06/04/2017 Midlands Today

A woman from Staffordshire has welcomed a new law which means

from today it's illegal for drivers of wheelchair-accessible private

hire taxis and black cabs to refuse to carry wheelchair passengers

Two years ago the BBC investigated Balga Vandeel's claims

that she was regularly being discriminated against

and she says up to till now - little has changed.

Balga Vandeel's used taxis in Stoke on Trent for years

but she realised she was being charged more than her friends

Sure enough, secret filming revealed several clear cut cases of drivers

charging her more than an able bodied person for the same journey.

She presented her film to Stoke on Trent city council

We can do as much re-training as possible

with existing drivers but

we should also work with some of the disabled groups in the city

to make sure that anyone who uses the

services of our drivers know what to expect.

new laws have come into force meaning this kind of discrimination

is now illegal, and could mean a fine for a driver of up

I'm really, really excited to say that from today, it is going to

become illegal to charge extra for carrying a wheelchair.

There will be assistance for wheelchair users to

get into taxis and for using wheelchairs.

Stoke on Trent city council is now encouraging disabled users

to report any such offences and say they will take action.

Most taxis have these telescopic ramps which don't help all

There is a way to get a 1-piece around what court comes into it, you

have to measure out the gap, have always changed, have fitted in.

But John Walley, who's driven for 16 years and just bought a new cab

at over ?31,000, says it's up to drivers to up their game.

You want to do the job and you want to do it properly.

The council is giving a period of grace

for drivers to comply and is drawing up a future list of wheelchair

friendly vehicles which any new drivers must buy

Well, our reporter Laura May McMullan is in Stoke for us now.

We saw the council making pledges in Kevin's film -

but did they make good on what they promised to Balga?

Well, the pressure is certainly mounting on any taxi driver who

thinks it is still acceptable to charge disabled patterns is more

than able-bodied people. Stoke-on-Trent City Council says it

has had a part to play in helping to make changes and they have

introduced a number of actions since that secret filming took place. We

have worked closely with a number of groups and individuals to make sure

the training we give to drivers is appropriate.

refreshed that and we've sent that out to all licensed hackney carriage

We've put information out to the general public

about overcharging as well because it's quite a complex area

and there are some nuances which mean sometimes it's difficult

And does this new law affect all drivers? Not quite everyone. It is

worth sorting out there are one or two exemptions and that is because

the new laws fit under the disability legislation. If a driver

themselves is not fit all strong enough to help and assist a disabled

passenger, they would be forced to but they will have to apply for

exemptions from the law. -- they would not be forced to. For that,

they need a note from the doctor. A brother and sister from Birmingham

have appeared in court in London It's alleged that 21-year-old

Ummariyat Mirza bought a knife and other items,

while planning an attack in the UK. His sister Zainub is accused

of sending him links Both were remanded in custody

until the end of the month. An NHS physiotherapist from Solihull

is facing deportation back to India Anand Kumar, who's been working

in Britain for the last eight years, has been told he can't stay any

longer because of a change He's now started an online petition

to highlight the issue. He has called for it to be lowered

to ?28,000. Anand Kumar says he was encouraged

to come to the UK to train He's now settled in

the Midlands with his wife, but faces deportation back to India

in 2019 when his work visa expires. We are the trained workforce,

trained by the NHS. Non EU workers must

have a basic salary of ?35,000. Even though he earns more

through overtime and private work, ?35,000 salary is unachievable,

especially outside of London, especially

working in the NHS and I personally feel

that it is disrespectful of the service

we provide to the NHS. Anand has started an online petition

asking for the salary Anand says many of his colleagues

here at the Good Hope But the Government's

said it brought in the ?35,000 threshold because it had

become too easy to recruit workers from overseas rather

than training up UK citizens. Yet physiotherapy is an occupation

struggling to attract enough staff. The UK needs 500 new recruits a year

just to stand still. The Chartered Society

of Physiotherapy says to lose We have a shortage of

physios in this country, a If you speak to most of the local

managers in the West Midlands, they will say,

to fill band five and Anand says he could move

to London to boost his salary but his life and heart

is now in the Midlands. The home of Gaelic Sport

in the West Midlands for almost 30 years-

Parc na Hairan is The road's design means it would go

straight through a site used by Gaelic sports teams from all over

Britain and Ireland. Highways England says its not

made any final decisions Wildlife experts are warning that

a new form of animal trap, designed to kill pest species

like rats, stoats and weasels, could The hedgehog population's been

declining for a long time now, despite efforts

to boost species numbers. Our Environment Correspondent David

Gregory-Kumar's been following two rescue animals

which are being rehomed. For Mark Ecclestone,

this is his office. He makes a living copicing this

ancient wood on the edge of Telford and he's looking forward

to providing a home This is the end of a

long journey for two Staffordshire hedgehogs,

brother and sister. Rescued, kept safe over the winter

and now ready to be released into the wood and under

Mark's watchful eye. We're not quite sure

which one is the brother and which is sister, because it is quite

difficult to tell when they are Overall hedgehog numbers

continue to decline and now conservationists warn

they face a new danger. This animal trap from New Zealand,

now licensed for use here. In New Zealand, this trap

is used to kill stoats, Here, the government

insist this trap can't be the British hedgehog preservation

Society is still really worried Obviously, because

they were developed Hedgehogs have enough to deal with,

they are in decline and the another thing we have

to worry about in terms And numbers are declining,

at a startling rate. This year, for some

reason, hedgehogs have We're just getting

around about 70% less records and they got

this time last year. These two are starting

a new life in a perfect But for the rest of our hedgehogs

life remains as difficult as ever. A special service of dedication has

been held at Hereford cathedral to mark the installation

of a million pound artwork. It's been designed to honour

the Special Air Service which has "Ascension" is made up of two parts

- a nine metre high stained glass window and a monument made

from stones taken from Scotland, We wanted it to be about the past,

present and future. Something not cluttered, something colourful be

simple but had meaning. Something that underscored are understated

excellence. What was not boastful in any way. Sounds beautiful. I will

leave you with a look at the weather.

Good evening, certainly fine and dry today. Some sunshine, in sunshine,

temperatures up to the mid-teens but more of this to chase around to

moral. Trapped under that high, lots of clouds, hit and miss but it is.

Where we have it, temperatures are not going to fall way too far. In

shelters, rural sports, dipping down to 2-3 C. When we see that, a jot of

graphs frost. A chilly start for some to moral. -- grass frost. The

crowd will thin and reckon we'll get some sunny spells. For today, the

north and west of plenty of cloud cover. We will see that breaking

down a little more as he had through to moral. More brightness across

Staffordshire and Shropshire. 14 Celsius across the board, heading to

the weekend, better news, high pressure slipping with much warmer

air coming up. Temperatures heading into the need to hide genes. Moral

that any national forecast next. I that any national forecast next. I

Hello. There was some warm sunshine around today, but it's set to get

even warmer this weekend. 18 Celsius in London this afternoon. This was

the scene in Chiswick, much quieter than it was on Sunday for the boat

race. Under the cloud for example here in Cumbria, temperatures

struggled to make double figures. Through the night we're going to

hang onto a lot of cloud across north-west England, North Wales,

Northern Ireland and western Scotland, where there will be a bit

of drizzle on the breeze. Zero skies across many southern and eastern

parts of England, together with eastern Scotland and in the

countryside again, temperatures won't be far away from freezing.

Just