:00:12. > :00:15.with Nick Owen and Mary Rhodes. The headlines tonight: A government
:00:15. > :00:20.investigation finds it's probable there's been fraudulent activity at
:00:20. > :00:24.Stoke City council. These are dark days within Stoke-on-Trent 's recent
:00:24. > :00:29.past. This is an not something we would condone or something we would
:00:29. > :00:36.like to ever have to replicate. A 55-year-old woman suffered brain
:00:36. > :00:41.damage and later died. She is never going to watch my
:00:41. > :00:50.children grow up or be around to see me get married.
:00:50. > :00:53.isolated as plans are announced to drop a rural bus service.
:00:54. > :00:57.Why a group of Black Country actors are about to bestride the stage in
:00:57. > :01:00.Monaco. And join me shortly for a full
:01:00. > :01:10.forecast never short on variety this week with everything from
:01:10. > :01:21.
:01:21. > :01:26.temperature highs and lows to investigation has found it's likely
:01:26. > :01:29.that there's been fraudulent activity at a local council. For
:01:29. > :01:32.months the Department for Communities and Local Government has
:01:32. > :01:35.refused to show the BBC its report into Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
:01:35. > :01:37.But after a legal challenge by Midlands Today, the findings have
:01:37. > :01:40.now been released. They include evidence of falsified invoices and
:01:40. > :01:46.tender documents. Tonight an MP has called for the Crown Prosecution
:01:46. > :01:49.Service to re-open files on the case.
:01:49. > :01:57.Three projects which received more than �16 million of tax payers'
:01:57. > :02:00.money. This scathing report has laid bare what's described as, evidence
:02:00. > :02:06.to suggest that, on the balance of probabilities, fraudulent activity
:02:06. > :02:09.has occurred. This is the first of the projects investigated, the
:02:09. > :02:11.Excelsior Works, it was supposed to be developed into a thriving site
:02:11. > :02:16.for business. But investigators found evidence that documents were
:02:16. > :02:19.falsified and to increase the cost for work here. Then there's the
:02:19. > :02:23.second project, this former pottery works on College Road, known locally
:02:23. > :02:30.as Just Mugs, here too evidence of a false invoice and an artificial
:02:30. > :02:39.increase in professional fees charged. And finally project number
:02:39. > :02:45.three, Bridgewater Pottery. Many used for work on its Victorian
:02:45. > :02:48.buildings has had to be paid back. Investigators say there's some
:02:48. > :02:51.evidence suggesting a building certificate a legal document showing
:02:51. > :02:53.the work's been completed and signed off, was produced before work was
:02:53. > :02:55.finished. Bridgewater have been unavailable for comment.
:02:55. > :02:58.Stoke-on-Trent MP Rob Flello raised concerns with Staffordshire Police
:02:58. > :03:05.over these issues three years ago. The Crown Prosecution Service
:03:05. > :03:08.decided against bringing charges. He now wants that decision reviewed.
:03:08. > :03:11.think the CPS needs to be reopening their files and looking at a
:03:11. > :03:16.prosecution in the public interest. That's the first thing I'll be
:03:16. > :03:19.calling for. The second this is that the current Chief Executive, who of
:03:19. > :03:23.course wasn't the Chief Executive at the time, but nevertheless has had
:03:23. > :03:26.this report on his desk for about a year and has known about our
:03:26. > :03:30.allegations going back a number of years, I shall be asking for the
:03:30. > :03:33.Chief Executive, JVDL to write to me assuring me that every possible
:03:33. > :03:38.method has been taken to minimise any possible chance of this
:03:38. > :03:42.happening again. Stoke-on-Trent City Council's Chief Executive insists
:03:42. > :03:50.changes have been implemented since the irregularities were uncovered.
:03:50. > :03:54.But he also accepts the implications are serious. It is absolutely
:03:54. > :03:58.horrendous and smacks of systemic failings, not only within the local
:03:58. > :04:03.authority but with partner agencies working together. These are dark
:04:03. > :04:09.days within Stoke-on-Trent 's recent past. This is not something we would
:04:09. > :04:13.condone or something we would like to ever replicate. The result of
:04:13. > :04:16.this investigation is that more than �1 million has had to be repaid. Tax
:04:16. > :04:20.payers have also had to foot the bill for the �20,000 the
:04:20. > :04:23.investigation cost. Politics in Stoke-on-Trent has been in turmoil
:04:23. > :04:30.for years and disillusioned voters have failed to turn out in great
:04:31. > :04:35.numbers for local elections. So how have these revelations gone down?
:04:35. > :04:42.think they've lost faith, I really do. They seem to be spending money
:04:42. > :04:49.where it isn't needed and not producing it where it is somehow.
:04:49. > :04:53.We're having a lot of things done which we should be positive about.
:04:53. > :04:57.You would be if you could see that it looked better or that you got
:04:57. > :05:00.better service, but I don't think a lot of people do actually find that.
:05:00. > :05:03.So that's why they're not voting. Inspite of the damning findings of
:05:03. > :05:06.this report into these projects, nobody's been sacked at the council.
:05:06. > :05:08.This despite what's been described in this report as serious systemic
:05:08. > :05:11.failings. Coming up later in the programme:
:05:11. > :05:21.We're live in Worcestershire to see how heritage tourism is creating and
:05:21. > :05:23.
:05:23. > :05:26.for multi-million pound savings. Walsall Council now needs to save
:05:26. > :05:29.�100 million over the next five years, which is twenty million more
:05:29. > :05:37.than expected. It follows the �32 million that's already been saved
:05:37. > :05:41.over the last two years. And that's led to 450 members of staff leaving
:05:41. > :05:44.the council in the last four years. We're joined in the studio now by
:05:44. > :05:47.the leader of Walsall Council, Councillor Mike Bird. What was your
:05:47. > :05:56.immediate reaction when you were told you had to save an extra �20
:05:56. > :06:00.million? To be fair, we had already forecast it would probably be worst
:06:00. > :06:03.than we were anticipating because governments make announcements which
:06:03. > :06:08.are generally not true. We had budgeted for this figure. You are
:06:08. > :06:12.saying that the government is making announcements that are not true but
:06:12. > :06:17.that is your government, eight Conservative government. If they
:06:17. > :06:24.want to kill local government, they are going about it). They don't seem
:06:24. > :06:29.to understand the magnitude of the problem. We have only got a certain
:06:29. > :06:38.amount of controllable budget. We do start requirements, laid down in
:06:38. > :06:43.statute. We've got left is �275 million, and we've got to find a
:06:43. > :06:48.large amount from that. How will that affect people? We will have
:06:48. > :06:52.fewer people, less money to do the work and people have to expect less
:06:52. > :06:57.for their council tax. What is the real impact? It's hard to say at the
:06:57. > :07:03.moment. Things will not be finalised until October. Then we will put
:07:03. > :07:09.plans for consultation and I do hope people will use the website. People
:07:09. > :07:13.can send their feelings through, to say what they want us to do with
:07:13. > :07:19.their money. Whatever they say, it will make little difference in a way
:07:19. > :07:23.because it is �100 million you have to save. It will be. But it will
:07:23. > :07:27.help us to prioritise where that will fall. What we have to look at
:07:27. > :07:37.is where we have extended services which are free or subsidised. Those
:07:37. > :07:42.subsidies are going to go. Only yesterday, there was a report... We
:07:42. > :07:45.have all got to make brave decisions. We've taken out the low
:07:45. > :07:50.hanging fruit, pruned the branches and it looks like we will have to
:07:50. > :07:54.drop a feud trees down. How will this play out at the ballot box?
:07:54. > :07:57.think the Conservatives will get a kick in. Although the Labour
:07:58. > :08:02.government that does this night, we are now sweeping up the day breed
:08:02. > :08:12.and we are doing the work, the dirty work, for central government,
:08:12. > :08:16.
:08:16. > :08:19.through the local government procedures.
:08:19. > :08:23.A family from Worcestershire's received a six figure sum in
:08:23. > :08:25.compensation after a nurse failed to carry out a blood sugar test on an
:08:25. > :08:28.insulin-dependent diabetic. Margaret Pitt, who was 55, suffered
:08:28. > :08:32.irreversible brain damage and later died because of the failure to
:08:32. > :08:35.discover her low blood sugar. Three years on, her family are
:08:35. > :08:40.coming to terms with the terrible mistake that left diabetic, Margaret
:08:40. > :08:44.Pitt, severely brain damaged and then ended her life. I could be
:08:44. > :08:49.talking to you like this in ten or 20 years, and it would still be just
:08:49. > :08:59.below the surface. It would still affect me the way it does now. I'm
:08:59. > :09:02.sorry. Seen here on a television programme, 55-year-old Mrs Pitt was
:09:02. > :09:05.failed several times by the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, but
:09:05. > :09:09.it was the gross failure of Sister Jackie Charman to test her blood
:09:09. > :09:12.sugar before bed time that caused the mother of three's death. She is
:09:12. > :09:18.never going to watch my children grow up, she will never be around to
:09:18. > :09:23.watch me get married. She is not here. That woman has got to deal
:09:23. > :09:27.with that for the rest of her life. If anything, I pity her. I pity her.
:09:27. > :09:33.At the inquest, Sister Charman said that she did carry out the check,
:09:33. > :09:38.but her evidence was rejected. family also referred the matter to
:09:38. > :09:43.the nursing and midwifery Council. They are currently looking into the
:09:43. > :09:46.matter. They have formed a decision that there is a case to be answered.
:09:46. > :09:50.Four months after the failures on Ward 11 which specialised in
:09:50. > :09:55.diabetes care, the ward was involved in a national scandal over basic
:09:55. > :09:58.failures in care. The hospital has offered an unreserved apology to the
:09:58. > :10:04.family and says that it has improved clinical processes and staff
:10:04. > :10:07.training to ensure that such mistakes don't happen again.
:10:07. > :10:10.Despite the failures, Mr Pitt doesn't blame the Alexandra
:10:10. > :10:17.hospital. He's grateful for the care his wife received over many years, A
:10:17. > :10:20.rural bus service run by Shropshire Council is to end in October. The
:10:20. > :10:26.number of people using Shropshire Link has been falling since it was
:10:26. > :10:33.set up five years ago. The council says it's costing �2,000
:10:33. > :10:43.a day in subsidies. But with no firm plans to replace it, concerns have
:10:43. > :10:46.been raised that it'll leave people isolated.
:10:46. > :10:52.Arriving on time and to order by those that needed. For these
:10:52. > :10:55.passengers, this bus provides a lifeline. It is important to me
:10:55. > :11:02.because I don't drive. I've got to get into shrews briefer different
:11:02. > :11:07.things. It is important to me, yes, it is. I've used it for medical
:11:07. > :11:11.appointments. A lot of people use it to go to the hospital. My neighbours
:11:11. > :11:15.use it to go shopping. We go to Sainsbury's and it is their only
:11:15. > :11:19.form of transport. If it goes, I don't know what people will do.
:11:19. > :11:23.Shropshire Council says it is a luxury they can no longer afford.
:11:23. > :11:28.It's as numbers are so low that each bus carries fewer than six
:11:28. > :11:33.passengers per day. That is a running capacity of just 17%. Some
:11:33. > :11:39.journeys are subsidised by up to �150 each. It is hoped the answer is
:11:39. > :11:42.with people like these, community transport groups run by volunteers.
:11:42. > :11:48.Organisations across Shropshire are now coming together to find a
:11:48. > :11:57.solution but they have serious concerns. There is a danger to us
:11:57. > :12:01.that we tried to take on more than we can chew. We all feel very
:12:01. > :12:05.concerned there will be people left without transport in rural areas in
:12:05. > :12:12.Shropshire. One councillor says plans should have been put in place
:12:12. > :12:15.earlier. It is a mess, it is. There was a report last November. It was
:12:15. > :12:20.recognised that the link was unsustainable in its present format.
:12:20. > :12:23.It was costing too much money. Nobody did anything. Trotter Council
:12:23. > :12:27.are promising to provide a safety net service for people in rural
:12:27. > :12:31.areas who have no other form of transport. Exactly what that means
:12:31. > :12:35.and what it will be are yet to be decided.
:12:35. > :12:43.And Liz joins us now from the village of Plealey near Shrewsbury.
:12:43. > :12:46.Liz, a tough balancing act for the council. They have to save money,
:12:46. > :12:51.the service doesn't seem to be greatly used but it's still an
:12:51. > :12:56.important lifeline, isn't it? It is. That is the real problem for
:12:56. > :13:02.the Council. This service was only started a few years ago. It replaced
:13:02. > :13:05.the weekly fixed timetable buses that used to serve villages like
:13:05. > :13:10.this and take people to their nearest market town. The reality is
:13:10. > :13:13.that fewer people are using it. The people I spoke to a earlier today
:13:13. > :13:18.had some criticism for the council, saying they should have done more to
:13:18. > :13:22.encourage users to get on the bus and make it more sustainable, so
:13:22. > :13:26.those people that really do need it could continue to use it.
:13:26. > :13:31.What about the people who live in outlying districts? When can they
:13:31. > :13:35.expect to hear about what happens next?
:13:35. > :13:40.There isn't really a lot of time to come up with an alternative plan. As
:13:40. > :13:44.you heard, the community transport organisations that rely on
:13:44. > :13:48.volunteers are now rapidly trying to come up with a plan. Shropshire
:13:48. > :13:56.council is keen to hear from people but it says it will let people know
:13:56. > :14:00.within the next few weeks. Jon Brookes, the drummer with indie
:14:00. > :14:03.band The Charlatans has died at the age of 44. Jon, from Burntwood in
:14:03. > :14:06.Staffordshire, had suffered a seizure on tour with the band in
:14:06. > :14:08.2010 and had been receiving treatment for a brain tumour. He'd
:14:08. > :14:12.undergone several operations, but he'd still been working on new
:14:12. > :14:16.material with the band over the summer.
:14:16. > :14:23.This is our top story tonight: A government investigation finds it's
:14:23. > :14:26.probable there's been fraudulent activity at Stoke City Council.
:14:26. > :14:30.Your detailed weather forecast to come shortly from Shefali. Also in
:14:30. > :14:36.tonight's programme: Country life in the Midlands in 1913, the year
:14:36. > :14:39.before the world changed. And we find out how an Oscar winning
:14:39. > :14:49.actor's helping an aspiring group of youngsters from the Black Country
:14:49. > :14:50.
:14:50. > :14:54.How are you spending the summer holidays? Chances are it could well
:14:54. > :14:58.involve a trip to a stately home or museum. It's estimated more than a
:14:58. > :15:03.quarter of all UK holiday activities now involve heritage.
:15:03. > :15:06.It can have big benefits to the local economy. A Heritage Lottery
:15:06. > :15:09.Fund survey has highlighted the number of local jobs reliant on
:15:09. > :15:12.venues like Croome Court in Worcestershire. And that's where our
:15:12. > :15:21.reporter Ben Sidwell is tonight. Ben, Croome Court has become an
:15:21. > :15:24.important part of the local economy, hasn't it?
:15:24. > :15:28.It has. Welcome to the gardens here. They are holding a party this
:15:28. > :15:32.evening for many of the volunteers here. The rising popularity is
:15:32. > :15:36.nothing short of incredible. 15 years ago, hardly anybody came here.
:15:36. > :15:40.Now it is one of the top five tourist attractions in
:15:40. > :15:44.Worcestershire. They employ 30 people and support 50 jobs around
:15:44. > :15:49.the area. That is not bad for somewhere that 20 years ago was set
:15:49. > :15:52.to become a hotel. For years, this place was a secret,
:15:52. > :15:58.hidden away in the Worcestershire countryside. It was known by only a
:15:58. > :16:03.few. I started here in January 2004 and I was the only permanent
:16:03. > :16:08.full-time member of staff at that point. Our reception at the time was
:16:08. > :16:11.attempt at our catering at the moment -- at that moment was a
:16:11. > :16:14.vending machine. But things have changed. For the National trust
:16:14. > :16:20.sites across the country, nowhere has seen a bigger increase in
:16:20. > :16:25.visitor numbers than here. There is a growing interest in heritage and
:16:25. > :16:34.an appreciation of how rich this area is. We have the first of
:16:34. > :16:39.capability Brown 's landscapes. an area as rule as this, 150,000
:16:39. > :16:44.visitors each year means much-needed money into the local economy. It is
:16:44. > :16:48.a huge boost for a number of local companies. They are my best customer
:16:48. > :16:55.and they've got a very high profile, being National trust. They are
:16:55. > :16:59.hugely important to me. It is not just in Worcestershire where
:16:59. > :17:06.businesses are benefiting from Restoration tourism. This building
:17:06. > :17:11.and compensation -- conservation company have never been busier.
:17:11. > :17:16.Projects like this amount to 60% of our turnover. It keeps us pretty
:17:16. > :17:23.much going for 12 to 18 months. That is what a project of this size will
:17:23. > :17:26.take us. There is a huge amount of restoration work that lies ahead.
:17:26. > :17:31.Until five years ago, this was still a family residence and although part
:17:31. > :17:34.is now open to the public, there is plenty of restoration to go. Once
:17:34. > :17:38.these rooms are restored, we will be able to open them to our visitors
:17:38. > :17:42.and bring back some of the original contents of this house, which should
:17:42. > :17:46.see a rise in visitor numbers. We will need new people to look after
:17:46. > :17:51.those fantastic contents when they come back. It is expected visitor
:17:51. > :17:57.numbers will top 200,000 in the next few years. It is no anything but a
:17:57. > :18:00.secret. With me now is the head of the
:18:00. > :18:04.Heritage lottery fund in the West Midlands. We've seen this success
:18:05. > :18:09.story. What is the situation across the rest of the region? Everywhere
:18:09. > :18:13.you see this can of engagement with people and it shows how heritage
:18:13. > :18:18.tourism really does engage people, make people want to visit so that
:18:18. > :18:28.one quarter of us in our holiday activities do activities which
:18:28. > :18:30.
:18:30. > :18:36.involve heritage. It is many billions across the UK for heritage
:18:36. > :18:42.and tourism. For the economy here, that is such a vital money. It is
:18:42. > :18:46.vital money. We believe in making organisations sustainable. We
:18:46. > :18:50.invested �6.7 million here. You can see through these volunteers that
:18:50. > :18:59.this party have they are managing to maintain that investment. We've
:18:59. > :19:06.invested similar amounts as other museums. Across the region, we can
:19:06. > :19:09.see organisations demonstrating that they can attract tourists. Does it
:19:09. > :19:15.mean heritage sites are more likely to be safe now? It certainly does. A
:19:15. > :19:21.good example is a place in Shrewsbury which we have just
:19:21. > :19:24.recently given a �20.8 million grant to. They were rescued the currently
:19:24. > :19:31.derelict building. Fantastic news. As you can see, people enjoying the
:19:31. > :19:36.good weather here and enjoying the success of the house.
:19:36. > :19:39.Ellie Simmonds has struck gold on the opening day of the world
:19:39. > :19:43.Championships in Canada. The 18-year-old won the 400 metres
:19:43. > :19:47.freestyle by some 20 seconds. She won gold in the same event last year
:19:48. > :19:51.at the Paralympics. As we approach the centenary of the
:19:51. > :19:53.outbreak of World War I, we're looking at the Midlands in 1913, the
:19:53. > :19:57.year before everything changed. Today our Rural Affairs
:19:57. > :20:07.Correspondent David Gregory-Kumar looks at farming in Shropshire. That
:20:07. > :20:08.
:20:08. > :20:11.was still a tough way of life unchanged for decades.
:20:11. > :20:15.This is Acton Scott Historic Working Farm, near Church Stretton in
:20:15. > :20:19.Shropshire. Time for a taste of country life in 1913. So what can I
:20:19. > :20:26.expect? Life in Shropshire is hard in the countryside. It is known as a
:20:26. > :20:31.very low-wage region. It's an... And agricultural labourer will earn 15
:20:31. > :20:34.shillings a week, if he is lucky. It was a hard life. The work was hard.
:20:34. > :20:42.The family struggled to get by on those wages. The diet was very
:20:43. > :20:47.meagre. My father was a wagon until he was 22 on the family farm. He
:20:47. > :20:52.said that anybody had talked about the good old days never lived
:20:52. > :20:59.through them because it was cruel. He would be about six o'clock and
:20:59. > :21:03.come in at lunchtime. He would be absolutely done in. It is haymaking
:21:03. > :21:08.that has been lined up for me is my first farm job but at least I don't
:21:08. > :21:16.have to start at 6am. I go like that, and then like that, then like
:21:16. > :21:22.that. It turns out, a seeds down the back are pretty itchy. Oh, no!
:21:22. > :21:26.getting worse. While the men work in the fields, there is plenty for
:21:26. > :21:36.women and children to do as well. In Shropshire, the summit is the time
:21:36. > :21:41.to pick berries. She went to the workhouse and picked three children
:21:41. > :21:48.out. She had enough money eventually to buy her own squatters cottage.
:21:48. > :21:53.Then another gentleman told me that his father had bought his first pair
:21:53. > :22:00.of false teeth on the back of the Berry money. Fortunately, there is
:22:00. > :22:04.plenty of course based help on the farm. There is a lot of Heath
:22:04. > :22:06.Robinson type equipment. Sometimes I think there are machines here which
:22:06. > :22:13.are well preserved because whoever made them in their local time, they
:22:13. > :22:23.were rubbish, so they never got used. They are in immaculate
:22:23. > :22:25.
:22:25. > :22:34.condition. Some of them are not as good as they could be. They will
:22:34. > :22:40.have had a sense of what was going on, whilst things still stayed the
:22:40. > :22:47.same, like they'd been for centuries. With the haymaking of
:22:47. > :22:54.1913 done, it was time to take it back to the barn. By the time the
:22:54. > :22:57.harvest of 1914 was ready, things would be very different.
:22:57. > :23:00.One of Hollywood's biggest stars, two time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey,
:23:00. > :23:04.is helping a Black Country theatre group make their mark.
:23:04. > :23:06.He has a charitable foundation which is sending the young actors to the
:23:06. > :23:16.International World Festival of Amateur Theatre in Monaco. More now
:23:16. > :23:18.
:23:18. > :23:21.This young actress has played a crucial role in getting memebers
:23:21. > :23:25.from the Central Youth Theatre Group in Wolverhampton to the World
:23:25. > :23:35.Festival of Amateur Theatre in Monaco. Tasked with fundraising for
:23:35. > :23:36.
:23:36. > :23:40.the trip Katherine Lea wrote to the Kevin Spacey Foundation. They told
:23:40. > :23:46.me the amount that we were successful four, 2000 �500, so we
:23:46. > :23:50.were a bit like oh, OK, that's really good. I told my mother. It
:23:50. > :23:53.was shocking. We didn't expect it but it was a good moment, yeah.
:23:53. > :24:01.after a preview performance of Burnt By The Sun tonight at The Grand
:24:01. > :24:06.Theatre, the cast will fly to Monaco next week. The festival was set up
:24:06. > :24:11.in 1957 to celebrate amateur theatre across the world. For these young
:24:11. > :24:14.people, it's a rare opportunity to showcase their talents but also to
:24:14. > :24:21.take part in workshops, alongside international artists. There's a
:24:21. > :24:25.sense of excitement and nervous anticipation. It hadn't sunk in
:24:25. > :24:29.until about last month that we are actually going. Now we are thinking
:24:29. > :24:33.it is a week ago and there are going to Monaco to represent the UK. I
:24:33. > :24:37.think we are still a bit spellbound really. It's a very special
:24:37. > :24:47.opportunity. I've never done anything like this before. I've
:24:47. > :24:47.
:24:47. > :24:53.never expected anything like this to come my way. For Jane Ward this is a
:24:53. > :24:57.perfect birthday treat. She set up Central Youth Theatre 30 years ago.
:24:57. > :24:59.Good things do happen in this city, they are just not necessarily
:24:59. > :25:08.shouted about all the time. It's shouted about all the time. It's
:25:08. > :25:12.really good tip at Wolverhampton on the map, so people know where it is.
:25:12. > :25:19.This would be a performance of a lifetime, with the blessing of a
:25:19. > :25:29.Hollywood giant. I got rather damp when I was out and
:25:29. > :25:30.
:25:30. > :25:33.about earlier. How's it looking from the forecast earlier. Fortunately,
:25:33. > :25:36.today is a sign of things to come later this week. It is looking
:25:36. > :25:46.changeable with heavy rain at times. Bearing that in mind, we are not
:25:46. > :25:48.
:25:49. > :25:55.doing too badly. If you doubt whether the shooting stars exist at
:25:55. > :26:02.all, we have photographic evidence. This photograph was sent in by Nick.
:26:02. > :26:06.He spotted these showers at ten o'clock last night. In the nights to
:26:06. > :26:11.come, I am not sure you will be able to see anything because it would be
:26:11. > :26:14.rather cloudy. There is a whole lot of activity coming in from the
:26:14. > :26:18.Atlantic. The timing of these will be during the night so that is when
:26:18. > :26:22.we will have the heaviest of the rain. Right now, if you showers in
:26:22. > :26:26.the east of the region but there is some late sunshine and that is more
:26:26. > :26:31.than just a subtle hint that things will be improving later. Clyde will
:26:32. > :26:35.melt in the early hours which is the best time to watch these meteors. We
:26:35. > :26:39.have clear skies developing. Dry conditions. The lowest temperatures
:26:39. > :26:45.will be in rural spots, where we could head down to eight or nine
:26:45. > :26:48.Celsius. A bit of missed developing as well. The best of the sunshine
:26:49. > :26:53.will be in the eastern half of the region first thing. Very quickly,
:26:53. > :26:57.like today, the code will come in from the west introducing a spot of
:26:57. > :27:01.rain here and there. A lot of dry weather tomorrow and temperatures
:27:01. > :27:05.will be slightly higher at 19 or 20 Celsius. The bulk of the rain will
:27:05. > :27:08.come through tomorrow night. This is going to mainly affect parts of
:27:08. > :27:11.Staffordshire and the western half of the region. Some heavy pulses of
:27:11. > :27:20.rain through the night and temperatures already showing signs
:27:20. > :27:23.of increasing. Thursday its self will be my dear. It will be
:27:23. > :27:32.noticeably warmer with a lot of cloud, showers and fresher showery
:27:32. > :27:35.Rail passengers face another inflation busting rise in their
:27:35. > :27:38.fares. It's the 11th year in row. And a government investigation finds
:27:38. > :27:42.it's probable that there's been fraudulent activity at Stoke City