:00:00. > :00:00.Welcome to South Today. for the news where you are.
:00:00. > :00:00.Coming up: improving the future of UK defence.
:00:00. > :00:08.A team of engineers in Oxford and the Defence Secretary discuss
:00:09. > :00:11.the impact of unmanned space warfare and drones.
:00:12. > :00:15.And road users have their say over the safety of one
:00:16. > :00:27.Unmanned warfare should be the future of UK defence - that's
:00:28. > :00:30.according to the Defence Secretary, Sir Michael Fallon, who's been
:00:31. > :00:36.speaking at an engineering conference in Oxford.
:00:37. > :00:39.It's as space warfare and drones are being developed by scientists
:00:40. > :00:42.The technology is part of a new Ministry of Defence
:00:43. > :00:45.strategy, which will also involve astronaut Tim Peake.
:00:46. > :00:49.Our Political Editor Peter Henley has more.
:00:50. > :00:51.It flies at 45 miles an hour, and weighs less
:00:52. > :01:01.Skeeter is the next generation of military drone.
:01:02. > :01:04.Developed by animal dynamics, a spin off company from
:01:05. > :01:10.Oxford Universities Zoology department, it uses two pairs
:01:11. > :01:15.It has interesting upshot is, it has natural suspension, it can tolerate
:01:16. > :01:20.high wind and goes to the heart of what we are about, looking at how
:01:21. > :01:23.you can derive higher performance and high efficiency by studying
:01:24. > :01:30.The Defence Secretary said the Armed Forces are
:01:31. > :01:33.increasingly at the cutting edge of technology.
:01:34. > :01:35.I want to make it easier for small high-tech companies to
:01:36. > :01:40.come to defence, to bring their ideas
:01:41. > :01:42.and products and see whether
:01:43. > :01:45.they can be used by the Armed Forces.
:01:46. > :01:48.It has been too slow in the past, too bureaucratic, difficulties
:01:49. > :01:56.Formula 1 motor racing is another area in which British
:01:57. > :01:59.research leads the world - and the Ministry of Defence
:02:00. > :02:02.announced a dragons den style panel of experts to help advise
:02:03. > :02:05.The chief Executive of Woking based Maclaren Ron Dennis
:02:06. > :02:11.Our voices will be strong but and hopefully people will listen and
:02:12. > :02:19.this is the minister pushed on me to be disruptive.
:02:20. > :02:22.Also pushing the frontiers of military kit,
:02:23. > :02:32.spaceman Tim Peake - an army Major - will join the panel.
:02:33. > :02:35.From the time of the Spitfire on, Britain has stepped up its
:02:36. > :02:37.technology in the face of a hostile threat.
:02:38. > :02:40.Now the Ministry of Defence is warning that to be
:02:41. > :02:53.If we can develop these weapons, others can too.
:02:54. > :02:56.A man's died after he became trapped in a shed which
:02:57. > :02:58.It happened in Badgemore yesterday evening.
:02:59. > :03:00.Police are treating the death as unexplained.
:03:01. > :03:05.A 39-year-old woman was also seriously injured.
:03:06. > :03:08.A man's appeared in court charged with murdering a man in Oxford,
:03:09. > :03:11.who was injured in a stabbing more than ten years ago.
:03:12. > :03:14.Samuel Marriot-Gray died nine years after being stabbed at a party
:03:15. > :03:20.Charges have now been brought after the case was sent
:03:21. > :03:24.47-year-old Leonard Morrison, who used to live on Bath Street
:03:25. > :03:27.in Oxford, has been remanded in custody.
:03:28. > :03:32.He's due to appear at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday.
:03:33. > :03:36.Next tonight, the A34 isn't fit for purpose and needs to be urgently
:03:37. > :03:39.upgraded to a motorway - that's according to some people
:03:40. > :03:43.who've been taking part in a special BBC South debate.
:03:44. > :03:46.This morning's event was broadcast simultaneously across our region,
:03:47. > :03:51.It brought together safety and transport
:03:52. > :03:56.The A34 is a major road, running north to south
:03:57. > :03:59.through the region, linking to other key routes.
:04:00. > :04:03.A BBC study has shown that, despite its poor reputation,
:04:04. > :04:05.the number of accidents is broadly in line with other
:04:06. > :04:14.The A34 today, and who would want to be this stranded motorist
:04:15. > :04:17.or the patrolman coming to the rescue, just
:04:18. > :04:22.There is no room for driver error, which unfortunately leads to so many
:04:23. > :04:25.incidents in that short stretch of road.
:04:26. > :04:30.Hello, and welcome to this special programme.
:04:31. > :04:33.This morning, BBC local radio stations along the route brought
:04:34. > :04:38.together those shaping the debate about the A34.
:04:39. > :04:40.Statistically, a comparatively safe road, high profile
:04:41. > :04:43.accidents like this one, where a lorry driver
:04:44. > :04:46.using his phone killed four members of the same family,
:04:47. > :04:55.It has been shown that mixing fast traffic
:04:56. > :04:56.with slow-moving traffic is
:04:57. > :05:01.There is a role for technology in this and we will await
:05:02. > :05:04.the results of Highways England's safety review of the road to see
:05:05. > :05:06.whether there is a role for average speed cameras,
:05:07. > :05:14.Even as the broadcast got underway, came news of a four-vehicle crash.
:05:15. > :05:16.Well, the road is now flowing freely once more and this morning's
:05:17. > :05:19.accident was what police describe as a minor shunt with
:05:20. > :05:24.But within minutes, traffic was trailing back for several miles
:05:25. > :05:32.It is already at overcapacity and traffic levels, car and lorry,
:05:33. > :05:37.With demand, you have new systems with people now buying online,
:05:38. > :05:41.the van market has really grown in volume.
:05:42. > :05:46.For road users and the families of those who have died here,
:05:47. > :05:56.People living in a village in Buckinghamshire say 'everything
:05:57. > :05:59.is converging' on their quiet part of the countryside.
:06:00. > :06:02.Network Rail and HS2 staff will meet people living in Charndon,
:06:03. > :06:08.later this week, to discuss plans for a new maintenance depot.
:06:09. > :06:11.Charndon, a quiet village on the Buckinghamshire
:06:12. > :06:21.Come the next two years it will change something
:06:22. > :06:26.And it will become a village which I do not think people
:06:27. > :06:31.Residents have been fighting ther nearby HS2 route
:06:32. > :06:39.so long the signs have faded, now the East West trainline
:06:40. > :06:41.plus a planned Expressway between Oxford and Cambridge
:06:42. > :06:49.It seems as if everything is converging on this, what was, a very
:06:50. > :07:03.want to build a maintenance depot - right next to a childrens'
:07:04. > :07:05.playground, bus stops and a war memorial.
:07:06. > :07:07.It would be used for five years during the construction
:07:08. > :07:13.But an HS2 maintenace depot already has approval in Calvert -
:07:14. > :07:20.Why can't it be sited where there are compounds served
:07:21. > :07:50.Both companies will meet residents in Charndon this week.
:07:51. > :07:53.A dog in Bicester has been propelled to fame after being described
:07:54. > :07:58.Buffy's grin has attracted global attention -
:07:59. > :08:03.The Jack Russell even has her own Facebook page.
:08:04. > :08:25.I posted a picture on a daytime
:08:26. > :08:29.programme and somebody contacted me from the press office and they were
:08:30. > :08:32.smitten with a photograph with the big smiley face.
:08:33. > :08:46.There is more pictures of Buffy than me and my brother.
:08:47. > :08:50.She has been in the Daily Mail online, the Mirror online and the
:08:51. > :08:58.She is very laid back, she is 14 this year so she is a
:08:59. > :09:09.Absolutely loves her and the family adore her.
:09:10. > :09:15.Sir Roger Bannister has been made a Companion of Honour
:09:16. > :09:18.The 87-year-old, who lives in Oxford, made history
:09:19. > :09:22.by being the first person to run a mile in under four minutes.
:09:23. > :09:24.He went on to be a successful neurologist.
:09:25. > :09:26.He was knighted in 1975 for services to sport.
:09:27. > :09:29.We're back in BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning.
:09:30. > :09:31.Alexis Green has a full weather forecast next.
:09:32. > :09:38.They have been on the heavy side, and longer spells of
:09:39. > :09:41.The showers will ease overnight tonight and it will turn
:09:42. > :09:44.There may even be a frost in the countryside.
:09:45. > :09:46.Even the risk of ice on untreated surfaces.
:09:47. > :09:49.With temperatures falling to around two or three degrees.
:09:50. > :09:52.A chilly start to the day tomorrow, very like today, we'll have lots of
:09:53. > :09:54.sunshine first thing but it won't stay that way.
:09:55. > :09:56.Cloud will increase from the South during the morning,
:09:57. > :09:58.and we will see some outbreaks of mainly
:09:59. > :10:01.odd moderate to heavy burst through the afternoon.
:10:02. > :10:03.And temperatures tomorrow will reach a high of seven
:10:04. > :10:06.There will be a breeze coming in from the
:10:07. > :10:10.Through the course of tomorrow night, the winds turn quite
:10:11. > :10:13.But on Thursday, it's mainly dry day.
:10:14. > :10:15.A ridge of high pressure stays with us.
:10:16. > :10:18.We will see the winds coming in from the south-west, staying dry
:10:19. > :10:21.through daylight hours, the odd isolated shower is a possibility.
:10:22. > :10:26.The next weather system is expected to arrive
:10:27. > :10:30.But the winds will start to pick up through the course of Friday
:10:31. > :10:35.As we head through this week, we are expecting a fair
:10:36. > :10:36.amount of cloud each day, although Thursday's the
:10:37. > :10:40.We will see some sunny spells and it should stay
:10:41. > :10:44.As we look ahead to the rest of the week, some sunny
:10:45. > :10:47.spells first thing tomorrow, cloud increasing through the morning.
:10:48. > :10:49.There will be a breeze from the south-west
:10:50. > :10:50.and rain will spread to
:10:51. > :10:59.Northern parts seeing hardly any rain during the course of the day.
:11:00. > :11:06.is the nicest day of the next view, otherwise chilly and unsettled.
:11:07. > :11:12.Good evening. We are about to head into March, the days are getting
:11:13. > :11:17.longer, but are they getting any warmer? Not really. We will get
:11:18. > :11:20.there in the end, but we will have to be patient, not very springlike
:11:21. > :11:25.at the moment. Some showers scattered around across England and
:11:26. > :11:29.Wales will tend to diminish in number, a few left behind, wintry
:11:30. > :11:33.showers across the north of Scotland, snow at low-level is, ice
:11:34. > :11:37.as well as temperatures fall close to freezing. A cold night with a
:11:38. > :11:44.touch of frost in a number of places. Plenty of sunshine across
:11:45. > :11:47.southern areas first of all, but it will not last, rain spilling from
:11:48. > :11:51.the south, the best brightness and eventually further north across the
:11:52. > :11:52.UK. Mostly fine