05/01/2017 South Today - Oxford

Welcome to South Today. the news where you are.

Coming up: When your life changes in an instant.

Jamie Mines has lost a leg and two hands after an accident at work.

Also: Packed trains, unhappy passengers -

the overcrowding since Chiltern Railways extended

And how an audiobook project that started in a garden shed is now

a thriving business, reaching people around the world.

A scaffolder who was electrocuted while working in Swindon has

had his second hand amputated to help him survive.

Jamie Mines had a leg amputated after the accident

He has five-month-old twin daughters and his friends are fundraising

A young father, a talented sportsman, a great character.

But life changed for Jamie Mines in an instant and forever.

He was working on this industrial estate in Swindon as a scaffolder

just days before Christmas when, in a freak accident,

He remains in a critical but stable condition in Southmead having now

The initial target was ?10,000, which I think was achieved

within about 24 hours, which is extraordinary.

Friends have set up an internet fundraising page

He and his partner have twins aged just five months.

The timing of such an incident before Christmas is awful and it's

about how it makes people realise that things can change just

Jamie is very strong, fit, healthy young man.

His life is going to change so we all need to be there for him.

Jamie is a strong character and he is a strong guy.

If he comes through it, which he will, hoping that he does,

his two little girls will keep him strong and to pull through it.

The circumstances of the accident here are unclear but the Health and

Whatever the cause, the outcome is plainly devastating for a young

A man who was critically injured in a fire in Swindon

33-year-old Blaise Alvares had been in hospital since the fire.

Their families have asked people to pray for the couple's

17-month-old daughter, who is still in hospital.

An inquest has opened into the death of four-year-old Barnaby Cork,

who died after being hit by a car at Thame Leisure Centre last month.

He was airlifted to hospital but doctors were unable to save him.

An online campaign has raised nearly ?30,000

A full inquest will be held in March.

A damaged gas main led to long queues near the M4 in Swindon.

A 100-metre cordon was put in place around the junction for West Swindon

after contractors hit the pipe this morning.

Junction 16 was closed to traffic coming on or off the motorway

Chiltern Railways admits there's been overcrowding on its trains

into London since it extended the service to Oxford.

It says passenger numbers have been greater than expected.

Concerns were raised that there wouldn't be carriages

when the final section of the line between Oxford station and Oxford

Customers, customers and more customers.

It s a good sign for any business if you can keep them happy.

Questions are being asked about how Chiltern Railways

For some passengers, it's standing room only.

We need to be building a lot more coaches to make

longer trains so that, at busy times, everyone

We know an enormous number of people commute into Oxford who can't

There was what might be called suppressed demand for public

transport into Oxford to get to work.

The service has been running for a year.

Overcrowding has got worse since the line was extended

At the launch, Chiltern Railway's bosses said they were monitoring

a number of passengers going from Oxford to London

and London to Oxford, and they didn't rule

Over the past few weeks, we've seen there is high demand,

The company is now looking at how it can appease customers

I'm sorry if they haven't had the experience that

But we are listening we are out there.

We want to understand when people are travelling and get

Bear with us and we will keep working on it and we will bring that

One idea is to make busy trains longer.

Extra services could also be brought in.

But no time scales have been set for any improvements.

The future of 200 jobs at RAF Brize Norton has been secured

with a new multi-million pound contract from the

The deal with Airbus means the A400M aircraft will continue to be

serviced and maintained in West Oxfordshire.

Here's our business correspondent, Alastair Fee.

This is the future of troop transport.

The A400M Atlas can deploy soldiers by air or land in the most

A 200-strong team of engineers and mechanics that keep it flying

Today, they were told their jobs were safe.

The airbase is one of our key employers here in West Oxfordshire.

Further investment is really welcome.

There is a high level of out commuting where people work outside.

Anything that helps get jobs is very welcome.

As well as 200 local jobs, the ?410 million deal with Airbus

secures a further 200 positions in companies within the wider

supply chain across the south and south-west.

We have got a firm basis to support the new aircraft and in particular

what it does is that it secures a lot of jobs here

and in Oxfordshire, and beyond Oxfordshire down

This is the base for air transport for the foreseeable future

and we are here to make a long-term investments.

The A400M replaces the old Hercules aircraft.

While the RAF currently has 14 new planes, the fleet will increase

This announcement means the maintenance, upgrade and repair

will stay in West Oxfordshire well into the next decade.

It started out as a labour of love - two friends, working

in a converted shed near Reading, producing audiobooks

They're still doing that but the initial idea has morphed

They're now producing recordings of stories that,

thanks to the internet, are reaching people

He slipped his finger to the tail section of the blueprint.

In the back would be another smaller...

Creating audio books is a lot more involved than simply recording

Can we actually have that heaving sigh?

You need a soundproof studio, the kit, vocal talent,

and an ability to judge pace, passion and pitch in a performance.

We don't want that, that's the wrong one.

Then a way to get the finished work out there.

You'll agree this is certainly interesting.

Matt is almost totally blind and set up Living Audio as a social

Initially to produce recordings of fan fiction featuring

He even got JK Rowling's blessing, because it was

They were released, really, to benefit blind and print

disabled people, and they've been very popular.

And many, many blind and dyslexic people and people with other various

disabilities that prevent them from reading have come

back and said, you know, these are absolutely amazing.

That led the friends to seek out collaborations with other,

It was very much working with books that wouldn't normally be

Even when we do commercial books, we're producing audio to the best

quality that we can do, knowing that blind, print disabled,

anybody that can't hold a print book or read it comfortably,

will have the best production we can produce.

The UK spent ?12 million on digital downloads in 2015.

The business is still finding its feet but audio books recorded

here in Berkshire are now being downloaded daily

- 8 in Benson last night and it's going to be cold again tonight.

Alexis is coming up with the details.

It will be a very chilly night to come. Not as cold as last night. We

to minus six Celsius and there will to minus six Celsius and there will

be widespread frost and freezing fog. These are the temperatures in

urban areas but in the countryside, down to minus six. Chilly and foggy

start. The fog will lift at ten or 11am. The cloud will increase. Some

bright and sunny spells to be had. Patchy rain is also a possibility

later on in the day. Ahead of a weather front which will arrive

after dusk tomorrow. Temperatures tomorrow, higher than today,

reaching 4-5 C, but milder air moves in with the band of rain which moves

south and eastwards tomorrow evening and overnight into Saturday. On

Saturday, a high pressure will build. But it should stay mainly

dry. Cloud but one or two bright and sunny spells. Over the weekend, a

lot of cloud. High pressure will dominate our weather so a lot of dry

weather with light winds. The creeping up by a notch or two, 10,

maybe nine Celsius. Here is Louise with the national picture.

Won't it cold and frosty this morning? The coldest night of the

winter so far in England. Down to minus 8 Celsius. But widely, the

temperatures below freezing. Through the night, cloud and rain,