:00:08. > :00:11.Good evening. The Environment Agency is warning
:00:12. > :00:13.that river levels in Herefordshire and Worcestershire are still
:00:14. > :00:15.unstable despite today's drier weather. They're predicted to
:00:16. > :00:19.fluctuate across the two counties over the next 24 hours, but not to
:00:20. > :00:22.the extent they did last week when record levels were reached. There
:00:23. > :00:26.are still 41 flood warnings across the region but the numbers are
:00:27. > :00:29.finally starting to fall, with teams of council workers and volunteers
:00:30. > :00:38.now beginning to remove tonnes of debris trapped under Worcester
:00:39. > :00:41.Bridge. Sarah Falkland was there. It was quite the Sunday morning
:00:42. > :00:50.spectacle, pulling in crowds of onlookers. It is pretty amazing when
:00:51. > :00:53.you see what it has brought down in what has gotten stuck.
:00:54. > :00:59.A huge pile of debris, there was all sorts in here, 28 tonnes were
:01:00. > :01:02.removed in the first hour. It is mainly wood, folks and jetsam but I
:01:03. > :01:10.have seen a wheelie bin, a beer barrel, a life going, plastic
:01:11. > :01:14.bottles, much debris. Do not be fooled into thinking this is some
:01:15. > :01:18.kind of floating island of rubbish because this is the proverbial tip
:01:19. > :01:20.of the iceberg. All of this degree is about three metres underwater.
:01:21. > :01:24.The dredging machine operator can't see what he's picking up` he's
:01:25. > :01:30.relying on guidance of the team and the pile is ever growing. In the
:01:31. > :01:34.normal way you would let the river go down and take everything away by
:01:35. > :01:37.a craft on the water but as the road is closed we have an opportunity to
:01:38. > :01:42.reach down from the top so we thought we would get a deli is fast
:01:43. > :01:47.as possible. The excavator can reach 18 metres in depth. That is the
:01:48. > :01:51.perfect kit for getting rid of this. You might also see the difficulty we
:01:52. > :01:55.have is the lights on the bridge, that is difficult for us to work
:01:56. > :01:58.around so we need is All the wood will be chipped and made into mulch.
:01:59. > :02:01.To be very careful. In all they're expecting to take out around 500
:02:02. > :02:06.tonnes. Sarah Falkland, BBC Midlands Today in Worcester.
:02:07. > :02:10.And you can get the latest on the flood situation, road closures and
:02:11. > :02:14.river levels by tuning into your BBC local radio station.
:02:15. > :02:17.A 20`year`old man from Stratford`on`Avon has been arrested
:02:18. > :02:20.on suspicion of the murder of a teenager in Oxford. 17`year`old
:02:21. > :02:24.Connor Tremble was stabbed in Fairacres Road in Oxford on Thursday
:02:25. > :02:27.night. He was taken to hospital but died yesterday. A 21`year`old man
:02:28. > :02:34.from Birmingham has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting
:02:35. > :02:37.an offender. The Chief Executive of HS2 Limited
:02:38. > :02:41.says Stoke`on`Trent "hasn't been ruled out" in a battle to get a
:02:42. > :02:44.station on the new high speed rail line linking London, the Midlands
:02:45. > :02:48.and the North. The city has just submitted its case to get a stop on
:02:49. > :02:51.the line, but it's facing stiff competition from just 15 miles away,
:02:52. > :02:58.as BBC Radio Stoke's Political Reporter Phil McCann reports.
:02:59. > :02:59.It used to be one of Stoke`on`Trent's industrial
:03:00. > :03:03.powerhouses. Thousands of people produced tonnes of steel at Shelton
:03:04. > :03:07.Bar in its heyday, but 14 years after it closed, this is all that's
:03:08. > :03:13.left. The hope now is that HS2 will fill the gap.
:03:14. > :03:15.The derelict land here would be home to international arrivals, with high
:03:16. > :03:18.speed trains thundering to London in less than an hour. Unlike councils
:03:19. > :03:22.in Coventry, Warwickshire and rural Staffordshire, the city council here
:03:23. > :03:33.is actually fighting for high speed rail. This will actually make
:03:34. > :03:37.Stoke`on`Trent a core cities, the amount of growth that will happen is
:03:38. > :03:41.unimaginable. And actually the amount of contribution that in any
:03:42. > :03:45.links Stoke`on`Trent and Staffordshire can make to the
:03:46. > :03:48.overall economy of the UK is huge. Local businesses say it'd give this
:03:49. > :03:54.city the boost it's been waiting for for decades. It will create jobs, it
:03:55. > :03:56.will bring investment, it will attract new businesses to this great
:03:57. > :04:00.city. But 15 miles up the road, a
:04:01. > :04:03.competitor in the shape of a true railway town. Crewe has already
:04:04. > :04:06.appeared as a stop for some HS2 trains on the government's preferred
:04:07. > :04:14.route. Stoke's plan would involve dragging the track away, launching
:04:15. > :04:18.officials here into battle mod. The total connectivity argument that the
:04:19. > :04:23.government talk about that their capacity argument is enhanced with
:04:24. > :04:30.what you get from Crewe. It is a good bet, but the real deal is in
:04:31. > :04:34.Crewe. Despite the initial preference for Crewe, the chief
:04:35. > :04:37.executive told Sunday politics that they will look at what
:04:38. > :04:42.Stoke`on`Trent has two offer. We have just completed a public
:04:43. > :04:46.consultation and I'm sure still have submitted their views to that. The
:04:47. > :04:48.Secretary of State will make a decision by the end of the year.
:04:49. > :04:51.Stoke`on`Trent have high hopes they'll win, but it'd mean a
:04:52. > :04:53.significant change in the government's HS2 strategy. Phil
:04:54. > :04:56.McCann BBC Midlands Today, Staffordshire.
:04:57. > :04:59.Onto sport now, and there are a couple of Rugby results for you, in
:05:00. > :05:01.the Aviva Premiership Gloucester were beaten by Leicester eleven
:05:02. > :05:03.points to eight. Meanwhile in the Championship
:05:04. > :05:10.Moseley had a miserable trip to Yorkshire getting thrashed by Leeds
:05:11. > :05:14.by 62 points to five. Well onto the forecast now and I
:05:15. > :05:16.suspect there's more on the way, let's get the details now with Sara
:05:17. > :05:26.Blizzard. It is all changed overnight, we will
:05:27. > :05:30.see some wet weather and ahead of that weather front it is quite cold
:05:31. > :05:34.initially, or three degrees the minimum temperature. As soon as the
:05:35. > :05:39.clouds comes in the temperatures left and we see the first signs of
:05:40. > :05:43.that weather front. It will be surely an Apache as the weather
:05:44. > :05:46.works its way northwards and there could be heavy bursts across
:05:47. > :05:50.Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Daytime temperatures tomorrow in the
:05:51. > :05:55.region of nine degrees. Quite a murky day with low cloud associated
:05:56. > :06:01.with this. Tuesday showery and the wind later. When 60s in. I am back
:06:02. > :06:15.at quarter past 11 after the BAFTAs. Goodbye.
:06:16. > :06:24.Whilst we are talking about wet and windy weather in the week ahead we
:06:25. > :06:29.will lose the extremes of last week. The first glow of the week will
:06:30. > :06:35.approach overnight. Clear skies will cause temperatures to fall awake,
:06:36. > :06:40.and we are looking at a frost in eastern England and for northern
:06:41. > :06:43.Scotland with Pitt -- patches of mist and fog. Temperatures will rise
:06:44. > :06:48.through the night as the cloud comes in and the wind begins to lift and
:06:49. > :06:52.the rain arrives. The far north of Scotland will get off to a frosty
:06:53. > :06:56.start. Further south, outbreaks of rain for the rush hour. Rain from
:06:57. > :07:01.Northern Ireland and across northern England. In the East, contending
:07:02. > :07:06.with more stubborn patches of fog. Grey skies of East Anglia and the
:07:07. > :07:07.far south-east of England but essentially