27/02/2017 Midlands Today

A BBC investigation's found an increasing number of students

in Gloucestershire are turning to sex work to pay off their debts.

"Sugaring" is an American phenomenon where young women find older men

online who'll fund their education, in return for sexual

It's a world where the women are called sugar babies,

Look online and you will find dozens of students posting adverts

It is like online dating, but with one big difference -

the man pays the woman for her company.

Coco has been doing this for two years.

She lives in a bedsit in Gloucester and dropped out

of her college course last year because she couldn't

Is there an expectation that you will have sex at some point

For me, it's just like a normal relationship.

Coco is one of a growing number of young people

who are funding their education in this way.

When I don't see him, I get ?500 per month.

But when I do see him, I know, guaranteed, I will get ?1,000

per month in my account and maybe some treats as well.

A recent study by Swansea University found that 4.8% of UK students

So who would pay someone for a sugar relationship, and why?

I have spent months trawling the internet, contacting dozens

of men who advertise themselves online as sugar daddies.

Finally, one of them has agreed to meet me, on the condition

This is Darren - that is not his real name,

Something along the lines of, 40-something businessman

with his own hair and teeth would like to meet female for sugar

If there was money being exchanged, and sex, did you see it

Because is that not, in a sense, exploiting women

I wouldn't actually know where else to go.

Other than sitting night after night in a bar.

So I wouldn't know how to meet those people otherwise.

And secondly I don't see it as exploitative.

For the students, there is no anticipated sexual relationship.

With the average student debt now running at ?44,000,

it is easy to see why some turn to sugar dating as

There's been a call tonight for local authorities to provide

more officially organised sites for travellers.

It came from the Police Crime Commissioner

for the West Midlands after around 900 pupils were forced to stay

at home after travellers pitched up illegally at a Birmingham school.

This was the view at Shenley Academy this morning on what should

have been the first day back after half-term.

At 7:30, police and council bailiffs moved in to evict the travellers.

By late morning they were on the move but the leaving came too

late to prevent disruption to the school day,

much to the frustration of staff and parents.

We were hopeful that actually with serving an eviction notice

on Saturday afternoon that they would be gone 24 hours

The reality is that hasn't been the case.

So 800 children have not been able to attend school today.

The had no reason to take over a school and disturb everybody else.

There is no way our kids can be able to get their education

with these people in, you know, on the field.

With more than 20 families thought to be on site,

including large numbers of children, clearing it took some time.

There was also frustration among travellers who blame the council

Government money won't make sites and this is what happens.

We asked the council to provide us with a car park we can

It's not fair on the children either.

Not being able to stay based in a school cos they're

going to have to keep moving from country to country.

In fact, Birmingham City Council operates just once legal site

It has been the subject of disputes and is not

Two new sites are apparently under discussion, something the Police

and Crime Commissioner says should be a matter of urgency.

What we need are proper sites where the police can

If there aren't those sites, the police don't have the power

The local authorities have got to find a common solution to this,

working together and not shunting the problem from one

When we arrived here this morning, this whole area was full

As you can see they have now gone and the clear up

But the travellers left something behind them, a young pony.

If they don't come back and collect it then the school says

Having left the school by this afternoon, the travellers had set up

Local people told me they were evicted in this

This is a problem that is mobile but clearly not going away.

A prison officer's recovering in hospital after being attacked

by an inmate at HMP Oakwood in Wolverhampton.

G4S, who run the jail, have confirmed that the officer

suffered a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain

after being punched while letting a prisoner out of his cell.

Police are investigating the incident.

The new Labour MP for Stoke Central has taken his seat in Parliament.

Gareth Snell won the by-election last Thursday with a 2,500 majority,

fighting off a challenge from Ukip leader Paul Nuttall.

Chicken farmers in Shropshire are unhappy with new rules to tackle

bird flu because they vary between England and Wales.

Those on the English side of the River Severn have

to keep their birds locked up, so lose their free range status.

But no such restrictions apply in Wales.

Here's our Rural Affairs Correspondent David Gregory Kumar.

This week, strict new rules to deal with the bird flu

But this Shropshire chicken farmer has spotted something strange

about the government's new "high risk areas" designed

So what did you think when you saw the map?

There was the high risk area, outlined there, and there was a huge

And Melverly in Shropshire is at the heart of the problem.

So the high risk areas are based around bits of water where migratory

waterfowl might come in and bring the disease with them.

And here is one near Telford and, as you can see,

But look at this one that is not far from Shrewsbury,

As you can see, there is an enormous chunk that has been taken out of it

The end result is that in this high risk area, chickens,

turkeys and geese must stay locked up on the English side of the river,

The thing is this is England and this is where you have the enhanced

extra bio-security measure and the birds all covered,

whereas just over the river there is Wales, where they can

This is why we have the high risk area here, because of this river.

This very nasty form of bird flu poses no risk to humans,

but it can kill 80% of a flock of farm birds in a matter of days.

The man in charge in England insists the two different

Wales have made it very clear to their farmers

that they need to consider very carefully their risks and take

And that includes housing if they are at high risk.

But this difference could cost English farmers

Those who have to keep their birds inside like this will lose

There are no such problems for Welsh farmers just over the border.

It's the same situation all along the border

Very different rules to tackle the same disease.

Finally, bidders at an auction house in Birmingham were left stunned

today when a Chinese vase, valued at ?1,200, was sold

Valuers and the seller had believed it was a 20th century copy

of a style of vase dating back to the 1500s.

But several antique hunters realised it was the genuine article,

attracting interest from around the world.

The vase went to a mystery phone bidder in China.

I was trying to remember what the next bid was.

I've never sold anything of this value before,

so it was a moment of excitement for all of us at the auction house.

I'll leave you with Shefali and the weather forecast.

Was a lively day with a brain in some parts. There was sunshine in

some parts and snow in others. It doesn't sound too good considering

march is around the corner and it is the start of meteorological spring.

Showers and rain this week, gusty winds at times, and it will be

frilly wintry in places as well. -- fairly. We have a warning of ice.

Most places should see temperatures above freezing due to the breeze

being quite noticeable but once these showers close tarmac clear

into the early hours, frost in sheltered spots and ice on untreated

surfaces which could make the rush-hour tricky tomorrow. It dry

and sunny start and then we start to see another batch of showers

crossing the region. There could be sleet or snow in some of those. It

will be a blustery day. There could be gusts of 50 miles an hour over

high ground. Showers into tomorrow evening and night. They will clear

into the early hours of Thursday morning. Quite a dry day on

Wednesday, but for the list of -- rest of the week, low pressure

dominating. More rain on Friday. John Hammond has the weather for the

rest of the