as part of

their recovery. After the show the garden will be moved to this area of

Dishforth Camp. Local schoolchildren have planted up an army boot is part

of a fundraising effort to pay for it. When it is finished it will

provide a poignant focal point not only for the flower show but also

the regimental base. Very much a fitting memorial. It is

lovely comedy flower show. Now, did I get the forecast right on Friday,

yes or no? Yes, I did. Oh, did you get the forecast right? It was

fantastically warm. Let's look at the temperatures we observed on

Sunday. Check that out, Keely's favourite resort, Benidorm,

struggling at 19 degrees, but we beat many of the Mediterranean

resorts, even Cyprus just got up to 20 Celsius. I hope you enjoyed it

because nothing like that on the horizon for some time. Let me show

you a couple of pictures that came in over the last 24 hours, that is

the Leeds Liverpool Canal near Keighley. The second picture I

thought you might quite like. A mutant seagull in Bridlington.

Attack of the giant birds! Like that Alfred Hitchcock film, isn't it?

Keep the pictures coming in. Right, the next 24 hours is fairly

straightforward. It is bright, breezy, temperatures close to

normal. That weather front might bring patchy rain on Wednesday, bit

of a gap Thursday, then another week weather front will bring patchy rain

on Friday. Throughout amounts will be small, I know gardeners and

farmers are moaning in eastern part is that the land is already very

dry. Very little rain to come in eastern areas. As for the Easter

weekend, a mixture of sunny spells and scattered April showers. The

showers that we forecasted not really materialise, just one or two

across the Pennines and we are now seeing all the cloud beginning to

melt away. Plenty of sunshine around the evening off with men overnight

looks set to be dry with clear spells. The breeze picking up just a

little bit. We will see lowest temp just the night around for Celsius.

That is 39 Fahrenheit. The sun rises in the morning at 6:16am. Those are

the next high water times. Quite a windy day tomorrow, that breeze will

be pretty cool as well. A day of partly cloudy skies with some

sunshine. The best of the sunny breaks across eastern areas. The

thickest of the cloud in the West, just the chance of the odd light

shower over the tops of the Pennines but it looks predominantly fine and

dry. Temperatures close to where they had been today. Feeling quite

cool. That said, these two bridges are close to or just above average.

13, the higher, 55 Fahrenheit. Let's be honest, he is good. Do you need a

drink, you were joking. We're going out to

There are times in the life of a nation

when the choices we make define the character of our country,

times when people stand up and demand real, significant change.