:00:00. > :00:14.Hello I'm Sally Taylor. Welcome to South Today. In tonight's programme:
:00:15. > :00:17.storm damage. Strong winds and driving rain create problems and is
:00:18. > :00:20.rocked much of the festive getaway, and it's not over yet.
:00:21. > :00:23.Financial irregularities: the charity Mencap repays ?60,000 to
:00:24. > :00:26.residents in a Hampshire care home Storm damage disrupting much of the
:00:27. > :00:29.festive getaway, and it's not over yet.
:00:30. > :00:32.Looking for a buyer ` are the Royals in line for a takeover?
:00:33. > :00:33.And popping the question whilst Christmas shopping, but does she say
:00:34. > :00:51.yes? It's got worse as the day gone on
:00:52. > :00:55.and it's not done yet. The high winds and rain have been causing all
:00:56. > :00:58.sorts of problems ` part of a roof on a hotel has blown off, trees
:00:59. > :01:05.brought down, ferries and flights cancelled and trains running slow.
:01:06. > :01:09.There are reports tonight of power cuts across the South. Let's cross
:01:10. > :01:15.to Steve Humphrey who is at the Portsmouth Ferry Port, and it's
:01:16. > :01:20.pretty grim. It certainly is. It has been a soggy
:01:21. > :01:25.and windy day right across the South of England, and it really has taken
:01:26. > :01:27.its toll on ferry services. Here in Portsmouth they reckon it's been
:01:28. > :01:36.their worst day for cancellations for about ten years. After a lengthy
:01:37. > :01:40.delay, the ferry to the Channel Islands set off late this
:01:41. > :01:42.afternoon. It was one of just a handful of ferries to venture out
:01:43. > :01:47.from Portsmouth's cross`channel ferry port. Many other services were
:01:48. > :01:52.cancelled because of the severity of the storm. Amongst those who have
:01:53. > :01:57.their travel plans disrupted by the weather where John and Arlene from
:01:58. > :02:00.Norfolk. We drove down to Weymouth to catch a catamaran to the Channel
:02:01. > :02:05.Islands, but when that was cancelled, we drove to Portsmouth to
:02:06. > :02:09.get on the conventional ferry. You got to blame the weather, but it
:02:10. > :02:15.can put you off wanting to do this sort of trip again.
:02:16. > :02:20.Ford managers in Portsmouth say it's the largest number of cancellations
:02:21. > :02:23.on one day for about ten years. Of course at this time of year
:02:24. > :02:27.everybody is trying to get away, a last`minute dash to where they're
:02:28. > :02:31.trying to get you for Christmas... It's a difficult time of year for
:02:32. > :02:35.everybody. For some passengers, the ferry was
:02:36. > :02:39.their last chance to reach the Channel Islands before Christmas. We
:02:40. > :02:42.changed boards to the Portsmouth one, got herself a cabin so that we
:02:43. > :02:44.can hopefully sleep through the storm.
:02:45. > :02:48.Are you looking forward to the journey?
:02:49. > :02:51.I'm not too bad. My girlfriend is not looking forward
:02:52. > :02:55.to it too much. I really did Seafarer?
:02:56. > :03:02.Not at all. I struggle on the fast ferry, the four are one, so I'm not
:03:03. > :03:06.looking forward to this very much. On the so`called winds gusting up to
:03:07. > :03:12.80 mph. These pictures were taken earlier today. In Portsmouth, part
:03:13. > :03:15.of the seafront has been closed for safety reasons. And number of trees
:03:16. > :03:20.have been brought down by the strong winds. Bus passengers had a lucky
:03:21. > :03:26.escape when a branch smashed three bus window on the other mac de Q3
:03:27. > :03:32.between Aldershot and Guildford. No one was hurt but some people were
:03:33. > :03:37.badly shaken in the incident. A tree also fell onto a car in Dorchester.
:03:38. > :03:43.Are no reports of injuries. There was a soggy rush to the shops
:03:44. > :03:46.today. This abandoned umbrella told its own story. Recuse of cars into
:03:47. > :03:50.the shopping centres showed that people would not be deterred from
:03:51. > :03:55.completing their Christmas shopping. The wind and the rain are
:03:56. > :04:01.certainly causing lots of problems this evening. We are hearing that
:04:02. > :04:07.over in Worthing part of the roof of the Kingsway Hotel has been blown
:04:08. > :04:11.off in the strong winds. Meanwhile, in Berkshire, a flyover on
:04:12. > :04:17.Redding's inner distribution road has been shut because of debris on
:04:18. > :04:21.the road. Meanwhile, Alex was in June the 's working very hard night
:04:22. > :04:27.to try to restore power to thousands of homes. One of the worst affected
:04:28. > :04:32.areas that we are hearing about at the moment is Basingstoke. Earlier,
:04:33. > :04:36.Newbury was quite badly affected. From a very windy and rainy
:04:37. > :04:39.Portsmouth, back to you. Steve, thank you.
:04:40. > :04:42.And don't forget you can keep up to date with the latest weather and
:04:43. > :04:49.travel information on BBC local radio. We'll have a detailed weather
:04:50. > :04:52.forecast later in this programme. The learning disability charity
:04:53. > :04:55.Mencap has had to repay ?60,000 to 12 residents in a Hampshire care
:04:56. > :05:02.home following claims of financial irregularities. The allegations
:05:03. > :05:05.centre on the way staff at Dolphin Court in Havant made purchases on
:05:06. > :05:11.behalf of the residents using their clients' money. The sister of one of
:05:12. > :05:14.the residents says Mencap threatened to remove her brother from the home
:05:15. > :05:18.when she helped some residents reclaim the money. Nicki Frampton
:05:19. > :05:21.says her suspicions were aroused by a bingo bill after her brother, who
:05:22. > :05:31.has severe learning difficulty, went on a holiday with two of his carers.
:05:32. > :05:36.At the time I didn't know about the bingo. We didn't know about it until
:05:37. > :05:39.we looked at the records, and it was clearly obvious that he hadn't
:05:40. > :05:47.played bingo. He's just not capable. So it definitely was staff
:05:48. > :05:53.members playing bingo. It just makes you think where Stewart was while
:05:54. > :05:54.they were playing bingo. Hope you're sitting next to them, but I don't
:05:55. > :05:57.know. The allegations were investigated by
:05:58. > :06:00.Hampshire police but no prosecutions were brought and the charity says
:06:01. > :06:03.it's tightened up its financial procedures since. A little earlier,
:06:04. > :06:07.I spoke to Phil Barrow from Mencap and put it to him that the claims of
:06:08. > :06:10.staff abusing their trust were serious claims for a national
:06:11. > :06:16.charity which campaigns for people with disability.
:06:17. > :06:21.I think firstly I would want to start off by saying that we totally
:06:22. > :06:29.regret the circumstances and the distress it has caused to the
:06:30. > :06:32.families. This is something that occurred in 2011, three years ago.
:06:33. > :06:38.When it first came to our notice, we apologised to the families and have
:06:39. > :06:42.kept them fully involved in the investigations that took place and
:06:43. > :06:47.worked with the families to understand what had gone wrong and
:06:48. > :06:51.how we could improve that. We as an organisation are totally committed
:06:52. > :06:57.to the people that we support, and for us that is paramount, as well as
:06:58. > :07:03.the families. You say you regret, do you regret the fact that there was a
:07:04. > :07:07.threat by your cheek to executive to evict one of your residence.
:07:08. > :07:09.It does seem very heavy`handed. I can't go into the specifics of
:07:10. > :07:12.that. Do you think is right that the Chief
:07:13. > :07:18.Executive of mencap should be doing that?
:07:19. > :07:21.I can put the specifics of that, but I can say that the relationships of
:07:22. > :07:27.families are paramount. Unfortunately, in some circumstances
:07:28. > :07:30.that relationship can break down the some family members. It is never our
:07:31. > :07:35.intention to evict anyone from our services. What we want to do is have
:07:36. > :07:39.a dialogue with people so that we can look to how to resolve the
:07:40. > :07:43.situation and move forward. Has been any disciplinary action,
:07:44. > :07:47.and if not, do you think there should be? Into those now living
:07:48. > :07:54.there was disciplinary action, we dismissed two members of staff.
:07:55. > :08:00.Much money we talking about? Campaigners say ?60,000, is that
:08:01. > :08:04.correct? That exceed those in pounds covers a
:08:05. > :08:09.period going back six years in relation to 12 people. What we are
:08:10. > :08:15.talking about is for record`keeping for some very small items such as a
:08:16. > :08:19.cup of tea and a sandwich. What had resulted in was the generation that
:08:20. > :08:27.over six years, resulted in those payments. In fact, we didn't contest
:08:28. > :08:31.any of the suggestions in terms of what the payment should be because
:08:32. > :08:37.we work with these families and the people we look after for over 40
:08:38. > :08:42.years. This has not been a good advert for
:08:43. > :08:47.Mencap. Something seriously went wrong. You must be hugely
:08:48. > :08:52.disappointed. As an organisation we are here for
:08:53. > :08:56.the welfare of people with learning difficulties and their families.
:08:57. > :09:01.When a situation goes arises it is very distressing to as well as to
:09:02. > :09:04.the families. Since 2011 we have worked extremely closely with the
:09:05. > :09:10.families to resolve this and to ensure this does not occur anywhere
:09:11. > :09:18.else within the organisation. Phil Burrough from, talking
:09:19. > :09:21.earlier. More than half of Portsmouth's
:09:22. > :09:24.parking wardens didn't work today. During peak times the city should
:09:25. > :09:27.have been patrolled by 18 officers, today there were just eight. The day
:09:28. > :09:30.of industrial action follows a dispute about changes to their
:09:31. > :09:34.workload. Alastair Fee has the story.
:09:35. > :09:39.For the Portsmouth shoppers braved the weather, some confusion today.
:09:40. > :09:42.Were parking wardens working, and if not, can they get away with parking
:09:43. > :09:50.for free? Never risk it.
:09:51. > :09:54.Risk going into town knowing there are less of them around and there is
:09:55. > :09:58.a chance I'll get to get ticketed anyway.
:09:59. > :10:04.With concerns over changes to their workload, eg % of officers in the
:10:05. > :10:10.union has voted to take industrial action.
:10:11. > :10:15.Remembers after a job evaluation did not get a pay rise as senior
:10:16. > :10:18.managers did. We have also complained about the increased
:10:19. > :10:21.duties they have been getting. Traffic wardens taking part in this
:10:22. > :10:25.action refused to use their electronic hand`held devices,
:10:26. > :10:32.instead preferring to cause some disruption by using paper
:10:33. > :10:34.notebooks. But the union, Denied, says that management refused,
:10:35. > :10:38.telling workers they would simply not get paid. That lefty small
:10:39. > :10:43.number on the street while colleagues stayed in the dry.
:10:44. > :10:47.People going around the city with paper notebooks, we would not have
:10:48. > :10:50.been all to chase up those notebooks. People would not have
:10:51. > :10:54.been doing their job. If people come to work, they need to do their job.
:10:55. > :10:58.Late afternoon, just three wardens were on the street.
:10:59. > :11:01.Shift would normally have seven wardens. There was no evidence that
:11:02. > :11:06.shoppers had tried to take advantage, the wind and rain had
:11:07. > :11:16.kept most people away. Still to come on South Today:
:11:17. > :11:23.Overtakes you didn't get to see this year.
:11:24. > :11:29.Tony is here now. Moving on to sport. What is this about the
:11:30. > :11:33.Royals? It has been going on for a few
:11:34. > :11:38.weeks, one of those stories that goes under the radar. I thought it
:11:39. > :11:45.worth looking at in more detail. There are a few question marks over
:11:46. > :11:47.Redding. Reading chairman Sir John Madejski
:11:48. > :11:51.acknowledged that the club is looking for new investment in an
:11:52. > :11:54.interview with the BBC this weekend. It comes as Royals fans question the
:11:55. > :11:57.whereabouts of their absent owner and talks continue behind the scenes
:11:58. > :12:00.which could lead to a takeover. The long servants of Redding football
:12:01. > :12:01.club were in the directors box on Saturday. Chairman Sir John Madejski
:12:02. > :12:15.at the chairman... Chief Executive. BBC South has learned that the
:12:16. > :12:20.Royals are talking to potential investors. Formal talks have been
:12:21. > :12:25.going on for some weeks now. The current owner owns 51%, he should
:12:26. > :12:30.have bought the remaining 49% from St John Madejski Stadium, but the
:12:31. > :12:34.deal was not finalised. Now he may be ready to sell up.
:12:35. > :12:43.We're looking for potential investors, and that never stops.
:12:44. > :12:47.Are you making headway among? I think so, I think we are raking very
:12:48. > :12:50.good progress indeed. On the field, they lost their second
:12:51. > :12:57.consecutive home game, caught napping by Wigan who were to nil up
:12:58. > :13:03.after only 12 minutes. They missed a penalty in the second
:13:04. > :13:08.half, but then another Russian of the club headed one back. Delay to
:13:09. > :13:11.hit the post, but Wigan held on. Is it fair to say you are a little in
:13:12. > :13:16.the dark as to what the long`term plan can be?
:13:17. > :13:23.A long`term plan is to get Redding football club into the Premier
:13:24. > :13:26.League. It takes is a little bit of time to get it right. We'll get
:13:27. > :13:29.there because we know what we want to achieve.
:13:30. > :13:35.The games come thick and fast over Christmas. The names in the
:13:36. > :13:40.directors box to be changing, too. Want to watch over 2014, and there's
:13:41. > :13:44.more analysis on that on the BBC website.
:13:45. > :13:48.After a blistering start to the Premier League season, Southampton
:13:49. > :13:51.are now without a win in six games they led at home yesterday against
:13:52. > :13:56.Spurs through Adam Lallana. Emmanuel Adebayor volleyed in the first of
:13:57. > :13:59.his two goals on the day to level. Jos Hoiveld put through his own net,
:14:00. > :14:06.but Saints bounced straight back, Lallana set up Lambert for 2`2. But
:14:07. > :14:13.Adebayor got the winner. Southampton are ninth.
:14:14. > :14:22.And so to the best of the rest in the football league this weekend.
:14:23. > :14:26.Bournemouth play some really good football. Sometimes it is simple but
:14:27. > :14:30.this move from back to front and them one up against Sheffield
:14:31. > :14:37.Wednesday, this goal from Matt Ritchie who is one of my ones to
:14:38. > :14:41.watch in 2014. The second came just before the half`hour. That was
:14:42. > :14:49.quality and pace in the counterattacking, but the keeper
:14:50. > :14:52.perhaps should have saved. Allegedly fraudulent old Richard
:14:53. > :14:57.Wednesday on the scoresheet. It didn't matter, Bournemouth had
:14:58. > :15:01.another away win. Portsmouth fan hope they might get an early
:15:02. > :15:04.Christmas present as they arrived at Bristol Rovers, instead they got a
:15:05. > :15:08.performance which the manager said simply was not good enough...
:15:09. > :15:12.Ago in each half leaves Pompey looking over their shoulders, and
:15:13. > :15:16.the manager says some of his players had ten days to save their careers.
:15:17. > :15:19.He criticised the culture of morning and said he has to stop it quickly.
:15:20. > :15:22.Basingstoke Bison got the better of Bracknell Bees in a Premier League
:15:23. > :15:26.ice hockey encounter decided by only one goal on Saturday night. Joe
:15:27. > :15:29.Miller scored what turned out to be the winner as Basingstoke secured
:15:30. > :15:32.second spot going into the festive period. They won the second game of
:15:33. > :15:37.the double`header 5`0 on Sunday. Just a point behind the Bison are
:15:38. > :15:43.the Guildford Flames. We look forward to a busy period of sport
:15:44. > :15:46.over Christmas. Lots of goals, match of the day, the football league
:15:47. > :15:52.show, and I'll be here on the 27th with the full football round`up.
:15:53. > :15:58.The weather is full outside, and it still making the headlines today.
:15:59. > :16:03.And if you look back over the year, it has dominated the headlines this
:16:04. > :16:09.year on many occasions. Snow in January and all sorts,
:16:10. > :16:14.didn't we? . Alexis Green has been looking back at some of the weather
:16:15. > :16:18.extremes. It really windy here on the Isle of
:16:19. > :16:26.Wight, but nowhere near as windy as it was back in October. That brought
:16:27. > :16:29.winds of 99 mph. Across the Atlantic, to weather systems merged
:16:30. > :16:35.and began to pick up speed as they were swept along by the jet stream.
:16:36. > :16:41.On the 27th of October the storm hit southern England, and it wasn't
:16:42. > :16:45.trees that bore the brunt. In Christchurch a family was walking
:16:46. > :16:47.with a shock. Four o'clock in the morning, my daughter started
:16:48. > :16:50.screaming saying a tree had come down on the road.
:16:51. > :16:57.I looked out the window and there it was. It has crushed three cars.
:16:58. > :17:01.When he starts to violently rotate a tornado can form, and evidence
:17:02. > :17:05.suggests that is what happened earlier this year on healing
:17:06. > :17:09.island. I just heard and felt this howling
:17:10. > :17:14.wind and it felt like the roof was going to come through the house.
:17:15. > :17:19.Then it was just gone in a blast. On a smaller scale, rotation at
:17:20. > :17:24.their country this phenomenon, commonly known as a duster. Mac they
:17:25. > :17:27.commonly car on sunny days, and this one was filmed in Basingstoke in
:17:28. > :17:31.September. I had my camera with me and I was
:17:32. > :17:37.about 40 feet away from it. I was beginning to get covered by the
:17:38. > :17:40.falling debris, but it just tracked diagonally and went through this gap
:17:41. > :17:45.with was a couple of hedges and that was it, it was gone.
:17:46. > :17:50.Remember the long hot summer? High`pressure settled over the UK in
:17:51. > :17:55.July, sending temperatures over 28 Celsius for 19 consecutive days...
:17:56. > :17:59.It was nice to come out and get a nice breeze. It's too hot for me, I
:18:00. > :18:03.can't do anything. I need a siesta in the afternoon.
:18:04. > :18:05.And build services reported increased call outs, but to resign
:18:06. > :18:14.was booming. This year was all about the
:18:15. > :18:20.staycation. Do not wish you were in Spain?
:18:21. > :18:27.Now. Animals needed help to stay. Mac
:18:28. > :18:33.luckily she's not pink, lots of pink pigs can get some/ .
:18:34. > :18:36.But before the warm summer, easterly winds brought one of our coldest
:18:37. > :18:41.spring is on record. At the beginning of the year, snow brought
:18:42. > :18:46.much of the South to the halt, or at least two more leisurely pursuits.
:18:47. > :18:51.Extreme weather always produces some great photos. Take a look at this
:18:52. > :19:05.lightning photographed by South today viewers back in October.
:19:06. > :19:12.You look back on the weather and think, I remember that, but looking
:19:13. > :19:17.back at that, I don't remember much of it. I remember at the cricket at
:19:18. > :19:22.the role, cricketers were wearing hats and gloves.
:19:23. > :19:25.As you know, every day we bring you a high quality service. But
:19:26. > :19:27.sometimes it doesn't always go according to plan.
:19:28. > :19:34.Here are our South Today bloopers for this year. Enjoy!
:19:35. > :19:39.And join me later as we look at boulders from Mars and rockets and
:19:40. > :19:48.vacuum cleaners. I'm going to bring you an idiot's gate to space. Did I
:19:49. > :19:55.say vacuum cleaners? Journey later in the programme when
:19:56. > :20:01.I'll get... Straight in the eye. That's what we do, we make the
:20:02. > :20:09.budget up as we go along. No, no, no, no.
:20:10. > :20:35.Will more people be getting the centres? To To HE LAUGHS I'm so
:20:36. > :20:45.sorry. What's it like, Chris? Or even
:20:46. > :20:49.Steve, his brother. There's none need to get too close.
:20:50. > :20:57.That's fine. I'm going to back away a little bit. I had a little funny
:20:58. > :21:15.turn there, it got all exciting. Like this? SHE LAUGHS bloodlust.
:21:16. > :21:25.That made any environment much easier to working.
:21:26. > :21:28.Is a big need for a local shop and as part of Hampshire was mac I think
:21:29. > :21:34.so. I think there is a big need for a
:21:35. > :21:40.local shop with local food a day reasonable price.
:21:41. > :21:47.Rian Shropshire here? We're in Berkshire, actually.
:21:48. > :21:52.And those are the ones we can show you. I want to show you this. It's
:21:53. > :22:01.Christmas shopping that turned into a wedding proposal for a one`woman
:22:02. > :22:08.on Saturday. If flash mob broke out into a dance. The groom to be got up
:22:09. > :22:13.and joined in as he went into the store with his girlfriend, Laura.
:22:14. > :22:17.Your tower there on the pretext of doing some festive shopping. Guess
:22:18. > :22:22.what? At the end of the song, he does this dash he gets down on one
:22:23. > :22:30.knee and pops the question. And it was... It has got to be. Yes.
:22:31. > :22:43.Congratulations, Laura and Daniel. Now the weather: yes, we saw costs
:22:44. > :22:47.of 90 mph. We're going to experience very
:22:48. > :22:52.strong winds through the course of tonight. We have a lull tonight, but
:22:53. > :22:58.it turns very windy with further rain. You can see the gusts coming
:22:59. > :23:04.in. Areas east of the Isle of Wight, gusts wraps up to 85 miles per, and
:23:05. > :23:06.inland gusts of up to 60 mph. The rain eventually clears, and the
:23:07. > :23:13.winds gradually ease by Don tomorrow. Still very windy
:23:14. > :23:18.conditions. Winds increasing around ten or 11 o'clock tonight. Either
:23:19. > :23:22.side of midnight there could be gusts on the south coast of up to 90
:23:23. > :23:28.mph, inland up to 60 mph. Tomorrow we can expect those of around four
:23:29. > :23:33.or five Celsius. Temperatures will be above freezing Tom and we are
:23:34. > :23:38.expected some sunny spells but also some heavy showers. If you catch a
:23:39. > :23:44.shower that could be a lot of fun or he'll next in. Those will continue,
:23:45. > :23:50.most likely for the South East. Temperatures will reach six up to
:23:51. > :23:55.nine Celsius. The winds brisk but not as strong as today are tonight.
:23:56. > :24:02.Through the early hours of Christmas day there will be a few showers,
:24:03. > :24:05.maybe the odd winter remix. There could be sweet or hill, even the odd
:24:06. > :24:12.snow shower, but it should not settle. Temperatures fall to one or
:24:13. > :24:16.two Celsius. A few showers on Christmas Day, that will set the
:24:17. > :24:21.theme for the rest of the week. There will be deals and heavy rain
:24:22. > :24:25.tonight. Stay tuned to your local BBC radio station for the latest in
:24:26. > :24:29.the travel situation. And not just tonight we will see heavy winds and
:24:30. > :24:32.rain fall. Looking ahead to Friday we have another deep area of low
:24:33. > :24:38.pressure pushing in from the Atlantic. You can see the isobars.
:24:39. > :24:44.Deals on the circles and very heavy rain at times. Want to be aware of.
:24:45. > :24:51.Stay tuned to your local radio station.
:24:52. > :24:54.It's a tradition on South Today that we end the last full programme
:24:55. > :24:57.before Christmas with a carol. This year, our choice is Silent
:24:58. > :25:00.Night performed by the Military Wives Choir from Aldershot.
:25:01. > :25:04.Christmas is a time for families, but many of the singers in the group
:25:05. > :25:08.have partners away on duty in Afghanistan. So for them ` and you `
:25:09. > :25:17.we wish you a safe and very happy Christmas from all of us here at
:25:18. > :25:30.South Today. Good night. # Silent night! Holy night!
:25:31. > :25:46.# All is calm all is bright. # Round yon virgin mother and child.
:25:47. > :26:10.# Holy infant so tender and mild. # Sleep in heavenly peace.
:26:11. > :26:20.# Silent night! Holy night! # Son of God love's pure light.
:26:21. > :26:35.# Shepherds quake at the sight. # Glories stream from heaven afar.
:26:36. > :26:57.# Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia. # Christ the Saviour is born.
:26:58. > :27:11.# Christ the Saviour is born! # # Silent night!
:27:12. > :27:21.Holy night! # Son of God
:27:22. > :27:36.# Radiant beams from thy holy face # With the dawn of redeeming grace
:27:37. > :27:48.# Jesus Lord at thy birth # Jesus Lord at thy birth #.