07/04/2017 Points West

Good evening.

A missing 71-year-old woman from Minchinhampton

has been found safe.

Hazel Denham went missing on Tuesday while out walking with her dog.

A search by officers and people living in the town resumed this

morning and it was another dog walker who actually found Hazel.

And despite spending three nights out in the cold, close to freezing,

Hazel is recovering well.

Our Gloucestershire reporter, Steve Knibbs, was there.

The moment many feared would never come -

Hazel Denham not just alive but sitting casually

at the bottom of Toadsmoor woods, chatting to police after being out

in the open for three days and nights.

I remember just seeing a lovely big smile on Hazel and I climbed over

the fence and just gave her a big hug and said, we're so happy

to find you, Hazel.

Hazel was in good spirits but very dehydrated and was helped carefully

into an ambulance to go to hospital for treatment.

Her faithful dog, Bertie, never left her side and is doing well,

too, helped by a few doggie treats - the whole family grateful to that

dog walker who made a special effort to track them down.

Thank you so, so much, yeah.

You're our saviour, really.

Thank you.

She told the police officers that she was going to go out

with her dog and find Hazel today, and she did.

She found her.

We can't thank her enough.

I feel ecstatic, over the moon.

It's fantastic that we've found her.

Totally unexpected and kind of a miracle, really, isn't it?

Hazel was confused when she was found but, used to long walks,

she's obviously fit and resilient, having survived

during the cold nights.

She thinks she's been missing for a few hours,

doesn't know what all the fuss is about, thinks there

might be a missing dog somewhere and would quite

like a shower, she said!

It's quite boggy at the bottom.

I went down as far as I could till it got too thick.

The search for Hazel became a huge community effort.

Police and specialist search teams were joined by volunteers

from villages around the area.

They started at Minchinhampton and stretched out for miles,

searching from early in the morning until late at night.

I'd like to say thank you, on behalf of Gloucestershire Constabulary,

to all the locals that have shown such interest in this story.

The lady that found her today had deliberately gone out

walking her dog in a bid to try and find her.

After a frantic three days, Hazel's family say they're just

looking forward to a quiet weekend to welcome her back home.

Steve Knibbs there with that report.

Avon and Somerset Police say they are dealing with an average

of 60 emergency calls a day from people with mental

health problems.

They include those who are suicidal or at risk of harming others.

Six months ago, specially trained nurses were brought

in to to try to ease the pressure.

Our home affairs correspondent, Charlotte Callen, has been

to see how it's working.

Protecting us on our streets - these officers are on the front

line, fighting crime, but the types of emergencies they're

being called to is changing.

The police's role is to keep us safe and to make us feel safe.

With an increasing number of calls from people

with mental health problems, their role is also changing.

Senior officers say, too often, the police are being left to deal

with the most vulnerable as health budgets have been squeezed.

Last year, we had over 20,000 calls that had a mental

health marker on them.

We're deploying to 50-60% of those minimum -

that's a huge demand.

Police do have some mental health training but,

with a 9% increase in calls from vulnerable people,

something had to change.

And six months ago, it did.

Mental health nurses moved into the emergency call centres,

working side-by-side with the police.

We need to work together to improve things.

That's the only way things are going to improve.

When jobs come in and when people are at high risk or suicidal,

we're asked to risk assess that and get the right

support for people.

Since September, when the scheme started, the mental health team have

provided advice in over 3,000 cases.

They stopped police needing to attend in 364 cases and they've

reduced the time police spent at the scene from an average of 7.5

hours to three hours.

But should it fall to our police to deal with these kinds of problems?

People want to see bobbies on the beat, officers patrolling

and answering their 999 calls quickly when they call about a car

collision or anything else that is seen traditionally

as police business.

If you ask the public, would you like to see your police

officers waiting 6-8 hours in a mental health place

of safety while somebody receives an assessment?

They would probably say that they don't.

Similar work is happening between the health teams

in Wiltshire and the police, and in Dorset, too, where they have

also seen significant benefits.

Charlotte Callen for BBC Points West in Bristol.

A monument is being built as a tribute to the young men who've

lost their lives in the River Avon.

Sam Amin is one of 11 men who've died after falling

in the river since 2009.

His family commissioned students from Bath College

to make the monument.

It's going to be a beautiful monument and I think I will get

some, at some point, after one year or six months

when this project will be completed, I can come here, I can sit

here and I can think about the beautiful life of Sam.

Onto the rugby, and Gloucester lost to Newcastle in the final minute.

There was only a point between the two sides

until the Falcons were awarded a penalty, kicked by Joel Hodgson.

The score at full-time tonight at Kingston Park, 16-14.

And more than 80 hot air balloons crossed the English Channel this

morning to set a new world record.

Several pilots from the West made the trip from Dover to Calais.

They've been waiting for the right weather to make the journey

and today was perfect.

Celebrations will have to wait until it's officially confirmed

by Guiness World Records.

Hello, very good evening to you.

If you're after spring sunshine, you won't be disappointed

with the forecast for this weekend - plenty of it through both Saturday

and indeed, for the most part, through Sunday as well.

Temperatures will be climbing through the course of the weekend.

We'll be getting at least into the high teens fairly widely -

could well nudge 20 Celsius.

But overnight, it will be chilly and indeed there

could well be some fog around, including through the course

of tonight, more particularly across some southern areas.

Temperatures could drop as low as 3 or 4 Celsius

in parts of the countryside.

So, yes, a chilly and in places foggy start.

Very fair slight tomorrow.

That will very quickly burn off because, above it,

effectively clear blue sky which sets the tone

through the rest of Saturday.

The winds will be light and the UV levels will be quite strong -

do factor that in.

So little change, then, through the afternoon or indeed

as we head into the evening.

Temperatures tomorrow widely into the high teens, 17-19 C.

One or two spots may well get up to 20.

They've got a better chance of getting that high

during the course of Sunday.

There will be a bit more cloud around, particularly in

the afternoon from the north-west.

Here's your national forecast.

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