:00:07. > :00:07.Good evening. 11pm
:00:08. > :00:09."Gutted and devastated" - the words of one
:00:10. > :00:12.tenant farmer in Herefordshhre, who's been ordered to leave the farm
:00:13. > :00:15.which has been his livelihood for more than a decade.
:00:16. > :00:18.Steve Clayton is one of mord than 40 tenant farmers who rented their land
:00:19. > :00:22.Herefordshire Council is selling the farms because of the financial
:00:23. > :00:26.pressures it's under to provide essential servicds.
:00:27. > :00:35.For 29 years, tenant farmer Steve Clayton has built
:00:36. > :00:39.up his 200 strong flock of ewes from scratch but his
:00:40. > :00:45.145 acre in Herefordshire is one of 45 to be
:00:46. > :00:51.Steve and his fellow farmers had been told they should get
:00:52. > :00:55.the chance to carry on farmhng under a new landlord.
:00:56. > :00:58.Instead, they have now been given notice to quit
:00:59. > :01:03.on February 1st before a buyer has been found.
:01:04. > :01:06.They are all disappointed, very upset, wondering how
:01:07. > :01:09.they see their livelihoods, considering we were given
:01:10. > :01:11.the insurance we would have a new landlord
:01:12. > :01:16.They are devastated and feel the council has completely
:01:17. > :01:21.Herefordshire Council says it is having to sell the farms
:01:22. > :01:25.because it is coping with an ever increasing bill for care
:01:26. > :01:31.It says it is offering financial help to the affected farmers
:01:32. > :01:39.so they can seek advice on possibly buying the farms themselves.
:01:40. > :01:43.Some tenants on special deals will be able
:01:44. > :01:47.to stay on but a third, including Steve, have no
:01:48. > :01:50.idea where they will be next year.
:01:51. > :01:53.All our hard work for the p`st 9 years will be gone, all our
:01:54. > :01:55.livestock, sheep and cattle we have built up,
:01:56. > :02:01.which are homebred, will be gone.
:02:02. > :02:03.Steve s partner is a seamstress used to working in the
:02:04. > :02:10.area and worried about the looming upheaval to their lives.
:02:11. > :02:16.And we are in a location where we really love being.
:02:17. > :02:20.I've got a little job sewing and so I wouldn't like to h`ve
:02:21. > :02:25.to move away and leave that at my time of life.
:02:26. > :02:29.Tenant farms are seen as a good way of introducing
:02:30. > :02:34.But the council says in this case, a sell off is the best
:02:35. > :02:43.There's been a sharp rise in cases of hospital bed blocking
:02:44. > :02:47.It happens when a patient is fit to be discharged,
:02:48. > :02:52.The average number of days patients are left waiting has gone up
:02:53. > :02:55.by almost a third over the past two years.
:02:56. > :02:59.Our reporter Giles Latcham is in Staffford.
:03:00. > :03:06.The figures show problems at their most acute over
:03:07. > :03:09.the summer in Gloucestershire, Coventry and in Birmingham.
:03:10. > :03:11.There are problems too here in Stafford,
:03:12. > :03:15.First, our health correspondent Michele Paduano,
:03:16. > :03:18.has been to meet one patient who had to wait thrde weeks
:03:19. > :03:20.before being discharged from the Queen Elizabeth
:03:21. > :03:26.Garvey Humphrey is fiercely independent.
:03:27. > :03:29.At 91, he still drives and lives alone.
:03:30. > :03:31.But when he went into the Queen Elizabeth Hospital,
:03:32. > :03:35.Three weeks spent unnecessarily in hospital, then stuck
:03:36. > :03:38.in a community bed for want of a food parcel and a
:03:39. > :03:43.I wanted to look after myself. I'm capable of doing it.
:03:44. > :03:48.I believe if I was looked after long-term, I would lose
:03:49. > :03:52.the will to carry on because having things
:03:53. > :03:55.done for you is not the samd as doing them yourself.
:03:56. > :03:57.The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham has seen an 8$ rise
:03:58. > :04:03.The hospital says that the number of beds it can send patients out
:04:04. > :04:05.to in the community has fallen by about a quarter
:04:06. > :04:09.councils are finding it difficult to get
:04:10. > :04:14.patients out of those beds into permanent care beds.
:04:15. > :04:16.So there is a double bed blocking situation and
:04:17. > :04:26.with winter coming, that can only get worse.
:04:27. > :04:28.Back in Birmingham, the charity, Home from
:04:29. > :04:30.Hospital Care has looked after 1400 people this year.
:04:31. > :04:33.But it could lose its funding by Christmas.
:04:34. > :04:36.If we did not get funded, it would leave a huge gap and it
:04:37. > :04:38.would cost the NHS and the local authority
:04:39. > :04:43.So how do we stop patients, like Mr Humphrey, getting trapped?
:04:44. > :04:57.And, Giles, there are strong feelings there in Stafford.
:04:58. > :05:03.Yes, problems are brewing in Staffordshire too.
:05:04. > :05:06.Pressures on budgets are le`ding to the closure of beds
:05:07. > :05:10.168 in the north of the county alone, the latest at risk, 64 beds
:05:11. > :05:13.There was a demonstration here this afternoon,
:05:14. > :05:17.It was here outside the council offices,
:05:18. > :05:19.timed to coincide with the Healthy Staffordshire
:05:20. > :05:24.Protestors told us the safety of patients is at stake.
:05:25. > :05:26.Without breaking any confidentiality, we have patients
:05:27. > :05:29.on our ward that have been waiting three weeks for packages of care.
:05:30. > :05:34.So if these people are discharged home to be assessed for these
:05:35. > :05:39.packages, our worry and fear is that they're going to come to harm
:05:40. > :05:47.Bradwell's had a short reprheve but elsewhere 47 beds
:05:48. > :05:49.have gone at Cheadle, 37 at Longton Cottage
:05:50. > :05:56.The problem is these are the so-called step downs,
:05:57. > :06:00.where a patient can go if they're not quite ready to return home.
:06:01. > :06:01.Remove those beds and presstre intensifies on hospitals
:06:02. > :06:08.The number of beds blocked there has quadrupled in a year.
:06:09. > :06:11.A 28-year-old man from Coventry s been cautioned for religiously
:06:12. > :06:14.aggravated criminal damage in connection with an inciddnt
:06:15. > :06:19.55 people were arrested after a protest against intdrfaith
:06:20. > :06:21.weddings and the management of the temple
:06:22. > :06:25.Officers say three have been re-bailed.
:06:26. > :06:31.A 31-year-old from Oldbury will face no further action.
:06:32. > :06:32.Commuters are facing 12 days of disruption,
:06:33. > :06:36.as Bromsgrove train station closes on Wednesday for the latest phase
:06:37. > :06:41.The ?24 million station opened to the public in August.
:06:42. > :06:44.Network Rail say the work whll allow the Bromsgrove to Birminghal
:06:45. > :06:51.Bus replacement services will run for 12 days.
:06:52. > :06:53.The daughter of the West Bromwich Albion striker, Jeff Astle,
:06:54. > :06:56.says she's shocked by the fhndings of new research into
:06:57. > :06:59.the damage caused to players by heading a football.
:07:00. > :07:02.Her father was 59 when he dhed, he was diagnosed with
:07:03. > :07:07.Stirling University discovered even a limited amount of heading
:07:08. > :07:10.has an immediate effect on the brain's functions.
:07:11. > :07:19.He was the King of the Hawthorns and Jeff Astle still
:07:20. > :07:21.dominates the entrance to West Bromich Albion's ground
:07:22. > :07:24.But his death in 2002 from a degenerative brain dhsease
:07:25. > :07:28.was directly linked by a coroner to repeatedly heading the b`ll.
:07:29. > :07:31.His family have campaigned tirelessly for more research
:07:32. > :07:34.on the subject and today there was fresh impetus.
:07:35. > :07:37.Stirling University got a group of footballers to each
:07:38. > :07:40.head the ball 20 times, then tested their brain function
:07:41. > :07:48.We found that after heading the ball, the release of inhibitory
:07:49. > :07:55.The brain functions return to normal within 24 hours and the scidntists
:07:56. > :07:58.admit more investigation is needed on the long-term affects.
:07:59. > :08:01.That's just what the Astle family have been pushing the footb`ll
:08:02. > :08:07.It's something that needs to be done, it needs to be done correctly
:08:08. > :08:10.and it certainly needs to bd done by the right people and then once
:08:11. > :08:12.the results are there for everybody to see,
:08:13. > :08:15.it needs to be made clear to everybody so that footballers now
:08:16. > :08:18.or in the future can make informed choices.
:08:19. > :08:21.Dawn is due to meet with the FA again next month
:08:22. > :08:29.There has been a dramatic ddcline in the number of hedgehogs.
:08:30. > :08:31.The Wildlife Trust for Birmhngham and the Black Country
:08:32. > :08:34.is working on a project to preserve their numbers.
:08:35. > :08:36.Slug pellets, increased traffic and a lack of wildlife
:08:37. > :08:38.corridors have been blamed for their decline.
:08:39. > :08:45.Nationally, numbers have fallen by 30% in just over ten years.
:08:46. > :08:46.There have been suggestions of a possible extension
:08:47. > :08:48.to Birmingham Airport, by the chairman of the
:08:49. > :08:51.There's growing speculation that Birmingham will be earmarked
:08:52. > :08:53.for future expansion, alongside the Government's
:08:54. > :08:56.announcement tomorrow on whether Heathrow or Gatwhck
:08:57. > :09:01.But environmental campaigners say a second runway at Birmingh`m
:09:02. > :09:09.We'll have more on this on tomorrow's Midlands Today and BBCWM.
:09:10. > :09:18.That's all from me, I'll le`ve you with the forecast from Shefali.
:09:19. > :09:24.Good evening. It was a rathdr greedy today but at least it was dry,
:09:25. > :09:28.particularly across central and northern part of the region. The odd
:09:29. > :09:32.spot of rain here and in thd south. The rest of the week is looking
:09:33. > :09:33.settled because high pressure will largely be in control. It whll
:09:34. > :10:03.become milder because we lose the easterly breeze whhch we
:10:04. > :10:06.have seen for much of the month so far and gain our Westerly which is
:10:07. > :10:08.what we would normally expect. During the days, there will be some
:10:09. > :10:11.sunshine. For tonight, we'rd looking at... Just the odd missed pttt here
:10:12. > :10:13.and there and in rural Scots particularly temperatures m`y just
:10:14. > :10:16.fall. Into the morning tomorrow and this rain will quickly go away. It
:10:17. > :10:18.is looking dry for the rest of the day. We may see glimmers of
:10:19. > :10:21.brightness and sunshine. Sole light easterly winds. Then we start to
:10:22. > :10:26.notice the effects of those winds turning gradually to a safe Westerly
:10:27. > :10:31.by Wednesday. Tomorrow night, temperatures falling to ten or 1
:10:32. > :10:36.Celsius. A lot of cloud and more widespread mist and fog arotnd as
:10:37. > :10:41.well. In the odd pocket, we could get some frost, were in rur`l spots.
:10:42. > :10:45.Wednesday, some sunshine on offer are ones that mist and fog has
:10:46. > :10:51.disbursed during the morning. A bit more of a breeze for the sotth-west.
:10:52. > :10:58.Temperatures down to 16 Celsius 14 Celsius in the north. Morally breeze
:10:59. > :11:00.on Thursday. Thursday and Friday are looking drive.
:11:01. > :11:04.around 60 degrees. Towards the weekend, more of the same, mainly
:11:05. > :11:09.dry and feeling very mild. Now your national weather.
:11:10. > :11:15.Good evening, major changes in the weather over the next couple of
:11:16. > :11:19.days, the result being it will turn milder by day and also by night A
:11:20. > :11:23.breeze picking up, a westerly, something we have not seen much of
:11:24. > :11:28.this month. But there will not be a great deal of rain around. We did
:11:29. > :11:32.have rain today across the south-west, leaden skies in Bristol,
:11:33. > :11:46.not much of a sunset here, but the different North of the border. Fiery
:11:47. > :11:48.skies here and it is turning chilly, a frost in the Highlands. Underneath
:11:49. > :11:50.the clear skies. Across Southern parts of England into the Midlands
:11:51. > :11:53.and parts of Wales, more cloud. Patchy rain towards the South East.
:11:54. > :11:55.Heavy at at times along the South coast but temperatures do not fall
:11:56. > :11:59.much. Northern Wales and Northern England, a different story. Frost
:12:00. > :12:05.not just in Scotland, also in Northern Ireland. And we will find
:12:06. > :12:07.fog forming as well. Most of Scotland starts off dry and