10/09/2013 Spotlight

Hello. Also tonight. An increasingly—used tool to fight

crime, or a grave concern for human rights? The rise of the Taser. But

critics say the weapon shouldn't be a modern—day truncheon. The father

of a man from Plymouth who died wants Tasers banned. I just want

them banned permanently. It is totally wrong. The families

shouldn't have to suffer like we have.

And on the operating table, but no need for traditional surgery — a new

treatment for a common problem in adults goes from Cornwall to the

whole country. Almost 200 jobs are to go at an

engineering company in Cornwall. Pall UK has confirmed that it is

transferring part of its operation in Redruth to a new factory in

Slovakia. The BBC has been told 175 jobs will be lost, but the company

has refused to confirm this. It does say that its factories in Newquay

and Ilfracombe will not be affected. David George reports from Redruth.

Locally they call this the Pall factory. Inside they make filtration

systems. The company's aerospace division is based here. The BBC has

been told it's the more general work that will be moved from here to a

new factory in Slovakia. Workers here were told about the move

yesterday. Some contacted the BBC by e—mail and text. This is no room.

There is a minimum of 175 jobs being lost.

It goes onto say they've been banned from speaking about the job losses.

The company confirmed the changes but not the number of jobs to go. In

a statement, managing director Huw Chapman says there will be:

The jobs here are high quality and well—paid, and will be sorely

missed. Obviously this is a very sad and worrying news. They are a good

employer for the town, and if this is true, it would be sad for

everybody. Pall UK describes these people as

valued employees. It says it will try to find alternative roles for

them. And David is live for us in Redruth

tonight with the latest. We wanted to ask the company exactly how many

jobs will go, and what these alternative roles might be. We sent

an invitation to the managing director, but have had no reply.

Joining me here this evening as the Cornwall Council for the area. Your

reaction, Mike? Very bad news, especially for the workforce, who

worried facing redundancy in the not too distant future. Businesses in

the town are bound to suffer, and it is very bad news for Redruth and the

county. The county is a very deprived county. We are looking

forward to the third tranche of European funding. Because of the

poor quality life we suffer hearing Cornwall. Can Cornwall Council do

anything? We will be looking at the situation. I have made attempts to

contact the portfolio holder this afternoon, but have had no reply

yet. I will be following that up. They hope their Slovakian facility

will be up and running next year, 2014.

David in Redruth, thank you. The father of a man from Plymouth

who died after a Taser was fired has spoken for the first time about the

loss of this son. Kelvin Pimlott says the weapon should be banned.

His comments come as figures show some big rises in its use by police

forces. The Home Office says that between the second half of 2010 and

2011 in Avon and Somerset, the number of incidents where the weapon

was called upon more than doubled. In Devon and Cornwall, the rise was

just under 50%. But in Dorset, there was a drop of about a quarter,

although Tasers weren't used very often here. Critics have questioned

such large increases, but police have defended their changing

tactics, as our Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Hall reports.

These figures show how much a part of modern policing the Taser has

become. Put the weapon down! But some are

concerned Taser is too widely and readily used, with too little

training for officers. Andrew Pimlott died after being

tasered in April in Plymouth. An investigation is under way into

whether the weapon ignited the flammable liquid he was covered in.

They should never have used it. I have lost a lovely son. And I am

really upset about it. I don't know which way to turn. I want it banned

permanently. Other families shouldn't have to suffer like I

have. You need to remember what a Taser is. It is not a tingle that

you get from an electric fence. It is a 50,000 volt assault weapon, and

is potentially lethal. A senior officer told me Taser

provided an important tactic for police officers dealing with violent

situations. What they are faced with is people with knives, people with

axes, people acting in a really violent way, or people who are

harming themselves, and a Taser can deal with that effectively. It stops

us having to use more serious force than an electronically done. These

statistics for use don't mean that the Taser is actually fired. It is

counted as used if it has been drawn. It is only fired in 20% of

cases. Normally, the effect of it being drawn, plus the red dot on

someone's chest, is sufficient to defuse a situation.

The regulator the Independent Police Complaints Commission is currently

carrying out an investigation into the justification and reasons for

officers' use of Taser. A fast, safe, cost—effective

treatment for varicose veins that's been offered to Cornish patients for

five years is now being recommended as a first—choice procedure across

the UK. The treatment uses heat rather than surgery under general

anaesthetic. Our Health Correspondent Sally Mountjoy looks

at a medical success story from Cornwall.

Pat Venton's been referred for treatment at West Cornwall Hospital

after a varicose vein she's had for years has become troublesome. It is

very hot and itchy, and it is breaking out into sores. So why

we've told you needed the treatment? They said it looked like

it was locked, and it needed to be done. But instead of traditional

surgery, like vein—stripping under general anaesthetic, Pat's having a

keyhole procedure that takes about half an hour and needs only local

anaesthetic. Endothermal ablation heats the varicose vein from the

inside. A tube or catheter is guided into the vein and a probe inserted

into it sends out radio—frequency energy which heats the vein until it

collapses, sealing it off. You might feel a funny tickling sensation up

the inside of your leg. Vascular surgeon Kenneth Woodburn uses an

ultrasound scan to guide the probe, which heats up to 120 degrees

Celsius. He says it's better for patients and cost—effective. This

can be done in an office type environment, with no need for a

general anaesthetic. After the procedure, everything returns to

normal within a few days, usually within 48 hours, whereas with

conventional surgery, most people are laid up for a couple of weeks.

This treatment's been available to patients in Cornwall since 2008, but

elsewhere many people are still being offered only conventional

surgery for varicose veins. Now the clinical advisory body, NICE, says

everyone troubled with the condition should be referred to a vascular

specialist and should be offered endothermal ablation as a first

choice. It is certainly a nice experience for the patient, it is

something that can be done as an outpatient under local anaesthetic.

The patient satisfaction seems to be higher than with traditional

surgery. It is undoubtedly a cheaper procedure to be able to offer.

A third of the population has varicose veins. More people will now

get treatment, but the NHS should save as fewer patients will need

care for the complications caused by the condition. Sally Mountjoy, BBC

Spotlight, West Cornwall Hospital. The MP for Newquay says some venues

like pubs are exploiting a legal loophole to host adult entertainment

without a proper licence. Earlier during a parliamentary debate,

Liberal Democrat Stephen Gilbert said an exemption in the law to

allow pubs to host one—off events like a strip—a—gram at a birthday

party was being used to run regular lap—dancing nights. I don't want to

be alarmist, but a town like New Quay that has seen over recent years

a surge in these lap dancing venues, a community that has tackled

it head—on to impose significant restrictions on them, could see a

gain a large rise in unregulated sexual entertainment events, all of

which will happen in spite of their wishes, in spite of the wishes of

Parliament and in spite of the wishes of the local council. And I

think that is wrong. In response to Mr Gilbert, the Home

Office minister Jeremy Browne offered to meet him to discuss the

issue, and said the Government wanted to make sure communities like

Newquay received the protection they needed.

A member of Somerset—based 40 Commando who was killed in a gun

battle in Afghanistan last year has been described at

his inquest as an exceptional marine. Corporal David O'Connor, who

was 27, died alongside a female Army medic after their patrol came under

fire while en route to provide first aid training to the Afghan police.

A toddler who fell from the fifth floor of a block of flats in

Plymouth has been moved from Derriford Hospital to a specialist

unit in Bristol. 15—month—old Shantelle Clarke fell from a bedroom

window in the Barne Barton area of the city on Saturday. Her condition

has been described as critical but stable.

Plans to turn a section of the A30 near Bodmin into a dual carriageway

have passed their latest planning hurdle. The Government has agreed to

pay for half the cost of the £60 million pound scheme, but Cornwall

Council would still need to find funding for the rest.

You are watching spotlight. Thanks for beginning your evening with us.

Still to come: And insight into the desperate plight of refugees on the

ground from a charity worker from Cornwall who was just returned from

Syria and is appealing for help. We will have the latest weather

forecast. If Dr Dolittle was looking for a drinking companion, then Star

the duck might be just the animal to share a pint with — he's already

causing quite a stir at his local. Just this summer, children in the

South West were out campaigning for motorists to slow down to 20 miles

an hour near their schools but their efforts may have been in vain. Today

the police in Devon and Cornwall told BBC Spotlight they can't

routinely check for speeding drivers even in areas where the limit's

already 20. Now a number of councillors in Exeter say more needs

to be done. Hamish Marshall reports. It doesn't take long to see how

often the 20 miles per hour speed limit is ignored here. Yet organised

surveys as well as random ones like ours show the limit in residential

areas has support from drivers and non drivers. In a built—up area, I

can't see the point of driving more than 20 miles an hour. You're not

gay to get anywhere any faster. The police could do more, but that has

to be funded by somebody. So what difference does the ten

miles per hour make? To stop while at 20 miles per hour needs 12 metres

— a combination of 6m each of thinking and braking time. If the

speed rises to 30 miles per hour, the distance is 23 metres — with

both thinking and braking time rising. When 20 zones were

introduced in Portsmouth — casualty numbers dropped by 22%. But Devon

and Cornwall Police doesn't routinely enforce 20 limits. It says

it has to prioritise and targets areas with known problems and where

there have been accidents in the past. The few resources we have, we

dedicate to those areas. If we have complaints in 20 miles bra limit

areas, we will undertake high visibility trolls —— 20 mph limit

areas. The local council would like to see more police action, but first

he wants Devon County Council to ensure the zones are signed properly

so that action can be taken. It is a very small zone, and there are five

areas that are not compliant, where the traffic calming measures or the

required signs are more than 100 metres apart. So every time I'm in

this zone, you could get off on a technicality if the police stopped

you. The County Council says it is aware of the concern over the zones,

and is reviewing them. Within the last week, one council

member has been talking about devastating cuts to come. As one

budget squeeze follows another, the impact on people's lives will become

more apparent. As council cuts in the region start to dig deep, one

area of the South West could lose almost half its public toilets and

its council run CCTV coverage. With 39 sites, Teignbridge Council has

the second highest number of public loos in Devon. Cuts to the budget

are forcing the council to consider closing 17 of them, many in rural

areas. Our South Devon reporter John Ayres has more. Teignmouth is a busy

seaside town attracting thousands of visitors each year. It has a number

of public loos, but the council feels it can't keep all of them.

This one, near The Triangle in the town, is earmarked to be sold off or

closed. The Central Fish Cafe is just around the corner and already

has its fair share of people asking to use their toilet. I think people

will just use the bushes in the future, as they do already when the

toilets are shut. It is a tough economic climate, but they have posh

offices. Children will need to go. There are not many restaurants where

you can go and ask, and they are quite strict. And it is rude, it is

like going into someone's house and asking to use the toilet. This cafe

already has its fair share of people asking to use the toilet. They cafe

pays its busiesses rates, so it feels it's not its job to provide

toilets for the public. The current Teignbridge admistration promised

the electorate they would freeze council tax. But the money recieved

from Government is reducing rapidly, forcing them to make cuts.

Closing public toilets is an emotive subject. They are having to make

tough decisions, and it would appear that if the service being provided

is not a statutory requirement, it is not sacred. If your budget falls

by 10% every year, something has got to happen to make you make ends

meet. You are not getting any more money because you are freezing

council tax, and yet your budget is falling.

The decision on the future of the toilets, and CCTV provision in

Teignbridge will be made in a week's time.

Many of us will have been moved by the pictures of the humanitarian

crisis on the borders of Syria. The Cornish —based charity Shelter no ——

Shelter box is trying to help. How big is the scale of the problem? I

have just returned with a team from Iraqi Kurdistan. Over the last two

years, huge amount of displacement, both within is area and externally.

We work spurred to go back of weeks ago because an additional 45,000

poured across the border. There was a huge new influx in the Midsummer

sun tried to find shelter, and we wanted to help those people. And

some of those families have terrible stories to tell, don't they? Yes,

young children, mothers, all sorts of stories involved, and what hit

home to myself and the team is that you don't need to find a story, we

would walk into one camp which had just been set up, originally for

10,000 people, but already looking at 20,000, and the UN were working

there, and use big to people in different tents, and there was a lot

of hospitality involved, which is amazing given what people have been

through. There are schools where people are waiting to move into the

camps. There was a young mother who rushed up and grabbed us and wanted

to tell us is a link to the outside world what had happened to her

family, and it was the chemical attacks in Damascus about four

kilometres from where they lived. She was incredibly emotional,

telling us that her children shouldn't have to see this. School

has been disrupted, they have had to leave quickly, they couldn't afford

to travel and had to borrow money, the buses were being bombed. She

said they had seen mass graves being dug, and the things they had

witnessed were horrific. And they have had to leave everything they

own, and perhaps sometimes family members? Family members, friends,

colleagues. People have very normal lives, and you really can't

imagine, thinking back to here in the UK, back in Cornwall, Devon,

imagine everyone from your town being uprooted and displaced

hundreds or thousands of miles away. Some people were lucky and had their

families. There was one man who had completely lost his two sons on the

journey, and he still hadn't found them. He was talking about people

who had died along the journey, and he had been there some days and

hadn't found his sons. I to Mac and they find real comfort in the

practical aid organisations like yourself were able to them?

Definitely, and it is speed of response. In the context of a

protracted disaster, , viewers have Dibley seen us following an

earthquake or so one, we respond quickly and effectively. We have

been working for 18 months on the crisis, and the emergency phase is

still very much there. People still need that very quick response, and

we have helped over 4500 families already by providing emergency items

such as tents, blankets, and now with winter coming, we need to

provide more to see families through. And that is what this £2

million will go towards funding. Thank you very much for joining us

this evening. The work of one Cornish charity. A

grade one listed church in Devon has had special solar slates fitted to

its roof in order to generate renewable energy. It had an

application for ordinary solar panels turned down because they

looked to modern, but the vicar said the new slate enabled the look of

the 19th—century building to be preserved. And the sun shone on

Dartmoor today for the famous Widdicombe fair. The Dartmoor

village is packed with thousands of visitors later for the popular

country show. The event, which is always held on the second Tuesday of

September, is believed to date all the way back to the early 19th

century. Organisers said they expected it to be a bumper year for

visitors. It has been reported in the past

that pets can behave like their owners. A duck has followed his

master's lead and started sipping beer, and if you thought that was a

story only told in the pub, judge for yourself.

A duck walks into a bar and orders a pint. Obviously. Starr is a regular

at this hostelry in Cholmondeley. His owner discovered his liking for

beer by accident. —— Chumleigh. Next thing I knew, I heard a lot of

slurping, and he was helping himself. The RSPCA doesn't recommend

giving a duck beer, but says it is unlikely to pursue the owner if the

duck is happy. The landlord says he certainly seems content. He is just

like a pet dog. He just wanders around the place. He is quite

content in my company, because I serve his beer, I suppose! The duck

and his owner go busking and collect money for children's hospices. They

have a book coming out soon, although strangely, the dog doesn't

tweet. And as far as we know, he hasn't yet tried skateboarding. And

now I have met the duck who drinks in the pub, my reporting career is

complete! You can put it on his bill.

He doesn't tweet. I love it! From one duck to nice weather for ducks,

because the rain is on the way. That is the new name for a social

media site, quack quack. It has been quite a nice day, and

tomorrow has a reasonable start, but as Rebecca mentioned, it will cloud

over, and by the end of the day, most of us will have had some rain.

There are couple of weather systems out to the west of us, thicker cloud

across the eastern side of England. We have a ridge of high pressure for

overnight tonight. Whilst there is a lot of cloud now, later tonight, it

will turn quite chilly. The weather systems will be around again as we

move into Thursday. Various that satellite picture, and a little more

in the way of detail. In the last few hours, a little more cloud has

developed. This was the scene earlier today in Plymouth, fine

weather but chilly in a keen breeze. But some good visibility, blue skies

and sunshine for most of us. With this amount of clear sky overnight

tonight, it will turn quite cold. Still quite a lot of cloud around

for the more western parts of Cornwall. Further east, East Devon

and into Somerset and Dorset, with a lot of clear sky, it is going to

turn quite chilly. We could get as low as five or six overnight

tonight. Further west, in contrast to that, a fair amount of cloud, 13

or 14 for almost all. Tomorrow, a good start with some sunshine,

patchy cloud, and then the cloud generally thickens throughout the

day. Come the end of the afternoon, it turns out to be quite wet. Not

quite as windy as today, and temperatures similar sort of

figures. The forecast for the Isles of Scilly, briefly some brightness

in the morning, but it doesn't last. Times of high water:

Let's look at the forecast as we head towards the weekend. Not a

great deal of brightness, it has to be said. Perhaps briefly some

brighter spells before we return for some patchy rain in the evening.

Similar conditions on Saturday, and Sunday into Monday, it becomes quite

windy again and also turns quite a bit cooler. There is certainly ought

the forecast. —— and or Tom nor forecast.

We are off to take our pets out for a drink! Have a lovely evening.

Goodbye.