:00:00. > :00:00.There is more throughout the evening on the BBC News Channel. We are back
:00:00. > :00:15.Good evening. As thousands of people with the
:00:16. > :00:18.Good evening. As thousands of people have been enjoying the Bank Holiday
:00:19. > :00:22.sunshine, there are fresh warnings about the dangers of cliff falls in
:00:23. > :00:25.Sussex. Heavy rainfall in the winter led to the National Trust saying
:00:26. > :00:28.there had been seven years of erosion in two months. Experts today
:00:29. > :00:32.said the cliffs are now more dangerous than ever but people still
:00:33. > :00:38.seem to be ignoring the warnings. Juliette Parkin reports.
:00:39. > :00:42.Posing on the edge. Just feet away from a crack and on a clifftop that
:00:43. > :00:45.is eroding at a faster rate than ever. Despite the warm weather,
:00:46. > :00:51.those who have studied this coastline for years say there are
:00:52. > :00:57.still many dangers. Don't sit under the cliffs. So many people sit right
:00:58. > :01:00.under the base of the cliff and that is very dangerous. Look at the
:01:01. > :01:03.cliffs, see if there are any obvious opening fractures and don't go
:01:04. > :01:07.anywhere near them because they can come down at any time.
:01:08. > :01:12.Heavy rainfall over winter led to an unprecedented rate of erosion at
:01:13. > :01:15.Birling Gap. Cliffs along the coast also surrendered to the elements.
:01:16. > :01:21.Fractures drying out and expanding mean that warnings are still in
:01:22. > :01:25.place. Just the other side of this are a number of large cracks on the
:01:26. > :01:29.cliff edge, but that hasn't stopped hundreds of people coming up today
:01:30. > :01:34.to take a look. If you look over the edge, you can
:01:35. > :01:40.see some great big cracks. Don't get too close. I don't think we will go
:01:41. > :01:43.close to the edge. It is a bit of a concern. It was slightly weird
:01:44. > :01:46.sitting underneath the cliff where it was overhanging so I've moved
:01:47. > :01:49.away. Apart from that, I'm sure it's OK.
:01:50. > :01:52.Elsewhere, some welcome bank holiday sunshine for the businesses still
:01:53. > :01:57.licking their wounds from the Christmas floods. The Anchor Inn at
:01:58. > :02:01.Barcombe near Lewes was cut off at critical time for trade.
:02:02. > :02:10.Christmas Eve we came downstairs and found the pub knee deep in water
:02:11. > :02:14.which was a bit of a shock. It totally killed us for that period.
:02:15. > :02:18.Christmas bookings, we had to cancel them all.
:02:19. > :02:26.A good day for the tourist trade, but a plea also to respect winter's
:02:27. > :02:30.aftermath. BBC South East Today has learnt this
:02:31. > :02:34.evening that the latest offer to buy Manston Airport has been rejected by
:02:35. > :02:37.the owners. The present owners said this afternoon that the consortium
:02:38. > :02:42.who tried to broker a deal failed to substantiate their proposals. There
:02:43. > :02:45.are concerns the airport will close. Another bid to buy it was withdrawn
:02:46. > :03:00.last month. Manston's owners say they will still consider credible
:03:01. > :03:03.and viable offers. A review has been ordered into an
:03:04. > :03:07.armed robber dubbed the Skull Cracker who has gone missing after
:03:08. > :03:10.he was temporarily allowed out of an open prison in Kent. Michael
:03:11. > :03:13.Wheatley, who's 55, was given 13 life sentences at the Old Bailey for
:03:14. > :03:16.a string of raids on banks and building societies. He's failed to
:03:17. > :03:19.return to Standford Hill open prison on the Isle of Sheppey. Piers
:03:20. > :03:21.Hopkirk reports. Michael Wheatley earned the nickname
:03:22. > :03:24.skull cracker for pistol whipping his victims. The prolific armed
:03:25. > :03:29.raider is serving 13 life sentences for a string of violent robberies.
:03:30. > :03:33.But two days ago, he was allowed to walk out of Standford Hill Prison on
:03:34. > :03:37.the Isle Sheppey and did not return. Why on earth was he put in an open
:03:38. > :03:41.prison if he was meant to be in jail for 13 life sentences for armed
:03:42. > :03:44.robbery? I think if we are going to get control of sentencing, we need
:03:45. > :03:47.Parliament to control the sentencing guidelines Council and actually make
:03:48. > :03:49.the decisions of what's an appropriate sentence for what type
:03:50. > :03:52.of crime. Standford Hill is a category D
:03:53. > :03:57.prison, an open prison, supposedly for offenders at a low risk of
:03:58. > :04:00.escape. On Saturday, Michael Wheatley was granted a temporary
:04:01. > :04:09.licence, in effect a short`term pass from prison. But he never came back.
:04:10. > :04:18.What do you think of the system? Rubbish. If he's that dangerous, he
:04:19. > :04:24.should be under lock and key. I don't think he should be in open
:04:25. > :04:29.prison. There's no way they should be out into the community. How
:04:30. > :04:35.worrying is that someone with such a prolific criminal record is now at
:04:36. > :04:38.large? It is very worrying. A prison service spokesperson said
:04:39. > :04:41.tonight we are toughening up the release on temporary licence scheme
:04:42. > :04:46.so that prisoners will be subject to stricter risk assessments and
:04:47. > :04:48.tagged. Tonight, Wheatley remains on the run. Police have warned the
:04:49. > :05:00.public not to approach him. Stars from the world of tennis will
:05:01. > :05:04.assemble in Eastbourne next month to pay tribute to Elena Baltacha who's
:05:05. > :05:07.died from liver cancer at the age of 30. Martina Navratilova, Heather
:05:08. > :05:11.Watson and Andy Murray will take part in the Rally for Bally on June
:05:12. > :05:13.the 15th. Elena was a regular player at the Eastbourne Aegon
:05:14. > :05:18.International and competed at last year's event.
:05:19. > :05:21.Brighton and Hove Albion say it's been inundated with calls since
:05:22. > :05:24.tickets went on sale this morning for the play`offs. The Seagulls face
:05:25. > :05:28.Derby County at the Amex in the first semi final on Thursday. And if
:05:29. > :05:31.the Albion do go up, it's being advised to be ready with the cheque
:05:32. > :05:35.book. When you go up into the higher
:05:36. > :05:39.leagues, you need to go out and buy quality. I think if Brighton do get
:05:40. > :05:42.into the Premier League, they will need to go out and buy some
:05:43. > :05:46.recognised names that fans would have heard of. It might cost a few
:05:47. > :05:49.quid, but would help to secure premiership football.
:05:50. > :05:52.And you can find out more on the preparations for the play`offs in
:05:53. > :05:56.Late Kick off tonight which, true to its name, is on at 11.35 on BBC One.
:05:57. > :05:58.Now it's been a glorious bank holiday. Kaddy, what's the rest of
:05:59. > :06:06.the week got in store for us? the week got in store
:06:07. > :06:14.We have been lucky this weekend. But there is change afoot. The cloud is
:06:15. > :06:19.increasing and rain is on the way. It will not be here for a few years.
:06:20. > :06:26.If you are still out enjoying bank holiday Monday, you should stay
:06:27. > :06:31.dry. The brain will not arrive until one or two o'clock in the morning
:06:32. > :06:37.and it should clear before five in the morning. Temperatures will stay
:06:38. > :06:44.mild. A cloudy but mild start of the day tomorrow. A slight chance of a
:06:45. > :06:49.shower tomorrow, but most of us will have another lovely day with great
:06:50. > :06:54.sunny spells. But that frees will start to pick up and that is what
:06:55. > :06:55.legal notice later in the week. More rain from Thursday onwards and
:06:56. > :06:59.strong winds. That's all from the news team here.
:07:00. > :07:10.I'm back with your late news at 10.25. Have a very good evening.
:07:11. > :07:15.The sunshine today for the bank holiday produced the highest
:07:16. > :07:19.temperature of the long weekend in eastern England today, at 20
:07:20. > :07:20.Celsius. But to the west, the cloud