North west news update 21 Nov 2023: Report into Nicola Bulley case published

Assistant editor Iain Lynn with today's top north west news headlines and weather

Transcript

00:00 Hello and welcome. These are the top headlines making the news today from our newsrooms across

00:04 the North West. Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire, Andrew Snowden, has published

00:09 an independent external review of Lancashire Constabulary's operational response to the

00:13 disappearance of Nicola Bully in St Michael's in January this year. The review, led by the

00:18 College of Policing, provided insight into the effectiveness of the Constabulary's response

00:22 during the period Nicola Bully was missing, which saw unprecedented levels of mainstream

00:27 and social media interest in the case. The report praised the police investigation and

00:31 search but was critical of a decision not to call the investigation a critical incident,

00:35 their media handling and the release of personal details regarding Nicola. A reminder that

00:41 we have a very special documentary live today on the events that unfolded in St Michael's

00:45 earlier this year. You can watch it at 8.20pm tonight on Shots Freeview Channel 276 or on

00:52 demand over at ShotsTV.com. In other news, a burst water pipe has left thousands of homes

00:59 without water and schools forced to shut in South Ribble this morning. United Utilities

01:03 said a pipe has burst in Fishergate Hill in Preston and repair work is now underway but

01:08 a number of schools have already confirmed they will not open today. It's believed that

01:12 thousands of homes are affected across Pembertham, Longton, Hutton and Whitestake with households

01:17 left without water or very low pressure. A gang of yobs have been caught on camera robbing

01:22 a man of his motorbike on a Wigan industrial estate. The CCTV footage shows the heavily

01:27 outnumbered victim bravely trying to fight off masked thugs until he was overpowered

01:32 and they got away with the vehicle. Police have appealed for information leading to the

01:35 arrest of the gang members who are thought to be in their late teens. And for the third

01:40 year in a row, St Matthew's Church in Burnley is being supported by Sarah Duchess of York

01:45 in its work to help and support families in the community of South West Burnley. Two years

01:49 ago Sarah's Charity, Sarah's Trust supported the church by providing 500 gift bags that

01:54 were distributed to children on the Stoops and Griffin estates. Whilst last year the

01:58 charity provided £1,500 to support the food projects at the church, this year's Sarah's

02:03 Charity has funded a trip for families to go to the pantomime at Thwaites' Empire at

02:08 Blackburn for the performance of Beauty and the Beast. And the head chef at a Morecambe

02:13 primary school is to hang up her apron for the last time next month. Jane King has been

02:18 running the kitchen at Great Wood School for the past 26 years and is retiring from the

02:22 end of term. Mrs King worked previously in other school kitchens around Morecambe but

02:26 it will be Great Wood School that will miss her the most and we wish her a long and happy

02:30 retirement. In the weather it's a cloudy start for most with a few showers but becoming

02:35 dry and bright through this morning with some sunshine at times. Wednesday will be quite

02:40 a cloudy day with a chance of some light rain now and again and a maximum temperature of

02:44 12 degrees. That's it for now, thanks for watching and I'll see you tomorrow.

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