18/03/2014 Midlands Today


18/03/2014

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worth up to ?2000. That is all from us,

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Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight:

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An apology to Jeff Astle's widow from the Football Association for

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the way she's been treated since the footballer died from brain damage.

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We feel very let down. The tpset we've felt I think is reallx

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starting to turn to anger. Laraine Astle also tells us she

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still wants the FA to carry out research into brain injuries among

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players. An investigation's under wax into

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why 86 miscarried and abortdd foetuses were kept for up to four

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years at Walsall Manor Hosphtal Abandoned and neglected ` a surge in

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the number of horses rescued from appalling misery. It is beyond bad.

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Every year it's got worse btt this has been the worst year ever.

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Making a bit of twit of himself ` the tawny owl recovering from a

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325`mile journey clinging to the front of a train. Tawny owls are

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very funny owls, and they'rd very hardy owls, so, again, I thhnk it

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just got on there, clung on, and that was it!

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And it's all looking calm rhght now, deceptively so. In fact, if

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anything, tomorrow could be warm. But by the time we get to Thursday

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and the rest of the week, that's quite a different story, whhch I'll

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have for you later. Good evening. The Football

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Association today apologised to the widow of Jeff Astle for the way

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she's been treated since he died from brain damage caused by heading

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heavy leather footballs. Laraine Astle says there's been virtually no

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contact since a landmark inpuest 12 years ago into the death of the West

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Bromwich Albion legend. Although the dry weight of footballs has remained

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unchanged, the old leather balls became far heavier when wet, risking

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serious injury. Here's Ben Godfrey. To West Bromwich Albion supporters,

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Jeff Astle was known simply as the King. He was a prolific goal`scorer

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for the Baggies and won fivd caps for England. His death in 2002 at

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the age of 59 sent shock waves through football. We have h`d no

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closure with it. There's bedn no closure because the FA won't accept

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what killed him, you see. Tdsts showed that Jeff Astle died from a

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catastrophic brain injury c`used by years of heading leather balls. The

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Football Association told L`raine Astle they would conduct a decade of

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research into the effect on players but it hasn't been done. Ond of my

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daughters said, do they just not think my dad's life was worth

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anything? Two of my daughters have suffered, you know, in the last 12

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years. One of my daughters had a nervous breakdown. In a statement,

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the Football Association sahd: We deeply regret any upset caused to

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the Astle family due to our lack of contact during this period, and we

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apologise to them for this". We understand the FA did begin a

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research project but it has not been completed because the youngsters

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selected to take part droppdd out. This is after failing to make it as

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professionals. Then surely hf it is going to help and save lives and

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front all these problems in later life, that has got to be worthwhile.

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This neurologist says even though today's footballs don't get heavier

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in wet conditions, they could still cause injury. Even mild injtry is a

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risk factor these days. Jeff's family, including his 14`month`old

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grandson, Joseph, are going to West Bromwich Albion's match at Hull City

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on Saturday. They're asking supporters to honour the Baggies

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legend by applauding after nine minutes to recognise their campaign

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for justice for Jeff. Coming up later in the programme,

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the peril of potholes. A former world cycling champion says the

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roads he rides have become potential death traps.

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An investigation's under wax after miscarried and aborted foettses were

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kept in storage at Walsall Lanor Hospital. They were retained because

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paper work wasn't filled in properly. There are around 700

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miscarriages or abortions every year at the hospital and it's now emerged

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that 86 foetuses were kept for up to four years. Of those, 73 were under

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12 weeks old. Here's our he`lth correspondent, Michele Padu`no.

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At 12 weeks, the foetus is `round six centimetres long and wehghs just

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14 grams. The vast majority of embryos, 73, were smaller than this.

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This is a foetus at 20 weeks. Some remains were as late as 21 weeks'

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gestation. Walsall Manor Hospital has admitted that embryos wdre kept

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up to four years in two casds because forms weren't compldted or

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were incorrectly completed. We are sincerely sorry for any distress or

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concern we might have caused. We have had a problem with our internal

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process which has meant that in a small number of cases, the

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authorisation to dispose of what is remaining after miscarriages and

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terminations has not happendd as it should have done. Around 700 embryos

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from abortions and miscarri`ges in Walsall are cremated here at the

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Streetly Crematorium. The mhssing embryos only came to light following

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a Freedom of Information repuest asking how many foetuses were kept

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more than a month. Once the paperwork is completed, the

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remaining 86 foetuses will be brought here for cremation. Some

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with their parents present. The hospital says it has reviewdd all of

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its other procedures and thdre are no other problems with the lortuary.

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In a statement, the Human Thssue Authority said: "We are currently

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reviewing how this happened at Manor Hospital in Walsall, includhng

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inspecting next week. It is important that the issues are

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investigated thoroughly, action is taken, and lessons are learned by

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Walsall and others to avoid similar incidents happening again".

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No`one has been disciplined for the error but the hospital has

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commissioned an investigation into why this was not discovered sooner.

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And the hospital has set up a dedicated information line for

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people who think they may bd affected by what's happened ` the

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number to call is 0345 835 7626 It's the Budget tomorrow, and

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companies will be looking for further incentives to boost the

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region's economy. Although there are signs of recovery, particul`rly in

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manufacturing, unemployment remains stubbornly high. Our business

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correspondent Peter Plisner is in Aston in Birmingham tonight. Peter,

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what are the key things bushnesses will be looking out for frol the

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Chancellor? I think as you said they are looking for reasons or

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incentives to grow. This colpany no exception. Here they make plastic

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mouldings for a variety of things. This is a wheel arch for a

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Caterpillar and this is somdthing for a JCB. And this is for ` wheel

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arch of an Aston Martin! With me is the managing director. You have

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expanded quite rapidly and paid the price in increased business rates

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and presumably you don't want the Chancellor to be putting opdrates

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any more? Absolutely. The r`tes really have not gone down. For the

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last five years, really. It is quite a deprived area and obviously we

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want to employ more people `nd that has prevented us from doing that.

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Energy costs are quite high because basically you are warming lots of

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things up so you possibly w`nt the Government to do something on the

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increase in that? Very much so. We are spending about ?12,000 ` month

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on electricity alone and th`t prevents us from entering a global

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market, so any help on that would be very welcome. What else werd July to

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see the Chancellor give you? We would like to see him keep or raise

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the annual investment allow`nce We are looking at investing in

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machinery because our custolers are asking us to do that and we need

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help in being able to do th`t. `` what else would you like to see The

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Chancellor will deliver his speech at lunchtime tomorrow and tomorrow

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night we will be back to find out if Dave and the company he man`ges

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actually got what they were asking for. It will be interesting to see.

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Thank you. A Birmingham woman has been jailed

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for life in Pakistan after being convicted of trying to smuggle drugs

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out of the country. 26`year`old Khadijah Shah, seen here attending

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court with her two children, was arrested at Islamabad Airport in May

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2012. She was carrying 63 khlos of heroin worth nearly ?3 millhon.

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She's always denied the charges The children have since returned to the

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UK. Charities are warning that the

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number of abandoned horses hn the Midlands is reaching critic`l

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levels. Rescue centres say irresponsible breeders and rising

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costs are behind a surge in the number of animals being neglected.

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The RSPCA wants tighter controls to keep track of owners. BBC Hdreford

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and Worcester's Pam Caufield has been investigating.

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Hello, scruffy lot! Dumped on roadsides, car parks and fidlds

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These are some of more than 120 horses rescued by one small

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Worcestershire charity. It has reached crisis point. It is beyond

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bad. Every year has got worse but this has been the worst year ever

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that I've experienced in 30 years. I'm having to turn horses away. Sue

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picks up animals like these almost every day. Cheap to buy but

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expensive to care for, many suffer appalling neglect, are abandoned and

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left for dead. Don't buy it if you can't afford to keep it. Don't

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advertise it free thinking someone else will want it, because ht'll be

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like the Christmas puppy, end up on the heap six weeks later. The RSPCA

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blames the problem on years of overbreeding by irresponsible owners

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who graze them illegally on different plots of land. It wants

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tighter controls to keep tr`ck of who owns each animal. Every horse

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should have a passport, it should be traceable and it should be

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microchipped. Unfortunately this isn't enforced, so it's hard if we

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do have a neglected animal or a group of fly`grazed horses to

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actually trace the owner, and that's one of the big issues. In W`les

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there's a new law to target such breeders ` the Control of Horses

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Act. It allows local authorhties to seize horses which are eithdr

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abandoned or left grazing on land without permission. That's great for

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Wales but it's going to import the problem into England a lot lore

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because the same legislation isn't being brought into effect over here.

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Now, this young lady is called Whisper. It's taken us four months

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to get through to her that nobody's going to hurt her. Whisper nearly

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starved to death. Her owner was convicted of cruelty to anilals

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Charities want more punishmdnts and tougher laws, but until that

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happens, they'll carry on the struggle to find good homes for

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horses like Whisper. Helen Gough is an agricultural

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solicitor who is campaigning to get the law changed to protect horses.

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She joins us now. Good evenhng. What's the current law? How often

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are people prosecuted? Therd are three principal pieces of

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legislation that eel with horses being abandoned. Over the p`st two

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years there has been a signhficant increase in the number of

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prosecutions, nearly double. But the RSPCA have been berated for that aim

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to many when I don't think ht is nearly enough. If people ard being

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prosecuted, why do we need to change the law? We have the passport

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regulations which were introduced in 2009 but they are not being complied

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with and they are not being enforced, so non`compliance is

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becoming a real issue. But the real problem is in actually getthng the

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horses removed from land whdre they have been abandoned, so it hs the

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1971 animals act which is l`cking. What changes do you want? Do you

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want to keep the tubing and passports in place or make sure they

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are in force? That is cruci`l because we have to have a mdthod of

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identifying the owners. We `lso need to have a centralised unit so that

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each local authority has responsibility for somewherd so we

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can have the area monitored, how many horses we have there and where

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they are going, and the cost implications of this absolutely

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huge. It could be severely `nd significantly reduced if we just

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worked together on this but everybody takes the attitudd that it

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is not their problem, somebody else will deal with it. How big ` problem

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is it? We saw examples in that report but how widespread is it It

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is all across the country. @ll of the century is fit to burst and they

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really have no more capacitx to take in any more horses. `` all of the

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centuries. We know many havhng problems and that is another issue

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with the animals act of 1970. It does not enable us to deal with the

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welfare issues being caused here in being able to get the horses removed

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sooner rather than later. Thank you for your time.

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Our top story tonight ` an `pology to Jeff Astle's widow from the

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Football Association for thd way she's been treated since thd

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footballer died from brain damage. Your detailed weather forec`st to

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come shortly. Also in tonight's programme, the

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race to get Worcester's grotnd ready for the start of the cricket season

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after flooding that left it with more than a soggy outfield.

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And find out how this littld owl survived to journey of more than 300

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miles clinging to the front of a freight train!

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A widow who won a legal battle to preserve her late husband's sperm

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wants a change in the law so other women don't have to go throtgh what

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she did. Beth Warren's husb`nd died of a brain tumour two years ago

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They'd always planned to have children. But she had to go to the

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High Court to overturn Human Fertilisation and Embryologx

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Authority rules, which would have meant the sperm was destroydd. She's

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been talking to Joanne Writtle. Heading to the gym where shd

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teaches, Beth Warren is looking to the future. Think about your

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posture... Think about your breath. And people there are delighted she's

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won her case. I think it is absolutely fantastic. I'm so happy

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for her. Seeing her so happx afterwards is amazing. At the

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Birmingham apartment she sh`red with her husband, Beth still somdtimes

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feels down. But she hopes hdr fight to preserve his sperm withott time

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limits will save others frol the two`year legal fight she's had. To

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me it feels amazing that I've not only won this for myself and it s

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given me back my future and that choice Warren left me, but H'll also

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know it will force changes hn the law that will stop this happening in

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the future. Beth and Warren were soul mates. He wanted to give her a

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choice about whether to havd his children. He died two months after

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her brother was killed in a car accident. At a time when I had just

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lost my brother and my husb`nd, that is not a time when you have a broken

:15:52.:15:54.

heart, you are feeling very lonely and emotional and you start having a

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family, so it is about loving myself up and of course I know havhng a

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child without a father isn't ideal but in a perfect world, my husband

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and brother would not have died It is not a perfect world. For now

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Beth adores her nieces, and is concentrating on her new

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physiotherapy career after putting her studies on hold to care for

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Warren. If I am to become a single parent, need to make sure I can

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provide for that child as wdll, so that's definitely the main point,

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but besides that it is just living life and loving life and not

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fighting cancer like I was doing for two years, and then the next two

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years with a legal battle. Ht is just about being a normal young

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person and embracing what lhfe has to offer. Beth has countless happy

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memories of her husband, who was a ski instructor. And life now is

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about embracing the future whilst not forgetting the past. Thd main

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reason she chose Warren's fhrst name as her surname? For EE is, ht was

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Warren and Beth, Beth and W`rren, and I knew he was going to die

:16:59.:17:01.

within days, weeks or months, and a new I would not hear his nale as

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much, and that was really dhfficult so I spoke to him about it `nd asked

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what he thought and that is why I took it on. I cannot remembdr now

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being Beth Warren. It feels so natural. `` for eight years. And

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staying with names, Beth revealed they'd even discussed what to call

:17:19.:17:22.

their children. I would certainly never tell people the names because

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we would with wanted to be ` surprise but we did discuss names.

:17:25.:17:30.

A former world champion cyclist says potholes are making roads in the

:17:31.:17:33.

Midlands among the worst in the world. There are three millhon

:17:34.:17:38.

cyclists on Britain's roads. Last week, the Government said it was

:17:39.:17:41.

giving ?140 million to councils to fix potholes caused during the wet

:17:42.:17:46.

winter. But with 245,000 miles of road in Great Britain, the loney

:17:47.:17:50.

will be spread pretty thinlx. Nadine Towell has been looking at how

:17:51.:17:53.

dangerous our roads have become for those on two wheels.

:17:54.:18:02.

He has won seven world cyclhng titles and covers more than 250

:18:03.:18:07.

miles a week in training around his home in Warwickshire. But Mhck Ives

:18:08.:18:10.

says the road conditions here are now so bad, they are becoming

:18:11.:18:15.

lethal. This one down here was a massive one. And you can sed it now.

:18:16.:18:23.

I am just going to go around it At least three feet long. It is not

:18:24.:18:26.

just standard potholes that drivers are used to which cause problems for

:18:27.:18:31.

cyclists. Smaller holes and channels can be just as dangerous. You have

:18:32.:18:36.

to take evasive action. If xou don't, this is what happens. We ll

:18:37.:18:41.

end there, over the handleb`rs, formally finish up in the

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middle`of`the`road. `` wheel in there. We all know what can happen

:18:48.:18:52.

when we hit a pothole on tyres at speeds in your car. But imagine what

:18:53.:18:56.

can happen when your tyre is only this wide. At this cycle shop and

:18:57.:19:00.

repair centre, they deal with a constant stream of punctures,

:19:01.:19:05.

buckled wheels and worse. All bikes damage on the region's roads. ``

:19:06.:19:15.

damaged. Whether they are more sporting riders all leisure riders,

:19:16.:19:19.

they are hitting potholes and it can create quite a significant hmpact on

:19:20.:19:23.

the bike and rider. `` or ldisure riders. We have inspectors that go

:19:24.:19:29.

out and they do everything to inspect the roads every year but we

:19:30.:19:32.

do rely on people phoning up the council and telling us accurate

:19:33.:19:38.

information about where the potholes are located. With more than 120

:19:39.:19:43.

race victories to his name, Mick won't allow potholes to put him off

:19:44.:19:48.

the sport he loves, but he does know cyclists who have abandoned their

:19:49.:19:51.

hobby because they feel ridhng on the region's roads has becole too

:19:52.:19:56.

risky. I think I'll recognise some of those

:19:57.:20:01.

roads as a keen cyclist mysdlf! I can certainly relate to that. `` I

:20:02.:20:05.

recognise. Worcestershire County Crickdt Club

:20:06.:20:07.

say they're confident they'll have New Road ready for the start of the

:20:08.:20:11.

season, despite last month's floods. Pre`season games have been loved to

:20:12.:20:14.

Kidderminster but the ground staff are working hard to ensure they can

:20:15.:20:17.

host their first League gamd on 13th April, as Dan Pallett reports.

:20:18.:20:21.

Blue sky overhead. But don't be fooled. Life's been anything but a

:20:22.:20:25.

beach for Worcestershire. That's why, with 26 days until thehr first

:20:26.:20:28.

home game, the New Road pitch looks like this.

:20:29.:20:32.

It's a race against time to get everything ready but they'rd

:20:33.:20:38.

confident it's one they can win We had an inspection from the DCB

:20:39.:20:41.

yesterday just to see that they were OK with it and they're happx and

:20:42.:20:45.

comfortable. A bit of warm sunshine, ironically a little bit of rain

:20:46.:20:49.

might help as well, with sole warm weather to make the grass grow.

:20:50.:20:52.

That's the key bit. Cleaning up is not a problem for us. But the

:20:53.:20:57.

cricket ground was an island at the peak of last month's floods. Thanks

:20:58.:21:01.

to the hard work of the grotnd staff here at New Road, everything's on

:21:02.:21:04.

course to host league crickdt in just under four weeks' time.

:21:05.:21:07.

Incredible, then, because four weeks ago, the water was lapping tp here,

:21:08.:21:10.

above the guttering. Even the road outside was only passable bx bus

:21:11.:21:14.

when the main bridge was closed to traffic. The water's now subsided,

:21:15.:21:17.

but for the time`being, the squad have moved to Kidderminster for

:21:18.:21:20.

pre`season. But that means dven more work for heads groundsman Thm

:21:21.:21:23.

Packwood and his team. Todax's biggest problem was merely ` few

:21:24.:21:26.

showers. This'll be my 25th season at New Road, so, yeah, when a flood

:21:27.:21:30.

comes on, although people look at it and think, "oh, no, they must be

:21:31.:21:34.

pulling their hair out", it happens all the time. We're used to it and

:21:35.:21:40.

we mop up and go again. Thex tend to clean up as soon as a flood goes

:21:41.:21:44.

down, and another one comes up and that means another clear`up

:21:45.:21:47.

operation, and again they jtst get on with it, so the resilience of all

:21:48.:21:51.

the staff to bounce back and just keep sorting things out is `mazing.

:21:52.:21:55.

Worcestershire have done thdir bit to be ready in time. Now thdy just

:21:56.:21:59.

need nature to work with thdm for a change, not against them.

:22:00.:22:12.

That is a pretty impressive clean`up job!

:22:13.:22:14.

As train journeys go, this one was high on excitement and pretty low on

:22:15.:22:18.

comfort. But at least a tawny owl, who's now been named Lucky for

:22:19.:22:21.

obvious reasons, survived over 00 miles clinging to the front of a

:22:22.:22:25.

freight train. He's now recovering at the Nuneaton and Warwickshire

:22:26.:22:30.

Wildlife Sanctuary. Ben Sidwell is there. A pretty incredible journey,

:22:31.:22:39.

Ben! Yes, it is one heck of a journey, I have to tell you But to

:22:40.:22:43.

be honest, many of the anim`ls here at the Sanctuary have had a tough

:22:44.:22:47.

and long journey to get herd. Since they opened in 2001 they have looked

:22:48.:22:54.

after 24,000 animals. There are owls, a goose behind me and

:22:55.:22:58.

somewhere around there is a dear animal as well. But none of them

:22:59.:23:01.

have faced quite the journex that Lucky had! He decided to go for a

:23:02.:23:08.

rest on the front of a freight train in Glasgow. More than 300 mhles

:23:09.:23:12.

later, clinging on for his life he arrived at a depot in

:23:13.:23:15.

Northamptonshire where he w`s spotted. Thankfully, he is now

:23:16.:23:19.

recovering here in this hospital unit. So let's go and meet this most

:23:20.:23:28.

aptly named owl. First of all, what we want to know, how is he doing? He

:23:29.:23:34.

is going to be fine. He had a bitter race brained wing but in ten days

:23:35.:23:38.

time he will great. `` he h`d a sprained wing. He should have died

:23:39.:23:45.

after this but it is a miracle where he happened to leap survived. It is

:23:46.:23:50.

probably his plumage which kept warm. `` he happened to havd

:23:51.:24:00.

survived. What about that phone call? You get it from the train

:24:01.:24:04.

depot and it must be one of the weirdest you have had? Yes. I had to

:24:05.:24:09.

ask the gentleman to repeat it twice. When he said and owl from

:24:10.:24:15.

Scotland, I thought he was drunk! But he wasn't! What will happen to

:24:16.:24:21.

Lucky? We will keep him for about ten days and then released him. And

:24:22.:24:26.

the nice thing is, especially for Lucky here, he does not need to go

:24:27.:24:29.

on a long journey back on the train, certainly not on the front of

:24:30.:24:34.

it, anyhow! Because he will be released into the woods with other

:24:35.:24:38.

tawny owls in Warwickshire, and I'm sure we will keep a check on him if

:24:39.:24:47.

we can. We all wanted. `` wd all want to adopt him! The owl, not Ben!

:24:48.:24:54.

A much cooler feel in the ahr today. A sign of things to come, Shefali?

:24:55.:25:00.

Yes, we are in for a treat tomorrow, though, before thd windier

:25:01.:25:08.

and cooler conditions set in on Thursday. This warm front whll be

:25:09.:25:11.

followed by the cold front `nd that will bring in the rising

:25:12.:25:17.

temperatures. After that, wd start to see this cold front on Thursday.

:25:18.:25:23.

It turns into a cold front `nd slips southwards, bringing with it the

:25:24.:25:27.

rain and the increase in winds. But you will notice those are a bit of a

:25:28.:25:30.

feature throughout the next few days, with those tightening isobars.

:25:31.:25:35.

Today, we saw a few showers, fairly well scattered, but also sole

:25:36.:25:41.

sunshine developing through the latter part of the day, and that

:25:42.:25:45.

will leave us with clear skhes overnight, said temperatures could

:25:46.:25:50.

dip lower than they did last night, to around six or seven degrdes. That

:25:51.:25:55.

will keep any frost at bay. It is because of the breeze that the

:25:56.:25:59.

temperatures will stay well above freezing. However, because we have

:26:00.:26:04.

the clear skies tonight, it will be quite beneficial to us tomorrow in

:26:05.:26:08.

that we get to see quite a bit of sunshine first thing, but

:26:09.:26:11.

particularly the further east you travel, and in the West, we could

:26:12.:26:16.

hang onto more in the way of cloud. That will break through the day and

:26:17.:26:20.

send temperatures up very nhcely to around 15 degrees in the sotthern

:26:21.:26:24.

counties, maybe 14 elsewherd. I think we will reach 15 tomorrow

:26:25.:26:31.

which is higher than most d`ys last week, where we saw 12 to 13. Quite

:26:32.:26:38.

respectable for the time of year. But competing with that bredze so it

:26:39.:26:41.

could feel cooler than that. Tomorrow night we are going to see

:26:42.:26:46.

the cloud thickening up and this is a head of that frontal systdm

:26:47.:26:49.

slipping southwards on Thursday So that cloud and the combinathon of

:26:50.:26:53.

the winds tomorrow will, ag`in, hold the temperatures up to six or seven,

:26:54.:26:57.

so at this stage, not seeing those night temperatures dropping by much

:26:58.:27:01.

but they will do by the weekend That is when we could possibly see

:27:02.:27:05.

some showers turning a bit wintry with night frosts returning.

:27:06.:27:15.

Thursday, wet and windy, cooler with temperatures beginning to slip, and

:27:16.:27:17.

that will be followed by lively showers and heavy ones on Friday.

:27:18.:27:21.

Tonight's headlines from thd BBC: Russia formally takes over the

:27:22.:27:25.

Crimea, the first time it's expanded its territory since the Second World

:27:26.:27:27.

War. A new scheme to help working parents

:27:28.:27:31.

with a child care subsidy worth up to ?2,000.

:27:32.:27:33.

An apology to Jeff Astle's widow from the Football Association for

:27:34.:27:36.

the way she's been treated since the footballer died from brain damage.

:27:37.:27:39.

And an investigation's under way into why 86 miscarried and `borted

:27:40.:27:42.

foetuses were kept for up to four years at Walsall Manor Hosphtal

:27:43.:27:47.

That was the Midlands Today. I'll be back at 10pm, when we'll be

:27:48.:27:48.

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