Browse content similar to 27/06/2011. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today, with Nick Owen and Suzanne Virdee. | :00:03. | :00:08. | |
The headlines tonight. "They'll save lives". Fire chiefs | :00:08. | :00:11. | |
call for sprinkler systems to be fitted in all new homes. Remember, | :00:11. | :00:20. | |
years ago we had a campaign to get seatbelts fitted to all cars. This | :00:20. | :00:27. | |
is a similar sort of thing in people's houses. Look at the | :00:27. | :00:29. | |
difference that made. Four people arrested after reports | :00:29. | :00:33. | |
of a shooting in a Warwickshire village. We have lived here for | :00:33. | :00:37. | |
nine or 10 years and I haven't seen anything like it. | :00:37. | :00:40. | |
Fears that hundreds of jobs could go, under plans to cut emergency | :00:40. | :00:43. | |
surgery at Stafford Hospital. And vibrant at the Villa, as | :00:43. | :00:53. | |
:00:53. | :00:57. | ||
thousands of fans stream in for the Good evening, welcome to Monday's | :00:57. | :01:01. | |
Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight, "change the law to save | :01:01. | :01:05. | |
the lives of hundreds of people killed in house fires". That's the | :01:05. | :01:07. | |
appeal today from senior firefighters who want to see new | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
legislation introduced to force builders to fit all new homes with | :01:10. | :01:14. | |
sprinkler systems. 347 people died in house fires across the country | :01:14. | :01:20. | |
last year. In the Midlands, 35 people were killed. The worst-hit | :01:20. | :01:23. | |
part of our region was the West Midlands Fire Service area, where | :01:23. | :01:29. | |
16 people died. The law has already been changed in Wales, but in | :01:29. | :01:32. | |
England, developers are worried about the cost. The Government has | :01:32. | :01:35. | |
also said it has no plans to change the law. Joan Cummins has this | :01:35. | :01:40. | |
exclusive report. Two identical houses in Stratford | :01:40. | :01:43. | |
Upon Avon designated for demolition, but now destined for a graphic fire | :01:43. | :01:49. | |
demonstration. The house on the left doesn't have sprinklers. The | :01:49. | :01:54. | |
one on the right does. Warwickshire Fire Service invited me to witness | :01:54. | :02:04. | |
the devastating reality of a raging house fire. As you can see, it has | :02:04. | :02:08. | |
been a matter of seconds is as the fire has taken hold and smoke is | :02:08. | :02:13. | |
rising in the building. If you were living in this house, it could be | :02:13. | :02:23. | |
:02:23. | :02:23. | ||
potentially fatal. As the fire intensified, time for a quick exit. | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
You saw how quickly this room filled with toxic smoke. There is | :02:29. | :02:32. | |
every possibility that if you had been asleep on the sofa, you would | :02:32. | :02:36. | |
not have woken up. Next door in house number two, the fire started | :02:36. | :02:40. | |
in exactly the same way but ended abruptly and differently. When the | :02:40. | :02:41. | |
temperature hit 68 degrees Centigrade, the sprinklers | :02:41. | :02:46. | |
activated, the flames were quenched and a grey smoke filled the room. | :02:46. | :02:50. | |
Fire fighters are still dealing with the fire in this house but you | :02:50. | :02:54. | |
can immediately see that the level of smoke coming out of the windows | :02:54. | :02:59. | |
is nothing compared to the earlier house. I think it is a no-brainer | :02:59. | :03:01. | |
because I want the people of Warwickshire and the rest of the | :03:01. | :03:05. | |
country to be the safest they can be. That is why we are trying to | :03:05. | :03:09. | |
lobby for support and impress upon people the benefit of sprinklers | :03:09. | :03:12. | |
because I think they should be introduced as standard, | :03:12. | :03:15. | |
particularly in new houses and social housing. This should be on | :03:15. | :03:19. | |
the start off the plans. Caroline Tucker, from Swansea, suffered | :03:19. | :03:23. | |
life-changing burns when she was 11. Her four-year-old sister died. And | :03:23. | :03:25. | |
23 years later, Caroline knows first-hand the emotional cost of | :03:25. | :03:34. | |
fire. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to go what I went through. | :03:34. | :03:44. | |
:03:44. | :03:44. | ||
Nobody deserves that. You have people staring at you in the street. | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
You have got children running a wear from you. Caroline | :03:48. | :03:51. | |
successfully lobbied the Welsh Assembly this year to introduce | :03:51. | :03:53. | |
legislation in 2012 that insists that sprinklers are fitted to new | :03:53. | :03:56. | |
homes. She can't understand the reluctance to extend this | :03:56. | :04:06. | |
:04:06. | :04:09. | ||
legislation throughout Britain. Could she look me in the eye and | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
say, it is not worth that. I don't think so. Fitting sprinklers to a | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
new house can cost around �2,000. The Home Builders Federation, who | :04:17. | :04:19. | |
represent private developers, say they'll abide by law changes but | :04:19. | :04:23. | |
say the cost of the long list of requirements is making many sites | :04:23. | :04:25. | |
non-viable. In other words, it's all about cost, something that | :04:25. | :04:32. | |
gives social housing providers a similar dilemma. There's lots of | :04:32. | :04:35. | |
pressures on our funding and we have lots of different priorities. | :04:35. | :04:40. | |
Once we have finished building the properties, we don't have much | :04:40. | :04:44. | |
money left. We are not private developers and we do not make a | :04:44. | :04:48. | |
profit. In a statement the Government said: | :04:48. | :04:51. | |
"There are no plans to force builders to fit sprinklers in new | :04:51. | :04:54. | |
homes. Extensive analysis has shown that this is neither necessary nor | :04:54. | :04:59. | |
cost-effective". Joining us now is Nadhim Zahawi, | :04:59. | :05:09. | |
:05:09. | :05:10. | ||
the Conservative MP for Stratford- upon-Avon. His constituency covers | :05:10. | :05:16. | |
the Warwickshire Fire Service area. This seems like a great idea. Are | :05:16. | :05:21. | |
you disappointed your government says it has no plans to change the | :05:21. | :05:28. | |
law and make sprinklers compulsory in all new homes? It is a good idea. | :05:28. | :05:33. | |
You heard from the people in that film and Caroline is a very | :05:33. | :05:39. | |
powerful advocate for the sprinkler system. We saw the effects on those | :05:39. | :05:46. | |
two houses in Stratford. Legislation is not felt to be the | :05:46. | :05:52. | |
be-all and end-all of what needs to happen. The minister things using | :05:52. | :05:56. | |
the Localism Bill and a Big Society agenda, working with the planning | :05:56. | :05:59. | |
authority and the housing associations, with builders and | :05:59. | :06:03. | |
developers, you can actually get a real movement together. If you | :06:03. | :06:11. | |
think about it, if the new-build builders use this as a way, and a | :06:11. | :06:18. | |
selling point, it can... But it will be a lottery. Some new homes | :06:18. | :06:24. | |
will have it and some won't. That seems unfair? Only if you only get | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
certain people doing it. But if we are to get real movement, I think | :06:28. | :06:35. | |
it has to come from bottom-up, rather than top-down. More | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
legislation is not necessarily a good thing when you are trying to | :06:37. | :06:41. | |
get more houses built and the economy working again. For us to | :06:42. | :06:49. | |
add to the great big line of rules and regulations that already hamper | :06:49. | :06:53. | |
companies, it is not necessarily the right thing to do. Some of the | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
people we saw in our report might disagree with you. One lady was | :06:57. | :07:01. | |
very badly disfigured and she says a sprinkler would have saved her | :07:01. | :07:08. | |
years of agony? Absolutely, and as I said, Caroline is a very powerful | :07:08. | :07:14. | |
champion for the use of sprinkler systems and she has run a very | :07:15. | :07:21. | |
powerful campaign. The deputy chief and all of Warwickshire Fire | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
Service want to see more sprinklers but legislation is not the only way | :07:24. | :07:29. | |
we can go about it. We need to work together, using the Localism Bill, | :07:29. | :07:35. | |
and with society to make sure this can happen. We have run out of time. | :07:35. | :07:42. | |
Thank you for joining us. And you can see more from that | :07:42. | :07:45. | |
report from Joan Cummins on the BBC Coventry and Warwickshire website. | :07:45. | :07:48. | |
Thanks for joining us. You're watching Midlands Today, from the | :07:48. | :07:52. | |
BBC. Later in tonight's programme, sell-out concerts for Take That at | :07:52. | :07:55. | |
Villa Park tonight and tomorrow, but you wouldn't want to be soaked, | :07:55. | :07:59. | |
now, would you? Find out what weather's doing later on. | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
Four people from Coventry have been arrested after reports that a man | :08:02. | :08:05. | |
was shot dead. The victim, who hasn't been named, was killed just | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
yards away from a Methodist church hall in the Warwickshire village of | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
Bulkington. Detectives believe that he was deliberately targeted by his | :08:12. | :08:17. | |
killers. This report from Sarah Falkland. | :08:17. | :08:21. | |
Just a few doors down from the Methodist church, and at a time | :08:21. | :08:23. | |
when everyone else was enjoying the blazing sunshine yesterday, a man | :08:23. | :08:32. | |
was murdered in an outbuilding at the back of this house. The police | :08:32. | :08:37. | |
arrived just before 4pm yesterday afternoon and found a man inside | :08:37. | :08:41. | |
with very serious chest injuries. They have described this as a | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
violent murder and say the victim had been specifically targeted. | :08:44. | :08:50. | |
Neighbours say this is a shared house occupied by a group of men. | :08:50. | :08:55. | |
They are a mysterious bunch. But they never bothered us at all. In | :08:55. | :09:01. | |
fact, they often come and borrow some of my tools. They borrowed a | :09:01. | :09:05. | |
wheelbarrow and some stores and a hammer because they have been doing | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
a lot of work on their property. Witnesses inside the house managed | :09:08. | :09:12. | |
to escape through windows. They're said to be deeply traumatised. | :09:12. | :09:18. | |
Roads in the village were sealed off for much of the day. It was so | :09:18. | :09:23. | |
surprising for Bulkington. We have been here for 10 years, we came up | :09:23. | :09:28. | |
from Kent. And it is lovely here, nice and quiet. I have never seen | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
anything like this before. It is very unexpected to see the police | :09:33. | :09:37. | |
like this. The minister at the Methodist church said the murder is | :09:37. | :09:41. | |
a shocking reminder of how society has disintegrated. It is a sad | :09:42. | :09:47. | |
reflection of the fact that, in a sense, the church, although it is | :09:47. | :09:50. | |
hello ground in itself, it's reached doesn't necessarily go very | :09:50. | :09:58. | |
far beyond. -- its reach. A gang of four men were seen running from the | :09:58. | :10:08. | |
house. Police are keen to hear from anyone who saw them. | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
The BBC has seen confidential documents which suggest all | :10:10. | :10:13. | |
emergency surgery could be taken away from Stafford Hospital. It's | :10:13. | :10:16. | |
feared this would add to the financial pressures on the Trust, | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
which needs to save �42 million over the next three years. Almost | :10:19. | :10:22. | |
�31 million of savings are needed because of inflation and the fact | :10:22. | :10:26. | |
the hospital's income is being frozen for certain treatments. A | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
further �7.5 million drop in income is forecast because the Trust is | :10:29. | :10:32. | |
seeing fewer patients. It'll also lose an additional �4 million, when | :10:32. | :10:37. | |
it stops providing services such as complex surgery. The hospital is | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
currently at the centre of a public inquiry into poor standards of care. | :10:41. | :10:45. | |
Our health correspondent, Michele Paduano, reports. | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
Stafford Hospital has been the focus for all the difficulties in | :10:48. | :10:51. | |
the NHS. A series of catastrophic reports about poor care and | :10:51. | :10:56. | |
committed campaigning have severely dented its reputation. It now faces | :10:56. | :11:05. | |
serious financial challenges, as services are taken away. This | :11:05. | :11:09. | |
confidential document is a work in progress but it suggests all | :11:09. | :11:13. | |
emergency services should be moved from Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent. | :11:13. | :11:17. | |
That complex surgery should be done on a shared rota and that children | :11:17. | :11:25. | |
should only be operated on during the daytime for minor surgery. | :11:25. | :11:28. | |
Labour supporter Diana Smith runs a blog. She fears the constant attack | :11:28. | :11:32. | |
on the hospital has damaged its long-term future. We have had over | :11:32. | :11:38. | |
three years now of very negative publicity, so people will make the | :11:38. | :11:41. | |
assumption, this is a bad hospital and we can do without it. That is | :11:41. | :11:45. | |
not necessarily helpful to the people of Stafford. Over 100 people | :11:46. | :11:48. | |
have been involved in drafting the report. The hospital's medical | :11:48. | :11:51. | |
director says the changes to surgery are in the best interests | :11:51. | :11:56. | |
of patients. Some of the major cancer surgery is already done in | :11:56. | :12:02. | |
Stoke, so we are building links with all of our partners. It will | :12:02. | :12:05. | |
be up to the public to decide how we provide the service but the key | :12:05. | :12:09. | |
message is that this is good news for the patients, which will give | :12:09. | :12:13. | |
us the outcomes we want. At the cafe where the campaign to expose | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
the failings of Stafford began, there were concerns as to how cuts | :12:16. | :12:22. | |
of �42 million could be achieved. What we are hoping from the inquiry | :12:22. | :12:26. | |
is that he will identify some of this money that can be saved, and | :12:26. | :12:32. | |
yes, I do think money can be saved is safely, but where that amount of | :12:32. | :12:37. | |
money can be saved, I don't know. The MP for Stafford Hospital | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
recognises finances are tight. think it will be extremely | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
difficult, but I would also point out that other hospitals are in the | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
same position. We're going to have to face up to the reality that they | :12:50. | :12:55. | |
are expensive, and with an ageing and growing population, the needs | :12:55. | :13:04. | |
are greater. A public consultation will now find out how people react. | :13:04. | :13:07. | |
Increasing numbers of companies in China want to do business in the | :13:07. | :13:10. | |
West Midlands. That's the message following the visit of Chinese | :13:10. | :13:13. | |
Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the region yesterday. A total of 16 | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
firms from south-west China alone are known to have investment plans | :13:16. | :13:19. | |
in the pipeline. The news comes on the day Britain secured major trade | :13:19. | :13:25. | |
deals with China worth �1.4 billion. Cath Mackie reports. | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
They lit the Beijing Olympics and are hoping to do the same in London. | :13:30. | :13:33. | |
NVC is the biggest lighting company in China, and when they looked to | :13:33. | :13:43. | |
:13:43. | :13:45. | ||
expand, they came here to Rubery, near Birmingham. Birmingham is the | :13:45. | :13:49. | |
centre of this sort of industry and it gives us easy access to the | :13:49. | :13:55. | |
whole of the United Kingdom. It also has a very high quality of | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
labour force. 80 people work here and the site's being extended to | :13:59. | :14:05. | |
create around 140 jobs within three years. What they want to do his own | :14:05. | :14:09. | |
a lighting Company in this country but with it UK management and a UK | :14:09. | :14:15. | |
feel. We sell UK products and it helps us in the UK but also to | :14:15. | :14:18. | |
export to other countries like Africa. According to the City | :14:18. | :14:20. | |
Council, Birmingham has attracted more Chinese investment than any | :14:20. | :14:25. | |
other city in the UK, since 2003. 600 jobs have been created and it | :14:25. | :14:30. | |
looks as if more are in the pipeline. China is not only | :14:30. | :14:34. | |
pursuing economic development... Lindsay Li's job is to help Chinese | :14:34. | :14:37. | |
businesses invest in the UK, and more of them want to come to the | :14:37. | :14:42. | |
West Midlands. From a region, south-west China, we now have maybe | :14:42. | :14:47. | |
16 active projects in the pipeline. So we are helping them to get to | :14:47. | :14:51. | |
the UK. But there remains the thorny issue of human rights in | :14:51. | :14:54. | |
China. A small protest group greeted the Chinese Premier at the | :14:54. | :14:57. | |
Chinese-owned MG Rover at Longbridge yesterday. But Downing | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
Street rejects suggestions trade is being secured at the expense of | :15:00. | :15:03. | |
human rights. Jeffrey Yap set up his laundry company in Birmingham | :15:03. | :15:11. | |
26 years ago. He hopes closer trade will lead to more openness. When | :15:11. | :15:16. | |
you let the cat out of the bag, you cannot put it back in. It is good | :15:16. | :15:23. | |
that China is now expanding, and engaging the West. And if that | :15:23. | :15:26. | |
opens the door to a potential market of over a billion people, | :15:26. | :15:34. | |
West Midlands businesses will be hoping to clean up. You were going | :15:34. | :15:43. | |
to speak as well, when -- weren't you! | :15:43. | :15:47. | |
You're watching Midlands Today from the BBC. Thanks for joining us this | :15:47. | :15:50. | |
Monday evening. Still to come, one day this car could drive itself. | :15:50. | :15:53. | |
It's under development at a new �10 million centre, which opened today. | :15:53. | :15:56. | |
And heading towards their centuries but still going strong. We'll be | :15:56. | :16:06. | |
:16:06. | :16:08. | ||
meeting the cricketing stars of Worcestershire's over-70s side. | :16:08. | :16:12. | |
Tens of thousands of pounds worth of trade is being lost in the | :16:12. | :16:14. | |
Midlands because of the ongoing conflict in Libya. The conflict has | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
now been underway for 100 days and one company has been forced to | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
abandon a growing export market to the North African country. Bob | :16:21. | :16:23. | |
Hockenhull reports. Business with Libya was expected to | :16:23. | :16:25. | |
double for this Birmingham wholesaler this year. Awan | :16:25. | :16:28. | |
Marketing exports goods ranging from chocolate to cleaning products | :16:28. | :16:31. | |
to the North African country. But it was forced to abandon a �150,000 | :16:31. | :16:34. | |
order from Libya earlier this year when no shipping was available | :16:34. | :16:39. | |
because of the troubles. We were stuck with this product and they | :16:39. | :16:44. | |
thought it may have been temporary. This lasted a few months and | :16:44. | :16:49. | |
eventually we had to liquidate the stock. We took a �25,000 loss. But | :16:49. | :16:55. | |
we see this as a short-term loss. Although it is painful, we hope the | :16:55. | :17:02. | |
climate will change. With it Europe struggling economically, this was | :17:02. | :17:07. | |
seen as a potentially good export market. That is until the trouble | :17:07. | :17:15. | |
started. I think the situation in Libya has undoubtedly depressed the | :17:16. | :17:20. | |
trade flows between our countries. If you are not getting the money, | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
you will go elsewhere. So it is not helpful. There is one thing the | :17:25. | :17:29. | |
Midlands is still exporting to Libya, though. Aid. The Birmingham- | :17:29. | :17:31. | |
based charity Islamic Relief has already sent �2 million worth of | :17:31. | :17:34. | |
medicines and food supplies. This recent footage shows the charity's | :17:34. | :17:37. | |
aid workers helping refugees on the Tunisian border. Moustafa Osman has | :17:37. | :17:46. | |
just returned from there. The more the war intensify his, the more we | :17:46. | :17:50. | |
will get refugees coming out of the country, so we have to prepare for | :17:50. | :17:54. | |
that and be prepared all the time. But with an arrest warrant now out | :17:54. | :17:57. | |
for Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, the hope is this conflict will end | :17:57. | :18:00. | |
soon so that business and not charity can be our main export to | :18:01. | :18:10. | |
:18:11. | :18:16. | ||
the troubled country. Around 50,000 Take That fans will | :18:16. | :18:19. | |
pour into Villa Park tonight for the first of two sell-out shows by | :18:19. | :18:22. | |
the pop superstars. For Stoke-on- Trent boy Robbie Williams, it's | :18:22. | :18:25. | |
almost a return to home turf. Our arts reporter, Lindsay Doyle, has | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
been following the build-up of excitement. Lindsay, Take That fans | :18:27. | :18:30. | |
have had a lot of publicity lately for being, well, rather exhuberant? | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
They certainly have a reputation and the guys here at Villa Park | :18:35. | :18:39. | |
have certainly been living up to that reputation. We have had | :18:39. | :18:42. | |
singing, flamboyant outfits and even screaming, and that was before | :18:43. | :18:48. | |
the doors opened. And the loss of the excitement seems to be down to | :18:49. | :18:58. | |
:18:59. | :18:59. | ||
a certain lad from Stoke. band's attendance records is | :18:59. | :19:03. | |
breaking other records. Are you going to come to the concert with | :19:03. | :19:11. | |
these masks? Yeah! We are. We have come from southern Ireland. It is a | :19:11. | :19:19. | |
long way. It is tiring. We cannot believe we are here. Are you going | :19:19. | :19:25. | |
to be screaming? Yes! The new show promises to be even more | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
spectacular than they show in 2008. With Robbie Williams touring with | :19:30. | :19:40. | |
:19:40. | :19:41. | ||
Take That for the first time since 1995. We are happy because the | :19:41. | :19:45. | |
hotel is full and so are many of the others, but the key is to offer | :19:45. | :19:49. | |
competitive rates to make sure the price of a concert ticket is not | :19:49. | :19:55. | |
going to be outweighed by the price of a hotel. Take That's popularity | :19:55. | :20:00. | |
has come a long way since the early 90s, to this. Back at the Villa | :20:00. | :20:06. | |
Park, there was decided confusion over the queue. It is an absolute | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
shambles in terms of the officials doing the queues. They are letting | :20:10. | :20:18. | |
people in the back. We have been waiting for three hours. Throughout | :20:18. | :20:26. | |
the day, fans were warned not to fall for fraudsters selling for | :20:26. | :20:30. | |
counterfeit goods. The quality of the T-shirts is poor, the money | :20:30. | :20:33. | |
does not go to the band and the money is likely to end up in the | :20:34. | :20:40. | |
pockets of criminal gangs. There will be selling drink inside the | :20:40. | :20:44. | |
stadium, so that is a concern. I think a planning we have done with | :20:44. | :20:48. | |
the club prior to this arrangement will make sure things pass safely | :20:48. | :20:52. | |
and I have made sure we have got sufficient resources on to achieve | :20:52. | :20:57. | |
that. Finally, the doors open for what is bound to be a great night. | :20:57. | :21:00. | |
This is a big concert, isn't it? When is the last time Birmingham | :21:00. | :21:05. | |
played host to such a big show? am told Villa Park has not played | :21:05. | :21:10. | |
host to such a show of on this scale since Bruce Springsteen last | :21:10. | :21:16. | |
played here, 16 years ago. They have to be up-to-date on current | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
police practices and they travel to Sunderland and Manchester, where | :21:20. | :21:24. | |
Take That have already played, and they took advice from police forces | :21:24. | :21:28. | |
there to ensure a smooth night tonight. In Manchester there were | :21:28. | :21:32. | |
reports of trouble involving some of the fans. What is the police | :21:32. | :21:41. | |
presence like there tonight? There are a lot of police. The trouble in | :21:41. | :21:47. | |
Manchester was slightly exaggerated by a tabloid, I have to say. There | :21:47. | :21:49. | |
was arrested for drunken and disorderly behaviour and a few were | :21:49. | :21:54. | |
rejected from the gig, but the police are confident. There are | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
enough officers here and the mood is fantastic. The crowd just seem | :21:57. | :22:01. | |
to want to have fun. I think they're going to have a great time! | :22:01. | :22:07. | |
Had lots of women, more than men. The region's motor industry | :22:07. | :22:10. | |
received another boost today with the opening of a new �10 million | :22:10. | :22:13. | |
test track. It will help companies like Jaguar Land Rover develop | :22:13. | :22:16. | |
technologies which could one day see the creation of cars which can | :22:16. | :22:19. | |
literally drive themselves. Satellite systems could also be | :22:19. | :22:22. | |
employed in congestion charging schemes. Our transport | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
correspondent, Peter Plisner, has more. | :22:25. | :22:28. | |
Driving forward to deliver a step change for automotive research and | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
development. This new road network is designed to replicate a city | :22:33. | :22:35. | |
centre environment where a whole host of new emerging technologies | :22:35. | :22:45. | |
:22:45. | :22:46. | ||
can be tested safely. This is about testing and demonstrating the new | :22:46. | :22:51. | |
generation of systems, where road vehicles will talk to each other | :22:51. | :22:55. | |
and talk by the infrastructure to each other, to deliver benefits in | :22:55. | :23:01. | |
terms of reduced congestion, safer driving, and so on. One of the cars | :23:01. | :23:05. | |
driving round the track today virtually drives itself. If your | :23:05. | :23:10. | |
car has got cruise control, you will probably be used to driving | :23:10. | :23:13. | |
without your foot on the accelerator. But this car knows | :23:13. | :23:17. | |
what the road looks like a head and what the speed limits are. By | :23:17. | :23:20. | |
taking control of braking and acceleration, the car delivers more | :23:20. | :23:26. | |
than 10% more miles to the gallon. The basic technology is quite | :23:26. | :23:30. | |
applicable to Electric and hybrid vehicles. As the numbers of those | :23:30. | :23:36. | |
increase in the marketplace, there's a push to get this out | :23:36. | :23:39. | |
there. Other technologies that could be tested here include | :23:39. | :23:41. | |
systems designed to work with congestion charging or road tolls, | :23:41. | :23:48. | |
and crash avoidance systems. That is part of the vision as well, but | :23:49. | :23:54. | |
to do that, you have to be able to have somewhere that you can have | :23:54. | :23:59. | |
cars put in a crash situations, and see whether they behave correctly | :23:59. | :24:03. | |
and don't have those crashes. might be a few years yet before we | :24:03. | :24:06. | |
get the car that never crashes, but chances are, it'll have been tested | :24:06. | :24:15. | |
here. Impressive stuff. | :24:15. | :24:25. | |
:24:25. | :24:28. | ||
Let's find out how the weather's Temperatures are high today. It is | :24:28. | :24:31. | |
Warwickshire and Worcestershire that were the hotspots today. | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
Temperatures ranging from 23 to 25 degrees. Showers were localised. | :24:38. | :24:43. | |
But apologies to Take That fans, because this evening, we are going | :24:43. | :24:47. | |
to see the peak in those showers. Some could be thundery, with | :24:47. | :24:53. | |
torrential downpours with up to 20 mm of rain in some places. But | :24:53. | :25:00. | |
there are shifting east, so things will turn dry. Still quite sticky | :25:00. | :25:04. | |
tonight, but you can see those values compared to last night, and | :25:04. | :25:10. | |
they are much cooler. The wind is easily as well, so a quiet start to | :25:10. | :25:15. | |
tomorrow. Perhaps some early- morning brightness, and that cloud | :25:15. | :25:20. | |
will set off sunlight breaks of rain, and then they die away. But | :25:20. | :25:26. | |
some late sunshine and again, temperatures are cooler. Still | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
quite a humid, but is due -- it is during the rest of the week it is | :25:30. | :25:37. | |
Now, if you're worried you might be getting too old to play your | :25:37. | :25:41. | |
favourite sport, you might want to think again. Today, a group of | :25:41. | :25:43. | |
cricketers have been showing that age is no barrier to competitive | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
sport. Dan Pallett went along to Malvern to watch Worcestershire's | :25:46. | :25:49. | |
over-70s in action against Sussex. Every dressing room needs a | :25:49. | :25:53. | |
sprinkling of experience. This is one that has it in abundance. Meet | :25:53. | :25:57. | |
Worcestershire's finest, in the over-70 bracket. The only | :25:57. | :26:01. | |
difference is now, we have put a spare coffin in their dressing room, | :26:01. | :26:06. | |
in case it is needed! And we have some extra oxygen cylinders. We | :26:06. | :26:11. | |
don't have a drink at half-time, we get out the oxygen. A nice gentle | :26:11. | :26:14. | |
warm-up doesn't hurt. But these are campaigners who know just how to | :26:14. | :26:16. | |
reach their peak with minimal effort. Players like 77-year-old | :26:16. | :26:20. | |
Tony Neel. He played his first match in 1949. This week he's | :26:20. | :26:26. | |
playing four times in eight days. How does your body feel the day | :26:26. | :26:32. | |
after? Well, I don't seem to be expected to run very much in the | :26:32. | :26:38. | |
field, so I am fine. I don't struggle. And it doesn't take long | :26:38. | :26:41. | |
to see why he opens the bowling. The Sussex batsmen struggled to | :26:41. | :26:45. | |
score off him. Of course, they don't move as well as they used to. | :26:45. | :26:52. | |
But this was competitive, with both sides defending unbeaten records. | :26:52. | :26:57. | |
16 overs gone, they have soon emptied this squash. Thirsty work. | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
But if there's one thing that can inspire a senior cricketer through | :27:00. | :27:03. | |
a tough session, it's the thought of those delicious teas waiting for | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
them in the pavilion. What do you make of these fellows still playing | :27:06. | :27:10. | |
cricket? I think it is absolutely wonderful. My old man loves it. | :27:10. | :27:15. | |
am very pleased. It means they can carry on playing cricket from when | :27:15. | :27:19. | |
they were young boys. It seems the launch of an over-80s league is | :27:19. | :27:28. | |
only a matter of time. That looked delicious. And Sussex | :27:28. | :27:34. | |
are on the verge of victory, incidentally. Just one wicket left. | :27:34. | :27:37. | |
A look at tonight's main headlines: Hundreds of thousands of public | :27:37. | :27:40. |