tonight at six: a damning report accuses royal bank of scotland of the systematic abuse of its business customers. a leaked report shows that hundreds of the banks‘ business customers complained they were mistreated, one man tells us he considered suicide. it was like the gestapo walking in, the aggression, the divisiveness, the whole way in which they'd talked. rbs, the biggest lender to companies in the uk, denies the allegations. we'll be asking what more can be done to protect customers? also on the programme: convoys of lorries, linked by wi—fi, with only one driver, they'll be tested on britain's roads next year to try to cut emissions and reduce congestion. more than 20 people have been killed in violence in india after a self—styled spiritual guru was convicted of rape. millions based for bank holiday disruption. and one of the most hyped

contests in boxing history, floyd mayweather comes out of retirement to take on ireland's conor mcgregor in las vegas. coming up on bbc news: ben stokes hits a crucial century for england's cricketers as the west indies control the opening day of the second test at headingly. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. they were small businesses that found themselves in need of help during the financial crisis almost a decade ago. but instead of helping them their bank, royal bank of scotland — which itself had to be bailed out — has been accused of systematic abuse of its customers. a leaked report by the financial conduct authority, seen by the bbc, says it mistreated almost all of its customers with 92%

of viable firms experiencing "some form of inappropriate action" by the bank. one small business owner has told the bbc he considered suicide. rbs denies the allegations. here's our business correspondent, joe lynam. it's britain's biggest lender to businesses, it's customers are the backbone of our economy, but a major report has highlighted the scale of mistreatment faced by some at the hands of rbs. we opened in december 98... this man used to own bowling complexes and was an rbs for deck decades. when when profits fell during the recession, his bowling bigs was placed into the restructuring unit, supposedly to get the company back on its feet. restructuring unit, supposedly to get the company back on its feetm was like the gestapo walking in. the aggression, the divisiveness, the whole way in which they'd talked. they would bang tables, shout, point

fingers. the whole thing was, like, they weren't in anyway here to help us they weren't in anyway here to help us through a difficult time. they we re us through a difficult time. they were trying to sub gentleman indicate us. they loaded additional debt on the company and they had to surrender 80% of the company. debt on the company and they had to surrender 80% of the companylj debt on the company and they had to surrender 80% of the company. i was referred to a counsellor for treatment and prescribed antidepressants and i became suicidal. he is suing rbs for breach of duty and conspiracy. rbs said that the case was currently the subject of litigation and that the bank would be vigorously defending these claims. hundreds of rbs customers had long complained of mistreatment, so the financial conduct authority commissioned an independent report which it received last year, but only published a

limited summary of. now the bbc has acquired the full report and it highlights the extent of the widespread inapolicewomaniate treatment faced by rbs‘ own customers some of which was systematic or orchestrated from within the bank. crucially for rbs, the report said the bank had shown narrow compliance with the investigation instead of co—operating fully as it said it had. the report for the financial conduct authority found that 92% of viable or otherwise healthy companies experienced some form of inappropriate action by rbs, such as hiking up lending costs and fees unnecessarily. only 10% of those companies placed by rbs into grg returned intact to the main bank. many of the rest were sold off, forced to hand over substantial sta kes to forced to hand over substantial stakes to rbs or liquidated. in the ied idst of reare reseeings they

we re ied idst of reare reseeings they were earning £i.2 ied idst of reare reseeings they were earning £1.2 billion for rbs. the bank said they had not handled complaints well and put in new complaints well and put in new complaints process overseen by a retired high court judge. complaints process overseen by a retired high courtjudge. the issue of mistreatment has been examined by mps who urged the financial conduct authority to pub publish the full report. they forced lots of companies who that could have survived and back into health, they went out of business because they we re went out of business because they were mistreated because the bank wa nted were mistreated because the bank wanted to make a profit out of them. we have to learn that lesson. the financial conduct authority said: for the bank, which is 73% owned by uk taxpayers, this is yet another obstacle uk taxpayers, this is yet another o bsta cle o n uk taxpayers, this is yet another obstacle on the road to full health.

being accused of wholesale mistreatment of its own customers may delay that rehabilitation. joe is here now. the mesh you spoke to felt suicidal what more can be done to protect customers like him? the fca admits that in this report there may be regulatory gaps in what it can do if a company is mistreated by its bank. if it has the power it will act. so if you are a former rbs business customer and you feel as if you may have been mistreated by the bank's he rerestruring division, grg, the first port of call is the compensation scheme, overseen by a retired high court judge. compensation scheme, overseen by a retired high courtjudge. i think the is pretty keen though to put

this latest chapter in its checkered cv behind it. thank you. semi—automated, self—driving lorries will be tested out on our roads from next year. the trucks will be connected wirelessly with up to three lorries travelling in convoy. the technology has already been tested elsewhere in europe and the united states. the government says it will mean cheaper fuel bills, lower emissions and less congestion. our correspondent, richard lister, looks at how it will work. this could be the future, the driver in the second lorry is only steering, his speed is controlled by a computer, which is monitoring what the lead driver does. it's called "platooning". these dutch trials suggest lorries, linked by wi—fi like this, can drive much closer together, and that may have benefits. 10% fuel savings. that means 10% less fuel, that's money off yours and my shopping bills. the goods in shops will go down. it's 10% less c02, so we're going to be really helping the planet. congestion, if we get platooning,

vehicles are running smoother together, we're not going to get the trafficjams we have together. —— today. and finally, safety. we're going have robots and sensors not making mistakes hopefully that you and i are making every day. this is one of the specially equipped lorries that'll take part in the british trials — first on test tracks and then, in 2019, on the motorway network. this technology is moving fast, some cars can already steer themselves too. the haulage industry wants to catch up. so the big question is, do sophisticated lorries like this need people at all? well, the short answer is, yes, most british roads are too small and too complex for mighty road trains, but vehicles like this could revolutionise long distance haulage. so daniel, what we're going to do now, is jump into the vehicle and then we'll pull forward and start the exercise. les is training the next generation of lorry drivers here in slough. daniel's almost ready to take his test, neither is keen on sharing the driver's seat with a computer. if a driver sees something is wrong, they can deal with it, but if a machine breaks down,

which is my main concern, wi—fi connections, what if that breaks down? i really don't think it's a good idea. we should be fully in control of the vehicles we're driving, there's other road users and you have to account for all these things, all these factors all the time, when your driving these size vehicles. the british trials will have three lorries in a platoon, but even that, say some, is too many. uk motorways are the most congested in europe, we have more entrances and exits and if you've got a platoon of driverless lorries, it's very difficult to see road signs. it'll be difficult to exit the motorway. but with several countries now testing this technology, it looks like it is coming and the uk will have to decide if it wants it. richard lister, bbc news. at least 28 people have been killed in clashes in india after a controversial self—styled religious leader

was convicted of rape. violent protests have broken out in the states of punjab and haryana, which includes the home town of gurmeet ram rahim singh. thousands of his devotees went on the rampage after he was found guilty of raping two women, 15 years ago. there are also reports of arson attacks in the capital, delhi. from there our south asia correspondent, justin rowlatt, reports. violence broke out almost as soon as the guilty verdict was handed down by the court in this town in north india. more than 100,000 followers of the self—styled godman guru, had blocked to demonstrate their support. they went on the rampage, burning cars and attacking the police, who responded with tear—gas and water cannon. when they didn't subdue the crowd, they fired live ammunition. and there have been clashes elsewhere, too. this train was torched by an angry mob here in the indian capital, delhi. elsewhere in the city, buses have been set on fire. the guru has an absolutely

enormous following. he estimates 50 million people and the fear is, that violence could spread in north india. gurmeet ram rahim singh is a charismatic figure. he calls himself the messenger of god, sports a huge beard and has a taste for enormous motor cycles. he has been dubbed "the baba of bling", and stars in his own movies and pop videos and, despite his extraordinary appearance, he's regarded as a living saint by many of his followers. this is the latest in a series of scandals here in india, involving those who claim exceptional spiritual powers. guru ram rahim says his sect is a social welfare and spiritual group, but he's been accused of involvement in murder and it is also claimed he persuaded 400 of his acolytes to have themselves castrated in order to get closer to god. it's that kind of devotion that explains the scale and intensity

of the violence here in north india and also why the authorities are so concerned about it spreading. justin rowlatt, bbc news, delhi. a pakistani man who is suspected of being an international drugs dealer has been arrested in north london. muhammad asif hafeez is wanted in america for importing heroin and methamphetamine. known as ‘the sultan', he's thought to run a global drug production and distribution network. a former rock star, who's beenjailed for multiple cases of child abuse, could have been caught years earlier if the police had investigated him properly. ian watkins, the lead singer of the band lost prophets, was sentenced to 29 years in prison, four years ago. but an investigation by the independent police complaints commission found that south wales police missed a series of opportunities to stop him. our wales correspondent, sian lloyd, reports. a rock star and a hero to his fans across the world, but in private ian watkins was a paedophile, his behaviour

was described as "having plumbed the depths of depravity." his sexual interest in children was reported by his former girlfriend. watkins had sent indecent images tojoanne mjadzelics' mobile phone, but when she took it to the police, her allegations were not followed up. the police watchdog, the independent police complaints commission, has found officers' bias against her meant watkins was able to carry on abusing children. joanne mjadzelics spoke today of the toll it's all taken. she said: south wales police didn't begin investigating ian watkins until four years after they were tipped off that he was a danger to children. he was arrested during a drugs raid at his home here, in pontypridd. what they then found on his mobile phones and computers showed that those earlier warnings should

have been acted on. in all, six people made complaints about watkins, none were followed up. south wales police missed opportunity after opportunity to bring him in for questioning, to arrest him or to bring him tojustice. the force says it's truly sorry for its failings and has introduced wide scale changes. the ipcc has also criticised south yorkshire and bedford police over inaction in investigating watkins. the singer manipulated fans to get access to his victims, the extent of his abuse may never be known. sian lloyd, bbc news. our top story this evening: a damning report accuses royal bank of scotland of the systematic abuse of its business customers. and coming up, i'm live in las vegas

with the build—up to this weekend's mega fight between connor mcgregor and floyd mayweather. coming up in sportsday on bbc news: conor mcgregor and floyd maywetaher junior weigh—in this evening for the fight that's got everybody talking. the stage is set in las vegas for a record breaking bout. the great bank holiday getaway is on and there are more problems than usual. major engineering work on the railways is expected to add to the disruption. london's euston station — one of the main lines into and out of the capital — will be completely closed over the weekend. there's also disruption on routes serving london bridge, london liverpool street, cardiff and bristol. adina campbell is at euston station and dan whitworth is on the m6 motorway near knutsford. deli. well, you only have to look behind me to see just how busy it is

here at euston station tonight. hundreds of people packed out under those information boards, hoping to get to where they need to be over the bank holiday weaning. this, of course, because of this major enfwleerg project which starts tomorrow. it'll close euston station for two days, it is a multi—million pound project costing more than £130 million, involving 17,000 engineers. they will be extending platforms it make way for longer trains and also making improvements to signalling and tracks, as well as preparation for hs2. this will mean major disruption for passengers up and down the country, including the midlands, wales and the north of england. network rail says it has to do this work because it is the perfect time to do it because 50% fewer passengers use the railways

during this time of year. the advice — check before you travel and plan your journey. well, of course all those engineering works will have a income—on effect on the road network. the rac is forecasting monday will be the busiest day with 5 million cars expected on the network. the m60, the m1, the m62 will all still be affected by roadworks. at the m6, it is flowing freely now but has been at a standstill for much of the afternoon, affected by roadworks, despite the highways agency moving around about a50 miles worth of roadworks to ease the pressure on the network. other pinchpoints, the m5 in the south—west. all routes in and out of the lake district and the m1 and m3 motorways heading out of london. like adina said, if you are thinking on getting on the roads, check before you travel, plan your route and if you have one of these,

then you probably do, search bbc august bank holiday travel. you will have all the information you need at your fingertips. have all the information you need at yourfingertips. thank have all the information you need at your fingertips. thank you have all the information you need at yourfingertips. thank you both. an aristocrat who was jailed for making threatening comments online about the anti—brexit campaigner, gina miller, has abandoned an appeal against his sentence. rhodri philipps was sentenced last month for suggesting on social media that he would pay people to harm the ms miller. phillips was told by the court that his sentence could be increased if he went ahead with his appeal. lung disease is expected to be one of main causes of death in the uk by 2020. the condition is particularly prominent in former mining areas but it's notjust former miners who are being diagnosed with breathing difficulties. in the second of our reports on former mining towns in the north of england, our disability affairs correspondent, nikki fox, has been to a specialist clinic in rotherham which is treating some of those most affected. the relentless struggle to breathe. patients at this specialist centre all have some kind of lung condition, an occupational hazard for those who worked in the coal mining industry. how are you this morning?

i'm a lot better. yeah, you're looking a lot better. yes. so the combination of coal dust and smoking was never a good one. no. but hindsight is a great thing, isn't it? yeah. many of the patients here would've ended up in a&e. i couldn't breathe. i was coughing so much, i couldn't inhale. in rotherham, the number of people with lung disease is higher than the national average. deep breath and steady blow. demi—leigh has a chronic lung condition, exacerbated by smoking from the age of 12. my mum smoked and my dad smoked. it seemed like everybody were doing it, so i wanted to do it. she gave up cigarettes when she was diagnosed but has spented much of her life in and out of hospital. she's just 21. even though i am an adult, i still feel like i'm not grown up, because i can't go out

to work every day. that gets to me quite a lot. if i'm like this at 21, what am i going to be like when i'm at 60? the kind of industrial legacy of areas like rotherham means that young people have been brought up sometimes in conditions and exposed to an environment which doesn't give them the best chances for lung health. so that could be poor nutrition, it could be poor housing. this clinic opened ten years ago and in that period not only has it helped cut hospital admissions, it's also reduced the number of deaths from industrial—related lung disease. will, who was a former miner, came here when it first opened. the staff helped him get fit for his double lung transplant. do you think that they were responsible for saving you? totally responsible, yeah. i wouldn't have seen my granddaughter, who's two—and—a—half now. you know, walking my daughter down the aisle.

everything. willis now able to piece his life back together, thanks to the centre. and the demand is great, with other miners looking for that specialist support. there are plans for more clinics so many others, young and old, can get the treatment they desperately need. nikki fox, bbc news, rotherham. the countdown is on in las vegas for what could prove to be the boxing match that breaks all records. the american boxer, floyd mayweather, has had a9 fights during his professional career and he's never been beaten. now he's come out of retirement to take on the mixed martial artist, ireland's conor mcgregor. it's a pay—per—view match and it could rake in £550 million. £175 million — that's how much floyd mayweather could earn. connor mcgregor would have to make

do with around £60 million. and it's all happneing in las vegas on saturday night, or rather the early hours of sunday morning here. richard conway is there for us now. sophie, in a city full of stars, connor mcgregor and floyd mayweather will outshine all the big name performers here on the las vegas strip this weekend. this mega fight is not without its critics or controversies. without that, thousands are flocking in to watch in person, millions will watch on tv at home. to them it is an exciting and intriguing clash of styles and anticipation is building ahead of fight night. on face value, it is an unlikely match up. floyd mayweather, one of boxing's all—time greats will, this weekend, step into the ring with connor mcgregor, the 29—year—old dubliner who has never boxed professionally. most experts give him little chance of victory. but then this is las vegas, where the bright lights act as a beacon for those hungry to make their fame and fortune.

exact figures are hard to pin down, but both men are expected to earn tens of millions of dollars in the most lucrative boxing match ever staged. what will the impact for boxing if you were to win? there will be a new king and that's it. there will be a new king. they'll begin to study my methods. they'll begin to implement my methods and that's it. i will reign supreme. mcgregor, ornately tattooed and nicknamed the notorious is already a star of the ultimate fighting championship, in which competitors use a brutal mix of martial arts. claiming unemployment benefit four years ago, he's had a meteoric rise and a shock win on saturday would see him propelled to a whole new level of global recognition. his opponent, meanwhile, insists this fight will be his last. at the age of a0, an undefeated

floyd money mayweather wants to exit with one final mega pay day. i'm not the same fighter i was 21 years ago but, like i said before — mentally, no athlete is stronger than me, mentally. the usual hype and hoopla in the build—up to the first bell has, however, crossed several lines. last month's publicity tour was tarnished by homophobic slurs, allegations of racism and pantomime behaviour, with both men now admitting they made mistakes. such behaviour, though, has not prevented thousands of fans from flocking to las vegas, or millions around the world are purchasing the fight to watch on tv. connor mcgregor may never have fought professionally but he is being greeted here as if he was the champion. floyd mayweather, in this his home town, is being seen as very much the outsider and mcgregor the man that the crowd here want to see win. but one former champion, who has fought and lost

to mayweather, has concerns. i think genuine boxing fans and ufc fans probably feel a little bit like i'm feeling, that it's a little bit — it's making a little bit of a farce of our sports. what happens in vegas, should, according to the old saying, stay here. not with this fight. richard conway, bbc news, las vegas. finally, a major storm — named hurricane harvey — is on its way to the us mainland, threatening lives on the texas coast. thousands of residents are battening down their homes and mandatory evacuations are in place. up to 35 inches of rainfall and sustained winds of 110mph are expected over the next few days. ben richards is here with the weather. how is it looking, is it as bad as they bad as weather. how is it looking, is it as bad as they fear there? they are right to be making the preparations for this storm. it is a major

hurricane, you can see it on the sat slight hurtling towards the coastline of texas and the utter rain bands of the storm making contact with the land. —— the outer rain bands. the winds will be a feature, they will have an impact, a storm surge that will inundate coastal surge with flooding. the rain will be the main feature, 900 millimetres of rain in places, more than we get in the uk in a whole year, which could cause catastrophic flooding. here in the uk, things are obviously quieter than that. some rain in some places but for many, dry, warm with sunshine and the weekend not looking too bad. spells of warm sunshine and a few showers particularly in the north. showers continue across northern ireland for a time this evening, also across scotla nd a time this evening, also across scotland and northern england. further south largely dry with clear spells, perhaps the odd fog patch and temperatures around 12—16. into tomorrow, actually a lot of fine weather around, with some spells of sunshine. there will be showers,

too, particularly for north—east england and eastern scotland where some of the showers could be heavy and under thisry at times. northern ireland having a much —— thundery at times. northern ireland having a drier day than of late and temperatures up to 18 or 19. further south and east, in the sunshine we could get up to 25. for sunday another fine day for the most part. good spells of sunshine. perhaps damp weather into the far north—west of scotland. those temp tu, a bit of a range, around 18 or 19 in glasgow and belfast but 2a, 25 in the south—east. split fortunes into monday. a bank holiday for many. we will see lots of sunshine across england and wales. for northern ireland and scotland thicker cloud, outbreaks of rain, increasingly blustery. temperatures here around 17 to 19. as we look towards the south—east, 27 or 28 is possible. given it is a bank holiday weekend for most, not looking too bad. summer at last.

a reminder of you are a main story this evening: a damning report accuses royal bank of scotland of the systematic abuse accuses royal bank of scotland of the systematic abuse of its business customers. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me this is bbc news, the headlines. a leaked report accuses royal bank of scotland of the systematic abuse of its business customers — hundreds of customers complained they were mistreated. rbs denies the accusations. travel delays are expected over the bank holiday weekend as engineering and roadworks take place on some of the country's busiest routes. the police watchdog has said that the paedophile ian watkins could have been arrested nearly four

years earlier if south wales police had investigated numerous tip—offs. at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes following the rape conviction of a controversial religious leader in north india. texas braces itself for hurricane harvey, the worst storm to hit the us mainland in 12 years. in a moment it will be time for sportsday, but first a look at what else is coming up this evening on bbc news. as the road and rail networks face the full force of the bank holiday getaway, we'll be asking what's the best way forward for britain's transport system. texas prepares for hurricane harvey — we'll hear the latest predictions for what could be the worst storm to hit the us in 12 years.