Building fire causes travel chaos

A fire caused major disruption to Nottingham's tram network

Commuters faced severe disruption after a large fire in a disused city centre building.

Fire crews remained at the scene of the blaze in central Nottingham as rush hour approached, causing "significant disruption" to the city's tram network, police said.

Crews were called to the scene, at a premises in Goldsmith Street, shortly after 1am and 1,400 people were evacuated from a nearby nightclub.

Inspector Ian Cresswell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Nobody has been hurt as a result of the fire and people were evacuated as a precautionary measure for their personal safety.

"The fire has now been contained and we are continuing to assist the fire service while they carry out their work at the scene."

Police said Goldsmith Street and Talbot Street were both closed to pedestrians and vehicles, and asked motorists driving into the city centre to "be patient". Tram services into the city centre from all directions were also suspended, a police spokesman said.

Police said student accommodation near the scene was evacuated, as well as The Rescue Rooms nightclub, where a student event was taking place.

A spokesman said: "Nottinghamshire Police would like to thank members of the public for their patience and co-operation."

UK drivers 'most fuel-efficient'

Britain has the most fuel-efficient drivers among Europe's main motoring nations, according to a survey

Britain has the most fuel-efficient drivers among Europe's main motoring nations, according to a continent-wide survey.

British motorists drive at around 62% of possible fuel efficiency, a better figure than those achieved by drivers in Germany, France, Italy and Spain, the survey by the Fiat motor company showed.

The British driving style is built around "exceptionally smooth and thoughtful handling of gears", according to the survey which was based on responses from more than 5,000 drivers.

The survey, also based on data from half a million European car journeys, found the British are masters of gear changes.

The Germans accelerate too forcefully but do well at maintaining speed once they have it, while the French brake gently but are not so good at handling gears, yet readily adopt fuel-saving, gear-change techniques.

The Italians have the most trouble maintaining an average speed and slowing down gently.

The Spanish, although bottom of the five-nation eco driving table, are best at learning new driving techniques.

The survey also found that the Germans have the best road system, with cars having to stop due to congestion or traffic lights for an average of only six minutes per day.

The average time that cars have to stop per day in Britain and France is eight minutes, with the Italians stopped for nine minutes and the Spanish for 10 minutes.

Average traffic speeds in Germany, Britain and France are 21mph, while the figure for Italy and Spain is 19mph.

Call to ditch road safety cuts

The Institute of Advanced Motorists claims cutting back on road safety spending is a "false economy"

Cutting back on road safety spending is a "false economy" and achieving casualty-reduction targets by 2020 will save 2,500 lives and more than £4 billion, a report from the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has revealed.

The report, entitled Deaths and Injuries on Britain's Roads, showed that in 2009 the UK was number one in the world road safety league table of safest roads, having been sixth in 2007 and fourth in 2008. In the EU, the UK has half the road death rates of Austria, Belgium, Portugal and Luxembourg.

"These staggering figures prove conclusively that investing in saving lives on the roads saves the country money, so funding being taken away from this area is a false economy," said IAM policy and research director Neil Greig.

The IAM also revealed that each fatal accident cost the UK economy £1.79 million in lost output, health care, pain and suffering. Mr Greig added: "Meeting our casualty reduction targets has meant that deaths on Britain's roads have halved over the past 20 years with 31,000 deaths avoided and savings to the economy of around £50 billion.

"The IAM calculates that achieving similar targets for road deaths by 2020 would save society 2,500 lives and the economy over £4 billion."

He also urged public bodies "to focus on the benefits to all road users and to the economy of investing in road safety education and awareness, training for younger drivers and riders, and targeted safety improvements to roads."

Meanwhile, the IAM report showed rural roads were still the most dangerous in the UK, accounting for two-thirds of fatal and serious casualties.

It also concluded that despite falling casualty rates, young drivers were still the most at-risk category. Mr Greig added: "With changes to the theory and practical parts of the driving test under way, and an ever-increasing focus on the risks faced by younger drivers, we hope that this number will continue to fall."

Road safety minister Mike Penning said: "We are committed to further improving road safety and fully appreciate the economic as well as personal benefits this can bring. That is why we have taken steps to develop drug-screening technology to make it easier for the police to prosecute drug drivers and, as the IAM recognise, have made improvements to the driving test."

He went on: "The importance of tackling the country's deficit means that we have had to make tough decisions in all areas of our spending. However, we have also removed ring-fencing from local authority grants so that councils are able to set their own priorities. We would expect that road safety would remain a priority for local communities and that local spending would reflect that."

Passenger train 'overshot station'

A 65mph passenger train overshot its intended station stop by nearly two and a half miles

A 65mph passenger train overshot its intended station stop by nearly two and a half miles in what rail accident investigators described as a "serious incident", it has been revealed.

Fortunately, no red signals were passed as the London to Hastings train encountered "poor adhesion conditions" as it went through Stonegate station in East Sussex.

Also a level crossing that the train went through operated normally before the service - operated by the Southeastern train company - came to a halt 2.45 miles beyond the station.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has begun an inquiry into the incident which took place at around 8.10am on November 8 on a train that had left Charing Cross station at 6.45am.

The RAIB said: "The train encountered poor adhesion conditions as its driver applied the brakes to make the scheduled stop at Stonegate station, while travelling at about 65 mph.

The train was unable to stop at Stonegate, and came to a stand some 2.45 miles beyond the station."

The RAIB went on: "No signals were passed at danger during the incident and a level crossing encountered by the train during the incident operated normally. The train driver contacted the signaller by radio to report the situation.

The investigation will identify the reasons for the train's inability to stop normally, and examine the arrangements for the servicing and maintenance of the rail head sanding equipment on the trains used on the Charing Cross-Hastings line, the information provided to the driver, the regime for rail head treatment, and other factors which may have affected the incident.

"The RAIB will publish a report, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of its investigation."

Rail firms condemned over fare hike

Train companies have been condemned after announcing that fares would rise by an inflation-busting 6.2 per cent

Train companies have been condemned after announcing that rail fares would rise by an inflation-busting 6.2% in the new year, with some travellers facing rises of nearly 13%.

Commuters in Kent and Sussex bore the brunt of the sharp increases from train companies, with some season tickets going up 12.8% in January 2011.

The Association of Train Operating Companies (Atoc) attempted to put a gloss on the figures by confining itself to an announcement that average fares would rise 6.2%.

Atoc said the rises were necessary to ensure Britain "could continue investing in the railways".

But transport union TSSA said the increases were "simply outrageous" while the RMT union said passengers would be paying "inflation-busting increases to travel on overcrowded services".

And rail passenger group London TravelWatch warned that the "dramatic rise" could drive passengers off trains.

For the second year running Atoc gave no breakdown of figures from individual train companies.

The companies which did give more detailed information included Southeastern where a season ticket from Ramsgate in Kent to London increases 12.8% from £3,880 to £4,376.

A season ticket from Ashford International to London on Southeastern rises 12.7% to £4,328, while a Tonbridge-London season ticket goes up 11.8% to £3,408.

Under the existing price rise formula, regulated fares, which include season tickets, will rise by an average of 5.8% in January. There is no limit to what unregulated fares, which include many off-peak tickets, can be raised by.

Plane crash liver op 'a success'

Passengers wait at Birmingham Airport which remained closed after two people were hurt in an incident involving a light aircraft

A liver transplant operation put in jeopardy when a private jet carrying the donor organ crashed on a runway went ahead successfully, a hospital has said.

The liver was on board a Cessna that crash-landed on the tarmac in foggy conditions at Birmingham Airport on Friday.

Two men on board were injured, one critically, but the donor organ was taken to the nearby Queen Elizabeth Hospital, despite the wreckage of the light aircraft catching fire.

A spokeswoman for the hospital said: "A successful liver transplant was carried out last night at the QEHB.

"The recipient is stable, as would be expected at this time. Due to patient confidentiality no more details about the patient will be released."

She said the operation was the sixth liver transplant in five days at the hospital.

"The operation took under four hours and was carried out by three surgeons, an anaesthetist, a scrub nurse and a team of skilled theatre staff," she added.

"The transplant team would like to thank the pilot of the light aircraft and his colleague for their bravery. Our thoughts are with the individuals and their families.

"The team would also like to thank the quick-thinking of the fire and rescue teams at the scene who saved the organ."

Birmingham Airport remain closed until noon to allow experts from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) to investigate the crash-landing.

Union seeks more BA strike talks

The union representing British Airways cabin crew is to seek further talks with the airline

The union representing British Airways cabin crew is to seek further talks with the airline after deciding it could not recommend a proposed deal aimed at ending its long-running dispute, it has been announced.

Unite had been due to put the offer to a ballot of its 11,000 members, on the understanding that leaders would recommend it for acceptance.

Tony Woodley, Unite's joint leader said: "I met today with BA cabin crew representatives. It was unanimously agreed that the last offer tabled by British Airways management in the current dispute could not be recommended to the members.

"I am therefore contacting the company with a view to reopening discussions to seek to achieve a recommendable settlement to be put to cabin crew."

The dispute flared over a year ago when BA announced plans to cut costs, including reducing crew numbers, but it later developed into a row over disciplinary action and the removal of travel concessions from workers who went on strike.

Unite members took 22 days of strike action earlier this year, costing the airline over £150 million and disrupting travel for passengers.

Under the proposed deal, the union would have to drop legal action on behalf of members who have been disciplined and agree to a period of no industrial action before the travel concessions were fully restored.

Leaders of the cabin crew branch of Unite, the British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (Bassa) decided last week that recommending the deal would be a "step too far".

The deal included plans for disciplinary cases to be considered by the conciliation service Acas, as well as the return of travel concessions, although not until 2013.