10/01/2017 North West Tonight

Here, on BBC One, it's time for the news where you are.

An MP has criticised Virgin Trains for charging passengers more

to travel a shorter distance on the same line.

A ticket to London from Preston can cost three times more than it

does from Lancaster, which is 20 miles further north.

The firm says that's because more commuters use that line.

Many passengers here in Preston say they are angry.

Overcrowded trains and price increases are common problems

Now it seems you can be charged more for travelling less.

For example, last Thursday a ticket on the 7:58am from Preston

If you bought it at Lancaster, 20 miles further away,

It is the same train, so what is going on?

It seems you are being charged depending on what sort

In a statement, the rail company said:

One passenger told his MP he bought his ticket from Lancaster,

but boarded one stop later at Preston, and was told

to pay an extra ?100 or face being prosecuted.

Virgin need to have a look at their pricing structure,

but they also need to stop ripping people off because this

It is not about managing leisure travel or business travel,

these are the same people getting on the same train at the same time.

You can be sitting next to somebody who has paid ?60,

They need to do something with the ticketing.

Virgin Trains says passengers can get cheaper tickets from Preston

With me now is Tony Miles from Modern Railways Magazine.

Passenger groups are saying customers shouldn't stand for it,

There is not a lot that can be done, and this was invented in British

rail days, I found a magazine from 1983 which look at how passengers

used trains and continues from that point. Virgin says it is about peak

and off-peak about it is the same train, same time, just different

types of passengers. It is a recognition perhaps that on one flow

passengers are business passengers, but on the other flow, most senders

and they see this as off-peak travel and they see this as off-peak travel

is because it is a different passenger market. We have lots of

comments after we did the story earlier this evening, one saying

that if we complain too much, the chances are they might actually get

rid of off-peak travel altogether. Is that likely? I don't think it is

likely, but it could seek a tightening up of the rules and some

of the lower rail fares disappearing. That is the way it is

set. Is there legally anyway round this? What is split ticketing? It is

completely legal, where you look at whether buying a ticket for the

first half of the journey and then changing to a different ticket but

often saying on the same train will save you money, it is not legal in

some countries but it is legal in this country. Various websites will

help you do that. You can book 24 weeks ahead sometimes whether it is

worth looking as far ahead as possible if you know you are

travelling. It is not very easy. Thank you for coming in.

A dog described as dangerous and sentenced to death has

The ten-year-old Staffy had been trapped with his dead

owner inside their home on Merseyside for days.

By the time police found them there were bite marks on the body.

But today, campaigners won a judicial review of his case.

Here's our Chief Reporter Dave Guest.

These two videos are said to show different sides

This one was filmed by Merseyside Police.

This persuaded them that Butch the Staffordshire bull

terrier was dangerous and should be destroyed.

This one was made by the charity Senior Staffy Club.

They said the police handler had used a flawed technique with Butch.

The expert featured in their film concluded Butch posed no threat

We knew we could find him a new home, and that's what we were

Last year, a judge sitting at Liverpool Magistrates' Court

decided the police were right and Butch should be put down.

He had been seized after being recovered

His owner had died and the precise cause of his death remains unknown.

Butch remained trapped inside their home for days.

When he was found, there were bite marks on the body.

His owner, who had been ill for some time, had been in the process

of signing him over to the charity when he died.

Today at a court in Manchester, the charity asked the judge to allow

In court, a barrister representing the charity argued that the police's

initial decision to seize Butch had been unlawful.

She said the Magistrates' Court hearing, which decided

he should be destroyed, had been unfair because the charity

had not been given the chance for their own expert to give

evidence to counter that which had been given

His honour Judge Bird agreed there were merits in both arguments

and said the case could be the subject of a judicial review.

Merseyside Police said the Chief Constable has noted

A bagpipe-playing busker has been jailed for four months after duping

people in Liverpool into thinking he was collecting for

The court heard Angus Carpenter played with a Hillsborough Justice

Campaign banner on his bagpipes the day before the 26th

The 62-year-old claimed it had been a tribute.

What is the secret of a long and successful marriage?

If anybody should know it's Trudy and Barclay Patoir from Manchester.

They've been together for more than 70 years,

facing everything from war and racism together.

Barclay was an apprentice engineer in British Guyana.

In 1942 he found himself in Liverpool.

Barclay was put to work making Lancaster Bombers

Many men and women toil night and day to produce these gigantic

His assistant on the production line was Trudy.

Everyone laughed at us, saying he's ruining you.

He would bring me sandwiches in and make me cups of tea.

Barclay and Trudy took a shine to each other.

And a visit to the Empire Theatre to see star singer

We went to see Richard Tauber and it was...

But in the Liverpool of the 1940s, they faced

The people used to complain and it didn't bother me.

And that is because you were white and Barclay is black?

Yes, but it did not bother me one bit.

The couple, keen tennis players in those days,

moved to a brand new house on the Wythenshawe

Barclay's 97th birthday is next week.

What advice would you give a young couple just starting out now

If he has a night out, she has got to have one.

What do you think, Barclay, what advice would

Mind you, he was out every night at the club!

Everton have agreed a fee of ?22 million for Manchester United

Meanwhile, United will take a 2-0 lead into the second leg

This goal from Juan Mata gave them the lead against Hull City

at Old Trafford, before Marouane Fellaini made the score

That's all the news and sport from me.

Now, the weather forecast. Good evening. I am sure you know

what will happen over the next couple of days. We have talked about

it for the last couple of days. The wind changes direction and we open

the door too much colder air which will set in for quite a few days.

Through Thursday and Friday you will notice a massive drop in the

temperatures, particularly overnight. There will be some wintry

showers around, but our problem at the moment is the wind. It will be

at its worst around the eastern side of the region through eastern parts

of Lancashire and Manchester. We could be talking about gusts of up

to 60 mph. A lot of cloud cover, some rain into the early hours of

the morning, but all of this keeps the tempters up for the most part

between five and 7 degrees. Tomorrow, the wind a real feature of

the weather. Take care if you are travelling. The eastern side of the

region will see the worst of that. The weather has patchy cloud with

good sunny spells, but you may see a temperature of around seven or 8

degrees at lunchtime, at that is just the number on the chart.

Through the afternoon, wintry showers will break out and you may

see a temp at three or 4 degrees by tea-time. Those numbers are

something that you will have to get used to because once the cold air

digs in it is sticking around for a while. Good night.

of the week, and to start the weekend as well. For more on that

snow situation, over to Jay Wynne now.

Quite a lot going on over the next few days. The strong north-westerly

wind will drag some really cold Arctic air across our shores full

stop that will be with us for the next few days. And there will be

some wintry weather and it will be