hello this is bbc news with shaun ley. the headlines: yellow weather warnings for ice have been issued for this afternoon and tonight in eastern and southern england. the met office is advising care. russian president vladimir putin has said that russia will no longer comply with a nuclear weapons treaty, a day after the united states said it was withdrawing from the agreement. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. plans to prevent censorship during debates at universities have been drawn up following a number of incidents where speakers were banned from campuses. heavy rain has caused severe flooding in north—eastern australia. dozens of homes have been flooded, and the army has been drafted in to help. now on bbc news it s time for inside out. this week we re in the capital to find out how the simple act of hiring a car has landed some customers with extortionate bills.

and, are london's plans for a new thames crossing a bridge too far? hello, i'm sean fletcher, you're watching inside out. we reveal how hiring a car has landed unsuspecting customers with extortionate bills. we pretty much saw the people coming through the doors. how much can we get out of this guy? how much money can get out of that guy? by the time i got home that night they had already taken 769 off my credit card. are london's plans for a new thames crossing a bridge too far? they are talking about 18,000 journeys per day. it will no longer be a tranquil space. it will be a thoroughfare. institutionalised vandalism and it's just unspea kably awful. and the kids aiming for fame in the jazz world. the reason i like jazz is because it lets me be free and you are never going to get two jazz musicians who improvise the same, because everyone has different ideas and a different voice. it's one of the uk's

biggest car—hire companies, providing vehicles for hundreds of motorists every day. but inside out has been investigating of that customers of green motion have been billed hundreds pounds for damage they say is barely visible, or was there already. zack adesina has this exclusive report. more and more of us are opting to hire vehicles for everything from holidays to doing the weekly shop. the uk car rental industry has grown by nearly 8% over the last few years and is now worth around £17 billion. green motion is one of the biggest names in the business. green motion was founded in 2007 as an international franchised car rental system. the philosophy was very simple, and that was to provide a high

quality of service at market—leading rates to our customers, while having a focus on the environment. that's the core of the business. it's a marketing strategy that's pulling in the punters. city workerjoy macknight went online and booked a carfrom the company for a short summer break. i rented a carfrom green motion through an aggregator company and i rented it because, a, it was slightly cheaper than the others but, b, because it was supposed to be green friendly. as we walked around the car they said don't worry about any sort of scuffs as they can just buff them out, what they are looking for was dents. however, joy says when she returned the car the staff were far more thorough with their inspection. someone comes with me to look at the car and they find this tiny scratch on the bumper and they say you're going to have to pay for that, and i was like,

well you've got to bejoking me. and by the time i got home that night about 9:30, 10pm, they'd already taken £769.80 off my credit card. joy is not the only one disputing green motion‘s damage claims. 0nline there is a trail of angry customers, furious at being charged hundreds — even thousands — of pounds for damage they say is barely visible or that was there already. this is the scratch here. just basically nothing. the charge that we're being asked to pay at the moment is £390. can you just pop your finger on it? i've received dozens of photos from irate green motion customers who believe they paid extortionate prices for damage they didn't cause. i'm taking some of these photos to an independent mechanic to get quotes on exactly how much he would charge to repair each car. we'll get the results later. most of us who hire cars, know the drill. before driving away,

you scrutinise the bodywork for any speck of damage. according to green motion, this is key to ensuring you won't be hit with a repair bill. to check it, you want to get down nice and low and run your hand along the front bumper, checking for any scratches. it's all good advice but it might not protect you if some green motion staff were incentivised to find and charge heavy fees for damage — even minor scuffs. we pretty much saw the people coming through the doors — how much can we get out of this guy or that guy? pretty much the more money we got out of them, the more we made for ourselves. worked at one branch of green motion for over a year. i know that sometimes the scratch wasn't there, but i knew that if i charged them, i would then get a commission and a bonus so i was just focused on the cash really. to make matters worse, our whistle—blower says when customers did pay up for damage, the car wasn't

immediately ta ken out of action and repaired. so when we people pay for the damages, it wouldn't necessarily be fixed. presumably the next customer that hires that car could be charged for the same damage? that's exactly what we would try to do. during a summer holiday, andrew peterson decided to rent a carfrom green motion. when they didn't have the model he'd booked, he was forced to take one covered in scratches and dents. i was reluctant to take the car out because it was riddled with damage. this car was in an atrocious state. and all the various staff i spoke to were saying it's the only car we've got, so i ended upjust keeping it for the eight days. andrew is adamant he caused no further damage to the vehicle during the time he had it. when i returned the car this is where it all went wrong. the check—in attendant discovered new significant damage, which turned out to be a micro—dent on an already heavily damaged panel, which most likely was already on the car.

they tried to frogmarch me into the office so i could pay them up to £1200. karen believes that she too was forced to pay for damage caused by a previous customer. i had absolutely no problems with the car in the time that i had it. i had it for five days and in that event, my mum was ill so i hardly drove the car in the time i had it. when i returned the car, the chap came out from the green motion office, went straight to the front of the car and said, you've damaged the front bumper of this car, you will have to pay for it. you couldn't see the damage from the front of the car — to actually see it you would have to lie down on the ground and look up under the car. but the way he went to it with his hand suggested to me that he knew the damage was there and that it was pre—existing damage that hadn't been spotted when i took the car out. a flood of complaints

about damage that was already there and a whistle—blower who says his boss exploited customers for profit. we asked green motion‘s ceo for an explanation. from a point of view of a customer being charged for damage they didn't commit, it's a rarity. it can happen. but if it does happen, we'll do everything we can to rectify that on behalf of the customer. we certainly don't want a situation where we are charging customers for damage they didn't cause. we've spoken to an ex—employee of yours. he says certainly in the franchise that he worked in, there's every incentive to do that. we are not aware of any franchisee that is incentivising their employees to find damage. this is not something that we're familiar with, nor would we endorse nor accept. but mr lowden acknowledges that until recently, green motion franchises had some level of freedom to bill customers as they pleased. indeed, concern about fair and honest pricing became so significant, the company undertook an internal review. there was a number of inconsistencies within

the individual sub—franchisees and in partnership with the uk master franchise. the franchisees, it's the most mature network of the green motion family and as a result of that, they have been perhaps given a little more free rein than they should have over the years and we have obviously researched that and brought them back into check. earlier, i visited a mechanic and handed over photos from green motion customers who alleged they were wildly overcharged for damage to vehicles. i have been in the car industry for about 15—18 years. and i have also been in the car rental industry where i have rented out prestige performance hire cars and so on. something like this, you are looking at roughly £150. how much was he charged? £1,200. oh, wow! to get a feel for the average market cost for the repairs, i also asked three other reputable mechanics to provide estimates. three days later,

and i have the results. incredibly, some of green motion‘s repair charges were nine times higher than our mechanics. so how did they come up with such inflated prices? as i dug deeper into the disputed damage estimates, i discovered one possible reason. some of the estimates were being provided by a mechanic with a questionable past. in a 2007 civil court case, it was said that his reports could not be relied upon, as he stood to profit from the vehicle estimates he provided. one of his most recent quotes has left a customer with a bill of over a thousand pounds for damage that measures less than a centimetre. 0ur mechanics saod the repair should cost no more than £300. this gentleman or individual was brought to our attention in july of last year. we sent a remit to the uk franchise network that this individual should not be used and it was not accepted to be used. now, that research also threw up

that it was used by three of the uk franchisees on a limited number of cases. i think that the franchisee didn't give too much thought about it and hands up they should have, but they didn't, and just employed the services of the company without really checking or understanding. green motion says it has now lowered its charges and that customers will have until 10am the following day to report any pre—existing damage. we've seen a dramatic change in the customer complaints, with a total drop of 30% over the last six months or so, so are confident actions we have taken are paying dividends. the work has not stopped. we want each and every customer to have an amazing experience with green motion. since we began our investigation, most of the people we spoke to have managed to get their money back from green motion, or their credit card company. but there seems to be countless

others who remain out of pocket. zack adesina reporting there. still to come on tonight's show. hopefully, if it all works out. i do see myself going to be a jazz drummer, hopefully leading my own band, like elvin jones did or art blakey did. bridges are supposed to help bring people together — but plans for a new thames footbridge are proving hugely divisive for residents living across the river from one other. in nine elms, there's plenty of support for a new crossing. but over on the north bank in pimlico, residents are vowing to fight the project to the bitter end. so could this be a bridge too far? gareth furby went to find out. since the turn of the century, london has been acquiring

more footbridges. the millennium bridge was the first new bridge for a hundred years, and the two goldenjubilee bridges came next. they are all now landmarks on the thames and popular with commuters and tourists. well, there's no doubt it's an impressive view and a pleasant walk, but does london really need another footbridge? some people aren't so sure. tony hambro has lived in pimlico for 50 years. he likes to paint in his conservatory, which overlooks the river. it's an inspirational view, under all lights and conditions, it's just truly beautiful. if i couldn't live in pimlico, i wouldn't live in london. and to see what he likes so much about this part of london, but soon, tony believes, pimlico could lose its unique character,

because of a new bridge over the thames, which may be built by pimlico garden right next to the square. the bridge would be built from the american embassy over there and land almost exactly where we are, with pylons in the river and a roadway for the cyclists going through here. they are talking about 18,000 journeys a day and it would no longer be a tranquil space, it would be a thoroughfare. and to damage this, i mean, institutionalised vandalism, if the bridge was here would you paint it? it would not be my preferred subject. but the architects who helped to design this bridge — for pedestrians and cyclists to share — already have their own pictures. we think it's a very elegant bridge and has a very, very minimal structure and, in actual fact, has very minimal impact on either bank of the thames and that's its beauty, really. as one winds around these gently sloping ramps, one will get different perspectives and views down the thames into westminster, into nine elms. so it'll be an experience

of travelling across this bridge which actually is an experience for london. they've even produced several artist's impressions of how the bridge will fit in with its surroundings. do you think the people of pimlico will come to love this bridge? yes, i think they will, i think they will see all the benefits of it. they will see the improvement on both sides of the thames, in terms of the thames walkways, the cafes, the shops. but it's not hard to find more pimlico residents the nine elms development on the southbank opposite pimlico is growing fast. when it's complete, there'll be more than 20,000 new homes. diane parker—wood was one of the first to move here. she says a new bridge across

the river makes perfect sense. it's a beautiful design and to have that direct crossing immediately by our development here would be a huge boost, it would be really appealing. i love walking everywhere, so i'd love to be able to use that bridge. residents north of the river may feel that some kind of invasion is coming, i don't think that's the case. do you think you'll be friends when that bridge is built? yeah, i hope so. wandsworth council, which is responsible for planning control on the south bank here — also supports this plan, even though it could cost a lot of money. for us as wandworth council, it'll really unlock the economic potential of nine elms. who's going to pay for it? £26 million of funding is available from private developers through the community infrastructure levy. at this stage it's too early to tell what the total cost will be. aren't you worried this could go the way of the garden bridge? not all, this is a very different proposition to the garden bridge. but remember, that was a plan

for the river near waterloo — just a few miles away — and it was abandoned just 18 months ago, after running into fierce opposition. and in pimlico, westminster council, which is responsible for planning on the north bank, thinks this latest bridge idea could go the same way. are you hoping this could go the way of the garden bridge? very much. things are that bad between you and wandsworth? things are not bad between us and wandsworth. we just don't want a new bridge diverting 18,000 people through the residential streets of pimlico. there are now 33 bridges across the thames from the tower of london to hampton court. i have great pleasure in declaring this bridge open to the public. but it would be a mistake to think their construction has always passed smoothly. peter matthews, who's

an expert on their history, says a row over a planned new bridge is nothing new for london. certainly not, i mean the most famous one was westminster bridge, it took over 30 years for permission for that to be built, because the city of london objected because they owned london bridge and they had tolls to collect and they didn't want to lose it to westminster bridge. at the moment, the newest footbridge to be found on the thames is quite a few miles upriver, near maidenhead. but it's designer, martin knight, who's a specialist in bridges, says if the right locations can be found in london, there's a bold new future ahead. in the future i can imagine we are going to have 3d printed bridges — that's already happening in the netherlands. the trick will be to scale up that kind of technology to longer and longer spans. there will be more and more bridges, undoubtedly. we have to have better connections.

as we rely less and less on cars, pedestrian and cycle transport will be the future. the river here may be peaceful, but between pimlico and nine elms there is real disagreement and it may be hard to bridge this divide. when you think ofjazz, it generally conjures up images of an earlier era. but here in the capital, young people are breathing new life into the genre and making it their own. packed—out club nights like this are a frequent occurrence these days. the musicians and audience are both young, and the music being played is jazz. this new scene has developed because something exciting has been happening at the royal festival hall.

a charity called tomorrow's warriors provides musical instruments and teaches talented young people how to develop theirjazz skills — and go on to be top—notch musicians. we ask that young people are at least grade three when they start. young people canjoin the programme aged 11, sometimes younger, if they're really exceptional, and they stay with us until their 25, or sometimes beyond. they can get up to 1a years of free learning and training to help them achieve the career that they want to have. hopefully, they learn a skill that others want to engage with them. i'm giving them a chance to be functional, functional beyond just playing in a small bar down in soho. hopefully, that's what we're giving them. we're giving them something they can give to thousands and millions of people around the world.

hopefully, if it all does work out, i do see myself going to be a jazz drummer. hopefully leading my own band like elvinjones did or art blakey did. i don't have a drum kit. i haven't had a drum kit, i've played drums for about six years now. so, for me, how i learn how to play drums and how i still learn is, i have a kit, which, in my head, that i can envision and ijust put different parts where they are and then get different fragments or phrases or rhythms and just play it out, air drum. decent music lessons are usually pretty expensive, but developing talented youngsters like cassius, who doesn't even own his own drum kit, are what these warriors are all about. we're absolutely against charging young people to be on this programme, because immediately that

sets up a barrier for anybody from an under—privileged background or even, we've got parents working severaljobs and still not able to make ends meet. so how on earth do we expect them to be able to pay for music lessons? and particularly extended engagement on a programme such as tomorrow's warriors. even though it's free, these youngsters learn from some of the bestjazz musicians, who play all over the world. 0ur teacher, binker golding, tells us a lot of different things about theory in talking about different instruments and how to direct ourselves as musicians and interact with each other. so i can pick up things from other instruments and apply that to my own playing, which is really beneficial to me because i couldn't get that anywhere else. the people in the jazz scene are not like how you see

them like, oh my gosh — they are big famous people, untouchable. they're with us you know, they do come and give us masterclasses and give us advice. binker golding is a mobo awarding—winning saxophonist and learnt here himself. it's not left to chance that he comes back, because there's a deal struck here. when you're successful, you teach today's youngsters. there is an understanding that we will support you to be the musician you want to be, but, in turn, we expect you to take on the responsibility to your community of musicians, and be prepared if required to teach the next generation. this isn't just about teaching, it's also about inspiration. 13—year—old kiera chakraborty is a beginner here and her story illustrates perfectly what playing an instrument can do for these youngsters.

i was dyslexic, so i found it quite hard in school and it kind of made me feel a bit like i was failing, which was a bit annoying, but then when i found flute, it helped me have my own voice and it made me feel like i had kind of found myself. the reason i like jazz is because it lets me be free and who i am and how i play, and you're never going to get two jazz musicians who play, improvise the same, because everyone has different ideas, and a different voice. although the music is at the forefront of everything that

goes on here, it seems that this is about much more than jazz. it's like a youth club for music. i know when i was growing up we had youth clubs to go to in our spare time and that's all been cut away. so i think if we're looking at how do we keep engaging young people so that they're doing positive things, instead of resorting to, you know, hurting each other, killing each other, and just doing really negative activity. i think we give hope to a lot of young people. but i actually do believe that art lifts the human species out of beast—like attitudes, which we seem to have fallen back into the last ten, 15 years. but i do believe art is the only thing that can tame the beast in man, anyway. so playing this wonderfuljazz music

can help change the lives of some young londoners, and both the jazz scene and beyond can only benefit. for now, we're still seeing some beautiful winter wonderland pictures, we're still seeing wintry showers to today, this is the rate a picture from earlier, a you shower

through pembrokeshire into cornwall, down the east coast and the far north and west. away from that, good deal of crisp winter sunshine around. it does feel cold. if you are heading to either of the rugby matches that are taking place through this afternoon or a little bit late on this evening, it is worth wrapping up. it will be dry, but under those close guys, the temperatures are going to be reaching low single figures at best. that is really the story across the board. northerly wind not helping at those temperatures. we've seen snow melt and wintry showers feed and, by nights there can be some icy stretches. it is going to be cold, further which are showers feeding into the far north and west and in southern england, we have that light snow, temperatures can dip away as low as —12 celsius. it is going to bea low as —12 celsius. it is going to be a cold night, a hard sharp frost expected. a cold start to sunday morning but it changes our effort. we begin to look to the atlantic for oui’ we begin to look to the atlantic for our weather systems, gradually starting to import something a

little bit milder. through tomorrow, cloud and outbreaks of rain, some snow even to lower levels working their way eastward into north—west england and up to scotland, snow becoming more confined to higher ground as we head through the day. away from that, a good deal of fire and weather, temperatures mean in single figures but they are starting to recover. that'll continue to be the trend as we had through the coming week. something a little bit smarter each time. but for monday, it is going to be a windy start, we could have scales along irish sea coast with outbreaks of rain is as a low area of pressure. let's rain a lingering through parts of eastern scotland. away from that, a good deal of brightness around, no to some of these temperatures back up into double digits. as we go through this week, it is going to be turning milder, it would repel we are going to see some rain, heavy at times, in

the west but not exclusively and windy. this is a snapshot of our capital cities as we had through the coming week. showing quite nicely how those temperatures to recover quite nicely by day but some frosty nights on the cards too. this is bbc news i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 2pm: freezing temperatures are continuing into the weekend — after snow causes more travel chaos overnight. just a pain in the backside, not to me, but all the congestion it causes. you can't get on with yourjob. russian president vladimir putin says russia is suspending the cold war—era intermediate—range nuclear forces treaty, after a similar move by the united states. england's minister for schools says pupils should be banned from taking smartphones into school. floods in australia's north—east state of queensland reach catastrophic levels. also coming up this hour: the government proposes

changes to the rules surrounding unearthed treasures. we'll be speaking to the british museum's head of treasure to find how spectacular finds like this could be saved for the nation.