:00:00. > :00:00.power cuts to thousands of homes. Now we can join the
:00:00. > :00:10.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: Turning waste
:00:11. > :00:18.into power ` a new ?16 million research centre converting rubbish
:00:19. > :00:26.to energy opens in Birmingham. It is a great opportunity to `` for the
:00:27. > :00:29.West Midlands. We'll be asking an energy expert
:00:30. > :00:32.whether this form of power could help to bring our bills down.
:00:33. > :00:35.Also tonight, tracking the cycle snatchers ` how organised gangs and
:00:36. > :00:39.opportunist thieves are fuelling a huge rise in bike thefts.
:00:40. > :00:41.From the Big Apple to the Bullring ` why Birmingham is ranked a top
:00:42. > :00:45.destination for American visitors. On the up ` after starting the
:00:46. > :00:54.season on minus ten, Coventry City have taken 13 points from five
:00:55. > :00:58.games. The challenges lie ahead. As long as I keep getting that level of
:00:59. > :01:01.commitment from the players, I have no complaints at all.
:01:02. > :01:05.And thankfully for us, the storms missed most of our region on this
:01:06. > :01:07.occasion. Is that it for this week or is there more to come? I'll have
:01:08. > :01:19.a full forecast for you later. Good evening. Radical new ways to
:01:20. > :01:24.turn rubbish into power are at the heart of a new research centre which
:01:25. > :01:27.opened today. Scientists at the ?16 million centre at Aston University
:01:28. > :01:32.say they can turn almost any waste into fuel to generate electricity.
:01:33. > :01:36.Every year we create 177 million tonnes of waste in England and
:01:37. > :01:43.around 60% of that goes into landfill. So, could this pioneering
:01:44. > :01:46.work eventually lead to savings on our energy bills? Our science
:01:47. > :01:50.correspondent David Gregory`Kumar has the story.
:01:51. > :01:54.We already burn some of our rubbish to produce energy. This is the
:01:55. > :01:58.Tysley incinerator in Birmingham. But at this new lab at Aston
:01:59. > :02:00.University, they're pushing things a stage further, burning waste and
:02:01. > :02:07.rubbish at very high temperatures and turning them into an oil. And
:02:08. > :02:13.the researchers say turning waste into this oil has big power
:02:14. > :02:18.generating potential. Birmingham has more than 1 million inhabitants and
:02:19. > :02:25.they are producing all of the material we require as residue from
:02:26. > :02:32.anaerobic digestive and foot waste from for example markets. And this
:02:33. > :02:39.new ?16 million lab is powered by the oil produced by this process.
:02:40. > :02:43.The big advantage is that if you have got a waste product you think
:02:44. > :02:48.you might be useful to generate energy, you can test it in the lab
:02:49. > :02:52.and then if it works out you can bring it here and tested on a
:02:53. > :02:57.full`size scale. But it works on a small scale too. In India, farmers
:02:58. > :03:01.burn straw to get rid of it. A team from the new lab have spent the past
:03:02. > :03:05.two months showing straw can be turned into fuel. Enough to power a
:03:06. > :03:09.village. And back home, all this provides opportunities for Midlands
:03:10. > :03:12.manufacturers. You look at the technology we have developed, there
:03:13. > :03:19.are lots of components within it and more everyday components, expansion
:03:20. > :03:22.bellows, compression joints. There is a great opportunity for
:03:23. > :03:27.manufacturers to come along and see if they can supply equipment for the
:03:28. > :03:31.bioenergy sector. Creating fuel from all sorts of waste is about to break
:03:32. > :03:34.out of the lab and start generating jobs and power.
:03:35. > :03:38.And David's here now. So, the big question ` would this actually
:03:39. > :03:44.result in lower energy bills? I think for you and me household
:03:45. > :03:52.energy bills, not just yet. The people watching me with interest
:03:53. > :03:57.might be for example a cider maker in Herefordshire. This would be
:03:58. > :04:01.another way for them to extract more energy from what is to them a waste
:04:02. > :04:05.product. Any big company with a lot of waste generated would be very
:04:06. > :04:10.interested in this idea. In your report, you mentioned that
:04:11. > :04:16.it could create jobs. How? It has helped to safeguard jobs. The
:04:17. > :04:20.defence contractor looking to diversify in this area were working
:04:21. > :04:24.with the team at the lab at the University. They have helped them
:04:25. > :04:29.come up with ways to build the new plants and it has safeguarded the
:04:30. > :04:34.future of the firm. If you have the ?16 million nucleus in the
:04:35. > :04:38.Midlands, the hope is that companies will grow around it.
:04:39. > :04:41.In the past, there have been plans to build waste incinerators in the
:04:42. > :04:44.Midlands which have been strongly opposed by people living near them.
:04:45. > :04:49.How would this bio`energy plant get around that kind of opposition? That
:04:50. > :04:54.is a fair point. The big incinerator at Birmingham, it is on the edge of
:04:55. > :04:58.town. This would be at the centre of Birmingham next to a very nice pub.
:04:59. > :05:01.They are confident the process does not generate the kind of problems
:05:02. > :05:06.you get with large`scale incinerators. Putting it right in
:05:07. > :05:09.the centre of campus is a vote of confidence in that idea. Interesting
:05:10. > :05:12.stuff. Thank you. Plenty more to come tonight,
:05:13. > :05:18.including claims a failure to go ahead with HS2 could lead to 14
:05:19. > :05:20.years of weekend line closures. Organised crime gangs and
:05:21. > :05:26.opportunist thieves are fuelling a huge rise in bike theft. In the
:05:27. > :05:29.Midlands, almost 18,000 bikes were reported stolen in the last year
:05:30. > :05:34.with an estimated value of ?8 million. BBC Inside Out has been
:05:35. > :05:41.investigating and put the thieves to the test tracking a stolen bike, as
:05:42. > :05:44.Peter Wilson reports. The politicians and health experts
:05:45. > :05:49.have been telling us to do it for years, to get on our bikes. But as
:05:50. > :05:56.more of us do, so more and more cyclists are losing out. I am fairly
:05:57. > :06:02.convinced somebody probably followed me home and saw where I kept my bike
:06:03. > :06:06.in the garage and then a few hours later broke into the garage and
:06:07. > :06:09.stole my bike. The BBC Inside Out team lock up their bike in
:06:10. > :06:13.Birmingham's City Centre. But this one has a GPS tracking device. Just
:06:14. > :06:20.eight hours later and a thief has struck and the bike is on the move.
:06:21. > :06:29.So, how many bikes are stolen? Across the Midlands, nearly 18,000
:06:30. > :06:33.last year. Bike crime is on the increase because more people are out
:06:34. > :06:37.on their bikes so there are more opportunities for thieves to take
:06:38. > :06:40.the bikes. The BBC bike is tracked to a Halfords store. The person
:06:41. > :06:45.riding it has been shopping. CCTV provides video of a teenager
:06:46. > :06:52.wheeling the bike. A security team track the bike to a block of flats
:06:53. > :06:57.and question the young man. That is you on the bike yesterday. That is
:06:58. > :07:01.where you have been on that bike. We have been watching you for the last
:07:02. > :07:08.four days. The National Bicycle Association is based in Coventry.
:07:09. > :07:13.So, what's their advice? Bikes come mainly from the Far East. They do
:07:14. > :07:20.not arrive here with any particular identification on them. What you
:07:21. > :07:24.need to do when you get a bite is to make quite certain that the shop you
:07:25. > :07:30.get it from Marx it for you `` a bicycle. The BBC bike is back in
:07:31. > :07:34.safe hands. Confronting thieves is best left to the police, yet just
:07:35. > :07:40.one in 20 bikes stolen are ever recovered.
:07:41. > :07:43.And you can see more on this on tonight's Inside Out, here on BBC
:07:44. > :07:47.One at 7.30pm. Hope you can join me for that and other stories from
:07:48. > :07:51.across the Midlands. A woman has been arrested on
:07:52. > :07:54.suspicion of murder after a man was found stabbed in Wolverhampton.
:07:55. > :07:57.Paramedics were called to a flat in the city's Market Square to treat a
:07:58. > :08:00.53`year`old man who'd been stabbed yesterday afternoon. But they were
:08:01. > :08:05.unable to save him and police arrested a 49`year`old woman in
:08:06. > :08:07.connection with the stabbing. A cyclist's been killed in a
:08:08. > :08:10.hit`and`run collision in Worcestershire early this morning.
:08:11. > :08:14.It happened outside the Duke of York pub in the village of Berrow. The
:08:15. > :08:18.cyclist was leaving the pub when he collided with a green Audi. A man in
:08:19. > :08:22.his 30s been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous
:08:23. > :08:25.driving. The Manufacturing Advisory Service
:08:26. > :08:28.has received more than ?2 million in European funding to help companies
:08:29. > :08:32.in the West Midlands. The money will be used to provide support to small
:08:33. > :08:43.companies wanting to enter new markets, develop products or to make
:08:44. > :08:47.changes which will create new jobs. It was the worst storm to hit the
:08:48. > :08:49.South of England for years, tragically killing four people.
:08:50. > :08:55.Early forecasts had suggested the driving winds and rain would hit the
:08:56. > :09:00.Midlands badly too. But in the end, thankfully, we escaped the worst of
:09:01. > :09:03.it. But there are a number of flood alerts across the region tonight.
:09:04. > :09:07.Our reporter Cath Mackie joins us now from the banks of the River
:09:08. > :09:08.Severn in Worcester. Cath, how's it looking?
:09:09. > :09:12.The river's looking pretty quiet tonight. There are however more than
:09:13. > :09:15.20 flood alerts on rivers across the West Midlands and there's a flood
:09:16. > :09:18.warning, which is one step up, on the River Stour in Warwickshire.
:09:19. > :09:21.That peaked earlier this afternoon. Hopefully, if we don't get another
:09:22. > :09:32.downpour just yet, that should settle. To be honest, it's a picture
:09:33. > :09:34.you'd expect this time of year. But what's really been noticeable for
:09:35. > :09:38.me, as someone who has covered countless severe weather stories for
:09:39. > :09:41.years, is the high level of preparedness now among the
:09:42. > :09:44.authorities to reduce the impact of whatever nature might throw at us.
:09:45. > :09:50.In the past, they'd often be playing catch`up. The thinking now is it's
:09:51. > :09:53.easier to scale down than up, so what we saw over the weekend, for
:09:54. > :09:57.example, were teams out clearing culverts to make sure that if the
:09:58. > :10:03.big storm did arrive, the water had somewhere to go. We are working more
:10:04. > :10:08.closely with the emergency services and local authorities. We are making
:10:09. > :10:12.people aware of the risk of flooding to their property. We are talking to
:10:13. > :10:15.communities and making sure that they are aware of what to do should
:10:16. > :10:18.a flood occur. There were problems for commuters
:10:19. > :10:23.this morning. What about this evening? Luckily, it's half`term for
:10:24. > :10:27.a lot of people, so there were far fewer cars on the road during rush
:10:28. > :10:30.hour this morning when surface water was making it difficult in places.
:10:31. > :10:35.The problem this evening as for much of the day is with train commuters.
:10:36. > :10:40.Train companies reporting delays and possible cancellations into tomorrow
:10:41. > :10:50.morning. The advice as always if travelling by train, check with the
:10:51. > :10:53.train operator first. Thank you. A new report says increasing the
:10:54. > :10:57.capacity of the main rail routes between London and the north as an
:10:58. > :11:00.alternative to HS2 would lead to 14 years of weekend closures. The study
:11:01. > :11:03.for Network Rail is due to be published tomorrow. But in a
:11:04. > :11:07.separate development, the Prime Minister has hinted he would cancel
:11:08. > :11:09.the scheme if the Labour Party withdraws its support. Our transport
:11:10. > :11:13.correspondent Peter Plisner reports. Remember this? Major disruption
:11:14. > :11:17.after engineering work on the West Coast Main Line over`ran back in
:11:18. > :11:21.January, 2007. This work was part of the last upgrading of the line which
:11:22. > :11:25.itself took more than a decade to plan and complete. The report made
:11:26. > :11:28.public today talks of a huge amount of disruption, including 14 years of
:11:29. > :11:34.weekend route closures and much longer journeys for passengers.
:11:35. > :11:37.Those opposed to the scheme, many of whom live near the proposed route,
:11:38. > :11:40.maintain that the report is seriously flawed and that upgrading
:11:41. > :11:50.the existing lines would bring bigger benefits to more passengers.
:11:51. > :11:52.And they could be about to get their way. Senior Labour Party figures
:11:53. > :11:58.like the former Business Secretary Lord Mandleson are now turning their
:11:59. > :12:02.back on the project. Frankly, there was too much of the argument that if
:12:03. > :12:07.everyone else has got a high`speed train, we should have won too.
:12:08. > :12:12.Regardless of need, regardless of cost. And that and other comments
:12:13. > :12:17.led to this statement from David Cameron yesterday. These
:12:18. > :12:20.multi`year, multi`parliament infrastructure projects, they cannot
:12:21. > :12:25.go ahead without all`party support. You will not get the investment.
:12:26. > :12:28.Could high`speed rail be about to hit the buffers? Probably not at
:12:29. > :12:33.this stage, but it's possible the plans may have to be moved to the
:12:34. > :12:37.sidings. And Peter joins us now from the
:12:38. > :12:40.proposed site of the Birmingham HS2 station. Peter, why is the support
:12:41. > :12:47.of the Labour Party so crucial to the survival of HS2? As David
:12:48. > :12:54.Cameron said, it is a cross`party issue. The support of all parties.
:12:55. > :13:02.It spans several years and several governments. We now the Labour Party
:13:03. > :13:08.is lukewarm on it. Ed Balls said a few weeks ago there could be no
:13:09. > :13:11.blank cheques for HS2. If the Labour Party withdraws support, David
:13:12. > :13:17.Cameron can scrap the scheme and then blame the Labour Party.
:13:18. > :13:22.A new business case for HS2 is being published tomorrow. Why is that
:13:23. > :13:27.necessary? The business case is vital to show the viability of the
:13:28. > :13:32.scheme. A previous business case has not done that. It has been shot to
:13:33. > :13:35.pieces by those opposed to the scheme. The numbers did not stuck
:13:36. > :13:44.up. Tomorrow we are told the business case will be much more
:13:45. > :13:47.robust. The government is now going on the offensive and wants to prove
:13:48. > :13:50.the case for HS2. It's also being discussed in
:13:51. > :13:55.parliament later this week. What's that all about? It is the third
:13:56. > :13:59.reading of the bill which effectively does what it says on the
:14:00. > :14:05.tin, paving the way for HS2. There will be more authority for more
:14:06. > :14:09.expenditure on HS2 and more planning. The publication of the
:14:10. > :14:16.business case tomorrow will help win more support. There will be a vote
:14:17. > :14:21.on the bill and HS2 is becoming an electoral liability. We will bring
:14:22. > :14:24.you more details on that later in the week.
:14:25. > :14:27.This is our top story tonight: Turning waste into power ` a new ?16
:14:28. > :14:31.million research centre converting rubbish to energy opens in
:14:32. > :14:34.Birmingham. Shefali will be along with your
:14:35. > :14:36.detailed weather forecast in a moment.
:14:37. > :14:39.Also ahead, making the numbers add up ` how taxpayers in Warwickshire
:14:40. > :14:43.are having their say on where the council should make cuts.
:14:44. > :14:45.And forget the Premier League, it's League One where are clubs are
:14:46. > :15:02.having a great run of form. A New York magazine has named
:15:03. > :15:04.Birmingham as one of its top winter destinations for 2013, praising it
:15:05. > :15:07.for its culture and choice of restaurants. Last year, nearly 52
:15:08. > :15:10.million tourists visited New York City, whereas 33.8 million made the
:15:11. > :15:18.trip to Birmingham. There are currently 67 Michelin`starred
:15:19. > :15:21.restaurants in New York. In Birmingham, there are four. The
:15:22. > :15:24.latest star was awarded last month. Top attractions in the Big Apple
:15:25. > :15:28.include the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. In
:15:29. > :15:32.Birmingham, the canals and Thinktank Science Museum often draw in the
:15:33. > :15:35.crowds. Joining me now to discuss the profile of the city is Emma Gray
:15:36. > :15:39.from Visit Birmingham and Anne Tonks, a New Yorker who now runs
:15:40. > :15:43.Opus restaurant in Birmingham. Good evening to both of you. Emma, it's
:15:44. > :15:50.your job to sell the city overseas, give us your 20`second sales pitch.
:15:51. > :15:53.We have seen an 11% increase in visitors. We have had a lot of
:15:54. > :15:59.people coming to Birmingham. They really enjoy the industrial heritage
:16:00. > :16:04.we have. From a North American point of view, they like that. They like
:16:05. > :16:09.the fact we are the home of Cadbury 's chocolate. The cultural diversity
:16:10. > :16:13.we have as a city helps the food scene. It is such a great city they
:16:14. > :16:19.find the English way of life very interesting. Do people understand
:16:20. > :16:23.what Birmingham is about? What is the most common perception of the
:16:24. > :16:32.city? People do not know of Birmingham. They think it is
:16:33. > :16:35.Birmingham, Alabama. People are surprised by the proximity to
:16:36. > :16:39.London. They like the fact you can use it as a base and tour the rest
:16:40. > :16:48.of the country. Ann, you've been here 15 years. What has it got that
:16:49. > :16:53.other cities do not have? I moved to Birmingham about 20 years ago and to
:16:54. > :16:57.me the extremely exciting thing about Birmingham is that it was a
:16:58. > :17:02.city that was changing. I have lived through so much change, cultural
:17:03. > :17:06.change, massive change in the restaurant industry. It has been a
:17:07. > :17:12.city where I have felt like anything could happen. We are still lagging
:17:13. > :17:17.behind New York in terms of Michelin`starred restaurants. We
:17:18. > :17:24.have a long way to go. We should be very proud that we have more
:17:25. > :17:29.Michelin`starred restaurants outside of London than any other city in
:17:30. > :17:33.Britain. But it is not just that. One of the great things we have in
:17:34. > :17:40.Birmingham is a great explosion of independent restaurants. Many of
:17:41. > :17:43.them boast home`grown talent. So many chefs in the city from
:17:44. > :17:49.Birmingham which is something we should be very proud of. Things are
:17:50. > :17:55.going well but what more does the city need to do? The physical
:17:56. > :18:01.development has put us in a good position to get more visitors. The
:18:02. > :18:04.next thing we need to focus on is our international connectivity. More
:18:05. > :18:14.flights into Birmingham, extending the networks we have. Thank you very
:18:15. > :18:18.much. All our councils are having to make
:18:19. > :18:21.budget cuts. If you held the purse strings, where would you make the
:18:22. > :18:25.savings? A free budget simulator's been put online to help taxpayers in
:18:26. > :18:28.Warwickshire have their say on where the council should be making cuts.
:18:29. > :18:30.The county has to save ?92 million over the next four years. BBC
:18:31. > :18:34.Coventry and Warwickshire's political reporter Sian Grzeszczyk
:18:35. > :18:38.has more. They are not experts and have not
:18:39. > :18:43.been elected to make the big decisions. They have spent more time
:18:44. > :18:46.campaigning against those who do. But now they have come together to
:18:47. > :18:56.see if they can make the numbers add up. I have been fighting to save my
:18:57. > :19:02.local library. I fought to try and preserve our village fire station. I
:19:03. > :19:11.am a 51`year`old single parent. I am fighting proposed cuts for disabled
:19:12. > :19:15.children. Disses Warwickshire county council's budget simulator. Every
:19:16. > :19:20.decision they make as a consequence `` disses. Far and rescue, it is
:19:21. > :19:26.life and death. These other cuts are cuts to services and it is not life
:19:27. > :19:30.and death `` Fire and rescue. You can set the budget for each
:19:31. > :19:36.department. If they get the sums wrong, they risked putting up
:19:37. > :19:41.council tax. Your budget does not balance. You need to adjust your
:19:42. > :19:46.choices so that the council tax does not have to increase by more than
:19:47. > :19:51.5%. We did not have enough more information about the consequences
:19:52. > :19:56.of the cuts. It is exceedingly difficult and you feel personally
:19:57. > :20:01.you are cutting people's benefits by doing this. We were not able to
:20:02. > :20:05.balance the books at all. We did not think we had enough information to
:20:06. > :20:10.enable us to make a call on some of the cuts. What does the council
:20:11. > :20:14.leader make of their concerns? I can understand that. It is very
:20:15. > :20:18.difficult. We have been going through this process for weeks, even
:20:19. > :20:24.months. If we are going to make the really am porting decisions, I need
:20:25. > :20:28.people to respond to me and tell me what they value. So far more than
:20:29. > :20:32.200 people have tried the budget calculator which will be available
:20:33. > :20:38.on the website until the end of the month.
:20:39. > :20:44.Let us turn our attention to sport now.
:20:45. > :20:47.Ian's here with tonight's sport. And not a lot to shout about in the
:20:48. > :20:51.Premier League. No, three defeats for West Brom,
:20:52. > :20:54.Aston Villa and Stoke. So we'll move swiftly on to the Championship where
:20:55. > :20:57.no`one made a more explosive impact than Lee Novak. The Birmingham City
:20:58. > :21:01.substitute had only just come on, midway through the second half, when
:21:02. > :21:04.he volleyed in from close range to earn the Blues a one`all draw at
:21:05. > :21:10.Derby. Guaranteeing a very happy 41st birthday for his manager Lee
:21:11. > :21:16.Clark. It is a terrific finish, to watch the ball coming out of the sky
:21:17. > :21:19.like that and delivered the quality technique. The players and the staff
:21:20. > :21:24.were delighted for him because he has a fantastic work ethic. I have
:21:25. > :21:27.worked with him for a long time. I think he can deliver for the club.
:21:28. > :21:33.Coventry City have been outstanding throughout October. 13 points from
:21:34. > :21:37.five games must give Stephen Pressley a great chance of being
:21:38. > :21:39.named Manager of the Month in League One. Wolves are also unbeaten since
:21:40. > :21:45.mid`September. And both teams won again at the weekend.
:21:46. > :21:49.Stephen Pressley is working a minor miracle at Coventry City. And his
:21:50. > :21:52.latest success came away to Walsall. Frank Moussa scored the only goal of
:21:53. > :21:56.a close`fought game. And Coventry would now be lying fourth, if only
:21:57. > :22:04.they hadn't been deducted ten points in the summer. It has been a really
:22:05. > :22:09.productive last eight or nine days for ourselves. Beating the league
:22:10. > :22:12.leaders on Tuesday and coming to the difficult away venue and winning
:22:13. > :22:18.again. The players deserve so much credit. Wolves arrived at Bradford
:22:19. > :22:21.in reflective mood. Having lost only two games all season, they weren't
:22:22. > :22:25.fazed when they fell behind early in the first half. A goalkeeping howler
:22:26. > :22:28.allowed James Henry to make it 1`1. And five minutes later, Richard
:22:29. > :22:31.Stearman popped up to score the winner, leaving Wolves three points
:22:32. > :22:38.behind the leaders Leyton Orient with a game in hand. A big game for
:22:39. > :22:45.them and they were cheering every throw in, every tackle. They drove
:22:46. > :22:48.the side through. To win under those circumstances is a fantastic result.
:22:49. > :22:51.Port Vale also found themselves a goal down at home to Gillingham. But
:22:52. > :22:54.Chris Robertson scored soon after the break. And Tom Pope's
:22:55. > :23:02.well`placed header sealed a 2`1 victory for Vale. We have got to
:23:03. > :23:07.give plenty of credit to Coventry. Starting the season on `10 points.
:23:08. > :23:12.It is a great effort. The one worry for the fans is that their players
:23:13. > :23:18.are catching the eye of scouts from higher up the football pyramid and
:23:19. > :23:23.January is not far away. We should also say well done to
:23:24. > :23:31.Burton Albion who are in the league two play or so after winning again.
:23:32. > :23:35.`` play`off zone. But our rugby clubs are really struggling to find
:23:36. > :23:38.their form. Yes, we told you on Friday about Worcester's woes at the
:23:39. > :23:41.bottom of the Premiership. I'm afraid they've now lost their last
:23:42. > :23:45.six games after their latest heavy defeat 40`6 away to Exeter. And the
:23:46. > :23:48.Warriors are now eight points adrift at the bottom. Gloucester are just
:23:49. > :23:51.above them. They lacked discipline, according to their Director of Rugby
:23:52. > :23:53.Nigel Davies, after they lost 15`13 away to Bath.
:23:54. > :23:56.Tomorrow evening, we're live at St Andrew's before Birmingham play
:23:57. > :23:59.Stoke in the Capital One Cup. Look forward to that.
:24:00. > :24:02.A two`year conservation project to monitor rare bats has been disrupted
:24:03. > :24:05.after thieves stole thousands of pounds of specialist equipment. The
:24:06. > :24:08.tracking devices were taken from woodlands in south Warwickshire,
:24:09. > :24:11.home to one of the most important breeding locations for Barbastelle
:24:12. > :24:20.bats in the country. Scientists are appealing for their return so they
:24:21. > :24:24.can continue to monitor the mammals. It is one of the only northern
:24:25. > :24:29.populations we have got which is breeding. We really want to know
:24:30. > :24:33.where the bats of foraging, feeding and roosting and how they are
:24:34. > :24:38.getting to those sites. That is what we need the transmitter and receiver
:24:39. > :24:43.for. It is a specialist piece of equipment which can only be used for
:24:44. > :24:47.tracking animals therefore it cannot be used for any other purpose than
:24:48. > :24:51.this. It is frustrating. It is basically valueless.
:24:52. > :24:58.Let's turn our attention to the weather. Shefali is here. We did not
:24:59. > :25:02.get away with escaping the weather entirely.
:25:03. > :25:09.As far as rain went, quite a bit in one or two spots. Earlier we heard
:25:10. > :25:16.from Worcestershire that there was a flood warning. There is a reason for
:25:17. > :25:21.that. It was the wettest plays in the region `` wettest place. Seeing
:25:22. > :25:25.as the stormy activity was running south and drifting in that
:25:26. > :25:29.direction, it was all is going to be the southern flank of our region
:25:30. > :25:33.that would be affected. But as far as this week goes, no more storms on
:25:34. > :25:39.the horizon. It will be quite blustery, autumnal feel to things.
:25:40. > :25:43.It will be cooler than last week. We will see a mixture of rain and
:25:44. > :25:48.showers. Judging by the isobars at the moment, still quite breezy.
:25:49. > :25:53.These will slacken later. A cluster of showers to the north`west feeding
:25:54. > :25:57.through the Cheshire gap later. The next system to come through will be
:25:58. > :26:03.this from the West. Coming later on Wednesday. A bit more detail on
:26:04. > :26:07.that. This evening and overnight, still showers there starting to
:26:08. > :26:13.develop. We are looking at clear skies. This will send temperatures
:26:14. > :26:17.down. Locally it could be a little cooler than seven or eight. A lot of
:26:18. > :26:20.the showers will concentrate themselves in the northern half of
:26:21. > :26:24.the region later in the night. Tomorrow is a daytime version of
:26:25. > :26:28.tonight. There will be a lot of showers across the northern half of
:26:29. > :26:34.the region. Further south, it is dry with sunshine. A lot of sunshine in
:26:35. > :26:41.between the showers. Some could be heavy. Temperatures on the poolside.
:26:42. > :26:49.Average for the time of year. `` on the cool side. A fairly brisk rest
:26:50. > :26:53.of the `` brisk westerly breeze. Tomorrow night, the showers will
:26:54. > :26:58.eventually die away. Clear skies across the board. In rural areas,
:26:59. > :27:02.temperatures could fall low enough for a touch of ground frost.
:27:03. > :27:08.Wednesday, dry with some sunshine and then showers on Thursday.
:27:09. > :27:10.Tonight's headlines: Four dead after hurricane`force winds batter
:27:11. > :27:13.southern Britain Turning waste into power ` a new ?16 million research
:27:14. > :27:20.centre converting rubbish to energy opens in Birmingham.
:27:21. > :27:50.That was Midlands Today. I will be back at 10pm.
:27:51. > :27:52.This is Malcolm, who owns Iceland. He's the one
:27:53. > :27:55.that's going to present us with the ten grand. When we win it.
:27:56. > :27:58.You've just got to make it as bearable
:27:59. > :28:02.Here we are in the PR nerve centre of Iceland
:28:03. > :28:05.at the end of 96 hours of total hell.
:28:06. > :28:10.But we haven't tested for dog or cat either.
:28:11. > :28:13.Is this the warmest supermarket around?