14/04/2017 South East Today

It's been a difficult day for people travelling by train at the start

of their Easter break, with more problems ahead over

Southern, Southeastern and Gatwick Express

are all using the absence of commuters over Easter as a chance

weekend, so it must mean engineering works.

And at the heart of most of the disruption for those in the

south-east is the huge Thameslink programme at London Bridge,

now four years in, and due to be completed next summer.

On the Friday and Saturday, for both the Charing

Cross and Cannon Street lines, they won't be travelling from London

Bridge here, and on the Sunday morning, we reopen the Charing Cross

services but the Cannon Street services remain closed, and will

reopen for the start of business on Tuesday morning.

At Tonbridge today, most trains have been running,

although it's been replacement buses for those heading to Sevenoaks.

Millions of pounds are being spent on 200 engineering projects this

Easter, with the south-east one of the worst affected regions.

Among other disruptions, there are no

Southern trains at all going to Victoria on Sunday.

There is no Gatwick Express, and Southeastern

But as Network Rail points out, the holiday

means numbers using the trains drop by half,

are sympathetic over the timing of the engineering works.

There would be hell to pay if they did it in

peak hours when people are trying to get to

and from work, so yes, the

work's got to be done, so we have to put up

They need to do it, but if they can minimise as much as possible

Everyone should be happy, they're not working

The main challenge, making sure all the work is completed by Tuesday

Sarah Smith, BBC South East today, Tonbridge.

A man has been airlifted to hospital after a car hit

It happened just after 3:00 this afternoon on the A296

The most seriously injured man was taken to Kings College

Three other people were treated at the scene.

A young woman from Upnor in North Kent is preparing

for the biggest challenge of her life next month -

walking down the aisle on her wedding day.

Jessica Taylor Bearman says it'll be like running a marathon,

because for the last 11 years, she's been largely bedridden,

suffering from a severe form of the chronic

As Peter Whittlesea reports, she's now written a book

In just a few weeks, Jessica Taylor Bearman is determined

to walk down the aisle as she marries her fiance

Samuel, proving that she won't be overcome by her severe form of ME.

It has taken me nearly two years to learn how to walk again.

The task of walking down the aisle is like me

running a marathon and training for that.

I've been bedridden for so long that it is very hard to stand

I have to do things to help my blood pressure so that I

She's also written a book documenting her battle with ME,

and hopes it will inspire others never to give up hope.

"I had never even heard of such a condition until

2006, and had absolutely no idea of the symptoms or what it

The book is really important, because it covers the

years of my life from 2006-2010, where I was literally locked in my

But since then, Jessica has set up a charity

providing days out for children with severe medical conditions.

Her fiance says she's an inspiration.

Amazing to get to know someone as special as Jessica.

We constantly get messages of support and people

saying how much they look up to her and respect her for what she does,

and how she puts herself out there and shows other people not

just the bad side but the good and the bad.

And Jessica says for her, walking down the aisle will be more

symbolic than just taking the next step in her life.

Peter Whittlesea, BBC South East today, Upnor.

It's made of rosewood and brass, and is causing a lot of excitement

at Brighton Pavilion - a piano that may have been played

by King George IV himself has been returned to the king's favourite

palace after an absence of 175 years.

It's just been secured at auction for ?62,000.

He was perhaps the greatest royal patron of the arts.

George IV loved dining, drinking, dancing and music.

His piano, extremely expensive and flamboyant,

When we heard that this piano was coming up for sale,

we thought, "This is something we absolutely must acquire".

And so I'm absolutely delighted that it's back

here for the first time in 175 years.

Built in 1821 by Thomas Tomkison, rosewood inlaid with brass.

The piano has only been back a couple of days.

This painting shows its original position in the

There's so much detail on this piano, and these

mythological creatures were only identified the day before yesterday

as griffins, and griffins were sacred to the god Apollo, and of

course Apollo is so synonymous with music.

It is wonderful having this back, because hopefully, if we make

it fully playable, it will be the only historical instrument

original to this building that can be played.

Sold for ?62,000, it was solely funded by grants and trusts.

The piano may have been played by composer Franz Liszt

Claudia Sermbezis, BBC South East Today, Brighton.

Football, and promotion remains tantalisingly close for Brighton,

Two goals from Anthony Knockaert secured them all three points.

their rivals Huddersfield also picked up the three points.

In League One Gillingham, at home beat

Charlton Athletic drew 1-1 against Coventry City.

it was a 0-0 draw for Crawley, hosting Cheltenham.

The weather not too bad so far, let's see what's coming up.

Yesterday I mentioned uncertainties in the forecast on there have been

changes. Before we get about, the morning started off with glorious

sunshine but the cloud built throughout the day and through the

night to night will continue with thickening cloud bringing patchy,

light outbreaks of rain, holding temperatures around eight or 9

degrees, not as cold as recent night. A fairly grey over start cut

-- overcast started tomorrow, perhaps early showers but clearing

quickly, by mid-morning it becomes drier and brighter with sunny spells

for the afternoon but still keeping a cool feel, wind coming down from

the north-west keeping temperatures 11 to 12 degrees. Changes on Easter

Day mean early brightness but cloud is expected to increase throughout

the afternoon with maybe the odd spot of rain later in the day. Top

temperatures expected around 13 degrees.

That's it from us for now. We will be back at 10:20pm. See you then.

Goodbye. To think that this time last

weekend, temperatures were in the 20s. They got up to 25.5. Much

cooler across the country this weekend. And this headline is true

for the weather next week. That cool air stream from the north will

persist. The mild air tries to get in, but never really wins. What have

we got for the rest of today? The rain we had across Wales earlier

will move southwards, but once the rain reaches you, it will be much

lighter. Across many northern areas, the skies