07/12/2011 Midlands Today

Hello and welcome to Midlands Today, with Nick Owen and Suzanne Virdee.

The headlines tonight: Too expensive and out of reach for

people on average pay - home truths about the region's broken housing

market. The rents, the council tax with bills on top, and then trying

to save for a deposit does make it very hard.

A court's told a soldier who tried to blow up a Mosque was a member of

the English Defence League and the BNP.

More chaos on the railways as overhead cables snap again, causing

long delays for passengers. It's horrendous but at that time of the

morning, that's how it's going to be. We got here as quickly as we

possibly could. And in court again. Birmingham

City's owner, Carson Yeung, says he'll be denying charges of money-

Good evening, welcome to Wednesday's Midlands Today, from

the BBC. Tonight, warnings that the region's housing market is broken,

with average-priced homes way out of reach of people on average pay.

A report released today by the National Housing Federation shows

the average home in the region costs just under �178,000. That's

nine times the average wage of just under �20,000. The most expensive

place to live is South Shropshire, where house prices are 14 times the

average wage. Joanne Writtle has this report.

Ludlow has, for some time, attracted early retired housebuyers

from more affluent parts of the country, its reputation for gourmet

food and a slower pace of life making it attractive. But the

average house price is now �240,000 - 14 times the average income of

�17,000 - according to a report by the National Housing Federation.

Making it tough for 28-year-old estate agent Jamie Tulloch,

struggling to get on the property ladder here at all. He's paying

�500 a month in rent with his girlfriend as they save to buy

their first home. It is a bit depressing. But of course, you know,

that is the situation we are in. Can't do much about it so you just

need to keep saving and eventually, hopefully I'll have enough for a

deposit. Although the average house price here is �240,000, a typical

two-bedroom starter home is �100,000 to �120,000, according to

this estate agent. In fact, 75% of sales here are to people moving in

from other areas, often London. lot of avoid young people here to

move away for College, University. -- a lot of our young people. It is

more towards the fact that there are not as many jobs in the area

for alloy young people, to encourage them to stay in the area.

-- for our young people. I am looking to buy a house. But it is

hard. To earn a decent wage is really difficult at this time, for

young people especially. After South Shropshire, the Malvern Hills

is the next least affordable place to live, the average home costing

just under 14 times the average wage. Next is Stratford-on-Avon,

Herefordshire and Wychavon, in Worcestershire. At the other end of

the scale is Stoke-on-Trent, but the average price is still five

times the average wage. I think what we need is much more attention

from a government on housing issues to get more products in place to

help people save for homes and build more houses sell it becomes

more affordable for them to buy, went or go on social housing

waiting lists. -- to rent. estate agent we spoke to sold half

of the houses on this affordable homes development on a part-

ownership basis, where residents own a percentage. The other half

are rented out. For Jamie Tulloch, owning a home is a long way off. He

was brought up in Ludlow and has his sights set on being able to

stay here. Well, let's go live now to

Westminister and speak to Loreley Burt, the MP for Solihull, who

hosted a reception today where that National Housing Federation report

was launched. Thank you for joining us this evening. We've heard

there's a huge gap between average wages and average house prices and

banks not lending. Buying a home is simply out of reach for many, isn't

it? It is a real challenge and as a coalition government, what we are

looking to do is getting a mortgage indemnity scheme to encourage

builders to build new homes for buyers and they can get up to 95%

of the value of their home to borrow. So I think that will be

helpful but there's a huge problem here and I don't think we need to

underestimate it, really. What about part ownership? What is the

Government doing to encourage that? With regard to social housing, they

do have a special ability to borrow and also I have been talking to

companies today who are able to use sources like pension funds, who

want to invest in long-term borrowing. So I think there are a

number of avenues opened and we are keen to help and support in any of

those areas. There has been a lot of talk about building new homes.

Do you think that will impinge on the green belt? And there are many

empty properties that could be renovated? Yes, and we are taking

measures to help restore empty properties as well. A lot of things

we can do to properties to make them habitable. People of those

properties are we really need to help with those renovations as well.

Thank you for joining us. Thanks for joining us this

Wednesday evening. Still ahead tonight, Harry Potter stars open a

brand new teenage cancer unit. A soldier accused of trying to set

fire to a mosque has admitted being a member of the English Defence

League and the British National Party. Simon Beech is charged with

arson after allegedly carrying out an attack on the mosque in Stoke-

on-Trent. He's accused, along with Garreth Foster, of running a pipe

into the building from a nearby gas meter. Our Staffordshire reporter,

Liz Copper, has been in court. Members of the Regent Road Mosque

Committee were in court to hear Simon Beech and Garreth Foster deny

any involvement in the arson attack. Simon Beech, a serving soldier at

the time of fire, said he'd joined the English Defence League when he

joined the Army. He said the EDL was against Muslim extremists. He

was asked about comments he'd posted on his Facebook page. He'd

written, "They burn our poppies, we burn their place. Burn the lot of

them out". Mr Beech said he didn't accept his views were extreme. He

was also asked about a text message he'd sent to Garreth Foster, who's

standing trail alongside him. It was sent around a month before the

fire and read, "Eh-up, lad, up for blowing up that...hole?". He said

the message didn't refer to the mosque but a fox hole near his home.

Mr Foster said he'd never picked up the message. This was the scene at

the mosque following the fire in December last year. It caused

damage put at more than �50,000. Both men admit visiting the

building but said they did so to look for timber. They both said

they'd seen the emergency services at the scene but they hadn't been

responsible in any way for the fire. Paul Spratt, for the prosecution,

put it to Mr Beech that the arson was a revenge attack and he'd

wanted to show he was a man of action. Mr Beech denied the

prosecution's claims. During their evidence, the men were both asked

whether they were racist. They said they were not. Both men deny arson

and the jury is expected to begin considering its verdict tomorrow.

There have been more long delays on the region's main rail route today.

Thousands of rush-hour commuters were caught up in the chaos on the

West Coast Main Line after overhead cables were brought down by a train

between Wolverhampton and Stafford for the second time in 24 hours.

Ben Godfrey reports. There appeared to be more coaches

and trains at Wolverhampton Railway Station this morning. 4,000, this

was a third Russia of going nowhere fast. -- for thousands of people,

this was a third at rush-hour. has taken quite long. The coach was

a bit tight. Everything is a bit tight. The traffic is horrendous

but at that time of the morning, that is how it will be. Today, we

learned the live cables which fell on to a passenger train yesterday

morning had received repairs the night before. But another train on

the line near Penkridge pull them down again. The line reopened at

10am this morning, only after engineers worked through the night,

battling high wind. 36 hours of delays and an apology from Network

Rail. I apologise to everybody who has been affected because we have

had a period where, for virtually 36 hours, there or no trains at all

between Stafford and Wolverhampton. But even this morning, even the

station manager was off the platform, helping to direct traffic.

And Ben Godfrey joins us now from Stafford station. That's a very

busy stretch of line up to Manchester and down to Birmingham

and London. Is it finally running smoothly this evening? Yes. Some

relief as it is running more smoothly. Still the odd delay but

customers have many questions. Let's talk to Keith Lumley, from

Network Rail. Let's talk about the Monday-night repairs. Clearly, they

were not affected if the cabling came down again on Tuesday morning?

We have got to establish exactly what a cause that -- what caused

that, so we will be looking at things like the trains themselves

as well as the power lines and allow equipment, associated with

those things. -- our equipment. you do not know what has caused it?

No. Our parity is to get passengers moving again so they can get where

they need to go. -- priority. the end of last month, signalling

problems and people on coaches. At the end of November, the same thing.

People deserve a better service? Yes, and we need to find out what

caused this, so we are doing investigations. Some of this is out

of our control, as we have had cable fed incidents. But we will do

our best to get things moving as soon as we can. Things nearly back

to normal but a very busy time, so customers need to expect a good

service wherever they are heading. The lawyer for Birmingham City

Football Club's owner Carson Yeung has said he plans to deny a series

of money-laundering charges filed against him. Mr Yeung appeared in

court in Hong Kong again today, over allegations that he illegally

laundered �59 million through his bank account. Earlier, I spoke to

our reporter Andrew Wood in Hong Kong and asked him what happened at

today's hearing. This was a prefix trial conference. -- a pro-trial

conference. We heard today that the trial is probably going to start

later in December and Carson Yeung's lawyer said he will contest

the charges. The prosecution things it has a strong case relating to

mysterious amounts of money, it says, inside Mr Yeung's account. So

things seem to have been cleared away and we wait for the trial to

start at the end of this month. you tell us more detail about what

this case hinges on? The original or rest goes back to June, when

Carson Yeung was arrested at his luxury home, which is one of the

most expensive places in the world to live. He was arrested by

officers from the Hong Kong narcotics department, the drug

squad. He has been charged with five counts of having money which

they reckon and alleged came from what they called indictable

offences and the proceeds of some criminal act. Mr Yeung's lawyers

say it is a very weak case and there are any number of reasons why

A businessman should have lots of cash in his account. But the

prosecution thinks it has a strong case. When will the trial start,

and if he is found guilty, what sort of sentence could he expect?

It could start before Christmas but we are awaiting an exact date. If

Poppy were found guilty, a typical custodial sentence would be around

five years. -- if he were found guilty. He has not been granted

bail... Sorry, he has been granted bail but cannot leave Hong Kong, so

he will not be seen Birmingham any time soon.

The digger company JCB is to create 350 jobs, at least 100 of them in

Staffordshire. The new jobs will come as part of a �31 million

engine development project. The Government's awarded the company

�4.5 million towards the scheme from its Regional Growth Fund. The

other jobs will be created at JCB plants in Derbyshire and North

Wales. Elsewhere, a Midlands newspaper

group has announced that it's cutting 50 more jobs. The Midland

News Association, which publishes the Express & Star and the

Shropshire Star, is shedding 50 posts across the company after what

it has called an extremely challenging year. The new

announcement comes on top of 90 redundancies announced at the

company earlier this year. A brand new unit opened in

Birmingham today to help treat some of the 400 young people who are

diagnosed with cancer every year in this region. The Teenage Cancer

Trust unit will provide care and support for young people and their

families. It replaces the charity's unit at the old Queen Elizabeth

Hospital and complements existing units at Birmingham Children's and

Royal Orthopaedic Hospitals. Today's opening ceremony was

performed by two of the stars from the Harry Potter films. Katie

Rowlett's report contains flash photography from the start.

After years of tireless fundraising, the magical moment of its opening,

with a little help from some former wizards. You may know them better

as Fred and George Weasley, from the Harry Potter films. In real

life they're James Phelps, he's the one with the long hair, and Oliver

Phelps, with the short, who grew up in Sutton Coldfield. It is like a

normal hospital ward, that is the great thing about it. Because we

are from the area, it is a huge honour to be invited to do this.

There are 17 of these units across the country. Three are in

Birmingham. The trick? That even through treatment, they let

teenagers carry on being teenagers, helping them have access to the

So its design always has teenagers in mind, even giving parents the

chance to ask for the music to be turned down, just like home. Beth

Hosking, who's 22 and from Worcester, has leukeimia and has

been in and out of hospital for the last year. Having the wireless, you

can sit on Facebook all afternoon. It takes your mind off it. In other

wards comedy was that there thinking, I feel rubbish. So it is

a big difference. This unit replaces the one at the old Queen

Elizabeth Hospital. The 12-bed facility took three years to build,

costing more than �370 million, funded entirely by donations.

have been very fortunate but it gets much harder to get the money

in that we have had before. nearly three quarters of teenagers

with cancer survive. While in treatment, this facility allows

young adults to take control over their lives while they are in a

hospital environement that largely takes control over them. That does

look rather super. And much needed. A great idea.

Still ahead this evening, taking a trip back to a snapshot of the 70s,

when petrol was 16p a litre and smoking a pipe was all the rage.

And with warnings in force, and snow, ice, winds and rain back on

the agenda, it's a busy weather story this week. Make sure you

There was a Royal seal of approval today for a shooting club bringing

new sporting opportunities to the blind and visually impaired in

Birmingham. They use sound instead of sight, and it hasn't stopped

them hitting the bullseye, as Nick Clitheroe reports.

When Mark Vincent and Elaine Chappell turned up to the shooting

range in Birmingham this morning, there was a new recruit beside them.

The Duke of Kent was trying his hand at target shooting for the

blind and visually impaired as he opened a range set up by the 49th

Rifle and Pistol Club with a grant from Sport England. Mark Vincent

was a keen shooter before losing his sight. Shooting him by life is

an incredibly relaxing pastime. -- in my life. I find the absorption

required to do the shooting using the audio system incredibly

relaxing. The ultimate aim will be to enter into the national

competitions and see how we go up against other people. Elaine, too,

was finding the centre of the target, so I decided to have a go,

with the guidance of Ken Nash, from the National Small-Bore Rifle

Association. The sight on the rifles is detecting v light on the

rifles. The picture then goes down. Down a bit more. Excellent. Not too

bad, but there were words of encouragement from Elaine to keep

me trying. I think the first time, I was 45 out of 100. And my best

has been 86. The Duke's final duty was to unveil a plaque to mark the

occasion, but we still didn't know his best score. I hope you would

not ask me that! That is remarkable!

The waiting is almost over. Tonight, the winner of this year's BBC

Midlands Sports Unsung Hero Award will be announced at a special

ceremony in Birmingham. 12 months ago, it was 74-year-old boxing

coach Pat Benson from Small Heath in Birmingham who carried off the

Award, for dispensing his wily advice to thousands of boxers for

over 40 years. Tonight five more of the region's Unsung Heroes line up

to succeed him by becoming our ninth winner - and also win a place

at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year event in Manchester later

this month. Ian Winter joins us now. Ian is everything ready to go?

are making a few sound checks and everything is looking very festive.

The tree is up. This is the trophy everybody would like to get their

hands on tonight. Let's have a quick look at all five finalists.

Give us a wave! Let's just remind you how these five made it onto the

From Coventry, Godiva Harriers, this is Bill. He joined the club at

18 and has helped Kaunas marathon runners over the world. --

countless marathon runners. His passion is very appreciated by a

his fans. From Mr bowls club, it is Norman.

When he is not bowling, he is umpiring or making sure the website

is up to date. And then we have another bill. If

it wasn't for him, the Han would saints might never have had a pitch

to play it on. Whenever there is a sporting challenge, she will fix it.

-- he will fix it. And Derek, from a local swimming

club. He has been a champion for years for swimming for the disabled.

Hundreds will testify this. And finally, Bill. Five days a week

he is down at the club, indoors and outdoors, encouraging keen rowers

of all ages to reach their potential on the water. It is a

tough job for the judges to pick one winner from five outstanding

finalists. A tough job indeed. Let's speak to Dave, who is no

stranger to these unsung heroes. They are the backbone of sport in

this country. It started with the support of an unsung hero of and

without them, sport would collapse in this country. You must have had

dreams of competing in games when you win younger? And inspirational

people? Many, and one of the first was a man called Chris when I was

13, 14, 15. He made us laugh. He was a physiotherapist and took us

into the sport and made it a joy. But also made us want to work hard

and be the best we could be. He was my first hero of. You know what a

difficult job the judges have had. We will talk to you later, I am

sure. The winners will be unveiled later and we will reveal the winner

on our late bulletin tonight at 10:25pm. Thank you. Looking forward

to it. Now, as promised, we are taking a

trip back in time do the 1970s, when trousers were a little wider

and Ford Cortinas ruled the roads. We have footage showing a snapshot

of life back then. Our reporter has been to take a look.

It was a time when smoking a pipe was all the rage and a Ford Cortina

on the driveway was the car to be seen with. It is these ordinary

snapshots of 1970s Stourbridge that John has brought to life. You have

all these televisions? Yes, they are a continuation between the

central idea of the exhibition, and that is looking at the overlooked.

They occupy a dominance based in the home and we take them for

granted. Taken in the mid- 1970s, when the UK was experiencing a

heatwave and petrol costs 16p a litre, these voters are being shown

for the first-time at Birmingham's Ikon Gallery. Photos have been

resurrected. It is a great way of showing a snap shot from the mid-

70s of ordinary people in ordinary situations. For years and years, 38,

apparently, I haven't seen the photograph since then, it does

bring back memories. What a terrific place! But it is not just

the photos that tell his story. John used a traditional wooden and

brass camera from the 1880s to create a sense of occasion. They

were taken on a plate camera so the images behind the lens were upside

down and back to front, and there was another challenge. John?

biggest challenge was the length of exposure. About half a second,

which is quite a long time for people to sit still. And so each

portrait forms the exhibition called Middle England. But for John,

there is a bigger mission. The show is about life in small towns. The

kind of world we all living in this country. Four decades on, his

reflection on the ordinary has brought to life the mundane moments

so many of us share. And you can see the exhibition

until the end of January and Birmingham's Ikon Gallery.

Now, she has already warned us Yes. Things are already turning

tricky, with wind, ice and rain. The Met Office have issued an early

warning and this covers the period from tomorrow night until Saturday,

mainly with the risk of ice. But we have very cold conditions, with

that sleet and snow showers. Before it turns colder, it will be milder,

so the main features tomorrow are rain and wind. For tonight, we

start off with clear skies for the region, so quite cold for many with

the risk of icy stretches on untreated roads. That is where we

have the showers earlier. Later in the night, in preparation for the

rain, we will have cloud thickening up, introducing rain into western

and southern parts. We could have gusts of wind up to 50 miles an

hour. The ground frost should disappear by the middle of the

morning tomorrow. The rain will turn quite heavy tomorrow and with

the wind, it will seem even worse. Temperatures are into double

figures tomorrow, at around 11 degrees. That then clears tomorrow

night and that is when we could see some snow trickling down from the

Cheshire Gap into the north of the region with a further risk of ice.

That is from Friday into Saturday. Here are the headlines: David

Cameron is under increasing pressure over a new EU treaty. Most

is coming from his own MPs. And too expensive and out of reach