25/04/2017 Points West

Good evening from BBC Points West. Our headlines tonight:

Missing for nearly two weeks - police say they're concerned

about a 27-year-old trainee nurse who's disappeared.

After a day of losing candidates, we'll find out how the Lib Dems

are planning to get their campaign back on track.

And the bluebells are out in force but they could well be enduring

frost for the next couple of nights. Police say they're very concerned

about a student nurse from Bristol who hasn't been seen

or heard from in 12 days. Friends of Anna Lewis say

the 27-year-old would often go camping alone

but never for this long. She was working at Southmead

Hospital the day she went missing. The family and friends

of Anna Lewis say she loved the outdoors and,

on occasions, solitude. But she'd never go away this long

without getting in touch. "This is genuinely very out

of charcter and her family She likes her own company,

she's been on trips away to Scotland Detectives are searching woodland

in and around Bristol That will be extended to her known

favourite areas in Scotland, Officers have had around

ten possible sightings of Anna from the public so far,

which have to be followed up. Today, as worries mount,

a direct appeal. Anna, I would appeal

to you if you are watching this, There's your family and friends,

they are all worried about you and so, if you are watching

this, please pick up the phone These CCTV pictures show Anna

leaving Southmead Hospital just after 12.15pm on Thursday

April 13th. She left the hospital

grounds nearer 1pm. Anna's a student nurse based

at the University of the West of England,

who said today they're... "Becoming increasingly worried

for Anna's safety and would request "anyone with information

call the police." "Also been in touch with Anna's

family and friends "during this

extremely difficult time." Police say Anna Lewis

hasn't got her mobile phone raising more concerns

about her safety. Scott Ellis, BBC

Points West, Bristol. Last night we broke the news

about a second Liberal Democrat A tough start for a party that lost

nine seats last time round. Robin Markwell's been finding

out how the Lib Dems A week used to be a long

time in politics. But at the current feverish pace,

it feels much, much longer. Last Tuesday the Lib Dem leader

was in the West, We did prepare, we have

prepared for the election, we have candidates selected pretty

much up and down the country. But two of those candidates

in key West Country seats Yesterday, in Yeovil,

Daisy Benson ended her campaign, saying she needed time to focus

on buying a house. Today, in Bath, it was

Jay Risbridger's turn. He wouldn't give an interview

but in a statement he said the timing of the snap election

was unexpected and that he needed to focus on moving his

stationery business. It came as a surprise

as he was tweeting about being on the campaign trail

only last week. His Conservative rival saw it

as an unexpected gift. I do believe it's

a shambles locally. We've had three candidates

in two years now. I'm not sure whether they're

going to be parachuting someone in or whether or not there's been

some sort of internal dispute at the heart of the Liberal

Democrats in Bath. If they can't provide the strong

and stable leadership within their own party at the local

level, how can my constituents trust them to get on

and deliver the job nationally? Here's some more envelopes

that need stuffing. Candidate or no, the mood in

Lib Dem HQ today was still upbeat. The campaign codename

is all about rising from the ashes and they believe they'll take this

latest setback in their stride. I'm personally gutted because Jay

is a fantastic campaigner But the party will move forward

because it's more about more The Lib Dems hope to

have a replacement candidate to sell on the doorstep

by next Monday. They know in elections

as fast-moving as this, no party can afford to lose any time

getting their message across. Robin Markwell, BBC

Points West, Bath. The UK should introduce

a minister for refugees, according to a parliamentary group

headed by a Bristol MP. The eight-month inquiry says

refugees are welcomed well in the UK Forward was a journalist in

Zimbabwe, then a refugee in the UK. Now he helps others

on a similar path. Behind that word refugee,

we are talking about people, we are talking about people

with skills and a career Providing they get the right

support to learn English, all recommendations

in today's report. To highlight some of the things

that we do within the sector important is that that work

is being put together any single report that gives evidence of some

of the challenges that We are employing about 38

people, on top of family. when his family was

expelled from Uganda. Their warm welcome here

stayed with them all. The way we felt, that we could

give something back we have started our

own business. My dad never liked the benefit

system, in the sense of, So Bristol has a history

of welcoming refugees, from Ugandans to the 70

or so Syrians who have been helped by volunteers

on the City Council more recently. But is this goodwill out of sync

with much of public opinion? If you ask the average Brit,

do you think it's fair to help people who have fled persecution

and war and who need our help and want to contribute,

because that's what refugees come here wanting to do, and very

often they want to go home as soon as the war is over in their country,

I think most Brits would agree that's the right thing to do

and we need to help make the system works so that they can get

on with with integrating That system is what the report

is aimed at fixing. It may have to wait

until after the general election. Well, earlier I spoke to Andrew

Wallis from the charity Unseen, which helps victims of human

trafficking, some of whom then find themselves

in the asylum seeking system. I asked him what he

made of the idea. A Refugee Minister could resolve it

by working with the Department for Work and Pensions,

with the Department for Education, Do you think it will be welcomed by

everyone? The committee is cross-party so I hope all parties

will sign up to this. That is the point, it is going to have two

happen post-election. What is the situation now? The situation is that

you have venerable people fleeing for their lives, they have come to

this country, they go to the system while their refugee status is worked

out. While they are in the asylum system, they can't work. They are

putting in substandard housing. And when they get the end of that

process, what happens is, they can't get access to a National Insurance

number, the biometric register. We need to make sure that these people

that want to contribute to the society and give back, and often are

net givers to this country, can get on with their lives. Your charity

works with people who have been trafficked but then some of them

find themselves in the asylum system. Are those the stories you

are hearing now? Being in asylum is a horrendous place to be. You are

not able to work, you get very little money given, so imagine on

top of that you are the victim of horrendous crime, you have been

exploited, and you are trying to get your life back together. You have

your life on hold. Some people might argue, why do we have to do this

anyway? It is called being a part of the human rates. We would hope the

country we are fleeing to would help us so there is a moral

responsibility to do this. Bristol Zoo have released the first

moving pictures of a baby gorilla Keepers don't know

if it's a boy or a girl yet Now, just before we leave you,

take a look at this. We had snow in parts of the West

today, including Weston Super Mare. Some irony, isn't there, that we

can't go throughout the whole winter without the West Country seeing a

single snowflake and then suddenly in late April, look what happens.

Some of it was snow, some of it was Hale, but tomorrow we continue under

this cold winter pattern, which is not unusual for this particular time

of year. Tomorrow is going to be a broadly similar day. A lot of dry

and fine weather in the morning. The risk of showers in the afternoon but

not everywhere. The showers will fade away. A dry night will then see

temperatures get low enough to risk frost across various districts. It

goes without saying a cold start tomorrow. But it should be a

generally fine morning. As we head towards the afternoon, the risk of

showers will start to increase. Tomorrow it is going to be more

towards the east. Heavy in places. Snow less likely. The West will see

the lion's share of the drier weather. Temperatures similar to

today. Good evening. Another cold night

lies ahead after what was a chilly day for swathes of the UK. This is

the Highlands of Scotland.