:00:22. > :00:29.against superbugs. Good evening and welcome to Spotlight. The news has
:00:29. > :00:33.been warmly welcomed. Fewer people could die from. If you can catch
:00:33. > :00:38.people right from day one and decide how they are, that will have a real
:00:39. > :00:48.impact on their illness and mortality. The Royal Marines get a
:00:49. > :01:00.
:01:00. > :01:02.royal visitor and a new �30 million huge ancient woodland on Dartmoor.
:01:03. > :01:06.The number of people dying from the superbug C-difficile could be
:01:06. > :01:09.reduced as a result of research in Devon. For a decade, C-diff has
:01:09. > :01:12.posed major problems in hospitals. Now, after a four year project,
:01:12. > :01:15.scientists at Exeter University have discovered which tests will predict
:01:15. > :01:19.who is most at risk. As Hamish Marshall reports, experts say this
:01:19. > :01:29.is a major breakthrough and its hoped the tests can be rolled out
:01:29. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :01:36.nationwide. C difficile can be a killer. It cost in the Miller his
:01:36. > :01:40.life. His daughter saw the symptoms first hand. They welcome anything
:01:40. > :01:46.that can reduce the number of people to suffer from it.
:01:46. > :01:52.He went down and down and down. He used to like his whiskey, that he
:01:52. > :02:02.would not even have that. He could not eat or speak. He just went down
:02:02. > :02:03.
:02:03. > :02:11.and down. It was awful. Scientists at Exeter University
:02:11. > :02:15.analysed... They found a testing plan which finds out whether a
:02:15. > :02:21.patient is likely to suffer the worst symptoms. This test can then
:02:21. > :02:24.be applied to them. It can give an indicator of how it will progress.
:02:24. > :02:32.On the back of that, they can decide the treatment of regiment for that
:02:32. > :02:40.patient. There were nearly 17.5 thousand reported cases in 2011 in
:02:40. > :02:45.England. It was related to 1.1% of all deaths in England and Wales
:02:45. > :02:49.between 2006 and 2010. Patients over the age of 65 are at particular
:02:49. > :02:55.risk. It is hoped the new testing plan will reduce this especially as
:02:55. > :03:00.there is no vaccine as of yet. The beauty of the research done here
:03:00. > :03:03.is that the test that they have discovered is simple. It can be
:03:03. > :03:07.carried out quickly by a junior doctor and the results come
:03:07. > :03:13.quickly, so somebody who needs treatment can get it as soon as
:03:13. > :03:21.possible. I think it is something that can be
:03:21. > :03:25.widely and easily used by doctors. The something to be taken up and be
:03:25. > :03:29.practical is a good thing. number of C-diff cases has been
:03:29. > :03:34.reducing. There are still around 20 a month in the East Devon area
:03:34. > :03:38.alone, so this is a major breakthrough. If you can catch
:03:38. > :03:43.people on day one and start treatment early, that could have a
:03:43. > :03:48.very real impact on their mortality. It is a bit like a food poisoning
:03:48. > :03:52.type of bug, but ten times worse. Research continues and a vaccine
:03:52. > :03:55.would be an even bigger breakthrough.
:03:55. > :03:58.Prince Harry has officially opened a new �30 million amphibious centre of
:03:58. > :04:03.excellence for the Royal Navy in Plymouth. The centre, at Devonport,
:04:03. > :04:05.will be known as Royal Marines Tamar. It will be home to the crews
:04:05. > :04:10.of landing vessels, hovercraft and fast boats formerly based at
:04:10. > :04:20.Turnchapel and Poole. Andy Breare's report contains some flash
:04:20. > :04:23.
:04:24. > :04:29.Taking the salute, his Royal high and so at Devonport Naval base today
:04:29. > :04:34.to officially open the Royal Navy's �30 million centre of amphibious
:04:34. > :04:44.excellence. This morning's parade was attended by family and friends
:04:44. > :04:50.of personnel here. This is a seminal moment. The Royal Navy at has put a
:04:50. > :04:55.lot of investment into us to build this centre in Devonport. Bringing
:04:55. > :05:03.together all of the amphibious assets in one place. It is
:05:03. > :05:11.fantastic. A brilliance day. -- a brilliant. The new headquarters
:05:11. > :05:15.of the dockyard brings together two units. They were until you recently
:05:15. > :05:21.based in Poole. It will be the first time that the Royal Navy has all of
:05:21. > :05:28.its amphibious capability in one place. There will be 300 military
:05:28. > :05:31.personnel here. This is the first time that...
:05:31. > :05:35.Putting all of this research is together and bringing them alongside
:05:35. > :05:39.the ships. It means that we can produce a more effective end
:05:39. > :05:45.result, but it also means that the guys on the training can see the
:05:45. > :05:48.units and the kind of things we do. The reason why it is so good is that
:05:48. > :05:54.the two engineering teams have come together and not only have they
:05:54. > :06:02.located here, we have also co-located where the amphibious
:06:02. > :06:06.ships are. It is important that everything is kept together.
:06:06. > :06:10.focuses our teams. Following the ceremony, Prince Harry
:06:10. > :06:15.attended a lunch with naval personnel and their families. It was
:06:15. > :06:18.a chance for him to find out first-hand more about how the
:06:18. > :06:28.facility aims to consolidate and improve the Royal Navy's amphibious
:06:28. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:33.Our political editor Martyn Oates is with us now. So, at a time of cuts
:06:33. > :06:38.to the Armed Forces this is a case where the Government is actually
:06:38. > :06:44.investing in Devonport? Yes, this plan was drawn up by the last Labour
:06:44. > :06:50.Government, when it had a big review. They look at how resources
:06:50. > :06:54.should be shared out. The coalition, when it came to power, had its own
:06:54. > :06:58.review but decided to stick with this particular project which is
:06:58. > :07:02.bringing more Marines to Plymouth. It had bigger plan for the Marines,
:07:02. > :07:12.didn't it? It's dead. It had aspirations to bring all of the
:07:12. > :07:14.
:07:14. > :07:18.Marines together. -- it did. It was heavily hinted that they could be
:07:18. > :07:24.moved from Scotland into Cornwall. To a point that is now a training
:07:24. > :07:30.base. Then the defence secretary announced that the Marines at
:07:30. > :07:35.Arbroath will be staying there for the, quote, foreseeable future. It
:07:35. > :07:39.is not sure whether the plan has scrapped or whether it is just a
:07:39. > :07:46.longer term project. There is still uncertainty about the new generation
:07:46. > :07:50.of frigates, isn't there? Yes, this decision is a long way off, not
:07:50. > :07:58.least because they have not been built yet. But that is not stopping
:07:58. > :08:02.the lobbying to get the base there. The Portsmouth MPs are saying,
:08:02. > :08:08.Plymouth has all of this amphibious stuff, Portsmouth should be home of
:08:08. > :08:12.the surface fleet. Since some changes have been brought in by the
:08:12. > :08:14.coalition, this decision will be taken by the head of the Navy not
:08:14. > :08:17.politicians. Nearly six months ago, Axminster was
:08:17. > :08:20.going through the most testing of economic times. The carpet
:08:20. > :08:23.manufacturer it was so famous for, and relied on so heavily, was
:08:23. > :08:28.calling in the administrators. Hundreds of jobs were lost, but then
:08:28. > :08:31.a deal was done to save the company. The firm is now taking on new staff
:08:31. > :08:34.again but not everyone is back in work. Spotlight's Andrea Ormsby has
:08:34. > :08:44.been following the town's progress and looks now at how the community
:08:44. > :08:46.
:08:46. > :08:52.Axminster, like everywhere, is struggling through tough economic
:08:52. > :08:58.times. No one was ready for the news on Fabry the 20th.
:08:58. > :09:06.400 jobs at risk at the world-famous carpet factory. How could a company
:09:06. > :09:15.in business for nearly 260 years fall now? The town's employer.
:09:15. > :09:21.Hundreds of jobs were on the line. 13 days later, confirmation, 300
:09:21. > :09:28.people lose their jobs. It was a major blow. Most of the
:09:28. > :09:31.staff there had joined when they were 16 and worked there for many
:09:32. > :09:36.many years and they understood that they would be working there for the
:09:36. > :09:41.rest of their working lives. A deal has been done to save the
:09:41. > :09:49.company and it is taking on new staff, but after 12 years, Julie
:09:49. > :09:55.Ford was one of the people who lost her job. When I found out I was
:09:55. > :09:59.going to be made redundant, I was devastated and upset. You take it
:09:59. > :10:09.personally. You don't understand why you've not been kept and other
:10:09. > :10:15.people have. You wonder what was wrong with me? It is soul
:10:15. > :10:22.destroying, as you wonder what you did wrong. It is especially hard
:10:22. > :10:26.Julie to move on. This is my house, this is where I live. I live so
:10:26. > :10:31.close to the factory. Just down there is the gate that I used to
:10:31. > :10:37.use. I have to walk past every day and see everybody who still has a
:10:37. > :10:46.job that going to work. It is hard. My garden backs onto the factory, so
:10:46. > :10:50.I have to look at it every day. 30th of May and two months since the
:10:50. > :11:00.jobs were lost and Axminster is doing all it can to help. Julie is
:11:00. > :11:01.
:11:01. > :11:06.here at a jobs fair. Thank you. Since March, she has been able to
:11:06. > :11:11.find a job at the local school for two days a week. I have been around
:11:11. > :11:15.and seemed quite a few people. The donkey Sanctuary was very
:11:15. > :11:22.interesting. They can try and take part-time people and that seemed a
:11:22. > :11:26.very good. I felt quite positive about that one. I have applications
:11:26. > :11:34.to fill out. She is excited about the possibility that of working at
:11:34. > :11:42.the sanctuary. When she gets home, she fills in the application and
:11:42. > :11:45.puts it in the post. And we'll find out if Julie was
:11:45. > :11:48.lucky with her job search on Monday, when we're back in Axminster for the
:11:48. > :11:51.second of our special reports. Still ahead in tonight's programme.
:11:51. > :11:55.Upset and outrage - Mount Edgcumbe's historic statue of Venus is
:11:55. > :12:05.destroyed - vandals are blamed. And despite the recent dry weather,
:12:05. > :12:06.
:12:06. > :12:11.record entries for the South West's Vandals have been blamed for
:12:11. > :12:14.destroying an historic statue at one of Cornwall's famous country houses.
:12:14. > :12:19.The remains of the statue of Venus were found by gardeners at Mount
:12:19. > :12:26.Edgcumbe. Local people have been so upset that one has even offered a
:12:26. > :12:32.reward to catch the culprits. Eleanor Parkinson reports.
:12:32. > :12:37.Apollo stands out over the gardens at Mount Edgcumbe and next to him is
:12:37. > :12:43.the god of wine. Next to them is an empty plinth. There's a statue
:12:43. > :12:48.missing, the third. It was destroyed by vandals. Police believe it
:12:48. > :12:51.happened on Wednesday night. Today, they were examining what is left of
:12:51. > :12:56.her. The statue has stood here for 200
:12:56. > :13:05.years since these gardens were established in the 19th century.
:13:05. > :13:12.Staff say a bit of history has been lost. She survived the Blitz, she
:13:12. > :13:17.survived that. She has seen the restoration of the gardens over the
:13:17. > :13:22.last 40 years and now she has been destroyed. People visiting our
:13:22. > :13:28.shocked and disappointed. I think it is terrible. I don't know why
:13:28. > :13:32.someone would do that. It has so much history. It is pointless.
:13:32. > :13:37.people knew a bit more about the history, they may appreciate it a
:13:37. > :13:42.bit more. Police are hoping that something may
:13:42. > :13:45.have been left behind by the vandals. They will be examining the
:13:45. > :13:50.stonework for fingerprints. It is not clear if it can be repaired. She
:13:50. > :13:54.may have to be replaced by a modern replica.
:13:54. > :14:01.Time for the sport now and here's Dave on the eve of the new football
:14:01. > :14:04.season. In the Championship, for the first
:14:04. > :14:08.time in their history, are Yeovil Town after winning promotion at
:14:08. > :14:17.Wembley in May. Many are wondering how they'll cope in one of the
:14:17. > :14:22.richest divisions in the world. Many sceptics will be saying, enjoy
:14:22. > :14:28.it while you can. Pundits forecast that they will go straight back
:14:28. > :14:34.down, the Somerset club could have the last laugh. After all, they were
:14:34. > :14:38.favourites to go down this time last year. Then they won promotion in the
:14:38. > :14:43.play-off final against Brentford. We can make sure we are ambitious.
:14:43. > :14:47.We can make sure we pay attention to the detail and that we are the
:14:47. > :14:56.fittest and make sure that we have more desire than everyone else. They
:14:56. > :15:06.don't cost money. We will hold our hands up on quality, but I think we
:15:06. > :15:06.
:15:06. > :15:09.will be fine. Yeovil has been a leak of the ten years and the thought of
:15:09. > :15:19.pitting their wits against the opulence of Queens Park Rangers,
:15:19. > :15:19.
:15:19. > :15:23.Redding and Wigan athletic does not worry the Glovers at all. There have
:15:24. > :15:28.been congratulations from many people in the football circles. We
:15:28. > :15:33.got congratulations on the way we progressed the club since our
:15:33. > :15:38.non-league days. We run it as a business and we don't spend more
:15:38. > :15:43.than we can earn. Basically, that won't change. There will be many a
:15:43. > :15:49.sell-out as they begin to convert their stadium into an all-seater
:15:49. > :15:53.arena. How can they afford to keep up with the Joneses? People laughed
:15:53. > :16:03.when I first joined the club to say that we will take the football club
:16:03. > :16:06.into the Football League. We have achieved that. It has been referred
:16:06. > :16:12.to it as our premiership, I think we can achieve more if we get the
:16:12. > :16:22.support from the local council. Yeovil hopefully good start against
:16:22. > :16:27.Millwall, while Torquay United are also going for an opening day win.
:16:27. > :16:32.What are the chances for all of our sides this season? We featured
:16:32. > :16:42.Exeter City and Torquay and Plymouth Argyle yesterday. The common theme
:16:42. > :16:43.
:16:43. > :16:48.is money. The club's need money. The telling point will be Christmas and
:16:48. > :16:52.New Year when the going gets a bit tough and the managers wants to
:16:52. > :17:00.strengthen their squad. You have to have money to do that. If the clubs
:17:00. > :17:04.operate astutely then they could make a push for promotion. It
:17:04. > :17:14.depends on how well the business model is run. I think Exeter City,
:17:14. > :17:17.
:17:17. > :17:22.Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle have learnt their lessons.
:17:22. > :17:24.BBC Somerset will follow the Glovers for every match, home and away. Over
:17:24. > :17:29.on BBC Radio Devon now, David Fitzgerald is discussing the
:17:29. > :17:32.prospects for the three Devon teams in a phone-in up to seven o'clock.
:17:32. > :17:34.Plymouth schoolgirl Ruta Meilutyte aims for a second gold medal at the
:17:34. > :17:37.World Swimming Championships in Barcelona this weekend. After
:17:37. > :17:40.winning the 100m breaststroke final on Tuesday, the 16-year-old now
:17:40. > :17:45.targets the 50m version and she's favourite to make it a double
:17:45. > :17:53.success. The heats and semi-finals are tomorrow, with the final on
:17:53. > :17:58.Truro's Sarah-Jane Boyd looks like missing out on the cut after the
:17:58. > :18:01.first two rounds at the Womens' Open at St Andrews. The 21-year-old, seen
:18:01. > :18:10.here practising at her own Truro Golf Club, was five over par going
:18:10. > :18:15.into today's second round - 11 shots off the leader. She is currently
:18:15. > :18:19.eight over par, that is nine shots behind the cut in her debut at the
:18:19. > :18:23.Open as an amateur player. Finally, BBC local radio and BBC
:18:23. > :18:33.online will be across every minute and every goal of the new football
:18:33. > :18:38.season from tomorrow until May third next year. If you love football, it
:18:38. > :18:42.will go quickly, but if you don't... Described as one of the largest
:18:43. > :18:45.woodlands to come on to the market in the last 20 years - Fingle Woods
:18:45. > :18:49.in Devon are tonight under new ownership. Earlier today two
:18:49. > :18:53.conservation charities took the site out of private hands to be opened up
:18:53. > :18:57.to the public. The valley on the edge of Dartmoor near Drewsteignton
:18:57. > :19:00.stretches to more than eight hundred acres. The Woodland Trust and the
:19:00. > :19:04.National Trust want to allow English Oak to dominate the landscape once
:19:04. > :19:14.more and say it was a huge opportunity not to be missed as I've
:19:14. > :19:16.
:19:16. > :19:22.pleasant land and the view is, well, Judge for yourself. This could
:19:22. > :19:28.be just as much North America as Blake's England. So many of these
:19:28. > :19:35.trees are not native. The first step is being taken towards putting down
:19:35. > :19:42.a fume or original roots on 100 acres of Dartmoor.
:19:42. > :19:46.You rip out the plasterboard, like a house, . In this case, it is the
:19:46. > :19:54.North American conifers that are coming out, allowing the English oak
:19:54. > :19:59.to re-establish itself. In fact, it could take 70 years for
:19:59. > :20:03.the Fingle Woods to get back to their former life. We cannot wander
:20:03. > :20:08.in just yet as the purchase has not formally gone through, but we can
:20:08. > :20:13.take a look at the approaching tracks. The team is almost certainly
:20:13. > :20:17.won't be around to see it finished, but they don't live in a world of
:20:17. > :20:21.instant answers. The landscape of the next century needs to be slowly
:20:21. > :20:24.nurtured, starting with small pockets of what has survived from
:20:24. > :20:32.the past. How do you restore an ancient
:20:32. > :20:37.woodland? We cannot replant a 400-year-old tree, but what we have
:20:37. > :20:41.got here is the remnants of the old forest. We can work with the
:20:41. > :20:47.remnants of the old forest to create a new one. We begin by introducing
:20:47. > :20:51.more light, just like we can see here. As the acorns fall off the oak
:20:51. > :20:55.trees, they start to germinate in these pools of sunshine and the
:20:55. > :21:01.ground floor will start to spread by seeding and flowering and as we
:21:01. > :21:08.remove the conifer, these things will spread into the wider woodland.
:21:08. > :21:11.At this point, you may be feeling sorry for the conifer. No one is
:21:11. > :21:15.really suggesting wholesale removal across the UK, but ancient woodland
:21:15. > :21:22.is rare and there is a feeling it should have a greater presence,
:21:22. > :21:26.increasing the amount of cover increases the range of animals, too.
:21:27. > :21:34.It is important because the wildlife is used to the original woodland and
:21:34. > :21:38.by removing the conifers, we can bring that back. It will be open to
:21:38. > :21:43.the public and the charities argue that a valuable supply of timber is
:21:43. > :21:47.not being lost. They say the slopes do not lend themselves to commercial
:21:47. > :21:53.production. This is simply about making given a bit more like Devon
:21:53. > :21:55.always was. Now, while most of us have been
:21:55. > :21:58.celebrating the recent heatwave, many gardeners have been less than
:21:58. > :22:01.happy. But the West Country's biggest flower show is still
:22:01. > :22:04.managing to attract record entries in some areas. Taunton Flower Show
:22:04. > :22:07.opened its gates this morning and around 15,000 people will walk
:22:07. > :22:16.through them over the next two days. Our Somerset reporter Clinton Rogers
:22:16. > :22:21.was among the first in. This is the bit that the public
:22:21. > :22:31.don't get to see, where the decisions are made. Who has won and
:22:31. > :22:35.
:22:35. > :22:40.resilient. A record 500 exhibitors here prove that point, but it has
:22:40. > :22:48.been a battle this year, especially for the flower growers. It has been
:22:48. > :22:52.too dry. It is not good for all of the plants. I just hope that they
:22:52. > :22:58.still have smiles on their faces when they come into this marquee and
:22:58. > :23:06.that we judges that have two make sure that we have done our job
:23:06. > :23:10.right. You will never please every gardener. It is the biggest flower
:23:10. > :23:16.show in the region. I am feeling quite comfortable here. There is a
:23:16. > :23:19.real pride attached to Taunton Flower Show and that is a pride in
:23:19. > :23:28.history as they say they are the oldest and longest running flower
:23:28. > :23:33.show in the country. This show has been running since 1831. This woman
:23:33. > :23:35.has researched its history and says it is almost the oldest in the
:23:35. > :23:43.world. The Guinness book of records tells
:23:43. > :23:51.us that we are the second oldest and longest flower show in the world.
:23:51. > :23:56.Philadelphia beat us by two years. In total, nearly 2000 individual
:23:56. > :24:02.entries are to be judged. From the amateurs to the professional growers
:24:02. > :24:09.and garden designers. Just in case all of this hot weather makes you
:24:09. > :24:19.yearn for what was, how about this? You get the feeling that the snowman
:24:19. > :24:19.
:24:19. > :24:22.will arrive at any time. A long time since we saw snow. It is
:24:22. > :24:32.time for the weather and I don't think there will be any snow in the
:24:32. > :24:35.
:24:35. > :24:40.sunshine around this weekend. We also have some showers to watch out
:24:40. > :24:46.for. And unsettled picture overall and by the time we get to the end of
:24:46. > :24:53.Sunday, it could be very wet. We have had some wet weather around
:24:53. > :24:58.today, but a lot of sunshine as well. It is this line of showers, at
:24:58. > :25:02.the moment, that has been making its way across Cornwall and into Devon.
:25:02. > :25:10.Do take care, as there could be some fairly torrential downpours with the
:25:10. > :25:20.some thunder. This is how it looked around text of Canal. -- Exeter
:25:20. > :25:24.
:25:24. > :25:30.Canal. It is warm enough in the sun for a bit of cooling beer. If you
:25:30. > :25:36.are really warm, have a dip. The temperature at the airport reached
:25:36. > :25:39.21 Celsius, proof that it is still warm in the sunshine. It is still
:25:39. > :25:42.looking unsettled though. You can see a line of showers with us
:25:42. > :25:47.through this evening and you can see that the wet weather will stay
:25:47. > :25:54.around with us for a while. Tomorrow, there is a risk of some
:25:54. > :25:58.heavy, thundery downpours. On Sunday, we have this low pressure
:25:58. > :26:03.area that is set to develop some uncertainty. It looks like we will
:26:03. > :26:08.see some wet weather by the end of the weekend. This evening, with
:26:08. > :26:13.those heavy showers around. There will be some clear spells
:26:13. > :26:19.overnight, but some of these showers will continue into the early hours.
:26:19. > :26:23.Temperatures overnight will be staying up to 15, 16 Celsius. From
:26:23. > :26:28.the word go tomorrow, we still have some of these showers around. There
:26:28. > :26:33.is always a risk of locally heavy downpours and a risk of thunder. In
:26:33. > :26:37.central part of the region, these showers could develop into a line
:26:37. > :26:43.and you could catch a few. There will be some warm sunshine in
:26:43. > :26:52.between those showers. The Isles of Scilly, we have some sunny spells,
:26:52. > :27:00.but also chances of showers. The times of high water at Plymouth,
:27:00. > :27:06.0354 and at Bideford, 0416. You may so find some clear waves in the
:27:06. > :27:12.shelter, but generally messy conditions. The winds from the South
:27:12. > :27:17.West are at a force for, up to a force five. It is a mixture of a
:27:17. > :27:23.weekend. We have some sunny spells tomorrow. On Sunday, we could have