15/01/2014 North West Tonight

That's all from us. It's goodbye from me. And on BBC

Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Roger Johnson.

And Annabel Tiffin. Our top story: Two women who claim they were

assaulted by William Roache give the first evidence in the soap star s

first evidence in the soap star's trial.

We'll have the full story live from Preston Crown Court. Also tonight:

The boarding school runaways. Two teenagers at a leading Lancashire

school jet`off to the Dominican Republic.

Meet the quick`thinking four`year`old who saved her mum's

four`year`old who saved her mum s life.

And find out why this shop in Manchester wants to expand your

imagination as well as your shopping list.

Two women who claim they were sexually assaulted by the Coronation

Street are `` star Bill Roache had been giving evidence.

Our chief reporter is that Preston Caracol `` Crown Court for us now.

Let us first look at the case of the woman who says she was assaulted

whilst visiting the studios. She was 14 at the time and she said she had

gone to the Granada Studios to audition for a children's talent

show. She did not get the part, but they decided they would be

mischievous and search around the building, see if they could meet up

with any famous faces. The woman said she and her friend

were wandering the corridors when they met Bill Roache and another

Coronation Street actor. They chatted in a dressing room and then

she said Mr Roache took her into the male toilets where he forced her to

touch him inappropriately. But when she got out of the toilets

that she did not say anything to her friend or the other actor. Bill

Roache sent her this letter a few weeks later, in which she wrote ``

he wrote, "is right to me when you start school again". A few weeks

later when she returned to the studios Mr Roache offered her a lift

and in the car there was further inappropriate behaviour. Louise

Blackwell QC questioned whether any of this had ever happened. She said

there were alarming lapses in the witnesses memory. The woman reported

`` retorted, " I am telling the truth, I am not making it up. I have

no reason to". What did the other woman have to

say. This was a woman who was 16 back in

the mid`1960s and was an actress. She was walking into the ladies

toilets in the building when Bill Roache came in close behind her and

without warning, she says he put her hand `` his hand up her jumper and

molested her and she felt cross and angry but she said nothing because

she didn't want to make waves. However, she said she told family

and friends about the incident over the years and she went to the police

last May when she saw reports of his initial arrest on suspicion of rape.

Mr Roache denies five allegations of indecent assault and two allegations

of rape. The trial continues tomorrow.

Two teenage pupils who went missing from a boarding school in Lancashire

are believed to have flown to the Caribbean. The boy and girl, who are

both aged 16, are boarders at Stonyhurst College near Clitheroe.

Elaine Dunkley reports. From the dormitories of a top

boarding school to the beaches of the Dominican Republic. The search

for two missing teenagers is international. At 3am on Monday

morning, 16`year`old Edward Bunyan and his girlfriend, Indira

Gainiyeva, sneaked out of their rooms, got a taxi to Manchester

Airport and boarded a flight to the Caribbean. Obviously, we can't relax

until we've got them back with us and back with their families and we

can get 100% sure they are safe and sound. How the teenagers were able

to evade a complex system of CCTV and security at the school is a

mystery. So, are the reasons why they eloped. Police are now tracking

their mobiles phones and credit cards hundreds of miles away.

Parents pay up ?24,000 a year for children to be educated here. No

doubt there are concerns around security. We take security very

seriously here, but obviously we need to bear in mind the prime focus

of that is to keep intruders out, not to try and imprison our pupils.

That said, it is not easy to get out of this building at night

unobserved. For now it's a waiting game. What would your message be to

the pupils? Get in touch. There is so much we can talk about. We need

to have a conversation and, above all, we miss you and want you back

with your families as soon as possible. So please, please, pick up

the phone. A 30`year`old man who posted a

message on his Facebook page mocking the murder of two Greater Manchester

Police Officers has been jailed for 290 days. Chris McCann from Glasgow

claimed a friend made the offensive comments in September 2012, the day

after PCs Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes were shot dead by Dale

Cregan. Today, he admitted a breach of the peace by allowing them to

appear and remain online. Detectives in Greater Manchester are

appealing for information after a mother and son were shot outside a

bingo hall in Hapurhey. It happened on Sunday evening after the

22`year`old man arrived to collect his mother. Patrols have been

stepped up in the area, but police say it wasn't a random attack.

We believe it is a targeted attack. It would appear that it was

targeted. The vehicle `` victim was attacked inside his vehicle and the

reason is still being investigated. The Ramsey unit was Rhian inspected

by the health watchdog last month and staffing has increased by a

quarter since concerns over chronic shortages were raised last year.

quarter since concerns over chronic shortages were raised last year

Investigations are under way into how a train carrying empty nuclear

fuel flasks collided with a car on a level crossing in Lancashire. The

impact of the crash, at Silverdale near Carnforth, pushed the car 300

near Carnforth, pushed the car 00 metres down the track. Amazingly, no

one was hurt, although the track was closed for several hours while fire

officers removed the wrecked car. Andy Gill reports from the scene.

A silver Ford Fiesta stopped on the line as a freight train was coming.

Drivers and passengers got out before the impact. The car is now a

third of its original length so you can anticipate the amount of damage

on the car. The car and the try `` and the train had moved physically

down the track. In a statement, network rail said the train remained

upright on the tracks and there was no significant damage to the railway

infrastructure. It also said there had been no allegations about the

safe working of this level crossing. The train was carrying empty nuclear

fuel flasks away from the Sellafield plant in Cumbria. But there could

still be contamination even if an empty flask was damaged, some say. A

similar train derailed in Barrow last year. The operators in the 80s

had a train crash into a flask to show how strong they are. It is not

known why the car stopped on the line in this latest incident. Locals

say in the past vehicles have become stuck because they have taken the

bend too quickly. To all three instances but it is mainly due to

human error. I just heard sirens that was all so I was quite shocked

when I saw the news. A rail accident investigation Branch enquiry is

underway. Preston's Royal Hospital said today

they were planning to take on 80 they were planning to take on 8

extra staff to improve patient care. It follows a critical report from

the Care Quality Commission who inspected the hospital in November.

The extra help will be welcomed by staff who say they're having to deal

with the, thankfully, increasing number of people surviving illnesses

that might once have killed them. In her third special report on winter

pressures at the Royal Preston, our health correspondent, Nina Warhurst,

looks at how progress in treating long`term conditions means looking

after more people with less money. If Andrew had been born ten years

earlier, his chronic asthma would certainly have killed him. But since

he moved to the Royal Preston specialist centre, life is barely

recognisable to what it was. Sometimes I went to bed and I didn't

even know if I would wake up or there would be an ambulance. Now it

is more controlled and it is fantastic. You feel like you're

living again? Yes, to be honest. fantastic. You feel like you're

living again? Yes, to be honest He survived because the NHS is so much

better at treating conditions like breathing problems, arthritis and

heart disease. But beating the things that once killed as comes at

a cost. Pressure for long`term conditions is so significant that

NHS England has described it as their climate change. Those

illnesses take up 70% of the national budget. GPs are now being

asked to manage more in the community. Ash says specialist wards

like this will always be needed for extreme cases like Andrews, but if

more things like physio and occupational therapy could be done

from home, everyone would benefit. If I am a laced shoe, the hospital

is the shoe and the laces are the things that are now you to function

and at the moment, the laces are very often missing.

There are only 33 specialist beds in this ward which means that sometimes

respiratory patients have to be treated elsewhere. Statistically,

that means recovery is slower, you are in hospital for longer and

potentially taking up a bed that a different patient needs. Most of our

hospitals strive for excellence but hospitals strive for excellence, but

increasingly staff say there is only so much they can do with what they

have and that changes are needed for the soap of progress that saved

Andrew's life is to continue `` the sort of progress.

Well, Nina and our colleagues at BBC Radio Lancashire were given

unprecedented access to Royal Preston Hospital this week and saw

first`hand the pressures staff are under. Earlier, I spoke to the

Trust's Chief Executive, Karen Partington and asked her how they

could avoid the pressures of winter this year.

If I was to look at what we've done this year, I would say we are in a

much better position than we were in last year because we have a lot of

plans in place with our partners, GP leaders and community and social

services so we are in a better position for this year than we were

last. Last week, the sea QC report criticised the hospital for having

to move patients around to wards that perhaps one tailored to their

condition. Should you manage that better? `` the Care Quality

Commission. We had a hugely positive report from them overwhelmingly

recognising the work the staff were doing and the priorities we placed

on patient care. Everything we are doing as they trust is absolutely

putting patients in the right place. All our hospitals are busy though,

aren't they? But they are not facing the same crises that you have been

and where last year. Can you learn lessons from them? That is not true.

All of those hospitals face exactly the same pressures that we face. We

the same pressures that we face We are in touch with people all the

time... They haven't had to cancel operations or reached full capacity?

They did. Every hospital in England with the exception of seven had to

cancel operations. You would say the Preston Royal is in a good state of

health at the moment? Well, we are coping well, the staff have been

magnificent, we have opened additional beds. We do this all the

time ` flex our capacity to cope with the demands of the system. We

have the system under control and we are clear about what we need to do

and we are available to look after our patients.

Thank you to the Royal Preston for giving us that access. It has been

interesting to see a hospital at work.

Still to come on North West Tonight: try shouting, wake up, mummy. Wake

up, mummy! We'll meet the quick`thinking four`year`old whose

common sense saved her mother's life.

And a home from home ` the works of art being shown in a shop while

their gallery's refurbished. Manchester City's manager, Manuel

Pellegrini, says his team are chasing an historic quadruple of

trophies. Well, if City do want to win the lot this season they've got

a tricky replay in the FA Cup to negotiate tonight.

Blackburn Rovers travel to the Etihad Stadium tonight after they

pushed Pellegrini's men all the way in a 1`1 draw at Ewood Park in the

original tie. Richard Askam is there for us. Richard it's a game that

City will expect to win, but equally it's one that Rovers will relish?

I think you are right. Rovers played very well in the original tie and

certainly when Scott Dann equalised, Manchester City were under the cosh.

Most people coming tonight... This is a one`off game. Who knows? Manuel

Pellegrini says he won't take this fixture lightly. I'm absolutely sure

that tomorrow we must do a good game if we want to win because they are

very motivated and a strong team and they know exactly the way they want

to play. We must be very intent in defending and counter attacks and

set pieces. As for Rovers, they have been building this season. One

defeat in the last seven in the championship. They might fancy it

tonight and they have nothing to lose. Their manager has been

stressing that fact ahead of the game this evening. It is a one`off

game and we have to take the experience in and show what we are

capable than give a good account of ourselves. For us, it is about

learning about our players and then learning about themselves and

getting better. There is no better way than against the best. Sergio

Aguero could be back tonight. It will be interesting to see if he

starts their joint top scorer. You can get full coverage on both

the BBC local radio stations and BBC Radio Lancashire and BBC Radio

Manchester. A strange kick`off time tonight. 8:10pm. It will be

interesting to see what team Manchester City put out, but

whatever players they put out, it will be a very strong team in deed.

It will be fascinating to see how Rovers go against them. Back to you.

On the one hand, it is the next game for both clubs, but there is a real

chance, certainly for Blackburn, to get a notable scalp and city will

have to be on their guard. Absolutely, Roger. We have seen it

before so many times in the FA Cup when one of the big teams takes it

lightly and they can get a bloody nose. City will certainly have to

show some metal tonight to get past Blackburn.

Thank you very much. Now, Steve Prescott was a rugby

legend in St Helens. A superleague international, he played for the

Saints as well as his country. But Steve's life was tragically cut

short when he died of a rare abdominal cancer in November at the

age of just 39. Now the town is honouring him by renaming the bridge

which connects the town with his beloved St Helens ground Langtree

Park. Before we came on air, I spoke to

Mike Rush from the club and the council 's leader who told me why

Saint Helens will always remember him. Stephen was a great player for

our club and howl and Wake said `` Wakefield and Gateshead, his 60

clubs, if you like. He was an inspiration `` his sister clubs He

was an inspiration to the whole town in his trust and foundation. A

number of his friends have set it up and will continue to exist. I don't

think you will ever be forgotten for what he has given to the town and

the hope and courageous attitude he has given in the borough of Saint

Helens. Given an idea of exactly how much he was admired by his fellow

people in Saint Helens. As Mike said, he was inspirational. The way

he took on the fight, the fight of cancer and the challenges he

undertook. He went out on the street and asked anybody what they thought

of `` if you ask anyone on the streets of Saint Helens, people

would say he was a very brave man. Give us an idea... I imagine there

will be some sort of a plaque on the bridge to say it is the Steve

Prescott Bridge? Yes, it will be formally opened prior to the first

league game of the season and a plaque will commemorate it. Another

few things will go on between now and the end of the season to

celebrate his career and key charity worker. The bridge is a tribute to

him and something that lights the way in our town at the moment. With

the stadium and the bridge behind us, it will be a fitting tribute to

Stephen. When Lexi Cooper from Blackburn

found her mother unconscious and trapped beneath a heavy bookcase,

the first thing she did was dial 999. Nothing unusual about that, you

999. Nothing unusual about that you might think.

But it's all the more impressive when you consider Lexi is just four

years old. Today, she's been presented with an award for her

quick thinking. Mark Edwardson takes up the story.

You are an amazing lady. A big day for a little girl. Lexi Cooper and

her grateful mother, Nicola Ellis. A call taken by Sophie Roscoe at

Lancashire Police headquarters. I've never had a call like that before.

My job was to keep her focused and she did everything I

I woke up with a lot of policeman in the room. She found my mobile and

unlocked it and dialled 909. She got her brother and sister is safe.

Where did you learn to ring the police? At my mums house. Where

else? At school as well? Sophie Roscoe's professionalism was also

recognised with an award from the Mayor of Blackburn. I appreciate it

but it is all about Lexi that day. She was fantastic.

It was almost like a training exercise. The call takers showed so

much empathy and professionalism to get the results are a credit to them

both. As for Nicola, she's already made sure the bookcase won't topple

on anyone else. The Blackburn MP Jack Straw has

what a clever little girl! She shouted at her mum at just the right

time! What would you expect to find in

your local department store? How about popping in to see some great

works of art or to hear from one of the country 's leading authors?

In Manchester, Selfridge's is teaming up with the Whitworth Art

Gallery to exhibit some of its works while the gallery is being

refurbished. They hope it will encourage customers to use their

imagination and not just their credit cards.

Pop up shops have been fashionable for a while but how about a pop`up

gallery in a shop. Here, they want to expand your imagination as well

as your shopping list. You might not expect to find a Freud or a turnout

or a Picasso. The Whitworth is closed while we expand the gallery,

so we talked to Selfridge's to see whether they could show a view of

our best paintings in store so that people could still see some of their

favourites. Also, so that people who never come to an art gallery Busi

would actually see world`class works by Lucien Freud, Turner and Tracy M

in. Selfridge's wouldn't let us talk to

customers in the shop so we asked them outside if they enjoyed the

art. I didn't notice it but the idea is interesting. A bit like what they

did with the Olympics and the cultural Olympiad. It is unusual,

isn't it? It is but it is nice to have culture in a shop as well. I

didn't notice it much. Where you just looking at things to buy? Yes,

sorry. There was a Lucien Freud and a Picasso. I didn't notice. It runs

for the next month. You need to pay attention, you see!

There are so many beautiful things in there as well as the art.

Selfridge's wouldn't let to speak to people inside, so we waited

outside! We will get you no matter what.

They were also honest. So busy shopping they didn't see the art.

I'm so glad I am here doing the weather instead of shopping because

I would have spent so much money. Temperatures were well above average

for this time of the year. Tomorrow, back to normal single figure

temperatures. Unsettled as we head towards the weekend and we will

continue to hold onto a lot of clout. Showery rain on and off as

well. This evening, more showery rain moving in for a time and more

dense on the tops of the Pennines. Clear spells will not last as we

have another line of showers moving in by dawn. A breezy night but very

mild. For tomorrow, breezy and we will see

showers from the word go. They are hit or miss and they easily way

leaving sunshine in between. Plenty of cloud as well and a breezy day.

More showers by the afternoon. Temperatures will be disappointing.

Tomorrow, a rash of showers continue overnight but you are in for an mild

night. We head into Friday with more of the same. Cloud cover, occasional

bright spells and showers. For Saturday, I am afraid it is more of

the same. You could do an exhibition with your

dress because it is the one thing people always talk about `` your

dresses. I don't think we would have an `` a

venue big enough. Thanks for watching. Good night.

Hidden beneath your feet are magical worlds,

home to extraordinary little creatures.

Imagine being able to experience this wonderland through their eyes.

see the incredible adventures of these miniature heroes