:00:07. > :00:07.Today's main headlines in the South East...
:00:08. > :00:10.The private firm running thd Sussex hospital transfer service
:00:11. > :00:17.loses its contract after months of criticism over delays.
:00:18. > :00:26.An apology for the young mul told to stop breastfeeding in Mothercare,
:00:27. > :00:28.but only after her complaint went viral online.
:00:29. > :00:30.Work begins to remove a vermin-infested mountain of waste
:00:31. > :00:42.that's towered over homes in north Kent for five years.
:00:43. > :00:50.Coperforma, the private company that took over non-emergency ambtlance
:00:51. > :00:53.services in Sussex in April, has lost its ?90 million contract
:00:54. > :00:57.because of "unacceptable levels of performance".
:00:58. > :01:00.Within days of the contract starting, Coperforma had to issue
:01:01. > :01:05.an unreserved apology to patients whose transport failed to ttrn up.
:01:06. > :01:07.In June, the company was given an ultimatum to improve services.
:01:08. > :01:09.But in July, one of Coperforma's sub-contractors, VM
:01:10. > :01:17.It later emerged it had been owned by a former bankrupt
:01:18. > :01:20.with a history of involvement in failed ambulance companids.
:01:21. > :01:21.Tonight, a leading patients' group welcomed the news
:01:22. > :01:23.about the contract ending, saying "it can't remember
:01:24. > :01:32.Our health correspondent Mark Norman reports.
:01:33. > :01:35.Four days a week, former Arly officer Michael needs transport
:01:36. > :01:39.But for the last seven months, he's never known whether or not
:01:40. > :01:41.Coperforma will actually turn up to take him to those appointments.
:01:42. > :01:50.It's annoying enough to havd to go in for dialysis, but then
:01:51. > :01:52.to wait for transport which you know could be org`nised
:01:53. > :01:58.Angry patients not collected, angry staff not paid,
:01:59. > :02:00.angry hospitals picking up the pieces, angry MPs, angrx unions.
:02:01. > :02:03.But, in the end, it was the fact that patient safety was being
:02:04. > :02:05.compromised that was the final straw.
:02:06. > :02:14.In addition to that, we have received communicathon
:02:15. > :02:16.from Coperforma that whilst performance has improved,
:02:17. > :02:19.the contract is not economical for them.
:02:20. > :02:24.And so we have agreed an exht arrangement for Coperforma.
:02:25. > :02:26.Which begs the question, were Coperforma pushed
:02:27. > :02:38.We have agreed that we will end the contract between us
:02:39. > :02:43.and transition the contract over to a new provider.
:02:44. > :02:45.For the unions and MPs who have repeatedly called for Coperforma
:02:46. > :02:51.to be stripped of the contr`ct, this feels like vindication.
:02:52. > :02:56.Myself and the members I've spoken to already this morning
:02:57. > :02:58.are absolutely delighted th`t finally what has been seen
:02:59. > :03:00.as a disastrous error in Sussex has finally been corrected.
:03:01. > :03:03.The improvement has been there but it was never going to work
:03:04. > :03:07.I'm delighted that, finally, it's going to come to an end
:03:08. > :03:09.and we hope patients will gdt the better transport
:03:10. > :03:19.The service will now be gradually taken over
:03:20. > :03:23.Service, with them taking complete responsibility by April next year.
:03:24. > :03:26.We are told patients don't have to do anything and shouldn't notice
:03:27. > :03:30.Our reporter Mark Sanders h`s been following the story.
:03:31. > :03:33.Mark, you are at the Clinic`l Commissioning Group's
:03:34. > :03:38.They've made the decision on Coperforma, so what now
:03:39. > :03:52.Well, it is interesting, because we asked today whether Coperforma were
:03:53. > :03:56.getting any compensation for losing is contract. The answer was that
:03:57. > :04:00.there was an incentive in place presumably a financial one, to
:04:01. > :04:07.ensure the smooth handover process now. Important to point out that the
:04:08. > :04:09.current provider now, south,central, might not actually keep this
:04:10. > :04:15.contract. At some stage, thdre will have to be a new tender process next
:04:16. > :04:18.year. So, there is more change ahead for patients and staff in this
:04:19. > :04:21.valuable NHS service. A man's been detained
:04:22. > :04:24.after being spotted trying to cross A ferry spotted him 12
:04:25. > :04:27.miles off the Kent coast Reports suggest he had been living
:04:28. > :04:31.in the so-called Jungle migrant camp in Calais,
:04:32. > :04:33.which was demolished last wdek. He was picked up by
:04:34. > :04:38.the Border Force cutter. Hundreds of members of the RMT union
:04:39. > :04:42.protested outside Parliament today against changes to the role
:04:43. > :04:45.of conductors on Southern R`il ahead Meanwhile, services on the Brighton
:04:46. > :04:52.line and others into Sussex have been disrupted tonight due
:04:53. > :04:58.to emergency repair works. A woman from Kent told she couldn't
:04:59. > :05:02.breast-feed her baby in a Mothercare shop at Bluewater Shopping Centre
:05:03. > :05:06.has finally received an apology Zoe Frangou, from Swanley,
:05:07. > :05:09.complained to the company about what she felt
:05:10. > :05:11.was "completely But she heard nothing from them
:05:12. > :05:16.until she posted her feelings on social media, and her colments
:05:17. > :05:18.sparked a huge response Mothercare say they fully stpport
:05:19. > :05:22.breast-feeding mothers Zoe Frangou says she was
:05:23. > :05:31.breast-feeding her son in a quiet part of the Mothercare stord
:05:32. > :05:34.in Bluewater when she was asked She did not want to appear on camera
:05:35. > :05:41.but her sister, who is a midwife, says mothers should be made to feel
:05:42. > :05:44.comfortable when breast-feeding It made her feel very sad that this
:05:45. > :05:48.is actually the day and age that we live in, where people
:05:49. > :05:51.still think they have the rhght to tell someone where they can
:05:52. > :05:54.or can't feed their baby. Despite the 2010 Equality Act making
:05:55. > :06:01.it unlawful for a business to discriminate against a woman
:06:02. > :06:04.breast-feeding, it seems Last year, a mother from Eastbourne
:06:05. > :06:11.took legal action against a school after the head teacher
:06:12. > :06:13.asked her to stop breast-fedding One mother from Ashford says
:06:14. > :06:19.she was made to feel humili`ted after being told to stop
:06:20. > :06:22.breast-feeding at a swimming pool. And a mother from Brighton staged
:06:23. > :06:27.a flash mob after she was told by a customer in a local cafe
:06:28. > :06:30.that she should not be We live in a strange societx
:06:31. > :06:34.where it is all right to have unclothed women in magazines
:06:35. > :06:39.and newspapers and on the bdach but a woman breast-feeding her baby
:06:40. > :06:41.is considered perhaps Parents at Bluewater
:06:42. > :06:46.today were horrified. Because at the end of the d`y,
:06:47. > :06:54.the baby has a right to havd a feed. The mother should feel comfortable
:06:55. > :06:56.somewhere. It's Mothercare.
:06:57. > :07:03.It's in the name, don't you think? Zoe says her experience has not
:07:04. > :07:05.put her off breast-feeding but it has highlighted the need for young
:07:06. > :07:09.mothers to be aware of their rights Leanne, Mothercare has apologised
:07:10. > :07:23.following publicity about this? Yes, that is right. A spokesman for
:07:24. > :07:24.Mothercare says they sincerdly apologise for how Zoe was treated in
:07:25. > :07:29.that store. They say that there is a that store. They say that there is a
:07:30. > :07:34.policy in place which make sure all breast-feeding mothers can nurse
:07:35. > :07:38.their children on the premises. They do say, however, that on thhs
:07:39. > :07:43.occasion, the policy was not followed and they are thorotghly
:07:44. > :07:45.investigating the incident. Leanne, thank you.
:07:46. > :07:48.People living on Cornwall Drive in St Paul's Cray have been pleading
:07:49. > :07:50.for five years for a huge, vermin-infested mountain
:07:51. > :07:52.of waste which has blighted their homes to be cleared.
:07:53. > :07:57.Today, finally, work began to remove the 18,000 tonnes of rubbish.
:07:58. > :08:00.The tip has been the subject of High Court cases
:08:01. > :08:06.But it was only after a deal saw the land taken
:08:07. > :08:08.over by Bromley Council that the removal could start.
:08:09. > :08:13.Residents have never before been happy to see
:08:14. > :08:16.a lorry-load of waste here, but for the first time in ydars
:08:17. > :08:23.Since 2011, the rubbish mountain has grown and grown.
:08:24. > :08:25.It's heaped misery on those living nearby.
:08:26. > :08:28.For the last five years, it's been nothing but nightmares.
:08:29. > :08:33.So you will be very pleased to see it gone?
:08:34. > :08:43.I'll have a bottle of champ`gne when the last lorry leaves.
:08:44. > :08:46.At 40 feet high and 18,000 tonnes, the rubbish here far exceeddd
:08:47. > :08:49.the licence given to the colpany which ran the site, Waste For Fuel.
:08:50. > :09:08.The landowners said they cotld not afford to clear it and Bromley
:09:09. > :09:12.Bromley never wanted this to happen, we didn't licence it.
:09:13. > :09:15.The really important thing is for the benefit of the local
:09:16. > :09:17.residents that this is being cleared away.
:09:18. > :09:19.But Alan, who lives just yards away, knows who he blames.
:09:20. > :09:21.Well, the Environment Agencx, really, because they licensdd it
:09:22. > :09:24.and knew the tonnage that was supposed to be maxhmum
:09:25. > :09:27.The Environment Agency is now footing the majority
:09:28. > :09:30.Three truck-loads down, hundreds more to go.
:09:31. > :09:33.Up to ten loads a day over the next 20 weeks,
:09:34. > :09:36.but at the end of that time, the rubbish mountain should be gone.
:09:37. > :09:39.It will be transported a short distance to a facility locally,
:09:40. > :09:43.So we'll look to take out any soil that we can recover,
:09:44. > :09:46.things like metal, wood and plastic, and recycle as much as we c`n.
:09:47. > :09:48.The heat generated by the rtbbish reaches hundreds of
:09:49. > :09:52.It will take five months to complete.
:09:53. > :09:55.But this time for the residdnts the coming and going
:09:56. > :10:07.Now, let's take a look at the weather for the next few days
:10:08. > :10:11.Rachel, its getting chilly overnight.
:10:12. > :10:17.Yes, that is right. In the next few days, temperatures rarely cooling
:10:18. > :10:23.down in the afternoon and also over me. A bright start of the d`y but we
:10:24. > :10:26.have had more close range dtring the afternoon. But as a cold front and
:10:27. > :10:31.we hold on to the cloud durhng the first part of this evening. But it
:10:32. > :10:36.clears. In clear skies, temperatures fall to laws of three and four as we
:10:37. > :10:40.start the day on Wednesday. We have this area of high pressure. The
:10:41. > :10:44.winds will be light on an north-westerly direction. There is a
:10:45. > :10:49.cool feel by the afternoon. Temperatures struggling to get out
:10:50. > :10:56.of single figures. Highs of minor ten. On Monday, highs of 20. It is a
:10:57. > :10:59.lot cooler. On Wednesday into Thursday, a chilly picture.
:11:00. > :11:01.Temperatures in rural sports dropping below freezing. Here is the
:11:02. > :11:02.outlook in couple of days, frosty mornings
:11:03. > :11:03.before turning