28/02/2017 South Today - Oxford

In tonight's programme: improving the future of UK defence.

A team of engineers in Oxford

the impact of unmanned space warfare and drones.

road users have their say over the safety

And later on: why some feel what's taught in schools isn't preparing

young people for the real world of work.

Unmanned warfare should be the future of UK defence - that's

according to the Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, who's been

speaking at an engineering conference in Oxford.

It's as space warfare and drones, based on dragonflies

and underwater creatures, are being developed by scientists

The technology is part of a new Ministry of Defence

strategy, which will also involve astronaut Tim Peake.

Our Political Editor Peter Henley has more.

It flies at 45 miles an hour, and weighs less

Skeeter is the next generation of military drone.

Developed by animal dynamics, a spin off company from

Oxford Universities Zoology department, it uses two pairs

It flaps like an insect. It has interesting upshot is, it has

natural suspension, it can tolerate high wind and goes to the heart of

what we are about, looking at how you can derive higher performance

and high efficiency by studying natural systems. The Defence

Secretary said the Armed Forces are increasingly at the cutting edge of

technology. I want to make it easier for small high-tech companies to

come to defence, to bring their ideas and products and see whether

they can be used by the Armed Forces. It has been too slow in the

past, too bureaucratic, difficulties getting funding.

Formula 1 motor racing is another area in which British

research leads the world - and the Ministry of Defence

announced a dragons den style panel of experts to help advise

The chief Executive of Woking based Maclaren Ron Dennis

Our voices will be strong but and hopefully people will listen and

this is the minister pushed on me to be disruptive.

Also pushing the frontiers of military kit,

spaceman Tim Peake - an army Major - will join the panel.

From the Spitfire on, Britain has stepped up its

technology in the face of a hostile threat.

Now the Ministry of Defence is warning that to be

If we can develop these weapons, others can too.

A man's died after he became trapped in a shed which

Police and fire crews were called to Badgemore yesterday afternoon.

Paramedics arrived but say they were unable help him.

Police are treating the death as unexplained.

A 39-year-old woman was also seriously injured -

She's been treated at Stoke Mandeville hospital.

A man's appeared in court charged with murdering a man in Oxford,

who was injured in a stabbing more than ten years ago.

Samuel Marriot-Gray died nine years after being stabbed at a party

Charges have now been brought after the case was sent

47-year-old Leonard Morrison, who used to live on Bath Street

in Oxford, has been remanded in custody.

He's due to appear at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.

Next tonight - the A34 isn't fit for purpose and needs to be urgently

upgraded to a motorway - that's according to some people

who've been taking part in a special BBC South debate.

This morning's event was broadcast simultaneously across our region,

It brought together safety and transport

The A34 is a major road - running north to south

through the region, linking to other key routes.

Because of that, it carries huge volumes of road freight

But a BBC study has shown that, despite its poor reputation,

the number of accidents is broadly in line with other

The A34 today, and who would want to be this stranded motorist

or the patrolman coming to the rescue, just

There is no room for driver error, which unfortunately leads to so many

incidents in that short stretch of road.

Hello, and welcome to this special programme.

This morning, BBC local radio stations along the route brought

together those shaping the debate about the A34.

Statistically, a comparatively safe road, high profile

accidents like this one, where a lorry driver

using his phone killed four members of the same family,

It has been shown that mixing fast traffic with slow-moving traffic is

dangerous. What can we do? There is a role for technology

in this and we will await the results of Highways England's

safety review of the road to see whether there is a role

for average speed cameras, Even as the broadcast got underway,

came news of a four-vehicle crash. Well, the road is now flowing freely

once more and this morning's accident was what police describe

as a minor shunt with But within minutes, traffic

was trailing back for several miles It is already at overcapacity

and traffic levels, car and lorry, With demand, you have new systems

with people now buying online, the van market has really

grown in volume. For road users and the families

of those who have died here, People living in a village

in Buckinghamshire say 'everything is converging' on their quiet part

of the countryside. Network Rail and HS2

representatives will meet people living in Charndon,

later this week, to discuss plans Charndon, is a quiet village

on the Buckinghamshire/ Come the next two years it will

change something completely different. And it will become a

village which I do not think people will really want to live in.

Chandon residents have been fighting ther nearby HS2 route

so long the signs have faded, now the East West trainline

plus a planned Expressway between Oxford and Cambridge

It seems as if everything is converging on this, what was, a very

quiet part of the countryside. And nobody is happy about it.

want to build a maintenance depot - right next to a childrens'

playground, bus stops and a war memorial.

It would be used for five years during the construction

But an HS2 maintenace depot already has approval in Calvert -

Why can't it be sited where there are compounds served better by the

road infrastructure. The roads are small and not a good condition, they

certainly could not take the volume of HGVs and workers cars that East

and West Railway meet. Both companies will meet residents

in Charndon this week. Sir Roger Bannister has been made

a Companion of Honour The 87-year-old, who lives

in Oxford, made history by being the first person to run

a mile in under four minutes. He went on to be

a successful neurologist. He was knighted in 1975

for services to sport. Fellow Companions of Honour,

include the physicist Triple Olympic rowing champion

Andy Triggs-Hodge has announced his retirement

from international competition. The 37-year-old won two Olympic

titles in the coxless four in Bejing and London,

before joining the eight to win He was born at Halton Hospital near

Aylesbury but now lives in Oxford. A dog in Bicester has been propelled

to fame after being described Buffy's grin has attracted the

attention of national media groups. The Jack Russell even

has her own Facebook page. Hello, Buffy!

MUSIC PLAYS I posted a picture on a daytime

programme and somebody contacted me from the press office and they were

smitten with a photograph with the big smiley face. It has gone crazy.

# Whether you are brother, staying alive. There is more pictures of

Buffy than me and my brother. She has a massive box of toys at the

back of the room so they are from friends and family when we go away

on holiday we bring her something back. She has been in the Daily Mail

online, the Mirror online and the Metro online. She is very laid back,

she is 14 this year so she is a little old lady. Everybody loves

her. Absolutely loves her and the family adore her. She is quite a

character. # Staying alive! She smiles so much because she is so

loved and is a happy dog. She loves her life and enjoys living with us.

# Staying alive # A kebab van from Thame has

been named the best - Ata-lay scooped the title in front

of more than one thousand business The founder of the awards -

Ibrahim Dogus - praised the awards for celebrating businesses

with a Middle Eastern background - saying kebabs contribute

2.8 billion pounds to the UK Pancake races have been taking

part across our region It was due to have an Agatha

Christie theme but not The event also raises money

for local charities. I'm back with the headlines at eight

and another bulletin at ten thirty. Anjana Gadgil is next with the rest

of today's news stories. Coming up, Tony is here with the

sport and the weather is not getting any better. Today we had some

blustery rain. Tomorrow will be very similar. I will have the details for

you shortly. A care worker from West Sussex,

who is accused of stealing money from a pensioner she was looking

after, has told a jury the man lent her cash

because she had lost her bank card 39-year-old Theresa Stratton

from Littlehampton is accused of stealing ?130 from 74-year-old

David Skerritt at his But she said she only took

?10 with his permission Theresa Stratton denies

theft and the trial The company responsible

for maintaining accommodation for military families has promised

improvements after taking It follows complaints

from several forces' families, including some who claimed

their accommodation was poor. was considering terminating

its multi-million pound contract. The company says the new contractors

will deliver a more efficient Millions of chickens were officially

allowed to roam free again today. They've been cooped up in farms

and homes all over the country since early December to protect them

from an outbreak of bird flu. Today the government

relaxed the rules. And some farmers have

taken the decision not to release their birds even though

they're now free to do so. Roger Finn joins us now

from Woodlands near Totton. Roger, it all sounds

a bit confusing. I will try and explain. Just over

here in the darkness there is now a boundary of great significance for

anybody who keeps chickens. Here the controls have been relaxed. Chickens

are free to roam. That is the situation in most parts of the

country but here we are in a zone designated by the government as

posing a higher risk of bird flu. On this side, chickens have still got

to be kept indoors. The reason is that here we are within five

kilometres of an area that has a big population of aquatic wildfowl and

they are the problem. Wild ducks and geese have caused

a major bird flu epidemic Scientists say the particular

strains of some of these birds spreading this winter is not

harmful to humans, but it is highly infectious

and deadly to birds. That is why all flocks have been

forced inside for the last 12 weeks, including these

on a farm near Romsey. Even though these could now go free,

because the farm is not in a higher-risk zone,

the farmer has decided It might be a smaller chance

but there is still a chance my chickens might get this

disease and it would wipe them out So talking to other

producers alike, they are The welfare of the

chicken comes first One consequence

is this farm and many others now lose their

free range status. That normally attracts a premium

of 40 extra pence per dozen. Many supermarkets have said

they will continue to pay free The farmers are hoping customers

will be understanding. They are still high welfare,

they still roam freely in the barn A single case of bird flu means

the whole flock has to be destroyed, with no compensation

and no insurance. It is devastating for

the farmer and his business. We are sorry some farmers

will experience a loss in We keep it under constant

review so that requirement for housing is not extended

longer than it has to be. The hope is the chickens

will be back in this field and dozens of others

like it across the South in a couple of months,

when the weather has warmed up and the wild geese and ducks have

started heading off. Now, what did you learn at school

that's proved useful in your job? New research shows many young

scientists, IT workers and engineers believe a lot of what they studied

is little use in the real world. The Baker Dearing Educational Trust

says almost half of the young people it surveyed believe technical skills

would have been much more useful than subjects

like history or geography. The Trust promotes University

Technical Colleges to help Nikki Mitchell reports

from one college in Reading. From this device I connect

with that device... He is one of a number of former UTC

students who have secured apprenticeships with

networking specialist, Cisco. His employer sends him

back regularly to help I am trying to get them to use

the technical skills they already have but at the same

time we are giving them the technical knowledge

at the same time. In my old school I would never have

days like this where we basically All of it is practical,

even in the normal day-to-day lessons it is not just

sitting by a computer. It is practical and

hands-on, as well. How useful do students

here think more traditional subjects like history

and geography might be Don't get me wrong, it could be,

but not for me personally. This is more like tech science

that is what I prefer doing. The educational trust which promotes

UTCs says half of youngsters already employed in science, computing

and engineering think traditional subjects are largely useless

for the world of work. With industry struggling

to keep up with the speed of technological advance, what hope

do schools have without We can put that innovation into

the hands of the students themselves They will continue to be at the edge

of things being done in the industry when they join those

particular organisations. There is a great mix

in schools, some schools are fantastic, ordinary

schools, secondary schools, at bringing

the curriculum to life

and making it real. But I don't think it is widespread

enough and therefore some schools are not doing enough

with employer partners, because headteachers are accountable

to the performance tables. But I think there needs

to be just a rethink The National Union of

Teachers is sceptical. It believes if all schools

were properly funded the quality of vocational education

would significantly improve anyway. Tony is here. And I am here! I

imagine you did sport when you were at school. Indeed, quite a lot of

that. I was never good at mathematics but I do know the value

of three points. We know a bit about Chris Hughton and his past with

Newcastle. He said it was his best achievement as a manager, getting

Newcastle promoted to the Premier League. Here he is as Brighton

manager and rapper Benito is in charge of Newcastle, both gunning

for the title and automatic promotion and the Premier league is

where they want to be. It's the biggest match

of the championship season so fdar of Rafa Benitez's Newcastle

if they win tonight at the Amex. The Albion have won

three of their last four as they bid to earn a place

in the Premier Legaue - 20 years after almost dropping out

of the football league altogether. Earlier I spoke to Johnny

Cantor at the Amex. He explains why these two are at the

top of the tree. It is the second consecutive

sell-out at the AMEX. It pits first against second,

the best home record against the best away record

in the championship. It also pits the best defence,

the Seagulls, with 17 clean sheets this season, against the best

attack in the division, the Magpies, who have already scored

64 goals this season. The fans and players know

something's got to give. What we would put in

front is a strong team with a lot of good players and

always it is tougher to play this Of course, a win is not

just three points. It is the confidence

as well, it is a big thing. We know three points is always

important in the league, Johnny. But if Brighton got the win

tonight it could be very significant on several

fronts, couldn't it? Not only would the gap

between Brighton and Newcastle be at four points

but they would also have a 9-point gap between them and third placed

Huddersfield. It would also put more pressure

on Newcastle this evening, because Newcastle have to go

to Reading on Tuesday and before that they also have to

travel to third-placed Huddersfield

on Saturday, as well. As we approach the last ten games

of the season you feel both sides will want the momentum

going into the final run-in and obviously end up with those top

two vital places for promotion. And the game is live

on BBC Sussex with Johnny and Warren Aspinall tonight,

kick off is 7.45. Murry Baldock will start for the

Albion. Elsewhere tonight Portsmouth

could break into the automatic promotion places in League Two

if they win at home to Morecambe They need Carlisle to lose to go

third. There's also a trip to Bradford

in league one for MK Dons BBC local radio has full live

commentary of all the matches. Cricket news and Surrey fast bowler

Tom Curran has been called into the England one-day squad

for the tour of the Caribbean, The 21-year-old has impressed

while touring Sri Lanka with the England Lions,

but is now heading to the West Indies for the series,

which begins on Friday. The Portsmouth-based team hoping

to win international sport's oldest trophy for Britain for the first

time have debuted their boat Earlier this month you may remember

we were on the island to see Sir Ben Ainslie's Landrover BAR

unveil R1, as it is known. Now it's becoming a familiar sight

off the coastline, as crucial early From the symbolism of unveiling

their race boat to the show of strength on the water,

Land Rover BAR are now sound in the boat they hope will win

Britain the Americas Cup. It is 15 metres, or 50

feet long, and has been designed with engineers

from their title sponsors. They are used to providing high

spec off-road vehicles. Now the same technology is helping

one of the most technically There is still rope on board,

but the six-strong crew have 130 metres of hydraulic

pipes and over 1,000 metres of cabling to connect sensors

and video cameras. I think we can see a lot

of the upgrades coming together and increasing the performance markedly,

which is where we need to be. The Americas Cup journey

for the Portsmouth-based This will probably be

the most developed boat from launch we run

through the whole campaign. We have a lot of upgrades

we are currently engineering and developing and now the focus moves

towards bringing those to the boat. Hundreds of hours of

practice will follow. Back in Portsmouth the analysis

for the most marginal of for the summer's America's

Cup racing. Congratulations to the gold medal

winning British hockey team today. Maddy Hinch from West Sussex were

among those at Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE from the Duke of

Cambridge. Maddy said she was less nervous lining up for the final

against the Netherlands but as we can see, she enjoyed a good chat.

It was a very special day for a former South Today presenter.

Mr Bruce Parker, for services to charity and to the community in

Hampshire. Bruce Parker has been awarded

the MBE by Prince William Bruce presented for BBC

South for 35 years. He's chairman of the Friends

of Winchester Cathedral and involved with the Hampshire and Isle

of Wight Air Ambulance, and Leukaemia Busters in

Southampton, among other charities. Congratulations, Bruce. 35 years of

South Today. Very impressive. Now the weather.

Yes, not therefore that long! Well, you never know. Lovely sunshine this

morning. You went for a run in the rain. When it was still sunny. And

then it started raining. I just had a pancake! This was early this

morning in Dorset. Lewis Horsley captured the sunrise in Bloodworth.

And Paul sent this picture from Hampshire. We had some lovely

sunshine this morning. The rain spread north and east in the region

and slowly easing up to night and it will be quite chilly in the

countryside. We might see a local frost in the countryside. In towns

and cities, those 3-5 C, the windfall in lighter in the early

morning. Very light this morning. A dry and sunny start to the day

tomorrow. Very quickly the cloud will turn the sunshine hazy and

rainbow in golf the southern coastal counties. This rain will be very

patchy so there will be some dry interludes, especially further north

in much of the day. Temperatures reaching a high of 8-9 C. Feeling

cold with the increasing breeze and rainfall tomorrow. The wins tomorrow

night will become very strong. It could touch gale forced along

coastal stretches, even inland areas. A chance of a wintry shower

in the early hours of Thursday morning and temperatures falling to

freezing. The winds will ease first thing on Thursday. Very much like

today and tomorrow, some sunny spells to start Thursday. The

difference is it should mainly be dry in the course of the day. One of

the better days this week. But brisk wind from the West, or Southwest.

Mainly dry, some sunny spells and the odd isolated shower. Before we

look at the outlook we will talk about tomorrow. It is the first day

of spring in meteorology. Three days of spring before summer rise in

June. Enjoy the springlike conditions on Thursday. But we will

have some rain tomorrow. It could be heavy and persistent at times. Sunny

spells on Thursday, that is the mainly dry day of the week with

brisk wind. Friday, we are looking at outbreaks of rain in the course

of the day. Moving northwards across the region. Over the weekend, quite

unsettled at times, a cool feeling to things, some rain at times and

some sunshine jihad as well. The rain could be happy here and there.

-- could be some sunshine around as well. We are back at half past six

tomorrow. Hope you will be watching. Good night. Good night.