:00:02. > :00:07.Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Gordon Burns and Kate
:00:07. > :00:11.Simms. Our top story: Police use emergency powers to close a
:00:11. > :00:17.nightclub after a man had his ears and part of his nose and lips
:00:17. > :00:20.bitten off. We look at the issue of all-night
:00:20. > :00:26.licences in the centre of Liverpool. Also tonight: Misery for commuters
:00:26. > :00:29.as hundreds of trains are cancelled across the North West.
:00:29. > :00:33.A new row over cockling after fishermen say red tape is putting
:00:33. > :00:36.their livelihoods at risk. And reunited with her frantic owner
:00:36. > :00:46.- the Yorkshire terrier stolen by burglars in Lancashire and then
:00:46. > :00:47.
:00:47. > :00:52.abandoned more than 50 miles away. Somebody pinched my little dog. I
:00:52. > :01:02.was not worried about the jewellery, I wanted my little dog back because
:01:02. > :01:05.
:01:05. > :01:08.he is my show dog. A man has had his nose, ears and
:01:09. > :01:11.lip bitten off in an attack outside a club in Liverpool city centre. A
:01:12. > :01:17.police officer who viewed CCTV footage of the incident said it was
:01:17. > :01:20.the worst he had seen in 27 years with the force. Today the club has
:01:20. > :01:23.had its licence suspended. It follows concerns that all-night
:01:23. > :01:31.licences may be turning an area of the city centre into a crime hot
:01:31. > :01:35.spot. Here's Jayne Barrett. This clip from YouTube shows a
:01:35. > :01:39.night out in Funky box. Posters outside boast how it's open all
:01:40. > :01:42.night, every night, seven days a week. But, just after 6am on
:01:42. > :01:45.Saturday, an attack happened outside here in which a man
:01:45. > :01:51.literally lost parts of his face, an attack which could cost this
:01:51. > :01:56.club its licence. CCTV images filmed here showed two men fighting,
:01:56. > :01:59.images described by a police officer at a licensing committee.
:02:00. > :02:04.There are nine consecutive punches, then the assailant can be seen to
:02:04. > :02:09.place his head down by the victim. He starts eating away at his face
:02:09. > :02:12.and head. Funky Box is on the edge of Liverpool's main pub and club
:02:12. > :02:22.district. Police stats show this area has by far the highest
:02:22. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:32.concentration of crime in the city centre. We work hard with the bars
:02:32. > :02:39.to make them work responsibly. If we have an issue with a bar we will
:02:39. > :02:42.go and speak to them and raise the issues that we have. While we
:02:42. > :02:46.filmed today, a licensee told us he believed the council was too slow
:02:46. > :02:55.to use the powers it had, a point I put to the councillor with
:02:55. > :03:00.responsibility for licensing. have had several reports this year
:03:01. > :03:09.and there are more pending. I would rather work with licensed premises
:03:09. > :03:19.to improve things. A final decision about whether to reopen the club
:03:19. > :03:35.
:03:35. > :03:37.will be made on September 19th. Rail passengers are facing more
:03:37. > :03:40.delays and cancellations this evening as train drivers at First
:03:40. > :03:43.Transpennine Express continue their strike over pay. The company is
:03:43. > :03:45.running just 58 out of 290 services, causing disruption right across the
:03:45. > :03:51.North West. Our reporter, Nina Warhurst, is at Manchester
:03:51. > :03:56.Piccadilly now. How bad is it? Considering it is rush-hour, it is
:03:56. > :04:01.not too congested. First Transpennine Express has said they
:04:01. > :04:04.have done everything to minimise disruption. First Transpennine
:04:04. > :04:07.Express says it hopes to add an extra 30 services by the end of the
:04:07. > :04:10.day and it has added extra carriages and brought in managers.
:04:10. > :04:16.But there has still been disruption right across the region, as Abbie
:04:17. > :04:19.Jones has been finding out. Barrow station was unusually quiet
:04:19. > :04:27.this morning. Some trains were cancelled. At Manchester Piccadilly,
:04:27. > :04:30.some found their travel plans in disarray. Not happy. It is the
:04:30. > :04:34.first time I have travelled by train for about two years. I was
:04:35. > :04:38.quite looking forward to the journey. There were about three
:04:39. > :04:43.trains within the hour, but now we have to wait for one. There are all
:04:44. > :04:46.these people waiting as well. We have loads of stuff. The Brittain
:04:46. > :04:54.family, back from Florida, found themselves stranded at Manchester
:04:54. > :04:57.Airport. We are shattered. None of us had any sleep last night and
:04:57. > :05:00.they're just not helping. After we interviewed them, First
:05:00. > :05:03.Transpennine Express agreed to pay for a hire car to get them home.
:05:03. > :05:05.Trains to Liverpool, Leeds, York, South Yorkshire and the Lake
:05:05. > :05:12.District from Manchester and out again are affected. Over 200
:05:12. > :05:20.services. Some services are just sitting in the station. They are
:05:20. > :05:26.hoping that this one will get going soon. Passengers are being told
:05:26. > :05:31.that their tickets are valid for seven days after the strike. As
:05:31. > :05:35.refunds are being given, too. Our drivers have chosen to go on
:05:35. > :05:44.strike and lose hundreds of pounds. They do not want to do that. We
:05:44. > :05:48.have said to the company that we are willing to discuss again.
:05:48. > :05:52.Managers were drafted in today and extra seats were provided. We're
:05:52. > :05:58.doing everything we can to get customers to where they need to go.
:05:58. > :06:05.It is a very busy week. Both sides say they want to talk. If the deal
:06:05. > :06:10.is not thrashed out, another striker set for Friday. -- another
:06:10. > :06:15.strike is set for Friday. They are working hard to make sure
:06:16. > :06:20.that Friday's strike does not go ahead. If it does, it will coincide
:06:20. > :06:23.with the bank holiday. There is Manchester Pride and a Leeds
:06:23. > :06:27.festival going on. If you are planning to travel to those events,
:06:27. > :06:32.the advice is to think about another form of transport in
:06:32. > :06:42.advance. If you have already bought your ticket, you can change it 48
:06:42. > :06:50.
:06:50. > :06:52.hours in advance and it is valid for seven days after Friday.
:06:53. > :06:56.More news from around the region now, and an investigation's started
:06:56. > :06:58.into the death of a man who was tasered by police in Bolton last
:06:59. > :07:01.night. The 53-year-old barricaded himself inside a house and began
:07:01. > :07:03.stabbing himself. Police arrived and used a taser to overpower him
:07:04. > :07:06.before he was taken to hospital, where he died.
:07:07. > :07:09.128,000 people have now added their names to an e-petition calling for
:07:09. > :07:11.the release of all Cabinet documents about Hillsborough. It
:07:12. > :07:14.follows the coalition's decision to appeal against a ruling from the
:07:14. > :07:19.Information Commissioner that Cabinet papers from 1989 should be
:07:19. > :07:29.made public. When thieves broke into Barbara
:07:29. > :07:35.
:07:35. > :07:38.Whitham's home they were not content with stealing her jewellery.
:07:38. > :07:42.I knew cockle bed has been discovered in the Ribble estuary.
:07:42. > :07:48.There are fears that it could attract poachers and that could put
:07:48. > :07:56.lives at risk. Even in this poor-quality club, you
:07:56. > :08:02.get an extent -- an idea of the extent of the newly discovered
:08:02. > :08:05.cockle bed. The north-west Inshore Fisheries and conservation
:08:05. > :08:10.authority has placed a 30 day temporary closure on it, to the
:08:10. > :08:15.dismay of fishermen. They say it is 24 years since they had a cockle
:08:15. > :08:19.bed of this sort and this size in the estuary. They believe it could
:08:19. > :08:26.keep up to 400 fishermen employed during the winter months. When
:08:26. > :08:30.times are hard, they say, that is worth fighting for. This fish a man
:08:30. > :08:34.with over 30 years' experience fears the core -- the closure could
:08:34. > :08:38.be hazardous. It will cause a poaching problem. The danger is
:08:38. > :08:43.they will going at night and not realise what is happening and we
:08:43. > :08:47.could have or tragedy on our hands. It is much better to open the bed
:08:47. > :08:53.and have the people going in during daylight.
:08:53. > :08:57.Fisher's also fear that dredgers to be allowed into the site, with
:08:57. > :09:02.local fishermen losing out. would be good to go back on the
:09:02. > :09:06.cockle bed. We have the right to picket and we should be allowed to.
:09:06. > :09:10.To close the bed and take money out of people's mouths is just
:09:10. > :09:14.ridiculous. The fisheries authorities is
:09:14. > :09:20.temporary closure is the best way forward. The use of small boats for
:09:20. > :09:23.transporting many fissures poses health and safety risks which the
:09:23. > :09:33.committee has no powers to control or manage. A decision will be made
:09:33. > :09:40.
:09:40. > :09:43.at the end of September. When thieves broke into Barbara
:09:43. > :09:46.Whitham's home they were not content with stealing her jewellery.
:09:46. > :09:48.They also made off with her beloved dog. Naturally, she was devastated
:09:48. > :09:52.by the loss of her Yorkshire terrier, Honey. But she was
:09:52. > :09:54.delighted when Honey turned up more than 50 miles from home. The pair
:09:54. > :09:59.were reunited because Honey had been microchipped. Dave guest takes
:09:59. > :10:05.up the story. Barbara and Honey are inseparable.
:10:05. > :10:09.But feed separated them when they broke into Barbara's,. They took
:10:10. > :10:16.all of my jewellery. But more importantly... They took my little
:10:16. > :10:22.dog. What did you think when you realised you had been burgled?
:10:22. > :10:26.did not care about the jewellery, I wanted my little dog back.
:10:26. > :10:34.The trail to find Honey stretched far further than anyone would have
:10:34. > :10:37.imagined. This is Hobart Street, over 50 miles from On the's home.
:10:37. > :10:42.She was found in the street here and picked up by the local dog
:10:42. > :10:46.warden. Because she had been microchipped it was a fairly
:10:46. > :10:54.straightforward process to track down her owner. Honey and Barbara
:10:55. > :11:01.were reunited. This has given us the opportunity to review your
:11:01. > :11:05.night -- reunite the victim with her owner. What did you do when you
:11:06. > :11:10.found out she had been discovered? I cried and cried. Obviously, it is
:11:10. > :11:14.down to the fact that she was microchipped. I am very grateful
:11:14. > :11:18.for that. I'd do stress that everybody must get their dog
:11:18. > :11:24.microchipped. Barbara's jewellery is still missing, but she says she
:11:24. > :11:28.is just glad to have Honey home. The police say that the fact she
:11:28. > :11:38.was found in Bolton has provided them with useful clues in the
:11:38. > :11:39.
:11:39. > :11:42.search for the thieves. Still to come in North West
:11:42. > :11:45.Tonight: It's up and away for a nine-year-old with a passion for
:11:45. > :11:53.helicopters. And back to his roots - Russell Watson returns to the
:11:53. > :12:03.Blackpool clubs where it all began. This is, I suppose, what you could
:12:03. > :12:07.
:12:07. > :12:09.describe as a compact dressing room. A woman whose legs wouldn't stop
:12:09. > :12:12.growing will feature in a TV documentary tonight. Mandy Sellars
:12:12. > :12:16.from Accrington suffers from a rare medical condition and has had one
:12:16. > :12:25.of her legs amputated to save her life. She's been speaking to us
:12:25. > :12:28.about the programme and how she's been coping. Eleanor Moritz reports.
:12:28. > :12:33.Mandy is an extraordinary person with an extraordinary condition.
:12:33. > :12:37.She was born with a rare syndrome, even now one diagnosed, which meant
:12:37. > :12:43.her legs would not stop growing. understand why people look because
:12:43. > :12:51.it is so unusual. You will not bump into someone like me in the street
:12:51. > :12:57.every day. We last met her for Mark years ago. -- four years ago. She
:12:57. > :13:04.has had one of her legs amputated. The positive side is the fact that
:13:04. > :13:08.I do not have any infections at all. In myself, I feel really healthy. I
:13:08. > :13:14.have not felt this good in 20 years. The flipside of the coin is the
:13:14. > :13:21.fact that I am not as independent as I was. I cannot see it. I am
:13:21. > :13:26.worried about missing it. Her time in hospital and her
:13:26. > :13:30.recovery feature in a documentary tonight. You're doing amazingly.
:13:31. > :13:34.She has also been to Cambridge to see if experts there can finally
:13:34. > :13:38.find out what has caused her condition and whether that could
:13:38. > :13:45.lead to some treatment. It is kind of exciting to me. If nothing comes
:13:45. > :13:50.of it, that little grip -- glimmer of hope is fantastic. Doing this
:13:50. > :13:57.latest documentary, I have really in due -- enjoy doing it and
:13:57. > :14:04.meeting the people that I have along the way. In the future I will
:14:05. > :14:09.be walking with a false leg and I will look back at how difficult it
:14:09. > :14:15.was. I am alive and kicking, so I am going to make the most of the
:14:15. > :14:18.second chance I have been given. And you can see Mandy's story in
:14:18. > :14:26.the documentary, Extraordinary People, on Channel 5 tonight at 9
:14:26. > :14:29.o'clock. He's played some of the biggest
:14:29. > :14:32.venues in the country but Salford's Russell Watson began his career in
:14:32. > :14:34.more humble surroundings. The tenor got his first bookings in the
:14:34. > :14:38.working men's clubs of Blackpool where he found himself competing
:14:38. > :14:41.with the rival attractions of bingo and hot meat pies. Now as some of
:14:41. > :14:51.those clubs struggle to attract new customers, Russell has been back to
:14:51. > :14:53.
:14:53. > :14:57.his roots to take a look at how times have changed.
:14:57. > :15:04.The Blackpool Philharmonic club - it has been 15 years since I
:15:04. > :15:14.performed here. What immediately strikes me is that it has not
:15:14. > :15:15.
:15:15. > :15:19.changed a bit. The clubs were set up as an
:15:19. > :15:24.alternative to pubs, focusing on more wholesome sports and games.
:15:25. > :15:29.Within a decade, drinking joined these activities and the mould was
:15:29. > :15:36.cast for clubs for the next 150 years. Follow me.
:15:36. > :15:42.This was my, what I suppose you could describe as a Compaq dressing
:15:42. > :15:46.room. You had a fan heater for the cold
:15:46. > :15:51.winter months in Blackpool. And, of course, every singer's very own
:15:51. > :15:54.personal ashtray. Since their heyday, the number of clubs has
:15:54. > :16:01.nosedived to just over 2,000, and that when that -- attendances
:16:01. > :16:04.dwindling. To me, it is a disaster. It is not just Blackpool, it is
:16:04. > :16:11.everywhere in the country. If the club world dies out, what do you
:16:11. > :16:14.think we will lose as a society? meeting place. In a club, you do
:16:14. > :16:19.not know the person next to but, within five minutes, you are
:16:19. > :16:23.talking to them. The orders have their work cut out to make sure
:16:23. > :16:27.that this tradition continues. To survive, they are going have --
:16:27. > :16:33.going to have to move with the times.
:16:33. > :16:43.You can see more of Russell's report straight after this
:16:43. > :16:44.
:16:44. > :16:46.programme. Sport now and, Tony, another big
:16:46. > :16:49.star, Samir Nasri, arrives at Manchester City as their spending
:16:49. > :16:52.spree continues. Yes, there he is. Manchester City's summer spending
:16:52. > :16:58.has now reached a staggering �85 million after the French midfielder
:16:58. > :17:01.today signed for the club for a reported fee of �25 million. Samir
:17:01. > :17:03.Nasri was regarded as Arsenal's best player for much of last season.
:17:04. > :17:07.He scored against City, and impressed the Blues' manager,
:17:07. > :17:11.Roberto Mancini. Arsene Wenger was reluctant to let him go, but today
:17:11. > :17:15.Nasri put pen to paper on a four- year deal at City after passing a
:17:15. > :17:20.medical. He's expected to be in the squad for the game at Spurs on
:17:21. > :17:25.Sunday. League One Rochdale have reached
:17:26. > :17:28.the third round of the Carling Cup for the first time in 49 years. And
:17:29. > :17:33.they did it the hard way, beating Premier League side Queens Park
:17:33. > :17:43.Rangers away last night. Last time they got this far was in 1962. So
:17:43. > :17:43.
:17:43. > :17:53.let the giant killing, in full colour this time, commence. Neil
:17:53. > :17:54.
:17:54. > :17:59.Warnock said this defeat did not matter to him. By the time Garri
:17:59. > :18:07.Jones made it two, Rochdale were making their slice of history and
:18:07. > :18:13.Neil Warnock had no choice in whether he was in or out. It was
:18:13. > :18:17.our priority to win the game and we took it seriously. I know he is sat
:18:17. > :18:22.behind us, but what did the boss city before the game? He told us to
:18:22. > :18:28.enjoy it and express ourselves. We were playing against good players
:18:28. > :18:38.but we knew we had a good side and that we had a good chance if we got
:18:38. > :18:40.
:18:40. > :18:50.our passing game going. Burnley scraped into the next round.
:18:50. > :18:51.
:18:51. > :19:01.It was left to Christmas can to see what in extra-time. -- Chris McCann
:19:01. > :19:03.
:19:03. > :19:07.to seal it in extra-time. There is more Carling Cup action
:19:07. > :19:12.tonight with Everton and Blackburn both hoping for their first win of
:19:12. > :19:22.the season. Neither has a point in the Premier League so far. You can
:19:22. > :19:31.
:19:31. > :19:34.see highlights in the League Cup short tonight at 11:30pm.
:19:34. > :19:37.Now, what do most footballers do on their summer holidays? Probably
:19:37. > :19:40.beer and beaches feature rather than taking bags of balls and boots
:19:40. > :19:42.thousands of miles to give to impoverished youngsters. But that's
:19:42. > :19:45.exactly what Bury's bandanna- wearing defender Efe Sodje gets up
:19:45. > :19:47.to every summer. He and his brothers, four of whom play
:19:47. > :19:50.professional football, have been helping children in Nigeria for
:19:50. > :19:53.more than a decade. Stuart Pollet has this special report. It's not
:19:53. > :19:57.unusual to find a footballer in Alderley Edge. But it is unusual to
:19:57. > :20:00.find one like Efe Sodje. He grew up here in the Warri district of
:20:00. > :20:02.Nigeria.. And every summer, while his fellow players flock to bars
:20:02. > :20:09.and beaches, teetotal Efe and his brothers returned with their hands
:20:09. > :20:19.full. We had about 20 big bags that we took, literally, with a own
:20:19. > :20:24.
:20:24. > :20:30.hands. We put everything in them and take them down to Nigeria.
:20:30. > :20:36.the last 15 years the Sodjes have spent around �200,000 in Warri.
:20:36. > :20:46.May they know we're coming. The kids are always waiting outside
:20:46. > :20:47.
:20:47. > :20:56.appearance' house. There are six teams that will have our kits. --
:20:56. > :20:59.outside our parents' house. Now the family's set up the Sodje
:20:59. > :21:05.Foundation with their aim of raising more than �500,000 to build
:21:05. > :21:08.a community centre. People can come and learn, whether it is about
:21:08. > :21:15.football or dedication, anything they want to know when their lives,
:21:15. > :21:25.we can teach them. We wanted teach them everything - education,
:21:25. > :21:26.
:21:26. > :21:29.awareness of HIV. The first time I wore boots I was about 20 years old.
:21:30. > :21:34.Thanks to you, those kids are getting a better start than you had.
:21:34. > :21:37.Yes. And if the Sodjes manage to build their centre, the children of
:21:37. > :21:42.Warri will be thankful to the family for more than just football
:21:42. > :21:45.boots. Stuart Pollitt, BBC North West Tonight, Alderley Edge.
:21:45. > :21:53.And the Sodje Foundation is holding a fund-raising dinner in Manchester
:21:53. > :21:56.on 21st September. Finally, the village cricketers
:21:56. > :21:58.from Hightown on Merseyside have had a day to remember. They won a
:21:58. > :22:01.competition to train with Lancashire's stars at Old Trafford.
:22:01. > :22:11.I'm told the Red Rose batsmen and bowlers were gentle with the
:22:11. > :22:28.
:22:28. > :22:33.amateurs! Temperatures in the sunshine were
:22:33. > :22:39.21 Celsius today. If you were stuck under the cloud, you temperature
:22:39. > :22:49.fell away to around 16 Celsius. That is quite a drop. The showers
:22:49. > :22:50.
:22:50. > :22:59.moved in after lunchtime. That is the state of play at the moment. It
:22:59. > :23:05.should stay dry for the next couple of hours. Yesterday we were talking
:23:05. > :23:09.about a band of rain that would be on the eastern side of England. We
:23:09. > :23:19.have exactly the same story in the early hours of the morning. The
:23:19. > :23:22.
:23:22. > :23:32.Pennines do a good job of keeping it at bay. The overnight
:23:32. > :23:38.temperature could be as low as nine Celsius. Early tomorrow they have -
:23:38. > :23:44.- the rain could be around. It will move around quickly and head to the
:23:44. > :23:50.east. It will be very much like today. There will be lots of
:23:50. > :24:00.sunshine in the morning but there could be one or two showers in the
:24:00. > :24:04.
:24:04. > :24:14.afternoon. There will be one or two hefty downpours. If you hang on to
:24:14. > :24:19.
:24:19. > :24:21.the sunshine, the temperature could be up to 20 Celsius.
:24:21. > :24:24.Now, while most nine-year-olds have spent the summer holidays playing
:24:24. > :24:27.out in the garden or gaining on their computers, one young boy from
:24:27. > :24:30.Manchester has found a novel new hobby - building a website about
:24:30. > :24:33.his favourite helicopter. Kevin Dutton is so fascinated by the Bell
:24:33. > :24:37.Huey UH-1H model that he set up his own website about the aircraft
:24:37. > :24:40.which has featured in many of the Vietnam war films. He is now in
:24:40. > :24:46.touch with Vietnam veterans in the US and his hard work earned him a
:24:46. > :24:52.flight on one of the helicopters. He is here with his dad to tell us
:24:52. > :25:02.all about it. Kevin, where there is an obsession like that begin? How
:25:02. > :25:10.
:25:10. > :25:19.I got a chance with my school to go and look at it. I got inside of it.
:25:19. > :25:25.It to cop a bit later on. Dad, you think it was the sound, don't you?
:25:25. > :25:31.Kevin was born in Thailand and there was a military base nearby.
:25:31. > :25:36.Those helicopters used to fly past every day. You could hear them for
:25:36. > :25:46.miles. You have built up this website. How many people are
:25:46. > :25:55.
:25:55. > :26:03.logging on to that. Yesterday it was 572 people, I think. It is very
:26:03. > :26:13.successful, then. Even better, you had a chance to get a go on one of
:26:13. > :26:13.
:26:13. > :26:23.these. Tell us how that came about. What was it like? They asked if I
:26:23. > :26:32.
:26:32. > :26:37.wanted to help with getting the helicopter out. When it landed
:26:37. > :26:42.Simon said, come round here, and he let us going it. What was it like
:26:42. > :26:45.when it took off? We didn't really know that it took off. You just
:26:45. > :26:52.suddenly looked out and there you were up above the ground? That must
:26:52. > :26:56.have been exciting. Yes. Dad, this is really an obsession with the
:26:56. > :27:00.helicopter and the website. It is an obsession but it is keeping him
:27:00. > :27:07.out of mischief. He is reading books, asking questions and
:27:07. > :27:11.enjoying it. He says he is going to work harder at school so that he
:27:11. > :27:18.can learn to fly. That is great. Diane is going to
:27:18. > :27:28.join us. I know you desperately want to be a helicopter pilot.
:27:28. > :27:28.