:00:00. > :00:00.That's all from the BBC News at Six - on BBC One we
:00:00. > :00:07.Hello and welcome to Midlands Today. The headlines tonight: On the brink,
:00:08. > :00:14.a famous old football club needing to find ?78,000 in a week to
:00:15. > :00:19.survive. Devastating. We have been through
:00:20. > :00:22.thick and thin with the club, but we have always survived with everybody
:00:23. > :00:25.pulling together. We're talking to the chairman who's put hundreds of
:00:26. > :00:26.thousands of pounds of his own money into the club.
:00:27. > :00:29.Also tonight. As fresh inquests begin into the
:00:30. > :00:35.Hillsborough disaster, it's an emotional day for the sister of a
:00:36. > :00:41.victim from Worcestershire. Nervous. Cautious. But hopeful. We h`ve got
:00:42. > :00:44.to be hopeful. Operation Spring Clean, a chty's
:00:45. > :00:48.pledge to clear all 470 milds of its streets of litter in just a month.
:00:49. > :00:52.Forget Kiki Dee, we've got White Dee, the Benefits Street resident
:00:53. > :01:15.launches into song. As far as temperatures go, ht is a
:01:16. > :01:20.fairly decent week. For everything else, we have warnings of hdavy
:01:21. > :01:28.rain, find out if it will affect you later in the programme.
:01:29. > :01:32.Good evening. Supporters of Hereford United Football Club have jtst seven
:01:33. > :01:38.days to help save their club from financial disaster. The Bulls face a
:01:39. > :01:42.winding up order next Mondax over an unpaid ?78,000 tax bill. Thdir
:01:43. > :01:45.chairman has already admittdd they need ?300,000 to see out thd current
:01:46. > :01:51.season and their latest accounts show losses approaching half a
:01:52. > :01:54.million pounds. Formed in 1824, Hereford spent 31 years as `
:01:55. > :01:57.Football League club, and achieved national prominence in 1972 when, as
:01:58. > :02:05.a Southern League team, thex gloriously knocked top`flight
:02:06. > :02:08.Newcastle United out of the FA Cup. But in the face of crippling debts,
:02:09. > :02:17.can they survive this latest cash crisis? Dan Pallett reports. Will we
:02:18. > :02:22.see this sight again? Hereford United were at home on Saturday but
:02:23. > :02:26.their future is in doubt. The reality is a stark one for Hereford
:02:27. > :02:31.United. They have one week to raise ?70,000 to pay a bill to thd Inland
:02:32. > :02:36.Revenue. If they don't, the club could simply cease to exist. For
:02:37. > :02:39.people like Ron Parrott, th`t hurts. He's the club's historian, `nd has
:02:40. > :02:45.almost every match day programme since the club was formed in 19 4.
:02:46. > :02:50.That 90 years of history cotld soon come to an end, though. Oh,
:02:51. > :02:53.devastating. We've been through thick and thin with the club but
:02:54. > :02:57.we've always survived. With everybody pulling together. We
:02:58. > :03:01.could've done it this time hf we'd have known with more time to spare.
:03:02. > :03:06.Edgar Street is on council owned land. But they can only do so much
:03:07. > :03:11.to help. We can't offer cash, but we can offer help, advice, terls of
:03:12. > :03:14.lease, negotiations on rent. And we are doing all of those things and
:03:15. > :03:18.anything else we can do that doesn't involve direct cash supply we are
:03:19. > :03:23.happy to talk about. More than ,500 fans attended Saturday's 1`0 defeat
:03:24. > :03:27.against Grimsby. They care passionately. But does the rest of
:03:28. > :03:32.the city? Most towns have got them, haven't they? And it is sort of a
:03:33. > :03:36.loss if they haven't got it any more. And it is somewhere for the
:03:37. > :03:39.kids to go, isn't it? Just really is a shame, I think. Someone should put
:03:40. > :03:43.their hand in their pocket somewhere and supply them with some money
:03:44. > :03:49.They are part of Hereford, the Bulls. It brings business as well,
:03:50. > :03:54.of course. I think it's dre`dful. Time is running out for Herdford
:03:55. > :03:57.United. Even if they do raise the ?78,000 tax bill, they will need
:03:58. > :04:05.another ?300,000 to get through the summer. And the players are also
:04:06. > :04:09.owed money. The Bulls are f`mous for their giant`killing in the FA Cup.
:04:10. > :04:14.Now they must defy even gre`ter odds just to survive.
:04:15. > :04:17.Earlier, I spoke via video`link to the chairman of Hereford Unhted
:04:18. > :04:27.David Keyte and I began by `sking him how precarious the situ`tion
:04:28. > :04:34.currently is. Well, we have got to say that it is still extremdly
:04:35. > :04:39.precarious. We are all guns pointing towards the court hearing on Monday.
:04:40. > :04:47.The winding up order that the HMRC have put against the club. So, our
:04:48. > :04:54.first task that we are focusing on is raising seven the ?8,000. How
:04:55. > :05:00.much have you raised so far? Well, following Saturday's match, we have
:05:01. > :05:04.raised ?20,000 towards the taxman. And I say that because we h`ve
:05:05. > :05:11.actually given a further sul to the players and staff, predomin`ntly
:05:12. > :05:18.towards the taxman. In round figures, ?20,000. I underst`nd that
:05:19. > :05:23.tomorrow our supporters Association have a further ?3000. With `verage
:05:24. > :05:28.gates of 1600, do you worry if there is an appetite for football in
:05:29. > :05:39.Hereford? Well, that has got to be a question raised every time. Every I
:05:40. > :05:46.ask the question, you shot down in flames. We try not to blame the
:05:47. > :05:50.fans, who turn up rain or shine but there does seem to be some `pathy
:05:51. > :05:53.around Herefordshire in gendral towards the football club. How much
:05:54. > :06:01.is this affecting you personally and financially? Well, personally, I
:06:02. > :06:07.tend to be a person that puts on a face, a front to it. But it does eat
:06:08. > :06:14.away. And, certainly, familx wise, home wise, and financially, maybe
:06:15. > :06:23.too much money. But that sedms to get forgotten. And if it trtly is
:06:24. > :06:30.the saving grace is that kedp orcs `` keep walks, I accept that. Do you
:06:31. > :06:36.regret the day you bought the club? You've got to have some momdnts when
:06:37. > :06:42.you think that! I had a figtre in my mind that I was prepared to put into
:06:43. > :06:46.the club. What I haven't bedn able to account for is probably not being
:06:47. > :06:51.able to walk away at that fhgure and going past it and double now in four
:06:52. > :06:56.years. So that is what I have to grapple with from a family point of
:06:57. > :07:05.view. We'll Hereford United be here season? Well, that is the plan. ``
:07:06. > :07:15.will Hereford United? None of us on the board are working towards a
:07:16. > :07:18.revamped Phoenix camp, that is not on the agenda, but if other people
:07:19. > :07:21.want to dictate that, we have to listen.
:07:22. > :07:24.You're watching Midlands Today. Good to have you with us this evdning.
:07:25. > :07:28.Still to come later in the programme. Back home at long last,
:07:29. > :07:33.the stranded rower who spent three months in the middle of the
:07:34. > :07:36.Atlantic. The sister of a football fan who
:07:37. > :07:39.died at Hillsborough says she hopes a fresh inquest will finallx give
:07:40. > :07:43.her answers into how her brother died. Andrew Brookes, who c`me from
:07:44. > :07:46.Bromsgrove, was among 96 football fans who died at the FA Cup semi
:07:47. > :07:53.final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in 1989. @ndrew's
:07:54. > :07:57.sister Louise buried their father just ten days ago and says she alone
:07:58. > :08:02.will now carry on the fight for justice. Cath Mackie reports.
:08:03. > :08:06.She started on this path a puarter of a century ago. This mornhng,
:08:07. > :08:10.arriving at her brother's inquest in Warrington, Louise Brooks is hoping
:08:11. > :08:18.she has reached journey's end. How are you feeling this morning?
:08:19. > :08:22.Nervous. Cautious. But hopeful. It's been a long 25 years. Her brother,
:08:23. > :08:27.Andrew, loved football and Liverpool. St the family hole in
:08:28. > :08:32.Bromsgrove, Louise recalls their childhood together. I remember his
:08:33. > :08:39.room was full of Liverpool posters. And scarves. There was a big age
:08:40. > :08:42.gap. I saw him more than a brother. I really, really respected him
:08:43. > :08:45.because he had a completely different personality, from me,
:08:46. > :08:54.completely. You know, he was so quiet. Hardly spoke two words. Which
:08:55. > :08:58.is not me. He was just a very, very quiet person. Andrew went to
:08:59. > :09:02.Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield in April 1989 to watch Liverpool play
:09:03. > :09:08.Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup semifinal. He never came hole. He
:09:09. > :09:18.was 26. One of 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster. My mtm.. My
:09:19. > :09:24.parents were never the same again. Never. Her parents are now both
:09:25. > :09:28.dead. Louise's last words to her dad who died less than a month `go was a
:09:29. > :09:40.promise to keep fighting for answers. I don't just have ` duty
:09:41. > :09:44.now to my brother. I have a duty to my mum. But more importantlx now
:09:45. > :09:47.I've promised a dying man on his deathbed that... I will nevdr.. And
:09:48. > :09:51.I won't give up, anyway, I won't ever give up. And it is that promise
:09:52. > :09:54.that has brought her to Warrington. With 96 victims, such is thd scale
:09:55. > :09:57.of these inquests, that this building has been adapted into a
:09:58. > :10:01.purpose`built courtroom, thd biggest in England and Wales. It'll pretty
:10:02. > :10:04.much be the second home for the families, at least until Christmas,
:10:05. > :10:08.as the hearings are predictdd to last for up to a year. We'rd just
:10:09. > :10:13.going to have to keep travelling up there, you know. I'd walk to the
:10:14. > :10:18.moon and back for my brother. I really would. It is only me who can
:10:19. > :10:23.fight for my brother. There is nobody else to do it. I've got to do
:10:24. > :10:31.it. Not that I've got to do it, but I want to do it as well.
:10:32. > :10:36.Wolverhampton Council today launched Operation Spring Clean with a pledge
:10:37. > :10:42.to clear all 3,390 streets hn the city of rubbish. That's a total of
:10:43. > :10:48.472 miles for the city's 60 street cleaners to cover in a month. Each
:10:49. > :10:51.year the council receives around 5,000 calls from residents
:10:52. > :10:56.complaining about street cldaning issues, and the authority collects
:10:57. > :11:01.800 tonnes of rubbish a year. So can the war on litter ever be won? Kevin
:11:02. > :11:05.Reide reports. The age old problem of littdr, an
:11:06. > :11:07.eyesore in many of our towns and cities, discarded bottles, fast food
:11:08. > :11:12.wrappers, and empty cigarette packets making our streets ` mess.
:11:13. > :11:22.But in Wolverhampton they'vd launched operation spring clean the
:11:23. > :11:25.aim being to clean the whold city. All 3,000 streets in Wolverhampton
:11:26. > :11:30.are getting this spring cle`ning treatment. By the summer, the whole
:11:31. > :11:32.city should be looking cleaner and brighter. Today workers werd
:11:33. > :11:38.concentrating on Duke Street and the surrounding area. There are certain
:11:39. > :11:42.roads you can do a certain time of the day, and certain roads xou have
:11:43. > :11:49.to do early. Because of the traffic. Somewhere for people to be
:11:50. > :11:53.happy to live in, that is the aim. The buzz is unbelievable. It is
:11:54. > :11:56.clean and tidy. But there are some messes these workers can't touch,
:11:57. > :11:59.like this fly`tipping in Penn, that's because it's on priv`te land.
:12:00. > :12:03.But even so residents are bding asked to report it to Environmental
:12:04. > :12:06.Health officers who may be `ble to force a clean`up. Meanwhile back at
:12:07. > :12:17.Duke street the work is nearly done, and it's been noticed. It is cleaner
:12:18. > :12:20.than it usually is. They have done a great job down here. All thd
:12:21. > :12:24.cleaning of the road and thd sides as well. It looks a lot cle`ner
:12:25. > :12:27.brilliant! The council admits it's a bit like painting the Forth Bridge
:12:28. > :12:33.but say normal street cleanhng will continue after Operation Spring
:12:34. > :12:35.Clean. Live now to Wolverhampton, `nd
:12:36. > :12:39.Councillor John Reynolds, C`binet Member for City Services. Good
:12:40. > :12:49.evening, Councillor Reynolds. Sounds a big job this! What's prompted it?
:12:50. > :12:54.Well, we came up with a verx clever idea. What do you do in your house
:12:55. > :12:58.this time of year? Let's look at spring cleaning. We have rescheduled
:12:59. > :13:02.over spring cleaning we are doing to make sure that we get every street
:13:03. > :13:08.in Wolverhampton as clean as we can. And it is very high profile,
:13:09. > :13:10.can you keep it up? Well, it is something we will try