25/04/2017 South Today

The top stories tonight. One year after it started, we reveal the

southern dispute has cost ?341 million.

-- the Southern. Their mother died because she was a smoker and now

these girls are setting up a campaign to get people to quit.

And Maiden, It's been 12 months of strikes

and major disruption for passengers. And today talks aimed at resolving

the long-running dispute between the RMT Union

and Southern Railway have been It's over the introduction

of driver-only-operated trains. The BBC has estimated that the

disruption is considered to have cost the South East economy ?341

million. Tomorrow union members will be

demonstrating outside Parliament to mark a year

since the Southern strike began. It remains one of the UK's most

protracted industrial disputes. And tomorrow an anniversary that

nobody will be celebrating. Not being able to collect my

children out of school. Having to get other people to get

them at the last minute, sometimes not getting home

until nine, ten o'clock at night, leaving at six o'clock

in the morning, it has been awful. I am self-employed so I have

probably lost out of thousands, basically, because I haven't been

able to get to work. It hasn't got any better, really,

until very recently, so, yeah, it has been life-changing

for a lot of people. Not since the miners'

strike has an industrial dispute rumbled on for so long,

so why has it proved so intractable? Professor Richard Scase is an expert

in industrial relations. I think behind the scenes,

rather like in the miners' strike of 30 years ago,

the government is trying to force management to take

a pretty tough line, and in this case, with the franchise

arrangements of Southern rail, the government has quite a strong

hand to play with management in being tough with the unions,

so it is a very intractable, At the heart of the dispute,

the introduction of driver-only-operated trains

and the changes to the roles and responsibilities

of drivers and conductors. It was April the 26th last year that

RMT conductors on Southern On December the 13th the train

drivers' union Aslef began the first of six days of action

by their members. Today, 364 days on,

and still no resolution So, as an unwelcome anniversary

dawns, still no end in sight. Let's go live to Worthing

station and speak to our Sean, many commuters

going through there will be We were hearing their commuters

badly affected. One says he feels he has aged five years in the last

year. 51,000 services have been fully or partially cancelled in the

last year. This is the worst industrial dispute in nearly a

quarter of a century. Because the company is paid by the government,

the taxpayer foot the bill for lost their revenue, now totalling ?38

million. The Conservative MP

for Chichester, Andrew Tyrie, has announced he's standing down

from Parliament at Mr Tyrie, who is 60,

has been the MP there for 20 years, and says he will remain deeply

committed to public service, and hopes he is young enough

to contribute in other ways Two young sisters whose mother died

from cancer caused by smoking Isabelle and Grace feature

in a new film made by Portsmouth City Council

called Smoking And Me. It'll be used to encourage

people to give up. James Ingham has been

to meet the girls. It is a note that my mum

left me before she died. "I am so sorry for leaving

you while you are so young. I would give anything to stay

and see you grow up. Five is no age to be

left without a mum." Paula Hutton was just 45

when she died from cancer. Her daughters Issy and Grace

were seven and five. They were having a barbecue

and they were all sitting at the table, laughing and eating

and stuff, and we were That is the main

memory I have of her. It's kind of...think

more happily about it, like how she is probably more happy

now than when she was alive. Issy and Grace talk about their loss

in a hard-hitting film. I woke up and I saw that

her hospital bed wasn't Issy hopes by sharing

what happened to her mum, I would say they should probably

at least try to stop, if they do start, and if you haven't

started then I don't I would hope they would think twice

about the families obviously and the consequences

of smoking and cancer. Portsmouth City Council's made

the film to try to reduce More people smoke here -

and more die as a result - It would be amazing if she was still

here but I still have a grandad who is now like a mum to me so that

makes me feel better. But Granddad has a lung condition,

also brought on by smoking, that limits his ability to join

in family fun. He's given up now, but warns others

who haven't what they could lose. You will not be able

to enjoy the things you did and ultimately you won't be able

to enjoy your life, if you are taken prematurely,

so, yeah, don't do it. "Please don't be too

angry, and I know that Read this and know that I see

the joy you bring and the total Football, and Premier League leaders

Chelsea edged closer to the title with victory over Southampton

at Stamford Bridge tonight. This fine header in stoppage time

from former Chelsea player Ryan Bertrand gave Saints

a second goal. But it wasn't enough

to get them a victory over the Blues, who had already

got four past the post. Final score at Stamford Bridge,

Chelsea 4, Southampton 2. second ball, this is no good for us.

We played against a good team and some amazing players.

They made history as the first all-female crew to sail in

The achievement made the yacht Maiden and her skipper,

But Maiden fell on hard times and was discovered

But she's to have a new lease of life.

Today the boat arrived back in Southampton,

where she'll undergo a full restoration, as Steve

27 years after sailing into the history books on board

Maiden, Tracy Edwards and some of her crew were reunited

with the famous yacht that helped them to change so many perceptions.

They were the very first all-female crew to complete

They had been written off as no-hopers before the race had

even begun but nine months later they were receiving a heroine's

As we were doing the race, people did come round,

a few people who said, "They'll never do it,"

they came to me and said, "Proved wrong, I admit it."

..will present Tracy with her prize for coming

Only in England could this happen, great maritime nation.

For everyone on board, it was a life-changing experience.

Well, it was the ultimate challenge at the time, wasn't it?

Everybody said no, and all of us were built with that

funny little button, that every time you pressed no

After passing through many hands over the years,

the yacht was found abandoned in the Seychelles.

The plan now is to carry out a bow-to-stern renovation,

and then she'll be used by the Maiden Factor

project to promote girls' education around the world.

I thought we could use Maiden to fundraise for them and to promote

girls' education, and when we do our three-year world tour,

after a year's restoration, as you can see, that is

It was backing from the Jordanian royal family that got Maiden

and her crew onto the start line for the Round the World Race just

over a quarter of a century ago - and now they're supporting

We were a bit of a fairy tale to some extent and this

is still the fairy tale but the next chapter, and it is a great one.

Thank you for your company. Reports of sleep in places tonight.

We have had quite a few winter really showers through the course of

the day, still one or two at large but it looks like for the most part

tonight is dry, but cold and frosty as the temperatures take a tumble

down to two or three in towns and cities, rural spots close to

freezing. A chilly but bright start tomorrow, some good sunny skies to

get the day going, but the cloud bubbling up and more showers

arriving a bit earlier than they did today. They could be on the heavy

side with some thunder, hail, sleep. Brisk northerly winds and if you

dodge the showers some sunny spells and temperatures could creep up to

11 or 12. We start Thursday on a bright and crisp note, chilly to

start, but a weather front gradually sinking southwards, some fragmented

rain and the cloud thickening, but this is the start of milder

conditions, so less cool through Thursday. By the end of the week we

expect further bright spells on Friday and Saturday, staying largely

dry. Good evening. Another cold night

lies ahead after what was a chilly day for swathes of the UK. This is

the Highlands of Scotland. 25th of April and lying snow. Even snow

further south, temporary accumulations in Staffordshire. Just

down the road in Dudley, it was sunny spells and rain showers. A

real mixed