:00:00. > :00:09.Good evening. over on the BBC News
:00:10. > :00:12.Good evening. The former Bishop of Lewes, Peter
:00:13. > :00:16.Ball, has become the most sdnior figure in the Church of England to
:00:17. > :00:18.be charged with historic sex abuse. The 82`year`old has also bedn
:00:19. > :00:29.charged with misconduct in public office. Peter Ball has been charged
:00:30. > :00:32.after an 18`month investigation into sex abuse at the Diocese of
:00:33. > :00:39.Chichester in the 1970s and 80s Our Home Affairs reporter Rebecca
:00:40. > :00:45.Williams has more. A former Bishop of Lewis and also Gloucester, Peter
:00:46. > :00:51.Ball who is now in his 80s has been charged with indecent assault and
:00:52. > :00:55.misconduct in public office. It follows the lengthy investigation by
:00:56. > :00:59.Sussex Police into sex abusd in the Diocese of Chichester. This is the
:01:00. > :01:04.first bishop to be charged hn this son `` country with offences such as
:01:05. > :01:09.these will stop in other cotntries we have seen bishops prosectted but
:01:10. > :01:13.in England within the Catholic Church and the Anglican Church it is
:01:14. > :01:17.the first time that a bishop has been charged now with these offences
:01:18. > :01:25.a number of years after thex took place. He is charged with mhsconduct
:01:26. > :01:30.in public office between 1977 and 1992. As well as indecent assault on
:01:31. > :01:36.a young boy in the 1970s and on a man in the 1980s. 30 years `go he
:01:37. > :01:39.was working here in the Diocese of Chichester. Today the Church's
:01:40. > :01:44.National safeguarding committee has confirmed he will be prosectted
:01:45. > :01:49.They say they'd take any allegation of sexual abuse seriously and aim to
:01:50. > :01:53.make the church safe place for all. The Right Reverend Peter Ball has an
:01:54. > :01:57.identical twin brother and was appointed the Bishop of Lewds in
:01:58. > :02:05.1977. He went on to become the Bishop of Gloucester, enthroned at a
:02:06. > :02:10.ceremony with Prince Charles and he continued to work in churchds in
:02:11. > :02:15.Somerset until 2010. It is believed this is the first time a chtrch of
:02:16. > :02:18.England bishop has been charged with child sex offences. He will appear
:02:19. > :02:27.at Brighton Magistrates' Cotrt on April the 10th. Some breaking news
:02:28. > :02:31.now. Hundreds of Eurostar p`ssengers are tonight unable to return to the
:02:32. > :02:36.UK due to an lightning strike at Ashford. The train is due b`ck
:02:37. > :02:41.tonight from the continent `re being diverted. Passengers will bd
:02:42. > :02:43.provided with accommodation in Belgium.
:02:44. > :02:52.Plans to open a grammar school annexe in Sevenoaks have suffered
:02:53. > :02:55.another setback today. After holding a public consultation, The Weald of
:02:56. > :02:58.Kent Grammar in Tonbridge h`s decided not to become
:02:59. > :03:01.co`educational. It was one of two schools told by Education Sdcretary
:03:02. > :03:04.Michael Gove that they couldn't extend into Sevenoaks as thdy were
:03:05. > :03:06.single sex and the proposed annexe was mixed.
:03:07. > :03:10.Police in Kent have launched an investigation after a death threat
:03:11. > :03:12.was sent to an MP on the social media site Twitter. Tracey Crouch,
:03:13. > :03:15.who represents Chatham and Aylesford, received the message
:03:16. > :03:18.yesterday but says she has no idea why it was sent. Online safdty
:03:19. > :03:25.campaigners say there needs to be tougher laws to protect victims of
:03:26. > :03:29.online abuse. The MP for North Thanet, Sir Roger
:03:30. > :03:33.Gale, says a letter offering to buy Manston Airport in Kent has today
:03:34. > :03:36.been sent to the current owners In July last year the airport tnveiled
:03:37. > :03:38.its 40`year vision, to incltde handling 16 million passengdrs a
:03:39. > :03:41.year. But in October Stagecoach co`founder Ann Gloag bought the
:03:42. > :03:45.financially`troubled airport and its debt for ?1. And last week ` 45`day
:03:46. > :03:51.consultation was launched into its possible closure. Well, Sar` Smith
:03:52. > :03:54.joins us live from Manston now. Sara, has there been any re`ction to
:03:55. > :04:04.the offer from the airport's owner yet?
:04:05. > :04:09.No, nothing directly so far. It is not even clear they have sedn the
:04:10. > :04:13.offer. Staff have been told by the Chief Executive that any offer will
:04:14. > :04:17.be considered closely and rdsponded to and that it would need to be
:04:18. > :04:23.sufficiently funded to ensure the ongoing costs of operating the
:04:24. > :04:27.airport would be met. From plans for expansion to a consultation to
:04:28. > :04:32.close, all within less than a year. Last week staff have said Ashraf had
:04:33. > :04:36.said they were hoping to he`r about an agreement with Ryanair btt were
:04:37. > :04:41.instead told their jobs werd on the line. Today a new deal is on the way
:04:42. > :04:45.to the owner of the airport which means their futures could bd
:04:46. > :04:52.shaved. I would not begin to say this is a done deal but I hope that
:04:53. > :04:56.the odour will respond positively to the offer that has been madd. Bigger
:04:57. > :05:01.say should have to take place and it will remain to be seen if the offer
:05:02. > :05:06.is accepted or turned down. The MP says he is not privy to any of the
:05:07. > :05:10.details but is working to bring the two sides together. The important
:05:11. > :05:14.thing is to keep the airport open and flying. A petition to s`ve it
:05:15. > :05:19.has gained more than 12,000 signatures and rather than close it
:05:20. > :05:23.supporters say it has great potential to exploit. There is room
:05:24. > :05:26.for 100 times more planes hdre than there is at the moment. It hs very
:05:27. > :05:29.close to the edge of land and you go straight out over the sea and it has
:05:30. > :05:34.some of the best weather in the country. It is quite breezy and
:05:35. > :05:40.there is far less fog than tends to afflict places like Gatwick and
:05:41. > :05:44.Heathrow. Some experts did not hear the news that Manston might close as
:05:45. > :05:47.a surprise. If you are a sm`ll airport on the edge of south`east
:05:48. > :05:52.England and you have such strong competitors not far away like
:05:53. > :05:56.Gatwick and Stansted, I am `fraid the future does not look very
:05:57. > :06:02.optimistic. Today hopes havd been raised that that is not the case
:06:03. > :06:07.after all. Now all eyes are on the owner of the airport, does she want
:06:08. > :06:11.to sell? If she does is the offer is good enough? The MP says he wants
:06:12. > :06:14.the notice of redundancy to be immediately withdrawn just to give
:06:15. > :06:17.space so that proper negoti`tions can now take place.
:06:18. > :06:20.That's it from me, we'll have the national weather forecast in a
:06:21. > :06:21.moment. But first let's get the picture in the South East whth
:06:22. > :06:26.Rachel Mackley. Rachel. picture in the
:06:27. > :06:30.Good evening. A few showers around as we went through today but they
:06:31. > :06:34.will ease tonight. There ard potentially a few tomorrow but we
:06:35. > :06:39.should stay dry foremost. Still the chilly breeze but as we get to the
:06:40. > :06:44.weekend it will feel much w`rmer. Tonight increasingly dry with
:06:45. > :06:52.clearer skies around. There is potentially mist and fog. It is
:06:53. > :06:55.quite a chilly night. Tomorrow there will be some rain around but mostly
:06:56. > :06:59.it will be to the west of us and maybe we should stay dry with just
:07:00. > :07:04.the risk of the odd shower `nd more shall shine by the afternoon. ``
:07:05. > :07:10.more sunshine by the afternoon. Figures should be `` temper`tures
:07:11. > :07:18.should be in double figures tomorrow. It will become milder A
:07:19. > :07:22.mild start on Saturday and temperatures by the afternoon could
:07:23. > :07:26.reach as high as 17 or 18 ddgrees. There will be a gentle southeasterly
:07:27. > :07:29.breeze. Sunday will have much more of the sign with `` much more of the
:07:30. > :07:31.same. weather. Now the national forecast
:07:32. > :07:43.with Nick Miller. Hello, as winter becomes spring the
:07:44. > :07:46.atmosphere contains more energy The shower clouds grow taller. If
:07:47. > :07:51.conditions are right, you get thunder storms. There have been some
:07:52. > :07:57.today. Bob took this picture near London this afternoon. The spring
:07:58. > :08:02.flowers will appreciate the re turn return of warmth. Until then big
:08:03. > :08:06.showers to come, pushing in across south-west England - some hail and
:08:07. > :08:11.thunder. Sleet and snow on to the top of the moors.
:08:12. > :08:15.From Norfolk to coastal England into Northern Ireland. Elsewhere, one or
:08:16. > :08:21.two showers around. Where you are clear for a time, you will see a
:08:22. > :08:22.touch of frost here and there. Patchy mist and fog all in the mix