:00:00. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: A warning to
:00:08. > :00:10.Christmas party`goers after dozens of women are sexually assaulted by
:00:11. > :00:22.unlicensed taxi drivers trawling the streets.
:00:23. > :00:25.Our message is for people to just be mindful and book their journeys home
:00:26. > :00:29.and make sure friends and family know where they are. We'll be
:00:30. > :00:32.hearing a victim's dramatic story of how she was assaulted by a driver
:00:33. > :00:36.taking her home. Also tonight: It's used by 60,000 passengers across the
:00:37. > :00:41.region, but now the popular ring and ride scheme is under threat.
:00:42. > :00:44.A lot of people depend on it, a lot of elderly people would not be able
:00:45. > :00:48.to get out at all. Joy for 200 workers, most of them
:00:49. > :00:51.with a disability, as Remploy finds a buyer for three factories.
:00:52. > :00:54.What goes up sometimes comes down ` passengers at New Street Station
:00:55. > :00:56.urged to mind their step on busy escalators.
:00:57. > :01:01.And the weekend weather's not looking great ` it's wet and windy
:01:02. > :01:18.for the next few days. I'll have your full forecast later.
:01:19. > :01:21.Good evening. The Christmas party season gets into full swing this
:01:22. > :01:25.weekend, but do you know who's taking you home at the end of the
:01:26. > :01:27.night? West Midlands Police are warning that bogus and illegal taxi
:01:28. > :01:32.drivers are targeting vulnerable women looking for cabs home after a
:01:33. > :01:35.night out on the town. The warning comes after 75 women were sexually
:01:36. > :01:46.assaulted by cabbies who picked them up either legally or illegally over
:01:47. > :01:49.the last two years. BBC Inside Out West Midlands reporter Anthony
:01:50. > :01:51.Bartram spoke to one of those victims.
:01:52. > :01:55.I'd got a lot drunker than I'd planned and I had to work the next
:01:56. > :02:01.day, so I decided I needed to go back to the hotel. The beginning of
:02:02. > :02:07.Sarah's story is far from unusual ` a boozy night out with friends in
:02:08. > :02:11.Birmingham. But it ended with a terrifying encounter with a bogus
:02:12. > :02:14.taxi driver who attacked her. He leaned over from the driver's side
:02:15. > :02:27.onto the passenger seat where I was sat and he started kissing my face
:02:28. > :02:30.and on my lips. I thought really at that point, it would have been best
:02:31. > :02:35.to just sit there and let him carry on because I thought I'd end up in a
:02:36. > :02:38.worse situation if I fought and tried to push him off. Shakeel Ahmed
:02:39. > :02:42.is now serving five years for a serious sexual assault. He wasn't
:02:43. > :02:51.even a minicab driver, but in the state Sarah was in, she didn't
:02:52. > :02:55.notice until it was too late. Our message is for people to just be
:02:56. > :02:58.mindful and to book their journeys home and make sure friends and
:02:59. > :03:09.family know where they are and where they are going. 75 similar assaults
:03:10. > :03:14.have been investigated in the past two years. The majority of the 4500
:03:15. > :03:20.private hire cars and 1500 black cabs to play by the rules, and while
:03:21. > :03:24.sex attacks are rare, there are other risks. If you just get into a
:03:25. > :03:30.private hire car that you have not, your journey is not insured, so you
:03:31. > :03:41.are putting yourself at risk. Always a private hire vehicle in advance.
:03:42. > :03:46.The council catches many illegally plying their trade every year. We
:03:47. > :03:50.joined an undercover police team to find those prepared to risk their
:03:51. > :03:54.livelihoods. We are about to look for some of these rogue drivers. How
:03:55. > :03:58.easy do you think it is going to be? I would say fairly easy,
:03:59. > :04:02.especially around areas like this with lots of students on nights out.
:04:03. > :04:06.We did find a number of cabbies playing by the rules, insisting we
:04:07. > :04:10.book ahead, but it didn't take long to find a ride who wasn't so fussy.
:04:11. > :04:14.He didn't get far. Unfortunately, there is a small proportion of
:04:15. > :04:18.drivers where greed will take over and they will take the opportunity
:04:19. > :04:22.for a quick, easy amount of cash to be made. But this driver now faces a
:04:23. > :04:25.charge of driving without insurance and could now lose his private hire
:04:26. > :04:31.license if convicted. Police warn that their passengers are risking a
:04:32. > :04:34.lot more by using them. I'm joined now by Chris Neville, the
:04:35. > :04:44.Head of Licensing at Birmingham City Council. Are you satisfied that
:04:45. > :04:50.enough is being done to put an end to it? We have never done more than
:04:51. > :04:54.we are at the moment in terms of taxi enforcement is. Last weekend,
:04:55. > :04:59.we had many officers out on the street, checking drivers and
:05:00. > :05:03.vehicles and making sure drivers were not picking up passengers who
:05:04. > :05:10.had not made bookings. The figures are alarming. 900 vehicles were
:05:11. > :05:20.tested and 20% were not roadworthy and 40% did not comply with taxi
:05:21. > :05:26.regulation. Some of them had minor fault and were not completely
:05:27. > :05:31.unroadworthy. But it is true that vehicles are not being kept in the
:05:32. > :05:36.condition they should be kept in. It seems that there has been an
:05:37. > :05:39.explosion in the number of taxis in Birmingham recently. A lot of
:05:40. > :05:43.vehicles are coming to Birmingham from other areas . It is a magnet
:05:44. > :05:48.because of the night time economy we have here. That in itself is not
:05:49. > :05:54.illegal, as long as people book the vehicles in advance. That is what
:05:55. > :05:59.drivers are not always doing. They are taking passengers at the side of
:06:00. > :06:02.the road, and then those journeys are not insured. That is the risk
:06:03. > :06:05.passengers are putting themselves at, apart from those very few people
:06:06. > :06:12.who will sit outside nightclubs, but tend to be eight taxi driver and
:06:13. > :06:17.then take passengers. What is your advice? Yellow mac when you plan
:06:18. > :06:24.your journey before you go out at night, think about how you will get
:06:25. > :06:27.home. Work out where the nearest black cab rank is so that you know
:06:28. > :06:33.what you are doing and you are not wandering aimlessly in the street,
:06:34. > :06:37.wondering how to get home. And you can see more on that when
:06:38. > :06:40.Inside Out West Midlands returns on BBC One in the New Year.
:06:41. > :06:44.Coming up later in the programme: They're meant to make life easier,
:06:45. > :06:47.but sometimes it doesn't work out like that ` the perils and pitfalls
:06:48. > :06:56.of the New Street Station escalators!
:06:57. > :06:59.A minibus service used by more than 60,000 people across the West
:07:00. > :07:02.Midlands is under threat because of cuts to transport budgets. Centro,
:07:03. > :07:06.which funds the ring and ride service, is having to cut budgets by
:07:07. > :07:14.10%, a total of ?14 million over the next two years. Our reporter joins
:07:15. > :07:22.us from Birmingham City Centre. Tell us more about what's being proposed.
:07:23. > :07:26.Well, Centro gets its money from seven local authorities, and they
:07:27. > :07:30.are going to cut the money they give. There are a number of options
:07:31. > :07:35.on the table. It is possible that child fares may rise to two thirds
:07:36. > :07:40.of adult fares. At the moment, they are half. Some bus services could be
:07:41. > :07:46.cut, and the ring and ride service could lose it ran substantially or
:07:47. > :07:48.even have to disappear. I have been talking to people who are not happy
:07:49. > :07:52.about that. For the elderly and the disabled,
:07:53. > :07:54.the fleet of 150 ring and ride minibuses is a lifeline. Take
:07:55. > :08:02.86`year`old Tom Richards, from Harborne. Unsteady on his feet, he
:08:03. > :08:09.says he wouldn't be able to do his shopping without the service. It is
:08:10. > :08:12.a shame, because I can't get about like I used to. It is a bloody good
:08:13. > :08:16.service. Other regular users, who pay 60 pence per journey, say ring
:08:17. > :08:24.and ride is much more than a means of getting from A to B. A lot of
:08:25. > :08:29.people would be isolated if they did not have ring and ride. It is their
:08:30. > :08:34.only means of seeing somebody once a week when they go shopping. 23,000
:08:35. > :08:42.passengers use the ring and ride service on a regular basis. If the
:08:43. > :08:44.service is discontinued, the worry is that hard`pressed care workers
:08:45. > :08:47.will have to step in to help those unaffected. Passengers also use the
:08:48. > :08:55.service for hospital appointments and trips to day care centres. Their
:08:56. > :08:57.mental and physical health will deteriorate, which means local
:08:58. > :09:00.authorities will have to intervene with more costly cap packages and
:09:01. > :09:04.ultimately have to take people into residential care, which is in
:09:05. > :09:08.nobody's best interests. And it's not just pensioners who fear
:09:09. > :09:18.isolation if ring and ride is axed. I can't use conventional can't ought
:09:19. > :09:24.because my chair will not fit in the taxi or a normal bus. So without the
:09:25. > :09:27.services of ring and ride, I would be lost. Transport bosses say
:09:28. > :09:30.they're sympathetic, but warn that these are the kind of tough
:09:31. > :09:41.decisions necessary when the money simply isn't there. Joining me now
:09:42. > :09:44.is the chairman of the passenger transport authority. Are you not
:09:45. > :09:49.targeting the vulnerable by going for the ring and write this?
:09:50. > :09:53.Absolutely not. As you indicated, we are faced with unprecedented cuts to
:09:54. > :09:59.the budget, because local authorities who fund us had those
:10:00. > :10:04.cuts to consider themselves. So they are asking us to investigate the
:10:05. > :10:07.possibility of a ?40 million cut in our budget, which will have an
:10:08. > :10:12.impact on all the services we provide. You are also looking at
:10:13. > :10:16.cutting concessionary fares for 40,000 children, again an easy
:10:17. > :10:28.target. Are there not staff you could cut first? But we have looking
:10:29. > :10:32.at staff. There are proposals that indicate a further cut could be
:10:33. > :10:43.made, 40% over the last three years. It is a problem for us. A lot of
:10:44. > :10:47.money is being spent on the Metro and an extension to the line. Could
:10:48. > :10:52.that not be scaled back 's that is funded through a different budget,
:10:53. > :11:00.Capitol. We are looking at the revenue budget. Well, there is a
:11:01. > :11:03.consultation process, and people who will be affected will be able to
:11:04. > :11:06.comment until the middle of January. A former Redditch postman who was
:11:07. > :11:10.jailed for life for attempted rape in 1997 has been freed by the Court
:11:11. > :11:17.of Appeal. Victor Nealon has spent the past 17 years in Wakefield
:11:18. > :11:24.Prison. But the court accepted that new DNA evidence cast doubt on his
:11:25. > :11:28.case. The 53`year`old has always denied the attack and his conviction
:11:29. > :11:35.has been quashed. He is angry about it, as you would imagine after 17
:11:36. > :11:39.years. Very frustrated. I have not been able to speak to him today
:11:40. > :11:42.because of his location, but I am sure he is happy to be released. It
:11:43. > :11:45.is the start of a difficult journey for him.
:11:46. > :11:48.A new report by MPs says building the High Speed Rail link between
:11:49. > :11:51.London and the north is vital for increasing capacity on the railways.
:11:52. > :11:55.Today's report on HS2 says it's the only way to deal with the long`term
:11:56. > :11:58.demands of passengers and freight. The Commons Transport Committee also
:11:59. > :12:05.says it'll play a major role in promoting economic growth outside
:12:06. > :12:11.London. Opponents say it'll be a waste of money as well as damaging
:12:12. > :12:14.the environment. It is important for the regeneration of Britain. We
:12:15. > :12:18.can't have all the jobs in the south, we have to rebalance our
:12:19. > :12:22.economy. For me, HS2 goes a little way towards doing that. 38 minutes
:12:23. > :12:25.from London to Birmingham means we are accessible to everybody within
:12:26. > :12:28.an hour. A thousand BMW agency staff,
:12:29. > :12:34.including some based at its Hams Hall site in Warwickshire, are being
:12:35. > :12:37.given permanent jobs this Christmas. The Midlands site is one of three
:12:38. > :12:40.factories which manufacture Minis. 700 staff will be told before
:12:41. > :12:44.Christmas and the remaining 300 in the new year.
:12:45. > :12:46.The BBC has seen leaked plans to cut general surgery at Cheltenham
:12:47. > :12:52.Hospital and move it to Gloucestershire Royal. The proposals
:12:53. > :12:54.are contained in a document from the Gloucestershire Hospitals Trust,
:12:55. > :12:59.which wants to centralise general surgery and breast surgery by 2018.
:13:00. > :13:05.The Trust says it's an internal document in its early stages.
:13:06. > :13:08.More than 200 jobs have been saved after a buyer was found for
:13:09. > :13:12.Remploy's car`part factories in Coventry, Birmingham and Derby. 179
:13:13. > :13:18.of those jobs are held by people with a disability. Today, the new
:13:19. > :13:27.owners have been talking about their plans for the future.
:13:28. > :13:30.All they wanted for Christmas was to keep their jobs. And today, workers
:13:31. > :13:37.at Remploy's automotive plant in Coventry got their wish. They've got
:13:38. > :13:45.new owners, along with two other sites in Birmingham and Derby. It is
:13:46. > :13:50.a big relief for many employees. The whole shop floor was cheering. A
:13:51. > :13:53.private company, Rempower, has bought the car component business
:13:54. > :13:56.from the Government for an undisclosed sum. There has been
:13:57. > :14:01.uncertainty here for the last two years, which is no good for the
:14:02. > :14:04.employees or the customers, because the motor manufacturers want to know
:14:05. > :14:08.they have security of supply. Remploy factories were established
:14:09. > :14:16.more than 60 years ago to provide work for people with disabilities.
:14:17. > :14:21.But last year, the Government said many weren't financially viable and
:14:22. > :14:25.would close. We have been moving out of our factory provision and
:14:26. > :14:28.focusing on supporting what the majority of disabled people want,
:14:29. > :14:32.which is to find employment in the mainstream. But Veronica Burton says
:14:33. > :14:41.it's not that easy to find work. This is my first proper job. Why do
:14:42. > :14:45.you think you could not find a job? Because I disabled. The takeover
:14:46. > :14:48.will help secure her job, along with more than 200 others. The turnover
:14:49. > :14:52.at the sites in Birmingham, Derby and here in Coventry is ?50 million
:14:53. > :14:55.a year. The new owners have big hopes, and they are making big
:14:56. > :14:59.promises. They are looking to double that turnover in four years. The new
:15:00. > :15:07.signs are already going up, making it clear that they're planning to
:15:08. > :15:11.stay. This is our top story tonight: A
:15:12. > :15:14.warning to Christmas party`goers after vulnerable women are assaulted
:15:15. > :15:25.by unlicensed taxi drivers trawling the streets. Your detailed weather
:15:26. > :15:33.forecast to come shortly.Also in tonight's programme: There's no more
:15:34. > :15:37.Fergie, so it's Lambert versus Moyes as Villa aim to rattle the Reds in
:15:38. > :15:41.the weekend's big football game. And the band that's building up a huge
:15:42. > :15:44.following in the United States, but how many people know about them back
:15:45. > :15:47.home in Birmingham? Network Rail is launching a new
:15:48. > :15:53.campaign to cut the number of accidents on its escalators. It's
:15:54. > :15:59.released CCTV film showing the dangers they can pose. Last year, 32
:16:00. > :16:09.people fell at New Street Station in Birmingham.
:16:10. > :16:19.I should not last. Whatever they were watching was certainly
:16:20. > :16:33.entertaining. It couldn't be a Network Rail safety video, could it?
:16:34. > :16:41.Oh yes, it is. Dull and corporate, it isn't. A new campaign about the
:16:42. > :16:45.dangers of escalators ` the man you've just seen fall was a real
:16:46. > :16:49.life passenger in Birmingham. Last year, 400 people took a tumble on a
:16:50. > :17:08.network where a skeleton. 32 of them were in New Street Station. There
:17:09. > :17:14.are 20 escalators here.. It is a like kind `` light`hearted reminder
:17:15. > :17:20.to people to take extra care on the escalators. Take a bit of extra time
:17:21. > :17:30.I don't try and run up the escalators. If you have luggage or a
:17:31. > :17:34.buggy, use the lift. The video should be on public display in the
:17:35. > :17:38.next few days. Onto sport now ` Dan's here. And
:17:39. > :17:45.another intriguing weekend ahead in the Premier League in many different
:17:46. > :17:48.ways. Yes. When Sir Alex Ferguson won his first League title with
:17:49. > :17:51.Manchester United in 1993, Aston Villa were their closest
:17:52. > :17:57.challengers. But in the 40 league matches between the two clubs since,
:17:58. > :18:00.Villa have only won twice. Now though Sir Alex is gone, so could
:18:01. > :18:03.this be the weekend that Villa finally break that stranglehold?.
:18:04. > :18:07.Even the most die`hard Aston Villa fan must be sick of seeing this game
:18:08. > :18:09.now. The constant reminder that August 1995 marked their last home
:18:10. > :18:13.league victory over Manchester United is a major irritation. But
:18:14. > :18:21.could this be the weekend Villa finally end that unwanted record? We
:18:22. > :18:26.have to give the fans something to shout about. If we can do that, they
:18:27. > :18:30.will be behind us. It will be a great atmosphere. If we can play a
:18:31. > :18:37.good game, we will see. The two managers certainly have plenty in
:18:38. > :18:40.common. Born in Glasgow, they both played for Celtic, but while Lambert
:18:41. > :18:43.went on to win the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund, Moyes'
:18:44. > :18:45.playing career never reached the same heights. In 1990 he was
:18:46. > :18:50.sweating through Shrewsbury's pre`season training session with the
:18:51. > :18:54.army in Telford. That was murder. It is not easy to get over some of
:18:55. > :18:57.these. As a manager Lambert's greatest achievement has been back
:18:58. > :19:01.to back promotions to lift Norwich into the Premier League. Moyes also
:19:02. > :19:05.won promotion with Preston before 11 years at Everton, which saw him
:19:06. > :19:14.voted manager of the year three times. Any manager, doesn't matter
:19:15. > :19:18.who it was or what country they came from, any manager would have trouble
:19:19. > :19:25.after the most successful manager Britain has ever produced. So I
:19:26. > :19:30.think the criticism is a bit over the top. But at least Villa fans do
:19:31. > :19:33.have some more recent happy memories, because it's four years
:19:34. > :19:38.almost to the day since Gabby Agbonlahor scored this winner at Old
:19:39. > :19:44.Trafford. So what can we expect from Villa tomorrow?
:19:45. > :19:47.Well, they're hard to predict. Just look at the last two matches. A
:19:48. > :19:50.surprise win at high`flying Southampton ` and then they lost to
:19:51. > :20:00.Fulham who had lost their previous six! And their home record's not
:20:01. > :20:06.great is it? There is a feeling that they are better away from home. But
:20:07. > :20:13.despite Man Utd's informed, Villa are outsiders to win. Let's talk
:20:14. > :20:20.about Albion now. They have had a bit of a wobble. It is a wobble. The
:20:21. > :20:26.2`0 defeat against Norwich City they are now down to 15th place, just two
:20:27. > :20:30.points above the bottom three. Head coach Steve Clarke says there are
:20:31. > :20:34.number of clubs at risk of relegation this season. Sometimes it
:20:35. > :20:38.is three, sometimes it is X. This year, there are a lot more than
:20:39. > :20:46.that. It has been an unusual season. Nobody really cast adrift.
:20:47. > :20:52.Maybe Sunderland will be thinking they have to pick up a couple of
:20:53. > :21:04.wins soon. And of course, you won't miss a kick of the weekend's action
:21:05. > :21:13.on BBC local radio. We also have BBC sports personality of the year. Good
:21:14. > :21:17.luck to our lad, Barry. Now, you might say Bluegrass music
:21:18. > :21:20.is more Birmingham, Alabama than Birmingham, West Midlands, but a
:21:21. > :21:23.band from Kings Heath in Birmingham are proving us wrong. The Toyhearts
:21:24. > :21:28.have recently returned from a five`month tour of Texas. As their
:21:29. > :21:37.reputation grows, a crime novelist has even incorporated them into her
:21:38. > :21:42.latest novel. Bluegrass and the Toyhearts, from
:21:43. > :21:44.Birmingham. That is not Birmingham, Alabama, as you would be forgiven
:21:45. > :21:55.for thinking. This family affair have roots firmly in Kings Heath. We
:21:56. > :21:59.grew up with our father playing us a lot of different types of music when
:22:00. > :22:03.we were young, and a lot of the grass and Western swing. Until we
:22:04. > :22:07.went to school, we thought that was normal for a family in Kings Heath
:22:08. > :22:16.to be exposed to this type of music. But we have always loved it,
:22:17. > :22:19.and it has come from there. The first time we saw an American band
:22:20. > :22:25.come over here and play, it really blew us away. We decided then, dad,
:22:26. > :22:32.you play the banjo, we want to start one of these bands. It may seem like
:22:33. > :22:35.taking coals to Newcastle, but the Toyhearts have just spent five
:22:36. > :22:42.months in Austin, Texas, one of the hotbeds of country music. They are
:22:43. > :22:48.very welcoming of the fact that you come from somewhere else, and you
:22:49. > :22:51.know so much about their music full of so we have always gone down well
:22:52. > :22:59.in that respect. One admirer of the band, Birmingham based crime writer
:23:00. > :23:04.Maureen Carter. So impressed, they feature in her latest novel Child's
:23:05. > :23:13.Play. Great band, aren't they? If you ask me, it is in the genes.
:23:14. > :23:16.Sarah frowned. Lovely young women in addresses and vertiginous heels.
:23:17. > :23:23.They are sisters. That is their dad. There is huge chemistry between
:23:24. > :23:29.that band, the family bond. That is not the case throughout the book. So
:23:30. > :23:35.it gives me an opportunity to let my detective have some reflection. This
:23:36. > :23:40.is another twist we did not expect it. It is a tick of our bucket list
:23:41. > :23:45.to be in a crime novel. We need more women in rock 'n' roll and
:23:46. > :23:46.literature, definitely. I Bluegrass meets blue murder. Am on the same
:23:47. > :23:53.page. Well, it's been a miserable Friday,
:23:54. > :23:58.grey and damp.I am hoping it'll be better for the weekend. Here's
:23:59. > :24:01.Rebecca. Not actually. It is going to be a
:24:02. > :24:09.grey affair. More of the same of what we have seen today this
:24:10. > :24:12.weekend. We are using more of your weather pictures in our bulletins,
:24:13. > :24:15.but how do you know you are getting the best shot? Here is my guide on
:24:16. > :24:20.how to take the perfect weather photo. In the West Midlands, we are
:24:21. > :24:24.blessed with some beautiful scenery, so there are plenty of opportunities
:24:25. > :24:28.to get a great that. Staffordshire photographer Chris Hap
:24:29. > :24:33.and knows how to make the best of the landscape . Rule number one, try
:24:34. > :24:37.and get out early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is
:24:38. > :24:41.at its lowest in the sky. Number two, try and imagine splitting your
:24:42. > :24:49.photo into three sections and try and place key parts of the photo in
:24:50. > :24:55.them. You don't always have to photograph wide`open landscapes, you
:24:56. > :24:58.can focus on little details. But even if you haven't got the latest
:24:59. > :25:06.high`tech camera, you can still get good results. Very nice. You have
:25:07. > :25:09.got your horizon on the bottom third. There are some nice autumn
:25:10. > :25:16.colour in the foreground and nice detail in the trees. Now it is your
:25:17. > :25:22.turn. We need your pictures, but they need to be in landscape. Send
:25:23. > :25:28.them in. Include your name and where you took it.
:25:29. > :25:35.This is my attempt. I am sure you can do much better, so have a go,
:25:36. > :25:39.but include your name. It is not going to be the perfect conditions
:25:40. > :25:43.for taking those pictures this weekend. It is a grey affair. We
:25:44. > :25:47.have 20 of rain to come, and those winds are picking up. The
:25:48. > :25:53.high`pressure which has been keeping us settled over the last few weeks
:25:54. > :25:59.has now moved away. The rain has now largely cleared away. Behind that,
:26:00. > :26:03.things are turning but a clearer. We still have some residual showers to
:26:04. > :26:07.come this evening, but under the clear skies, temperatures will fall
:26:08. > :26:12.away. The winds are picking up, so although they will drop into single
:26:13. > :26:18.figures, it will help keep the frost at bay. To start off tomorrow, it
:26:19. > :26:24.will be dry, with brightness, but not for long. The cloud will come in
:26:25. > :26:28.from the West. Most of us will keep the dry conditions for Match Of The
:26:29. > :26:33.Day before we see the rain moving in. It will be slow`moving, but
:26:34. > :26:36.there will be quite a bit of it. It is mild, but the winds are
:26:37. > :26:41.strengthening, making it feel fresher. That rain starts to push
:26:42. > :26:48.across us through Saturday night and sticks with us. Behind that, we will
:26:49. > :26:53.get clear skies. Temperatures will again fall away but with those
:26:54. > :26:57.winds, we will keep the frost at bay, so it will be a mild start to
:26:58. > :27:07.Sunday, but very similar to tomorrow. Those winds will be
:27:08. > :27:11.strengthening for a blustery day. We have two weather fronts, one from
:27:12. > :27:14.the north, one from the south. We could fall in the middle and avoid
:27:15. > :27:19.them completely, or we could see both of them. This marks the start
:27:20. > :27:25.of an unsettled period as we move into the start of next week.
:27:26. > :27:29.Tonight's headlines: Concern is growing for thousands of Syrian
:27:30. > :27:31.refugees facing an exceptionally harsh winter storm and freezing
:27:32. > :27:36.temperatures, with only tents for shelter.
:27:37. > :27:38.A warrant Christmas partygoers after dozens of women are sexually
:27:39. > :27:44.assaulted by unlicensed taxi drivers trawling the street is. That was the
:27:45. > :27:47.Midlands to. I will be back at ten o'clock with