:00:14. > :00:18.Final call - Plymouth City Airport is about to close for good.
:00:18. > :00:22.Hello, welcome to Spotlight. Planes have still been taking off and
:00:22. > :00:25.landing today. By 10.30pm tonight, all air traffic will stop. We will
:00:25. > :00:30.be assessing if there is any hope for the future and looking back at
:00:30. > :00:33.the runways early beginnings. Also tonight: Sending a message to
:00:33. > :00:43.the drug dealers as an 18-month police operation ends in 10 more
:00:43. > :00:45.
:00:45. > :00:50.jail terms. We have made it a hostile
:00:50. > :00:55.environment for people supplying. Dozens of dogs seized from a North
:00:55. > :00:59.Devon farm after the owner admits breaching her ASBO.
:00:59. > :01:02.In the next few hours, more than 80 years of aviation history in
:01:02. > :01:05.Plymouth will come to an end. The city's airport is closing because
:01:05. > :01:08.of mounting losses and a lack of demand. Today, with hours to go,
:01:08. > :01:11.campaigners refused to give up hope. We will examine their case in a
:01:11. > :01:21.moment and we will hear what the future might hold, but first, John
:01:21. > :01:26.Henderson looks back at how it all began.
:01:26. > :01:34.Plymouth airport was officially opened by the Prince of Wales in
:01:34. > :01:39.1931. This rare footage shows Prince airport - - Prince Edward.
:01:39. > :01:46.Things were different then. Crowds gathered close to planes arriving
:01:46. > :01:53.and taking off and they weren't all passenger flights. In time,
:01:53. > :02:01.Plymouth airport developed. There was still grass on the runway in
:02:01. > :02:08.1972. The terminal was still pretty basic. Despite the fog, Ryman
:02:08. > :02:17.Airways forged on with the short runway. The Queen visited in 1988.
:02:17. > :02:21.In 1990s it lost its direct link to Heathrow Airport, worrying local
:02:21. > :02:25.businesses. Flights to Gatwick and London City Airport led to an
:02:25. > :02:30.increase in passenger numbers, but in February Air south-west stop
:02:30. > :02:39.flying to London. But less than 100 people using the airport on a daily
:02:39. > :02:43.The closure of the airport means the remaining staff will lose their
:02:43. > :02:46.jobs just days before Christmas. Today campaigners gathered in the
:02:46. > :02:48.terminal building to support them and to call for investment to keep
:02:48. > :02:54.Plymouth's air links alive. Here's Spotlight's business reporter,
:02:54. > :02:58.Scott Bingham. Social network sides had been
:02:58. > :03:04.buzzing, and 50 campaigners turned up on its final day of operation.
:03:04. > :03:08.Among them former staff already paid off. Overwhelming to come up
:03:08. > :03:12.here. It is great but older people have come up. It would have been
:03:12. > :03:20.nice to see more staff, but I know that everybody is doing as much as
:03:20. > :03:24.they can. It is such a sad day. started work you when I was 16. You
:03:25. > :03:28.presume the airport will always be here. It was the final day for a
:03:28. > :03:33.handful of others told they could not speak to us. They are being
:03:33. > :03:38.made redundant just two days before Christmas. We have had grandparents,
:03:38. > :03:43.mothers, parents, children, business people, councillors turn
:03:44. > :03:49.up today. It was just to support the people who were losing their
:03:49. > :03:59.jobs the day before Christmas Eve. The campaign comes too late to
:03:59. > :04:01.
:04:01. > :04:06.prevent closure. Wiped off the map already. It's a disgrace.
:04:06. > :04:10.Or so here today a group of local businessmen so convinced otherwise
:04:10. > :04:15.that they have taken the name viable. They say that with �30
:04:15. > :04:19.million the airport could become a major player within 10 years.
:04:19. > :04:25.the airport closes operationally, but we will open up a new chapter
:04:26. > :04:31.to date were we can look again and think about what we can do here. We
:04:31. > :04:35.can look at how we can create an international, world class gateway.
:04:35. > :04:41.Viable will present their vision to the council in January, but for now
:04:41. > :04:46.the airport will be mothballed. The closest air traffic tonight. In the
:04:46. > :04:51.coming weeks they airport will be painted with crosses, the official
:04:51. > :04:55.symbol but it is out of service. So, is there a way Plymouth City
:04:55. > :04:58.Airport could set up again in the future? I spoke to one independent
:04:58. > :05:07.analyst. I began by asking if the demise in its current form was
:05:07. > :05:12.inevitable. That is the case, I'm afraid. We have looked at every
:05:12. > :05:16.dimension. Perhaps so we have forgotten is over the past 15 years
:05:16. > :05:19.we have seen both Exeter and Newquay emerge as dynamic airports.
:05:19. > :05:24.A lot of the Plymouth Executive Committee live outside the
:05:24. > :05:29.community and a very happy to go to those airports, so we are left with
:05:29. > :05:34.our core community, which is not that big. So, basic economics, too
:05:34. > :05:39.much competition and not enough demand. What can we do from here?
:05:40. > :05:48.What about if Heathrow moves to the Thames Estuary? Heathrow is very
:05:48. > :05:58.important. It is the international gateway for the UK economy. We lost
:05:58. > :05:59.
:05:59. > :06:05.that excess - - access and nine-96. If we moved to the Thames estuary
:06:05. > :06:09.would have four runways instead of two and one of those would be
:06:09. > :06:13.dedicated to regional airports. Every region in Britain would try
:06:13. > :06:22.to get in there. So, suddenly we would start to need flying again.
:06:22. > :06:26.What if rail services headed west? Reading has been reconfigured this
:06:26. > :06:30.Christmas. There is a lot of a electrification work going on there
:06:30. > :06:35.will mean that the Heathrow Express and CrossRail will be able to go
:06:35. > :06:42.into Heathrow and come out again at Reading, which could give us ready
:06:42. > :06:49.transfers across the platform. That could make the airport obsolete. We
:06:50. > :06:55.could get to the terminals in under three hours, if not less. Do you
:06:55. > :07:02.think Plymouth will regret today? don't think it can. We have bent
:07:02. > :07:09.over backwards - - analysed the situation. We're only going in to
:07:09. > :07:13.mothball, not be developing yet. We will see.
:07:13. > :07:17.30 people are now in jail for a total of 122 years after one of the
:07:17. > :07:19.biggest drug investigations ever seen in Devon and Cornwall.
:07:19. > :07:24.Operation Greaves targeted gangsters, who police estimate were
:07:24. > :07:26.bringing around four kilos of cocaine a fortnight into the region.
:07:26. > :07:29.Today the final sentences were passed at Plymouth Crown Court.
:07:29. > :07:32.Nine men and one woman were jailed for between two and eight years.
:07:32. > :07:42.Spotlight's Ali Chitty has the story of the 18-month police
:07:42. > :07:44.
:07:44. > :07:49.investigation. Today's sentencing marks the end of
:07:49. > :07:53.an investigation would solver 30 arrests. This seizure of 14
:07:53. > :07:59.kilograms of cocaine with a value of a million pounds. And the
:07:59. > :08:06.seizure of a hundred �1,000 in cash. It was an almost by our standards.
:08:06. > :08:11.It involved more phone work than we have ever done before. 18 months.
:08:11. > :08:20.Re-arrested many people. Originally targeting a known drug dealer from
:08:20. > :08:25.Manchester, the police's serious and organised crime Organisation
:08:25. > :08:32.team set up by it project to try to break the links between the gangs
:08:32. > :08:36.and the south-west. John Palmer or was stopped by police at �20,000 of
:08:36. > :08:40.cash, but his father, Leslie, approached the police and said the
:08:40. > :08:44.money was his. As he waited for his money to be returned, Detectives
:08:44. > :08:50.took what turned out to be a fateful decision to video all the
:08:50. > :08:56.notes. The next month two Koreas were arrested with �37,000 of drug
:08:56. > :08:59.money. �5,000 was money bedewed by the police before being returns to
:08:59. > :09:04.Lesley Palmer. Earlier this year he was convicted of money-laundering.
:09:04. > :09:07.When his son John Palmer was re- arrested his girlfriend own was
:09:07. > :09:10.seized and in it was a list of phone numbers he had used to
:09:10. > :09:14.contact known drug dealers. Now the police had many months of phone
:09:14. > :09:19.calls and contacts there could be traced. Although the following
:09:19. > :09:24.months the police followed a trail of phone calls and cash destined
:09:24. > :09:29.for Mancunian bank account. One man tried to distance himself from a
:09:29. > :09:36.career full of drug money, but he had left after shopping receipt
:09:36. > :09:40.which the police could trace. This led to the arrest of 38 suspect.
:09:40. > :09:46.This CPS prosecutor on the case said that demand for drugs will
:09:46. > :09:51.continue. Nature abhors a vacuum and there is undoubtedly in the
:09:51. > :09:57.West Country, as the Ritz across the entire country, demand for
:09:57. > :10:01.illicit drugs. That is what these defenders are doing, supplying that
:10:01. > :10:06.need. Whether they created it in the first place, I don't know, but
:10:06. > :10:09.it exists. If they don't supply the drugs, some of the criminal
:10:09. > :10:13.enterprise will. The police officer leading the team says that the
:10:13. > :10:18.operation will help make the south- west and an attractive proposition
:10:18. > :10:23.for the drugs gangs. It has made us a hostile environment in relation
:10:23. > :10:25.to people supplying. Would you want to supply to Devon and Cornwall if
:10:25. > :10:32.you thought there was a greater chance of being put into prison
:10:32. > :10:36.when you can supply some morels? The operation has now been
:10:36. > :10:40.officially wound up although police say they are still following leads
:10:40. > :10:48.from the original investigation. As for those convicted, many of them
:10:48. > :10:50.face court action to get back the money they made from their illegal
:10:50. > :10:52.activities. Bailiffs have evicted the Occupy
:10:52. > :10:55.Plymouth campaigners from the city's former job centre. The
:10:55. > :11:02.protesters moved into the building after packing up their tents from a
:11:02. > :11:08.camp they had set up in Jigsaw Gardens 10 days ago.
:11:08. > :11:14.There were eight to 10 people inside still asleep. But I
:11:14. > :11:19.personally talked to one of the members, told him what was going on,
:11:19. > :11:23.give him if there are lots full of clarity of why we were there. A lot
:11:23. > :11:27.full of fiction has been carried out in their peaceful manner.
:11:27. > :11:32.thought there would have left us alone to have a Christmas. They
:11:32. > :11:35.wanted us out before, which is fair enough. We will go somewhere else.
:11:36. > :11:39.There is some good news for people in Looe worried about the proposed
:11:39. > :11:42.closure of a main road in the town. We heard on Spotlight last night
:11:43. > :11:45.about plans to close St Martin's Road for six weeks to allow a new
:11:45. > :11:47.sewer to be laid. Following local complaints, the developers have
:11:48. > :11:50.identified a new route for the sewer. Negotiations with the
:11:50. > :11:54.landowner continue, but the road closure planned for January has
:11:54. > :11:57.been put on hold. You are watching Spotlight from the
:11:57. > :12:00.BBC. Thanks for joining us. Still ahead in the programme this
:12:00. > :12:05.evening: Little Lottie amazes doctors with her progress after her
:12:05. > :12:15.liver transplant. The Military Wives join us with
:12:15. > :12:33.
:12:33. > :12:36.Libraries across the South West are undergoing a quiet revolution in
:12:36. > :12:41.order to survive in the digital age. There have been technological
:12:41. > :12:44.advances, but also protests over cuts and closures. Across the UK,
:12:44. > :12:51.the number of people using libraries has dropped by 6.7% since
:12:51. > :12:53.2006. In Dorset, nine libraries are now under the threat of closure. In
:12:53. > :12:58.Devon, Cornwall and Plymouth none are closing, but opening hours have
:12:58. > :13:02.been cut. The future of libraries in Somerset is under review after a
:13:02. > :13:05.High Court case and Torbay has to make savings of 10% and has yet to
:13:05. > :13:08.decide what to cut. Our Community Affairs correspondent, Carys
:13:08. > :13:18.Edwards, has been looking at how libraries are changing with the
:13:18. > :13:18.
:13:18. > :13:23.times. The Devon and Exeter Institution, a
:13:23. > :13:29.thriving library but were scholarly silence is the norm. It feels
:13:29. > :13:32.almost like a time-warp here in this library, surrounded by books,
:13:32. > :13:37.some centuries old. It is the traditional private library here
:13:37. > :13:44.for members only, but for public libraries they are having to change
:13:44. > :13:47.with the times in order to survive in the future.
:13:47. > :13:53.This is the public library in Exeter. It has got far more than
:13:53. > :13:59.just books on offer, it is a community hub. It is a vibrant
:13:59. > :14:04.place with lots of big and aspects to its. People do have this vision
:14:04. > :14:10.of librarians being dry and dusty and being terribly prohibitive. It
:14:10. > :14:15.is not just about people borrowing books. They are introducing new
:14:15. > :14:20.technology here and in future Exeter Central is to get a �4
:14:20. > :14:24.million new library. There ought - - there are also revamped high-tech
:14:25. > :14:34.libraries in the region, but some of the smaller libraries are
:14:34. > :14:40.struggling. People in Somerset in this town fought hard to save their
:14:40. > :14:46.library from closure. I cried when I heard that his library was going
:14:47. > :14:51.to close. This is a small vibrant town and lots of people use the
:14:51. > :14:56.library. I bought it was really important to try to help support
:14:56. > :14:59.this library. They won the campaign but a further 11 like Reason
:14:59. > :15:04.Somerset remain earmarked for closure. Last month convenors took
:15:04. > :15:08.their case to the High Court and won. A judge ruled that closure
:15:08. > :15:14.plans were unlawful as it have to comply with the quality duties to
:15:14. > :15:20.vulnerable groups. It was fantastic. It showed that the community can
:15:20. > :15:26.come together and make a difference and savoury sauce that is very
:15:26. > :15:28.important. All councils are facing Budget cuts, so having to take
:15:28. > :15:33.tough decisions. There are changes affecting libraries across the
:15:33. > :15:38.region. In a statement, the leader of Somerset said they accepted the
:15:38. > :15:41.judge's directions and said the decisions have been taken after
:15:41. > :15:45.great deliberation and great reluctance. Our income is
:15:45. > :15:52.drastically down and so the demand for services increasing. Our top
:15:52. > :15:56.priority is to provide a safety net for vulnerable children and adults.
:15:56. > :16:06.Babette Cole is passionate about the need for rural libraries.
:16:06. > :16:13.
:16:13. > :16:17.child turns the pages, every picture tells a story.
:16:17. > :16:22.libraries are adapting and changing. It is a far cry from the
:16:22. > :16:28.traditional library, but all remain popular with the book rather than
:16:28. > :16:31.technology at their heart. 34 dogs have been seized from a
:16:31. > :16:34.woman in North Devon who, only last year, had more than 100 of the
:16:34. > :16:38.animals taken away from her. Diana Curtis was told then she could keep
:16:38. > :16:41.only 14 dogs, but in the last week police have discovered close to 50
:16:41. > :16:51.on her farm in Peters Marland. Spotlight's Andrea Ormsby has the
:16:51. > :16:52.
:16:52. > :16:56.story. More tears from a woman who
:16:56. > :17:03.understands this time people may have less sympathy with her. They
:17:03. > :17:08.are right, aren't they? I have bought it on myself. Why? Because
:17:08. > :17:12.the dogs are my life. This was it over last year. The scheme to take
:17:12. > :17:18.away around 100 dogs after complaints from some neighbours
:17:18. > :17:23.about the sound of barking. They are destroying my life. Diana was
:17:23. > :17:28.left with 14 dogs and ordered by the courts not to get any more, but
:17:28. > :17:32.last week police discovered the number had grown to around 50. 34
:17:32. > :17:42.were taken away and in January more will go, leaving Diana with just
:17:42. > :17:44.
:17:44. > :17:51.six. I know I got an ASBO, but people do worse things, don't they?
:17:51. > :17:56.I have got 16 acres, why can't they leave me alone? She has brought it
:17:56. > :18:00.upon herself. She knew the court order was clear to her. Their
:18:00. > :18:06.comeuppance is almost inevitable, it is entirely her own
:18:06. > :18:09.responsibility. 14 horses were also removed and the RSPCA is now
:18:09. > :18:14.considering whether or not any animal welfare offences have been
:18:14. > :18:17.committed. The parents of the youngest person
:18:17. > :18:19.ever to survive a liver transplant say they will never stop feeling
:18:19. > :18:22.grateful to the donor family for saving their daughter's life.
:18:22. > :18:26.Lottie Bryon Edmond from Torquay was at the centre of a nationwide
:18:26. > :18:28.appeal for a liver in August. She is now amazing doctors with her
:18:28. > :18:38.progress and no longer relies on an oxygen tube. Spotlight's Clare
:18:38. > :18:44.
:18:44. > :18:48.Casson reports. Looking forward to her first
:18:48. > :18:53.Christmas, and this year there is plenty to celebrate. It is
:18:53. > :19:01.fantastic that we're here now. We have bother to put a Christmas tree
:19:01. > :19:09.at because, not for us, but because we have lofty here this year. She
:19:09. > :19:13.has the most wonderful personality. That strength of character is what
:19:13. > :19:16.has kept her alive. It will be the best Christmas we have ever had. At
:19:16. > :19:22.times we didn't think this was going to happen so sometimes I have
:19:22. > :19:27.to pinch myself. So exciting. has been a gruelling time. In
:19:27. > :19:31.August there were told to prepare for the worst as she was put at the
:19:31. > :19:36.top of the National transplant list. With just days to live, a donor
:19:36. > :19:40.liver became available. For months on and Lotte has amazed everyone by
:19:40. > :19:45.starting to breathe on her own, but her parents say they never forget
:19:45. > :19:49.the donor family he gave her the gift of life. I am always thinking
:19:49. > :19:56.about that family and what they must be feeling this Christmas.
:19:56. > :20:01.That is the sad part about it. You feel ever more determined to make
:20:01. > :20:10.sure that she is OK, to look after that liver but was so generously
:20:10. > :20:19.donated by that person. It is a feeling of mixed emotions. Dad,
:20:19. > :20:27.Chris, is now writing a book about lofty. Not for one second to I
:20:27. > :20:31.think about how a - - do I forget about how lucky we are. Even at 4
:20:31. > :20:41.o'clock in the morning, she smiles at you and you know that we are
:20:41. > :21:01.
:21:01. > :21:06.Time for a look at the Christmas weekend sport now with Dave Gibbins.
:21:06. > :21:13.The Cornish pirates will be seeking at double over Plymouth Albion.
:21:13. > :21:18.They narrowly won at brick fields in October. BBC Radio Cornwall has
:21:18. > :21:22.full coverage of the South West derby which start at 2 o'clock. On
:21:22. > :21:26.Boxing Day there is a showdown between Plymouth Argyll at Bristol
:21:26. > :21:34.Rovers. The pilgrims will continue their bid to wriggle out of trouble
:21:34. > :21:40.in League Two. The crowds will be big and it will be a good challenge
:21:40. > :21:50.for us in a good atmosphere. Hopefully we can go there and get a
:21:50. > :21:53.
:21:53. > :21:57.result. Exeter City will be at Wycombe Wanderers. Charlton
:21:57. > :22:03.Athletic come to Huish Park as you full-time that to become only the
:22:03. > :22:13.second time to beat them this season. Swindon Town are at the
:22:13. > :22:14.
:22:15. > :22:18.Torquay United. It is 4th against third the day after, when the
:22:18. > :22:24.Exeter chief's love to maintain their fine Premiership format
:22:24. > :22:30.London Irish. The Plymouth Raiders's Christmas gathering has
:22:30. > :22:37.to wait until next Thursday night. It is the mercy tigers to or on the
:22:37. > :22:44.menu. A bumper crowd is expected for Taunton's biggest race day on
:22:44. > :22:50.Friday. There is �38,000 prize money at their Christmas meeting.
:22:50. > :22:53.Don't forget, there was full coverage on BBC local radio and BBC
:22:53. > :23:03.sport online. All that remains for me to say is that your cells are
:23:03. > :23:11.
:23:11. > :23:21.very merry Christmas and have been Time for the weather forecast.
:23:21. > :23:26.didn't get the mail about looking very Christmas the - - you are
:23:26. > :23:30.looking good. Christmas festivities will not be ruined by the weather
:23:30. > :23:40.this weekend. It may be a little bit damper times and Jim Knight see
:23:40. > :23:43.
:23:43. > :23:46.a bit of drizzle, but it will be mild. There will be little frost,
:23:46. > :23:51.apart from tonight. Tonight it could turn quite cold with cabbages
:23:51. > :23:56.getting close to freezing. Today tomorrow it will cloud over again
:23:56. > :24:00.and people see some more drizzle. The Scot in the cloud out here is a
:24:00. > :24:06.weak ridge of high pressure which is what bus just for the overnight
:24:06. > :24:09.period tonight, then it gets pushed away down to the south. By the
:24:09. > :24:14.after noon tomorrow we're back to south-west winds, a lot of cloud
:24:14. > :24:17.and drizzle. That will continue into Christmas Day. Let's look at
:24:17. > :24:24.that a more detailed. We have got this angry looking line have been
:24:24. > :24:30.that we saw earlier today. That has now moved out of the way and so the
:24:30. > :24:34.temperatures are stopping Busch - - and that temperatures are already
:24:34. > :24:41.starting to drop. There will be a few showers this evening, but they
:24:41. > :24:49.will die away. Winds from the north-west, which will drop
:24:49. > :24:53.overnight, and temperatures could fall to zero in some places. A
:24:53. > :24:58.bright start to the day tomorrow with sunshine, but it will cloud
:24:58. > :25:04.over. By the afternoon sunlight rain or drizzle from the West.
:25:04. > :25:13.Damages will get up to 10 degrees. Or it does start a bit frosty we
:25:13. > :25:18.will find that temperatures struggling. On to the forecast for
:25:18. > :25:28.the Isles of Scilly, briefly some sunshine, but there will be patchy
:25:28. > :25:28.
:25:28. > :26:10.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 42 seconds
:26:10. > :26:16.So, here is the Christmas Day forecast. For all of us it will be
:26:16. > :26:22.a mild night on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, a lot of cloud with
:26:22. > :26:28.maybe a bit of drizzle first thing in the morning. Boxing Day is
:26:29. > :26:32.similar, with a lot of cloud and mild. As soon moving to Tuesday of
:26:32. > :26:37.next week, the possibility late in the day of some patchy rain. Have a
:26:37. > :26:40.lovely Christmas. And that is it, our last full
:26:40. > :26:43.Spotlight for this year. We will have bulletins throughout next week
:26:43. > :26:47.and over New Year. We'll leave you now with the Military Wives Choir
:26:47. > :26:50.and O Little Town of Bethlehem and, just to say, if you have enjoyed