19/02/2017 Spotlight

A senior Labour councillor in Dorset has defected to the Conservatives,

claiming he's lost faith in Jeremy Corbyn's ability

Mike Byatt represents Weymouth on Dorset County Council.

He won't resign his seat but hopes to fight it for the Tories

He said he was unhappy with Labour's "direction of travel."

Labour now has three seats on the Conservative-run authority.

The Vancouver-based boss of the latest attempt to restart mining

in Cornwall has flown in for a series of meetings with councils.

Strongbow Exploration has published an independent study saying

that reopening South Crofty mine could be economically viable.

Our business correspondent Neil Gallacher reports.

Strongbow have a huge vested interest in talking up

the viability of their plan, so stockmarket rules make them

get independent experts to assess their proposals.

This milestone report says it would take two to three years

to pump out the mine and build a processing plant.

This could cost ?95 million, which would need to be raised

The reason it might be worth it is that tin is worth

six times what it was when the mine shut in 1998.

All the various attempts to restart mining at Crofty

In 19 years of attempts to restart South Crofty,

this milestone is the farthest anyone has yet got.

It doesn't guarantee the mine will reopen - far from it -

but, as statements of intent go, it is a serious one.

Work on a ?14 million scheme to protect Dawlish Warren

from rising sea levels is now well underway.

Many of the existing hard defences have already been removed

and new timber groynes are being installed along the beach.

The ambitious project aims to protect the Exe Estuary

and the nearby main rail line from storms.

Meanwhile, lifeboat crew members in North Cornwall have been training

in heavy surf this weekend in preparation

Volunteers at the Bude Lifeboat station have been taking advantage

of the sea conditions to build up the essential skills required

These are perfect conditions for what this training

Lifeboat crew have to be good in surf like this

if they are to operate on the north coast.

These training boats have regular crew members working their way up

to helmsman, and also some of the RNLI's newest recruits.

It's a really good training opportunity.

The first time, it's quite tough, holding on for dear life but then

they show you the right manoeuvres to do, and it's all good.

It takes about a year before a trainee goes on a proper shout.

Three years before they can be considered properly qualified.

When lives are at stake, trust amongst the crew

There's only a handful of lifeboat stations around

the country that are like this, which launch from the beach.

Our lifeboat crew have to learn how to operate small boats

It's not something that they can do safely at all times,

so we've laid on today to allow the newer people to learn

from the more experienced crew here

and gradually, throughout the day, build up their experience.

While all this has been going on, the regular crew was ready

and waiting, just in case there was a real shout.

Time now for a look at the weather. Here's Bee.

There is a lot of cloud already out there.

Low in places, we've got some hill fog, some mist,

The odd spot of drizzle, but mainly dry.

Some of that low cloud and fog could be quite dense

A very mild night, with the temperature values

you would expect by day, so overnight tonight,

no frost and lows of around eight Celsius.

That low cloud could be stubborn to clear,

like the last few mornings, and some of it even

The odd spot of drizzle, but as the winds pick up

during the day, that should break a few holes in the cloud.

So I think there will be some brightness, particularly to the east

of any higher ground and we're looking at a very mild day

with temperatures of around 13 degrees.

Mild for the first part of this week but noticeably windier

We'll be back with more news tomorrow in BBC Breakfast

Good evening. It has felt more like spring and winter this weekend. We

had 14 Celsius in North Yorkshire today, purely down