27/11/2013 South East Today

That is all from the News At Six, goodbye from me and

Welcome to South East Today, I'm Rob Smith.

And I'm Bryony MacKenzie. Tonight's top stories: Major rail

works planned for the Christmas holidays that could bring misery for

travellers. Why do the mac Christmas? That is

insane. I would be fed up to work on Christmas Day, that is for sure. Too

many patients to cope ` hospital staff fears as the number of people

using A soars. We're live at a hospital in Ashford

tonight. Also in tonight's programme:

Unprecedented problems of drug`taking and bullying at a Kent

prison. The ultimate in intimate gifts? The

Brighton artists offering to make a picture frame ` with placenta.

And sold for ?400,000. Thank you very much indeed.

Buy Misty for me ` the Sussex auctioneers that have sold a

complete dinosaur. Good evening. Major engineering

works will mean massive disruption to train services right through the

Christmas period, with the Gatwick Express closing completely. The

journey between Brighton and London could take some two and a half hours

during the holiday period. Kent commuters are also set to face

major disruption with ?19 million upgrade at Gravesend station meaning

Southeastern will not run any trains from or through Gravesend between 22

December and five January. John Young has this report.

Normally it is the weather that causes most of the problems for

travellers over Christmas and New Year, but this year we can put the

problems in the diary. For some people on Sussex coast this

afternoon it came as a bit of a shock to realise that journeys which

often take less than an hour could take two and a half hours. That is

ridiculous. They say that it is because they have a lot of

engineering works and want to do it at one goal. Why do it at

Christmas? That is insane. The works include a rebuild that Gatwick

station. They have to detect some point, but surely they could be

staggered throughout the year rather than at Christmas. Probably not the

best time to do it, but if it has to be done it has to be I'm glad I

don't use the trademark edge `` trains much, because I would be fed

up. The quickest route from Brighton to London will involve a change at

Three Bridges. There are alternatives, but they could take

even longer. If you're heading from Gatwick to London you will need to

board a bus at East Grinstead. They're also have to be temporary

bus service between Ed 's fleet and Gravesend. Many people are saying

that it is better done at one goal when summoning people are not

commuting. The Christmas period is when the big commuter demand traffic

is at its lowest. We have a two`day shutdown over the festive holiday so

it provides us with a real opportunity during the Christmas

week. Southeastern have apologised again for yesterday's mayhem after a

fire at London Bridge. Compensation is being offered to anyone delayed

by more than half an hour last night. As for Christmas travel, we

have then warned. Well, John joins us now from

Brighton station. John, what advice are the train companies giving? It

is unanimous. Plan ahead, go on national ruling enquiries, check the

website. The advice is to look into it in advance. The message from the

vance. The message from the I direct director`general of the Rail Livery

The Sussex and Surrey NHS Trust saw a 22% increase over the same period.

Attendance to Kent's A units has gone up by more than 17%. Our

political reporter Ellie Price spent the day at the William Harvey

Hospital in Ashford. It is an issue never far from the

headlines or indeed the House of Commons. The Health Secretary Jeremy

Hunt just a few weeks ago announced ?150 million extra nationally to

help hospitals cope. The hospital here trying to be attention to those

statistics that you just quoted, but opposition says that not enough is

being done and that the reorganisation of the NHS is putting

patients lives at risk. Hospitals are getting busier, experts say that

that is an accident, but with winter coming to that week an accident, but

with winter coming couldn't we to an emergency? A has been a victim of

its own success. The targets have led to huge improvements in the

quality of service. We are not in crisis, we're getting busier. That

is for a multitude of reasons. There is a perception that Haitians cannot

see their GPs. The population is getting older `` the patients. The

population at the end of the day will always go for the lights on and

they are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People need more than

just the lights to be on. This hospital is finding ways to reduce

the burden on the A department. The ambulatory Ward hopes to ease

bed blocking. There are certain conditions that can be treated

within our environment. They can have their treatment and then go off

on that night and hopefully not have to come back again. Patients say

that it is a calmer environment as well. If I was an A they probably

would be able to do something, but it is the whole atmosphere that

makes the difference. Experts say that others have a role to play in

cutting patient numbers. A distrusted, people feel safe in A

and people have become, check `` have become much more impatient.

They want instant answers and solutions. They do not ask people

for help. That is why we need to give them information so that they

know how to look after themselves. There may be no cure for the

ever`increasing demand an agency mac services, but it is hoped that

preventing unnecessary admissions and long`term stays could help.

Staff shortages is something that is often talked about. Here they have a

vacancy for two nurses which they say they are confident they will

fill quickly, but it is doctors that they are having slightly more of a

problem with. Locum doctors here are very much filling the gap. As winter

deepens this is going to be an issue that becomes more and more important

and those preventative ways of avoiding patients coming here in the

first place is something that I think we will be hearing a lot more

about. In a moment: As 12 children's

centres are slated to close in Kent to save money, how the council says

the most vulnerable will still be protected.

A Kent man facing trial in Uganda because he's in a gay relationship

has tonight said he fears he will be deported after officials seized his

passport and refused a visa extension.

Bernard Randall from Faversham has pleaded not guilty

"trafficking obscene publications" after videos of him in a gay

relationship appeared in a newspaper in a Ugandan newspaper.

Claudia Sermbezis has more. After Bernard Randall reported a

burglary at the house he was staying with in Uganda, he found himself the

one in the dock accused of so`called gay crimes. He knew his Visa was

coming to an end. He sought to renew it with a letter from police, but

his application was refused. Senior people want me out here. This is a

way of getting out of the country without it being seen as an

anti`home a sexual thing. , sexual and `` homosexual acts are illegal

in Uganda. I have, it is to tell you that what you are indulging in is

hurting their lives. They are not morally bad in the rise, I am as a

homosexual. It is just part of his campaign against homosexuals. He

wanted to get me deported, that is what he has been working on. There

has been a shift in Uganda in the past five years in which attitudes

in the public and attitudes towards homosexuality have now been

transformed to the extent that there is now a virulent hatred of people

who are gay. Bernard Randall had expected to face several years more

in Uganda. Now he fears he could be deported at any time. Lead put me in

the cell until the first available freight out of the country. Whatever

I happened to be wearing, that was all I had. He had hoped to build a

new life for himself after his partner's death. Now he fears that

his future is uncertain. Students are occupying a building at

the University of Sussex for the second time in a year.

They say the action is against working conditions for staff at

universities across the country. Last April a seven`week occupation

of a university building led to clashes between students, police and

bailiffs. An inquest into the death of a 53`year`old man who was knocked

down and killed on the M25 has recorded a verdict that he died as a

result of a road`traffic accident. Nahinmu Nicholas from Dartford died

after having a row with his wife, who was driving the car in the early

hours of April 10th. Mr Nicholas got out of the car on the hard shoulder

not realising that it was being used as a live lane due to roadworks.

A Kent prison is facing "unprecedented" problems with drugs,

bullying and violence ` with high numbers of male prisoners at

Blantyre House in Cranbrook with nothing to do but "mill about the

house or sleep the day away." The highly critical report by the

Independent Monitoring Board comes just weeks after Maidstone Prison

was put under lockdown as riot police were called in to quell a

disturbance. Lucinda Adam reports. Until recently Blantyre House was

praised for it to excess rehabilitating prisoners nearing the

end of their sentence and preparing them for public life. No wonder

measure to take on more difficult prisoners, it is a different story.

The report says that the prisoners being degraded by those who are

unsuited to the regime. There have been unprecedented problems with

drugs, bullying and violence. There are high numbers of men who have

nothing to do, who know about the house or have nothing to do and

sleep the day away. There have been two nonfatal stabbings, a sex

assault. This man spent two years at Blantyre House at the end of a life

sentence in 2010. If I was in prison now and around those kind of people,

I would not want to be in prison. I would want to be in the closed

prison where it is safer. You have less chance of losing your parole.

This prison is supposed to prepare offenders for release by getting

them back into employment, but last summer only 36 of the 122 inmates

here were working and buy this year that had fallen to just 18. The

devil makes work for idle hands, as they say, and people will get into

trouble. This comes in the same month as riot police tackled a major

riot at Maidstone Prison. In a statement, the Ministry of Justice

said that assault and abscond levels that Blantyre House are amongst the

lowest in the country. They will take action against anyone who

threatens the safety and security of the prison.

Our top story: Major engineering works will mean massive disruption

to train services right through the Christmas period.

The Gatwick Express will temporarily shut down and the journey between

Brighton and London could take some two and a half hours.

And the dinosaur that has been sold for ?400,000 in Suffolk.

What is the rest of the week looking like? Join me for the forecast. If

you have a story you think we should be covering on South East Today,

we'd like to hear from you. You can call us on 0845 300 37 47,

or send us an e`mail. We are also on Facebook and Twitter.If you have a

story you think we should be covering on South East Today, we'd

like to hear from you. You can call us on 0845 300 37 47, or send us an

e`mail. We are also on Facebook and Twitter.

It's been confirmed that 12 children's centres are to close in

Kent as part of a cost`cutting drive.

Eleven others, which were originally earmarked for closure, will now be

spared. The new proposals will cost an extra ?500,000 over two years,

but council bosses claim they've listened to ensure the most

vulnerable don't lose out. Peter Whittlesea reports.

Initial plans to close children's centres in Kent have been scaled

back, is it a sign of compassion or a U`turn from local politicians

following mounting opposition from parents against the proposal to

close the centres. We have had a rethink. There were clearly a number

of centres that were a vital part of the local communities. I have

pledged today that when we do close the 12 centres that we will operate

services either within the same buildings over a shorter period or

we will look for alternative community venues nearby. But the

Unite union which represents staff working at the centres said in a

statement that they would urge the council to rethink its proposal. And

mothers who use the centres say that they will continue to fight to save

services. It is a step in the right direction. We do welcome the centres

that will remain open. We are concerned about the 12 that will

close, leaving these children with possibly a worse start in life. That

is why we have called for a demonstration outside Maidstone

County Hall. The county council claims that no one will lose out

because the same services are available at different centres. Some

families will have to travel if their nearest centre is earmarked

for closure. Buyers from across the world have

descended on the small West Sussex village of Billingshurst to bid for

a very rare, near`complete dinosaur skeleton. Meet Misty, 17 metres long

and around 150 million years old. An almost complete diplodocus fossil.

It was found in a quarry in Wyoming in America and was up for auction

here in the South East. It went for a price tag of ?400,000. Our

reporter Jane Witherspoon spent the day with the movers and shakers of

the palaeontology world. At ?400,000, I am selling. At

?400,000, and sold, for ?400,000. Not bad for a set of bones.

That is how much this fossilised dinosaur sold foreign Sussex today.

It is the first time that a large dinosaur has been offered for sale

in Britain. The 150 million `year`old skeleton was part of a lot

created by a Tunbridge Wells resident. Why would anyone want

this? One, it is intrinsically interesting, too it is spectacular,

three, it will impress your friends. It heals from the Jurassic period.

They were docile creatures that grazed on plans. This specimen was

unearthed in America on private land, which meant that its export to

the UK was allowed. It has been a time`consuming process. It takes

days to take it apart and put it together again, prepare all of the

bones, etc. It was a long job. It is a female diplodocus and they have

nicknamed her Misty. She has twice the length of a double`decker bus.

There are only a handful of these fossils around the world. Even the

one at the National history Museum is a replica. We have so much more

to learn about diplodocus. Misty's buyers have been asked to `` have

asked to remain anonymous for the time being. She will eventually go

on display for all to see. A Brighton University graduate has

come up with a novel way for parents to treasure pictures of their

newborn babies by making photo frames using the mother's placenta.

Parents have found uses for the organ before, such as eating it for

health reasons, but Amanda Cotton has found a more "artistic" use for

this part of pregnancy. Mark Sanders has more.

Every picture tells a story but in this case it is the frame, it is

made from placenta. In other countries they see it as the twin or

the friend of the baby. In the UK we dismiss it. I wanted it to leak

pleasing to the eye. When you see it you perhaps don't expect it to be

the placenta. I did not want to shock people when they found out,

but just addressed their preconceptions. Amanda found a way

of adding dried and cut pieces of placenta to malt to create frames.

This is a prototype made from an animal's but one mother has already

got one on order. I can understand that people think it is a bit

disgusting, but it is going to be a really interesting thing to have and

once the child grows up to kind of explains what the will process is.

But will other mothers in Brighton put parts of our placenta on

display? Personally I think the idea of consuming it would have more

interesting results. Have you done that? And how would you feel? 15

months on, I feel quite knackered. Perhaps burying it or something, but

I am not sure about a photo frame. Knitted booties or a Teddy it is

not, but it places the placenta centrestage.

It is a creative idea. On to football now and it was a busy

night for our sides. The Gills were involved in a

five`goal thriller, Charlton recorded a much`needed victory and

Crawley couldn't find the back of the net, resulting in their manager

Richie Barker parting ways with the club. Charlie Rose has more.

Charlton took full advantage of their second chance against

Doncaster at the Valley. The original game in August was

abandoned at half`time because of heavy rain, with the Yorkshire side

leading 3`1. The scoring was opened in style, then in the 16th minute

Simon Church sealed the win. A welcome boost for Charlton. In

League one, Gillian beat Stevenage 3`2.

`` Gillingham. How about this from a man making his debut. Daniels

delighted the home crowd to make it 2`0. Three points were secured for

gelling. They were traffic. A great set piece and a great header. The

Reds recent record in League one has not been outstanding.

Late this afternoon news that manager Richie Barker has been

sacked after 15 months in the job. Spare a thought for Gillingham club

captain Adam Barratt, who managed to miss an open goal from one yard out.

You can see the ball hooked back across, in comes Barratt, and over

the bar. Good job the Gills won the game. I'm sure he's had to put up

with a fair bit of banter in the dressing room. To be fair, he's a

defender, and clearing the ball off the line is what they are trained to

do. Let us take a look at the weather.

Today, Misty and murky, a lot of cloud around. Over the next couple

of days a bit of a shift. Highs of around 10 degrees. As we go into

Friday we have got a shift. It will be much cooler, that westerly breeze

will pick up and almost gale force well and `` as well. It has stayed

dull throughout the day, there has been mist and Mark, particularly in

the morning. Temperatures creeping up. They did hit about ten on the

south coast. The winds are always very light, and relatively mild day.

Tonight we will stay frost free. A lot of cloud around. Really quite a

damp picture. Just look at these temperatures. Only dropping several

degrees from the daytime values. As we have seen at the beginning of the

week, overnight lows. Six or seven Celsius. Very mild as we start the

day on Thursday. We still have this area of high pressure, that will be

pushing its way westwards. The kid just be a little bit of patchy rain

and drizzle, particularly as we go through the afternoon. A very grey

start to the day and it stays in that vein as we head into the

afternoon. Temperatures little milder than they were at the

beginning of the week. Heading temperatures of around eight or nine

degrees. Very light winds, still from a northerly direction it will

be feeling very cold. Again as we go through tomorrow night, relatively

mild. Temperatures will mean dropping to around five or six

degrees. Mist and fog patches forming. When the cloud gets

particularly thick we might see some light patches of rain and drizzle.

Mostly dry as we start the day on Friday. The winds now from a

north`westerly direction are really going to be sickening. ``

quickening. Picking up 20`25 miles. We have some rain, then behind at a

showery picture. Temperatures around 10 degrees. It will be feeling

cooler than the temperatures suggest. On Saturday we will be

seeing more brightness, particularly in the morning, temperatures are

around 9`10 Celsius. Lots of cloud around, mostly dry. It stays that

way is going to the week as well. Letters recap tonight's top national

and local stories. David Cameron has defended his plans to curb the right

of EU migrants to receive benefits as soon as they arrive in Britain.

Travellers trying to use some of the South East's biggest travel hubs

over Christmas and New Year face major disruption.

The Gatwick Express will be closed with all express services set to be

cancelled. And a 55`foot specimen of the long`necked diplodocus went

under the hammer at Summers Place Auctions in West Sussex.

The female 19`feet`tall skeleton nicknamed Misty fetched a cool

?400,000. That's it from us. I will be back at

10:25pm. Goodbye.