25/04/2017 South East Today

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

One year after it started, we reveal the Southern dispute

The knock-on effect for the general public has probably been greater now

than during the miners' dispute of 30 years ago.

of thousands of passengers and affected businesses

We'll be live in Brighton with reaction.

Bitten by a shark - her family in Kent say they feared

I can only say how relieved I was. We came close to losing a daughter.

The worst case of fly-tipping seen in Kent in years and appeals

for help in tracking down the culprits.

And it is blooming lovely at Hever Castle. How the warm weather couple

of weeks ago has brought about a spectacular early show of tulips.

Tomorrow marks one year since the start of the RMT union's

strike action with Southern Railways - the longest running

The disagreement is over the introduction of

driver-only operation, but for commuters caught up

in the row, it's meant unreliable, overcrowded services

and for some the loss of jobs, even relationships.

This programme can reveal that the disruption

is estimated to have cost the south-east economy ?341 million.

The Sussex Chamber of Commerce says today

catering and hospitality on the south cost is down 30%.

Tomorrow, union members will be demonstrating

outside Parliament, saying their fight for

The company has said previously that safety isn't being compromised

It is shameful action being taken by the union leaders here.

There is a complete lack of trust of Southern and members do not

believe Southern will keep to their side of the bargain.

We think that the strikes are absolutely unnecessary and I call

upon the trade unions to consider calling off the strikes even

They have offered a bribe to our members.

Our members have told us that they don't want to consider money.

They can keep their money if they wish.

It remains one of the UK's most protracted industrial

disputes and tomorrow, an anniversary that no-one

Horrendous. Really awful.

Not been able to collect my children from school.

Having to get other people to get them at the last minute.

Sometimes not getting home until nine or ten

I am self-employed, so I have probably lost out on thousands,

basically, because I have not been able to get to work.

It has been pretty horrendous and has not got any better,

So, yeah, it has been life-changing for a lot of people, I would say.

Not since the miners' strike has an industrial dispute

rumbled on for so long, so why has it proved so intractable?

This professor is an expert in industrial relations.

I think, behind-the-scenes, rather like in the miners'

strike 30 years ago, the Government has tried

to force management to take a pretty tough line.

In this case, of course, with the franchise arrangements

of Southern Rail, the Government has quite a strong hand to play

with management in being tough with the unions.

So it is a very intractable, intransient situation.

At the heart of the dispute, the introduction of driver-only

operated trains and the changes to the roles and responsibilities

It was April the 26th last year that RMT conductors on Southern

On December the 13th, the train drivers' union Aslef began

the first of six days of action by their members.

Today, 364 days on, still no resolution

The strike is believed to have cost the economy ?340 million.

But there has been an immeasurable human impact as well.

Heather's three-year-old son Charlie has cystic fibrosis.

On strike days, they face a six-hour car journey

from East Grinstead to London and back for vital

Annoyed, frustrated, I just accept it for how it is.

I mean, the impact on my family is huge.

I would call on both sides to carry on talks,

Compromise is always needed on both sides.

This is the worst performing franchise in the country and yet it

has been allowed to run on. They should have cancelled it a long time

ago. So, as an unwelcome

anniversary dawns, there The spate of strikes and other

issues such as staff shortages led to almost 59,000 Southern services

being either fully And the taxpayer has effectively

footed the bill of ?38 million lost in fare revenue

as Southern's parent company, Govia Thameslink Railway,

is being paid by the Government It's the worst industrial action

to hit the rail industry for 23 years and is Britain's

longest-running dispute since since the miners' strike

in the 1980s. Well, Juliette Parkin joins us live

from Brighton railway station. It's fair to say Juliette that this

strike has had an enormous effect on people living and working

in the south east? Yes, that is right. We have been

reporting from stations across the south-east since this dispute began.

In Brighton, we have seen businesses fold on the station concourse due to

the strikes and following commuter numbers. People have lost jobs,

parents have been struggling to get all night after night to see

children. We have also seen coastal services between here and places

like Eastbourne and Seaford cut and replaced by buses for weeks on end,

leading to one MP even calling for the army to be drafted in to help

commuters get from A to B. So where are we now? TalkSPORT in the RMT

union and Southern have been adjourned this week and we

understand that they are due to reconvene next week. -- talks

between. The RMT say that driver only trains are not safe. They say

there should be a critical member of staff on board at all times. People

here cannot believe this dispute has gone on for quite so long. OK,

Julia, thank you very much. Well, many of you have been

contacting us about this bitter Terry Crompo says if the talks fail

yet again and the Department of Transport doesn't act,

it could have political consequences Barrie Tamkin isn't holding

out much hope, he says. He thinks a completely new idea

that breaks all sides' Brian Bancroft says,

leave the safe operation of trains to those that know

what they are talking You can join our debate

on our Facebook page and on Twitter. The 16-year-old who died in prison

after an epileptic fit. His father asks whether staff

could have saved his life. A father from Deal has been speaking

about the the shock at finding out his daughter had been attacked

by a shark and saying the family Frankie Gonsalves was

snorkelling in the Atlantic near Ascension Island

when she was bitten on Friday. Amazingly, she was saved

by her husband punching the shark She will now be flown back to the UK

for medical treatment but its feared her injries

could be life-altering. This is Frankie Gonsalves swimming

off the coast of Ascension Island, a photo taken by a friend

before the attack. She and her family were swimming

in the same waters last Friday Her husband, Dean,

came to her rescue. A dramatic scene he then described

in a phone call to Frankie's father Dean heard Frankie scream.

She had been attacked. Her leg had been seized by the shark

and he went to her aid and got the shark to release her by punching

the shark repeatedly on the head. And getting her to

The children were there and saw it all and were obviously shocked.

Ascension Island is part of St Helena, a British Overseas Territory

more than 1000 miles off the west coast of Africa.

Frankie is working there and was heading home

The advice for people swimming in unknown waters is simple.

Just say to anyone when they go anywhere, make sure they do

their research about the area that they are going swimming in.

Of course, shark attacks on people are rare.

This footage shows a surfer fighting off a shark attack in Australia.

In Frankie's case, the shark bit into a calf muscle

She is currently recovering in hospital from where

She was tearful and emotional to begin with.

But then she just told the story exactly as Dean had.

Having come close to losing a daughter, and we are grateful

that she will get away without losing her leg.

Frankie's husband and two children are returning to the UK by boat.

Frankie is being medivaced back to the UK tomorrow.

The issue of so-called "sex for rent", uncovered

by an investigation by this programme, has been

The MP for Hove, Peter Kyle, asked the Justice Secretary for support

in tackling adverts that offer free accommodation in exchange for sex.

Charities say the practice exploits vulnerable,

Websites such as Craigslist are being used by corrupt

individuals to advertise free accommodation in return for sex.

Will the Secretary of State agree that this is happening

at the moment within the law, and a review needs to take place

that will ensure people who are doing this and exploiting

extremely vulnerable young women will feel the full force of the law?

I agree with the honourable gentleman that this

is concerning and I am very happy to look at that issue.

40 vehicles were stopped on the A27 near Lewes today as part

of an operation to crack down on the use of illegal

One driver was found to be transporting waste

All the vehicles had their fuel tested to make sure they weren't

using illegal red diesel, which hasn't been fully taxed.

Police are investigating one of the worst cases

of fly-tipping ever seen in Kent, which has blighted an area close

to one of the country's best known beauty spots.

They're working with Canterbury City Council to find

out how a large pile of fridges, tyres and other rubbish were dumped

They have no idea at all. It is not surprising because it took us about

an hour and a half to find a letter earlier today. It is very well

concealed. Nothing, frankly, prepares you for the site of 50

fridges buried deep amongst the beautiful Kent countryside.

East of Canterbury city centre, there is a woodland area that has

been turned into a waste dump for fly-tippers. It is impossible to say

how many through June as there are here, but there are dozens along

with other items of rubbish that simple do not belong here. Whoever

did this and created this mess probably did it over a long period

of time. The worst part is, just over there, a couple of yards away

is an area of outstanding natural beauty. It has been like that for

years. Nobody has ever bothered to clear them. The council have never

bothered to clear them. To be honest, I have never seen it as bad

as that. I did not even know they were there. It is not nice but I did

not know that they were there until I saw it on social media. Play area.

It as dangerous as well. It is not fair on children. This latest

example of fly-tipping has been described as one of the worst in the

county of Kent. The City Council says it was only told about it last

week. We're really disappointed, yet again, to be victims of this

criminal activity. We can fly-tipping as a crime in legal

terms and we are disappointed that the council taxpayer yet again has

to face the cost of cleaning up else's mess. There are scores of

fly-tipping incidents across the area every year. This one in

Canterbury again illustrates how difficult it is to catch the

perpetrators in the act and then present the evidence to ensure

successful prosecution. The people who created this mess are long gone

and will probably never be phone. The units will be moved at

considerable expense. -- found. The question is how to stop it happening

again. Part of the answer is to increase

levels of protection and deterrent. We have only moved about 50 yards

away from the fridge and what the council has done is bought this

area. What it wants to do is to try and turn this into a river walkway.

That way, it will be used by walkers and cyclists who can protect this

beautiful part of Kent. There were dramatic scenes

at a cornoner's court today after a grieving father asked

an inquest whether his son was killed by the Prison Service,

rather than epilepsy. Daniel Adewole, who was 16,

died at Cookham Wood jail He suffered a sudden

unexpected death in epilepsy. His father wants to know

whether more could have been Simon Jones reports from

the Coroner's Court in Maidstone. Daniel's father held up his phone in

court, saying that he wanted people to see a picture of his son who he

had taken care since he was a baby. His question, did the prison Service

take care of Daniel? In African culture, you played that your son

would bury you. In my case, unfortunately, I buried my son. It

will live with me forever, and -- until I leave this earth. Daniel did

not respond to roll call to check he was in his cell. His cell was kicked

three times at 5:53 a.m.. A further five attempts to raise him failed

and officers went into his cell at 6:31 a.m.. After attempts to revive

him failed, life was formally pronounced extinct at 7:44 a.m..

Prison officer Phil O'Neill, when he could not see or wake Daniel, 40

were sleeping under the floor of his cover. He went to a cigarette after

checking on him. This woman, when checking the cell, helped get him

CPR and said she had not been told Daniel was epileptic. She had not

been given formal first aid training. It was found that Daniel

was likely dead before he was found. In court, Daniel's father asked...

He believed Daniel had died at least 30 minutes and possibly some hours

before he was found. The inquest continues.

Well, we can speak to Simon who's at the coroner's court in Maidstone.

So are we any clearer when exactly Daniel died?

A pathologist told the inquest today that if you watch TV programmes like

CSI, you expect to be told a specific time of death down to the

minute. In reality, it does not work like that. Pathologists satyrs

difficult -- say that it is difficult to have an exact time, but

the doctor said Daniel was likely dead for some time before he was

found. The coroner will deliver her findings tomorrow morning.

The Southern rail strikes, which began one year ago tomorrow,

have cost the south-east economy ?341 million.

We can reveal the dispute has led to a fall of 30% in the catering

and hospitality industry on the Sussex coast.

Also tonight... Blooming in early. How the unusually warm spring

weather brought out his big tackle alert display of tulips at the

castle. And despite sunshine, it still felt

cold with the northerly winds. More of the same as we had through

tomorrow. I will have the details in the forecast later in the programme

for you. One week into the general election

campaign, it's perhaps easy to forget the other date

in the democratic calendar - Our political editor

Helen Catt is with us to talk us through which areas

are going to the polls. Campaigning for that snap general

eleciton is already well under way, sending the political

parties into a frenzy sending the political parties

into a frenzy of activity. But next week there's another

election involving many of us The county council elections take

place next Thursday with voters going to the polls in Kent,

East Sussex, West There have been some boundary

changes affecting some of the wards, but votes will be counted

in the usual districts such We've already heard from Ukip

about their local election plans. But it is the conservatives who

currently run all other county councils. -- all of our.

They have 46 of the 84 seats in Kent, 43 out

the 71 in West Sussex, 59 out of 81 in Surrey and 21 out

of the 49 seats in East Sussex, where they run what's called

They all talk of needing to carry on the work they've already been

doing to provide services and to invest in people

We look after the most vulnerable and deliver the services in the most

cost-effective way and with partnership. At the end of the day,

we're not precious about how we get those services delivered. If that is

in partnership with other councils and organisations, so be it.

Labour, which currently has 7 council seats in East Sussex,

1 in Surrey, 6 in West Sussex and 12 in Kent, says that their councillors

help to hold the ruling Conservatives to account

and say they will be there to scrutinise decisions

We want to keep those Labour voters and we want them to keep voting

Labour. And then we want to build on the numbers. If we do that, and we

are honest to the electorate and deliver what we say we will deliver,

I am absolutely sure that those votes will increase and eventually

the Conservatives will have a real fight on their hands.

The Liberal Democrats hold seats on all of our councils, too.

In Kent, they have 7 of the 84 seats, in Surrey, they have 9 seats,

they have 9 seats, in West Sussex, they have 7 seats and in East Sussex

they are the official opposition with 10 of the 49 seats

We ensure we know local issues and speak to local people to address

issues and their behalf. In particular, we have been campaigning

to reduce the impact of the Conservative Party cuts across

south-east, and services that impact on so much of the vulnerable and

most needy in our society. The other party besides Ukip,

whom we've already spoken to, which is fielding candidates

in all of the councils The say their focus is on providing

decent jobs for residents with accessible transport

for all and with sound Then there are the other smaller

parties, residents' associations and independents which are putting

up candidates at a more local level. All of the information

about candidates can be found Thank you very much. After such a

chilly start the morning, might be hard to remember a couple of weeks

ago we were basking in sunny, warm weather. But it has meant some

flowers have, Pelle than usual this year. -- have come up earlier than

usual. At Hever Castle they've

begun their annual tulip celebration ahead of schedule -

they have more than seven thousand of them in flower -

and Chrissie Reidy has been enjoying of gardeners to look

after all those. They do. They work here all year

round and last year planted some 7000 chilly bulbs. They flowered

beautifully behind me and as you said, thanks to the exceedingly warm

weather a few weeks ago, they have flowered early. -- 7000 tulip bulbs.

A kaleidoscope of colour agrees you at Hever Castle Gardens.

This year, mother nature has been on our side.

The tulips are well and truly out now.

But the show this year is second to none.

Visitors today welcomed the splash of colour.

The colour of the tulips really stands out well.

I love the way that they mixed the brightness in long, straight

Huge lengths of bright orange planted.

60 varieties were planted late last year. These are my favourites, these

two. This is the Queen of the night, and alongside it, the ice cream. It

is called that because of the way the bud flowers.

When you think of roses, there are lots of different colours but you do

not get all the strikes, various other plant science robs -- plants

and shrubs. But you can go from black to orange, all the way through

the spectrum. They can flow from March to May. Chile 's came to

England during the 16th century. You could show off your wealth by

having these flowers and you would have images of the flower, you would

wear them in your here, and your different ways of showing off

wealth. It is a carpet of colour standing to attention as the sole

cop the sunshine. -- as they soak up.

Quite a spectacle here that either castle and gardens. The visitors I

spoke to were delighted and very enthusiastic about the celebration

of tulips. If you want to check it out next week, you can come along.

It is not on over the bank holiday weekend but it picks up the week

after. Those poor flowers came out in

bright, warm weather and now we have an Arctic blast!

Yes, it will be really chilly in the next few days. This morning was a

glorious although cold start of the day. The Arctic are giving us clear

skies but in real sports, laws of minus one. We have seen a good deal

of sunshine through the morning as well, but through the afternoon, we

saw more than the way of cloud cover. Northerly winds were picking

up at around 10-15 mph, really taking the edge off temperatures.

Today, temperature struggled to 1011 Celsius and it was feeling much

cooler than that where you so scattered showers. Exposed spots

feeling more like four or five Celsius. Through tonight, scattered

showers continue and we get temperatures plummeting where you

see clear skies. Once again, in more rural sports, potentially getting as

low as -1 or minus two Celsius, hovering around two or three in

towns and cities. There are more scattered showers initially, mostly

dry once again as we start the day for Wednesday. Quite a sum lost art

of the day. Clear skies but again it will be feeling really cold. This

northerly airflow stays with us. Again, scattered showers and

potentially hailstones mixed in. The odd rumble of thunder. And actually

for tomorrow, particularly during the afternoon, more in the way of

scattered showers around. This is the picture first thing. A good deal

of brightness and begin a frosty start, particularly in rural sports.

Through the afternoon, lots of blue on the map. Scattered showers

merging into longer spells of rain. Temperatures once again, nine, 10

Celsius. With this northerly airflow, it will be feeling more

like four or five. Through Wednesday into Thursday, scattered showers for

a time. Eventually, they will be easing. As we get was early as once

again on Thursday morning, we see clear skies and temperatures once

again falling away. Dropping to one or two Celsius in towns and cities

and maybe -2 -3 and moral spots. A hard frost as we start the day for

Thursday and there is a change in the air as we had through the day.

It was a dry start but we will see this band of rain soon after. We

will then see milder Ehrlich looking bank holiday weekend and high

pressure builds back in again. Saturday is a pretty decent day. Do

make the most of it, I am afraid this is heading our way as we move

toward Sunday. It clears eventually but it is a wet picture as we start

the day for Monday. In the next few days, lots of sunshine, really

chilly start of the day tomorrow, decent scattered showers around and

some hailstones. Towards the bank holiday weekend, the sunshine is

back. I think that is a bit of extra

living -- everything! Nothing that you left out, Rachel.

That is it from us for now. I will be back for the late news at to five

p.m.. Just now, we will leave you with the pictures from Hever Castle.

-- 10:30 p.m..