:00:07. > :00:11.Welcome to South East Today. Tonight's top stories: the man
:00:11. > :00:15.whose death led to a paramedic being struck off. His widow wants
:00:15. > :00:23.to know how the ambulance worker is still allowed to treat patients.
:00:23. > :00:28.did not attempt to take any vitals, blood pressure, pulse, any of that.
:00:28. > :00:33.He stood there. Tributes to the Sussex teenager who
:00:33. > :00:37.died the day before she was due to get her GCSE results.
:00:37. > :00:45.Almost 100 jobs are under threat as one of Kent's best known haulage
:00:45. > :00:49.companies goes bust. Welcome due to Herne Bay while way
:00:49. > :00:54.it are celebrating our final Festival Friday of the summer. The
:00:54. > :01:01.sun has come out. It is Herne Bay's 19th annual festival.
:01:01. > :01:04.There are all sorts of events. Bears live music, fun on the beach
:01:05. > :01:08.and exhibitions. With many of the town's bigger
:01:08. > :01:18.neighbours attracting serious investment, it is Herne Bay being
:01:18. > :01:25.
:01:25. > :01:30.left behind or is it carving out a Good evening. The widow of a man
:01:30. > :01:35.from Hastings is calling for tighter regulations of ambulance
:01:35. > :01:39.technicians attending 999 calls. Anthony Fenn collapsed outside his
:01:39. > :01:43.home in 2009 and died two days later. The paramedic at the scene
:01:43. > :01:47.Andrew Read was struck off for failing to act properly. He did not
:01:47. > :01:51.use blue lights when the ambulance was going to the hospital. He has
:01:51. > :01:58.since been downgraded to technician staters but is still allowed to
:01:58. > :02:02.attend emergency calls. Andrew Read -- Anthony Fenn
:02:02. > :02:05.collapsed while walking up this pathway to his home in 2009. He
:02:05. > :02:10.fractured his skull and suffered from a brain haemorrhage but his
:02:10. > :02:15.wife says that when the ambulance arrived, the paramedic Andrew Read
:02:15. > :02:19.just stood there. He did not attend to give him any oxidant, he did not
:02:19. > :02:26.attempt to stop the bleeding on the back of his head or look at the
:02:26. > :02:30.head wind itself. -- head injury. He did not attempt to take any
:02:30. > :02:37.vitals, blood pressure, polls. When I say he stood there, he stood
:02:37. > :02:41.there. This week, the health professions Council found that
:02:41. > :02:49.Andrew Read had failed to fully immobilise him, failed to give
:02:49. > :02:55.boxer giant and this amounted to serious breaches of called to do so
:02:55. > :03:00.they struck him off the register. - - core duties. This was not these
:03:00. > :03:06.first time in trouble. In 2007, they gave him a caution after he
:03:06. > :03:12.failed to get life-saving care to a newborn baby. Sadly, that baby died.
:03:12. > :03:16.In spite of these two serious cases, he is still responding to 999 calls,
:03:16. > :03:19.albeit in the more junior role of ambulance technicians. The
:03:19. > :03:23.ambulance service says that ambulance technicians respond to
:03:23. > :03:27.all categories of call but are backed up where required by a
:03:27. > :03:33.paramedic and act within a there was scope of practice. A health
:03:33. > :03:37.watchdog feels that Andrew Read's position should be reviewed..
:03:37. > :03:40.is not a failure of training or qualifications, it is someone who
:03:40. > :03:47.knew what needed to be done according to the reports and has
:03:47. > :03:51.twice failed to do it. That is clearly an unacceptable situation.
:03:51. > :03:55.Andrew Read's failures did not contribute to Anthony Fenn's death.
:03:55. > :04:00.The ambulance service says their thoughts are with his family and
:04:00. > :04:04.are happy to discuss concerns with them.
:04:04. > :04:08.A 16-year-old girl from Sussex has died while on holiday in Portugal.
:04:08. > :04:13.Mia Knight from Hove was taken ill while swimming in the Algarve on
:04:13. > :04:17.Wednesday, the day before she was due to get her GCSE results.
:04:17. > :04:21.Tonight have friends are gathering in Hove to remember her.
:04:21. > :04:27.She was about to reach a milestone that every teenage girl goes
:04:27. > :04:32.through, getting her GCSE results. But Mia never will. She died the
:04:32. > :04:35.day before she could. She was on a family holiday in Portugal but got
:04:35. > :04:43.into trouble while swimming in the sea. Her parents were on the shore
:04:43. > :04:53.while it happened. She died on the beach. We put her on the sand on
:04:53. > :04:54.
:04:54. > :05:00.the beach, tried to recover her with the medical authorities but
:05:00. > :05:05.she died. At her school in Hove, the shop was made worse by the
:05:05. > :05:10.timing. Yesterday Mia's friends were arriving here to collect their
:05:10. > :05:14.GCSE results. The school got record grades. At that stage, they were
:05:14. > :05:19.completely unaware as to what had happened. By the afternoon, the
:05:19. > :05:24.same pupils were returning to the school, this time with tributes to
:05:24. > :05:27.their friend. She was described as a gorgeous, lovely girl. Everyone
:05:27. > :05:31.in the school is going to be devastated by this news and our
:05:31. > :05:37.thoughts and feelings are with the family at this very very difficult
:05:37. > :05:41.times. Next week, the school is arranging counselling for Mia's
:05:41. > :05:48.friends. The tragic end to the summer holidays will mean it is a
:05:48. > :05:53.difficult start to the near term. There has obviously been a
:05:53. > :05:56.heartfelt reaction from Mia's school friends? This is a tragic
:05:56. > :06:01.story but made all the more poignant because of the timing. She
:06:01. > :06:06.was obviously a very popular well- liked Gulf. Use of pictures of the
:06:06. > :06:10.tributes, the cards and flowers, that people left at her school. She
:06:10. > :06:14.was described as her closest companion, someone she could always
:06:14. > :06:19.turn to buy it one of her friends. On Facebook, more than 1000 people
:06:19. > :06:23.have signed up to a tribute paid. This evening, there is going to be
:06:23. > :06:29.a candlelit vigil and her friends are going to be meeting at a local
:06:29. > :06:32.park here in Hove. In a moment, beating the bug, how
:06:32. > :06:42.rates of C difficile infection have dropped at the hospitals where 90
:06:42. > :06:44.
:06:44. > :06:48.One of Kent's best known haulage companies has gone out of business
:06:48. > :06:51.tonight with the loss of nearly 90 jobs. Founded nearly a century ago,
:06:51. > :06:54.Dodd's Group is based in Sittingbourne. When the drivers
:06:54. > :07:01.went to collect their monthly salaries this afternoon, they were
:07:01. > :07:06.told the company had gone under. worked at the whole day and did not
:07:06. > :07:09.get told until I went back to the yard. People on holiday still do
:07:09. > :07:14.not know. We have told them that they have to come and get their
:07:14. > :07:18.stuff out of their lockers. business correspondent joins us now.
:07:18. > :07:21.Is the current economic climate to blame? It seems so. The
:07:21. > :07:25.administrators have told us that the company has suffered from a
:07:26. > :07:30.lack of working capital and it was heightened by the current economic
:07:30. > :07:34.climate. You can imagine that hauliers are affected by the rise
:07:34. > :07:39.of fuel prices, VAT and companies are not paying them as promptly as
:07:39. > :07:43.they once did. One of the employees said that they wanted to see the
:07:43. > :07:47.format own up by it back. We spoke to him and he says that is not
:07:47. > :07:51.going to happen. The administrators now have to sell off the deficits
:07:51. > :07:55.and pay off the debts. -- sell off the assets.
:07:55. > :07:59.Each Friday we have taken South East Today on the road and for our
:07:59. > :08:03.final Festival Friday, Polly and Rob on the north Kent coast in
:08:03. > :08:06.Herne Bay. They have been down on the promenade all after known
:08:06. > :08:12.finding out what the Herne Bay Festival has to offer.
:08:12. > :08:17.Have you had a warm welcome? certainly have. Welcome to Herne
:08:17. > :08:19.Bay. The famous clock tower is in the background. We are at the
:08:19. > :08:24.bandstand for the Herne Bay Festival. It is a nine-day event
:08:24. > :08:29.and has some 200 events going on. Most of them are free because the
:08:29. > :08:35.whole idea is they want to bring the community together and create
:08:35. > :08:41.some community spirit. Are you having a good time? Yes! They have
:08:42. > :08:45.all been enjoying themselves. It is a great atmosphere here. There is a
:08:45. > :08:49.real community spirit in Herne Bay. We have been hearing over the past
:08:49. > :08:52.few weeks about how much money is being pumped into some of the other
:08:52. > :09:00.resorts around the South East such as Bexhill, Margate or Eastbourne,
:09:00. > :09:04.but is one -- is an day able to keep up? I have been finding out?
:09:04. > :09:08.We all know what to do at the seaside when the sun shines. But
:09:08. > :09:13.there are some days when the sun does not shine. What does a town
:09:13. > :09:16.like her and they do then to survive? If you get a couple of
:09:16. > :09:21.streets in from the seafront, there is a lot of other stuff going on
:09:21. > :09:27.and it is not doing too badly actually. If you come into Herne
:09:27. > :09:30.Bay town-centre some than years ago -- seven years ago, it nearly a
:09:30. > :09:38.third of these shops would have been shut. Now there is 95%
:09:38. > :09:42.occupancy and that is a major change. If you want to take the
:09:42. > :09:50.temperature of how business is doing in a tan, asked a man who
:09:50. > :09:58.depends on it. -- in a talent. Hello. How is business? Not too bad
:09:58. > :10:03.think you very much. His Herne Bay it on the up? On the up, I would
:10:03. > :10:08.say. We have got a very nice Seafront, it is well looked after,
:10:08. > :10:14.it is a good link between other towns. People like to cycle. It is
:10:14. > :10:20.a popular retirement area as well. Our prices, I think, are very good.
:10:20. > :10:26.There are new businesses opening up like this cafes. Look at that,
:10:26. > :10:31.fantastic. Come and sit down. How is it going? You have been open for
:10:31. > :10:35.seven weeks. There is definitely money in Herne Bay. It has been
:10:35. > :10:39.very noticeable after the past few weeks because we have got our
:10:39. > :10:44.regulars and we have had holidaymakers which has been lovely.
:10:44. > :10:48.I think how they has got a lot going for it. Do you think that
:10:48. > :10:51.maybe in the past people have thought that the town was run down?
:10:51. > :10:55.I can understand that. I think there are bits that we could
:10:55. > :10:59.improve. I think that this street has got a nice buzz about it. In
:10:59. > :11:04.the 10 years I have lived here, why have seen a difference to Herne Bay
:11:04. > :11:09.and I hope this is the way forward. Perhaps if anywhere sums up the
:11:09. > :11:13.change that Herne Bay is going through it is this shops. An old-
:11:13. > :11:20.school traditional gentlemen's outfitters but on the other side,
:11:20. > :11:24.not so much. When I first came to Herne Bay, it was a place to come
:11:24. > :11:28.and retired. But there are a lot of young people coming to Herne Bay
:11:28. > :11:33.and there is lots of development in and around Herne Bay. Why do you
:11:33. > :11:39.like it? Because I live here and I believe in Herne Bay and I started
:11:39. > :11:42.in the trade in Herne Bay and that is it. If there is a real concern
:11:42. > :11:46.for the future of the town it lies with the pier. It has been through
:11:46. > :11:52.some tough times. If the original pair burnt down in 1970 and was
:11:52. > :11:57.cast adrift by storm damage in 1978. Now the sports hall is to be
:11:57. > :12:02.demolished because of asbestos concerns. Nobody knows what is
:12:02. > :12:07.going to replace it. That building has come to the end of its natural
:12:07. > :12:11.life. It needs to be taken down. That provides scope for us to do
:12:11. > :12:14.something exciting in the future. Beyond that, we have a business
:12:14. > :12:20.plan that we are working towards to develop the pier into something
:12:20. > :12:25.really exciting. I think we will generate income, business, and make
:12:25. > :12:31.people who do not already know about the town want to come here.
:12:31. > :12:35.And it something to be really proud of. They are wanting to do
:12:35. > :12:38.something that they can make Herne Bay proud of. Let us chat to a
:12:38. > :12:42.couple of people who are going to be involved in the process. You are
:12:42. > :12:47.from the city council. What are you going to do with the pier? We have
:12:47. > :12:52.formed the Pier Trust. I would say to anyone in Herne Bay who wants to
:12:52. > :12:54.get involved and have a saying to join the Pier Trust to raise some
:12:54. > :12:58.money and make them more influential and we can move forward.
:12:58. > :13:03.He is it not dangerous, demolishing the building with no clear idea of
:13:03. > :13:07.what is going to happen afterwards? We have always had the advice from
:13:07. > :13:14.the consultants and the other experts that there was no prospect
:13:14. > :13:18.of regenerating the pier and last we got rid of that building. It is
:13:18. > :13:23.basically... But you have not got a plan? We have not and that is why
:13:23. > :13:29.we have formed the Pier Trust. is your job to come up with the
:13:29. > :13:33.imagination. What would you like to see? The first stage is the
:13:33. > :13:40.reclaiming of the pier and that will happen post demolition,
:13:40. > :13:44.probably in May 2012. The next stage is to regenerate the pier and
:13:44. > :13:48.it will be a fantastic community people's pier and we welcome input
:13:48. > :13:53.from the community, businesses, to support us in what will be a
:13:53. > :13:57.fantastic year. We have to leave it there. Let us hope they will come
:13:57. > :14:01.up with something exciting and that the people of Herne Bay will be
:14:01. > :14:11.proud. I know you are with someone who is very proud to live in Herne
:14:11. > :14:18.
:14:18. > :14:24.In at the corner they used to be a cafe. It was not as glamourous as
:14:24. > :14:33.this. On a bad day, the EC would come up through the floorboards.
:14:33. > :14:42.You come back care a lot now, don't you? I do. I love coming here. Hern
:14:42. > :14:46.may has -- her and at bay has seven miles of beach.
:14:46. > :14:56.There are plans to demolish the pier. What would you like to see
:14:56. > :14:57.
:14:57. > :15:04.happen? The pet is a little bit of a carbuncle, -- at the Pier, it
:15:04. > :15:12.will attract so many tourists. must have seen it changed a lot,
:15:12. > :15:19.because it now it suffers. But it was not always like that, was it?
:15:19. > :15:23.No it was not. It has gone into decline, but there has been a lot
:15:23. > :15:28.of local investment going into Herne Bay. People want to go on
:15:28. > :15:31.holiday, and Herne Bay is the second fastest growing resort in
:15:31. > :15:39.the UK. And I think there is an appetite for tapping into that
:15:39. > :15:46.older tradition, isn't there? there is so much to do here. You
:15:46. > :15:53.can come on holiday or as a day- tripper. Herne Bay cannot deliver.
:15:53. > :16:03.Look at this, sunshine! Thank you for joining us. If you want to keep
:16:03. > :16:16.
:16:16. > :16:21.up-to-date, go on to Twitter. Or blob on to Facebook. -- log on.
:16:21. > :16:24.Thank you. And we'll be back to Rob and Polly at Herne Bay later in the
:16:24. > :16:26.programme. The number of people in Kent struggling to pay their fuel
:16:26. > :16:29.bill has reached a record high, according to the Centre for
:16:29. > :16:32.Sustainable Energy. It says around 130,000 households in the county
:16:32. > :16:40.are spending more than 10% of their income on heating. That's around
:16:40. > :16:43.one in five homes in Kent. It was the Kent Health Trust at the
:16:43. > :16:46.centre of the worst Clostridium difficile scandal in NHS history.
:16:46. > :16:48.Six years ago, 90 people died in two outbreaks of the superbug at
:16:48. > :16:51.hospitals in Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells. Today new figures
:16:51. > :17:01.show cases of hospital acquired C.Diff have dropped across the
:17:01. > :17:06.
:17:07. > :17:12.South East. But from 2010 to 2011 that number went down to 67.
:17:12. > :17:17.It may not be the most glamourous job in the hospital, but it is one
:17:17. > :17:21.of the most important. Today's figures, which show a drop in
:17:21. > :17:27.Clostridium difficile figures, are down to simple factors such as
:17:27. > :17:33.cleaning and hand-washing. Here, this doctor was brought in to
:17:33. > :17:38.ensure infection control was top of everyone's agenda. He it is
:17:38. > :17:45.basically common sense. It is not doing anything to put our patients
:17:46. > :17:51.at risk. Florence was one of the 19 people
:17:51. > :17:56.who died after developing Clostridium difficile. The chief
:17:56. > :18:01.executive at the time was forced to resign. Florence's son in law is
:18:01. > :18:05.relieved that the changes. I am obviously very pleased indeed. I am
:18:05. > :18:09.also satisfied that things are going in the right direction. It
:18:09. > :18:13.will never be solved, but at least it is going in the right direction.
:18:13. > :18:18.We will keep up the education process.
:18:18. > :18:25.The figures have been heading the same way across the region. In East
:18:25. > :18:30.Sussex, the numbers have plummeted. Medway has fewer than half the
:18:30. > :18:36.cases it had in 2007, and in East Kent, the drop is less dramatic but
:18:36. > :18:41.still by around a third. The war against infections is not over, but
:18:41. > :18:44.the battle against the Clostridium difficile is being won.
:18:44. > :18:47.Football, and all our major teams are in action tomorrow. In the
:18:47. > :18:49.Championship, Brighton play Peterborough at home. In League One,
:18:50. > :18:55.Charlton travel to Bury, and in League Two, Gillingham go to
:18:55. > :18:58.Rotherham and Crawley visit Cheltenham.
:18:58. > :19:02.That's it from me here in the studio tonight. Time now to return
:19:02. > :19:12.to Polly and Rob who are live at the bandstand in Herne Bay for our
:19:12. > :19:14.
:19:14. > :19:18.final Festival Friday of the summer. Welcome back to Herne Bay! We have
:19:18. > :19:23.had live music. They are having a break at the moment, and we will be
:19:23. > :19:27.finding out all the fun and excitement that has gone on here
:19:27. > :19:33.today. Everybody has been getting involved. It is a real community
:19:33. > :19:38.atmosphere. Lynda has been walking around the town all day, soaking up
:19:38. > :19:44.the festival atmosphere. Never let the weather put a
:19:44. > :19:54.dampener on at a community festival, come rain or shine, this is August
:19:54. > :19:54.
:19:54. > :20:00.in a British summer after all. younger children like to know what
:20:00. > :20:07.they do, how they hunt, how they fly, what they catch, what they eat.
:20:07. > :20:12.We tell them what not to do with them if they get one in the future.
:20:12. > :20:18.From the days Punch and Judy drew crowds, now they are relegated to
:20:18. > :20:24.the museum. These days, people are drawn to more active displays.
:20:25. > :20:30.have got a lifeguard at demonstration on the go. One of our
:20:30. > :20:36.lifeguards responded to a casualty. We affected a very good at rescue
:20:36. > :20:41.by one of our work Life Guards. The ambulance had been called. They are
:20:41. > :20:46.on seen it now. They will be on the scene at shore leave. It is all
:20:46. > :20:56.part of the demonstrations are the public can see what we are doing.
:20:56. > :20:57.
:20:57. > :21:06.Them, the rain fell and fell, like any good British summer. But here,
:21:06. > :21:10.people carry on regardless. There is always shelter somewhere, indeed,
:21:10. > :21:15.there is skating on the pair until the Sports Centre is demolished
:21:16. > :21:25.next month. Whatever the weather, the residents have been making the
:21:26. > :21:28.
:21:28. > :21:38.most of what is on offer here. We are joined now by it leers, the
:21:38. > :21:46.festival organiser. Thank you for joining us. -- By Liz. It is very
:21:46. > :21:50.well supported by the local community. That is the idea, really.
:21:50. > :21:59.You get everyone together and encourage community spirit.
:21:59. > :22:05.absolutely. It is about what makes a Herne Bay it unique. Individuals
:22:05. > :22:13.get to know each other's neighbours. Also, there is an emphasis on
:22:13. > :22:17.volunteering as well, isn't there? Absolutely. We work closely with a
:22:17. > :22:21.group to programme the festival, and they help us put events
:22:21. > :22:25.together. There are also events like the giant picnic coming up
:22:25. > :22:31.this Sunday. It is really individual.
:22:31. > :22:34.By all accounts, it will be another successful year. Robert is whether
:22:34. > :22:38.some of the people enjoying themselves today.
:22:38. > :22:46.Let us have a chat with some of the people that have come down. What is
:22:46. > :22:53.your name? Lynda. We are from Herne Bay. The festival is great, isn't
:22:53. > :22:59.it? Most definitely. It is a free event, and very good for the
:22:59. > :23:04.children. Excellent. We have got a couple of Herne Bay's carnival
:23:04. > :23:13.Princess's here. You have been crowned this year, and you have to
:23:13. > :23:23.do events around the carnival. Are you enjoying it? Yes. It Israeli
:23:23. > :23:24.
:23:24. > :23:34.fund to dress up. -- and it is really fun. Everyone is really
:23:34. > :23:35.
:23:35. > :23:42.sociable and fun. Or hello, what is your name and where you from.
:23:42. > :23:47.I am from Herne Bay and my name is Caroline. They are looking at doing
:23:47. > :23:56.their stuff with the pier. Are you confident they will do good things?
:23:56. > :24:03.They have got to. He are you all enjoying your cells? I think that
:24:03. > :24:12.is a fairly solid response. Everyone is enjoying themselves.
:24:12. > :24:22.Fortunately, the sun has come out Fortunately, the sun has come out
:24:22. > :24:22.
:24:22. > :24:28.You will be pleased to hear we all be climbing up the summer sunshine
:24:28. > :24:32.at ladder. Saturday still a bit sketchy. But we will get the
:24:32. > :24:38.sunshine it later on in the day, and from a Saturday afternoon
:24:38. > :24:45.onwards, or we will be seeing better, drier, brighter weather.
:24:45. > :24:51.And, the week looks good for next week. As far as the rest of this
:24:51. > :24:54.evening goes, it is sunny here. And I think Ken and Heather will be
:24:54. > :25:01.rather pleased, they are celebrating their 50th wedding
:25:01. > :25:08.anniversary! Whatever you are up to, we have sunny spells, it is now dry,
:25:08. > :25:15.and the rest of the evening should be hanging on to this dry weather.
:25:15. > :25:19.Temperatures going down to 10-12 Celsius. A big debate cool started
:25:19. > :25:26.the day tomorrow, but there will be sunshine to start the day. The
:25:26. > :25:33.trouble is, a bit of a sunshine sandwich! The best of the weather
:25:33. > :25:38.will be sandwiched in the middle of sloppy showers. Before 10am, after
:25:38. > :25:48.3pm, that is when Pete Best of the sunshine and dry or whether it will
:25:48. > :25:54.be. But we should still get up to 19 Celsius. Sunday looking pretty
:25:54. > :26:00.good. Not as breezier either. Monday as well, we have sunshine
:26:00. > :26:09.and good temperatures getting up to 20 Celsius. I think we can safely
:26:09. > :26:15.say, it is a bank holiday beauty! Bank holiday beauty? Are we all
:26:15. > :26:22.like that. Sadly, that is it. We want to thank everybody here in
:26:22. > :26:27.Herne Bay. They have all made us very welcome. And thank you to
:26:27. > :26:33.everyone else who came along to every other Festival Friday. We