:00:00. > :00:11.general and as it is World Book Day we have the writer
:00:12. > :00:15.More than a dozen people have been arrested, and over ?1 million
:00:16. > :00:19.worth of drugs seized, in raids across the region today.
:00:20. > :00:21.It's part of a police crackdown on those profiting
:00:22. > :00:28.Yunus Mulla is here with the details.
:00:29. > :00:32.This was a significant police operation featuring more than 100
:00:33. > :00:40.14 raids took place in Merseyside and four in Lancashire.
:00:41. > :00:49.As well as the drugs, the police seized a ?100,000 pounds in cash.
:00:50. > :00:53.We were out this morning with officers in Merseyside.
:00:54. > :01:01.An early morning raid at a large house in Thornton in Merseyside.
:01:02. > :01:05.The gates smashed as police gain access to the property.
:01:06. > :01:08.Officers suspected the person who lives here is profiting
:01:09. > :01:14.They're here to look for drugs, cash and luxury items.
:01:15. > :01:16.We're looking at evidence of a lavish lifestyle such
:01:17. > :01:24.as really nice cars, watches, jewellery, clothing.
:01:25. > :01:28.The property behind us is a nice property, expensive carpets,
:01:29. > :01:31.decoration, TVs and plasma TVs in every room.
:01:32. > :01:35.Without any obvious means of paying for those items,
:01:36. > :01:46.Some of the items seized during today's raids included BMW
:01:47. > :01:49.cars, flat screen TVs and thousands of pounds in cash.
:01:50. > :01:51.Police powers mean many of the objects will be sold at auction.
:01:52. > :01:54.20% of the money raised will go back into fighting crime.
:01:55. > :01:56.In these kind of operations, the teams involved,
:01:57. > :01:59.the shifts that they work, it's incredibly expensive
:02:00. > :02:05.to have a really good and effective counter-gang operation.
:02:06. > :02:13.If the Proceeds of Crime Act enable the police to gain
:02:14. > :02:15.back funds legitimately, illegitimately to help support that,
:02:16. > :02:22.then it's a good thing to help tackle those gangs.
:02:23. > :02:24.Police here in Merseyside say it proves they will search relentlessly
:02:25. > :02:26.and across borders to track down those profitting
:02:27. > :02:32.The new Chief Constable of Lancashire has been announced.
:02:33. > :02:34.Andy Rhodes, who is currently the force's deputy Chief,
:02:35. > :02:37.will take up the post in June after the retirement
:02:38. > :02:44.He will be confirmed in the job later this month.
:02:45. > :02:46.Lime Street Station in Liverpool will remain closed until at least
:02:47. > :02:49.next Thursday, after 200 tonnes of rubble fell onto the tracks.
:02:50. > :02:51.Engineers are assessing the damage, and plan to resume
:02:52. > :02:57.The rail union claims a train came within seconds of hitting the debris
:02:58. > :03:01.when it dropped onto the line on Tuesday night.
:03:02. > :03:03.The Morecambe and Lunesdale MP, David Morris, will face
:03:04. > :03:06.no police action over General Election expense claims.
:03:07. > :03:10.He was one of 24 Conservative MPs alleged to have broken election laws
:03:11. > :03:14.over money spent on a campaign bus during the 2015 election.
:03:15. > :03:16.Mr Morris said the claim was made correctly by
:03:17. > :03:22.Fire officers are warning lives are being put
:03:23. > :03:26.at risk by fires started on illegal fly-tipping dumps.
:03:27. > :03:32.In Wirral alone, for example, officers say there were an average
:03:33. > :03:34.of 50 fires every month last year - which distract them
:03:35. > :03:40.Furniture, clothing, even an old boat, left
:03:41. > :03:45.in a backstreet in New Ferry and set alight in the middle the night.
:03:46. > :03:48.My partner woke me to the noises, we thought it was raining at first,
:03:49. > :03:53.the crackling noises, and then he woke me
:03:54. > :04:00.to say it was a fire at the back of the houses.
:04:01. > :04:02.We thought the house had been set on fire.
:04:03. > :04:11.What may have started as a fairly small fire can get out of control
:04:12. > :04:13.and spread fairly quickly and as you see on this
:04:14. > :04:15.occasion, it spread to a number of out buildings,
:04:16. > :04:21.It's been that intense, it's cracked the windows on some
:04:22. > :04:26.This kind of call-out has been, all to common here.
:04:27. > :04:29.Over an eight-month period last year, firefighters were called to no
:04:30. > :04:33.fewer than 400 fires like this in Wirrell alone.
:04:34. > :04:38.There's a cost to the service and a risk to lives.
:04:39. > :04:41.Whilst our fire appliances are dealing with these,
:04:42. > :04:44.what we'd call, anti-social behaviour deliberately-started
:04:45. > :04:46.fires, they could be required elsewhere for something more
:04:47. > :04:50.So it's taking a life-saving resources away from
:04:51. > :04:55.These two men were sent to prison last week
:04:56. > :04:59.Across the water too, the local authority is trying
:05:00. > :05:03.to curb the illegal dumping that leads to the fires.
:05:04. > :05:09.Think about where your waste is going.
:05:10. > :05:13.Is it going to an approved site or is it going to a hedgerow
:05:14. > :05:16.or an alleyway which will then be set alight by other people
:05:17. > :05:18.Fly-tipping continues to be a nuisance.
:05:19. > :05:28.In Merseyside, they are warning it's a danger to.
:05:29. > :05:30.All this week we've been touring the region, talking
:05:31. > :05:32.to people about their hopes and fears for Brexit.
:05:33. > :05:37.Tonight it's High Peak, on the edge of the Peak District,
:05:38. > :05:40.where the EU Referendum vote was split by only 600 votes.
:05:41. > :05:49.Here's our Social Affairs Correspondent, Clare Fallon.
:05:50. > :05:53.In a Britain divided over Brexit, we've come to High Peak,
:05:54. > :05:59.the most divided place in the region.
:06:00. > :06:01.On the hills above hay fields, David Mellor's family have been
:06:02. > :06:10.Ask how many sheep he's got, and all he'll tell you is a lot.
:06:11. > :06:12.He's less cagey about his views on Brexit.
:06:13. > :06:24.Because I remember before we went in the European Community, EEC,
:06:25. > :06:39.This is an area where opinion was sliced down
:06:40. > :06:47.John Mettrick runs a small abattoir as well as his shops,
:06:48. > :06:50.and says that means that means he can tell customers where
:06:51. > :06:53.But he thinks EU regulations have been a burden,
:06:54. > :06:59.So I'm hoping, you know, when the Brexit talks begin and that,
:07:00. > :07:02.that the Food Standards Agency will be able to, once we are out,
:07:03. > :07:07.to look at the regulations and actually make them proportional
:07:08. > :07:11.to the risk, and also make them more science-based and more up-to-date,
:07:12. > :07:14.so that little abattoirs, who are the vital connection
:07:15. > :07:17.between the farm and the plate, can still stay viable.
:07:18. > :07:20.Because at the moment, they're hanging on by a thread.
:07:21. > :07:22.As Theresa May put it, Brexit means Brexit,
:07:23. > :07:32.Healing the rifts between friends, family and communities will be one
:07:33. > :07:37.Sir Ken Dodd had a date at the palace today
:07:38. > :07:41.The Knotty Ash entertainer - who started his career
:07:42. > :07:47.more than 60 years ago - will be 90 later this year.
:07:48. > :07:49.He might well have been tickled pink.
:07:50. > :07:52.But the King of the Diddy Men left his famous tickling sticks behind,
:07:53. > :08:02.Ken Dodd received his Knighthood from the Duke of Cambridge,
:08:03. > :08:09.during the Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
:08:10. > :08:17.We enquired about each other's health and he asked me how
:08:18. > :08:22.She said, doctor, doctor, can I have some more sleeping
:08:23. > :08:28.Born the son of a coal merchant in 1927 in Knotty Ash,
:08:29. > :08:33.Sir Ken made his professional debut at the Nottingham Empire in 1954.
:08:34. > :08:38.We shall have one or two glasses of tickle tonic then I will go back
:08:39. > :08:41.to Knotty Ash up north, Knotty Ash on Merseyside,
:08:42. > :08:46.and I shall see the Diddy Men there so I will give
:08:47. > :08:50.and I shall see the Diddy Men there so I will give your regards to them.
:08:51. > :08:55.Throughout 2017, he's touring the nation with his Happiness Show.
:08:56. > :08:57.And you left your tickling sticks back in the hotel?
:08:58. > :09:02.Even though I bought several down with me,
:09:03. > :09:04.all red, white and blue, ready just in case,
:09:05. > :09:08.The honour is well-deserved and, as Sir Ken will tell you,
:09:09. > :09:10.he's not planning on hanging up his tickling
:09:11. > :09:35.Arise, Sir Ken. How much comic you can imagine asking.
:09:36. > :09:43.Good evening. Spring has been chilly over the last couple of days. This
:09:44. > :09:47.the bracing conditions that some of the bracing conditions that some of
:09:48. > :09:51.us has seen. Some snow over the high routes were there could be some more
:09:52. > :09:55.tomorrow night. Generally just over the highest level. Today was better
:09:56. > :09:58.was more in the way of sunshine, was more in the way of sunshine,
:09:59. > :10:02.lines of showers have developed over the last couple of hours moving
:10:03. > :10:06.through the Isle of Man, Cumbria and Lancashire. And that's how we stay
:10:07. > :10:10.as we move into the night. Over the next couple of days, there was a
:10:11. > :10:16.mess of weather fronts, and area of low pressure for each weather front.
:10:17. > :10:20.As we speak, this is how it is looking right now. A line of showery
:10:21. > :10:24.rain over the Isle of Man and Cumbria. That's not causing us many
:10:25. > :10:31.significant problems. From day one, yes and much night train in Cumbria.
:10:32. > :10:35.But most of us, a dry picture. The breaks cloud filled in now and the
:10:36. > :10:40.tempered his will hover at the two to five Mark depending on where you
:10:41. > :10:44.are. Tomorrow morning, that line of rain still in the northern parts,
:10:45. > :10:47.some sunshine in the morning if you are lucky, but the cloud is
:10:48. > :10:54.building. Since we last spoke, the rain is a wording earlier. With
:10:55. > :10:58.that, as it goes throughout the region in the night, there will be
:10:59. > :11:01.outbreaks of showery, wintry spells, and the temperatures through the day
:11:02. > :11:03.are not great. National forecast is an expert if you'll get the
:11:04. > :11:06.weekend, we have more rain in the forecast. Rain at times this
:11:07. > :11:17.weekend, not all the time. Good evening. Things are turning
:11:18. > :11:22.more unsettled today was not bad. The sun was setting the moon was
:11:23. > :11:25.putting in appearance, this lovely was captured in the Highlands of
:11:26. > :11:31.Scotland. Cloud amounts have been increasing over the last few hours,
:11:32. > :11:41.coming in from the west. It's also coming up from the south. Most of it
:11:42. > :11:45.is rain bearing cloud. Some snow in the hills of Northern Ireland and
:11:46. > :11:47.more snow to come in Scotland overnight. Northern Scotland,
:11:48. > :11:51.particularly with north-east, we will see the lowest temperatures, a
:11:52. > :11:54.touch of frost by dawn. Rain setting into South Wales and Southern
:11:55. > :12:02.counties, temperatures 7-8. It will be a wet start to South Wales and
:12:03. > :12:07.the southern counties of England. On the roads, take care because there
:12:08. > :12:09.will be extra