29/12/2016 South Today

Hello, I'm Jo Kent with the news here in the south.

The Debenhams department store in Portsmouth has apologised

after a homeless man, who was sleeping outside

on Boxing Day, had his bedding drenched with water

The store says it was an accident, but there has been an angry reaction

from many in Portsmouth, as Roger Finn reports.

Russell Allen was sleeping in a doorway at Debenhams

in Portsmouth, on Boxing Day morning, when he was woken

by a security guard and told to move on.

Sneaky little comment as he walked away.

I argued back, said to him, there's no need to be like this, you

don't realise what people are going through.

He just continued being rude, walked off.

I've gone to pack up all my bedding and whatnot,

lifted up my sheet and it's absolutely soaking, and I don't mean

just a little bit - it was absolutely drenched.

There was an outpouring of sympathy on social media,

We could all be in that situation one day, who knows?

I think it's awful, to be honest with you, mate.

I don't know how, with the Christmas spirit, how they can do

I've been homeless over the years myself and I wouldn't

In a statement, Debenhams say they take

this matter seriously and have investigated it.

They say it was an unfortunate accident, in which some

routine cleaning on the inside of the fire exit resulted in the

gentleman's property on the outside of the fire exit becoming wet.

Debenhams have apologised to Russel Allen and provided him

But there have been threats against members of their staff

and one local councillor, who has been homeless himself,

This isn't just about this incident - it's

And it's an opportunity for us to raise awareness for the homeless

and hopefully bring the business sector a bit closer to working

with us for the greater understanding of the homeless.

A man's appeared in court in Portsmouth charged

with manslaughter, following the death of a 57-year-old man

Nick Medlin was a father of two and worked as a prison

He died at the Rose Inn on Pier Street in Ventnor,

in the early hours of Christmas morning.

32-year-old Michael Hudson, of no fixed address,

He'll appear at Winchester Crown Court in January.

St Mary's hospital on the Isle of Wight has been on black

Planned operations were cancelled in response to very high

However, the hospital's operations director told the BBC this morning

that measures to ease the pressure were working.

Extra nurses and doctors were brought in and more

The outgoing chief executive in charge of three of Hampshire's

hospitals, has spoken about the difficult times

Mary Edwards is responsible for Hampshire Hospitals Trust,

with sites in Winchester, Andover and Basingstoke.

As she comes to the end of 40 years working in the NHS,

she spoke to our reporter, Joe Campbell.

Mary Edwards isn't saying goodbye just yet,

but come the New Year this will no longer be one

That doesn't stop her noting the emergency department here hasn't

been spruced up under the last three Prime Ministers.

Really we ought to be investing in new lifts so that we didn't

have to keep repairing, but each lift is probably up to ?250,000 and

at the moment we can't prioritise that above other things.

One priority will be keeping overseas staff,

many of whom have been unsettled by the past year's events.

So what does she say to those negotiating Brexit?

I would be asking them to do their best to try and

make sure we don't destabilise those people who work in an

We need staff from overseas, and we need them to feel

Soon there will be a new picture hanging here and, after

forking out a hefty sum for health care to visit family

in Australia and the US, on her retirement Mary Edwards

for one remains convinced the NHS is still a bit of a bargain.

Now, if you've ever tried hula hooping you'll know it's

But that hasn't stopped a schoolgirl from Oxford.

Poppy Campion has raised more than ?2500 for charity this week,

by hula hooping nonstop for half an hour.

The money is going to the charity Seesaw,

Poppy came up with the idea after her grandfather

We rode on the tractor in the garden.

We painted, we played the piano together.

She was literally the light of his life, from the moment she was born.

They both loved each other very, very dearly.

I've never really had people watching me with hula hooping.

I never thought I could do it for half an hour.

Now let's take a look at the weather, with Dan Downs.

It is turning cloudier here as we head towards the close

The high pressure which has given us the settled weather for

the past couple of days slipping away to the south - those isobars

squeeze in a bit, turning a bit breezy, and this

weather front is trundling through on New Year's Day,

turning it rather cloudy and damp for a time, before colder

For tonight, though, quite a lot of fog around

again - maybe not quite as dense as the past couple of nights,

with a bit more of a breeze stirring it around, but it will be

another cold night - quite a widespread frost again,

particularly in rural parts, with temperatures down

Tomorrow starts off rather cold and foggy once again,

and a cloudier day tomorrow than we've seen today.

One or two brighter spells are a strong possibility, but

a lot more in the way of cloud, and with a bit more breeze it

won't feel particularly warm either, with temperatures

Staying cloudy into New Year's Eve, slightly milder for the

weekend though, and then we see that rain passing through first

thing on New Year's Day, behind it turning

Our next updates are in BBC Breakfast.

Hello. Fold and frost has been a feature of the weather in recent

mornings in England and Wales, producing a wintry scene with Frost

in Oxfordshire this morning. In Highland Scotland, a completely

different story. Thank you to our weather watchers for the photos.

Snow on the hills but temperatures reaching