19/05/2017 South Today

That's all from the BBC News at Six, so it's goodbye from me.

Hello, I'm Sally Taylor, welcome to South Today.

In tonight's programme: "Notice to quit!"

A council seeks to remove 160 migrant workers who have arrived

A possible breakthrough in the fight against the killer dust.

Could a new drug help save victims of asbestos?

Knife crime on the rise in many parts of the South.

We hear from one man whose son paid the ultimate price.

I'd tell anybody this - if you walk with a knife,

you will go to jail, and you may not see

And could it be Dannie, champion of the world?

The Southampton city-born lad who's confounded expectations by making it

There's controversy tonight after 160 migrant workers were told

they would have to leave a disused holiday park in West Sussex where

Chichester District Council has issued a notice saying

that the company housing the Eastern European

workers was in breach of planning regulations.

Some locals had complained about the young Eastern Europeans

in the small seaside village of Bracklesham Bay.

But others claim they're vital to the local horticultural business.

Earlier this afternoon I spoke to John Hall,

from the West Sussex Growers' Association, and Alp Mehmet,

But first, Sean Killick reports from Bracklesham Bay.

When you spend your days working in the fields or greenhouses,

you appreciate the little benefits of living at a former holiday camp,

The firm in charge here has invested ?100,000 on furniture,

new kitchens, 100 fridges, 35 microwaves and so on.

But Chichester District Council says the site only has planning

permission for holiday use and it's served 28 days' notice.

However, the man running the operation believes the issue

only relates to part of the site and he'll submit a planning

What that'll do is give the local residents the opportunity

to voice their concerns and we hope we can work with the council to come

Shouldn't you have done that first, though, before you set this up?

We could have done things differently and better.

We felt that we were using the site for a legitimate use.

As I said, the history is very complex.

In the village itself, the new neighbours have

I understand they're working people making a good living

and good luck to them, I say.

The only thing I don't like is when they go around in,

It's a good use for the old holiday camp.

They're all walking around the village and everything.

Do they cause a problem at all, do you think?

I don't think they cause too much problem.

Some locals are trying to build bridges, helping with language

They're not trying to be intimidating, they're just doing

They're walking around and they're shopping.

I mean, they've come here to work and they're just being pushed out.

The village shop yesterday began stocking Eastern European groceries

Have you had many people complain about them?

Er, positive and negative, to be honest.

A lot of people are saying, don't be discriminating,

don't be this, don't be that, and other people are swearing

But, you know, everyone's going to have their say

and it's a village at the end of the day.

John Hall is from West Sussex Growers' Association. Let me come to

you first. Why do you need these migrant workers? How crucial are

they? Well, West Sussex Growers' Association with its members employs

between eight and 9000 people and produces ?1 billion worth of produce

annually mostly from the Chichester and Bognor Regis areas. We only have

an unemployment figure of about 1% or less in this area, so we can't

get enough workers from the local community, so we have to employs

some non-European, sorry, non-British workers. How many of

those are migrant workers of the 9000? Probably about 40-50% though

we don't have an exact figure. Why not employ British workers? If you

can shoot people in from other countries, why can't you ship them

in from other parts of the UK? -- if you can get people in from other

countries? The industry would be very happy to employ local people

and they advertise locally every time there are jobs, as well as

regionally, and moving people down to this area is difficult, where we

have limits on accommodation. You have 160 migrant workers living in a

disused holiday camp in a small village, but clearly, as you heard

from John, they are needed. Yes, they are needed. Nobody denies that.

It's really a case of where they are coming from. If you look at those

who have been coming over the years, the Eastern European is over recent

years, they are still here, and what I don't think is reasonable is to

bring in and continue bringing in a stream of people from Eastern

European countries, for example, and then that being used as a device for

long-term migration. I don't think that's acceptable. Do you think this

comes down to money? Of course that has something to do with it but

living conditions, working conditions, money, salaries, of

course it matters. John, how much are you paying these migrant

workers? Is it the minimum wage, over 25, ?7.50 an hour? They are

paid the same as British workers. The point to make here is that it's

not just the base level of workers, just those doing some of the

ordinary, everyday jobs. Many of the workers come to us with high skills

from abroad and many are working in management. They are supervisors.

They are packed house managers, IT managers, managers. What are you

going to do with Brexit and the possibility of no free movement of

migrants? What happens to your business? We are very concerned

about this, obviously. We are having very serious discussions with DEFRA

ministers to argue the case to continue use of these migrant

workers, because quite frankly, not just our industry, but the care

industry, hospitals won't be able to go forward with out these other

workers. And that's the point. If we look at those who have been coming

in for the higher skilled jobs, that is no more than about 25-30,000 a

year. The next level of jobs, again, probably around 20,000 a year, have

been coming in your area, it is a microcosm of the wider problem,

where you have large numbers, usually young people, young men,

coming in. Of course that produces its own wider issues that we have to

deal with. That's a fair point, isn't it, John? Because you had some

reaction, well, very negative reaction from the local community

towards these people coming in? We understand the argument but the

British public wants food from a home produced source seven days a

week, 365 data year. We are looking for food security, plant security.

-- 365 days per year. We locally just don't have workers. Hopefully

we will talk longer again. Thank you.

The scourge of mesothelioma, a cancer mostly caused

by exposure to asbestos, seems to have been

But it's still as much of a killer as it always was.

There were nearly 3,000 new cases in 2013, the most

But now patients with this hard-to-treat type of cancer

are being given new hope in a ground-breaking clinical trial

It's on your clothes and in your hair and you've already breathe it

in. Ray Nye spent his working

life in dockyards. I shook his clothes before I put

them in the washing machine and I never realised the dust that was all

over him was asbestos. Seven years ago Mavis

was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer of the lung lining caused

by exposure to asbestos. After unsuccessful chemotherapy,

she signed up for a trial testing an immunotherapy drug which works

by boosting the body's own immune It worked, and she's

now in remission. I was coming back, I could walk

again, I was getting my strength back. Gradually I could come back

into the human race where I thought I was dying.

Scientists in Southampton hope their trial will

It's bigger than the one Mavis was involved in.

More than 300 qualifying patients will be able to try a drug that's

already proved effective for some skin and kidney cancers.

There is already evidence that immunotherapy has a positive effect

in mesothelioma but we haven't got sick -- sufficient number of

patients to prove beyond reasonable doubt and put hand on heart and say

the NHS should be providing this for all our future patients, and that's

why we need to the trial. -- need to undertake the trial.

The university is building the first centre in the UK dedicated

The trial has been funded by Cancer Research UK.

The UK has one of the highest rates of this cancer in the world. It's

very aggressive and difficult to treat. But we are very excited about

immunotherapy as a new area of Cancer Research.

If results are good, the treatment could be

There are concerns tonight about an increase in knife crime

Although over-all the picture is mixed, figures have gone up

The latest figures show that crimes relating to possession

of an offensive weapon have gone up by 14% in Hampshire.

In the Thames Valley, the increase was just under 20%.

And Wiltshire has seen an increase of nearly 70%.

One man who knows the true cost of knife crime is Paul Spence.

His son, Robert, died in an attack in Reading.

Our home affairs correspondent Peter Cooke reports.

Almost a decade on since losing his son, Paul Spence says

17-year-old Robert was stabbed by three men during a night

Just one of many young lives lost to knife crime.

People say it will get easier... But to me it will never get no easier. I

always say it better it was me than him. He was just a happy-go-lucky

chap. You know what I mean? Always laughing...

These are some of the deadly weapons now off the streets of Southampton.

Hampshire Police collected 163 items in amnesty bins

The force says knife crime remains a serious problem.

There are young people involved in carrying weapons and fortunately

supplying drugs in Southampton. We work closely with schools and other

youth agencies to try to educate young people and raise awareness,

that the fact is young people carry knives for a number of reasons. One

reason could be that they are in fear. But the knock-on effect of

that is that if you carry a knife you are more likely to be a victim

yourself. And it's not just

an issue in Hampshire. There have been significant

increases in the possession of weapons across Wiltshire

and the Thames Valley. Paul Spence says too many young

people think carrying It's like putting your shoes on all

your coat on in the morning. I don't understand that. If you know you're

going to go to jail for something, why carry it? I tell anybody this -

if you walk with a knife, you will go to jail, and you may not see the

streets again. 16 people, including a 15-year-old

boy, were arrested for carrying knives in Southampton last month,

many of them bringing drugs Hampshire Police say the campaign

has been a success and they've seen knife crime reduce by a third

during the amnesty. A father from Hampshire found

guilty of the manslaughter of his seven-week-old daughter has

been sentenced to seven years 20-year-old Joshua Martin's baby

Ezmai died with injuries the prosecution say were consistent

with being shaken. The incident happened

at their family home Later, the weather for weekend

from Alexis, and she's There might be blue skies here at

the moment but today there's been some really quite torrential, heavy,

thundery downpours. I'll have the weekend weather shortly.

A sixth person arrested in connection with the murder of

Bournemouth man has been in court. It's been a critical year

for business since the EU referendum result, but uncertainty over Brexit

doesn't seem to have impacted on economic growth for everyone,

despite predictions to the contrary. So what assurances are businesses

seeking from our politicians in Our business correspondent

Alastair Fee joins us So it hasn't been a case of choppy

waters for everyone. The weather down here has been good

but I do get a general sense of positivity, too.

The marine industry here, for instance, is reporting growth

That doesn't mean it's been plain sailing for everyone, though,

and the cloud of uncertainty that Brexit brings with it will be

Despite the rise of goods, splashing out on leisure time has been on an

increase this year. Spending has been quite literally buoyant, and

that's been good for businesses on the water in Dorset and many inland

are reporting growth as well. The Nuffield industrial estate is home

to 100 businesses covering most sectors of the economy. I last came

here six months ago. So what has changed? Despite the political

climate, this shop that is as busy as ever, but it is new hotels and

bars in London driving growth. Orders from the rest of the South

are slow. From the election we want stability. Stability for the country

which will bring stability for our company and others also. Hopefully

we will have British -- better trade links which will help build our

business for a sustainable future as opposed to something which is in

continual flux. The prospect of leaving the EU has definitely caused

a wobble but nothing as choppy as some had feared. The fall in the

power and has been the biggest balancing act for businesses as

they've had to much higher prices of imported materials with increased

good for demands made here now they are cheaper for those buying from

abroad. This electrical company is making a steady profit but the

exchange rate in the months since the referendum has really hurt. The

question now is, will this election stir things up, too, or make things

easier? We definitely want to get to the other side of the general

election just so it gives the market more confidence. At least then we

know where our future is and we can plan for it. At the moment, business

can't really make plans, it can't invest. It's almost stuck in limbo.

There's been much talk of the squeeze on consumer spending. This

small business has seen a change. If it's not coffee and some are just,

it's one, not both, at the moment, and some people come out less to

these places at this time of year. And some buildings still to let

since last year, so haven't seen an improvement there either at the

moment. So what is the one thing they all want from this election? I

ask this business to sum up their hopes. For Mark, it is stability and

the end to uncle -- a climate of uncertainty. Les once more

confidence. And Marie wants a climate where people start spending

again. -- Les once more confidence. Thank you for joining us this

evening, can you tell me how things have been in the period since the

referendum last summer? Things stalled for a while. There was a

period of uncertainty and people obviously didn't feel secure enough

to splash out on luxury items. So it started to improve from September

onwards and it's made a steady recovery since. And of course we are

in another period of uncertainty now. What are your hopes once the

election is over? I think we need to approach the next year or so with

cautious optimism. Not to go too far into the future with plans but to

take each month as it comes, and I think the leisure industry generally

will get going. Mike, thank you for joining me here at the boat show.

There's a general sense this period has held back sales and people are

just looking forward to getting back to business as usual.

Thank you very much. Looking lovely there, because we will be joining

Alexis shortly. She will have the weekend weather for you from the

boat show. Evidence is mounting of the benefits

of using dogs to help pupils concentrate and deal with

behavioural problems but there are worries from some in the field there

could be problems with unsuitable dogs, leading to calls for a code of

conduct. In a strange way, they see the dogs being able to follow

instructions -- instructions and directions and then the children do

the same. It has also help with managing their behaviour. It's like

having a real-life teddy bear. If you are stressed you have a

real-life teddy bear with a heartbeat and a hug. It is lovely

when they work so well with children. Particularly lovely. What

is it now, nine months? Gas, nearly all over. The Premier League. --

yes, nearly all over. The first thing is, you can't take anything

for granted. You can easily drop and find yourself in trouble.

Claude Puel faces a fight to stay in his job as Southampton manager as

Saints are in eighth place going into Sunday's

finale against Stoke, and despite some notable

achievements, Puel's position is in doubt amid reports of player

unrest and an underwhelmed mood among the fan base.

Southampton's chairman told us this week there's much to be positive

If you think of us having 18 players with three years or more

left in their contracts, 12 with four years or more,

we decide what happens through the summer.

We are in a position irrelevant of names to make decisions

of who goes in and who goes out, and that feels good.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth go to Leicester knowing that they could

That hasn't happened since the 1958-59 season.

Eddie Howe's side are tenth in the table.

They're looking for their 100th goal as a Premier League club at the end

of another successful season, their second in the top flight.

Both county matches in cricket affected by rain today. The home

side has been put in a strong position. Surrey made it to 265-5.

That was before rain ended the day's play early. So Hampshire and Surrey

continuing through the weekend. Now, here's an extraordinary story

about a young man who grew up in a non-horsey family in the city

of Southampton, who, against expectations,

is making a name for himself at the highest levels

of the equestrian sport. Dannie Morgan, who still lives

in Millbrook in Southampton, is getting used to being referred

to as "an up-and-coming star", Chrissy Sturt has been to meet him

in Colden Common, where he trains. Dannie Morgan is as flash

on the flat as is he is in the air. Few riders can switch

from the demands of dressage to the craziness of cross-country

with such ease. Dannie is now competing

at the highest levels in both. Now that I've got my foot

into the dressage a bit, I'm really enjoying it,

and I'd love to be able to ride at Grand Prix level as well as do

the eventing to a high level. He recently took two horses to

the British Dressage Championships, coming away with a fistful

of rosettes and national It gives you such a buzz to ride

at the Championship level and it was a great feeling

to actually, you know, be national champion,

and it just makes you hungrier to try to improve and get

better all the time. Life now is pretty different

from his childhood in inner-city I've always had that sort of drive

to do it and have always been quite clear-sighted in what I wanted

to do, so just got to keep pushing Elite rider Alice Oppenheimer

spotted Dannie's He's now helping bring

on her youngsters. Because he's shown confidence,

nothing worries him, so then he sort of passes that

confidence onto the horses, so because he's so calm,

relaxed and confident, even if the horse is a bit unsure,

he's like, "There's no problem," so they're like,

"All right, off we go." Dannie is aiming to compete

internationally, but for now it's He's good, isn't he? Yes, and also

nice to Cialis Oppenheimer as well. Let's get onto the weather. -- nice

to see Alice Oppenheimer. Let's look at the pictures before the weather.

Breezy where you are. Certainly is. In the distance behind a camera, I

can see a cumulonimbus cloud, a storm cloud, so a lot of

thunderstorms moving across the region with torrential rain in

places. Let's look at the satellite picture from earlier on. A lot of

cloud over the South with showers moving further inland and across

coastal counties. Quite torrential at times with lightning strikes as

well. Hail mixed in with the showers with temperatures reaching 15-16.

Tonight, we're expecting the showers to fade away and the skies to clear,

with temperatures falling away down to 6-10, so a fresh start tomorrow.

In the countryside temperatures could be up for- five. First thing

tomorrow, temperatures will be 11-12 and the showers are starting to

creep in. -- temperatures could be up to 4-5. Showers will develop

further through the course of tomorrow and they could merge

together to form longer spells of rain with the risk of hail and

thunder, and possible lightning strikes, so very hit and miss, like

today, but you will be unlucky if you catch one after another, after

another. Temperatures reaching 14-15 in the afternoon. A repeat

performance of tonight tomorrow night. Any rain showers will fade

with temperatures falling down to 7-8. Cool start tomorrow and then on

Sunday. Sunday is the better data the weekend, drier as well. -- the

better day of the weekend. Tomorrow we will see the thunderstorms with

the risk of hail and lightning. Those will merge together in some

places to form longer spells of rain. Monday starts to get a bit

warmer and we could see highs of 20. A good deal of cloud, though, with

patchy rain later in the day. A similar scenario on Tuesday and then

high pressure starts to build for the rest of next week. So from the

lovely conditions here, back to you in the studio.

Now, you may remember earlier this month we told

you about four-year-old Sebbie Smith from Winchester, who has a rare

cancer-like condition and who loves pirates.

Two weeks ago the charity Make-A-Wish arranged

for him to light up Portsmouth's Spinnaker Tower

to summon pirates for a special party onboard a tall ship

Well, we were so taken by Sebbie's story, we got dressed up,

As you can see, he's making good use of them...

They sent all their stuff to me! They have sent all their stuff to

me! Yes, I think we have! Enjoy it.

Thank you for watching us tonight. We'll have more view on Monday. Have

a great weekend. We are going to leave you with a lovely shot of

Poole town harbour. It's cold.

Tastes a bit like avocado. And soon we're all

going to be eating them. Four crickets have the same amount

of calcium as a glass of milk, and a dung beetle,

twice the protein of beef.