:00:00. > :00:13."You can get in but your dog will have to go in the boot."
:00:14. > :00:16.The response from one taxi driver to a blind woman from Hampshire
:00:17. > :00:19.who was trying to get home with her guide dog.
:00:20. > :00:22.Madeline Close from Fareham says she regularly experiences cabbies
:00:23. > :00:26.refusing to take her on journeys, even though it's against the law.
:00:27. > :00:34.A survey by the Guide Dogs Association found 42% of people
:00:35. > :00:35.with assistance dogs were refused by taxis.
:00:36. > :00:40.In the course of her community work, Madeline Close, with guide
:00:41. > :00:43.dog Deano by her side, is out and about each day,
:00:44. > :00:49.In Eastleigh this morning, they had a very good
:00:50. > :00:51.experience but Madeline, who's registered blind,
:00:52. > :00:54.says at least once a month taxi drivers refuse to take her
:00:55. > :01:00.It makes me very angry, it's very annoying and it is very
:01:01. > :01:06.inconvenient because you can end up needing to be somewhere or having
:01:07. > :01:10.a meeting or something and not been able to get a taxi.
:01:11. > :01:14.Around 7,000 assistance dogs currently work in the UK.
:01:15. > :01:16.The law says that taxis must accept assistance dogs
:01:17. > :01:18.unless they have a medical certificate proving
:01:19. > :01:22.Private hire drivers risk prosecution or their
:01:23. > :01:27.Rrecently, at her local station in Fareham, a fellow passenger told
:01:28. > :01:29.Madeline a cabbie took one look at the dog and rejoined
:01:30. > :01:33.the back of the queue to avoid picking her up.
:01:34. > :01:37.They are providing a service, they get paid, they are charging.
:01:38. > :01:40.My dog's a lot less trouble than some other passengers.
:01:41. > :01:44.He always sits in the footwell, he doesn't sit on the seat,
:01:45. > :01:48.so I don't see why they can't take him.
:01:49. > :01:50.The Taxi Association in Fareham says it's doing what it can
:01:51. > :01:55.I am disappointed, especially in this day and age when we know
:01:56. > :02:00.that disabilities are out there and we have our job to do.
:02:01. > :02:04.The taxi driver's job is all about trying to please.
:02:05. > :02:07.Fines of up to ?1,000 can be imposed.
:02:08. > :02:10.The Guide Dogs Association is pressing for better
:02:11. > :02:15.We've done a survey of 500 guide dog and assistance dog owners
:02:16. > :02:19.across the UK in 2016, and it's prevalent.
:02:20. > :02:22.From Cornwall up to Scotland, guide dog owners and assistance dog
:02:23. > :02:26.owners are being refused access to taxis.
:02:27. > :02:29.So far, the number of prosecutions has been small but Madeline says
:02:30. > :02:32.she's determined to make the discrimination that she and
:02:33. > :02:35.others like her encounter a thing of the past.
:02:36. > :02:38.Briony Leyland, BBC South Today, Eastleigh.
:02:39. > :02:42.A Hampshire toddler is beginning his recovery from major surgery
:02:43. > :02:47.Two-year-old Freddie Hunt and his family have received
:02:48. > :02:50.a huge amount of support from the community in Yateley.
:02:51. > :02:55.Local people have made a tremendous effort to raise nearly ?370,000.
:02:56. > :02:57.Church bells were rung when he came out of surgery.
:02:58. > :03:02.Another ?100,000 is still needed, though, after the operation was more
:03:03. > :03:08.Freddie, at the moment, he still hasn't opened his eyes,
:03:09. > :03:14.He's not out of the woods yet, by any means.
:03:15. > :03:20.I don't think the eyes have been dry for more than about three minutes.
:03:21. > :03:25.It's been...to say emotional would be an understatement.
:03:26. > :03:28.It's something I wouldn't really want to ever go through again
:03:29. > :03:30.but we're not sure whether we're going to have to.
:03:31. > :03:33.16 years after it first opened, Southampton's main West Quay
:03:34. > :03:39.It cost ?85 million and is being heralded
:03:40. > :03:43.as an example of the strength of the city's economic revival.
:03:44. > :03:46.But is it the type of growth the city needs?
:03:47. > :03:49.Here's our business correspondent, Alastair Fee.
:03:50. > :03:52.For years, Southampton was on catch-up.
:03:53. > :03:56.The trend to shop, eat and be entertained began long ago.
:03:57. > :04:04.It is a catchment that we go out to that spreads right the way
:04:05. > :04:07.along the south coast, and we've now got an offer
:04:08. > :04:09.here that means that we can compete with anything,
:04:10. > :04:13.whether it be shopping or leisure, within that catchment.
:04:14. > :04:15.To complement the shopping centre, visitors have more
:04:16. > :04:20.A ten-screen cinema completes the package.
:04:21. > :04:22.This will undoubtedly improve Southampton's
:04:23. > :04:27.That's good for quality-of-life and consumer spending.
:04:28. > :04:31.But critics question whether this strategy will bring sustainable,
:04:32. > :04:39.If you just rely on retail, then you are not heading down a road
:04:40. > :04:42.of really long-term, sustained, high-value
:04:43. > :04:45.growth because that's not what retail is about.
:04:46. > :04:48.It's a perfectly respectable industry or sector and they're
:04:49. > :04:53.perfectly decent jobs, but it's not the sort of thing
:04:54. > :04:56.that we could be doing, and other cities in the south
:04:57. > :04:59.The City Council has seven large development
:05:00. > :05:03.projects worth ?3 billion in investment opportunities.
:05:04. > :05:07.It says half of that has been achieved already.
:05:08. > :05:11.A report on urban economic well-being by business advisers PwC
:05:12. > :05:15.ranks Southampton third in England for good growth.
:05:16. > :05:19.But another report by the Centre for Cities ranks Southampton
:05:20. > :05:24.And on several other economic measures, it's
:05:25. > :05:28.We are trying to make the most of what we've got.
:05:29. > :05:31.We're trying to make Southampton a place that people want to come
:05:32. > :05:34.and visit and do business in so people will base their company
:05:35. > :05:37.in a place that their employees want to live in and want
:05:38. > :05:42.The fanfare tonight was aimed at drawing in the crowds who,
:05:43. > :05:47.until now, will have travelled along the coast for the same experience.
:05:48. > :05:50.The city will need to look beyond consumer spending
:05:51. > :05:53.if it's to really light up its long-term future.
:05:54. > :05:59.Gosport sailor Alex Thomson's expected to get a hero's welcome
:06:00. > :06:04.He finished second in the world's hardest sailing
:06:05. > :06:08.challenge, the Vendee Globe, when he circumnavigated the globe
:06:09. > :06:16.A flotilla will start out tomorrow at Spit Bank Fort at 10:15am
:06:17. > :06:21.He's expected to arrive at the Gosport ferry pontoon at 11am
:06:22. > :06:25.and there'll be a civic reception at 11:20am in Falklands Gardens.
:06:26. > :06:28.After the formalities are over, Alex will meet members
:06:29. > :06:49.Tonight will be cloudy and cold, very like recent nights, and a
:06:50. > :06:53.chance of snow showers. The showers mainly to a dusting of snow in
:06:54. > :06:58.places but will not amount to much and temperatures will plunge away to
:06:59. > :07:03.minus one Celsius. The showers more likely the further north and east
:07:04. > :07:07.you are. The risk of a frost first thing tomorrow morning. A cold,
:07:08. > :07:11.cloudy, frosty start with the snow showers continuing through the day
:07:12. > :07:16.tomorrow. They may lead to a dusting in places and through the afternoon,
:07:17. > :07:21.you are more likely to see rain showers than snow showers and
:07:22. > :07:27.reaching a high of 3- fool self says. But the continuing risk of
:07:28. > :07:32.that cold north-easterly wind. Temperatures will be slightly higher
:07:33. > :07:33.on Sunday. And finally, we will see the sunshine on
:07:34. > :07:38.exception to that rule probably over the hills where again there could be
:07:39. > :07:45.a bit of snow, but not accumulating. Another cold
:07:46. > :07:50.However I paint this weekend's picture, I'll need a palette of
:07:51. > :07:54.grey. Thereby a a lot of cloud around but I managed to find some
:07:55. > :07:59.sunshine. I don't know how but there was a couple of hours towards the
:08:00. > :08:03.south-west in Cornwall, a beautiful day. The south-west saw glimpses of
:08:04. > :08:08.sunshine. Further east, cloudy, cold and grey with winds off the North
:08:09. > :08:12.seep and a scattering of wintry showers. Yes, rain sleet and snow, a
:08:13. > :08:21.dusting at lower levels through the day. It brought this beautiful
:08:22. > :08:23.picture on the outskirts of Aberdeenshire. But enough of the