23/12/2016 South Today - Oxford

Hello and welcome to site today. In the BBC's news teams where you are.

Hello and welcome to site today. In tonight programme, the danger of

misusing level crossings. High a cyclist narrowly escaped death after

leaving his bike on the tracks. Preparing for a first in Oxford this

weekend, Christmas dinner for young people who have been in care.

I am Paul all. I am Georgia May three. Join us later for talking

about music, mayhem and Transylvania. It is the Rocky horror

show! Later on, story of the heart-warming

story of a Christmas card that led to an musical reunion for John.

Network Rail is warning of the dangers of misusing level

crossings after being forced to close two in Aylesbury.

It has released new footage of a cyclist narrowly escaping death

after leaving his bike on the tracks.

These few seconds were the difference between life and death.

This near miss at the Griffin named crossing in Aylesbury was recorded

as part of a server waveguide Network Rail. In the month long

period they saw a number of concerns, these included children

going to and from school looking down at the films, and this man

carrying a large piece of wood across the tracks. It was an

incident last month with a man and his bike that led them to make the

decision to close the crossing. I think they should put a little

bridge over it or something. If they think it is a danger then, yes,

definitely, they should close it. It is not that we have a long way to

It is not that we have a long way to walk around.

But Griffin Lane isn't the only crossing in Aylesbury to be closed.

Two miles away, a fatal collision shut this

If they close it, they did save her life. It really is dangerous. If it

is open, it will happen again. I find it quite annoying because you

have to take the long route round. There are a lot of pensioners that

reduced the post office. Unfortunately, they are having to go

elsewhere now. In an ideal world, we would not put level crossings over

railways because we would leave the railway lines as far away from the

general public as possible, but we are working on a Victorian

infrastructure and it should be treated in the same weight as if you

were crossing a road, you should take all the necessary precautions

But despite today's warning, it seems not everyone

was getting the message, as people continue to, literally,

Rail passengers are being told to plan ahead over Christmas

and expect significant delays as a number of lines are closed

There will be no trains in or out of London Paddington after 8.00pm

Services will stop at Ealing Broadway.

There will then be a reduced timetable between 30th

Well, for the last year, Network Rail has been working

overnight and at weekends to do a lot of the work required

for Crossrail and for the electrification of the line,

but sometimes, frankly, it needs time to do this

in consecutive days and that's why the Paddington Station area will be

Three British Airways passengers have enjoyed a once-in-a-lifetime

flight after finding they were the only ones on board.

They included Lawrie-Lin Walker, seen here in the middle,

who's now on her way to celebrate Christmas with her family in Witney.

She and her friends found themselves the only passengers on a flight

The trio were upgraded to Business Class, posed for selfies

A Christmas dinner for young people who have left care

is happening for the first time in Oxford this weekend.

They are being told to expect a Christmas Day

The project first started in Manchester three years ago.

Adina Campbell has been to meet the team behind it

Mengan and Chantelle spent their teenage years in care.

I remember one particular teacher didn't expect me to do very

well at school and sort of made a comment.

They say most of the memories of Christmas day with their foster

families in Oxfordshire weren't special.

Through my teenage years I despised Christmas.

I didn't want to talk about it, I didn't take part in any activities

But this year, a team of volunteers across the county have decided

They have spent the last three months planning a Christmas dinner

On Sunday, the guests will open presents, take part in games

and enjoy a Christmas lunch cooked by a chef with Mechelen

We have the best food for the Christmas dinner,

the best chefs for the Christmas dinner, we have presents,

we have films on the day, there is a creche for people

Founder Lemn Sissay went through the care system himself

and knows how tough this time of year can be.

It's about creating a Christmas dinner that is unforgettable,

that is full of love and joy and happiness for a care leaver,

who next year will be able to have a memory to look back

The Christmas Dinner Project started in Manchester three years ago

and has since been rolled out to London and Leeds, but this year

there are two new venues - Liverpool and Oxford.

There are over 500 care leavers in Oxfordshire and we can't have

Christmas for every care leaver, and not everyone would want to join,

but part of the people, they can come and have

The team behind Oxford's dinner have managed to put on most

of the day for free, thanks to donations and volunteers

To see other people having a nice Christmas,

Christmas is all about spending time with people and looking

back and reflecting and making those memories.

Memories are the most important thing that you cherish.

There are some foster families that make the day

absolutely special for people, but then there are also those

I have been there and I have had good Christmases

had bad Christmases, but this is going to be

something to remember and I was so honoured be invited.

A street in North Oxford has been identified as the 15th most

Research by Lloyds Bank has shown the average house price

The average house price in the city is around ?350,000.

London's Eaton Square topped the list - a property

there would set you back around ?17 million.

We're firmly into panto season, but in Oxford, if you take a jump

to your left and a step to the right, you could be

doing the Time Warp instead at Rocky Horror.

It's on at the New Theatre, where the setting is Transylvania.

Among the stars on stage are former S Club 7 member

Paul Cattermole and last year's Strictly Come Dancing

You might also know Georgia as Katy in Coronation Street.

I went to meet them and asked what they think is behind

the continuing appeal of Rocky Horror.

One of the biggest appeals is that it has the audience

interaction with the shout-outs, that have been going for so many

years that it's part of the show, isn't it?

They're still funny, every single time.

No matter how many times you've seen it, it makes you giggle, as well.

Sometimes the funniest jokes on the night come

Georgia, were you an fan when you were growing up?

I had to do my quickstep on Strictly to S Club 7 and I remember me

and mum being on a pier somewhere, I think it was on Southsea

or somewhere, doing, # Rreach for the stars #.

I mean, you know it better than I do.

And, Paul, for you, when you look back at the S Club years,

what are your feelings around that time?

I look back at it through rose-tinted glasses.

I had a lot of fun, I met a lot of people, travelled a lot

and I still like a lot of the songs, maybe more now than I did then.

I used to watch your programme and everything.

Georgia, Strictly, that must have helped you prepare

I had never performed in front of an audience before,

so that kind of taught me a lot, and feeling nervous like that

as well was scary, but it has prepared me for this and,

You are used to fancy costumes on Strictly -

a whole different type of fancy costume in Rocky Horror.

What's it like for both of you to be dressing up?

One of them has a lot of blood, so that takes, like,

20 minutes to do, so the whole of the first act I am

Then another 15 minute make-up change to get

I mean, they are both very different.

One is just wham, bam, thank you, mam.

Well, it feels like it when you can't breathe.

So you have to be pretty fit to be able to do

The thing with Strictly it was just 90 seconds and it is done,

were this is an hour-and-a-half of not stopping.

Especially Colombia, she is jumping around everywhere.

And I get to do a little tap in it, as well.

Tell me what your favourite elements are of Rocky Horror.

Well, I like getting to play two parts.

It is so fun and it is such a, like, legendary show, a legendary film,

and everybody who comes knows everything, don't they?

All the shout-outs, everyone gets involved.

The show has been going for a year and it has never lost its energy.

I feel very honoured to be in the show.

You can see The Rocky Horror Show next week.

It runs from Tuesday until New Years Eve.

Sally's here with the rest of South Today in a moment.

We're going to leave you with some of the Christmas sights

MUSIC: It s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas, by Michael Buble.

Your festive forecast is looking a little on the mild side.

but things do ease down into next week.

I'll have the details later in the programme.

Would you expect to pay more for a taxi if you wanted

Many cabs will levy extra charges but drivers in the Shoreham

and Lancing area will be working for less this year.

An administrative error by Adur council means they are not allowed

The council is having to offer compensation.

Sean Killick is at the taxi rank outside Lancing railway station.

Sean, not a happy Christmas for local cabbies?

No. The cabbies here are as miserable as the weather. They are

concerned about Christmas Day. They fear they could use ?5 on an average

fare. Usually, they can charge double from 9pm on Christmas Eve due

to Boxing Day but due to a counsellor they can only charge 1.5

times. It's actually an equivalent

of a 25% loss. So, imagine any worker, if they were

to open their pay packet at Christmas, and find

that 25% of the money, their wages was missing,

that's fairly unreasonable, isn't We've yet to see how

that would be done. I think it will be a minefield,

but we shall see. Well, Adur District Council

says the drivers won't lose out. The council said the error arose

when it was approving an increase in tariffs which had been asked

for by the taxi trade. Drivers say this is the latest

financial pressure. They say that many customers have less money in

their pockets and are using taxes less. Some of the people we spoke to

today had mixed feelings about paying double over Christmas.

I don't think they should charge double.

They should just charge normal rate, really.

They're coming out, they're getting away

from their children and they

should be having double-time because they get away from it, yes, I do

I think it's fair it's double-time, yes.

To get someone to work on Christmas Day is

I think they're just trying to cheat the public.

Even on Christmas Day, they shouldn't be allowed to charge

It's their choice to work Christmas Day, isn't it?

Despite all this, the cabbies are much busier than normal. Still

non-on the rank behind me. It seems the big Christmas getaway is getting

underway. From me, Merry Christmas and back to the studio.

Tony is here the sport. With the end of 2016 fast approaching, we will

look ahead to some of the big stories for next year. A year ago, I

sat here and we looked at what we thought would be a big story. We

spoke to Alex Danson who went on to win gold in Rio. We are hoping we

will get the prediction is right for next year.

Next year the Portsmouth based Ben Ainslie Racing team

will attempt to win sport's oldest international trophy.

The America's Cup began in the Solent in 1851,

In his first television interview since the team relocated to Bermuda,

Sir Ben has brought South Today up to date on preparations.

It's a trophy which has eluded Britain so far for 165 years.

In 2017, our greatest sailor could bring it home.

Around half of the Land Rover BAR team, led by Sir Ben Ainslie

have left their home in Portsmouth and will spend the winter

in Bermuda ahead of racing for the America's Cup

We're almost set up with our base here now but we're operational

in terms of getting boats out on the water and that's

So, a really exciting period for the team.

Feels so much more real now that we're out here in the reader

-- Bermuda and moving into the New Year.

You can see everyone's focusing incredibly hard

The sailing team is now training day by day in the waters which will hold

the 35th America's Cup, a gruelling series of qualifiers

will decide which of five teams take on the holders Oracle team USA,

From next June, many in the sporting world will be fixing their focus

on this tiny North Atlantic island, 3500 miles from the UK.

We are a new team so there's a certain element of catching up

we have to do with some of the existing teams.

But our goal is to still try and bring that cup home.

We really appreciate all of the support from everyone back home.

I guarantee you, it's going to be an incredible America's Cup.

The boat used in the main racing is due to go in the water

Over the next six months, one of Britain's great

Staying with sailing and big news from the Olympic world today.

The British sailing team manager Stephen Park is leaving his post

Stephen Park has presided over the winning of 23 Olympic

and Paralympic medals in his 15 years as team manager.

The Weymouth and Portland based team finished as the leading nation

The 48-year-old is joining British cycling as Performance Director

What fate awaits our football clubs in 2017, Southampton

have the EFL Cup semi finals, and promotion to the Premier League

is very much on the radar of Brighton and Reading.

Heading into Christmas, the Royals, with first year boss Jaap Stam

are third in the table, but Brighton are the only club

The Albion return to action against QPR on Tuesday the 27th,

and their opponents would have been considered a promotion rival.

They've had to move a few players out and, of course, with

recruitment, sometimes that takes a bit longer than you will want.

Certainly, in Ian Holloway, they got somebody that knows the club very

well and he'll be trying his very best to try and turn that around.

Southampton have a boxing day off before they host Spurs on the 28th

Bournemouth will tackle table toppers Chelsea,

minus Diego Costa and Ngolo Kante at Stamford Bridge.

In the championship Reading are home to Norwich

Oxford and MK Dons will hope for bumper Boxing Day crowds at hme

while Swindon travel to the East end.

Portsmouth are at bottom of the league Newport in league two.

Across the festive season, remember, you can catch every game

Earlier this week, I received this Christmas card from a gentleman

called John asking for our help to trace a certain

young lady playing a piano in West Quay in Southampton.

They had shared a special musical moment and some seasonal goodwill.

John was worried he wouldn't find out who she was.

Christmas is a time for people to come together and for one man,

a chance encounter with a young lady at a piano in this shopping centre

And she was so receptive to me and we just sang along together

and I thought this is the real essence of Christmas.

It just stayed in my mind and I thought, well,

You asked us an South today if we could find this girl.

It would just be a nice gesture if I can thank her.

So, I thought, immediately, let's write to you and

So, we put it all out on Facebook and then, through Facebook,

she got in touch with others and we're going to go around

Hello. Just a little gesture.

I used to sing with my Nan all the time.

We'd just perform everything for her and she just sing along.

It's quite nice because I don't have grandparents any more, sadly and so,

to be able to sing things like this and be able to also go

to the Sunrise elderly home and perform there.

I thought it was such a lovely gesture at Christmas time.

To accept somebody like me who is completely at it was really a super

moment. # I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

# Just like the ones I used to know # Where the tree tops glisten and

children listen... #. He just loves singing and he loves

getting... His voices is not as good as it used to be and he feels nobody

would want him so for somebody to get up with him like that has just

made his day. Made his Christmas. A heart-warming Christmas story.

Enjoy your Christmas, John. Onto the weather. Sarah Farmer is here. A

mild one. Storm Barbra is not hanging around for too much longer.

Giles Marsh sent in this wonderful shot of the sun rising

A grey but glorious view across the grounds

of Blenheim Palace, in Woodstock - That one was taken by

in Weymouth Harbour this afternoon, captured by Raymond Slack

We continue to have outbreaks of rain through the coming hours and

that should clear throughout and we will see spells of clear whether

developing through the night. Clear skies mean that temperatures will

take a bit of a knock. Down to around four or 5 degrees. Sheltered

spots may see a touch of Frost but there should be enough of a breeze

to keep that at bay for most of ours. Into Christmas Eve, a bright

and cheery start. Still breezy through the cause of the day. We

could see one or two showers floating in from the West. For the

most part, a pleasant and bright day. Temperatures, highs of ten or

11. Cloud will continue to build and thicken. The odd shower is possible.

Through the overnight period, it will be breezy. Into Christmas Day,

it's a mild one. Temperatures around 12-14 . The record is currently

15.60 Greece. It'll be quite cloudy. -- 15 .6 degrees. Wet weather moves

in through the overnight period on Sunday into Monday. We do eventually

see that clear through. Through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, it

looks like we will stay pretty mild. But pressure conditions as we arrive

into Boxing Day. Things to settle down and the wind is of a touch, as

well. That's it. From all others here, we wish you a Merry Christmas.

We would like to leave you with a carol.

The Downton Chamber Voices singing Comes The Light by Sarah Collins,

# Sing out for the mother and the child she bore

# Sing out for the mother and the child she bore.

# Sing out for the Earth and heavenly renewal...

# Comes a light, sing out and be heard

# Sing out for the mother and the # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore. # Sing out for those with faith and

without # For those who hope and those who

doubt # All those who work throughout the

night # Sing out for the mother and the

child she bore. #.