:00:11. > :00:14.Four children, all under three, were found like zombies
:00:15. > :00:17.when they were rescued from a filthy house in Leyland.
:00:18. > :00:21.They were found by police surrounded by dirty nappies and with no food
:00:22. > :00:25.They were immediately taken from their parents,
:00:26. > :00:29.but a family court later allowed them to return.
:00:30. > :00:32.Our Social Affairs Correspondent Clare Fallon told me earlier that
:00:33. > :00:40.Some of the details of all of this are fairly hard to stomach and some
:00:41. > :00:45.These children were only discovered by chance when police went
:00:46. > :00:47.round to this house looking for one of their relatives.
:00:48. > :00:51.When officers went in a discovered these children in conditions
:00:52. > :00:54.that have been described as feral and dangerous.
:00:55. > :00:57.The stench was so bad the police officers were gagging
:00:58. > :01:02.There were dirty nappies all over the place, there were faeces
:01:03. > :01:07.Police found instead of food there were cannabis and cigarette
:01:08. > :01:10.papers in a slow cooker in the kitchen.
:01:11. > :01:13.As for the children themselves, all under the age of
:01:14. > :01:21.three, they were dirty, they weren't closed.
:01:22. > :01:25.One of the children was trapped underneath the bed and screaming.
:01:26. > :01:27.The other children didn't appear to be able to communicate.
:01:28. > :01:29.They've been described as functioning like zombies.
:01:30. > :01:32.It's really shocking and it's only come to light now this story
:01:33. > :01:38.The father was jailed for 14 months, the mother spared a jail term.
:01:39. > :01:39.She does have significant mental health problems.
:01:40. > :01:41.But during this hearing where they were sentenced it
:01:42. > :01:44.emerged that the children, having initially been taken
:01:45. > :01:48.away by social services, were then sent back to the custody
:01:49. > :01:52.That's something that this judge has criticised.
:01:53. > :02:09.But here's the thing, social services in Lancashire
:02:10. > :02:11.are saying that this actually wasn't their decision.
:02:12. > :02:14.They're saying that they didn't want children to go back to their parents
:02:15. > :02:18.but they were overruled effectively stopped a family court judge
:02:19. > :02:21.decided that the parents should have custody.
:02:22. > :02:24.Now, the family courts are meant to have opened up,
:02:25. > :02:27.they are meant to have become more transparent so people like us can
:02:28. > :02:32.hold them to account better, but I've spent the day trying to get
:02:33. > :02:35.the detail, the reasons as to why this decision was made,
:02:36. > :02:38.but at the moment I can't even get the name of the family court
:02:39. > :02:49.It is worth me saying the children right now are with extended family
:02:50. > :02:52.Social services saying they are working to ensure their well-being.
:02:53. > :02:56.Tributes have been paid to the two women who died after they were hit
:02:57. > :02:58.by a car outside Withington Hospital in Manchester on Tuesday.
:02:59. > :03:00.Claire Haslam, who was 44, and 49-year-old Deborah Clifton
:03:01. > :03:04.Their families said they were soul mates who did everything together,
:03:05. > :03:09.The 89-year-old car driver was arrested and has
:03:10. > :03:17.The former Crewe Alexandra football coach Barry Bennell has been charged
:03:18. > :03:20.with a further four counts of indecent assault.
:03:21. > :03:23.The offences are alleged to have taken place in the 1980s.
:03:24. > :03:29.He pleaded not guilty to eight other charges on Tuesday.
:03:30. > :03:33.Train operator Merseyrail has failed in a legal attempt to stop a strike
:03:34. > :03:35.on Monday in a dispute over plans to introduce driver-only trains.
:03:36. > :03:37.The company had argued the RMT union should be
:03:38. > :03:40.in dispute with Merseytravel, which ordered the trains.
:03:41. > :03:45.But the High Court rejected that argument.
:03:46. > :03:47.Hundreds of motorists - who were fined for using
:03:48. > :03:51.a new bus lane in Preston - are hoping to get their money back
:03:52. > :04:00.It made ?1.3 million in the first two months -
:04:01. > :04:01.after 23-thousand drivers were fined.
:04:02. > :04:03.Now a tribunal says the signs were inadequate.
:04:04. > :04:06.Thursday evening on Preston's Fishergate.
:04:07. > :04:09.If this were between 11am and 6pm, these cars would incur a ?60 fine
:04:10. > :04:12.for using this route to head towards the railway station.
:04:13. > :04:17.The road became a bus lane in October in a scheme to reduce
:04:18. > :04:24.But within the first two months, 23,000 fines had been iussed,
:04:25. > :04:31.Many motorists say they simply didn't realise
:04:32. > :04:34.Steven Hudson is one of six who appealed
:04:35. > :04:40.I was going to pick my wife up from the train station.
:04:41. > :04:44.As I say, it's a journey I'd made many times before and I was aware
:04:45. > :04:46.of the shared space scheme but not the bus lane.
:04:47. > :04:48.There are signs that though, aren't there?
:04:49. > :04:51.There are signs but when you come from Winkley Square
:04:52. > :04:55.and Chapel Street you have 25 metres to actually registered
:04:56. > :04:57.the signs or register that you have to turn left.
:04:58. > :05:00.The council is to review the bus lane next month.
:05:01. > :05:04.Six appeals upheld and 300 more still to be considered
:05:05. > :05:11.Lancashire County Council says it's not had time yet to digest
:05:12. > :05:16.But one thing is clear, it doesn't necessarily mean
:05:17. > :05:20.that the others who were fined for passing through here can now ask
:05:21. > :05:26.Stuart Flinders, BBC North West Tonight, Preston.
:05:27. > :05:29.Labour and Liberal Democrat Councillors in Pendle have denied
:05:30. > :05:33.striking a deal with a BNP Councillor in order to get
:05:34. > :05:39.Brian Parker is the BNP's only councillor in the country and holds
:05:40. > :05:41.the deciding vote in Pendle because the Conservatives
:05:42. > :05:44.are equally split with a coalition of Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
:05:45. > :05:47.Today he claimed he'd been offered help with local traffic issues
:05:48. > :05:53.Labour and the Lib Dems say his claims are untrue.
:05:54. > :05:55.A prisoner who staged a 60-hour rooftop protest
:05:56. > :05:58.at Manchester's Strangeways Prison has received an extra nine
:05:59. > :06:02.Stuart Horner, who's already serving life for murder,
:06:03. > :06:04.was convicted of affray and criminal damage.
:06:05. > :06:07.The judge said it was a gratuitous campaign of destruction.
:06:08. > :06:15.The population of the Isle of Man has fallen for the first
:06:16. > :06:18.The latest census figures show around 83,000 people now
:06:19. > :06:21.live on the island - that's a fall of over
:06:22. > :06:28.A lower birth rate and people moving away are among the causes.
:06:29. > :06:30.The line-up for this year's Manchester International Festival
:06:31. > :06:35.One of the city's most famous bands and a musical about Lancashire's
:06:36. > :06:49.But as Abbie Jones reports, it's also about getting people involved.
:06:50. > :06:52.From the great and the good in theatre and music to an artist
:06:53. > :06:55.lying in a bed of cotton in the dead of night, Manchester International
:06:56. > :06:58.Festival has always seen an eclectic mix of world premieres.
:06:59. > :07:01.# How does it feel # When you treat me ...# .
:07:02. > :07:04.seminal Manchester band New Order will take centre stage.
:07:05. > :07:07.But big name acts won't be the only stars of the show.
:07:08. > :07:10.Also starring in this year's Festival is you, the public.
:07:11. > :07:13.The aim this year is to get the people of Greater Manchester
:07:14. > :07:15.more involved than ever so the festival will kick
:07:16. > :07:18.off with a huge catwalk here in Piccadilly Gardens
:07:19. > :07:26.where local residents will we ask to strut their stuff.
:07:27. > :07:30.People can also apply to host a mini festival in their homes.
:07:31. > :07:36.At this Manchester flat, a string quartet and singer
:07:37. > :07:39.played to Leo Mercer's friends and neighbours.
:07:40. > :07:46.You can see on people's faces that this is not a normal concert.
:07:47. > :07:48.There's different things happening in people's heads
:07:49. > :07:52.There's different things to listen to.
:07:53. > :07:54.Manchester Festival is something that everybody can and should be
:07:55. > :07:57.proud of but also the's something that everybody should feel
:07:58. > :08:00.It's important that this festival feels like it belongs
:08:01. > :08:03.to everybody in the city as well as being a beacon to people
:08:04. > :08:10.Back in the big venues, Lancashire actress Jane Horrocks
:08:11. > :08:12.will star in a musical drama about the county's cotton famine,
:08:13. > :08:15.a story she discovered while filming the programme
:08:16. > :08:22.I was absolutely amazed that there was such a thing
:08:23. > :08:27.and that it had never been made into a theatrical drama, you know,
:08:28. > :08:31.it's such great material to make into a drama.
:08:32. > :08:33.Whatever your tastes, organisers hope there'll be
:08:34. > :08:36.something for everyone and in every setting.
:08:37. > :08:44.Abbie Jones, BBC North West Tonight, Manchester.
:08:45. > :08:47.Football and Manchester United drew the first leg of their Europa League
:08:48. > :08:51.The Reds took the lead with an important away
:08:52. > :08:56.Henrikh Mkhitaryan with the finish on a less-than-perfect pitch.
:08:57. > :08:59.But FC Rostov equalised after half-time to level things
:09:00. > :09:05.at 1-1 ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford next week.
:09:06. > :09:07.In Super League, Warrington's rotten start to the season continued
:09:08. > :09:10.as Wigan hammered them 38-16 at the Halliwell Jones
:09:11. > :09:14.Four of the Warriors' tries came from winger Liam Marshall
:09:15. > :09:16.in only his second appearance for the club.
:09:17. > :09:20.Wigan are top with four winds out of four.
:09:21. > :09:36.Not as good tomorrow, nowhere near as good. It was a beautiful day, a
:09:37. > :09:44.lot of sunshine. Beautiful shot there. And this from Manchester
:09:45. > :09:46.Airport, some really nice cloud formations across the Northwest this
:09:47. > :09:52.afternoon. We have weather fronts coming towards us. I have just
:09:53. > :09:56.looked at the latest radar pictures, nothing is showing up. Anything that
:09:57. > :10:02.moves in is very light, hardly even going to dampen the ground. Now,
:10:03. > :10:06.many places will still be dry when we get up first thing in the
:10:07. > :10:10.morning. Still in the mild air. We didn't quite make 17 Celsius this
:10:11. > :10:12.afternoon but we are in the low teens and that's not too bad when
:10:13. > :10:17.the sunshine is around. Overnight the night 507 Celsius. Tomorrow,
:10:18. > :10:22.this is the picture. Patchy cloud and outbreaks of very light rain to
:10:23. > :10:28.start the day. Mainly over the highest levels but you could see
:10:29. > :10:31.some from time to time floating by. The last couple of days we have seen
:10:32. > :10:36.slow mornings and really nice afternoons. There is room for some
:10:37. > :10:38.improvement in the forecast as we had through tomorrow afternoon but
:10:39. > :10:42.it's really unlikely to be anything fantastic. A slow and steady
:10:43. > :10:47.improvement. More northern parts will have out breaks of drizzly rain
:10:48. > :10:51.from time to time. A rather cloudy picture, nothing like today. The
:10:52. > :10:56.numbers are good, still in mild air. Temperatures between 11 and 13
:10:57. > :10:59.Celsius. The outlook for the next couple of days is more of the same,
:11:00. > :11:00.little more rain during daylight. Good night.
:11:01. > :11:08.day. On Sunday, cloudier, maybe spots of rain.
:11:09. > :11:15.Good evening, in the spring sunshine we saw temperatures as high as 17.5
:11:16. > :11:18.Celsius. Not as warm or Sonning on Friday. Still a lot of dry, settled
:11:19. > :11:23.weather in the forecast for the next few days. This was the sunset
:11:24. > :11:26.captured by one of our Weather Watchers. Clear skies there. We have
:11:27. > :11:29.had increasing amounts of cloud moving in from the West. Through the
:11:30. > :11:33.remainder of tonight we will continue to see that cloud across
:11:34. > :11:36.the south-west of England, the Channel Isles, weaving in across
:11:37. > :11:40.Wales, Northern Ireland and western Scotland. Bringing with it some
:11:41. > :11:44.outbreaks of drizzly rain, particularly around the coast and
:11:45. > :11:45.the hills. Further east, clear skies and the coldest