:00:05. > :00:09.Welcome to South East Today, I'm Polly Evans. And I'm Rob Smith.
:00:09. > :00:19.Tonight's top stories: 840 jobs are going from kent, with the closure
:00:19. > :00:20.
:00:20. > :00:30.of military research centre Fort Halstead.
:00:30. > :00:30.
:00:30. > :00:33.Surely we want to keep those jobs in the area. The heartbreaking
:00:33. > :00:35.letter from a ten-year-old girl to her father who is missing, believed
:00:35. > :00:38.murdered. Also in tonight's programme:
:00:38. > :00:45.Patients in Hastings and Rother wait longer to see a consultant
:00:45. > :00:49.than anywhere else in the country. Give local unemployed the pick of
:00:49. > :00:53.fruit picking jobs - a plea as 20,000 permits for EU workers are
:00:53. > :01:01.handed out. And shining a light on the collection of a lifetime. A
:01:01. > :01:08.leading expert's 6,000 moths go up for auction in Sussex.
:01:08. > :01:12.Good evening. A specialist military research centre at Fort Halstead is
:01:12. > :01:21.to be closed, with the loss of 840 jobs from Kent. The government has
:01:21. > :01:25.announced that operations are being moved to Salisbury. Staff at the
:01:25. > :01:29.site carries out research into explosives. Experts there
:01:29. > :01:34.investigated the Lockerbie bombing and the July 21st failed attempt to
:01:34. > :01:38.bomb London. What all the jobs are being relocated to other sides, it
:01:38. > :01:44.will have a huge impact on the local economy -- whilst all the
:01:44. > :01:49.jobs. Staff at Bath -- Fort Halstead have been described as
:01:49. > :01:57.some of the most talented and creative engineers. Security is
:01:57. > :01:59.tight. Many people are under -- unaware of what happens here. The
:01:59. > :02:04.Defence Science and Technology Laboratory it is a bond of the
:02:04. > :02:14.military defence. Work here included the investigation into the
:02:14. > :02:15.
:02:15. > :02:22.Lockerbie bombing. They -- their technological expertise helps to
:02:22. > :02:32.support operations in Afghanistan. 850 jobs will be lost. But will
:02:32. > :02:32.
:02:32. > :02:35.have a disastrous effect on Kent's economy. The man who led the
:02:35. > :02:41.Balkans taskforce said that if the Argentines invaded tomorrow, there
:02:41. > :02:50.will be nothing we could do. It is a large number of very highly
:02:50. > :02:55.skilled jobs which we cannot afford to lose. Politicians were quick to
:02:55. > :03:00.react and locals were absorbing the news. It will make it quite hard.
:03:00. > :03:10.Many shops are going downhill any way as the EC, and it is
:03:10. > :03:11.
:03:11. > :03:16.disappointing news. 840 jobs is a lot to absorb. I think it is going
:03:16. > :03:23.across all the public sector jobs. The we have to make the best to bed.
:03:23. > :03:26.Every job loss is a disaster. move is planned to take five years,
:03:26. > :03:31.but we know from other closures in the region but talented staff often
:03:31. > :03:38.move more quickly for personal reasons commonly is -- leaving the
:03:38. > :03:43.local economy struggling. reporter has been following the
:03:43. > :03:51.story. You have been in Sevenoaks this afternoon. What we actually
:03:51. > :03:54.getting to the news? -- what reaction are you getting? A lot of
:03:54. > :03:57.people I spoke is that they were shocked and disappointed other news.
:03:57. > :04:01.Earlier, I spoke to a newspaper journalist who said that these are
:04:01. > :04:04.highly specialised jobs. It is not like these employees can go to
:04:04. > :04:08.another company in the town and walked straight into another job.
:04:08. > :04:12.No doubt there will be a lot of worry amongst employees here this
:04:12. > :04:16.evening. Fort Halstead was built in 1892 as
:04:17. > :04:21.one of a ring of fortresses around London. It was home to the
:04:21. > :04:24.scientists who developed the UK's first atomic weapons. In 2006, the
:04:24. > :04:31.site was sold to international property company Hines and to
:04:31. > :04:36.Deutsche Bank for an undisclosed sum. To lose such a key employer
:04:36. > :04:40.will be a huge blow to the nearest town, Sevenoaks. It is a very sad
:04:40. > :04:44.day, particularly for the surrounding villages. They have
:04:45. > :04:48.done a lot of stuff here, a lot of good work has gone on here in the
:04:49. > :04:58.past. It has been a big employer of the local community round the
:04:58. > :05:00.villages. There will be a lot of sad people tonight. The Defence
:05:00. > :05:03.Science and Technology Laboratory, part of the Ministry of Defence,
:05:03. > :05:06.said they'll be more efficient if they consolidate onto two operation
:05:06. > :05:09.sites. It means 840 jobs will be lost to the Kent economy. 170 will
:05:09. > :05:15.be relocated to Portsdown West near Portsmouth, 670 to Porton Down near
:05:15. > :05:19.Salisbury. But it's likely to affect many more, the people whose
:05:19. > :05:22.livelihoods depend on providing services to the site. And it's the
:05:22. > :05:25.latest blow to the South East economy coming just months after
:05:25. > :05:35.drugs company Pfizer announced the planned closure of its plant in
:05:35. > :05:35.
:05:35. > :05:38.Sandwich with up to 4,000 job losses locally. Let's get some more
:05:38. > :05:46.analysis from our business Correspondent. Can you give Bath
:05:46. > :05:50.defence of the impact of this closure? -- give us a sense? It is
:05:50. > :06:00.the money they spend all our economy, about to the drop that
:06:00. > :06:01.
:06:01. > :06:05.keep -- are the jobs that keep it moving. And this comes so soon
:06:05. > :06:10.after the decision to move the Pfizer plant in San which, pressure
:06:10. > :06:18.will be on the government to help the south-east economy. Yes, we
:06:18. > :06:23.need the government to oil the wheels of the economy in the south-
:06:23. > :06:28.east. We're talking about tipping the development potential in the
:06:28. > :06:36.Thames Gateway. We have got to be ongoing problem with all our
:06:36. > :06:44.seaside coastal towns. We need more money for this part of the country.
:06:44. > :06:51.You can read more on the story on our website and on our political
:06:51. > :06:54.editor's website. In a moment: Kent tightens up cross
:06:54. > :07:03.channel controls in it's bid to provide gold standard security for
:07:03. > :07:07.the London Olympics. The ten-year-old daughter of a man
:07:07. > :07:11.believed to have been murdered in Sussex has written a heartfelt
:07:11. > :07:15.letter to him on the eve of Father's Day. Gary Hampson
:07:15. > :07:23.disappeared in January. A murder inquiry was launched up his bug was
:07:23. > :07:28.found at the Garage in Brighton where he worked. In -- in a letter,
:07:28. > :07:34.his daughter says she misses them and bushes and nightmares would go
:07:34. > :07:44.away. -- Mrs him and which is her nightmares would go away. I love
:07:44. > :07:54.
:07:54. > :08:01.you, I miss you, how did you die? I miss everything. I wish my night
:08:01. > :08:07.mayors would go away. The voice of a Broken hearted Girl who simply
:08:07. > :08:12.misses her daddy. Facing her first Father's Day without him. Gary
:08:12. > :08:22.Hampson was first -- last seen in January in Portslade. His daughter
:08:22. > :08:22.
:08:22. > :08:25.as well as the police want to know where he is. She is aware that the
:08:25. > :08:29.other children in her class are making cards for their fathers, and
:08:29. > :08:36.yet she knows that her father has been murdered and we cannot find
:08:36. > :08:41.his body. Wherever you are, I hope you're happy. I wish I could see
:08:41. > :08:44.your big, blue eyes again. Described as a devoted dad who saw
:08:44. > :08:49.his daughter three times a week, she penned this letter had not only
:08:49. > :08:54.to explain how she feels, but because she wants to help to find
:08:54. > :08:58.him. Investigating officers found blood at the garage where Gary work
:08:58. > :09:07.and said he was killed in a violent way and that someone knows the
:09:07. > :09:10.location of his body. I would urge them to come forward to contact the
:09:10. > :09:13.police. They don't need to leave their name or telephone number, but
:09:13. > :09:18.I would urge them to make that call and to put this little girl out of
:09:18. > :09:21.her misery. Two people have been charged and three arrested in
:09:21. > :09:24.connection with the case. Nothing can bring back this little girl's
:09:24. > :09:32.father of the Sunday, but she had that knowing what had happened will
:09:32. > :09:36.make her nightmares go away. -- she hopes. Happy Father's Day, I love
:09:36. > :09:41.you, Daddy. That was the daughter of Gary
:09:41. > :09:44.Hampson reading her letter to him for Father's Day.
:09:44. > :09:47.Five men are to appear in court charged with the manslaughter of a
:09:47. > :09:50.farmer in Sussex. The body of 53- year-old Julian Gardner was found
:09:50. > :09:53.at his farm in Robertsbridge last October, as -- after what police
:09:53. > :09:56.believe was a bungled robbery.Today the Crown Prosecution Service says
:09:56. > :10:01.five men will be prosecuted for manslaughter and a sixth for
:10:01. > :10:08.conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
:10:08. > :10:13.The government is being urged to do more to improve the service to
:10:13. > :10:18.Hastings by rail. New trains were announced for the Thameslink line
:10:18. > :10:22.from Brighton to Bedford. A better rail service is essential, they
:10:22. > :10:25.said. More patients in Hastings and
:10:25. > :10:30.Rother are being made to wait longer for NHS treatment than
:10:30. > :10:37.anywhere else than the country. Figures obtained by the BBC's that
:10:37. > :10:43.showed that most hospitals are meeting the 18th beat target, but
:10:43. > :10:52.more than a quarter of GP referrals have to wait longer than that at
:10:52. > :10:58.this hospital. A was referred here by my optician at the end of last
:10:58. > :11:04.year. My appointment has only come through today, six months later.
:11:04. > :11:08.probably waited about 12 weeks from going to the GP to get a referral.
:11:08. > :11:12.I was referred by my GP for physiotherapy after I injured my
:11:12. > :11:18.knee. That was over five months ago and I'm still waiting to get an
:11:18. > :11:21.appointment. We are really impressed with what they're doing.
:11:21. > :11:27.Hospitals across the country are expected to treat patients within
:11:27. > :11:29.18 weeks of referral by their GP. On average, 90 % of patients in
:11:29. > :11:34.England are treated within that time. But in Hastings and Rother,
:11:34. > :11:39.the latest figure is just 75 % of patients. The worst performance in
:11:39. > :11:43.the whole country, and that fact has displeased the local MP. I am
:11:43. > :11:49.worried by this. I want to reassure them that I will take action to
:11:49. > :11:53.find out what can be done. Instead of having some knee-jerk reaction,
:11:53. > :11:58.the best thing to do it is to look under the bonnet. Let's see what is
:11:58. > :12:03.going on. NHS suffix says there has been delays the patient having
:12:03. > :12:08.tests and getting their results. To clear this backlog, they have put
:12:08. > :12:13.in additional diagnostic settings. They believe those delays will be
:12:13. > :12:17.cleared by the end of this month. But one patients group says there
:12:17. > :12:25.has been a UK-wide steady rise in the number of complaints about
:12:25. > :12:32.waiting times over recent months. Nine added 10 health authorities
:12:32. > :12:38.can completed in 18 weeks -- nine out of 10. It has got worse over
:12:38. > :12:43.the last year. It is our third of the NHS Prime Care trusts who are
:12:43. > :12:53.not complying. The Department For Health has waiting times goes up as
:12:53. > :12:54.
:12:54. > :12:59.well as down. John, you have been studying these waiting times. What
:12:59. > :13:02.is causing specific delays in Hastings and Rother? The areas of
:13:02. > :13:07.treatment but nothing the most delays, according to the Department
:13:07. > :13:12.For Health figures by April, are orthopaedic and trauma treatment.
:13:12. > :13:17.That is in Hastings and Rother. In April, there were 110 patients
:13:17. > :13:24.waiting beyond 18 weeks for treatment in those areas. But it is
:13:24. > :13:34.not a completely bad picture. If you are going for other treatments,
:13:34. > :14:02.
:14:02. > :14:05.There is an opportunity for crime gangs to it use this increase in
:14:05. > :14:13.population to sell their illegal wears more effectively and
:14:13. > :14:18.efficiently. This is just because we will be very busy. We will
:14:18. > :14:23.increase our work resources and intelligence exchange, and react to
:14:23. > :14:30.this issue. What we will keep these organised crime gangs on the back
:14:30. > :14:36.foot. 840 jobs are to go from Fort
:14:36. > :14:39.Halstead, near Sevenoaks. The government has announced their
:14:39. > :14:49.opposition -- their operations will be moved to Portsmouth and
:14:49. > :14:49.
:14:50. > :14:55.Salisbury. Join me for the prospects of
:14:55. > :15:05.tonight's cricket, and are next look at the Football fixtures.
:15:05. > :15:09.
:15:09. > :15:15.We have a Met Office weather warning in force that rain.
:15:15. > :15:19.And as the fruit-picking season gets underway, the government has
:15:19. > :15:24.issued 21,000 work permits to EU workers, a London to spend up to
:15:24. > :15:28.six months picking fruit. But one Kent MP is calling for a review of
:15:28. > :15:34.the scheme, and says attic time of high unemployment, more should be
:15:34. > :15:39.done to give jobs to local workers. Our political editor has the story.
:15:39. > :15:44.It is still only 10am, but these workers have already been picking
:15:44. > :15:48.strawberries and raspberries for five hours. At this farm, the full-
:15:48. > :15:55.time workers are mainly British, but the seasonal staff come from
:15:55. > :16:03.primarily eastern Europe. As a society, we have come away from
:16:03. > :16:10.doing hard manual work. It is not what people I used to. Most of our
:16:11. > :16:15.pay is done on a basis where average earnings are over �7 an
:16:15. > :16:20.hour. We although unemployment has fallen
:16:20. > :16:24.by 88,000, the MP for Rochester argues that in the current climate
:16:24. > :16:28.of high unemployment, jobs like fruit-picking should be given to
:16:28. > :16:32.local people. We should have a debate on whether we should be
:16:32. > :16:37.giving more opportunities to domestic workers as part of our
:16:37. > :16:45.programme to control immigration, and it may well be that higher
:16:45. > :16:55.wages have to be paid. The rate of youth unemployment
:16:55. > :16:58.
:16:58. > :17:02.remains high, with one in 516-24- year-olds out of work. While the
:17:02. > :17:06.majority of fruit pickers may not achieve the minimum wage, most are
:17:06. > :17:10.earning above the minimum wage, but that does not seem to be enough to
:17:10. > :17:17.take many into the industry. It is not something I would be interested
:17:17. > :17:21.in. I would definitely do it. seems too early to get up in the
:17:21. > :17:27.morning for a. Farmers say, as long as local
:17:27. > :17:30.people do not want the seasonal work, they just will employ people
:17:30. > :17:34.from further SEs. Mark Reckless will be telling
:17:34. > :17:44.Natalie Graham why he thinks unemployed people should be
:17:44. > :17:50.
:17:50. > :17:55.encouraged to pick fruit on the When no play is possible for the
:17:55. > :18:00.cricket, it is the ideal type for the sports fans to turn their
:18:00. > :18:05.thoughts to the football. Our reporter is that the County Ground
:18:05. > :18:11.in Hove a head of tonight's Twenty20 game between Kent and
:18:11. > :18:18.Sussex. This weather is just not cricket, is it? It is shocking. It
:18:18. > :18:26.is a real shame, because they were expecting 6,500 people. These p 20
:18:26. > :18:33.matches are exception a popular. -- T20. Sussex and Kent are hoping big
:18:33. > :18:36.investment programmes will pay off. Ken's cricket ground has long been
:18:36. > :18:41.considered one of the most attractive in the country. During
:18:41. > :18:46.the winter, millions of pounds have been spent on a major refurbishment.
:18:46. > :18:50.Tomorrow evening, there will be permanent floodlights. A fantastic
:18:50. > :18:53.time for the club. What could be better than coming back to
:18:53. > :18:59.facilities where a significant amount of investment has taken
:18:59. > :19:03.place in? It has breathed a whole new life into the activities of the
:19:03. > :19:08.County Cricket Club, and herald the start of an exciting future.
:19:08. > :19:13.Wobbling under floodlights will be a new, exciting developments,
:19:13. > :19:18.Sussex had been doing it for over a decade. In Kent, they had made a
:19:18. > :19:23.major improvements to their grander Hove. We have improved player
:19:23. > :19:28.facilities, improved member facilities, improved spectator
:19:28. > :19:32.facilities and better corporate facilities. All of those become
:19:32. > :19:37.available on match days for any member of the public a high of four
:19:37. > :19:43.parties, celebrations, and conferences, or conferences. Elton
:19:44. > :19:47.John is coming down next Sunday. Both Kent and Sussex will hope
:19:47. > :19:57.their exploits on the pitch will keep their customers satisfied and
:19:57. > :19:58.
:19:58. > :20:02.attract new fans. There has been mounting speculation
:20:02. > :20:07.as to who will be the first League opponents at Brighton's new
:20:07. > :20:13.American Express Community Stadium. It will be Doncaster Rovers who are
:20:13. > :20:18.their opponents on Saturday. It was Rovers who Brighton last played in
:20:18. > :20:24.their final match at Goldstone Ground. Charlton Athletic would
:20:24. > :20:27.take on Bournemouth, Gillingham have a home game against Cheltenham,
:20:27. > :20:32.while Crawley will have to travel for their first game in the
:20:32. > :20:40.Football League. They will be going to Port Vale. They will play it
:20:40. > :20:46.Macclesfield. I do not know what you think about: Since --
:20:46. > :20:51.coincidences, but their first opponents at the American Express
:20:51. > :20:56.Community Stadium, the game between Crawley and Port Vale, they opened
:20:56. > :21:01.it. Gillingham of a plane Cheltenham for the first game in
:21:01. > :21:11.two successive seasons. This will be the first time at the two clubs
:21:11. > :21:13.
:21:13. > :21:17.have met. What are the chances of If you have had a jumper or sued
:21:18. > :21:27.munched to pieces by mobs, the last thing you want is to bring 6,000 of
:21:28. > :21:29.
:21:29. > :21:33.them to your home. -- moths. They were gathered 60 years ago by it
:21:33. > :21:41.reappeared entomologists in Sussex, and a being sold by the author who
:21:41. > :21:48.rescued the collection. Rows of moths, different colours,
:21:48. > :21:58.different sizes, and different species. This more than Suzie asked
:21:58. > :21:59.
:21:59. > :22:08.and novelist came across a collection 25 years ago. -- moth in
:22:08. > :22:14.moth enthusiast. This was catalogued, labelled, her love,
:22:14. > :22:18.studied, by our mauves famous entomologist.
:22:18. > :22:23.The collection of moths was made for an exhibition in 1950 by the
:22:23. > :22:28.man who led the field in their study. Pictured here with his
:22:28. > :22:38.granddaughter. Everywhere in his house, everything was Butterfly
:22:38. > :22:39.
:22:39. > :22:44.theme to. We helped him with moth collecting. He would tell us all
:22:44. > :22:53.about it at great length. He was the ultimate enthusiast.
:22:53. > :22:59.There are 60 drawers full of moths. They are much more colourful
:22:59. > :23:05.varieties. These are dark crimson under wings. But the star of the
:23:05. > :23:09.show is this unassuming little creature here. This moth was
:23:09. > :23:15.discovered to be breeding in the British Isles. The find it made his
:23:15. > :23:25.name in the Barber world. He says it is time for him to let the
:23:25. > :23:54.
:23:54. > :24:02.Plenty of rain. The Met Office has a weather Warning out. You have not
:24:02. > :24:08.even seen the start of the rain. With us through the rest of the
:24:08. > :24:13.evening. As we move towards and tomorrow morning, the rain will
:24:13. > :24:18.clear off, taking the cloud with it. We will start to see some bricks by
:24:18. > :24:24.tomorrow morning. Tomorrow it we will start with drier weather, but
:24:24. > :24:31.quickly, showers start to stream in from the West. The winds had been a
:24:31. > :24:37.key feature today. We have got speeds of 30 miles per hour. That
:24:37. > :24:43.is pushing be showers towards us. They will be heavy and thundery.
:24:43. > :24:48.Top temperatures of 18 Celsius. We start with those showers tomorrow.
:24:48. > :24:54.As we go through to what Sunday, they start it eased out a little
:24:54. > :25:00.bit. Sunday will be a better day, although we cannot rule out one or
:25:00. > :25:08.two showers. It does mean for the London to Brighton bike ride, not
:25:08. > :25:13.looking too bad at all. It will be a little bit warmer. As we move
:25:13. > :25:23.through towards the start of the new working week, we see this low
:25:23. > :25:25.
:25:26. > :25:33.pressure system prev -- pushing more rain taught us. Very topsy-
:25:33. > :25:40.turvy weather. For tomorrow, some sharp showers. Sunday: A better
:25:40. > :25:50.start. But one or two showers. Back to the wet-weather for Monday and
:25:50. > :25:51.
:25:51. > :25:57.to the wet-weather for Monday and Tuesday. Have a lovely weekend.
:25:57. > :26:04.840 jobs are to leave Kent from Fort Halstead. The government has
:26:04. > :26:08.announced that operations are being moved to Portsmouth, and Salisbury.
:26:09. > :26:15.Our correspondent is outside the side. This is being described as a
:26:15. > :26:24.blow to Sevenoaks. This afternoon, we've learnt that the laboratory
:26:24. > :26:28.here is moving. 170 jobs will be relocated to Portsmouth, and a
:26:28. > :26:34.further 672 Salisbury. The move is planned to take five years, but
:26:34. > :26:43.this is the latest blow to the South East economy, months after
:26:43. > :26:51.the drugs company Pfizer announced its closure. On Monday's programme,
:26:51. > :27:01.we have an exclusive investigation, looking at the dangers of cannabis.
:27:01. > :27:01.
:27:01. > :27:11.It is a recreational a job -- drug for sale in parks. Also on beaches,
:27:11. > :27:12.
:27:12. > :27:18.and street corners across Kent and Sussex. But there are fears new
:27:18. > :27:24.home-grown varieties could be wrecking a young minds permanently.
:27:24. > :27:27.I would not have done it if I lived in those years again.
:27:27. > :27:32.That is our home affairs correspondent looking at the