23/11/2017 Midlands Today

Good evening.

It's been an emotional day

for workers at the Aga factory

in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire.

Production of the cast iron ovens

is coming to an end at the site,

ending more than 300 years

of manufacturing in the area.

Aga itself has been there

for more than 70 years,

but its American owners say it's no

longer cost effective.

Joanne Writtle reports.

Some of the final workers

leave Aga's foundry

in Coalbrookdale signalling

an end to 300 years

of cast-iron production here.

They hang up their boots to mark

the end of their working days here.

I have been here 31

years, end of an era.

I thought I would go out

of here on the day that I retired.

Unfortunately, I'm not.

Glyn Baker had clocked up 40 years

and was greeted by his parents Irene

and Dennis who once

also worked at the foundry.

Like so many families once

did in Coalbrookdale.

After emotional goodbyes,

they reminisced over a cup of tea.

Very emotional.

It's got a lot of history,

personal history there.

It was quite upsetting coming out

of the gates for the last time.

His father, Dennis, and mother,

Irene, worked for years

at the factory, too,

but today with there for their son.

Very, very touching really.

I mean, he put his heart

and soul into his job.

I can't ever remember him

losing any time from work

there and the atmosphere

in the founding was tremendous.

On our estate alone,

I reckoned up last night that 18

families on that estate

worked at the foundry.

Until today, around 40

people worked here,

but decades ago there were 600.

AGA Range Master declined our

repeated requests for an interview,

that told us that the decision

to close the foundry here had

been a difficult one.

The company said it would also

like to thank the remaining workers

for helping to wind things down.

Later this afternoon,

members of the community came

out to say farewell.

The end of a foundry first used

by Abraham Darby in 1709.

A toddler has died

after being injured

at a house in Birmingham.

Emergency services were called

to an address in Northfield

on Sunday afternoon,

following reports that

a 21-month-old girl was unconscious.

She was taken to hospital

but later died.

A police investigation is underway

and a 28-year-old man

and a 30-year-old woman have been

arrested on suspicion

of causing or allowing

serious injury to a child.

Staffordshire Police say officers

have seen a three-fold

increase in the number of rapes

and serious sexual offences being

reported in the past five years.

Charities offering support in this

area say they're also experiencing

a rise in demand for their services,

with some of the complaints

they're hearing about now

dating back several years.

More now from our Staffordshire

reporter Liz Copper.

Michel Joy is a survivor.

She's experienced more than 40

years of sexual violence.

She's waived her right

to anonymity to speak about

the effects.

The most amazing experience

for me was to learn that

I wasn't guilty.

It wasn't a dirty secret.

I was allowed to speak about it.

I'm learning that I'm a human

being and I have rights.

This helpline is run by the charity

Savana in Stoke on Trent.

It's seen a significant

rise in referrals.

We offer emotional support in

the form of one-to-one counselling

and we also offer practical support.

It's an advocacy role, independent

sexual violence advisors, we have

three of those here.

They support anybody that

wishes to report to the police.

Staffordshire police now deal

with an average of seven reports of

rape and serious

sexual offences every day.

80% of complainants are female

and 80% are under 30 years old.

These are cases that

may date back and these

often will be people who have not

felt confident to come

forward previously.

Perhaps they have not had

the trust in the criminal

justice system or the police to come

forward and take that step.

The statistics have gone through the

ceiling, I really understand that.

It is because people can now voice

an opinion and say this is what has

happened to me and not hide

so much from everybody.

Charities and other organisations

offering counselling

services are reporting

growing numbers of

complainants coming forward.

The effects will be

felt across the whole

criminal justice system.

Birmingham City Council

is advising drivers to avoid

using their cars to get

into the city centre

until roadworks at several key

junctions are completed.

At present, lane closures mean

some areas are becoming

gridlocked at peak times,

and, with Christmas approaching,

congestion is expected to get worse.

Our reporter Kevin Reide is close

to one of the pinch points

at the Holloway roundabout

for us now.

So how bad's it getting, Kevin?

You can see the A38, won the main

routes in and out of Birmingham is

flowing. You can see either side

here, queueing traffic is still here

even at this time of night. But the

Christmas murky coming and that kind

of thing, it is only going to get

worse. -- Christmas market.

First come the cones,

then the congestion.

These roadworks ironically designed

to ease the jams appear to be

doing the exact opposite.

This is the sort of gridlock that

many drivers have been complaining

about when this roundabout fills up

with traffic, congestion,

spreads out around the city centre.

More roadworks nearby,

this time part of the continuing

development of the city.

Here, they're making space

with a new Metro tram line.

In the city's traffic control

centre, they have a bird's eye view

of what is going on and the message

from here is do not

drive into Birmingham.

Yes, works are taking

place and while they are,

everybody's key priority should be

trying to find other forms

of transport other than private cars

to get in and around Birmingham.

Today wasn't a good day

for public transport either.

A signal failure at New Street

Station meant three platforms

couldn't be used during this

morning's rush hour.

The congestion on the roads means

bus companies are struggling to keep

to their timetables.

Services are having

to start earlier.

We are having to get more buses

on the road and our team

of controllers are having

to constantly be looking at the GPS

to make sure our services

are running more less to schedule.

The good news is that

some roadworks including

here at Birmingham's Holloway Circus

will be lifted from mid-December

to help keep the traffic

moving over Christmas.

Be warned, they'll be

back in the New Year.

So Kevin, a bit of a break

from the misery on the way,

but what does the man responsible

for the region's transport

network, West Midlands Mayor

Andy Street have to say

about the problems?

He did pledge to improve congestion

in the West Midlands when he was

elected and he said that there is no

point hanging around with major

improvement schemes, you have got to

get on with them and spend the money

while you have got it. He also says

that the long-term aim is to get

more people out of their cars.

In the short time, we've got to get

priority -- real long-term, it is

about investing in the Metro and

trains that is actually one of the

reasons why using the roadworks is

for that matter extension.

In the

long term, he is looking at

recruiting network resilience

manager to oversee traffic across

the whole region, it will include

monitoring the building of HS2, that

will create many more pinch points.

A major headache for anyone managing

the traffic here in the Midlands.

Plans for the West Midlands Mayor

to take on responsibility

for policing in 2020 have been

announced as part of

a second devolution deal

in yesterday's budget.

The move would see the role

of Police and Crime

Commissioner scrapped.

The current Commissioner

David Jamieson

and Midlands Metro Mayor Andy Street

are both due to complete

their respective terms in 2020.

Doctors have raised serious concerns

about the takeover of two

mental health organisations

across the Black Country.

If planned changes were to go ahead

they'd be run by the Birmingham

Community Healthcare Trust

which is not a dedicated

Mental Health Trust.

Doctors from across Dudley

and Walsall have written a letter

saying they are worried it

would have an "impact on the safe

delivery and quality of services."

A permanent exhibition celebrating

the life of a leading

British automobile designer has

opened at Coventry University.

Frederick Lanchester

was responsible for more than 400

patents and invented both the first

hybrid petrol/electric vehicle

and the first all British

four wheel drive car.

He originally founded

the company which bore his name

in Birmingham before moving

production to Coventry.

He filed over 400 patents in his

life and people call him the UK

Leonardo da Vinci.

My aim in all this is to make people

aware of this British genius.

His name should be

up there in lights

with Stephenson

and Brunel and Watts.

And that's almost all from us.

I'll leave you now with

the weather from Beccy.

From me, goodnight.

Good evening.

Yesterday was certainly

a lively day of weather.

We saw gusts of wind up to 55 mph.

Today by comparison

was a little calmer than that.

We saw some brighter

breaks here and there, but

also some heavy downpours and

through the rest of the day we've

started to see that cloud tearaway.

Tonight, under clearer skies,

it is going to get a touch chilly.

Particularly for the north midlands.

Across the south Midlands, we have

got cloud pushing in which might

push its way across

a little further north.

If it does, that will help to hold

temperatures, but where we see

those clearer spells longer,

we are likely to see those

temperatures touching freezing.

And in sheltered spots,

particularly in the north

Midlands, we could get

a touch of frost.

For tomorrow, it will be a chilly

start to the day, the winds

are dropping off much

lighter than we've seen

for the last few days.

A calmer day, and a clearer day.

Plenty of sunshine

through the morning,

a chilly start, some

frost patches remaining.

Across the north Midlands,

we are likely to see

a few showers filtering their way

in through the day and over the tops

of the Staffordshire Moorlands,

it could be a touch wintry.

Some sleet, maybe even some snow.

Temperatures 5-7dC, feeling

much cooler, but with

lighter winds and sunshine,

it won't be too bad at all.

On Saturday, it is staying chilly.