:00:15. > :00:17.Oldham University Technical College today announced it will
:00:18. > :00:20.close this summer - less than three years after it
:00:21. > :00:21.opened - because it can't attract enough pupils.
:00:22. > :00:27.The Government spent tens of millions of pounds
:00:28. > :00:30.setting up the UTCs where students aged 14 and over
:00:31. > :00:31.can do vocational training alongside their GCSEs.
:00:32. > :00:33.Another in Burnley is already shutting down.
:00:34. > :00:39.It opened only three years ago, at a cost of ?9 million.
:00:40. > :00:43.But this university technical college in Oldham will
:00:44. > :00:47.The trustees in charge say too few teenagers wanted to study here,
:00:48. > :00:51.making it financially unviable. These students say they'd benefited
:00:52. > :00:57.from unintentionally small classes but could tell something was wrong.
:00:58. > :01:00.The people that were here were stuck here
:01:01. > :01:05.This year, the exams would be great because they are here for the right
:01:06. > :01:14.At the beginning of the year, there wasn't as many students.
:01:15. > :01:20.One of the town's MPs has branded the project as a failed experiment.
:01:21. > :01:23.They are throwing money at it but not good at making sure
:01:24. > :01:25.the foundations put in place are solid and sustainable
:01:26. > :01:36.What I want to see is a decent college funding.
:01:37. > :01:39.At the moment that isn't what we have got.
:01:40. > :01:42.The trust that runs this college say it is working with Oldham Council
:01:43. > :01:45.to find places for students at other schools and colleges in the area
:01:46. > :01:48.but this isn't the only UTC in the north-west that
:01:49. > :01:52.Burnley's UTC had already announced it would close at the end
:01:53. > :02:01.Another engineering college with recruitment problems.
:02:02. > :02:06.We should make sure that UTC's who are started because employers
:02:07. > :02:09.and universities in the area felt so strongly about this shortage
:02:10. > :02:12.of skills and what was coming out of the school system
:02:13. > :02:21.This is the studio that our year 13 studios are working
:02:22. > :02:26.This UTC in Salford tells a different story.
:02:27. > :02:32.We are doing well in terms of our recruitment.
:02:33. > :02:35.We have 400 students and are on track to hit the target.
:02:36. > :02:41.Each UTC is different and is successfull based
:02:42. > :02:45.on the infrastructure it has in place.
:02:46. > :02:49.We are fortunate and are based in the heart of Media City and linked
:02:50. > :02:55.We have backing and the employers know we are here and
:02:56. > :03:03.The Department for Education says its priority in Oldham
:03:04. > :03:05.is to minimise disruption for existing UTC students
:03:06. > :03:15.and to find an alternative educational use for the site.
:03:16. > :03:17.Police have released CCTV footage after a man was killed
:03:18. > :03:21.in a hit-and-run at Levenshulme in Manchester yesterday.
:03:22. > :03:24.Shahid Tarafdar, who was married with
:03:25. > :03:25.three young children, died in hospital.
:03:26. > :03:28.Officers want to trace the driver of a silver Peugeot -
:03:29. > :03:35.registration KW55 EVP, as Yunus Mulla reports.
:03:36. > :03:38.Shahid Tarafdar from Longsight has tonight been named
:03:39. > :03:42.as the victim of a hit and run in Manchester last night.
:03:43. > :03:48.In the moments that followed, CCTV footage shows the a Peugeot 306
:03:49. > :03:52.stopping eracticaly and then passenger jumping out of the car
:03:53. > :04:00.Emergency services arrived at the scene but Mr Tarafdar,
:04:01. > :04:06.His brother today said Shahid was a loving husband and a father
:04:07. > :04:12.He was a devoted family man who was loved by his
:04:13. > :04:15.family and respected by the whole community.
:04:16. > :04:17.We as a family are in total shock and devastation
:04:18. > :04:20.at the loss of a young brother, husband and father and are appealing
:04:21. > :04:28.to anyone who has knowledge of the collision to contact the police.
:04:29. > :04:31.The car was later seen near Kirkmanshulme Lane where it
:04:32. > :04:33.mounted the kerb narrowly avoiding pedstrians and was
:04:34. > :04:36.Greater Manchester Police said tonight they will use every
:04:37. > :04:45.possible means to trace the driver and passenger.
:04:46. > :04:48.Officials at the Martin Mere Wetlands Centre in Lancashire say
:04:49. > :04:51.it's business as usual even though a wild goose has tested
:04:52. > :04:54.Officials say there are no plans for a cull.
:04:55. > :04:57.An outbreak of the disease on two commercial farms further north
:04:58. > :05:00.in the county recently led to tens of thousands of birds
:05:01. > :05:07.But precautions have been put in place to prevent any spread.
:05:08. > :05:09.We've put the disinfectant mats down so people coming in can't bring
:05:10. > :05:13.the disease into the site but also people coming out just in case we do
:05:14. > :05:17.end up with another case on-site, don't actually take it out.
:05:18. > :05:21.We know that people around the area, they keep birds themselves,
:05:22. > :05:24.they might live on a farm and we don't want to infect
:05:25. > :05:30.their birds but we don't want their birds to infect our birds.
:05:31. > :05:35.That's the reason we're going over the mats.
:05:36. > :05:45.Greater Manchester Police says it's found no evidence of a cover up
:05:46. > :05:47.of sexual abuse at the former Knowl View Children's
:05:48. > :05:49.The force conducted a two year investigation
:05:50. > :05:53.after allegations that abuse at the home in the 1960s and 70s had
:05:54. > :05:57.The alleged abusers are said to have included the town's
:05:58. > :06:04.A man from Lancaster has been jailed after feeding drugs to a hamster.
:06:05. > :06:07.RSPCA inspectors today said they'd never seen a case like it -
:06:08. > :06:14.This isn't an ordinary fizzy drink and it isn't
:06:15. > :06:18.It is being mixed with the deadly drug LSD.
:06:19. > :06:21.The footage shows a group of men feeding the drug
:06:22. > :06:24.Cannabis leaves were put through the cage.
:06:25. > :06:26.Chinnumya Natembe was given four months in prison and banned
:06:27. > :06:30.Corey Lee Destrow got 80 hours community service and was banned
:06:31. > :06:35.It sickens me because they are defenceless animals who look to us
:06:36. > :06:43.It is sad because it willingly went up to them and had
:06:44. > :06:59.The hamster has now been re-homed but Netembe also owned two dogs.
:07:00. > :07:02.He pleaded guilty to failing to provide veterinary care for them
:07:03. > :07:08.Here at the RSPCA centre in Blackpool, they have
:07:09. > :07:14.Really happy with how they have come on.
:07:15. > :07:17.It is amazing how they can be so loyal to us with the way
:07:18. > :07:21.They have responded really well to our training.
:07:22. > :07:29.They are fantastic dogs, they really are.
:07:30. > :07:33.The RSPCA are hoping that now the court case is over,
:07:34. > :07:44.both dogs will be able to find new owners and a new lease of life.
:07:45. > :07:47.Just before the weather, it was a lovely day
:07:48. > :07:49.to get out for a walk, if you were able to today.
:07:50. > :07:51.And it's something 94-year-old Don Austin has been doing
:07:52. > :07:56.He still gets out most weeks in the Lake District.
:07:57. > :08:00.And today he took Dave Guest with him.
:08:01. > :08:03.Many who reach their mid-90s might see it as a time
:08:04. > :08:11.He's had a love affair with walking ever since being demobbed
:08:12. > :08:14.from the Army shortly after the Second World War.
:08:15. > :08:18.I had my old army boots with me and I went up Snowdon and it
:08:19. > :08:24.He has kept diaries of his exploits and even at the age of 94,
:08:25. > :08:26.he has no plans to stop any time soon.
:08:27. > :08:30.Today he's setting off on one of his favourite walks and he's
:08:31. > :08:42.We're heading near to his home in Windermere.
:08:43. > :08:46.I remember hearing somebody say something about my age.
:08:47. > :09:15.You haven't got a spare one, have you?
:09:16. > :09:19.I don't like the look of those steps.
:09:20. > :09:21.You are surely not going to make that.
:09:22. > :09:28.It is a bit slippy up there so I always go by this wall.
:09:29. > :09:34.How long do you think you'll carry on doing this?
:09:35. > :09:52.Let us see if it will be nice whether to get out and about
:09:53. > :10:05.tomorrow. From me, good night. If you didn't see some sunshine
:10:06. > :10:10.today, maybe our weather watchers will cheat you up. We will not see
:10:11. > :10:14.much sunshine over the next couple of days. It is all about the cold
:10:15. > :10:20.out which will stay with us towards the weekend. Some of the shells
:10:21. > :10:24.around could be winter really from time to time. The temperatures are
:10:25. > :10:28.falling away. There is no lead to keep the temperature is up and we
:10:29. > :10:35.have clear whether -- and we have clear whether with the temperatures
:10:36. > :10:39.lowering. Quite a few degrees colder in rural areas. A cool start of the
:10:40. > :10:45.day. Some places will see some sunshine and with these conditions,
:10:46. > :10:48.the coast and Isle of Man will always see the brighter skies. You
:10:49. > :10:54.can see the cloud creeping towards us. Maybe a light flurry of snow
:10:55. > :10:59.over the highest hills. Top temperature will be three Celsius.
:11:00. > :11:03.Towards the weekend, the temperatures are not better.
:11:04. > :11:08.cloudy and Ben Rich will take you through the bigger picture.
:11:09. > :11:14.Good evening. Over the next few days I suspect it's going to feel like we
:11:15. > :11:20.have been plunged into the deep freeze. Cold weather on the way and
:11:21. > :11:24.not necessarily crisp cold weather, with blue skies. A lot of cloud,
:11:25. > :11:28.there was some sunshine today across parts of west Wales, for instance.
:11:29. > :11:32.That lifted temperatures up to 11. But further east as you can see from
:11:33. > :11:37.the picture, there was a lot of cloud feeding in and that pegged
:11:38. > :11:41.temperatures down into single figures, because there is
:11:42. > :11:46.increasingly cold air heading in this direction on a cold and fairly
:11:47. > :11:49.strong wind. Tonight that wind will continue to deliver wintry showers,
:11:50. > :11:54.particularly close to the east coast, a mixture of rain and sleet
:11:55. > :11:56.along the coast. Inland some snowfall and wherever you are it's a