28/03/2017 South Today - Oxford

In tonight's programme: Seven men have been arrested

in Banbury accused of rape and child sex offences.

Plagued by potholes - the warning many of the roads

And having a wheely good time, how a fundraising appeal's helped

Thames Valley Police has carried out a series of raids in Banbury

in relation to allegations of historical sexual offences

More than 100 officers were involved in this morning's

operation which targeted ten properties in the town

Earlier Our Home Affairs Correspondent Peter Cooke

Approximately 120 uniformed officers carried out the raids in the early

hours of this morning at ten properties in Banbury

Seven men were arrested in connection with child sexual

The alleged offences relate to three female victims in Banbury

over a seven-year-period between 2008 and 2015.

The men arrested today are aged between 21 and 42,

and are currently in custody being questioned by detectives.

Peter, this isn't the first instance of an operation like this

No, in fact, this is the sixth operation of this kind carried out

The separate operations were in Oxfordshire

Thames Valley Police are trying to reassure the public.

Detective Superintendent Paul Hales has called this

They are working with other agencies to support the victims.

Also, the local area commander has said that child sexual offences

and exploitation remain a key priority for Thames Valley Police

and perhaps today's arrest may encourage other people who may have

had something happen to them in the past to come

And if and when they feel ready to do so, Thames Valley Police

will be there to listen and support them.

The Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner has

set out his priorities for the next five years.

Following crime trends and local resident's views

Anthony Stansfeld has chosen five key strategies from April.

They include tackling abuse of vulnerable people, cyber crime,

reducing re-offending and improving public awareness of organised

Bus drivers have reached a pay deal with the Oxford Bus Company

in a long-running dispute over Christmas pay.

Services have been hit by two one-day strikes this month.

The unite union says both sides hammered out

a deal with the help of the concilliation service, ACAS.

Specific details of the deal haven't been disclosed.

One in six local roads in England and Wales are in such bad condition,

they'll need to be repaired or closed within five years.

The Asphalt Industry Alliance blames increased traffic, wetter winters

The Department for Transport says it's providing councils

with an extra billion pounds for road maintenance.

This road in Buckinghamshire should soon be as good as new.

But other roads in the county have been neglected for years.

The amount of money that we have got available is making it very

Our minor roads in particular, like ones in villages, are struggling.

And then the increased traffic on the really busy roads is putting

Roads like the A40, really struggling and the A41 as it

Oxfordshire County Council has invested in its own machine

like this one which will fill potholes swiftly and cheaply.

It'll be virtually impossible to keep up with demand, though.

Motorists say roads up and down the country aren't up to it.

Emphasis is on roads which take the most vehicles

and because they consider us as a country lane, underused,

quite likely we are low on the priority list.

Local government find themselves in between and they are stuck with

all the rap whereas the government get away with it.

It is in towns that I notice that they need more

But we have just come down the motorway and it has been fine.

Would you pay more tax for better roads?

An extra ?1 billion has been pledged by the government

That's nowhere near enough, according to the Asphalt

The group says that local roads in England and Wales are on the edge

It says that one in six roads is in poor condition and if some

of these roads aren't mended in the next few years,

Every year, we report on the declining conditions

of the roads and there is only one way that can end and

This is a race to the bottom and we already...

Our road network is way behind those of our colleagues in Europe

and we are slipping behind some countries in Asia and Africa.

It would cost ?150 million to get all of Buckinghamshire's

Next year, just ?25 million is available for road

repairs for Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire combined.

Playing the classic video game tetris can reduce the chance

of suffering from flashbacks after a traumatic event.

Researchers at Oxford University found that people who played

the game within six hours of being in a car accident had fewer

disturbing memories of the incident than those without the intervention.

It's thought engaging in visually demanding tasks soon after a trauma,

can help disrupt how the memory is stored.

A Buckinghamshire charity's helped a former England footballer cope

Rio Ferdinand has made a documentary for the BBC about being both mum

and dad to his children since his wife Rebecca died

As part of the film, Rio visited Child Bereavement UK

in Saunderton to talk to young people about their

He mainly asked questions to us about what we had been through and

He has got three young children and he

wanted to know how he could help them in the way that would be told

from someone who has been through it's perspective.

They were able to give him guidance on what their

parents did that was helpful, equally things that weren't helpful.

They were very honest with him, he wanted to learn from them so he

A little dog called Puffy was paralysed after being struck

by a car, shattering part of her spine which couldn't

But she's now enjoying a new lease of life -

thanks to the generosity of people in West Berkshire who raised money

A stroll and a roll in the Spring sunshine is an indication of just

how far this couple and their pet pooch Puffy have come.

It's two years since she ran out in front of a car,

But after months of therapy, and finally with these new wheels,

this Chinese Crested Powderpuff has regained a quality of life that once

She has a real will and determination to carry

on, we wanted to give her that chance.

The wheels have really made a different to keeping her happy

Her first wheels were a DIY job made by

Mike's dad, but they were enough to prove that getting a proper support

The wheels not only support Puffy, they have in-built pads

to exercise her paralysed back legs, helping build core strength

Another part of her recovery has been twice-weekly

sessions at the UK's top canine aquatic therapy unit here in

Walking on a treadmill while supported by the water has

She's always been a really positive dog.

She's never let it get to her, she's always wanted to try and do

Even from when she first came to see me, when she was

paraplegic, she would drag herself around the floor.

Puffy's wheels cost ?1,500 - that money raised in just a few days

through donations to an online appeal.

The response we've had is completely overwhelming.

I could certainly never, ever have expected it and we

There is nothing better than watching her charging around the

field, being able to get out and about, sniffing, just doing things

Although Puffy will never walk again unaided, thanks to her new wheels

That's it from us for now, there's more on the BBC website.

We're back in BBC Breakfast tomorrow morning, but for now from everyone

Now with the weather here's Alexis Green.

After a lovely few days, the rain is expected

Mainly light and patchy rain and it will be another

Temperatures in some areas will drop below double

Lows in the countryside of eight Celsius.

These are temperatures in our towns and

The patchy rain will be with us first thing

tomorrow morning, as

And the cloud will really stay with us through much of

the day, but we're hopeful it will break in places to allow

for the odd fleeting bright or sunny spell.

If you do have any sunshine, temperatures could reach a highs of

These are temperatures under the cloud cover.

There will be a lot of cloud tomorrow night, as

Through Thursday, this weather front pulls

westward, so we will start to see some drier conditions.

A little uncertainty as to how far east that

weather front will be, but we are hopeful

for some decent amount of

sunshine, if not hazy sunshine at times.

There will be a lot of high cloud in places.

The breeze will be dragging in some really quite warm

We will see highs on Thursday of potentially

Over the next few days, there will be a good deal

Some brighter spells tomorrow, mainly a dry day

tomorrow and they mainly dry day on Thursday.

There is a chance that we could have some rain on Friday at

Breeze still coming up from the south, so drawing in that milder

Over the weekend, there will be thunderstorms

on Saturday and it is a drier day on Saturday.

times, but fairly mild for the time of year. This stay tuned for the

national weather forecasts with John Hammond.

Good evening. Your parents might have told you once that life 's not

fair and they were right. He is the proof. Over the next few days some

of us will enjoy some lovely sunshine, temperatures in the low

20s. It will feel like early summer. For others, quite a lot of rain

around and it will feel like late March. This is showers earlier on

today and dampness this evening in the West Country and Wales. That is

heading north eastwards. A different sort of night. A lot of cloud

around, quite damp and misty in places. Cloud cover will prevent

temperatures falling much at all. A much milder my than we have seen

recently. Except for the North of Scotland, but elsewhere in double

figures. It will be a Graeme Murty start