02/03/2017 Midlands Today


02/03/2017

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A BBC investigation has found that drivers in Birmingham

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and Wolverhampton have received more fines for driving in bus lanes

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than almost anywhere else in the country.

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The two cities issued over 110,000 fines in the last financial year.

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But council officials have denied claims by one motoring organisation

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that they're effectively overseeing a 'cash bonanza'.

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?3 million - that's how much Wolverhampton

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and Birmingham Councils made between them from bus

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It's a figure that horrifies taxi driver Garry Aldridge.

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He received a demand for ?30 after driving into a bus lane

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But because he's not paid, the fine has now come up to over ?400.

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I just think it's a cash cow, basically.

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This bus lane in Wolverhampton's Victoria Square made more money

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through fines than any other bus lane in England

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Birmingham was number five in the fines league table.

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It didn't take long for our cameras to spot cars

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Nearly half of the 55,000 fines issued by Birmingham City Council

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in one year were incurred by motorists driving down this bus

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lane at St Martin's Queensway next to the Bullring shopping centre.

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Motorists we spoke to said they felt it was too easy to make a mistake.

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If I came up this way with my car, I wouldn't have thought this

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I don't think there's another warning at all.

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I don't think there's enough warning at all.

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They are making a lot of money out of it, aren't they?

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Birmingham City Council insists the signs are adequate.

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It says the money raised pays for improvements

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And labelling bus lanes as lucrative is wrong.

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Is this fining people for going in bus lanes simply a cash

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That's not what bus lanes are for at all.

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They are there to maximise the capacity of our roads.

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If people break the law and get in the way of that,

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they would expect the full force to come down on them like it

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would if they were driving and texting at the same time.

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Some drivers have successfully appealed against fines after taking

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Campaigners say such motorists are in the minority.

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And they will continue to fight against the bus lanes.

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Our reporter Joanne Writtle's been following the story and she joins us

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And, Joanne, a leading motoring organisation's been somewhat

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critical of the amount of money being paid out by motorists?

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The RAC's described the fines as the latest cash bonanza,

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But the councils argue the money is ploughed back

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The RAC says the issue needs investigating.

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Bus lanes shouldn't be about raising money,

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they should be about making sure people don't drive in them.

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But perhaps we need to look at where the cameras are positioned.

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Sometimes the cameras may be positioned in the very

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start of the bus lane, so if you make an honest mistake,

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it's too late by the time you realise it and correct yourself.

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This topic has sent our social media into meltdown.

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Jonty Edward from Coventry says his sat nav took him up a road

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with no markings or signs to say it was a bus lane.

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The next thing he knew a ?40 fine came his way.

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Amy Rennocks was caught in Wolverhampton.

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She says, "The road was blocked off with ply board and the only route

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But Jen Walker says, "Don't drive in a bus lane

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unless the active times are clearly indicated, people pay more

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attention to their sat nav than their own common sense!!"

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Anorexia is responsible for more deaths than any other

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mental health condition, but there's concern that GPs aren't

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recognising it and youngsters aren't getting the treatment they need.

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Claire McKenna claims that she's currently receiving no NHS treatment

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at all and it's her family that's kept her alive.

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Here's our Health Correspondent, Michele Paduano.

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At this point now, I'm more worried about dying.

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Claire's in her final year at university.

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In the future, she wants to help children with mental health

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problems, and she wants GPs to have better training because of her own

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They said, "Oh, well, bring her to McDonald's

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because all kids love McDonald's, I'm sure she'll eat there."

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In the meantime, I was just getting more and more ill,

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Week after week, I was going back and they just kept

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It was her teachers who realised how ill she was.

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When I got to the hospital, they took my blood sugar

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levels and it was like, I think it was one or something,

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and they said I was going to go into a coma.

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So they quickly put me on drips and tubes and things like that.

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With the help of her family, she is improving.

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But she will only eat the same things at the same time every day

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and her family admits it's been hard.

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It's like being at your wits end, you just don't know what to do next

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And you don't know where to go to get help.

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Specialist beds in hospitals are in short supply.

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Treatment is intensive and expensive.

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I was told one organisation yesterday had one bed in Glasgow.

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Experts say the government has recognised that GPs are under

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pressure and says a report into eating disorders is out in May.

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Think it is a significant problem for all communities,

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and the draft report does highlight that not only general practitioners

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but even paediatricians and mental health services need to work

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together in order to manage this problem.

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She no longer qualifies for children's services and says

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They said I would have to go straight to hospital,

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and there was no way I was going to go back to hospital.

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So I've just been kind of left on my own.

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A wooden water tank cover which struck and killed

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a 29-year-old woman during Storm Doris showed signs

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of neglect and decay, a coroner's been told.

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The inquest into the death of Tahnie Martin, from Stafford,

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opened today at the Black Country Coroner's Court.

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Ms Martin died near Wolverhampton's Mander Centre last Thursday

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after being hit by a two metre long piece of timber in high winds.

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A former beauty queen has made a fly-on-the-wall

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style documentary about the Miss Universe Great Britain

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contest, following the winner as she travels to India to meet

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Natalie Cutler's film Not In Vain had its premiere in Birmingham.

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You may be shocked by some of the images in the following report.

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Natalie Cutler from Stourbridge knows more than most

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I won Miss Black Country when I was 17, and then a few years

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She travelled the world as a fashion model, was a Miss Universe finalist

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Her film Not In Vain goes behind-the-scenes

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of the Miss Universe Great Britain contest, following the winner

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as she travels to India to meet and raise money for victims

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It's not beautiful women going over there and being like, "Oh, poor you,

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It's about we can see past this, we're not about, you know,

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how we look and you're not about how you look.

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We're about something collectively bigger than that.

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Which is not stereotyping females for their features.

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Last night, Natalie arrived at her film's glitzy premiere

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in Birmingham with her partner, the Wolves captain Danny Bart.

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Hopefully the film takes off and people like what they see

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Miss Universe GB, Jaime-Lee Faulkner from Sheffield, said meeting acid

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attack victims in a cafe where they work in India had had

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I didn't know how I would react when I got there and saw

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I thought straightaway it'd be quite emotional.

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To be honest with you, as soon as you see them,

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it is really sad, but they're so upbeat and happy and they've

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And you can tell they really rely on each other,

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The glamorous premiere was in stark contrast to the raw lives

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Afterwards, guests including footballers reacted.

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Gut wrenching at times, you know, watching it.

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To see what's actually going on in other parts of the world.

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The documentary will go on the film festival circuit, though it's not

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A school cook from Solihull has been named among the best in the country

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at the national School Chef of the Year competition.

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Jose Kochakkadan is a former professional chef who joined

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Marston Green Infants Academy, in Birmingham, so he could spend

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He finished in the top three in today's final

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at Stratford College after being highly

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Join us in Midlands Today tomorrow when we'll be meeting the female

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boxer who's preparing for her first professional fight.

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That's at 6.30 tomorrow evening here on BBC One.

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For now, I'll hand you over now to Rebecca for the forecast.

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At times today we had some stunning conditions out there, with lovely

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blue sky. We ended the day with the spectacular scenes. Some lovely

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shots of the skies as we ended the day. I'm afraid it's all change as

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we head into tomorrow. The weather starts to turn more unsettled and it

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will get wet and windy once again. Tonight, we have largely clear

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skies. The wind starts to ease slightly, so temperatures will fall

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away. It stays largely dry, although chilly. Temperatures starting to

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fall away. The next area way is steadily progressing. By the start

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of tomorrow, it works northwards. It's across as much of the day. Some

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heavy downpours on that as well, and the wind strengthens as well. It

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arrives through the morning, cloudy ahead of that and it will be heavy

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at times. Quite persistent through the day, and it will take its time

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to clear away across the South by the end of the day. We might get

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something attached drier and brighter. Temperatures better,

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perhaps getting up to ten underneath the cloud and

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weekend, we have more rain in the forecast. Rain at times this

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weekend, not all the time. Good evening. Things are turning

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more unsettled today was not bad. The sun was setting the moon

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