:00:00. > :00:00.Today's main headlines in the South East...
:00:00. > :00:07.The Kent woman killed on holiday in Brazil - three years on,
:00:08. > :00:13.her travel company admits lhability and apologises to her familx.
:00:14. > :00:16.The RMT calls off a day of strike action after an appeal
:00:17. > :00:22.but the Lewes Bonfire will still be hit.
:00:23. > :00:34.And lots of mostly dry if chilly weather as we move toward the
:00:35. > :00:42.weekend. Three years after Gillian Mdtcalf
:00:43. > :00:46.from Tenterden was killed in a boating tragedy in Brazil,
:00:47. > :00:49.the travel firm involved - Audley Travel - has admitted
:00:50. > :00:53.full liability, opening Her widower, Charlie Metcalf,
:00:54. > :00:58.says the long delay has caused Two Brazilian men have been
:00:59. > :01:03.convicted of manslaughter for their role in the inciddnt,
:01:04. > :01:07.when the boat the Metcalf f`mily were on was involved
:01:08. > :01:10.in a high-speed collision in 20 3. For Charlie Metcalf,
:01:11. > :01:18.this decision has taken too long. It's kind of locked us
:01:19. > :01:24.into what happened. And as it's unnecessary,
:01:25. > :01:28.it just seems a little bit cruel. I'm not seething with anger
:01:29. > :01:33.because it's taken so long, you just, you kind of, in a way
:01:34. > :01:38.switch off, you know you have It has been three years
:01:39. > :01:47.since his wife Gillian died in a boat crash in Brazil
:01:48. > :01:50.while they were on holiday. The trip was booked
:01:51. > :01:53.through the company Audley Travel. And it's only now it is admhtting
:01:54. > :01:58.liability for Gillian's death. I've actually had no communhcation
:01:59. > :02:02.with Audley travel or their lawyers. The company say they are
:02:03. > :02:12.disappointed Mr Metcalf I think we've been surprised at how
:02:13. > :02:18.long it's taken. We wished it could have
:02:19. > :02:20.moved more quickly. We were very sad and surprised
:02:21. > :02:24.to hear that the Metcalfs felt that we hadn't
:02:25. > :02:28.helped them adequately. But for Charlie and his two
:02:29. > :02:37.daughters, Natasha and Alicd, it has been a difficult journey
:02:38. > :02:41.to get to this point. It's going through it
:02:42. > :02:44.all over again. So, however immune you think
:02:45. > :02:49.you have become, however yot can try and detach yourself, when you hear
:02:50. > :02:54.the facts and you remember what happened, of course
:02:55. > :02:57.it brings it back. But the company's decision
:02:58. > :03:02.is a significant milestone. For the family, it's
:03:03. > :03:04.an enormous victory. Not only will they get compdnsation,
:03:05. > :03:07.it's a justification of all the efforts they havd put
:03:08. > :03:10.in to get justice But the loss of Gillian
:03:11. > :03:15.will never go away. My daughters have done
:03:16. > :03:17.fantastically well. So, you know, they are
:03:18. > :03:21.a credit to themselves, The RMT Union has called off one
:03:22. > :03:37.day of strike action - after a direct plea
:03:38. > :03:39.from the Royal British Legion. The strike on Southern Rail
:03:40. > :03:43.on the 3rd of November would have clashed with the first day of this
:03:44. > :03:46.year's Poppy Appeal. However, the strike action
:03:47. > :03:49.will still go ahead Southern's announced it will be able
:03:50. > :03:58.to restore more services Its latest three-day strike ends
:03:59. > :04:02.at midnight tonight. However, after pressure
:04:03. > :04:06.from the British Legion, the RMT agreed this lunchtile
:04:07. > :04:08.to suspend its strike on November third, which will
:04:09. > :04:12.be London Poppy Day. I think the fact that the RLT has
:04:13. > :04:15.cancelled one of its strike date has Passengers will want as much respite
:04:16. > :04:20.as they possibly can from this. It seems to be just a temporary
:04:21. > :04:24.truce and the industrial Negotiations are apparently
:04:25. > :04:29.deadlocked - on Monday the tnion rejected an offer of ?2,000
:04:30. > :04:33.for each of its members A spokesman for Southern Rahl says
:04:34. > :04:38.they are disappointed that RMT still plans to push ahead
:04:39. > :04:42.with the other days of strike action and says they are repeating
:04:43. > :04:46.their call for the RMT to sde sense, "end this futile action,
:04:47. > :04:49.and put our generous offer They've offered a bribe
:04:50. > :04:54.to our members. Our members have told us
:04:55. > :04:56.that they don't want They can keep their
:04:57. > :05:01.money, if they wish. They need to make a proposal
:05:02. > :05:05.about a safe railway and when they do that,
:05:06. > :05:07.we can consider working The dispute, over the futurd role
:05:08. > :05:11.of conductors, has caused months So what do they think about the news
:05:12. > :05:15.that the next strike It's getting very frustrating that
:05:16. > :05:19.every week now, you get the bus replacement
:05:20. > :05:22.and everything. I can understand why they'rd doing
:05:23. > :05:26.it, for safety reasons. It's being thwarted by both
:05:27. > :05:34.sides, it seems to me. Government should step
:05:35. > :05:40.in and do something. So a cautious welcome
:05:41. > :05:46.to this temporary reprieve. Claudia Sermbezis joins us now
:05:47. > :05:49.from Lewes station . Claudia, the strike is still
:05:50. > :05:53.on for the fourth and fifth of November -
:05:54. > :06:09.how concerned are the organhsers They are very concerned. As you can
:06:10. > :06:13.imagine. On November five, outside Lewes train station, it is packed.
:06:14. > :06:18.Thousands and thousands of people travel here to enjoy the
:06:19. > :06:23.celebrations here at Lewes. If there is a train strike, how will people
:06:24. > :06:27.travel here? So people are concerned. I have reported on this
:06:28. > :06:32.story several times now and every time I report on it, people say they
:06:33. > :06:37.are tired of it, they are frustrated and it is really affecting their
:06:38. > :06:41.lives. It is also important to point out that the cancelled strike on
:06:42. > :06:46.November three, that is a concession by the union to the British Legion,
:06:47. > :06:48.it is not suggesting there hs any end insight.
:06:49. > :06:50.Kent's fruit farmers say they are already dealing
:06:51. > :06:53.with the impact of the decision to leave the EU.
:06:54. > :06:55.With recruitment agencies rdporting that they're struggling to find
:06:56. > :06:57.enough seasonal workers to pick their apples and pe`rs.
:06:58. > :07:00.Agencies say that potential workers feel they might not be welcome
:07:01. > :07:03.and they're also blaming thd fall in the value of the pound.
:07:04. > :07:08.The National Farmers Union wants the government to allow thel
:07:09. > :07:10.Our Environment Correspondent Yvette Austin reports.
:07:11. > :07:12.They paint a rosy picture of the industry, but talk
:07:13. > :07:15.at this year's fruit show is far from celebratory.
:07:16. > :07:17.Who will pick the crops in the future, is the questhon
:07:18. > :07:20.with agencies who recruit essential labour from abroad saying the Brexit
:07:21. > :07:26.We've had farmers come to us for a supply of labour
:07:27. > :07:29.and we haven't been able to meet that in the short term.
:07:30. > :07:33.We've also had other recruitment companies contacting us and I've
:07:34. > :07:37.spoken to other people across the sector who have had very
:07:38. > :07:40.similar difficulties in terls of recruiting labour from overseas
:07:41. > :07:47.The UK's horticulture industry relies on 80,000 seasonal workers
:07:48. > :07:51.from countries like Bulgaria and Romania.
:07:52. > :07:57.That number is predicted to rise to 95,000 by 2021.
:07:58. > :08:00.So even though there is technology like driverless tractors,
:08:01. > :08:05.The English fruit industry has changed massively
:08:06. > :08:09.It's now an incredibly technically advanced professional busindss,
:08:10. > :08:12.producing the finest fruit that we have and it is the labour
:08:13. > :08:15.that is the big challenge because we just don't have dnough
:08:16. > :08:18.local people to do it and wd've become very reliant on bringing
:08:19. > :08:22.And so the industry is callhng on the government to swiftlx set up
:08:23. > :08:25.the new scheme to allow farlers to recruit from further afidld.
:08:26. > :08:28.Currently the industry relids on the free movement of labour
:08:29. > :08:34.What we would like government to do next year, really quite urgdntly,
:08:35. > :08:40.is actually pilot a scheme to access workers from outside the EU.
:08:41. > :08:44.And so, you might say it's crunch time in the apple industry.
:08:45. > :08:53.Our reporter Amanda Akass h`s been following this story, Amand` -
:08:54. > :08:59.farmers have been raising these concerns since before the rdferendum
:09:00. > :09:11.The government is very keen to stress that so far nothing has
:09:12. > :09:16.changed for EU National is working in the UK. Defra has told us that
:09:17. > :09:21.supporting the farmers is a very important part of leaving the EU. We
:09:22. > :09:26.know that Article 50 will bd triggered in the end of March next
:09:27. > :09:29.year, bringing two years of negotiations. During that process we
:09:30. > :09:32.will hear much more from our farmers to make sure their voices are heard.
:09:33. > :09:35.The national weather in a moment, first, the forecast
:09:36. > :09:53.A quiet autumnal day. Mostlx dry but one too scattered showers ftrther
:09:54. > :09:58.east. Top temperatures todax around 14 or 15 degrees. Tempered by a
:09:59. > :10:01.chilly northerly breeze. Ovdrnight tonight, scattered showers for
:10:02. > :10:10.eastern parts of Kent but for the most part a dry and cool night.
:10:11. > :10:15.Lighter winds and with clear skies, a bit of mist and fog to st`rt
:10:16. > :10:20.Friday. That burns away quite quickly. This is the picturd through
:10:21. > :10:24.the day. This area of low pressure out to the East Solly more dasterly
:10:25. > :10:29.you are the more likely you are to catch an isolated shower. For the
:10:30. > :10:35.most part, dry weather and ` bright day. A similar story to the day in
:10:36. > :10:41.terms of temperatures. 14 or 15 degrees. Again tempered by ` chilly
:10:42. > :10:44.northerly breeze. Going over into Saturday, one or two scattered
:10:45. > :10:49.showers but mostly a dry st`rt to the weekend and it stays th`t way
:10:50. > :10:53.through Saturday and Sunday. The winds will go back to an easterly
:10:54. > :10:58.direction and a chilly feel for Saturday and Sunday. Chilly first
:10:59. > :11:00.thing and then decent spells of sunshine. Here
:11:01. > :11:02.Temperatures up into double figures. The outlook, mostly dry for the next
:11:03. > :11:12.few days. Now the national outlook. Good evening. We are likely to the
:11:13. > :11:13.all colours of