:00:14. > :00:14.Good evening. for the news where you are.
:00:15. > :00:17.South West rail passengers are being warned to plan ahead
:00:18. > :00:18.as London stations Paddington and Waterloo face
:00:19. > :00:23.Network Rail is carrying out its biggest ever
:00:24. > :00:27.programme of maintenance from Christmas Eve onwards.
:00:28. > :00:30.It says it's confident it can avoid a repeat of the chaos two years ago.
:00:31. > :00:33.So what does it mean for travellers over the Christmas period?
:00:34. > :00:40.Network Rail has warned train passengers they face a crescendo
:00:41. > :00:43.of maintenance over the festive season, as it undertakes its biggest
:00:44. > :00:52.24,000 staff from its orange army, who famously repaired
:00:53. > :00:54.the track at Dawlish, will be laying new track and signals
:00:55. > :00:57.at 200 projects across the country, mainly for Crossrail and Thameslink.
:00:58. > :01:00.They will be anxious to avoid a repeat of the Christmas
:01:01. > :01:03.chaos two years ago, when work overran at
:01:04. > :01:10.But they say lessons have been learned since then.
:01:11. > :01:13.Passengers are now being advised to plan their journeys
:01:14. > :01:18.The advice is, firstly, where possible, to travel early.
:01:19. > :01:21.So get those tickets from tomorrow if you can.
:01:22. > :01:24.If you cannot do that, then London Paddington
:01:25. > :01:29.is closed from Christmas Eve to the 29th of December.
:01:30. > :01:32.Trains will travel in and out of London from Ealing Broadway,
:01:33. > :01:38.from where there is access to London Underground.
:01:39. > :01:40.Or, as there is no step-free access at Ealing Broadway,
:01:41. > :01:44.an easier route for people with disabilities or with bags
:01:45. > :01:46.and luggage may be to change at Reading for Waterloo.
:01:47. > :01:51.But Waterloo is also closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day,
:01:52. > :01:54.and there are reduced services on the 24th and 27.
:01:55. > :02:00.This is a key opportunity for Network Rail to do a significant
:02:01. > :02:04.piece of work that will effectively allow us to run the brand-new trains
:02:05. > :02:09.Customers, for the majority of services, will have
:02:10. > :02:12.It's just if you're travelling directly into London.
:02:13. > :02:15.What about alternative modes of travel?
:02:16. > :02:19.Well, motoring organisations see tomorrow and Saturday are likely
:02:20. > :02:24.And Exeter Airport says they expect to handle 20,000 passengers over
:02:25. > :02:33.A look at some of the day's other news now.
:02:34. > :02:36.Two men have appeared at Exeter Crown court charged
:02:37. > :02:38.with the murder of 30-year-old James Woodhouse.
:02:39. > :02:41.His body was found in a wheelie bin last month.
:02:42. > :02:44.Brett Edwards of Okehampton Road pleaded not guilty.
:02:45. > :02:47.Thomas Killen of North Lawn Court didn't enter a plea.
:02:48. > :02:50.Their trial will take place next summer.
:02:51. > :02:52.A man has been treated for burns following a fire
:02:53. > :02:56.Fire crews were called to a commercial premises
:02:57. > :03:01.The blaze in the ground floor spread to the flat above.
:03:02. > :03:04.Fire fighters are still at the scene.
:03:05. > :03:06.Two men from Devon - delivering aid and medical
:03:07. > :03:09.supplies - have reached the Turkish-Syrian border.
:03:10. > :03:12.War photographer Paul Conroy from Crediton, and Dr Mark Hannaford
:03:13. > :03:16.from Beer in East Devon left London on Saturday.
:03:17. > :03:21.The supplies will be used to rebuild a children's hospital near Aleppo.
:03:22. > :03:23.Avon and Somerset Police have been told to make
:03:24. > :03:28.A report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons raises
:03:29. > :03:32.concern about the way irritant spray is sometimes used to
:03:33. > :03:36.in-capacitate detainees - as well as what it calls "some poor
:03:37. > :03:38.and potentially unsafe use of restraints."
:03:39. > :03:40.But the report praises staff - saying they are generally
:03:41. > :03:46.The 89-year-old pensioner from Devon who put an ad in his local paper
:03:47. > :03:51.looking for a job has just completed two full weeks work at a restaurant.
:03:52. > :03:54.Joe Bartley from Paignton said he was dying from boredom
:03:55. > :03:58.Last night he celebrated as the Cantina held
:03:59. > :04:07.Squirrels have been blamed for the devastation of a mile-long
:04:08. > :04:10.stretch of trees on the A38 between Dobwalls and Bodmin.
:04:11. > :04:12.The Boconnoc Estate, which owns the land,
:04:13. > :04:16.says the overgrown beech hedging along the Glynn valley had to be
:04:17. > :04:19.chopped down because branches were dropping onto the road.
:04:20. > :04:26.The richly verdant Glynn Valley near Bodmin stimulates the senses
:04:27. > :04:31.of any motorist travelling along the A38.
:04:32. > :04:35.That was until, during overnight closures of the arterial route,
:04:36. > :04:40.saw a swathe of beech trees of more than a mile long cut
:04:41. > :04:53.Obviously, to have done them as it should have been done,
:04:54. > :04:58.cutting out the larger ones and allowing smaller ones to grow
:04:59. > :05:01.so that over the years they are coppiced,
:05:02. > :05:07.The estate who owns this land says they cut the trees
:05:08. > :05:10.because of squirrel damage and the danger of branches falling
:05:11. > :05:16.Wildlife experts say squirrel populations are so vast
:05:17. > :05:20.here that the amount of damage to trees with them ripping off
:05:21. > :05:25.the bark to get to the sap below is a real problem.
:05:26. > :05:28.Nationally, squirrel damage to forests is costing more
:05:29. > :05:40.This, on top of larch disease, ash dieback and sudden oak death,
:05:41. > :05:43.causes poses a real threat to our green and pleasant land.
:05:44. > :05:45.The Forestry Commission says it supports what it
:05:46. > :05:47.describes as a coordinated, targeted and locally
:05:48. > :05:54.delivered control of what is increasingly seen as a pest.
:05:55. > :05:57.Plymouth Argyle can look forward to a very happy New Year
:05:58. > :06:00.after securing themselves a lucrative FA Cup tie with
:06:01. > :06:09.The Pilgrims beat Newport in a replay to make it
:06:10. > :06:11.to the third round - a game which could be worth
:06:12. > :06:13.more than half a million pounds for the club.
:06:14. > :06:15.That's more than twice Argyle's operating profit
:06:16. > :06:20.Well, fans will be keen to know how they can get their hands
:06:21. > :06:23.Earlier Natalie spoke to the Chief Executive Martyn
:06:24. > :06:25.Starnes who's been in talks with Liverpool this morning.
:06:26. > :06:28.They have allocated us just over 8100 tickets for the game.
:06:29. > :06:30.Clearly there is going to be substantial demand for those
:06:31. > :06:32.tickets, but we are under an obligation to allow
:06:33. > :06:35.members to have first efforts to buy the tickets.
:06:36. > :06:38.We will be doing that over the Christmas weekend.
:06:39. > :06:42.We will be putting some tickets online.
:06:43. > :06:45.And then on Boxing Day we are planning to open at nine
:06:46. > :06:48.o'clock so that members can come along and get their tickets
:06:49. > :06:53.Baking has become a favourite past time for many after the huge success
:06:54. > :06:58.But in one village in Dorset volunteers have decided to combine
:06:59. > :07:02.learning how to make bread with helping others.
:07:03. > :07:04.The project based near Weymouth gives people a chance
:07:05. > :07:07.to practise their kneading and cooking, and the end products
:07:08. > :07:10.are handed over to charities who are supporting the homeless
:07:11. > :07:14.Our Dorset reporter Simon Clemison has been to meet
:07:15. > :07:26.Right, ladies and gentlemen, today is our last meeting before
:07:27. > :07:29.Christmas, and we're going make a centrepiece Christmas tree loaf.
:07:30. > :07:31.Homelessness is always important, but it must be particularly
:07:32. > :07:33.lonely at Christmas, being on the street, on your own.
:07:34. > :07:36.And it must be gratifying to feel that people care
:07:37. > :07:41.Are they in your mind when you are making the bread?
:07:42. > :07:47.You concentrate on kneading the dough as you are actually doing it!
:07:48. > :07:51.But once you put it in the oven, you think about where it goes.
:07:52. > :07:55.Every month we have at least one day where we each bake loaves
:07:56. > :08:03.in our own kitchens and then take them down to either Soul Food
:08:04. > :08:06.or the Lanterns or anywhere else that homeless people need food.
:08:07. > :08:09.You have obviously been baking bread on a larger scale
:08:10. > :08:12.since the Industrial Revolution, but is it the simplicity
:08:13. > :08:15.here of baking for someone else that draws so many people in?
:08:16. > :08:17.Absolutely, these bakers love to make bread in their own homes.
:08:18. > :08:24.They want it to be a special craft that they have learned,
:08:25. > :08:28.and now they are passing it on to someone who really needs it.
:08:29. > :08:32.This is just a white loaf, it has been put into a plait.
:08:33. > :08:35.So what happens to our large, seedy, plaited white loaf now?
:08:36. > :08:38.Hopefully today it will go off to one of the charities,
:08:39. > :08:45.and one hopes that they will get to eat it for tea tonight.
:08:46. > :08:54.It shows people that others are thinking of them.
:08:55. > :09:03.You have got people like bakers that are kindly doing this and giving,
:09:04. > :09:06.and those that maybe don't always appreciate and respect the nature
:09:07. > :09:13.We have got to say to the bakers of Sutton Point...
:09:14. > :09:23.Are we going to feel the effects of her came Barbara. We will feel the
:09:24. > :09:30.strength of the rain. -- correct strength of the rain. -- correct
:09:31. > :09:36.came Barbara. Very unsettled weather across the south-west of England.
:09:37. > :09:39.After a bright start of the rain will turn later and also very windy.
:09:40. > :09:50.A warning about the strength of wind. We are seeing the least
:09:51. > :09:54.strength, for us, 50 or 60 mph associated with Hitler found through
:09:55. > :09:58.the afternoon. Some bright and dry weather ahead of that but it is
:09:59. > :10:03.moving quite -- are associated with her Keynes.
:10:04. > :10:12.We see cloud and outbreaks of rain returning. The temperature is
:10:13. > :10:16.unusually mild. Tonight he temperatures have not fallen. They
:10:17. > :10:21.will continue to drop overnight to give us a touch of frost. Brief
:10:22. > :10:25.leader will be some ice on car windscreens and the grasp of through
:10:26. > :10:29.the day tomorrow the milder air starts to return because the wind
:10:30. > :10:36.picked up. They will become strong and eventually gale force. It will
:10:37. > :10:40.move through quite fast. Slightly cooler air is then heading in. For
:10:41. > :10:46.Christmas eve itself quite a bit of cloud around. Nor does windy with a
:10:47. > :10:53.few spots of drizzle and it stays mild through Christmas Day. Thank
:10:54. > :10:54.you. But is it for this evening. You can catch the early bulletins
:10:55. > :11:01.tomorrow morning. itself, it's not white, but it's
:11:02. > :11:14.warm. Temperatures could reach 15. I suppose you could say today was
:11:15. > :11:17.the calm before the storm. A winter chill, plenty of sunshine, but more
:11:18. > :11:21.wintry showers in Scotland, more snow over the higher ground. Some of
:11:22. > :11:25.this snow will melt for a time tomorrow because there is wind and
:11:26. > :11:29.rain coming in from the Atlantic. So we'll leave the Highlands behind,
:11:30. > :11:33.head out and look at the cloud here, this tell-tale hook of cloud,
:11:34. > :11:38.signifies a storm is developing, this is Storm Barbara, of course, it
:11:39. > :11:41.is a deep and deepening area of low pressure, rushing towards the
:11:42. > :11:44.north-west of Scotland. Steppingening the winds and bringing
:11:45. > :11:48.rain into the north-west by tomorrow morning. Ahead of it fairly quiet.
:11:49. > :11:52.Already the showers in the north less wintry. Fewer and clearer
:11:53. > :11:57.skies, across England and Wales for a time, it could be chilly. One or
:11:58. > :12:01.two mist and fog patches. Out to the west winds pick up later, cloud
:12:02. > :12:02.increases and the rain arrives and very quickly tomorrow across
:12:03. > :12:04.Scotland and Northern