20/10/2016 Spotlight

Tonight - whatever it takes, whatever it costs,

we will not lose our vital rail line through Dawlish.

I am saying people in the South West that we cannot possibly allow this

route to be breached. From rail to roads,

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has been here delivering promises

from the Government. Also tonight - the man who tried

to blow up a restaurant in Dxeter. Nicky Reilly, who was serving a life

sentence for the attempted terrorist The man behind Alton Towers gets

the green light for his vishon And, taking 40 winks -

we'll reveal why students are being given the

opportunity to have a nap. Doing nothing is not an opthon

and the Government will not allow Devon and Cornwall to be cut off

from the rail network. That was the pledge

from the Transport Secretarx on his first visit to the rdgion

since taking up the job. Chris Grayling wouldn't

commit at this stage to Network Rail's preferred option,

a new line built out into the sea near Dawlish,

but he said a long-term solttion to protect the route

had to be found. As John Henderson reports,

Mr Grayling also announced Suited and booted. Chris Gr`yling at

Tina and hearing the case for arguably the most important and at

over half ?1 billion the most expensive transport decision he will

have to make for the South West -- at Teignmouth. First up is to have a

major reclamation scheme between the tunnel and the beach behind us so

that we move the railway line out from its present position and create

an area of stability for thd cliffs. Mr Grayling began the day at Exeter,

promising to spend ?4.5 million on a link road between the a 30 `nd the

M5. Welcomed by some but thd railway issue wouldn't go away. The leader

of Devon County Council said a back-up railway line is vit`l. The

link between old Kempton and Tavistock is computer-aided,

expensive, but it is not impossible and it is far cheaper than `ny other

option that has been looked at on the table. Rock falls and l`ndslips

from these clips cause more disruption to the line than anything

else. MPs for the area want action. I think in the longer term, meaning

20, 30 years, there will be an additional line, because thd South

West needs to be opened up. Every MP on the line will tell you if we

don't have at least one reshlient future proofed line then we all have

a problem. Network Rail said a new track on reclaimed land is their

preferred option, they say ht can be done and they are not alone in

thinking it is worth it. Whdn you consider the amount of investment

per head that comes to the South West compared to other regions that

restores some fairness and H think it is money absolutely well spent,

every penny. Network Rail whll be revealing their plans to thd public

next month. The Transport Sdcretary has an urgent decision to t`ke.

Well, during his visit todax I asked Chris Graying about the reghon's

I started by asking when the A303 route in and out

I want to see the A303 start as quickly as possible. It is not the

EEC is to read, we have the Stonehenge tunnel and how wd handle

that. -- the easiest route. But I am clear that I want improvements to

start is quickly as possibld. We have had previous promises from

previous ministers and then they move on and the process needs to

start again, can I press yot on a timescale? What timescale whll you

be asking for this work to be delivered in? There is alre`dy work

happening to prepare for thhs, it is not start in aspic, there is a

detailed design taking placd across this route, so you always go through

a process of preparation with a major project. I want to make sure

that when that ends we get onto construction as quickly as possible

so this is not something th`t is not happening, detailed work is taking

place. One of the most important infrastructure links is one you are

standing on and you can see how the honourable it is to coastal erosion

and Cliff Hall and Network Rail s preferred option is to build a track

further out into the water. What commitment can you give to

supporting that option? This option has only just been tabled, dngineers

have been working for a long time on the best approach. I am looking at

this closely and so is Network Rail and there are two issues, a

substantial project that will take considerable time across very

context piece of engineering to secure it for the long term future.

But I am also concerned abott the immediate future and how we make

sure that the danger of what happens two years ago is kept as low as

possible. We are approaching another winter, what assurances are you

seeking from Network Rail that we won't see a repeat of what we had on

that line a couple of years ago What I want to see is all of the

potential precautions we can take taken. There are no circumstances in

which we can remove all risk, I wish that was possible but it isn't. I

want to make sure the team `t Network Rail doing all they can to

make sure this route remains earlier in the short term and then we can

address the longer term. Thd preferred route for the long-term is

building the root out into the water, for Network Rail. Thd Prost

-- the price will be half ?0 billion. Can you give a comlitment

of government support financially for that? We are a way away from

deciding on the final schemd, because this has to be disctssed

locally, moving the railway onto the beach will mean that local

authorities have to be involved But this is a crucial link to a really

important part of our country, there is no way that this or any

government could allow a situation where that link will be cut off

long-term or permanently. So whatever the bill at the end you are

saying it will be paid if that has to be paid to keep the rail link to

Devon and Cornwall? If it is a question of keeping the rail link to

Cornwall, it is not an option for this or any future government to

allow that link to be broken, so there has to be a commitment to sort

this problem out. The exact solution at the end, I am not here to judge

today, I am here to listen to judge what is best for the area and most

cost-effective for the taxp`yer but allowing this route to disappear is

not an option for us. Chris Grayling, thank you very much.

The man who attempted to blow up a Devon restaurant with homd-made

Nicky Reilly, who was 29, carried three glass bottles packed

with chemicals into the Gir`ffe restaurant in Exeter in May 200 .

Our home affairs corresponddnt, Simon Hall, covered the casd

It was the day terrorism cale to Devon, with much of Exetdr city

Nicky Reilly attempted to sdt off three nail bombs in the Gir`ffe

restaurant, among the dozens of customers enjoying

One of the bombs partially detonated in the toilets, as Reilly

attempted to arm it, but he was the only one injtred

I was there at the Old Baildy when Reilly admitted attempted

murder and attempting to colmit an act of terrorism.

He was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of 18 ye`rs.

The judge told Reilly it was sheer luck nobody had been killed

in his attempted attack, which was intended to terrorise

After serving eight years in prison, Nicky Reilly has died,

She said she was too upset to comment further.

Former Devon and Cornwall Police Assistant Chief Constable Bob

Spencer, who commanded the emergency response

to the attempted bombing, told us, "My sympathies go

to his family and loved ones, but Reilly did attempt to commit

a terrible crime and justicd had to be done

in terms of him receiving a long prison sentence."

Police believe Reilly was encouraged in his plot

He had learning difficulties and Asperger's syndrome.

Kim Reilly always maintained that her son was vulnerable

and preyed upon by terrorists who pretended to be his fridnds

But Reilly himself showed no remorse and he was carrying viable bombs,

which if they had detonated here, as he intended, would have caused

There's been major disruption on roads in and around Exetdr.

It followed a crash on the A38 near Kennford,

where one person was taken to hospital by air ambulancd.

The closure of the road for five hours meant long tailbacks

through Exeter, as drivers tried to find alternative routes.

Supporters of a former Somerset Royal Marine serving a life

sentence for murdering an insurgent in Afghanistan are calling

for an urgent decision from the Criminal Cases Revhew

Commission, which is examinhng the original conviction.

Those campaigning to get former sergeant Al Blackman releasdd have

Sergeant Alexander Blackman was serving in Helmand Provhnce five

years ago when he was filmed on a helmet camera shooting

Two years later he was convhcted of murder on active duty by a court

martial, and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum

The following year the Appe`l Court upheld his conviction,

but his minimum sentence was reduced to eight years.

And then last year the case was referred to the Criminal Cases

His supporters say they havd new evidence he was suffering

You know, focused on keeping the campaign moving forward.

For the past three years Claire Blackman has been calpaigning

She was heartened when the Criminal Cases Review Commission dechded

to take a fresh look at his case but that was almost a year `go.

We want to have confidence in the decision when they rdach it

but, that said, this is another ten months that Al is not

home and the waiting is the hardest part.

In 2013, former Sergeant Al Blackman became the first British serviceman

to be convicted of murder on the battlefield since

His life sentence was for shooting a wounded insurgent in Afgh`nistan.

His action and his words leading up to it were

But his supporters, who havd very publicly campaigned for his release

- this the last time they took their protest

to the streets of London - say he has been harshly tre`ted

for a moment of madness on the battlefield.

Among them, the bestselling author Frederick Forsyth,

who is highly critical of the body reviewing the case.

I have been bewildered by the fact that they have dawdled and dawdled,

very slowly passing the doctments from desk to desk

The Commission says the criticisms are unfair, it is treating the case

as a priority but it is a complex one with a large volume of written

One of the main platforms for an appeal now is that the lesser

charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished

responsibility was never considered at the original court marti`l.

A decision on that, whenever it is, will determine how much longer

the former Royal Marine will spend in Wiltshire's Erlestoke Prhson

His wife says the campaign to free him will continue.

The Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre in Plymouth has become the first

independent elective-care hospital to be rated as Outstanding.

The centre, which treated more than 4000 patients in the l`st year,

was highlighted for staff compassion for patients, who were

overwhelmingly positive about their care.

It's through visibility of senior managers on site.

It's through the consultants and staff all working together

It's through the interaction with the patient.

The patients' feedback has been wonderful.

They are so pleased about coming here and so pleased

North Cornwall will be home to what's being dubbed "Britain s

Planners gave the controversial scheme the go-ahead today.

The founder of Alton Towers is behind the project and s`ys

a huge amount of money will be ploughed into the building

of luxury lodges and leisurd facilities near Wadebridge.

And this is what they're all waiting for, the Corkscrew...

After steering Alton Towers to big success back in the '80s,

this man wants to take a project in Cornwall to similar heights.

This project is the finest of its type in the UK,

Developer John Broome has already rebranded and is revamping

the former Crealy theme park near Wadebridge.

Now planners have given him the go-ahead to turn these `cres

of Cornish farmlands next door into what he says will be

It is good for the staycation industry, brilliant for Cornwall,

and it's a national-league, international-league facility.

And Cornwall is going to have a very good time of it.

The vision - more than 200 holiday lodges, a tropical pool,

restaurants and activities centre, and claims of more

But while most of the planndrs may have been convinced,

worries from some living ne`rby about the reality of what it will

There are a lot of people who think this will be economically vdry

positive but equally a lot of residents are very concerned

about the scale of the development, the visual impact, traffic lovements

along very narrow lanes in this area, and the use of

what is good-quality agricultural land over therd.

And a mile or so down creek is this B restaurant where the

Tomlinson family moved a few years ago from the Midlands.

We moved down to Cornwall for the idyllic dream

of being in the countryside, the peace and quiet.

I think the environmental ilpact as well as the infrastructure, the

roads can't support it. John Broome was behind an attempt to turn

Battersea Power Station into a mini Las Vegas 30 years ago. Leaving

County Hall today he says hd is confident this venture will proceed

and things can get moving straightaway.

Cream teas, pasties, cider, cheese, all food we're very famous

for here in the South West, but what part do our culinary

delights play in people's holiday experience?

Well, apparently it can makd a huge difference to the way

A new study has revealed the importance holidaymakers

John Ayres has been to St Ives, where the study was carried out

St Ives is a beautiful placd, with its beaches and its galleries,

but now more and more the experience is becoming about food.

Most of what is in this report I think as a tourism region

we would have assumed anywax, but it does bring into sharp focus

just how important food is to the local economy.

40 years ago ice creams, fish and chips and pasties

They're still popular now but the trend is towards good

For decades Matthew Stevens has been providing

We are selling spider crabs, we're selling the John Dorids

Here in St Ives that was unheard of, 20, 30 years ago.

You may have got cod and chhps and maybe plaice and chips `nd a few

prawns and a cocktail but now we're looking at all sorts of seafood

Over the years the cafes and restaurants have had to adapt.

Visitors expect the food to be locally sourced.

A lot of these people come from cities where they have a very

big choice of very good restaurants, so when they come on holidax St Ives

needs to supply places that can emulate some

They talked about how they could sort of smell the pastries,

they could see the fishing boats coming in, it was really

They also talked about how they were willing to support

the local businesses and they purposely avoided chain

restaurants and any kind of restaurants that they

Now, I would be the first to admit that perhaps I should eat a little

bit less but when I'm on holiday, like most peopld,

Straightaway you think, oh, we'll have a clotted cream tea

when we come down here, and a pasty, so, yeah,

we do like to eat a lot when we're on holiday.

We don't want to appear as food snobs but it would probably put us

off if it was all burgers and junk food.

We're looking for more qualhty stuff and local produce and just taking

the benefits of what you can get locally really.

I think now there's far too many eating places down the front,

it's changed from when I was last here 30 to 40 years ago,

there used to be a lot of amusements, different

Now it's just concentrated on eating and drinking places.

The success of the food outlets passes right down

the chain to the suppliers, farmers and fishermen.

But while the report was very positive about the way it's

going here it did warn that becoming too popular and not having

the infrastructure to support it could have the opposite effdct.

If you can't have nice food when you're on holiday, when can you

2000 fossils discovered by an amateur collector in Dorset

are going on display in a new museum purpose-built

From crocodiles to previously unknown species,

plumber Steve Etches has am`ssed what is now an internationally

renowned collection of finds dating back 150 million years.

Steve Etches was in short trousers when he found his first fossil, this

tiny sea urchin in his back garden in Dorset. It is now on display

amongst much grander finds hn the new museum which brings to life

Jurassic Kimmeridge. It was a tropical sea, we have fish `nd

animals interacting and somd of them predating. Steve is a plumbdr by

trade but he has always found time for fossil collecting. He h`s

discovered a host of new spdcies, like this it clear saw. It hs rather

like a modern dolphin, he h`s pointy teeth. This is a juvenile btt under

its rib cage it is stuffed full of food. Until now his collecthon was

housed here, in his convertdd garage. Every art for -- artefact

has now been taken down the road to its new home. It might sink in when

everything is done and dustdd. I am sharing it with everything. You

can't live forever so hopeftlly I am safeguarding it for the futtre. Some

2000 fossils are already here and there is space for new finds,

meaning Steve has no excuse for taking his work home with hhm.

What are you going to do with your garage? My wife has some iddas, she

has designed what she wants. Also the dining room, because it took

over that. Hopefully we can invite some friends round for dinndr there

now. His workshop is also bding moved to the museum so visitors can

watch how he peels back the layers of time. This knowledge has earned

him respect from academics worldwide, who have much to learn

from a man who turned a hobby into a life's work.

What an amazing collection. How much sleep did

you get last night? We don't sleep at all, do wd?

We don't get a lot of sleep, unfortunately.

There are plenty of surveys warning of the dangers of a lack of sleep.

And it seems one local univdrsity is taking them seriously.

The chaplaincy at the University of St Mark

and St John in Plymouth is helping weary students by

But before you judge this move, or the students, take a look

University life has changed, a more nine-to-five culture has

developed as undergraduates pay fees to study here, so if they choose

to sleep in the day, that's up to them, right?

Well, that's what people here at Marjon think.

Next to the university chapdl, a nap room has been set up

for students to take snoozes between their studies.

But is there really a need for this at university?

A lot of people have this sdnse of students from the old daxs,

The Young Ones and things lhke that, with students just lying around

That could not be further from the truth these days.

Students are often working laybe one, two, three jobs

combined with their studies, plus family, so with the additional

stresses of modern life, always being on with social media

and mobile phones, actually the chance to take a break

Nick wants his chaplaincy to be as relaxed as possible.

The addition of the nap rool is an important part

Students don't just do their degree and that's it,

some of them belong to sports, some of them run societies.

Me myself, I run the choir here at Marjon and I also do hockey

as well so I'm constantly on the go, so...come in here, have a n`p,

recharge your batteries and then go and do it again,

It's a quirky idea but I was curious to find out just how

I've been out reporting on the road all day and I could do

Let's just hope BBC management are watching this.

I quite like the idea of a hammock, actually.

We have a nap room here, it's called the newsroom.

Make sure you are not asleep by the time I come back to you. Thdre is

some quite interesting weather for the next three or four days. First

of all we have more mist forming, some fog patches first thing this

morning, certainly some frost overnight tonight but once the mist

clears it should be a nice day with some sunshine. There has bedn an

east-west split with the sunshine today but the bigger satellhte

picture shows the curl of cloud to the East, that is one area of low

pressure which has hardly moved the 24 hours, but down here there is a

new area of low pressure. Wd still have high pressure for the day

tomorrow but by the time we get through tomorrow evening and

Saturday into Sunday this area of low pressure becomes the dolinant

feature. It will squeeze up against that high and squeeze the isobars,

giving us afresh if not strong to gale force easterly wind by Sunday

evening, and the potential for that to produce some outbreaks of rain

but the timing is uncertain. Quite a contrast of weather types from one

side of our patch to the other, glorious sunshine for a good part of

Cornwall, rather grey for E`st Devon, Somerset and Dorset. A few

spits of light rain even now but most of that will fade away

overnight and in the small hours we will get some length lead clear

skies, allowing the temperatures to drop pretty fast. -- some ldngthy.

We could start tomorrow with not only mist and fog but also

temperatures not far above freezing. For most of us away from thd coast

there is a chance for some frost, maybe even on the car windscreens.

Once we get rid of that and the mist and fog it is a nice day. The East

of Devon has had stubborn cloud today but it is much more in the way

of sunshine. Very light winds, not much to stir the air, so if you have

some sunshine and avoid the mist and fog first thing in the mornhng you

should have a pretty good d`y, 3 or 14 degrees. For the Isles of Scilly,

fine and dry with spells of sunshine, very similar to the

weather today. The times of high water, Portland, 10:49am, F`lmouth,

9:33am. Lovely surfing condhtions today, the waves are not quhte so

big tomorrow but still usable. On the north coast between thrde and

five degrees and clean. There are the coastal waters forecast, force

three to four from the south-east, generally fair with good visibility,

and the outlook as we go through the weekend is more cloud, cert`inly a

lot more on Sunday, a strong easterly breeze developing, maybe a

bit quieter and the potenti`l overnight for some patchy r`in.

Still awake? We stayed awake for all of that and

I will have to stay awake a bit longer because I will be back for

the late