21/12/2016 South Today - Oxford

Parking in disabled spaces without permission.

My wife had a brain haemorrhage and a stroke

The council sting to catch drivers using blue badges that

Also, the stress of trying to see a GP.

The patients demanding improvements at a surgery

There wasn't a spare seat available, everybody was waiting to see

And later on - slowing it right down.

Rugby played at a different pace making it accessible

Drivers misusing blue badges have been targeted in a sting

Hundreds of badges were checked during the three-day clampdown

Council bosses say there's traditionally a rise in the number

of people who misuse blue badges over the festive period.

My wife had a brain haemorrhage and two strokes.

This man's using his wife's blue badge while he goes

As you can imagine, he wasn't very happy when he was brought up on it.

My wife can't walk, she's never walked for the last 20 years

and I only ever come here for her, nobody else.

But a lot of people would say your wife isn't with you?

Well, I know that, but I do shop for her and have you ever tried

So, essentially, the gentleman pulled into the bay,

there was only one person in it, so I was concerned that the person

holding the badge either had to be him or wasn't

So initially when I had the conversation with him,

he explained to me that his wife was the one that the badge pertained

to and that she was currently somewhere else and he was just

So I explained to him that, unfortunately, the person who holds

the badge has to be part of the journey and he's not

entitled, therefore, to use the bay or the badge.

It is currently considered abuse of the badge system,

so therefore I have a duty to retain the badge.

It will be returned to the owner of the badge and they'll be given

an explanation as to why it was retained and warned

of their future conduct in relation to the badge.

Blue badges are issued by Oxfordshire County Council

to help disabled people park closer to their destination,

But bosses say a number of people abuse the system.

Those that actually need it, need the space, can't get the space.

A lot of people just don't give a damn.

I need somewhere to park, sod you, I'll go a parking space.

They shouldn't be parking in places where they shouldn't be parking.

They're designed for people that need to use those

Since this operation was launched on Monday,

hundreds of badges have been checked by city council officers working

A number of badges have been confiscated.

Most offenders receive a warning but, in the worse cases,

fines for up to ?1,000 can be issued.

It is something that we need to enforce.

We need to make sure that people are using their badges correctly,

so that people are able to get to the shops,

who need to get to the shops and are disabled.

The county council says blue badges are a vital lifeline for people

with mobility problems and can be the difference between independence

It's inviting anyone who suspects a blue badge

is being misused, to contact them through the county council website.

A police officer who twice turned up for work over the alcohol

A Thames Valley Police behaviour panel heard PC

Graham Johnston was found to be more than twice the allowed limit

The panel heard it was the second time the officer had

turned up for work under the influence of alcohol.

The force said it hoped his dismissal sent out

Oxfordshire is to receive ?800,000 to help

A team will be set up to work with specialists to help those most

A debt advice hub will be created, and there will be a network

of helpers helping vulnerable adults.

Patients at a doctor's surgery in Reading say it is in 'complete

meltdown' in the run up to Christmas.

The Circuit Lane surgery in Reading was taken over by a private

It was meant to be a new start, following a tumultuous two years

But now some patients say the system is worse than ever.

Checking his health at home, as just one of 10,000 who are registered

at the Circuit Lane surgery, Chris Giles knows what

This week he waited three hours to be seen by a doctor.

All hell broke loose, is the appropriate word.

People just reacted by saying that we've had enough of this.

Why aren't you putting more doctors in?

The problems at Circuit Lane started in September 2014

when doctors resigned en masse, citing issues

The NHS took over in January 2015, and this September handed

the surgery over to One Medical Group.

The surgery would not agree to an interview,

but it has told us it has plans to make improvements,

saying it's trying different ways to meet the health and well-being

Like introducing a new walk-in clinic to increase access

But in the meantime when they need to see a doctor, patients like Chris

hope they won't have to keep swallowing

They only married in October but an Oxfordshire woman is spending

this Christmas 4,000 miles away from her husband

after he was refused a visa to come back to the UK from India.

Jullie Bolitho says the couple more than meet

all the Home Office requirements and the visa rejection

is down to incompetence by immigration officials.

Pictures are the closest Julia gets to her photographer

They met while teaching in Oxford and were planning their first

I've never felt so at home with another individual and I can

kind of gush actually about him and about us.

I just feel really blessed and I think this is the kind

of relationship that people want and that they look for.

And I think that's quite elusive for most people.

I don't, we don't, take it for granted.

The internet is the best way for the couple to see each other.

Vikram's lived in the UK for eight years but now he's back living

I try and sleep a lot because, yeah, it passes time quickly.

As a freelancer proving income was complicated but she insists

she provided the Home Office with all the necessary documents

and the couple fulfil immigration requirements.

In a statement the Home Office says it's satisfied that the case has

It adds that officers have explained the appeals process to Julie

and Vikram but no appeal has been received.

Now Julie's local MP is fighting her case.

It's not the first time Ed Vaisey has been embroiled

Last month we told you about an Oxfordshire man whose

family was been torn apart after his Chinese wife was told

I frankly feel the immigration service is not doing the job

that we pay them to do, which is to allow people who have

fulfilled all the legal and bureaucratic requirements

to come into the country to live here with their loved ones.

The couple are waiting to hear the result of an appeal

If that fails, they say they'll move to continental Europe

until a new visa application can be processed.

An Oxfordshire chef has been using his cooking skills

to highlight a genetic disorder which has affected his family.

Will Shaw's niece, Holly, suffers from Angelman Syndrome

The niece of Gareth Edwards, the director of the new Star Wars

film, also has the condition, which gave Will an idea.

Will Shaw is a traditional pub chef but he also

Inspired by the release of the new Star Wars film, he decided

to use his creative force to help his niece.

She, like the niece of the film's director,

suffers from a neurological illness called Angelman Syndrome.

So Will decided to make an edible fight scene from the film

I used melted chocolate, set in moulds, filled

with a chocolate orange mousse and a caramel.

You spray edible spray paints to create the characters into life

and then design on a slate with other confectionary items.

7 year old Holly, like her uncle, loves cooking but what

did his brother make of the chocolate battle scene?

The force is strong with you definitely.

Angelman Syndrome affects 1 in 20,000 births.

Most sufferers will have a near-normal life expectancy

It means that she can't speak and that won't change, sadly.

But she's learning to communicate in a variety of ways.

She can use an iPad to communicate with us, she can sign

and she can make gestures and, frankly, she can just

drag me across the room to get her favourite toy.

So there's a number of ways she can get round it.

Will has already started thinking about his next scene

for the new Star Wars film, due for release next year.

Now, if you'd like to get in touch with us here at South Today to tell

us about stories you think we should be covering, you can e-mail us.

Or join the conversation on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

That's all from us. We'll be back at 10.30.

Now more of today's stories with Sally Taylor.

The gentler pace of walking rugby is attracting older players.

The South East MEP Diane James says she resigned as Ukip's

leader after just 18 days because she was unable to break up

The former Waverley councillor has given her first broadcast interview

since resigning the party leadership in October.

She's now sitting as an an independent.

Mrs James says she realised almost immediately that she couldn't

deliver the change that she'd promised in her campaign.

When it became clear that I couldn't make that breakthrough,

I felt it was the right decision, both for me, for my credibility,

but also for the credibility of the party that somebody else

assumed the mantle of the leadership.

A year after they moved in, people living in a housing

development in Berkshire say they've still got major problems

It's claimed some of the new homes on Loddon Park are prone

to flooding, have no insulation, and some of the beams that make up

the structure haven't been fitted properly.

The local MP and residents claim the builders, Taylor Wimpey,

have done very little to put things right, something strongly

In this area by my front door, the plasterboard has had to be removed

because they needed to check the installation...

When Wendy moved into this house a year ago, it was meant

But 12 months on, and that dream is a nightmare.

It's being propped up by the ceramic tiles. That's what's holding up the

RS Jade at suppose the entire brickwork above my front door!

Wendy says the fault lies with Taylor Wimpey,

and she's put that frustration centre-stage for all to see.

If you saw the show house, you would think, do you know what? If I buy

this house, I can have that. It's been anything but. Yes, I live on a

building site, but I didn't expect to have the builders arguing with

me. Biggest mistake of my life. One I would tell anybody who can listen.

Don't buy a house here. Nobody from the builders wanted to appear on

camera but they said they regretted any inconvenience caused to

residents. They said they were committed to carrying out any

remedial works and all inside jobs should be completed by the end of

January, and all problems should be fixed by the end of April next year.

The development is still being built, but for the Local MP,

work should have stopped while faults were solved.

They've fobbed off residents and me time after time and now we've

reached a point where this really can't go on much longer.

Wendy's since been told that she and her family will have

to move out in January whilst their home is repaired.

At a time when she should be packing Christmas presents,

Chris Temple has all the sport tonight. We are going to be talking

rugby? Walking rugby? Absolutely. Former Sussex Cricket captain

Ed Joyce will be available to the county in 2017,

despite being awarded a full-time professional contract

by the Ireland national team. The 38-year-old's deal

with Ireland will allow him to be selected by Sussex

when his Irish commitments allow. Joyce has moved his family

to Ireland, as his country continues to build towards achieving full

Test status. Southampton's and Reading's Under 21

teams do battle on the road to Wembley this evening,

in the Checkatrade EFL Trophy. The two sides were paired together

at St Mary's in the knockout round of 32 after both came

through their groups in the newly Kick-off tonight is

very shortly, at 7pm. There are many forms of rugby -

the normal 15-a-side, touch, tag, minis, and versions for juniors

and veterans, but nothing Reading Rugby Club has

pioneered walking rugby, making the game accessible to older

players or those who can't play the full contact

game because of injury. James Ingham has been to meet some

of the men and women taking part. This is rugby at a slightly

different pace. The name of the sport says it all -

walking rugby - no running allowed. Neither is physical

contact or tackling. It means the game is suiting injured

or more senior players. I'm Mike, I'm 70 years old and I

play walking rugby because I enjoy the activity and the social. Very

few guys of our seniority can any longer run with any speed, so we

wanted a game that was accessible to people who could only progress at a

modest rate! I'm Paul, I'm 60, I thought my rugby days were over but

thanks to walking rugby I've been able to come up and play another

form of the game in later life. The full 15 game at my age is too

much and I would never be able to take the knocks and recover from

them, so this being noncontact is ideal.

That's one reason why men and women can play together.

I'm Yasmin, I started playing walking rugby having retired from

full-time rugby at the age of 44. It's great to still be involved in

the game while being gentler on injuries. The main thing you notice

is that there is no contact. I was a forward, always involved in scrums

and rocks. But the similarities are the ball-handling skills. I'm 71 and

never played rugby before. I started playing recently. Thoroughly enjoy

it! I still feel quite fit and healthy and just felt that this

would give me something else to keep me out of mischief!

Reading is one of the pioneers of the walking game.

It's helping the Rugby Football Union develop official rules,

so there's no better place to join in.

First and foremost, great idea! How you police the walking, though? I

think there was some running! And a bit of a skip! I like the fact men

and women can play together. The body hurts after full contact so a

great idea for the game. Life as a family in the Armed Forces

can be a challenge. Lots of moving around

or a parent sent on deployment So here's a scheme that's helping

strengthen family ties Reading Force gets children

and adults to read the same book so there's something to talk

about during calls home. It started out in Aldershot but has

now spread to UK military Briony Leyland has been to meet one

family that's benefited. For the Donohoe family, Christmas

will be in Aldershot this year, where Royal Engineer Tom

is currently based. Over the last 16 years, they've

moved nine times around the world, meaning they're often a very long

way from relatives Weak your auntie Betty has copped

it. Where? Books like this one have helped

to bridge the gap with loved ones. As part of the Reading Force scheme,

Fiona, ten-year-old Georgia, and her granny in Ireland have been

reading the same stories at the same time and then comparing notes over

the phone and in a shared scrapbook. This book is about a hedgehog called

Max who has a problem. How can he and his family cross the road

without getting squished? It's a funny, interesting book and it's

about animals. I'm normally a bit blank if I'm speaking to her on the

phone because I don't have any news to tell her. It's only school. At

least now I'll have something to tell her about. When you on the

phone, it's funny. You can have yourself running out of things to

say. But this is an excellent collection of books and we never run

out. The talk about books is flowing,

as it is for many forces families It keeps the connection going.

There's nothing like the written word that means you have something

to have and to hold, whether it's a book or a letter, and with books,

you get better appeal to children and those usually appeal to adults

as well. For the book lovers in this

household, there are lots of promising parcels under the tree

and plenty to talk A little earlier I was joined

on the sofa by Dr Alison Baverstock. She's an academic now

but was a military wife Well, I'm a publisher by background,

so obviously very into books, and also married to a soldier, and I'm

very interested in the potential books have the linking people, so

when you find out that somebody likes the same books as you, it

gives you something in common. And when my husband was away on posting

or being deployed, we would send books to each other. There's always

that lovely thing that if you've read something, then sending it to

somebody for them to read as well, it gives you common ground. It was

building on that, really, but this time with scrapbooks, so places for

people to hold memories. And it's very much focused on children, isn't

it? Because separation is difficult for them. It can be anxiety before

removal or disturbance, not just separation. Because there's a lot of

moving houses. But it provides common ground for people to sort of

talk and relate over, and it's particularly good for linking

grandparents or uncles and aunts that you don't see very often, and

children, when grandparents come on the phone, can be quite

monosyllabic, and sometimes a bit resentful if a parent is way, so

instead of just the usual questions of, how is school? How is hockey?

This gives them something to talk about that can really extend them.

How do they choose the book? That's part of the scheme, because it is

all about discussing what you want to read. People shouldn't feel they

have to read a massive book! One of the most commonly chosen books is

something like Horrid Henry, and that can be good for the kids to

recommend the book to their parents. And you could love or loathe it?

Well, that's not a problem because sometimes you have more interesting

discussions when people disagree. The last time we did this as a

family it was our 17-year-old son who chose the book and everybody

hated it but we had lots of good discussions about why he chose it

and it prompted communication, which is the real objective. And you've

almost gone a step further, because we have lots of scrapbooks here, so

it's not just a reading but, if the scrapbook that goes with it? Gas,

the scrapbook holds the memories and gives you a reason to do it. -- yes.

You can then put the ideas you are exchanging somewhere, and then that

becomes incredibly precious, because if you are recording your children's

and writing or drawing at a particular stage, it becomes

something to celebrate your experiences rather than just

counting down the days to when you are together again. And this could

go beyond the service families, surely? It already has. Lots of

schools have taken the material to use with others and encourage people

to read. It could be used with children who are separated from

their parents for other reasons, like children in care or parents who

are way. Thank you so much for coming to explain it.

And if you want to find out more then the website is on the screen.

It's a free service and open to anyone in the forces,

They've already handed out 70,000 scrapbooks and have plenty more!

A great idea and it may well spread further afield. As was said in the

interview. Hundreds of people gathered

at Stonehenge this morning to mark The sun came up over

South Wiltshire at around 8.15am It's thought the stone circle

was the focus of midwinter That sounds right up my street!

Plenty of wine and beer for drinking! You're happy, then? I'm

just looking forward to, you know, these lovely longer days. Bring on

summer, that's all I can say! These short days are really quite

depressing! And bring on Christmas! Exactly!

Quite a cloudy day today. Many of you have been taking pictures. We

saw some brightness but the rain is slowly moving in, and that will

start to clear. It could be on the heavy side this evening but once it

clears around midnight, we could see fog patches and mist. The wind will

be liked and temperatures will fall away to around freezing or even down

to -1 in the countryside. Milder conditions along the south coast and

for the Isle of Wight. A dry day for most. The outside chance of a shower

more likely for western areas. The fog could linger up to lunchtime in

places but lots of sunshine and feeling pleasant in the sunshine,

with highs of 7 degrees and up to 10 degrees. A lovely end to the day

tomorrow but the wind will start to increase tomorrow night. Possibly

the odd shower, and that will keep the frost at bay, potential to

spots, we could see one or two mist fog patches. A few showers also

dotted along the south coast, with temperatures falling down to

freezing or just above. So the risk of frost in the countryside on

Friday. Friday starts on a dry and bright note but the wind increases

through the course of the day. This is Storm Barbara affecting the north

of the country, and we will see a period of rain into the afternoon

and evening. Heavy rain in places but patchy, with gusty winds as

well. 40-50 miles an hour, especially along the south coast.

The rain will move through Friday night into Christmas eve, so

Christmas Eve, we are expecting seems like this. As we move into

Christmas day, things start to change. The chance of some outbreaks

of light rain and drizzle and feeling mild on Christmas Day with

highs of 13 and even 15 Celsius. The good news is, we have a dry, sunny

day on Boxing Day. For the rest of the week, tomorrow, sunny spells and

a pretty decent day with the outside chance of showers. The winds will

increase in strength tomorrow night into Friday. We are expecting the

chance of gales for the south coast with gusts of 40-50 miles an hour,

then rain later on Friday, dry on Christmas Eve, and quite a lot of

cloud and the chance of light rain and drizzle on Christmas Day.

I thought that was wintry showers coming down there! My eyesight,

obviously! More from us later at 8pm and 10:25 night. -- good night.

The roads we walk have demons beneath them...

..and yours have been waiting for a very long time.

What is this? We can't do this. Is this supposed to be a game?

I thought this was some kind of... What? ..trick.

Of course it's not a trick. It's a plan.

What's the very worst thing you can do...

Celebrating 20 years of one of Britain's best-loved comedians,