:00:10. > :00:14.Good evening. The Liberal Ddmocrat party has "serious questions" to
:00:15. > :00:18.answer about what was known of sexual assault allegations `gainst
:00:19. > :00:21.former Rochdale MP, Sir Cyrhl Smith. So says the party's president and MP
:00:22. > :00:26.for Westmorland and Lonsdald, Tim Farron. Police are investig`ting
:00:27. > :00:29.allegations that Cyril Smith, who died in 2010, sexually abusdd boys
:00:30. > :00:35.at Knowl View residential school, and Cambridge House children's care
:00:36. > :00:38.home. Both are now closed. Since his death, the Crown Prosecution Service
:00:39. > :00:42.has said he should have facdd charges.
:00:43. > :00:46.20 firefighters tackled a blaze in a mill in Rochdale this morning. The
:00:47. > :00:50.fire broke out in Wardle just before five o'clock. Four fire enghnes and
:00:51. > :00:53.an arial appliance were used to bring the incident under control.
:00:54. > :00:56.Investigators are continuing to look at the scene, but officers believe
:00:57. > :01:00.the fire started in a woodwork shop and storage area before sprdading to
:01:01. > :01:05.both floors and destroying parts of the building.
:01:06. > :01:08.Car insurance premiums have fallen more in the north west than in any
:01:09. > :01:11.other part of the country. Nationally, insurance premitms are
:01:12. > :01:15.down over 16% since the first quarter of last year, but in the
:01:16. > :01:17.north west the decline is over a fifth, according to new resdarch
:01:18. > :01:21.from the AA. Lucas Georgiou was described as a
:01:22. > :01:24."miracle baby" when he was born last year. He was 17 weeks early and
:01:25. > :01:27.weighed just one pound, eight ounces. His mum, Tracey, was close
:01:28. > :01:30.to death and Lucas was left fighting for life. Today, more than 000
:01:31. > :01:37.family and friends celebratdd his first birthday.
:01:38. > :01:44.A huge party at Cardinal Hednan High School. Mickey and Minnie ldd the
:01:45. > :01:52.fun. But the star of the show was one`year`old Lucas. No words can
:01:53. > :01:58.describe how I feel about hhm. I wouldn't swap him for absolttely
:01:59. > :02:01.anything. At birth, Lucas wdighed less than a bag of sugar. Hhs mum
:02:02. > :02:04.Tracey also gravely ill. For dad, Costa, and Lucas' siblings, a
:02:05. > :02:11.desperately worrying time. Now, they have a happy, bubbly son and
:02:12. > :02:17.brother. He has got his own personality, he knows what he wants,
:02:18. > :02:21.especially when he is angry. He will throw a tantrum that he is ` very
:02:22. > :02:25.clever boy. Also on the guest list, staff from Liverpool Women's
:02:26. > :02:30.Hospital. This thing rarely happens that we get to go to the first
:02:31. > :02:35.birthday of a baby that was born as early as he was. We see so lany
:02:36. > :02:44.babies leaving and never he`r from them again and this is fant`stic. My
:02:45. > :02:47.wish for him is to be a heart surgeon. Without a heart surgeon he
:02:48. > :02:51.would not be here now. I wotld like him to repay that one. Mark
:02:52. > :02:53.Edwardson, BBC North West Tonight, Liverpool.
:02:54. > :02:56.Sport. Manchester United ard playing under the leadership of Ryan Giggs,
:02:57. > :03:00.the club's most decorated player after the departure of David Moyles
:03:01. > :03:04.earlier this week. Giggs sahd he was keen to put a smile back on the fans
:03:05. > :03:07.faces as interim manager. Mdanwhile, Manchester United have playdd down a
:03:08. > :03:13.report that the Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal has agreed to become
:03:14. > :03:18.the club's new manager. Mord importantly, the current score their
:03:19. > :03:21.stands at 3`0. A goal a few minutes ago. Elsewhere in the Premidr
:03:22. > :03:25.League, two own goals from Dverton saw them lose 2`0 away to
:03:26. > :03:26.Southampton and dealt their hopes of securing Champions League football a
:03:27. > :03:29.huge blow. Elsewhere in today's football
:03:30. > :03:32.fixtures Rochdale secured promotion to League One after a 2`0 whn over
:03:33. > :03:41.Cheltenham at Spotland this afternoon and the fans were
:03:42. > :03:44.understandably delighted. Absolutely fantastic. They played well all
:03:45. > :03:51.season. They have played very well this year. They have gone bdyond
:03:52. > :03:56.what people expected. We will be going to the pub is to night and
:03:57. > :03:58.they will be sat there in their United shirts and we'll be there
:03:59. > :04:01.singing away. Meanwhile in Rugby League, St Helens
:04:02. > :04:05.Saints crashed out of the Challenge Cup when they lost to Leeds Rhinos
:04:06. > :04:08.in the fifth round at Headingly this afternoon. For a full run down of
:04:09. > :04:09.the region's sports results head to bbc.co.uk/sport.
:04:10. > :04:18.Here's the weather with Mel Coles. The showers this afternoon but
:04:19. > :04:22.gradually start to fade as we head into this evening and then ht'll be
:04:23. > :04:27.largely dry. There will be ` few showers around at first but as you
:04:28. > :04:30.can see they fade away. Most places hanging on to clear skies the
:04:31. > :04:35.temperatures not tripping `` dropping away much. As you start
:04:36. > :04:40.tomorrow morning, there will be some early`morning brightness. Wd will
:04:41. > :04:45.seize cloud in the morning `nd then showers creep in. The risk of
:04:46. > :04:50.possible thunder as well. Temperatures are doing quitd well
:04:51. > :04:54.with highs of around 15. Looking ahead to next week, it gets off to
:04:55. > :04:58.an unsettled note with further showers expected and it looks as if
:04:59. > :04:59.it will turn cool it was thd end of the week. I will be back tolorrow at
:05:00. > :05:17.the same time. Good evening. An area of low
:05:18. > :05:22.pressure has wrapped itself around the British Isles for this weekend.
:05:23. > :05:27.There have been a number of showers today, particularly in the
:05:28. > :05:31.south-west, and there is more to come overnight. You can see this
:05:32. > :05:37.swirl of cloud, the centre of it in the south-west of England. Close to
:05:38. > :05:39.the centre of that there will be some strong