:00:04. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today with Nick Owen and Suzanne Virdee.
:00:07. > :00:16.The headlines tonight: Warnings that cuts to housing benefits could
:00:16. > :00:19.lead to a rise in homelessness. is all very worrying. Flood
:00:19. > :00:24.barriers go up by the Severn in Shrewsbury with water levels
:00:24. > :00:29.expected to peak this evening. Overnight tonight, we are expecting
:00:29. > :00:32.more rain. We need to keep an eye on that. Fears the skills gap could
:00:32. > :00:40.be widening and it could slow down the recovery in manufacturing...
:00:40. > :00:46.And the amazing story of twins born FIVE YEARS apart! We made the
:00:46. > :00:56.decision to give it a go and try, and we are very lucky that we --
:00:56. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:09.one of the embryos survived the Good evening and welcome to
:01:09. > :01:12.Wednesday's Midlands Today from the BBC. Tonight: Food or rent - that's
:01:12. > :01:15.the stark choice charities say the poorest in our region will have to
:01:15. > :01:18.make because of government cuts to housing benefit. They also warn
:01:18. > :01:20.there'll be a reduction in the number of rental homes available
:01:20. > :01:23.and an increase in homelessness. But the government disputes that,
:01:23. > :01:26.saying the changes will stop rents spiralling out of control - and
:01:26. > :01:29.they say they're offering a package of help to those in greatest need
:01:29. > :01:38.to cushion them as the new limits are introduced this week. Ben
:01:38. > :01:41.James Ashton is 33, and unemployed. He's had crisis loans and can only
:01:41. > :01:44.afford his �105 weekly rent because it's paid in full through housing
:01:44. > :01:47.benefits. But the Government's capping his allowance, and those of
:01:47. > :01:55.the growing number of people attending this drop-in centre in
:01:55. > :02:01.Birmingham. It will mean another bill for me to pay, which will cut
:02:01. > :02:09.down on my food bill. It may be quite angry that we have to pay. We
:02:09. > :02:12.are paying for the government bills. There is concerned that... Single
:02:12. > :02:15.people under 35 are the latest to see reduced benefits - there's
:02:15. > :02:20.concern thousands of homes will be out of reach - with claimants left
:02:20. > :02:25.choosing between food and rent. you are having your rent covered by
:02:25. > :02:32.housing benefit, housing benefit will reduce to �110 per week, and
:02:32. > :02:36.there will be any to find the difference. In Birmingham, more
:02:36. > :02:37.than 14,000 homes are now effectively unaffordable to those
:02:37. > :02:43.effectively unaffordable to those claiming hundred and -- housing
:02:43. > :02:47.benefit. In Coventry, the figure is more than 5,000. And even out of
:02:47. > :02:51.the city, in places like Shropshire, the city, in places like Shropshire,
:02:51. > :02:55.the figure is close to 4,000 homes. The Sifa Fireside charity in
:02:55. > :03:00.Birmingham is expecting a rise in the city's homeless. There is an
:03:00. > :03:04.example of a guy who lost his job, and we are trying to keep him out
:03:04. > :03:07.of the homeless system. Government says the new limits will
:03:07. > :03:14.stop rents spiralling. Housing benefits cost taxpayers �20bn a
:03:14. > :03:19.year. Some claimants, we're told, do receive up to �400 a week.
:03:19. > :03:25.not acceptable do we have a situation that there are people on
:03:25. > :03:28.average earnings in Britain, who cannot afford to live in the same
:03:28. > :03:34.size of accommodation as those on housing benefit. We need to move
:03:34. > :03:41.the system so that it is affordable, it protects the most vulnerable but
:03:41. > :03:45.also is fair to taxpayers. Would you say that these are fair? Those
:03:45. > :03:48.people have never been in this situation. James Ashton and others
:03:48. > :03:55.here are seeking advice. No job, and no money for their rent. Their
:03:56. > :04:01.last hope may be a rent reduction We did ask Birmingham City Council
:04:01. > :04:04.for their response but no one was available for comment tonight.
:04:04. > :04:08.Flood barriers have been going up in Shrewsbury today following more
:04:08. > :04:11.wet and windy weather overnight. The River Severn is still rising
:04:11. > :04:13.and there's been some flooding of low-lying land upstream. Our
:04:13. > :04:23.reporter Joanne Writtle has spent the day in Shrewsbury. Joanne
:04:23. > :04:23.
:04:23. > :04:28.what's the latest? It is certainly wet. Most of the defence barriers
:04:28. > :04:33.are now in place, because this stretch of and the River Severn.
:04:33. > :04:37.They have been used 20 times over the a -- last eight years. With the
:04:37. > :04:42.main polling -- pouring down, it is now a waiting game. Protecting
:04:42. > :04:49.homes and businesses from the forces of nature. Environment
:04:49. > :04:57.Agency workers were out working early to put in a flood defence
:04:57. > :05:02.barriers here. For this Ironmongers, it is a relief. Back in 2003, sings
:05:02. > :05:06.like this were a regular occurrence. Water used, out through the floor
:05:06. > :05:11.and used to have filled the shop, and all of these units here have
:05:11. > :05:16.been constructed so they can be removed easy -- easily. It takes
:05:16. > :05:21.three hours to get everything from downstairs up here. What is it like
:05:21. > :05:25.today knowing you do not have to do that? It is brilliant. A similar
:05:25. > :05:31.story at this Auctioneers, where three feet of water would regularly
:05:31. > :05:35.flood in. We would expect the up people and the mess, so we could
:05:35. > :05:41.not plant sales that well through the Christmas and new year period.
:05:41. > :05:47.But now, we are not going to have a flood to contend with. The barriers
:05:47. > :05:57.were last to hear it -- used here in February the austere. This
:05:57. > :05:57.
:05:57. > :06:01.building was opened three years ago. The pantomime will go ahead. We are
:06:01. > :06:08.dealing with the flooding. Last year, it was ice and snow and
:06:08. > :06:14.terrible cold. Upstream, a flooded road and fields of water. More rain
:06:14. > :06:22.is forecast, with the Environment Agency keeping an eye on when and
:06:22. > :06:26.if to install more barriers in the They are just putting up the second
:06:26. > :06:30.phase of the barriers behind me to protect the car park here. Joining
:06:30. > :06:34.the is a representative from the Environment Agency. When will
:06:34. > :06:40.levels peak and by how much? We are looking at a fairly normal
:06:40. > :06:44.Winterflood. We would expect the river levels to rise by another
:06:44. > :06:48.half a metre to a metre. But because of the main scene in Wales,
:06:48. > :06:52.we are making precautions, because they could be a secondary peak in
:06:52. > :06:56.another day or so. When Debbie Flood princes put up elsewhere?
:06:56. > :07:03.do not plan on doing that at the moment, but we will be watching it
:07:03. > :07:07.closely. How do you know when to spring into action? We have a quite
:07:07. > :07:15.sophisticated level of gages, and we have computer models which will
:07:16. > :07:20.give us an idea of what we should do. It seems so ironic that
:07:20. > :07:24.recently we were talking about droughts. But that is the British
:07:24. > :07:28.weather for you! It will take a lot of this type of weather to balance
:07:28. > :07:32.the system, if you like. It has been so dry eye over the past few
:07:32. > :07:37.months that it will take an awful lot of this stuff to take us to
:07:37. > :07:47.where we need to be. Thank you for joining us. As we have heard, river
:07:47. > :07:48.
:07:48. > :07:54.levels in Shrewsbury are expected Sarah Cruickshank's been studying
:07:54. > :07:59.the weather charts for us - so how are things looking then? We are
:07:59. > :08:03.seeing the rain here. But Wales has been seen the worst of it. We are
:08:03. > :08:08.going to see some heavy bursts of rain through the night, and there's
:08:08. > :08:12.still a flood warning in place for the River Severn, but we will see
:08:12. > :08:21.its gearing up, but if you are a little concerned, you can get the
:08:21. > :08:31.latest information on a phone number the trouble give again later
:08:31. > :08:37.
:08:37. > :08:41.And for more information and pictures of flooding elsewhere in
:08:41. > :08:43.the region, go to the BBC web pages for Hereford and follow the links.
:08:43. > :08:46.A leading businessman is warning a serious shortage of skilled workers
:08:46. > :08:49.could halt the current boom in our manufacturing industry in its
:08:49. > :08:51.tracks. A lack of investment, for example, in apprentices plus the
:08:51. > :08:54.higher wages being offered by expanding companies such as Jaguar
:08:54. > :08:56.Land Rover are both adding to the so-called 'skills gap' Here's our
:08:56. > :08:59.Business Correspondent Peter Plisner. Keeping the manufacturing
:08:59. > :09:03.momentum going - here orders are good and output is at its highest
:09:03. > :09:06.level for eight years - but when it comes to recruiting more staff it's
:09:06. > :09:10.a different story. The managing director here is finding it hard to
:09:10. > :09:16.find people with the right skills. Although we are seeing a boom in
:09:16. > :09:21.manufacturing at the moment, there is only a certain sized pool of
:09:21. > :09:25.people to call from. Long-term, I can see that coming to an end.
:09:25. > :09:31.a worrying prediction... Look around this factory and it's not
:09:31. > :09:41.difficult to work out why he's so concerned. The people that work in
:09:41. > :09:48.here... I and 61 years old. There's another chap who is 56 and 63.
:09:48. > :09:52.they have struggled to fill the jobs. One job took six months to
:09:52. > :09:55.fill. So far, there has been very little A downturn in the number of
:09:55. > :09:58.apprentices is certainly a factor, but so too is the growth of
:09:58. > :10:04.companies like Jaguar Land Rover- currently recruiting thousands of
:10:04. > :10:10.new staff. It is fantastic for the economy, and it will help pull in a
:10:10. > :10:16.lot of people who would otherwise be unemployed, but there are
:10:16. > :10:19.technical people who will be put up -- playing from the pull of the
:10:19. > :10:24.Industry experts share the concerns and are alreadty calling for urgent
:10:24. > :10:26.action. Over the long term, we need to train thousands of engineers,
:10:27. > :10:30.apprentices Despite a long recession manufacters in the
:10:30. > :10:33.Midlands are doing extremely well - but for that to continue - most
:10:33. > :10:40.agree that action is needed to plug so called skills gap, before it's
:10:40. > :10:43.too late. And Peter joins us now from another Birmingham engineering
:10:43. > :10:49.firm that's finding it hard to recruit the right staff. What's
:10:49. > :10:54.being done to sort the problem out, Peter? Here, the machines are still
:10:54. > :10:58.running, which shows how busy they are, but the problem is finding the
:10:58. > :11:04.tools to make these sheets. Many people have gone to work for Jaguar
:11:04. > :11:11.Land-Rover. How are you dealing with this problem? We are working
:11:11. > :11:15.with our network of Mike minded manufacturers. We are reinventing
:11:15. > :11:19.our apprenticeship schemes. That will include school leavers and
:11:19. > :11:23.matured apprenticeship candidates. What about short-term fixes? Short
:11:23. > :11:28.term, what we have done is adopt and improvers skiing. What that
:11:28. > :11:37.does is to recruit people with the basic engineering skills to
:11:37. > :11:42.manufacture tools that we utilise, and turn them into our brand of
:11:42. > :11:46.skilled person. You have lost many people to Jaguar Land Rover. That
:11:46. > :11:54.must be very difficult for the company. Yes, what we have to do
:11:54. > :11:58.his promoter small manufacturing companies and training they to get
:11:59. > :12:02.from those as a much higher level of training and more diverse than
:12:02. > :12:08.the bigger many factors can give. You have to pay more wages, don't
:12:08. > :12:14.you? Yes, we do. In order to do that, we need to target mid-market
:12:14. > :12:22.contracts for us to win. Things will get worse before they get
:12:22. > :12:27.better? Yes, they are. With respect to winning new business, we are
:12:27. > :12:30.seeing contracts come in, and they are in new markets. Many thanks. It
:12:30. > :12:36.is clear that we need more apprentices, and more training, but
:12:36. > :12:38.The funeral's taken place of Kate Prout who was murdered by her
:12:38. > :12:42.husband in 2007. Adrian Prout was convicted of murder but always
:12:42. > :12:46.denied the killing. He finally confessed last year and showed
:12:46. > :12:56.police where he'd buried her. Kate Prout's family have held a private
:12:56. > :13:03.
:13:03. > :13:08.service at Cheltenham Crematorium. Still to come, football minnows
:13:08. > :13:16.Tamworth prepare to tackle Premier League giants Everton in the FA Cup.
:13:16. > :13:21.There is a financial reward. And what's in a word? Well, �10,000
:13:21. > :13:24.for the winner as the world's best Scrabble players head to Coventry.
:13:24. > :13:28.The Boat and Caravan Show has been a fixture on the calendar here in
:13:28. > :13:31.the West Midlands for more than 50 years. But it's been announced the
:13:32. > :13:34.show due to be held next month has been cancelled. Organisers say
:13:35. > :13:38.they've been forced to make the decision because of a rival event
:13:38. > :13:41.which has been set up in London. Cath Mackie reports.
:13:41. > :13:46.The National Exhibition Centre's been home to the Boat and Caravan
:13:46. > :13:49.show for 35 years. The event was the largest of its kind in the UK.
:13:49. > :13:54.87,000 people came to browse and buy caravans, boats and camping kit
:13:54. > :14:00.last year. But no more because the February 2012 show has been
:14:00. > :14:03.cancelled. Rhyno UK, who make caravan accessories in Coventry, is
:14:03. > :14:12.one of the 500 plus regular exhibitors who'll now have to find
:14:12. > :14:15.somewhere else to go. It is quite devastating, really. We have been
:14:15. > :14:19.exhibiting there for seven years and it is the first year without
:14:19. > :14:29.the shop window for our business. It could be up to 50% of sales but
:14:29. > :14:31.as yet we have to point out. -- we have to find out. The show's
:14:31. > :14:33.organisers Ocean Media Group say the event's not getting the support
:14:33. > :14:36.it needs from exhibitors. The National Caravan Council's
:14:36. > :14:40.organised a rival event at the Excel centre in London. But events
:14:40. > :14:42.like the clothes show at the NEC help generate �1.8 billion a year
:14:42. > :14:45.for the west midlands economy. In fact, the NEC's the biggest
:14:45. > :14:50.exhibition centre in terms of numbers with 2.1 million visitors a
:14:50. > :14:54.year. Excel in London got 2 million visitors last year. Thanks to the
:14:54. > :14:59.Olympics, that's expected to double this year. Then there's Earls Court
:14:59. > :15:02.and Olympia with 1.4 and 1.1 million visitors respectively. So
:15:02. > :15:08.while news of the Boat and Caravan Show's demise is seen as
:15:08. > :15:14.disappointing, Birmingham's chamber of commerce is optimistic. Remember,
:15:14. > :15:17.we still do 14 of the top 20 shows nationally here in Birmingham. We
:15:17. > :15:20.are at the centre of the country, we have all the reasons why people
:15:20. > :15:23.want to come here. The NEC says they're really saddened that the
:15:23. > :15:27.Boat and Caravan Show is being cancelled and are sure the event
:15:27. > :15:35.will be sorely missed. Now to the story of remarkable
:15:35. > :15:39.twins and the baby girl born five years after her twin brother. It is
:15:39. > :15:41.an amazing story. Floren Blake came from the same batch of embryos as
:15:41. > :15:43.her brother Reuben after their parents turned to fertility
:15:43. > :15:46.treatment. John Maguire reports from Cheltenham.
:15:46. > :15:49.They are the perfect picture of a contented young family. Mum Jody,
:15:49. > :15:57.Dad Simon, five-year-old Reuben and now twin sister Floren born just
:15:57. > :16:02.seven weeks ago. The Blakes from Cheltenham first received fertility
:16:02. > :16:12.treatment at Southmead Hospital in Bristol in 2005. It worked then so
:16:12. > :16:16.they tried their luck again. Three embryos were frozen for storage.
:16:16. > :16:20.That was for one of the day just in case we wanted to extend the family
:16:20. > :16:26.and that came about earlier this year when we made the decision to
:16:26. > :16:30.give it go and try. And we were very lucky that one of the embryos
:16:30. > :16:34.survived the presence and was implanted into Jody and grew into
:16:34. > :16:38.Floren, who is it today. Southmead staged an extra special Christmas
:16:38. > :16:41.party last month for just some of the babies born here in 2011, more
:16:41. > :16:51.than 1,000, in fact. But even for such a successful IVF unit, Simon
:16:51. > :16:52.
:16:52. > :16:56.and Jody's case is a special one. We were very lucky the first time,
:16:56. > :17:05.incredibly lucky. And we didn't think we would be lucky enough
:17:05. > :17:10.again. And we thought we would give it ago and didn't expect it to work.
:17:10. > :17:16.Only one embryo survived, two sadly perished. We were expecting it to
:17:16. > :17:19.fail. We were absolutely amazed when it worked. The family are
:17:19. > :17:22.enjoying telling people they have twins born of the same genetic
:17:22. > :17:24.material if not the same pregnancy, and they hope their story will
:17:24. > :17:34.inspire other couples, that with hope and modern science, little
:17:34. > :17:37.
:17:37. > :17:42.miracles can be possible time and time again.
:17:42. > :17:45.What a lovely family. Incredible, isn't it?
:17:45. > :17:48.And Phil Upton will be speaking live to the father of those unique
:17:48. > :17:50.twins who works in Birmingham on his breakfast show on BBC WM
:17:50. > :17:54.tomorrow morning. Here's Ian with the sport.
:17:54. > :17:58.West Bromwich Albion left White Hart Lane with plenty of praise.
:17:58. > :18:00.But no points after last night's 1- 0 defeat. The Spurs boss Harry
:18:00. > :18:04.Redknapp was impressed by Albion's defensive performance, without six
:18:04. > :18:13.key players. But they couldn't hold out and Jermaine Defoe scored the
:18:13. > :18:18.only goal just after the hour. the last performances have given me
:18:18. > :18:23.comfort in the way we are playing. We have got a 18 games to play and
:18:23. > :18:26.we have to reproduce those performances week after week and
:18:26. > :18:29.hopefully the bit of misfortune we have suffered in the last couple of
:18:29. > :18:32.games, that will not last for the rest of the season.
:18:32. > :18:35.Tonight's Premier League game at Goodison Park will have a spy in
:18:35. > :18:38.the crowd. Marcus Law, the manager of non-league Tamworth, is running
:18:38. > :18:41.his beady eye over Everton before they meet in the FA Cup on Saturday.
:18:41. > :18:48.More than 4,000 fans will make the trip from Staffordshire. And today,
:18:48. > :18:52.a VIP guest turned up at training. Between us, we've won the FA Cup
:18:52. > :18:55.three times. Well, OK. Martin Keown has won it three times. And I just
:18:55. > :18:58.watched on the telly. But it's always a thrill getting your hands
:18:58. > :19:00.on the famous old silverware. And today, the Cup turned up in
:19:00. > :19:10.Coventry, where non-league Tamworth were training at the University of
:19:10. > :19:11.
:19:11. > :19:14.Warwick before Saturday's third round trip to Everton. 15th in a
:19:14. > :19:19.Blue Square Premier against the 11th in the Premiership. A
:19:19. > :19:23.mismatch? Of course, but that it is -- that is what it is about. You
:19:23. > :19:27.play above yourself and you hope your other team have a nightmare
:19:27. > :19:33.performance. They have got have believe, they have got to enjoy it,
:19:33. > :19:39.love it, really. They haven't -- they cannot have any fear and, you
:19:39. > :19:42.never know, they might win it. that little stone happens to could
:19:42. > :19:45.go live in the hip at the right place and right time, then why not?
:19:45. > :19:48.If only Tamworth had someone who could bend it like Beckham. Someone
:19:48. > :19:51.who'd played alongside Becks for the LA Galaxy. Someone like Kyle
:19:51. > :19:57.Patterson. The Tamworth striker who played in the States after being
:19:57. > :20:02.released as a youngster with West Brom. That is a lot of attention on
:20:02. > :20:10.us and we don't want to hide and let the attention passed us by. We
:20:10. > :20:13.want to let the experience wash over us. So who better than Martin
:20:13. > :20:15.Keown to give a little pep talk to the lads from non-league before
:20:15. > :20:19.their hot date on Merseyside? Believe in yourselves. Enjoy the
:20:19. > :20:25.Believe in yourselves. Enjoy the Believe in yourselves. Enjoy the
:20:25. > :20:29.occasion. Have no regrets. And ignoring all talk of superstition,
:20:29. > :20:33.Tamworth couldn't wait to get their hands on the Cup, just in case they
:20:33. > :20:36.never get this close ever again. It is a dream tie.
:20:36. > :20:39.Tamworth's manager Marcus Law is clearly looking forward to playing
:20:39. > :20:42.Everton. I bet he wouldn't dare touch the Cup? You're right. He
:20:42. > :20:45.wouldn't go anywhere near it. And not only that, but he told me he's
:20:45. > :20:48.vowed that he'll never even set foot inside Wembley Stadium to
:20:48. > :20:51.watch a game until he gets the opportunity, as a manager, to see
:20:51. > :20:53.his own team playing there. Fingers crossed. We'll have more
:20:53. > :20:57.from the Tamworth camp on Friday. Tomorrow, we're with Cheltenham
:20:58. > :21:00.Town before their big Cup tie at Tottenham.
:21:01. > :21:03.Thank you. Well, one sport or pastime that's
:21:03. > :21:06.been traditionally associated with the region is pigeon fancying.
:21:06. > :21:09.There are more licensed racing pigeons here than in any other part
:21:09. > :21:14.of the country. But with most enthusiasts of a certain age, some
:21:14. > :21:17.fear it's fading into history. But �40,000 of lottery money's now
:21:17. > :21:24.being spent to preserve memories of the passion for pigeons, as Giles
:21:24. > :21:28.Latcham has been finding out. on, come on.
:21:28. > :21:30.Fred Evans, where he's happiest. In his pigeon loft at his home in
:21:30. > :21:37.Kingstanding in Birmingham. He's been racing them 33 years, so there
:21:37. > :21:42.must be something about it. It is fantastic. Your heart starts
:21:42. > :21:46.pumping, the adrenalin gets going. And even if you don't win the race,
:21:47. > :21:50.at that moment when the pigeon comes, you feel you have won the
:21:50. > :21:52.race. Midlanders have been fancying pigeons for the best part of a
:21:52. > :21:55.century, breeding, showing and racing. Traditionally, it's been a
:21:55. > :21:59.hotbed and there are still hundreds of enthusiasts here but by and
:22:00. > :22:02.large they're growing older together. Which is why a younger
:22:02. > :22:06.breed of fancier applied for a grant to create an archive
:22:06. > :22:14.celebrating the passion for pigeons. And the lottery's come up with
:22:14. > :22:18.�40,000. It is absolutely wonderful. I think it is something that has
:22:18. > :22:22.not been done before. It is a completely unique project but it is
:22:22. > :22:26.something that is dying out as well. There are not many people taking it
:22:26. > :22:30.up and if we don't capture the culture now, who knows what will
:22:30. > :22:37.happen in the future. A top racer can reach speeds of 90 mph and the
:22:38. > :22:45.celebrated back-flipping Bham Roller has some heavyweight fans.
:22:45. > :22:49.The pigeons, they brought them back to England. I suspected he was
:22:49. > :22:55.closer to the North of England, but -- because he was the Birmingham
:22:55. > :23:01.roller. Will's a rarity. A teenage pigeon fancier. They belonged to
:23:01. > :23:06.his dad who died in September. His son's keeping his passion alive.
:23:06. > :23:11.This is how we bonded. I feel it is the part of him. My friends laughed
:23:11. > :23:15.about it but I don't mind. It is what I choose to do, it is what
:23:15. > :23:23.keeps me busy. The archive formed of a radio play, a book and video
:23:23. > :23:27.interviews will be lodged in the Birmingham Central library.
:23:27. > :23:30.That is good to here, actually. Now, what's been around for more
:23:30. > :23:35.than 70 years but can leave you lost for words? The answer is the
:23:35. > :23:38.board game Scrabble, which was invented in the 1930s. While we may
:23:39. > :23:42.play it for fun, competitive Scrabble is a very serious affair.
:23:42. > :23:47.And today some of the best players in the world were in Coventry for
:23:47. > :23:50.the UK Open, bidding to win �10,000 in prize money. Here's Kevin Reide.
:23:50. > :23:53.Chosen for it's good road links, central location and because hotels
:23:53. > :24:02.are amongst the most competitively priced in the UK, the UK Scrabble
:24:02. > :24:07.Open has arrived in Coventry. picked -- 56 games so it is worth
:24:07. > :24:12.my time to come over from Holland and play. The British players are
:24:12. > :24:16.some of the best in the world and get a chance to compete against the
:24:16. > :24:26.best is what is so exciting. Where I come from, it was 80 degrees
:24:26. > :24:29.where I left, Fahrenheit, but it is worth it here. Some are world
:24:29. > :24:36.champions, like Nigel Richards from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, but
:24:37. > :24:42.others are here for the fun. I was on the M6 on the way down. The car
:24:42. > :24:46.boot for a lot - much the car boot opened, the tiles fell out and a
:24:46. > :24:49.chap asked me, what is the word on the street? There are more than a
:24:49. > :24:52.quarter of a million words in the Scrabble dictionary but just a few
:24:52. > :25:01.mean you're onto a winner. The highest scoring starting word means
:25:01. > :25:09.Russian peasants and can score you 128 points but during again, one
:25:09. > :25:12.word scored over 300 points. There are 64 players, new players to
:25:12. > :25:16.world champions, double world champions, and some of his
:25:16. > :25:20.experienced players have been playing 40 years. They will all
:25:20. > :25:28.play 38 games and the person that wins the most games wins the money.
:25:28. > :25:38.At the top prize is �2,000 at if you fancy go, these days you can
:25:38. > :25:38.
:25:38. > :25:45.click online, any time or anywhere, Kuala Lumpur-Coventry.
:25:45. > :25:55.It is great, it is such an absorbing game. I would like to
:25:55. > :25:56.
:25:56. > :26:00.It has been a windy day today and we have flood warnings in plays the
:26:00. > :26:08.tonight for parts of Shropshire. If you are concerned, please call the
:26:08. > :26:13.Club line. -- the Floodline. This weather front will push in tonight
:26:13. > :26:18.bringing some rain our way and the weather front means we will see
:26:18. > :26:23.gusts of 50 mph as the winds increase as well so it is a wet
:26:23. > :26:29.band windy might across the region and we will see some heavy rain.
:26:29. > :26:33.Temperatures dipping to around seven so it is not too cold.
:26:33. > :26:38.Tomorrow, bright a weather, so we will see a brief respite from the
:26:38. > :26:43.rain. Tomorrow morning, quite a lot of cloud with the rain dying out
:26:43. > :26:47.giving us dry weather for tomorrow afternoon and quite a lot of
:26:47. > :26:52.brightness and sunny spells to end the day but it will be a windy day.
:26:52. > :26:58.It will feel cold as well with temperatures peaking at around nine.
:26:58. > :27:05.Another windy day, but it will be dry. Overnight, we will see some
:27:05. > :27:10.showers, but it will be largely drive. Friday starts off cold, with
:27:10. > :27:14.high pressure, meaning the cloud will build through the day so it
:27:14. > :27:19.starts off with quite a lot of sunshine, but Friday afternoon, we
:27:19. > :27:22.will see quite a lot of cloud with temperatures peaking at seven or 8.
:27:22. > :27:25.A look at tonight's main headlines: The men who murdered Stephen
:27:25. > :27:27.Lawrence are jailed and told their crime scarred the conscience of
:27:27. > :27:33.nation. And here, charities warn of a big
:27:33. > :27:36.rise in homelessness as the Government cuts housing benefit.