28/07/2014 South Today

Flash floods hit the South ` homes and businesses feel

It was a disaster. I have never seen something like that before. Never.

On the move ` the NHS staff caught in an internal

Stay safe in the sea ` the campaign to help youngsters swim

And from self`confessed couch potato to marathon man,

we meet the Commonwealth runner who's put the past behind him.

Tired, still absolutely in a state of euphoria. It is a weird mixture

of all three, I think. Torrential rain

and hailstorms caused disruption for thousands of people across

Sussex and Surrey this morning. Homes and businesses were flooded,

while some commuters were trapped on a platform

at Worthing railway station, when Our reporter Sean Killick has spent

the day there, Many people around here today awoke

to thunderstorms, hailstones and rain as homes and businesses were

flooded and there was no getting away from it. Flights to and from

Gatwick were delayed, roads turned into rivers and this was a scene

that greeted some commuters. At Worthing railway station, the

rush`hour turned into the Gush are. For one hour, a whole month's rain

fell. Under past looked like a flooded underground. The fire

brigade fought a losing battle trying to pump it out. The station

was closed, some passengers were stranded on the platform and rail

services in the area where severely disrupted. It is going to take very

long to get to work. When I get away from here I will be happy. Good luck

to everyone who is travelling. Not everyone he did that advice. Some

were determined to get to work, hell or high water. Near West Worthing

station, this was the scene at breakfast time in Emma's kitchen. It

gradually built up as the back of the property. It came in pretty

rapidly. Nearby, this cafe was flooded from the front door to that.

And going to change the floor over there. And I am going to change the

bridge because it does not work any more. How long will you be out of

business for? I don't know, four or five days. A car hire company said

this was the worst flood in the company's history. The drains are

never cleaned as they used to be. There when so many cars around and

they used to clean the drains every month. White back the County Council

says Gulley chambers are maintained by a specialist contractor but waits

blade flooding over well the system. Iraq station, no eastbound

trains have stopped all day. There was fourth at water in the under

past, and now a large pumping vehicle is trying to clear it out.

`` West Worthing station. There is no word on when services will return

to normal. An NHS Trust is moving 200 staff

and many patient services out The trust has been told it may owe

to ?5 million for rent at St James Hospital ` and other

premises around Hampshire. Solent NHS is now looking at how it

can resolve its financial problems. Our Health Correspondent David

Fenton is with me. The staff and some of the patients

were always going to move out of St James 's Hospital.

They need to save money quickly. There is a dispute over ?5 million

in rent for St James and other premises which may or may not be

ordered to the owners of the hospital they just happen to be

another part of the NHS. Talks are going on

at the moment about this, Where's it going to

find ?5 million from? It is going to ask the government

for a ?5 million loan. They are going to see what happens

with these negotiations over the rent.

The big issue here is that the Trust which runs community services

around Hampshire needs to find big savings, they are ?3 million

behind with those plans and if it does nothing it will be ?15

Most won't be going to St James Hospital

They will be going to a new health campus at St Mary'sthey will be seen

there. Although mental health services

will still be on site. In fact, they have already

started doing that. And what we will see is large parts

of the old hospital eventually being emptied and sold off for housing,

which is what the landlords, This is NHS property who owned the

site. They have said that it is not the case that these workers are

having to move out because of rent issues. Really what they are

concentrating on is basically paying money for patient services, not for

old buildings, which is really where they are coming from. Thank you.

Baseball bats, stones and a car were believed to

have been used as weapons during a mass brawl involving around

At least seven people were arrested and a number

of others were taken to hospital following the fight in Crawley.

Officers received more than 20 calls about the disorder,

which is believed to have erupted between two rival factions.

A small parade of shops, a new community centre and Bewbush Park.

But by last night, this children's play area was

the scene of a vicious fight between rival groups of teenagers.

By the time officers arrived they found

50 people engaged in a huge brawl here, some were apparently using

weapons, somebody had been hit by a car and the fighting spilled over

beyond the children's playground to the community centre and the shops.

By the time it was over, police had swamped the area with officers,

My nine`year`old and 12`year`old and my nine`year`old's friend were

And then they all started kicking the do`do out of each other.

There was police cars in the shop round the back

All up to the new housing estate and down the roundabout.

Police say no one was that last night and the fight was not linked

to a stabbing earlier in the week but they were

of tensions in the area and are working to keep the community calm.

Trying to work out what has actually led to this event playing out as it

did last night so we can resolve it and reduce those tensions.

It is not nice to see dozens and dozens of youths in the street

All we can do is pledge we will work incredibly hard to make sure that

these kind of incidents don't happen.

This afternoon, the playground was being used as it

was intended, and the police have increased the number of patrols

A nine`year`old boy had to receive hospital treatment at the weekend,

after being cut by a metal disposable barbecue.

It had been left buried in the beach at Southsea.

His parents have called for beachside barbecuers to dispose

of their rubbish safely, as Katy Austin reports.

I was walking down the beach with two body boards in my hand and I

walked into a disposable barbecue like this one. I scraped my fit and

I had to go to hospital. It was a wide gash down his ankle. You could

see through to where the tendons were. We had to take him to the

hospital. The BBQ that injured

James was hidden by stones like this one, that we found abandoned

near to where he was hurt. The deputy leader of

Portsmouth City Council also runs He says people burying

barbecues is a real problem. It has been an accident waiting to

happen. No one fortunately it has. What should people do with

barbecues? In some areas we have metal dustbins. They should be put

in those. And there are other areas with plastic dustbins and they have

to take them home with them. What kind of punishments are there for

people who are caught? We will have to look at options. That won't

happen immediately. But while the council looks

into ways to punish people who leave dangerous objects on beaches,

James' mum has one message. Still to come

in this evening's South Today, The Hampshire artist

who's thinking small. The government has said that

fracking will only be allowed in National Parks

"in exceptional circumstances". An application to drill for oil

and gas in the South Downs National Park at Fernhurst has already been

submitted by Celtique Energy. Today the government launched a new

bidding round for fracking licences. But it said drilling sites

near to beauty spots will be subject The storms we suffered last winter

left some of the rail network Six months on,

engineers are still repairing Trains damaged in the worst weather

for 200 years are still not Here's our transport

correspondent Paul Clifton. On December 23rd,

this South West Trains cab struck The driver was lucky to

escape serious injury. The aluminium frame damaged

so badly that much of the cab has to Obviously the train has crashed. The

cab has been completely stripped out and a new cap has been put in again.

It has not been done like this for a long time. It is a lot of trouble

and a lot of time and effort. So it is quite a bit of work.

The front of a train is like the crumple zone on a car, designed

to fold up in a crash to absorb the energy, protecting people behind it.

Specialists had to be brought in from Germany to help with repairs.

Sometimes when trains like this do get damaged, it can be out of

service. We have actually have to that time.

The repair is being done in the old Eastleigh works.

Once, 5,000 people were employed here.

It officially closed eight years ago but since then a string of

Today, well over 100 people work here.

This train will go back to work in August, eight months after it hit a

fallen tree. The cost is hundreds of thousands of pounds.

An air`sea rescue operation had to be launched off the coast of

West Sussex at the weekend after a woman was swept out to sea.

She had apparently gone for a late night swim

The Solent coastguard helicopter used its searchlight to find

She was brought ashore just before two o'clock on Sunday morning

by one of the two Littlehampton inshore lifeboats which were used

After being given first aid, the exhausted woman was taken to

Well, just along the coast in Dorset, a campaign has been launched

to improve the safety of youngsters who go swimming in the sea.

It comes after an increase in the number of people under 20 years of

The campaign is called Swim Safe and youngsters are being offered free

On a glorious sunny day at the seaside there is nothing better

But these youngsters have also been learning some important lessons

about the big differences between swimming in the pool

Heidi and Kelly, two mums from Winchester,

signed their children up for the Swim Safe course at Boscombe Beach.

Obviously every parent needs to keep a close eye on them.

But to give them a bit of extra help, really.

I do a lot of swimming anyway but I haven't really swum in the sea much.

My daughter goes out, I worry about currents underneath pulling her out.

Because that has happened to me before.

The Swim Safe campaign is being run by the Amateur Swimming Association

It has the backing of an Olympic silver medallist who specialises

We don't want to stop people from swimming, we want to get more

people swimming but we want to make sure they are educated

The latest national figures show that when it comes to the safety

of youngsters in the water, there is no room for completion say.

Last year, 46 youngsters under the age of 20 were drowned in the UK.

That is an increase of four on the previous year.

A survey also indicated that one in five youngsters had been involved

in what are described as drowning near misses.

The research also indicated that up to a fifth of parents allow children

They are quite comfortable with their children paddling

in knee`high water or waist`high water but it only takes one big wave

or a slip off the shelf and the child could be in trouble.

And make sure you have always got a parent watching you.

The free Swim Safe lessons for youngsters aged

from 7 to 14 continue at Boscombe Beach until August 28.

Participants must be able to swim at least 25 metres.

That is a worthy campaign and a good campaign. Get inspired as the motto

of the Commonwealth Games and one man has taken it to heart.

I thought my days as an Olympic athlete were over but maybe not. I

have been given a lot of hope. When you think

of what it takes to become a successful Commonwealth Games

athlete, the words kebab`loving, cigarette`smoking and beer drinking

probably don't spring to mind. But for Steve Way from Dorset,

that was very much the lifestyle he Amazingly, he's just finished

10th place in the marathon. At this point Steve Way,

the inspirational man... He has been labelled as the man

that gives everyone else hope. From this to this

in just seven years. The everyday man appeal seems to be

quite high because 33 years old, I wasn't an athlete, I was just

an overweight couch potato who Steve Way achieved all

of his targets in Glasgow. A personal best,

a top 10 finish and at the age Tired, achy and still absolutely

in a state of euphoria. It is a weird combination of all

three, I think, at the moment. The Bournemouth Athletic Club

competitor says he has been bowled over by the support received

from Dorset. I had Dorset flags out and I saw

hundreds of them out on the course. It is a story that has captured

the imagination and proves there is When you see me running round

the park, have a think and think, And the beauty of running is,

all you need is a pair Steve Way giving hope there to

everyone in their thirties who Anyway, elsewhere here's

a round`up of how the South's other competitors have fared

at the Commonwealth Games today. England hockey's Reading contingent

went down 3`0 to Australia. It ended their hopes

of topping their pool group. England will still reach

the semi`final if they draw with or From the Astroturf to the

Bowling Green. Berkshire's Andrew Knapper clinched

the bronze medal in the men's pairs. It follows on from yesterday's medal

success on the track for The 21`year`old, who has cerebral

palsy, clinched silver in the T37/38 long jump, she jumped

a personal best of four metres. It was great to go out there

and be on the track longer, normally I am on the track for 10 or 15

minutes and this time I got to feel the atmosphere for so much longer

so I am really happy about that. And there will be more medal hopes

for the South in the pool tonight with

Reading's Adam Barrett competing He was the fastest qualifier so will

be going for gold just after nine. Away from the Commonwealth Games,

Berkshire schoolgirl Morgan Lake has struck gold for

the second time at the World Junior Lake, who attends Wellington College

in Crowthorne, won the high jump, adding that to the gold she claimed

in the heptathlon. In cricket,

plenty of runs were scored at the Ageas Bowl on day two of the third

test between England and India. Garry Ballance

and Ian Bell both scored heavily ` reaching over 300 runs

between them, with Alastair Cook's Glenn Maxwell had a day to remember

for Hampshire as he hit his highest one`day score in a run`fest

against Lancashire yesterday. The Australian all`rounder struck

146 off 96 balls, Lancashire fell 148 runs short

of their target giving Hampshire In football, another first team

player has left Southampton ` this time it's defender Callum Chambers

to Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, In a statement,

Executive Director Les Reed says the 19`year`old expressed

a desire to leave St Mary's and that Chambers becomes

the fifth high`profile Saints Yesterday defender Dejan Lovren

moved to Liverpool for ?20 million. The statement goes on to say,

"It's important to remain calm and Jay Rodriguez and

Morgan Schneiderlin are the latest names to be linked with moves away

from the club this evening. In boxing,

Portsmouth teenager Ebonie Jones is The 16`year`old,

seen here in the blue, won gold after beating Poland's Agata Kavecka

in a three`round fight in Italy. The Charter Academy pupil is already

a three`time amateur boxing national champion and has her eyes firmly set

on making the Olympics by 2020. With the anniversary of the

First World War next week, many people around the region have

big plans to commemorate the event. But one artist

from Alresford is thinking small. Nic Joly is now world renowned

for his "Little people" works, some fetching tens of thousands

of pounds. But an encounter with

a veteran has led to him embarking on his most ambitious

project to date ` all in miniature. Ben Moore went to meet

the artist with a tall order. August 1914. It marks the day that

the British expedition advanced. My dear, I am once again out of the

trenches and it is a very lucky thing as the hardened systematic

path home... We went home in a bag each. People are sending him

requests and inspiration, like this letter. It just complete reminds

you, actually, what this is all about. I will make this day and when

I do, I will know this man, you know, wrote this letter on that day.

The know, wrote this letter on that

inspiration for Never Forgotten came after the work done with a World War

II veteran, who remembered his father's stories in the Great War.

This notion that the First World War is a black and white, no sound for

is now so vividly in colour and that really impressed on me. The

miniature 's cost ?700 each but ?100 will go to The Royal British Legion.

We don't just support veterans. So we are not thinking of necessarily

just the older veterans from World War II. We are talking about the

21`year`old veterans requiring support from Afghanistan who are

still yet to come back. And their families. And their dependents. And,

in some cases, carers. By the 4th of August, Nick hopes to have 100

sculptures that galleries across the UK and he then has four years to

finish the rest. Tiny art with huge ambition.

It is very excited because we have got here in the studio that never

forgotten day one. This is the very first one. It is incredible, isn't

it? So expressive. So small and so significant. Wonderful! Just to let

you know, this time next week, 100 years of course since the First

World War was declared. We will have a very special programme for you so

make sure you are with us next Monday for that. More coming in the

weeks to come. Onto the weather, and Alexis is here. Flash flooding,

flooding everywhere! All for! Absolutely. Or for! We had three

quarters of the month's rainfall in two hours. But we have some new

forest ponies in the sunshine. Leslie took this photo of the skies

here. And this striped field was

photographed in pop. The showers will continue but

gradually ease through the morning, so we will see drier conditions with

a few clever spells, but generally a lot of cloud overnight. `` clearance

bells. A few showers for eastern areas and ruling out the chance of a

thunderstorm, but temperatures from 15 to 16. A warm night to come.

Where we do have showers, they will gradually ease through the day. By

the afternoon, dry conditions with lots of sunshine developing, with

the cloud thinning and breaking. Tomorrow will be the warmest day of

the week because temperatures will take a slight dip as we had through

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, but a dry day with light winds. A lot of

cloud pushing southwards and eastwards, but once that clears, the

air behind it will be a lot cooler, air behind it will be a lot cooler,

solos of 13`14. A fresher and more comfortable night. Wednesday is a

pretty quiet day. High pressure still in charge. Temperatures down

by two or three degrees. Still slightly above the seasonal average

of 20`21?. Tomorrow and Wednesday pretty decent, staying dry. The slim

chance of a shower but most places pretty decent, staying dry. The slim

chance of a shower escaping and if you catch one, you will be unlucky.

Temperatures tomorrow at their highest. Predominantly dry days on

Wednesday and Thursday but the increasing chance as we head towards

Friday of a shower. Friday, they could be heavy in places with the

risk of thunder and hail, but do stay tuned to the forecast and, as

ever, there is a full ten day forecast on the website.

We are at the new forest show tomorrow and there is a BBC marquee,

so look out for it because you could have a chance doing the news and the

weather. We could be redundant by tomorrow! Good night.

I leave the ashram, travel halfway across the world to find my father,