Latest news with #Gosport
BBC News
18 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Royal Navy veteran, 100, has birthday with submarine in Gosport
A Royal Navy Veteran who looked after submarine radars during World War Two has spent his 100th birthday on board an iconic underwater Wood, the former radar mechanic, visited HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in coincided with a special day for the submarine which celebrated its 80th vessel is the sole surviving British WW2-era submarine and Mr Wood, who last boarded one in his 20s, joked as he walked on that "it's been a few years since I was here". Mr Wood had worked as a radio transmitter engineer for the BBC before he was called up for the Royal by family and friends for his birthday celebrations, Mr Wood reflected on his said: "It's always nice to look back on it and think, 'yes, I was part of that'." HMS Alliance served for decades through the cold war before falling into decay. It was restored for the museum in 2014 and is now a memorial to 5,300 British submariners who lost their lives in service between 1904 and the present day. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
MP calls for modernisation of fertility laws
The Gosport MP wants to modernise fertility laws. Dame Caroline Dinenage has proposed a bill in Parliament to update the dated Human Fertility and Embryology Act 1990. The bill, titled the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Regulation) Bill, aims to bring online fertility services and digital concierge providers under regulatory supervision. This move comes after the sudden closure of Apricity Fertility, an online fertility hub, just before Christmas, leaving hundreds of patients stranded in their treatments. READ MORE: Life-saving baby care service celebrates ten years of support Dame Caroline said in the Commons: "This is a classic case of regulation just not keeping pace with modern life. "It is criminal that organisations that are in the business of making dreams come true can just disappear, along with people's money and their hopes of starting a family." She also urged ministers to support the bill to protect families. The bill is backed by 11 MPs from various political parties and is set for a second reading on September 12.
BBC News
16-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Trauma cleaner: The grim reality of decontaminating death scenes
Warning: The following article contains upsetting content "The flies and the smell are the worst things," says Jim Gildea through a face mask, as he sprays disinfectant on the floor of a room where a man died weeks from Gosport, Hampshire, recalls his first trauma cleaning job was decontaminating a building after a murder in Portsmouth, going in after scenes of crime officers had finished their work and the victim's body had been removed."You never get used to it," he says. "It's the most unpleasant thing you could possibly ever think of doing and it's different every time."With 10 years' experience behind him, Jim has developed coping mechanisms to protect himself from the emotional challenges this type of work can bring. He says he always treats the scene of a death with "respect", while at the same time trying to "forget the reality" of what he is doing."I find I'm only able to do this by switching off completely," he smell in the room is overwhelming. "We use concentrated odour blocks, break them up, put them around the house and rub them on the nostril of the mask by the side of the filter and that really covers it up," Jim with a colleague, he works methodically, sanitising the room with a fogging machine, cutting away carpet and carefully packing all contaminated materials into sealed boxes to be taken to an incinerator. Body fluids on the floor are covered with absorbent granules, as Jim explains how human bodies decompose at different rates in different environments, temperatures and humidity."You've got to make sure your protocols are right," he says. "Your chemicals are right and yourself and your staff are safe."Then it's scrapers, bags and strong stomachs, and you just get it done." The hundreds of dead flies on the floor were dealt with on Jim's first visit species can detect decomposing tissue from up to 10 miles says: "Sometimes it can be like a scene out of The Exorcist, where you can hear the throb of the flies circling before you put your hand on the door handle and when you open it they rush to escape." While he tries to avoid knowing too much about the intricate details of the human stories behind each death, he has come to learn that people can experience profound loneliness, even when living with recalls being called to a house which was home to a landlord with four tenants, after a putrid smell had caused them to discover one of the tenants had died over the Christmas holidays."The sad thing is that no one had knocked on his door on Christmas day and he was dead and he'd been there for six-and-a-half days," he tenant had been a single man, which Jim says is often the estimated at least nine out of every 10 of his trauma cleaning jobs followed the sudden, unexpected or unattended deaths of men. This anecdotal evidence aligns with research which reveals men are three times more likely than women to need a state-funded funeral after dying alone, in poverty or without family who can afford a cremation or burial. Having finished what he calls a "rough clean", he puts yellow tinted lenses over his protective glasses and switches on a forensic investigator's torch so he can see how much contaminated matter looks pleased and says: "You can really see it on those floor tiles, because underneath they're glowing red, aren't they?"We'll be able to get them absolutely perfect with this equipment and make sure we've removed every single biological trace." Despite the grim nature of his work, clearly Jim finds a quiet fulfilment in meticulously erasing all evidence of trauma, so others do not have to face a wry smile, he tells me: "I'll be doing this until the day I die, until I'm a mess on the floor somewhere." You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
BBC News
14-07-2025
- BBC News
Police claim crime fall from Gosport crackdown
Police have said a campaign to "reclaim and rebuild" a town has delivered a fall in Not in Our Town initiative has been targeting organised criminal gangs in Gosport, Hampshire, since April crime in the town fell by 2.6% in the year to April 2025 compared to the previous 12-month period, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary force was unable to give comparable figures for other areas. Gosport's data included a 63% drop in anti-social behaviour and a 52% reduction in robberies, police violence, violence with injury and burglaries also fell, according to the Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones said the town had been "blighted" for years with knife crime and drug dealing in the high street and around Insp Marcus Kennedy added: "These were organised crime networks coming down from Liverpool, moving their drugs through Hampshire and into Gosport." Youth charity Motiv8, one of the project partners, said two drugs gangs were initially next phase involved "suspending benefits and issuing housing notices to prevent individuals from re-establishing control", it said.A new gang began to emerge in January, but was swiftly disrupted, according to the charity. Police said drugs raids were carried out throughout the year, with 112 people being arrested.A "day of action" on 14 April 2025 also included searches of boats in Clarence Marina, the force rehabilitation was offered to 15 people who were responsible for more than 250 crimes in 2023 and 2024, Ms Jones visits and knife crime sessions were also held in an attempt to protect young people. Gosport Borough Council, another operation partner, said it had secured funding for security guards to deter begging in the town leader Peter Chegwyn said: "It's much better now. The whole atmosphere is improving."The Not in My Town campaign has entered a final phase that focusses on addressing the root causes of crime, police and Isle of Wight Constabulary as a whole recorded a 4% drop in crime, not including fraud, in the year to December, according to the Office for National Statistics.A separate measure - the Crime Survey for England and Wales - recorded a 14% rise in national crime, including fraud, over that period. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
12-07-2025
- Climate
- BBC News
Warning after sewage released into Gosport lakes
People have been told not to swim in lakes in Gosport, Hampshire, after sewage was illegally released into the Water said on Friday it found an illegal private connection in which sewage was flowing into a surface water drain from a block of flats instead of into a lakes affected are Haslar Lake, Workhouse Lake, Stoke Lake and Stoke Creek.A Southern Water spokesperson said the company sent tankers to remove wastewater from the area. "During this work, we also found damage to one of our pipes so are taking this opportunity to repair that too," they said, adding: "Sorry for any inconvenience caused while we carry out this activity."Lesley Meenaghan, a county councillor for Leesland and Town, said the lakes would normally be "full of young kids and families enjoying the sunshine" on summer days."I know local residents are really upset by the current situation and let's just hope this situation gets resolved as quickly as possible," she comes days after beachgoers were warned against bathing between Hill Head and Lee-on-the-Solent after a sewage pipe burst. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
