:00:09. > :00:15.Hello. Welcome to the programme. The headlines. 200 jobs to go at
:00:15. > :00:20.Cadbury, but American owners Kraft Foods say they and investing �50
:00:20. > :00:22.million in the business. We will try to reduce the implications for
:00:22. > :00:27.the work force and make sure they are treated with fairness and
:00:27. > :00:33.dignity to stop chaos on the railways, as over headlines come
:00:33. > :00:38.down leaving commuters to walk along the tracks. There was a huge
:00:38. > :00:44.flash, forward by this sound that was the cable hitting the roof of
:00:44. > :00:49.the train. And the Prince of Wales surprises troops with a surprise
:00:49. > :00:53.visit to their hospital in Birmingham. And an appeal to save
:00:53. > :01:03.Coventry's ice hockey team, as sponsorship cash tills to
:01:03. > :01:03.
:01:03. > :01:08.materialise. -- fails. Good evening, welcome to Tuesday's Midlands Today
:01:08. > :01:14.from the BBC. Tonight: Job losses at Cadbury. American owners Kraft
:01:14. > :01:17.say hundreds of jobs are to go at three factories. So let's look at
:01:17. > :01:19.those plans. Around 200 jobs will be lost at the chocolate maker's
:01:19. > :01:23.headquarters in Bournville in Birmingham, Marlbrook in
:01:23. > :01:26.Herefordshire and Chirk near Oswestry. Kraft say the cuts are
:01:26. > :01:29.essential as part of a �50 million investment plan to expand
:01:29. > :01:34.production in the UK. But tonight unions warned they would not accept
:01:35. > :01:37.compulsory redundancies. Here's Bob Hockenhull. The run-up to Christmas
:01:38. > :01:40.- a busy time for Cadbury- but today the company's owners Kraft
:01:40. > :01:43.Foods revealed they'll be making chocolate with a smaller workforce
:01:43. > :01:45.in future. 200 jobs are to go across three factories in
:01:45. > :01:55.Bournville in Birmingham, Herefordshire and Chirk near
:01:55. > :01:56.
:01:56. > :02:01.Oswestry. It is a shock, and where to King it in. The trade union is
:02:01. > :02:04.totally opposed to compulsory redundancies, and if there are any,
:02:05. > :02:12.we want to make sure there will -- that these will be on a voluntary
:02:12. > :02:14.basis. The jobs will go as part of a �50 million investment programme.
:02:14. > :02:17.Kraft Foods says new production lines using the latest technology
:02:17. > :02:22.will be created at its sites to increase productivity. But the
:02:22. > :02:27.restructuring will need fewer staff. When Kraft Foods a quiet Cadbury in
:02:27. > :02:32.2010 it gave a two-year commitment that no jobs would be cut. Since
:02:32. > :02:40.none of these 200 posts will be lost before March 2012, the company
:02:40. > :02:43.insists that it is sticking to its work. -- word. Despite the job
:02:43. > :02:47.losses, Kraft Foods is keen to put a positive spin on today's
:02:47. > :02:52.announcement. This is not about jobs reduction, this is about
:02:52. > :02:57.investment. And this is the key point. It is great that we are
:02:57. > :03:02.investing in the factory and in this site, here. The changes come
:03:02. > :03:04.as Kraft Foods -with an estimated �30 billion turnover- splits in two.
:03:04. > :03:07.American boss Irene Rosenfeld - who wouldn't face MPs over questions
:03:07. > :03:13.about job concerns, remains in charge of confectionery - so has
:03:13. > :03:23.the ultimate say on Cadbury. Our business correspondent Peter
:03:23. > :03:26.Plisner is at Cadbury's Bournville HQ now. Peter, Kraft say the job
:03:26. > :03:28.cuts are needed as part of multi- million pound investment plan, but
:03:28. > :03:34.usually investment means creating jobs, not shedding them. In this
:03:34. > :03:38.case, investment in new technology means investment in automation and
:03:38. > :03:43.greater productivity which means fewer jobs. Canberra will not say
:03:43. > :03:47.which of the West Midlands sites these jobs are going at yet. It
:03:47. > :03:53.hopes to make the job cuts through voluntary redundancies. The unions
:03:53. > :03:59.are concerned that business leaders are welcoming the investment in
:03:59. > :04:03.this and other plans. I am joined by Ceri Blackett from the Chamber
:04:03. > :04:07.of Commerce. Good news about the investment, bad news about their
:04:07. > :04:12.jobs. The says about the future of this wonderful business, globally,
:04:12. > :04:17.and it is about building a sustainable number of jobs. We want
:04:17. > :04:24.jobs for the long-term and that is what this announcement is saying.
:04:24. > :04:29.Kraft Foods have said no job losses were two years, and right on the
:04:29. > :04:34.bed lying, have announced job cuts. It would be foolish do expect long-
:04:34. > :04:38.term job guarantees in a competitive business like this.
:04:38. > :04:43.This is Rav Boots and Cadbury saying they are investing in this
:04:43. > :04:49.area. There is a lot of good news. It is sad to see some jobs go, but
:04:49. > :04:53.this is about long-term, sustainable jobs. When Cadbury was
:04:54. > :05:02.taken over by Kraft Foods it was feared that some more factories
:05:02. > :05:10.could go. Tonight, that looks less likely with this and this month. --
:05:10. > :05:16.this investment. Meanwhile, 220 jobs are under threat at a
:05:16. > :05:19.Birmingham manufacturing company. Tucker Fasteners has been based in
:05:19. > :05:22.Perry Barr for more than 100 years. But its parent company, Stanley
:05:22. > :05:24.Black and Decker, wants to stop production with the work moving to
:05:24. > :05:27.Germany. The company says the plant has made consistent losses since
:05:27. > :05:29.1999. And later in tonight's programme forging new business
:05:29. > :05:32.links with the growing economies of the Far East. Birmingham
:05:32. > :05:36.International Airport and Chinese- owned MG cars link up to push for
:05:36. > :05:46.direct flights to China. There's been chaos today on the region's
:05:46. > :05:48.busiest rail line. An overhead power cable came down at Penkridge
:05:48. > :05:51.in Staffordshire at around 8:30am this morning, causing the closure
:05:51. > :05:53.of the entire line between Stafford and Wolverhampton and affecting
:05:53. > :05:56.services to Birmingham. These passengers were evacuated from one
:05:56. > :05:59.of the affected trains after the damaged power line hit the top of
:05:59. > :06:04.the carriages. They waited two hours before someone came to escort
:06:04. > :06:11.them off the train and lead them to safety down the tracks. He had just
:06:11. > :06:15.come through Penkridge, and then there was a huge pink flash, and
:06:15. > :06:19.then some clattering sounds which was the Cable's hitting the roof of
:06:20. > :06:27.the train, and one of the cables damaged the window opposite me. It
:06:27. > :06:30.was a bit startling. correspondent David Gregory is at
:06:30. > :06:40.Penkridge station for us now - so what's happening there, David? And
:06:40. > :06:55.
:06:55. > :06:59.what do they think went wrong? There you go, that is the first
:06:59. > :07:03.trio of the day, through Penkridge station. Repair crews will be
:07:03. > :07:07.closing this line again and going back to repair the overhead
:07:07. > :07:14.electrical cables at a cost these problems and it is hoped that all
:07:14. > :07:19.trains will be back to normal tomorrow morning. What do they
:07:19. > :07:22.Think went wrong? There was a problem with the overhead cable
:07:22. > :07:28.yesterday which was repaired overnight and when the first train
:07:28. > :07:32.went through, the cable became wrapped around the component on the
:07:32. > :07:36.top of the train that draws power from the cable. That was pulled
:07:36. > :07:42.down, and that is what that passenger was describing to oz
:07:42. > :07:51.earlier. When crews get back to repair this component, hopefully,
:07:51. > :07:54.the chaos that we have seen today will not be repeated tomorrow.
:07:54. > :07:57.families of wounded servicemen and women will be able to stay close to
:07:57. > :08:00.their loved ones after a donation from the News of the World
:08:00. > :08:02.newspaper. After it shut in the phone hacking scandal, the
:08:02. > :08:05.newspaper gave �1 million which will go towards accommodation at
:08:05. > :08:08.the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham. Today, the
:08:08. > :08:12.Prince of Wales visited the centre at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to
:08:12. > :08:15.talk to troops wounded in Afghanistan. Andy Newman reports.
:08:15. > :08:18.He's becoming something of a familiar figure at the QE. Prince
:08:18. > :08:26.Charles been averaging three visits a year and always aims to come once
:08:26. > :08:29.in the run up to Christmas. Despite there being no pre-publicity a
:08:29. > :08:32.spontaneous crowd greeted him with real warms and affection each
:08:33. > :08:36.hoping to be rewarded with a royal handshake or hello. Then it was
:08:36. > :08:38.upstairs to the business of the day - first to meet the medical staff
:08:39. > :08:44.treating servicemen at the royal centre for defence medicine before
:08:44. > :08:47.disappearing for the private part of his visit. The Prince is meeting
:08:47. > :08:50.15 servicemen being treated and the special military what, and we have
:08:50. > :08:55.not been allowed to film that because some of them are still
:08:55. > :09:00.traumatised, having only recently been removed from the battlefield.
:09:00. > :09:03.It is a morale booster for everybody. He takes a real interest
:09:03. > :09:13.in the patients and the staff, which introduced a better patient
:09:13. > :09:15.
:09:15. > :09:17.care. Elsewhere at the hospital it was business as unusual as fund
:09:17. > :09:20.raisers confirmed that they're on track to build a residential centre
:09:20. > :09:24.for service personnel and their families, a project kick started by
:09:24. > :09:26.a donation of nearly �1 million from the News of the World when it
:09:26. > :09:29.closed. After spending nearly two hours with the injured servicemen
:09:29. > :09:33.The Prince meanwhile was ready to leave, but he'll be back again soon,
:09:33. > :09:35.you can bank on it. It is going to be a centre where military patients
:09:35. > :09:37.can spend some time with their families and friends and their
:09:37. > :09:39.friends from the regiment in an non-clinical environment. It is
:09:39. > :09:42.also going to provide overnight accommodation for the families of
:09:42. > :09:52.those military patients. The Prince, meanwhile, was ready to lead. But
:09:52. > :09:53.
:09:53. > :09:56.he will be back again soon, you can bank on it. -- ready to leave. Five
:09:56. > :09:58.members from a regiment recently returned from Afghanistan have been
:09:58. > :10:01.presented with bravery awards by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The
:10:01. > :10:04.men are from the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment. For several
:10:04. > :10:11.years they've been based at Tern Hill in Shropshire, which has
:10:11. > :10:14.become the regiment's adopted home. Joan Cummins reports. In their
:10:14. > :10:23.third tour of Afghanistan, The Royal Irish lost three men. All
:10:23. > :10:26.remembered in today's presentations at Buckingham Palace. In the
:10:26. > :10:28.regiments own photographic records, the impact of the shropshire based
:10:28. > :10:31.team in Afghanistan is clear. Today, Leuitenant Paul McFarland was
:10:31. > :10:34.awarded the Military Cross for using his own body as a human
:10:35. > :10:39.shield to protect a collegue in a grenade attack. The boys do things
:10:39. > :10:49.like that across Afghanistan almost every day. It is a credit to
:10:49. > :10:54.
:10:54. > :10:57.everyone. Just a bunch of guys, looking after each other. Sgt Peter
:10:57. > :11:01.Keogh's mother cried when he told her he was to get the Military
:11:01. > :11:04.Cross. He'd shown "exceptional courage" by making himself a target
:11:04. > :11:09.for the Taliban enabling a stretcher party to reach a
:11:09. > :11:15.helicopter. He sees the medal as a thank you to all his regiment.
:11:15. > :11:23.is a great honour. I work with pride, but just for myself but for
:11:23. > :11:30.the guys in the battalion who were her. So it was a great honour. --
:11:30. > :11:32.who were hurt. And an MBE has been awarded to Major Jamie Humphries
:11:32. > :11:36.for his work in defeating insurgents,but he remains modest
:11:36. > :11:41.about his involvement. I was just lucky, or unlucky, enough that the
:11:41. > :11:47.every I was was was well for was particularly busy. There is no way
:11:47. > :11:50.that what I did was any different to what anyone else had done.
:11:50. > :12:00.the men told me that despite the circumstances they were touched by
:12:00. > :12:04.the hospitality of the Afghan people.. Still to come: We told you
:12:04. > :12:07.it was cold, didn't we? This morning, drivers in the north of
:12:07. > :12:14.the region woke up to their first significant snow of the winter.
:12:14. > :12:18.More to come, Shefali? It looks like that could be, near the end of
:12:18. > :12:22.the week, the result of an Arctic blast. And the indications are that
:12:22. > :12:32.it could be more than just a dusting of snow. All the details
:12:32. > :12:36.
:12:36. > :12:39.later. Chinese-owned MG Motor company has teamed up with
:12:39. > :12:42.Birmingham Airport with aim of getting a direct flight to Shanghai
:12:42. > :12:48.in China. It would be a big boost for businesses here, opening up new
:12:48. > :12:52.potential markets as our political editor Patrick Burns reports. As
:12:52. > :12:55.branding exercises go, this one was clear enough and so was the message
:12:55. > :12:58.behind it. You can fly from Birmingham to the Far East, but not
:12:58. > :13:01.without stopping somewhere along the way. These MGs have come from
:13:01. > :13:04.no further afield than Longbridge, where 400 people now work at the
:13:04. > :13:07.new model car plant. But lengthening this runway would
:13:07. > :13:13.enable direct flights to the home of their parent company, Shanghai
:13:14. > :13:22.Automotive. What we're trying to do is work together with the local
:13:22. > :13:28.community, the local companies, to make us get better off from the
:13:28. > :13:31.recession. Without improving links to the biggest emerging economy it
:13:31. > :13:34.would be hard to sustain the region's claims to be a serious
:13:34. > :13:41.player in global markets. You can look at Russia and Indonesia and
:13:41. > :13:49.Brazil, who also want to connect with the UK, we still have a brick
:13:49. > :13:52.economy. It is still a very strong economy. MG hope their �50 million
:13:52. > :13:56.investment in the Midlands is just the start. The Chinese car market
:13:56. > :14:02.is already more than ten times the size of the UK's. It's all about
:14:02. > :14:04.leverage. MG have leverage with their parent company Shanghai
:14:04. > :14:07.Automotive. They have leverage with the Chinese Government. They
:14:07. > :14:11.certainly have leverage with the airlines. So the airport plan to
:14:11. > :14:21.pull all these levers for the benefit of the W Midlands economy.
:14:21. > :14:24.
:14:24. > :14:28.-- West Midlands. Time for the sports news now. There's another
:14:28. > :14:31.sports team in Coventry with money troubles. Who is it this time? The
:14:31. > :14:34.Coventry Blaze ice hockey team say they have just a month to survive
:14:34. > :14:36.after unpaid sponsorship and a big drop in attendances left them
:14:36. > :14:39.strapped for cash. They have now launched a fundraising push
:14:39. > :14:42.starting with Saturday's home game against the Sheffield Sharks. Ice
:14:42. > :14:46.hockey's a tough sport - and for the Coventry Blaze it just got
:14:46. > :14:49.tougher. They were working hard on the ice today - but their problems
:14:49. > :14:56.are off it. They've got money troubles and they've got just a
:14:56. > :15:01.month before it runs out. Right that, it is a pretty serious
:15:01. > :15:06.situation. If we don't come out and announce that we need the support
:15:06. > :15:10.and help from fans and sponsors, unless there was a real need, and
:15:10. > :15:14.we find ourselves in a bit of difficulty and we need help to get
:15:14. > :15:20.through December. The main problem stems from the club sponsor
:15:20. > :15:22.Coventry-based CPP Manufacturing. Their major shareholder, Lithuanian
:15:22. > :15:25.businessman Vladimir Antonov, has been arrested on suspicion of fraud
:15:25. > :15:28.and his assets have been frozen. And that means no money flowing
:15:28. > :15:31.into the Blaze. But attendances are also down this season, so ticket
:15:31. > :15:38.revenue has fallen by 20%. Head coach Paul Thompson is drumming up
:15:38. > :15:42.support and trying to keep the players focused. You are
:15:42. > :15:49.professional player. The clubbers in financial trouble. Christmas is
:15:49. > :15:55.coming. Nobody is looking to leave. I cannot ask any more from these
:15:55. > :15:59.guys. The fans are coming together. We are a special club. We have had
:15:59. > :16:05.special times together. We are appealing to local people to come
:16:05. > :16:11.out and support us. We have been here for 12 years, we want to be
:16:11. > :16:14.here for the next 30 years. Thompson just like general manager
:16:14. > :16:18.James Pease has been with the club for 12 years in Coventry - so they
:16:18. > :16:21.are hurting more than most at the moment. They hope the city will
:16:21. > :16:23.back the club - starting with Saturday's home game against
:16:23. > :16:29.Sheffield Steelers. The Blaze have been a success story. The 2010
:16:29. > :16:32.elite league title was their fourth in the last seven years. But if the
:16:32. > :16:42.fans don't return in numbers, they might not have a club by the New
:16:42. > :16:48.Year. So just how bad are their probems? Extremely serious, but it
:16:48. > :16:52.is a cashflow problem and they the people to come to the matches, fast.
:16:52. > :17:02.Just 1600 people at the game when Saturday. They the people to come
:17:02. > :17:03.
:17:03. > :17:08.out, through December, so that they can start turning the clock round.
:17:08. > :17:12.Coventry rugby club got relegated to the third tour of rugby. The
:17:12. > :17:17.Football Club is faking fires as well. The Coventry blaze has been a
:17:17. > :17:22.success story, but it is just another thing to be depressed about
:17:22. > :17:26.in the City of Coventry, on the sporting front. Let us hope that
:17:26. > :17:34.they can turn that Brad. Why do I know that been, and Vladimir Anton
:17:34. > :17:44.of? He is the chairman of Portsmouth Football Club, so he has
:17:44. > :17:47.
:17:47. > :17:50.been in the headlines because of that, as well. -- Vladimir Antonov.
:17:50. > :17:53.12 months ago, we followed Bert Williams to Buckingham Palace to
:17:53. > :17:56.receive his MBE from the Queen. Now, there's another honour for the
:17:56. > :17:59.former Wolves and England goalkeeper. Bert, who will be 92
:17:59. > :18:02.next month, has just opened the new leisure centre in his home town of
:18:02. > :18:12.Bilston, near Wolverhampton. And it's been named in his honour, as
:18:12. > :18:14.
:18:14. > :18:17.Ian Winter reports. Old friends reunited. Whenever Bert Williams
:18:17. > :18:20.comes back home to Bilston he is always treated like royalty. And
:18:20. > :18:24.he's always so humbled by the genuine warmth of the Black Country
:18:24. > :18:27.welcome. But this was extra special. Because Bert was the VIP guest to
:18:27. > :18:36.open Bilston's new leisure centre, named in his honour. This is for
:18:36. > :18:39.all of you. Thank you very much were coming. A proud moment indeed
:18:39. > :18:42.for Bert, who was born in nearby Bradley back in 1920. On this very
:18:42. > :18:45.spot where the new centre now stands. He spent countless hours
:18:45. > :18:50.playing football. He went on to become a goalkeeping legend with
:18:50. > :18:54.Wolverhampton Wanderers and England. Billy Wright and Norman Plummer
:18:54. > :19:04.head the all West Midlands teams onto the turf, for football's game
:19:04. > :19:07.
:19:07. > :19:11.of the year. In 1949, Bert helped Wolves win the FA Cup at Wembley in
:19:11. > :19:14.front of the future Queen, and went on to play more than 400 games for
:19:14. > :19:17.his favourite club, plus 24 caps for England. So who better than
:19:17. > :19:20.Bert himself to give me a guided tour, to see for ourselves the
:19:20. > :19:22.state of the art facilities, costing almost �19 million. I have
:19:22. > :19:26.never in my wildest dreams, would I believe that this could happen. It
:19:27. > :19:30.is the finest sports centre I have seen a man live. Everywhere we went,
:19:30. > :19:34.his eyes were as wide as saucers. Growing up in Bilston, young Bert
:19:34. > :19:44.never dreamt of anything like this. It is a place to be proud of, isn't
:19:44. > :19:44.
:19:44. > :19:48.it, really? He used to go swimming in the filthy canal, like all the
:19:48. > :19:54.kids did. Now there's a 25 metre pool, warm and inviting. It makes
:19:54. > :20:01.you feel like jumping in and joining them. And as for the new
:20:01. > :20:08.fitness room, its in a league of its own. 100 workstations year.
:20:08. > :20:12.is unbelievable. Everything here is on a grand scale. He is a legend
:20:12. > :20:20.around here, and he has come back home, forever, in the name of this
:20:20. > :20:24.building. Dennis Turner, now Lord Bilston, is one of Bert's lifelong
:20:24. > :20:30.friends. They've never lost touch with their Black Country roots. And
:20:30. > :20:40.when Bert turns 92 next month, he could not wish for a better gift
:20:40. > :20:46.
:20:46. > :20:49.than the leisure centre that bears his name. Staying with sport, now.
:20:49. > :20:52.Bill Sayer from Shrewsbury has a passion and it's rowing. Half a
:20:52. > :20:56.century ago as a student he rowed for Cambridge University. Later, he
:20:56. > :20:59.became a coach and now you can find him most days at the Pengwern Boat
:20:59. > :21:02.Club on the River Severn, helping local youngsters develop their
:21:02. > :21:04.talent. Nadine Towell has been to meet the last of our five finalists
:21:04. > :21:11.in this year's BBC Midlands Sports Unsung Hero competition. Pengwern
:21:11. > :21:14.Boat Club in Shrewsbury is like a second home for Bill Sayer. At
:21:14. > :21:18.least five days every week, he and his wife Margaret are here,
:21:18. > :21:22.dedicating hour after hour to the club's junior members. It does not
:21:22. > :21:27.matter what level, if they are enjoying themselves and you'll do
:21:27. > :21:33.it is rewarding for them, then it is rewarding for me. -- and
:21:33. > :21:36.fuelling that it is rewarding. Robbie Massey was an undiscovered
:21:36. > :21:38.talent until Bill spotted his potential. Seen here rowing
:21:38. > :21:41.competitively in the Pengwern colours, recent results mean
:21:41. > :21:45.Robbie's now one of the best young rowers in the country. His father
:21:45. > :21:51.nominated Bill for our Unsung Hero award. Robbie is straining with the
:21:51. > :22:01.Welsh squad in Cardiff. He has learned so much from Bill, who has
:22:01. > :22:03.coached and encouraged him and transformed his life. During the
:22:03. > :22:06.winter months weekday training is restricted to improving rowers'
:22:06. > :22:09.technique on the indoor machines. But at the weekends they take to
:22:09. > :22:12.the river. This Sunday, Bill and Margaret weren't here - they were
:22:12. > :22:16.on their way home from a well- deserved holiday. But despite their
:22:16. > :22:21.absence, their influence was still being felt. He is a very skilled
:22:21. > :22:29.coach, as we can see, from how far will be has gone. He is so positive
:22:29. > :22:37.in everything you do, and he cares about us as individuals. He goes to
:22:37. > :22:45.all the races. He does not get paid or anything. He just does it for us.
:22:45. > :22:48.Bill's knowledge of the sport is widely respected. And whether it's
:22:48. > :22:51.top-class rowers or absolute beginners there's no doubting his
:22:51. > :22:54.motivation and dedication, not to mention his modesty. I am very
:22:54. > :23:00.conscious that there are lots of other volunteer sports coaches who
:23:00. > :23:06.do a great deal, and I have a great deal of respect for them, I just do
:23:06. > :23:09.it because I like it, and I did not expect this at all. There's a
:23:09. > :23:18.waiting list for junior members at this club. According to the people
:23:18. > :23:26.here that's largely thanks to the unsung efforts of Bill Sayer. Have
:23:26. > :23:33.you ever done any rowing? Only a tiny bit on the river on Stratford.
:23:33. > :23:36.That is what made me the rugged figure I am today! And, tomorrow
:23:36. > :23:45.night, one of the five people we've featured who give up their time to
:23:45. > :23:49.help others will be named our Unsung Sporting Hero for 2011. This
:23:49. > :23:52.time last year, the mercury had plunged and we were in the midst of
:23:52. > :23:55.icy blasts and snowstorms. It turned out to be the coldest winter
:23:55. > :23:58.for 30 years. Although it's been milder so far, families in the
:23:58. > :24:02.north of the region woke up to the first significant snow of the
:24:02. > :24:05.winter. Here's our Staffordshire reporter, Liz Copper. On the Leek
:24:05. > :24:11.to Buxton road the craggy rocks of the Roaches are blanketted. And
:24:11. > :24:16.there are drifts along the country lanes and dry stone walls. These
:24:16. > :24:21.peak District roads are some of the highest in England. After such a
:24:21. > :24:27.mild autumn, this is the first snowfall of winter. And this couple,
:24:27. > :24:32.near the village of Flash, were enjoying the picture-perfect scenes.
:24:33. > :24:38.My girlfriend has come over from Thailand. Andrew main ambition,
:24:38. > :24:42.apart from to be with me, was to cease no, so we came up when we
:24:42. > :24:50.have the snow forecast on the local radio. It is the first time she has
:24:50. > :24:53.seen the snow. It is beautiful. Very happy! This time last year
:24:53. > :24:56.these were the scenes in the Moorlands. They were the heaviest
:24:56. > :24:58.snowfalls for many years. This year, it's much less severe, but
:24:58. > :25:05.nevertheless snowploughs are already out - and gritters will be
:25:05. > :25:09.on the roads tonight. This is the second year that we have had to
:25:09. > :25:15.have 2,000 tonnes of grit. Before, we only used to keep 15,000. Two
:25:15. > :25:20.years ago we all got caught short, as a nation, and we did not intend
:25:20. > :25:25.to again. We have the cold this winter in 100 years last year. We
:25:25. > :25:30.have got 700 tonnes of grit coming in today, so we are replacing it,
:25:30. > :25:34.as we use it, so we have always got reserve stock. This may be the
:25:34. > :25:42.first coating of snow this year - but here in the Peak District,
:25:42. > :25:52.they're braced for more icy weather to come. That broke his epic, from
:25:52. > :25:57.
:25:57. > :25:59.leaked to Buxton, I tell you. -- that road is epic. Here's Shefali.
:25:59. > :26:06.Last night's snow over Staffordshire isn't the only snow
:26:06. > :26:13.of the week. We're looking at further snow, Thursday night into
:26:13. > :26:21.Friday. So far as tonight those, we're not going to see too much
:26:21. > :26:25.snow, but we have blustery showers to the north. Showers rattling in
:26:25. > :26:31.from the West. That is where the majority of the concentration of
:26:31. > :26:39.showers has been. Just a few of them could turn to snow, over the
:26:39. > :26:44.Staffordshire merlons. We're looking at dusts of 50 mph, and
:26:44. > :26:50.respect of that, temperatures could fall as low as Deal Celsius. That
:26:50. > :26:54.will bring a Prost. You could be scraping the eyes of your
:26:54. > :27:00.windscreens by tomorrow. We have a lovely sunny start tomorrow,
:27:00. > :27:08.although it will be a windy day. Temperatures, coupler degrees
:27:08. > :27:12.higher than today at around five- seven Celsius. Tomorrow night, a
:27:12. > :27:22.warm front coming through. It is going to be milder, but we and
:27:22. > :27:24.
:27:24. > :27:26.windy. A look at tonight's main headlines: There's been
:27:26. > :27:31.unprecedented violence in Afghanistan - bomb attacks across