this is bbc news. i'm nick owen. the headlines at seven. 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. it was like the gestapo walking in, the aggression, their divisiveness, the whole way in which they talked. major travel disruption is expected across the uk as millions try to get away for the bank holiday weekend while engineering works are carried out on some of the country's busiest rail routes. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes at after a self—styled religious leader is convicted of rape. also in the next hour — texas braces itself for hurricane harvey. it's due to hit the southern united states tonight and is set to be the worst hurricane since katrina. this is the scene live at galveston on the texas coast.

it's extremely murky and grey. and a forgotten collection of letters from the world famous code—breaker alan turing have been found in an old filing cabinet in a store room. good evening and welcome to bbc news. 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 correspondentjoe lynam. it's britain's biggest lender to businesses, its 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 customer for decades. when when profits fell during the recession, his bowling business was placed into the restructuring unit, supposedly to get the company back on its feet. it 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 through a difficult time. they were trying to subjugate us. they loaded additional 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 inappropriate

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. rbs disputes this though and says it provided more than 300 gb of data. 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. 0nly10% 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 stakes to rbs or liquidated. even in the midst of

recession grb earned £1.2 billion for rbs. the bank said they had not handled complaints well and put in new complaints process overseen by a retired high courtjudge. the issue of mistreatment has been examined by mps who urged the financial conduct authority to 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 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 on the road to full health.

being accused of wholesale mistreatment of its own customers may delay that rehabilitation. joe is here now. and joe lynam joins us now — and joe what more can be done to protect customers? the financial conduct authority has a whole range of powers to take action if consumers, ordinary citizens, have been wrong by their bank. that doesn't appear to be the case for small to medium sized entities. this highlights the regulatory gaps in what the fca can do. it says where it has powers it will take action if it sees wrongdoing. for now, if you are an sme who banked with rbs and placed into this global restructuring group and felt you were mistreated, your

first port of call needs to be the bank who have set up a re—dress fun. it has been set up by a former high courtjudge. for certain, rbs will wa nt to courtjudge. for certain, rbs will want to see this behind them as soon as possible. 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. motorists have also been advised to expect longerjourneys as people take to the roads instead. adina campbell reports. with the queues building here at euston station, it is set to get even busier as millions of us prepare to travel over the bank holiday weekend. this station will completely close from tomorrow, affecting passengers up and down the uk, with no trains to london from the west coast mainline.

there's never an ideal time to carry out these railway improvement works, but we carry out 15,000 projects every year, and most of those happen overnight. during bank holidays, fewer people are travelling and we can deliver much bigger projects for passengers. this will be the biggest ever august bank holiday engineering project by network rail, costing more than £130 million, involving 17,000 engineers. the work's expected to benefit millions of passengers. the work will see platforms extended to make way for longer trains as well as improvements to platforms and preparation work for hs2. i think it is absolute madness because people will struggle. it is going to cause some disruption, but they have planned for it. people know. obviously, they will take alternative routes. ijust think it is a failure of important public service for londoners and for people around the country.

rail services in the midlands, wales, and across the north will also be disrupted. transport campaigners say it is well overdue. there has been historic underinvestment in the railway going back decades, and some of what is going on this weekend, not just at euston, but at waterloo, london bridge, and elsewhere on the rail network, is about putting that right and actually providing better and more reliable services. euston isn't the only station affected in london. work will also be happening at waterloo, london bridge, liverpool street, and paddington. roads are also expected to be busier than normal, especially on monday. traffic is going to build through the course of the weekend. it is actually going to peak on monday with around 5 million leisure journeys on our roads. that is people headed back after the school holidays ahead of the new school term starting, but also people looking to enjoy day trips. passengers on roads,

railways or in airports are being advised to give themselves plenty of time to travel to avoid disruption. and a short time ago adina campbell gave us this update from euston station in london. this is what a bank holiday friday rush—hour looks like. queues of people over there as they look at those information boards, hoping to make their way home tonight. notjust commuters, but people hoping to make their way to parts of the uk and beyond for the bank holiday. this, of course, is part of the engineering work going on. euston station will close as of tomorrow for two days as part of this widespread engineering work. a multi—million pound project. what they'll be doing here, network rail will be extending platforms to make way for longer trains, they'll be in proving signalling and tracks and also doing some preparation work for hs2. services will be affected. one of the main lines affected will be the west coast

mainline coming into london. no trains running into london from those areas. the engineering work, though, isn'tjust happening in london. there's going to be some disruption in parts of the midlands, wales, and the north of england, as well. the advice, check before you travel. leave yourself plenty of time for your journeys. network rail says they have to do this work. it's going to be short term pain for long—term gain. but, they say, 50% fewer people travel at this time of year, so check before you travel and stay safe. ian palmer is at sevenoaks train station. has there been much disruption. it's quite quiet but i've been speaking to commuters and people off the train this evening who are bracing themselves for the

few days ahead which is not going to be pretty. network rail says it is advising people to stay at home if you can all work from home. that isn't practicalfor most you can all work from home. that isn't practical for most others. brighton and hove albion fc are playing watford tomorrow at vicarage road. thousands of supporters will wa nt to road. thousands of supporters will want to travel up there for three o'clock tomorrow afternoon but there is no stop at watford junction. what will they do? inevitably, they will ta ke to will they do? inevitably, they will take to the roads and the highways agency is expecting an increase in congestion by something like 20%. the advice, as you've heard, is to check before you travel and if you are trying to catch the train, then arrive at least 30 minutes before you need that train. there is no respite in the air. nearby gatwick airport, something like 300 4000

people leaving gatwick airport. —— 300 and 4000. south—eastern train says it is going to put on 100 x just after cope. network rail is the same. people have been warned. there's been lots of warnings that these changes were going ahead. network rail and all the authorities are waiting and hoping that people have taken that on board and are planning theirjourneys have taken that on board and are planning their journeys over the next few days. thank you very much. we'll be carrying on the discussion about transport issues facing the uk at seven thirty this evening. joining me will be ben southwood from the adam smith institute and anna round from the ippr north think tank. join us then for our discussion about how the uk can meet the transport challenges ahead.

and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:40 this evening in the papers — our guestsjoining me tonight are susie boniface, columnist the daily mirror and the public affairs consultant alex deane. it's just about quarter past seven. let's look at the headlines. hundreds of rbs customers have claimed they were mistreated. rbs denies the accusations. major travel disruption expected across the uk as millions tried to get away for the bank other day weekend while engineering works bit busy rail routes. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes after a

self—styled controversial religious leader is convicted of rape. the latest on that violence in northern india. 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 fifteen 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. with me now is my colleague neha bhatnagar. she was previously with bbc hindi, is from delhi and now works for languages tv. what's the latest you're hearing on what's going on? at the moment the situation is under control but continues to be quite tense. it's night time in india but it continues to be tense in the sense that we are getting reports of violence here and there but nothing on the scale of what we had witnessed through the day. more than 2000 people have been

arrested so far. the death toll of 28 but some people fear it could be higher than what is reported. it meant amount of security presence on the streets. army, paramilitary forces, police, everything that is possible to be on the ground is there. it is notjust in this area in northern india but across most parts of north india. i've spoken to collea g u es parts of north india. i've spoken to colleagues in delhi, in most parts of delhi there is an order that no more than four or five people can gather at any one time. most of delhi is under this prohibiting order. other parts of adjoining states are facing similar restrictions. there's been curbs around the internet so people aren't sending and messages that could

incite further violence. this is a very difficult situation to handle. we have to get past this weekend when the sentence is to be delivered on monday. they have to keep the situation under control not just on monday. they have to keep the situation under control notjust for this weekend but for the coming few days. the prohibiting order has been extended until the 8th of september. you can imagine the timescale to bring this under control. the prime minister has said it is a distressing situation but many people are upset by that. this has not come as a surprise. he has more than 50 million followers. people we re than 50 million followers. people were bound to come on the streets. it has the administration quite underprepared. some people feel it was allowed to happen not only because of his huge following but in

the past he has been supported i congress and the bjp who might now distanced themselves after this verdict. some people believe that the situation was allowed to get out of control. at the moment, the chief minister has said they are doing all they can. the prime minister says it has to be brought under control and all has to be brought under control and a ll forces has to be brought under control and all forces that could be deployed have been deployed. it will be adjusting to see whether it works and we will tell tomorrow what happens in this situation. as ever, thank you very much indeed. a pakistani man suspected of being an international drugs dealer has been arrested in north london. muhammad asif hafeez is wanted in america for importing heroin and meth—amphetamine. known as the sultan — he's thought to run a global drug production and distribution network. 58—year—old man is alleged to be

implicated in a multi tonne amount of methamphetamine and heroine. in one case, 99 kilos of heroin were seized. the court heard that the man resides in dubai but has assets and properties around the world. he has beenin properties around the world. he has been in london in a flat he owns in mala bone for the past ten days. his arrest is described as hugely important. his defence describes him asafamily important. his defence describes him as a family man. he has two grown—up sons and a daughter who is 32. he has suffered medical condition since a gastric bypass and his defence claim this is a case of mistaken identity. mr hafeez has been refused

bail on the grounds of his worldwide contacts and the fact that he can get medical attention in prison. he can be held for up to 65 days and will appear in court on the 1st of september when his extradition process will begin. a former rock star — who's been jailed for multiples 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: "the ipcc report finally vindicates me and accepts that from the outset i was telling the truth and trying to bring a serious criminal sexual predator to justice." 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. texas is preparing itself for hurricane harvey — which could be the worst storm to hit the us mainland in 12 years. the storm which has strengthened to a category two with winds of upto 110 miles per hour is expected to make landfall along the state's central coast tonight. there are concerns that torrential rain could bring life—threatening flooding to some parts. denee koonce is in pearland,

just south of houston in texas. she joins us via webcam now. with some children, i see. tell others, how far away is the storm at the moment? it is going to be making la ndfall the moment? it is going to be making landfall a couple of hours south of oui’s landfall a couple of hours south of ours at corpus christi. we are in a suburb of houston, not in the flood zone, an hour away from the coast. right now, where just preparing zone, an hour away from the coast. right now, wherejust preparing in case we may not be able to get out of our house for up to three or four 01’ of our house for up to three or four or five days at a time. we have gassed the cars, we have cash. we have stocked up at the grocery store. i'm worried. we've got water. i think we may have lost the sound,

u nfortu nately. i think we may have lost the sound, unfortunately. can't hear her, u nfortu nately. unfortunately. can't hear her, unfortunately. sorry about that. just getting a flavour of what it's actually like on the ground. i was going to ask if they were planning to move out. in the studio now is oui’ to move out. in the studio now is our weather presenter nick miller. what is the latest now? category group, what does it mean? that takes you up to 110 mph, the maximum sustained winds recorded at the centre of the storm right now. one mile per hour more will take it into a major hurricane category three. we've been watching it develop. watching it become more like a storl. —— storm macro. hurricane. still forecast to become

a major tempura. —— hurricane. whether it is deteriorating along the texas coastline. this is water coming in from the sea in dating the coastline, higher than normal tide levels. it could be up to 12 feet in races. 3.6 metres. that comes in with the storm surge. there is rain as well. this is the astonishing part. the forecast for how much rain is going to come out of harvey. to 35inches is going to come out of harvey. to 35 inches of rain. not far from is going to come out of harvey. to 35 inches of rain. not farfrom 900 millimetres. that is in the space of about five days. the annual rainfall for belfast and manchester both of this get eaten by this total. ——

beaten macro. the storm rather slow—moving. does that have some sort of effect when it comes to its impact. some hurricane's will go through in a matter of hours and are not a story any more. this one gets close to the coastline and then just meanders for several days. it just coastline and then just meanders for several days. itjust sits there. still with some power. dumping all this rainfall. the storm surge of may go down and the winds as but it could still be raining in texas into tuesday and wednesday next week. that's why we are looking at the flooding. that is why the warnings are off catastrophic life—threatening flooding. are off catastrophic life-threatening flooding. so this is bigger than harry kane katrina.

—— hurricane katrina. -- hurricane katrina. this could be stronger. all of these storms have the three main aspects. not any of them are the same. you have to look at it, how slow—moving this is, the impact from rainfall. flooding continues even after the rain stops. we could be talking about this still at the end of next week. nick miller, thank you very much. a fresh mudslide has swept into a remote mountain town in eastern switzerland where an earlier huge landslip this week dumped rock, rubble and mud meters high and left eight people missing. police in grisons said the new slide hit in late afternoon and residents who had been allowed to return home were evacuated again. there were no new reported injuries but rescuers are continuing to search for the eight hikers who are still missing from the earlier mudslide. what about the prospects

for the weather here. let's get the latest on that. it's a bank holiday weekend and it doesn't look too bad. someone sion simon and doesn't look bad. showers across northern ireland that then fade away. showers are then ongoing across scotland and the north—east. then dry overnight, some clear spells, the patch and. then a lot of dry reveller, there will be some showers across eastern scotland where there could be the odd flash of lightning, a rumble of thunder and a few showers for north—east england. a drier day for northern ireland than of late, not the. they mainly dry day on sunday with

patchy cloud and sunny spells, some damp weather into the far north west in scotland where it stands breezily later in the day and top temperatures of 17—24d. hello, 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. lung disease is expected to be one of the 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. 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's10% less co2, 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 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. there's a glimpse of how road travel might change in the future. but when it comes to britain's transport challenges, what are the roles for both road and rail? what needs to be looked at regarding infrastructure? how can different transport systems work together — and does transport need to be developed in tandem with other issues? in a moment will talk to anna round, a senior research fellow at the think tank, the ippr north. first let's talk to ben southwood, head of research at the adam smith institute. hejoins us from he joins us from brighton. hejoins us from brighton. let's go

to the business of driverless love lorries, it's not like that is it we re lorries, it's not like that is it were wirelessly controlled, convoys, how realistic for roads? eventually, up how realistic for roads? eventually, up 100% normal. eventually, the question will be should we allow human drive cars on the roads rather than self driving one. human ones create hundreds and thousands of deaths, eventually we will get rid of them. i think this is technology that progress is whatever we do. the government will react to it and eventually, as it gets better, it will steadily transition onto our roads. but it's not necessarily this yea r‘s roads. but it's not necessarily this year's or next year's problems, is the future now. —— we think about the future now. —— we think about the future now. let's look at closer problems. but think about how we might develop our systems. everyone knows we have congestion, the bank holiday will be serious, most of the time it seems to be most of the

country, we have trafficjams for overcrowded where in your view should we be directing the major pa rt should we be directing the major part of our investment in the years to come? there are investments we can do all around the country. one thing a lot of people pointed out is london gets a disproportionate amount of the uk's infrastructure investment. and i think that is almost certainly true. and possibly unfair. there are lots of investments that could have higher benefit to cost ratios. if you look to the north. there was talk about h s three, a high—speed rail line linking liverpool, leeds and manchester and possibly hull. that could be a good idea but the real pressing problems are commuter rail in these areas. they can take an houror rail in these areas. they can take an hour or longer to get across leeds or into leeds, and these trains are really congested. i was ona trains are really congested. i was on a pacer into newcastle the other

day, and it took 40 minutes for a journey you could do in a car in 20. these are out of date systems were we to get economic gains to bring them into speed. anna, you are in newcastle, had and how often you use the trains but i presume you be in favour of pushing investment towards those services in your area? absolutely. some figures that to analyse that our organisation suggested if the north of england had the same pair had on transport as london has over the past decade, that would have meant another £59 billion spent on transport infrastructure in the north of england. obviously, the impact of that on the regional economy and on its communities would be extraordinary. so i think that the balancing of transport investment tools and the north could allow the region to fulfil its potential as an economic force in the country. but a

test to, we know that's park lane and that is in controversial. —— in the pipeline. where was the money going? the greater part in the population is in the south—east london, showed that will take precedence? there is a substantial economic force in the north. we have an economy big enough after scotland, are big universities, we have major cities growing in modern sectors. and we have a large population which can make that contribution, so that regional rebalancing is important. if you compare the uk to other developed countries. london is disproportionately ahead economic way of the regions. picking up those disparities in investment, that looks like a pretty good regionwide. another way the uk is unusual is the extent to which our transport is run, is centralised. department for transport is based in

london, the people working there and now in london. it makes sense bodies like transport for the north which is up and running, to have similar powers to those that transport for london use to make a transport syste m london use to make a transport system that works for its regional economy. then, how about the funding? this is the issue. the government only recently curtailed some major rail projects. are you suggesting is somehow a pot of money we haven't thought about? they're sort of is. not a pot of government money that doesn't always have to be government done. looking at other countries, some successful model. many people think the japanese railway system is the most successful in the world. it is 100% privatised. what that means is you can have firms to set up new ra i lwa ys can have firms to set up new railways and build property along those railways and fund new development. you get new tube lines, tramlines, guided bus line guides are popping up in big japanese

cities. making it all centralised is one of the key problems we have had here because you don't get the vision for the whole country. so, one good step forward might be the northern powerhouse idea. city region wills. if they have the pulling power that sadiq khan and dfl have. that could get investments in the centre. or it could be done for raising funds locally or allowing more private cooperation in the system. anna, technology move on all the time in pace? it seems to me if we go on doing things as we do it though. but technology might rule out people wanted to make long journeys because they'll be at home on their computers, that doesn't seem to be happening, but all sorts of other technologies are coupling in. we got to get it all together? absolutely. that's bought isn't a service on its own, it needs to be

set up for the economy and society itself. it's a means to an end. that's another reason that transport run locally tends to be more effective. but there are challenges safely and economic league that i'd transport system needs to meet. it needs to meet the carbon challenge, it needs to work for an ageing population, and it needs within the north to be set up to link people to the jobs, skills, and opportunities to work and contribute economic clay, that are growing in the region. so it needs to be an agile system. and we need also to look at the ways in which people use transport. for example, the question of driver less vehicles is a case where we don't know how people will react. that is something that planners will need to be aware of and move an agile lee as they can. thank you both. very grateful, some

thought—provoking ideas. ‘s next it's the big bank holiday weekend getaway, with more vehicles on the road. fire services from across the east midlands are warning drivers not to be distracted at the wheel. a road safety initiative has been set up at service stations along the m1 motorway. it has the support of toni hall, whose partner, darren, died instantly when his van was hit by a lorry. the driver had been using his mobile phone moments before the crash. amy harris reports. such friday afternoon and the august bank holiday exodus is underway. millions are expected to hit the road to enjoy the final weekend of summer, but at trowell services alongside the m1, a reminder of how quickly a trip can turn to tragedy. the fire services here today urging motorists to keep their eyes on the road. this we attend as a fire service hundreds of incidents a year involving car accident

and road traffic collisions. now, it only takes a second to be distracted from the vehicle, from what you're doing, look away and distractions can kill. that's what part of the campaign is about. latest figures show many motorists are distracted. the road safety charity brake says in 2015 of almost 1500 fatal crashes in britain, there were 400 cases where a failure to look was a factor and a further 101 were driver distractions played a part. 50—year—old darren brian from mansfield was killed on the m1 in 2015 by a lawyer driver who'd been using his mobile phone darren's partner toni is backing the fire services campaign and was alongside the team today spreading the safety message. i really want to raise awareness of the dangers of being distracted in your car, by your phone, by children or by anything, and that even though you may have got away with it many, many times by texting or reading texts, it's just a game of roulette. it's just that moment when you are going to cause complete

and utter devastation to yourself and also to other people and families as well. but distracted driving remains a problem, despite new tougher penalties for motorists using mobile phones. they hope, though, this bank holiday crackdown here and at other services today will help drive down the number of deaths on our roads. amy harris, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: 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. major travel disruption is expected across the uk as millions try to get away for the bank holiday weekend while engineering works hit the country's busiest rail routes. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes after a self—styled, controversial religious leader is convicted of rape. an update on the market numbers

for you — here's how london's and frankfurt ended the day. the ftse100 was up it's down. the main want letter after that, the dow jones, main measure of strokes in america, doing quite well. if you think that's a good thing. up over 77 points at the moment. a collection of letters, written by the enigma code—breaker, alan turing, has been found in an old filing cabinet at manchester university. the mathematician, who led scientists at bletchley park to decode german secret messages, came to manchester after the second world war. his research laid the foundations for the modern computer, before his suicide in 1954. it's thought his letters have not been seen for at least 30 years.

as phil mccann reports. the public words of alan turing at a time of private turmoil. this official correspondence, dictated by turing and typed by his secretary, has not been seen for 30 years. hidden from view until now was a letter from a senior figure at gchq. it was sent years after he was cracking german codes in the war, butjust one year after he was convicted of gross indecency for being gay. it is interesting because it comes after his criminal trial. it is sometimes said that turing had been cut loose by the establishment after this but it is a friendly letter and it indicates they still wanted to have contact with him and still valued his contribution for his very important wartime work which was still secretive at the time. it was jim who found the letters during a clear out of this filing cabinet. at the back was the orange folder which said alan turing. i was excited when i realised

what they were because i know there is very little material relating to alan turing and his correspondence during university. at the archives, the find gave them a shock. it was completely unexpected. we had no knowledge that there was anything like this at the university. we are very surprised and pleased to have received it. some of the letters give us an insight into some of his more forthright opinions. in 1951, he wrote it was a great honour to be able to lecture at a prestigious american university. but two years later, when asked to speak at a seminar in the us, he wrote, i would not like the journey and i detest america. also are letters about a code to teach a computer to play chess. a few years ago it was used for the first time and it worked. a fascinating find. so how are you spending your

bank holiday weekend ? are you one of the thousands of people hitching up and heading off for a caravan break? the popularity of caravan and mobile home holidays has increased significantly in 2017 , with some sites in the north east of england reporting the busiest yearfor a decade. megan paterson reports. bobble hat aside, caravanning has changed. initially a curious hobby, now it's back in vogue. just to get away with the family. getting out in the countryside rather than being in a concrete jungle. it's the countryside rather than being in a concretejungle. it's like the countryside rather than being in a concrete jungle. it's like to get up a concrete jungle. it's like to get up in the fresh air. a lot of people

think it's old—fashioned. up in the fresh air. a lot of people think it's old-fashioned. it's not, it's cheaper than going abroad nowadays and the kids prefer to come. rather than travelling on the plane. it's good to get away from home and outdoors, it's fun to get active. it'sjust home and outdoors, it's fun to get active. it's just fun. home and outdoors, it's fun to get active. it'sjust fun. everyone's doing it. it's more affordable, the facilities were second to none, it's more enjoyable for everybody now. all the hassle of boarding planes, stuff like that. basically, it's a great time of life. that enthusiasm the caravans of all shapes and sizes have grown of the last 18 months, with benefits for business. i've done this industry for 18 years, and the last year or year and a half, the last year or year and a half, the holidays and the bookings and camping and tours, it has gone up sixfold. it's amazing how many people want to go on holiday now for the weekend. it's truly the best

it's been in ten years. just as the sites were settling in, so are the places selling modernised camping experience. up untiljuly we saw a 1496 experience. up untiljuly we saw a 14% increase in sales. our demographic is changing. we are taking more families, young couples and the likes as well as full of obviously older couple. with a sample of the luxury that people can enjoy these days. it's changing. as you can see in this van, we are in the 21st century, it's not all about the 21st century, it's not all about the old—fashioned the 21st century, it's not all about the old —fashioned doucoure the 21st century, it's not all about the old—fashioned doucoure and it's not got the stigma it used to. hundreds of animals at london zoo — from the tree frogs to lions — are being measured as parts of the annual weigh—in. the sizes and weights of the creatures are recorded by the keepers so they can monitor the creatures‘ health and well—being. tim allman reports. when you are weighing someone, this is not the sort of thing that usually happens.

the squirrel monkeys of london zoo, a little reluctant to co—operate. every year, around 200 animals get put on the scales. these baby penguins, a little more docile, but not all the zoo's inhabitants are as willing to play ball. some are definitely less cooperative, and it's not even about being less cooperative sometimes — some of them think it's a game. primates in particular and young animals are very inquisitive when you go in. and they think it's a game and they are more interested at pecking at the scales, looking at the gloves the keepers are wearing, or running off with some of the food and not getting on the scales at all. so it can be a real challenge. it's notjust weight — other vital statistics are of interest, too. a giant ruler being used to measure the height of these lions. a sack of meat encouraging them to stand on their hind legs to get the most accurate figures. all this information helps the zoo monitor the animals' health and well—being. information that is then shared

with other zoos around the world. from the smallest to the largest, every animal takes part, weather they want to or not. tim allman, bbc news. wouldn't argue with him. time for a look at the weather. hello. ifairly quiet hello. i fairly quiet weekend on the way here at home. but across the other side of the atlantic, a major weather story is developing. these areas of cloud have spun up into hurricane harvey, a major hurricane, now heading towards taxes. it will bring strong links for a time, a strong surge in the coast but the greatest concern is the rainfall. sunspots could see 35 inches, around 900 millimetres of rain. that brings

the risk of catastrophic flooding. there were some rain in places at home today, that was the scene and the scottish highlands. but the many more it was dry with some sunshine, a lovely day there in derbyshire. as we go on through the weekend it will be fine and dry mainly with some warm sunshine and showers at times, but italy in the north. this am showers continue at the north because ireland, and north—east england. further south were largely dry, the odd patch, and temperatures 12-16d. dry, the odd patch, and temperatures 12—16d. saturday looks like a decent day in many places, some good spells of concern, some patchy cloud here and there. some showers, most likely across north—east england and eastern scotland, they could be heavy and possibly thundery for a time but the western scotland and certainly northern ireland, a drier day than the last couple. even some sunshine in belfast, temperatures could get to around 19 degrees. the

odd shower across northern england for most places drive through saturday afternoon and wales and southwest, there will be spells of sunshine, 20—21d. because east anglia and the south east, temperatures could get up to 24—25. for sunday, it's a repeat performance for many. a largely dry day, not as many atrocities in scotland, generally a fine looking day, temperatures from 18—24 in glasgow and london. a split in fortu nes glasgow and london. a split in fortunes on monday, cloud and rain pushing through northern ireland in north—west scotland, some quite heavy, blustery winds as well, and temperatures back into the team. further south and east, in some sunshine, we could get all the way up sunshine, we could get all the way up to 27 degrees. that's all for me for now. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8pm: 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. it was like the gestapo walking in, the aggression, their divisiveness, the whole way in which they talked. also in the next hour: texas braces itself for hurricane harvey. what's feared to be the worst hurricane since katrina is due to hit the southern united states tonight. police in northern india say at least 28 people have been killed in violent clashes after a self—styled, controversial religious leader is convicted of rape. major travel disruption is expected across the uk as millions try to get away for the bank holiday weekend while engineering works hit