13/04/2017 South East Today

Today's main headlines in the south-east:

An MP calls for a change in the law, after we reveal how vulnerable

young people are taking rent-free accomodation in return for sex.

I was under quite a bit of pressure to keep him happy.

Because if they are not happy with you, then

The danger on our beaches - why campaigners say

washed-up rubbish is becoming more serious than ever.

And it's been another dry, bright day with sunshine,

There's been a call tonight from one of our MPs for a change in the law,

after we revealed how vulnerable young people in the south-east

are putting themselves at risk by taking rent-free accomodation

Landlords are placing adverts on websites like Craigslist

They don't break the law, because no money changes hands.

Our reporter Lauren Moss spoke to a student in Brighton

who was fleeing an abusive home life, and says she felt she had

no choice but to accept an offer of sex for rent.

I had no idea what I was getting into.

He took me into to his living room, got me drinks, and then after that,

it was straight upstairs and go for it.

Vulnerable and desperate for a roof over her head,

Gemma answered a sex-for-rent online advert.

He would do what he wanted to do, forcefully.

And I just sort of, yeah, went along with it.

I started feeling physically unwell.

These are some of the offers we found openly placed

Free accommodation, but with strings attached.

I was thinking once a week, something like that,

but I'm happy as long as there is sex involved.

I spoke with six men posting adverts in the south-east.

All wanted photos of me before they would talk on the phone.

All were clear how the arrangement would work.

These are real conversations, voiced by actors.

Well, you know, you agree sort of like, a couple times a week?

But as far as the apartment's concerned,

it's like completely as if we are flatmates.

There's a girl staying here now who has done the same.

Two or three times a week, basically.

But some say those agreeing to these deals

could be getting into a very dangerous situation.

Where people are in really desperate, vulnerable

situations in terms of housing and financial need, it could lead

to someone feeling trapped and being a prisoner somewhere

In just one day, I counted well over 100 adverts on

Craigslist offering free accommodation in exchange for

In Maidstone, one man was asking for a

woman to move in with him and pretend to be his girlfriend.

Another, in Rochester, a double room in exchange

In Brighton, one advert was specifically aimed at young men.

And, disturbingly, this is perfectly legal.

I think these adverts go as close to the edge of the law

as they possibly can without breaking the law.

They would argue that they have chosen,

voluntarily, to enter that situation.

The trouble is, when you have a vulnerable person, that can

then becomes exploited, the concept of choice soon disappears.

One third of young homeless people in the south-east say they have

spent the night with a stranger just to get off the streets.

It really is very troubling to hear that people

are out there preying on these vulnerable young people.

Do you think there should be a law brought in

If maybe we start with the advertisers to say,

is there a voluntary code you could abide by, to take

Maybe if they aren't willing to do this, then maybe MPs

will want to look into the issue in the House of Commons.

There are particularly young people who are being exploited because they

are vulnerable. There is an added bonus on the platforms of to reach

this out and deal with it. I'm being explicit because if they don't deal

with this and accept the responsible to come I will push legislation to

do it for them. I contacted Craigslist

for comment, but they More adverts are

appearing every day. They could basically just

come over to you and and you really don't have much

of a choice, because you know it is their home and you want

to just keep that place. With an increasing number of young,

homeless people, it is feared that these adverts will only

continue to exploit Well, I'm joined now

in the studio by Lauren, Throughout the day, the Home Office

answers please happened responding? Yes, the Home Office responded

tonight. They say, nobody should feel obliged to have sex with anyone

other than by choice. Sussex Police other than by choice. Sussex Police

are also getting. They are urging anyone who thinks they might have

been a victim of sexual exploitation to contact them. Charities are

warning that agreeing to these sorts of arrangements can have serious,

damaging effect on mental health. Postmaster stress disorder and

depression. This focuses on the issue of consent and choice, and the

power imbalance between a mumbled and the fear of losing your home if

you don't keep your end of the bargain. -- power imbalance between

a landlord Andy Tennant. The problem of plastic

waste on our beaches is becoming worse than ever,

according to campaigners. Cuckmere Haven in East Sussex has

been particulary badly hit, as our Environment Correspondent,

Yvette Austin, discovered From bags and bottles to tiny

broken pieces, littering one of the region's most famous

beauty spots, Cuckmere Haven. A high tide has dumped

an enormous amount of small, Really quite nasty things, that

if they get into animals and fish, It constantly goes

through my mind, Or, the other thing I think is that

everything I pick up is a piece that isn't going

to get inside a creature. Plastic waste is a global problem,

and when it does get into creatures,

very few can be saved. This albatross chick

in the Pacific was lucky. All this plastic rubbish

was picked up here by half a dozen people in about

half an hour. It's thought 8 million

tonnes of plastic enters with an estimated 46,000 pieces

of plastic litter per square mile. And a single plastic

bottle can take more It's particularly bad

here because of the way it's trapped in this

sort of river mouth. But it doesn't go anywhere,

it just gets smaller, and It's a very important spawning

and nursery ground for a lot of fish, lobsters, and rare species

like blue mussels and So lots of plastic

litter will obviously be having an impact on those delicate

and rare, It's a global threat that

will last for generations. On the eve of Good Friday,

the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has said

that we musn't let terrorists chain us with, as he put it,

"a desire for revenge". The Archbishop also addressed

whether it were possible to forgive Khalid Masood,

who grew up in Kent and Sussex, and went on to kill five people

in the terrorist attack The terrorists succeed

when they chain us with fear, with hatred and with

a desire for revenge. But pastorally, you don't go up

to someone who has just lost someone they loved or has been

terribly injured, and say, "No, you're going to do

the forgiveness stuff." You stand alongside

them, you share their grief, Our reporter Briohny Williams

is at Canterbury Cathedral now. Briohny, the Archbishop spoke

about the way that different faiths Yes, John. He said just a couple of

days afterwards he met with leaders of different faiths to stand against

extremism and safety people that they really need to be the glue that

holds society together. He also took the opportunity to reiterate the

church's stance to abuse allegations.

But I do know that we are profoundly aware of the danger now,

and we are very, very tough with anyone

who steps over the line and will go on being so.

And we are stepping up our approach continually.

Most of his message was about help and unity this Easter. -- hope and

unity. There is a good going on, just one of many services that will

take place this weekend. We'll have the national weather

forecast in a moment, but first, let's get

the weather here. And a lovely morning today,

and a treat for steam train fans? Yes, we were lucky enough to have

the Flying Scotsman. Temperatures around 13 degrees at Sheffield Park.

Blue skies and it remained dry, editors there for another six days.

So lovely weather to catch this stunning site. Going to tonight,

looking pretty cloudy at times, temperatures will drop to six or 7

degrees. But we will see some clear spells to give some brighter spells.

But there is a weak front looking around and it may introduce some

more clout throughout the afternoon. But I am still hopeful we'll keep

some breaks in the cloud. A bit more clear skies, and it should lead to

13 or 14 degrees. A little cooler where it is cloudy, at 11 or 12.

Patchy rain to Friday night and Saturday morning, but it should

clearly, so by Saturday afternoon, a called north-westerly breeze but

much drier and brighter and temperatures around 11 to 12

degrees. We will keep you updated. Now with

the National Outlook, Tomasz Schafernaker.

Good evening. It's not exactly cracking whether