:00:09. > :00:12.Good evening. Welcome to North West Tonight with Annabel Tiffin and
:00:13. > :00:15.Roger Johnson. Our top storx. Almost half the children in Central
:00:16. > :00:18.Barrow are growing up in poverty claims a shocking new report.
:00:19. > :00:22.We hear from the residents `nd the town's MP who described the figures
:00:23. > :00:25.as jaw`dropping. Also tonight, trouble at the top ` the crhsis
:00:26. > :00:31.deepens for Co`op as their chief executive hands in his resignation.
:00:32. > :00:39.Lucky to be alive ` the Blackburn family saved from carbon monoxide
:00:40. > :00:50.poisoning by their teenage son. I walked into the room and bodies
:00:51. > :00:54.were lying everywhere. A massive new astronomical project, and the start
:00:55. > :00:56.of the show will be Jodrell bank. And taking the lead ` the country's
:00:57. > :01:11.first cinema for dogs. A new report paints a stark picture
:01:12. > :01:14.of deprivation in Cumbria. Parts of the county now have some of
:01:15. > :01:18.Britain's worst rates of chhld poverty. The figures compildd by
:01:19. > :01:22.Cumbria County Council make grim reading. They show that household
:01:23. > :01:27.incomes have fallen more in the region than many other parts of the
:01:28. > :01:42.country. Our Chief Reporter Dave Guest is in Barrow now. Davd.
:01:43. > :01:45.Barrow, a place with more than its share of social problems anx county
:01:46. > :01:50.where many people have problems they today. According to statisthcs,
:01:51. > :01:59.households have seen their hncome drop by around 9% since 2008, more
:02:00. > :02:03.than many other parts of thd UK Across Cumbria, 15% of housdholds
:02:04. > :02:11.have to survive on an incomd of ?10,000 or less. Here in thd central
:02:12. > :02:26.ward of Barrow, just shy of 50% of children are said to be livhng in
:02:27. > :02:31.poverty. She has six children aged bdtween
:02:32. > :02:36.two and 15 and her husband `s a taxi driver but she struggles to make
:02:37. > :02:41.ends meet. She recently had to access a food bank. You feel like
:02:42. > :02:48.you are taking from other pdople that may need it. A difficult
:02:49. > :02:52.decision to do that? It is ` widespread problem. I do not think
:02:53. > :02:57.it is in the town centre. It is in most areas and it is becoming more
:02:58. > :03:07.apparent that people struggle with data DS use. She is headteacher of
:03:08. > :03:11.an infant school in the town and witnesses the effects of poverty on
:03:12. > :03:19.a daily basis. Children comd in hungry and tired and it is laking
:03:20. > :03:24.them not sleep well. They are a multitude of things that catse this.
:03:25. > :03:30.Is this something you have seen get worse in recent years? Definitely. I
:03:31. > :03:35.have seen the TV on eight over the last few years and parents `re
:03:36. > :03:38.really struggling not just financially but socially and
:03:39. > :03:43.emotionally. According to Ctmbria county council, this part of the
:03:44. > :03:50.county has experience that lore than most. We have to make sure we are
:03:51. > :03:52.working together to make sure we are targeting these authors are areas
:03:53. > :04:02.where the problems are worst, and make sure children do not bdcome
:04:03. > :04:11.statistics of the future. The local MP wants to see action. We have to
:04:12. > :04:15.find more job opportunities for our families but the problem is that too
:04:16. > :04:19.many families are actually finding work but they still can't p`y the
:04:20. > :04:26.way because of the enormous squeeze on their wages. At the offices of
:04:27. > :04:33.the local credit union they said people need help and need it now. We
:04:34. > :04:36.have had some horrendous stories, particularly people from Barrow who
:04:37. > :04:43.are finding financial managdment is very difficult. We have expdrienced
:04:44. > :04:50.them borrowing money from illegal loan sharks. For many in thhs corner
:04:51. > :04:56.of Cumbria, each day contintes to pose a series of challenges. And of
:04:57. > :05:02.course the challenge facing Cumbria county council is to come up with
:05:03. > :05:06.ideas to tackle the problem. Its draft action plan was considered by
:05:07. > :05:09.councillors last night and ht will be going before the full cotncil
:05:10. > :05:12.next month. Reform or die. That was the stark
:05:13. > :05:18.message from the Co`Op's chhef executive Euan Sutherland who
:05:19. > :05:21.resigned today. Mr Sutherland said his efforts to overhaul the
:05:22. > :05:24.Manchester`based Group had been made impossible by the mutual society's
:05:25. > :05:35.failure to change the way in which it works. He said the busindss was
:05:36. > :05:38.becoming ungovernable. It all centres on Mr Sutherland's plans to
:05:39. > :05:41.streamline what he believed was the Co`Op's cumbersome and outd`ted
:05:42. > :05:46.structure, to make it more businesslike and profession`l. At
:05:47. > :05:49.the moment the Co`Op is basdd around members electing area boards and
:05:50. > :05:52.regional committees who then choose board members. Under Mr Sutherland's
:05:53. > :05:55.plans there would have been two boards ` one looking after the
:05:56. > :06:00.business, the other made up of members and staff would look after
:06:01. > :06:03.the Co`Op's values and principles. Mr Sutherland believed opposition
:06:04. > :06:06.would kill off this radical plan. Today he walked out saying `
:06:07. > :06:12.sustainable future is impossible without professional and colmercial
:06:13. > :06:15.governance. Earlier, the Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell, whose
:06:16. > :06:29.constituency includes the Group s Headquarters, told me she w`s
:06:30. > :06:34.worried by today's events. What the group needs right now is st`bility
:06:35. > :06:39.and leadership. After today, it does not seem to have either so ht is
:06:40. > :06:45.very worrying indeed, not jtst for members and customers but for the
:06:46. > :06:50.thousands of people in my constituency employed by thd core
:06:51. > :06:55.group in Manchester. Euan Sttherland spoke about the group needing a
:06:56. > :07:01.fundamental modernisation. Can they continue to exist in their current
:07:02. > :07:04.form? The values and what it stands for and the sharing of the profits
:07:05. > :07:12.of the company through its lembers and wider group is pivotal to what
:07:13. > :07:17.the Co`op stands for and thdn this world of big business and pdople not
:07:18. > :07:22.trusting corporations, it is a good unique selling point for thd
:07:23. > :07:27.company, but what he is right to say is that the structure of thd
:07:28. > :07:30.governments needs addressing. Governance or lack of it worse
:07:31. > :07:41.perhaps at the root of the problem the Co`op bank suffered. Is there a
:07:42. > :07:47.danger that savers who have money in the co`operative bank might start
:07:48. > :07:52.checking their money out in droves? That is the real danger than what we
:07:53. > :07:56.are worried about. It is not just the small savers but there `re other
:07:57. > :08:01.banks and investors that thd co`operative group owes mondy to so
:08:02. > :08:05.we have to ensure those people as quickly as possible, becausd many of
:08:06. > :08:09.the businesses in the grip `re profitable good businesses. The food
:08:10. > :08:16.business and others are working well. I guess the man driving those
:08:17. > :08:22.reforms feels it is an impossible task, that is worrying? Maybe has
:08:23. > :08:32.expectations were too high hn terms of how quickly some of thosd reforms
:08:33. > :08:37.would come about. The grip has evolved over more than 100 xears and
:08:38. > :08:45.is in many ways quite a conservative organisation, a little bit stuck on
:08:46. > :08:50.its way, so the former is ndcessary. That means may be leaving some
:08:51. > :08:56.vested interests to one sidd? And changing the way they work, but what
:08:57. > :09:00.I dispute is that somehow you have to choose between Co`op valtes and
:09:01. > :09:03.being a successful business. Moves to evict anti`fracking
:09:04. > :09:07.protestors from Barton Moss in Salford have been put on hold by the
:09:08. > :09:10.Court of Appeal. This The jtdges want more time to consider whether
:09:11. > :09:13.the campaigners have grounds for appeal. They've said a High Court
:09:14. > :09:16.Order giving landowners Peel Holdings the power to removd the
:09:17. > :09:22.campaigners cannot be enforced until they've considered the protdstors'
:09:23. > :09:25.case. Police investigating the de`th of a
:09:26. > :09:29.14`year`old girl in a car crash on the Isle of Man have arrestdd a
:09:30. > :09:33.number of people on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
:09:34. > :09:42.Lucia Porter was killed when the car she was in left the Switchb`ck Road
:09:43. > :09:45.at Peel at the weekend. She's thought to have been one of eight
:09:46. > :09:48.teenagers in the vehicle at the time.
:09:49. > :09:55.A man's died after being hit by a car which then drove off at Chorlton
:09:56. > :09:58.in Greater Manchester. The black Porsche which struck the 26`year`old
:09:59. > :10:01.as he crossed Wilbraham Road last night was found burnt out and
:10:02. > :10:03.abandoned nearby. A 32`year`old man has been arrested.
:10:04. > :10:06.One of Blackpool's longest serving illusionists has died. Rich`rd De
:10:07. > :10:09.Vere, who was originally from Bolton, was Master of Illushon in
:10:10. > :10:14.the Pleasure Beach's Mystiqte show for 13 years. The 46`year`old died
:10:15. > :10:17.whilst on holiday in Thailand. Three people have been arrested in
:10:18. > :10:20.Manchester as part of an investigation into people who've
:10:21. > :10:25.fought in or plan to join the war in Syria. The BBC understands that one
:10:26. > :10:29.of those arrested is the brother of a teenager who's missing fe`red
:10:30. > :10:31.killed in the country. Two len from Levenshulme and a woman frol
:10:32. > :10:34.Trafford are being questiondd on suspicion of being concerned in the
:10:35. > :10:46.commission, preparation of instigation of acts of terrorism.
:10:47. > :10:49.Yunus Mulla reports. Counterterrorism officers h`ve spent
:10:50. > :10:54.most of the day searching this address in Manchester. It follows
:10:55. > :11:05.the arrest of two men in thd area on suspicion of being involved or
:11:06. > :11:14.supporting fighting in Syri`. They seemed like a fairly normal family
:11:15. > :11:20.and then all. This man was killed last year fighting for the rebels. A
:11:21. > :11:25.friend went to Syria are in the same time although we do not know why.
:11:26. > :11:31.One of the men arrested tod`y is understood to be the 29`year`old
:11:32. > :11:39.brother. The family has previous said there was confusion about
:11:40. > :11:46.heaven. At least 200 men from the UK are believed to have gone to Syria
:11:47. > :11:51.to join jihadist groups. Thd Northwest's counterterrorisl unit
:11:52. > :12:07.began an operation last year. A statement today said...
:12:08. > :12:14.Two other people, a 21`year`old woman from Trafford and the man from
:12:15. > :12:20.Oxford were also arrested. Police say none of today's arrests are
:12:21. > :12:23.linked in any way to any imlinent threats in the UK.
:12:24. > :12:26.The jury in the trial of thd Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans have heard
:12:27. > :12:29.allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances towards thrde men
:12:30. > :12:33.whilst drunk. But each of the men also said that they did not expect
:12:34. > :12:36.Mr Evans to be prosecuted. Our Political Editor Arif Ansarh is
:12:37. > :12:40.covering the case from Preston Crown Court. The court heard from the
:12:41. > :12:57.first three victims today. What s been said?
:12:58. > :13:04.Mr Evans arrived here today is still facing nine Mack counts agahnst them
:13:05. > :13:07.involving seven men. He is tnder public scrutiny but this is about
:13:08. > :13:14.his personal behaviour. The court first heard from a knowledgd of the
:13:15. > :13:20.victim of an indecent assault supposed to have taken placd in
:13:21. > :13:26.January 2003. The man worked for a senior Tory politician and on a
:13:27. > :13:32.night out he bumped into Nigel Evans who he said was drunk. Mr Evans
:13:33. > :13:37.touched him and appropriately at least twice, the Judy Hurd, and the
:13:38. > :13:44.man said he was annoyed and even considered letting Nigel Ev`ns, but
:13:45. > :13:44.the defence barrister asked, physically and emotionally xou
:13:45. > :14:01.brushed it off? Moving now to the second man also
:14:02. > :14:04.the victim of another allegdd indecent assault and this thme
:14:05. > :14:11.supposed to have taken placd at the Conservative party conference held
:14:12. > :14:16.in Blackpool in 2003. This lan was a party worker and said Mr Ev`ns
:14:17. > :14:22.approached home late one night, very heavily intoxicated. He tridd to
:14:23. > :14:28.touch him inappropriately twice and the second time he said he was quite
:14:29. > :14:30.angry. Asked whether it was a crime he said he had not intended to take
:14:31. > :14:38.it further. What about the third man, the
:14:39. > :14:49.alleged victim of sexual assault in the Palace of Westminster?
:14:50. > :14:56.Yes, this dates back to sumler 2009. He was visiting Parli`ment for
:14:57. > :15:03.the first time as the guest of one of the other alleged victims from
:15:04. > :15:07.whom we are yet to hear. He says they were drinking in one of the
:15:08. > :15:12.bars and at one point had their arms around each other but later in a
:15:13. > :15:16.nearby room Mr Evans attempted to kiss him and the man pushed him away
:15:17. > :15:24.and the statement to police was read out.
:15:25. > :15:32.We are still to hear from the other alleged former victims. Mr Dvans
:15:33. > :15:36.denies all the charges against him. Sorry about the sound delays, a long
:15:37. > :15:46.way away for us! Still to come on North West Tonight.
:15:47. > :15:55.Ambitious plans to look deep into space masterminded from Cheshire.
:15:56. > :16:00.The country's first cinema for dogs. Many of us have smoke alarms in our
:16:01. > :16:03.homes. But do you have a carbon monoxide detector? Well this next
:16:04. > :16:06.story might make you get ond. The Patel family from Lancashird say
:16:07. > :16:09.they're lucky to be alive after poisonous fumes filled their home in
:16:10. > :16:13.Blackburn. Four of them collapsed unconscious. But luckily thdir
:16:14. > :16:16.teenage son, who was in a sdparate room, discovered them and c`lled
:16:17. > :16:27.emergency services in the nhck of time. Peter Marshall has more.
:16:28. > :16:32.The class themselves among the luckiest of families, lucky to still
:16:33. > :16:38.be here after an ordinarily they turned into something extraordinary.
:16:39. > :16:44.I walked into the room and dverybody was lying everywhere, not something
:16:45. > :16:51.you want to see or expect to see. I had no idea of what it was or what
:16:52. > :16:56.caused this. She had been cleaning when overcome by carbon monoxide.
:16:57. > :17:02.Her husband and son also collapsed. I felt a bit sick so I lay down and
:17:03. > :17:13.did not know what happened `fter that. Two others when anothdr part
:17:14. > :17:19.of the house and opened windows and called emergency services. Hf I had
:17:20. > :17:23.not been in the house that day we would not be having this
:17:24. > :17:29.conversation but luckily I was in a different room. It is believed the
:17:30. > :17:35.carbon monoxide fumes had spread from a faulty boiler. Fire officer
:17:36. > :17:44.said a simple detector can be a life`saving investment. You cannot
:17:45. > :17:48.smell it or see it. I cannot stress enough, it hs
:17:49. > :17:55.absolutely something you definitely need, everybody. They have `ll made
:17:56. > :18:02.a full recovery and want to warn others of the dangers of unprotected
:18:03. > :18:13.fumes. I was just glad I was in the other room. No one would have known.
:18:14. > :18:16.This well done to him, a lucky escape for the family.
:18:17. > :18:20.Space, it was famously said, is the final frontier. Well, our ability to
:18:21. > :18:23.explore it moved a step closer today with a ?100 million Governmdnt grant
:18:24. > :18:29.towards a project centred on the Jodrell Bank observatory in
:18:30. > :18:31.Cheshire. It's known as the "Square Kilometre Array" and it'll give
:18:32. > :18:37.astronomers a much more det`iled picture of the heavens. And, who
:18:38. > :18:41.knows, that first message from ET might be received by scienthsts at
:18:42. > :18:45.Jodrell Bank. This from our Cheshire reporter, Mark Edwardson.
:18:46. > :18:48.Completed just in time for the space race, Jodrell Bank is now boldly
:18:49. > :19:01.going where no observatory has gone before. It'll show was the radio sky
:19:02. > :19:04.in fantastic detail. The sqtare kilometre are is an international
:19:05. > :19:12.project to build the world's largest are telescope. Astronomers will see
:19:13. > :19:18.the sky in unprecedented detail We are working on the design and
:19:19. > :19:24.scientists cannot wait to gdt their hands on the data in the next few
:19:25. > :19:31.years. It is a big deal for the government as well. The next great
:19:32. > :19:35.science project. They sent science Minister David Willets to m`ke the
:19:36. > :19:40.announcement this afternoon. To give you an idea of the sheer sc`le of
:19:41. > :19:45.this, when you add up the strface area of all the telescopes hnvolved,
:19:46. > :19:54.it will be 220 times the size of this. How will you and I benefit? We
:19:55. > :19:57.are going to be handling more data than any other project on the planet
:19:58. > :20:03.has ever handled, and there will be things that come from analysing that
:20:04. > :20:09.data, from processing and sdarching for patterns. Students from the
:20:10. > :20:15.school visiting the discovery Centre when excited by what it might find.
:20:16. > :20:21.The fact it will be like a lassive telescope and get all these amazing
:20:22. > :20:23.pictures is going to be amazing It is going to develop our
:20:24. > :20:29.understanding of the universe massively. It might not havd too
:20:30. > :20:35.long to wait for the results. It should be completed by 2020.
:20:36. > :20:40.This A unique collection of paintings by the Salford artist LS
:20:41. > :20:44.Lowry is up for auction latdr this month, which could fetch more than
:20:45. > :20:55.?15 million. They include, tnusually for Lowry, a London landscape. That
:20:56. > :20:59.could go for ?6 million. Thd auction is in London in a couple of weeks.
:21:00. > :21:02.But last night some of the paintings were on show in Manchester for
:21:03. > :21:11.prospective buyers to examine. Our reporter, Andy Gill, who's not a
:21:12. > :21:17.prospective buyer, went along too. Millions of pounds of masterpieces
:21:18. > :21:22.carefully placed on display. Six of the 15 which go under the h`mmer
:21:23. > :21:28.later this month. Families watching a Punch and Judy show, workdrs
:21:29. > :21:36.filing past a factory and pdople enjoying Peel Park in Salford. It is
:21:37. > :21:41.a great combination of landscape and city life combined together in one.
:21:42. > :21:48.The paintings belong to a millionaire from Suffolk called Tony
:21:49. > :21:55.Thompson. He spent the monex he made on recycling on resources and
:21:56. > :22:00.paintings by LS Lowry. He h`d an amazing instinctive reaction to LS
:22:01. > :22:04.Lowry and over the course of 30 years he made a collection that
:22:05. > :22:08.represents all the different parts of his life and put together some
:22:09. > :22:16.great early examples of his work, a rear market. Tony Thompson died last
:22:17. > :22:19.year and the estate is sellhng his collection including a river bank
:22:20. > :22:26.which was sold to raise mondy in 2006. The industrial landsc`pes LS
:22:27. > :22:30.Lowry painted are largely gone from Britain these days but you find them
:22:31. > :22:37.in emerging nations like Chhna and India, which is one of the reasons
:22:38. > :22:43.why auctioneers think there might be big international interest. Also up
:22:44. > :22:48.for sale is one of only two paintings of Piccadilly Circus LS
:22:49. > :22:56.Lowry made. The option is in London on March 25.
:22:57. > :23:01.`` option. This great if yot could get one in your living room.
:23:02. > :23:06.Ever get the feeling you're being watched? A new cinema has opened in
:23:07. > :23:10.Salford. It's not exactly multiplex,.more multi`pooch.
:23:11. > :23:13.Britain's first cinema for dogs or so the owners tell us, chooses its
:23:14. > :23:18.films especially with its c`nine customers in mind. The films are
:23:19. > :23:25.supposed to have a calming hnfluence on the animals. Stuart Flinders has
:23:26. > :23:33.been to take a look. They're just like kids really. Off
:23:34. > :23:43.to the pictures and a bit excited about it. What are the most popular
:23:44. > :23:47.films? We have 101 Dalmatians, Fox and the hound... You won't be too
:23:48. > :23:51.surprised to hear it's an Alerican idea. After all, the Americ`ns have
:23:52. > :23:55.even set up a TV channel just for dogs. Is The dog cinema is `t a day
:23:56. > :24:05.care centre. The owners compare it to an infant school. When they have
:24:06. > :24:10.had their activities and done all the emotional work, they can watch
:24:11. > :24:15.TV for 45 minutes and then ht is back to their activities ag`in until
:24:16. > :24:28.the afternoon when in comes the classical music. Yes, he did say,
:24:29. > :24:38.classical music time. Some of the music is by Bach, seems
:24:39. > :24:39.appropriate! It seems to work. Different dogs have different energy
:24:40. > :24:52.levels. Do we make too much of a fuss of
:24:53. > :24:58.dogs? I do not think we makd enough fuss. Is this not going a bht far? I
:24:59. > :25:02.don't think we can do enough for our animals. At the end of the day, it
:25:03. > :25:11.seems, these cultured caninds just can't drag themselves away.
:25:12. > :25:22.Don't see any popcorn. We h`ve been trying to think of terrible puns.
:25:23. > :25:31.They are not showing Reservoir dogs, I expect. She is about to dhsappear
:25:32. > :25:38.when she does the weather, xou will see what we mean.
:25:39. > :25:46.We had a glorious day what springlike conditions. Proof that
:25:47. > :25:53.spring has arrived and if you would like to she was the spring
:25:54. > :25:58.conditions, there's the address I suspect you will have plentx of
:25:59. > :26:04.opportunities over the next few days to photograph spring condithons The
:26:05. > :26:13.mildly stays with us for another few days. `` mildly. Clouds for the
:26:14. > :26:21.weekend but tonight there's hardly any clouds out there. Lots of clear
:26:22. > :26:25.skies but overnight the clotds begin to encroach from the south `nd we
:26:26. > :26:33.are likely to see some fog `nd mist and also some frost, partictlarly in
:26:34. > :26:37.Cumbria and possibly over the Isle of Man but I suspect temper`tures
:26:38. > :26:42.will drop close to freezing. Tomorrow looks to be another decent
:26:43. > :26:51.day with plenty of sunshine and it should be a chilly start with mist
:26:52. > :26:55.and fog around. Very light winds around tomorrow and you are in for a
:26:56. > :27:03.bright afternoon and it could be hazy at times. Highs of 12 Celsius
:27:04. > :27:09.for tomorrow and then to thd next few days, high`pressure continuing
:27:10. > :27:17.to build. We are starting to get a touch cooler so high`pressure sticks
:27:18. > :27:21.with us until Friday and thhs is the breakdown of the temperaturds. By
:27:22. > :27:27.Saturday a lots of clouds around and possibly down to single figtres
:27:28. > :27:37.You have got your spring wardrobe and look what happens. You `re
:27:38. > :27:44.camouflaged against the so far! Any more plans?
:27:45. > :27:47.A lot of people sceptical about it, I have to say. Good night.