Midlands with me, ayo akinwolere. First tonight, im sure, like me, you find a drive through very convenient, but its no secret that exhaust fumes are harmful to health. But what does that mean for that person giving you that burger . Cappuccino or latte . Well, in my case, a cheeky latte. Well, Jonathan Gibson has been finding out. When youre on the move and hunger strikes, theres only one thing thatll keep my godson happy. Burgers. I guess. And going to the drive through is the quick and easy option. Can i get a plain burger . Because the great thing about drive throughs is, well, you just drive through, just sticking out the window. I needed that. Do you ever think about the people who work here . I mean, all that pollution from serving out the windows . Well, sir, its an air pollution monitor. It could be better. How do even know all this stuff . I go to school. All right. But hes got a point. Britains drive through sector is booming. Theres more choice than ever before. But is there a cost to the workers . Youd think thered have been some studies. Apparently not. As far as weve seen, there have been no studies that have been conducted to measure the pollution levels at both outlets. 0k. So, lets do a study. And who better to help than dr chinnaswamy from Coventry University . This is the device that were using. What does that enable us to do . It measures the gaseous shift pollutants and the particulate matter. To you and me, these are the tiny bits of soot and nasty gases like nitrogen oxides thrown out by exhaust pipes. Every year airborne pollution is linked to thousands of deaths, but in a drive through, pollution comes with the territory and thats worth looking at. So fingers crossed, we get some usable data. Good luck. As well as luck, im going to need equipment. Ive got my monitors. Now. Now i just need somewhere to put them. Weve made a great start. I need a fleet of these vans. Ok, so hes given me two, but thatll do. Ill just split the country into north and south. Parkings going to be a problem. So, we have to find places with no restrictions as close to the window as possible. To start with, im staying local, so today im on my way to a drive through in birmingham. Once i find the right space, the monitor should be about the same height and distance from the drive through as the worker serving at the window. Ill be leaving it here for a couple of weeks to do its stuff. And the clever bit happens here. All of the data that were gathering is being sent to a server and downloaded so we can monitor just how much pollution there is next to the drive through window. Dr chinnaswamy will be doing the number crunching and shes going to have plenty to work with because ill be going to half a dozen maccie ds, a couple of kfcs, a burger king and a costa coffee drive through across england, wales and scotland. Im going to end up three stone heavier. While i know what too many calories will do to my body. Im less clued up on what pollution can. Dr mark miller spent the last 15 years doing Research Funded by the british heart foundation. Theres lots of Different Things in vehicle exhaust that can harm people such as gases like nitrogen dioxide and those have effects in the lungs to cause lung inflammation. But even worse than that, the very tiny particles, the ones that are nano sized, the ones that are found in diesel exhaust, these are the ones that are likely to cross from the lungs into the blood. And once these particles are in the blood, they can be carried to all the different organs of the body. Now, theres links of air pollution to things like dementia, diabetes, and effects on pregnancy. Some drive through operators, like at mcdonalds, tell staff to close the windows between customers and as im travelling around the country, some workers do, but many dont. So, just how big is the risk to their health . Ive been measuring levels of nitrogen dioxide and those sooty particles at ten drive throughs nationwide. These are the pollutants that are most harmful to health and are mostly emitted by traffic. So, lets start with our local results for the drive through in birmingham. The legal limit for nitrogen dioxide is a0 micrograms per cubic meter averaged out over a year. In birmingham, the recorded levels are up to 19. 43. So, thats more than double the legal limit. But when you average them out around the clock, the levels were much lower. But at this drive through in erith in southeast london, even when you average them out, theyre 25 above the legal limit. So, the highest we had was 182 micrograms per meter cubed. This is quite harmful to health. So, if that two week period that we monitored was representative of the year as a whole, those levels would be above the legal limit . Yes. If if it continued in the same manner, then, yes, we are looking at some really high pollution. And when it comes to high pollution, i know someone whos been studying its effects on the body for the last 15 years. So, what did he make of that drive through in erith . Is that cause for concern . Well, i think it is. If it was a case where there was a graph and it was mostly below this yearly average and there was the occasional spike, you might think, well, thats not that important. I think what we see here is we see many spikes all the way along and actually some of them remain above this line for longer periods of time and this sort of prolonged exposure to air pollution, thats more likely to have health effects. But what about other pollutants like the harmful particles in exhaust soot . Although our average levels were below the legal limit that doesnt mean were safe. I think this is worrying. And these are the particles that will definitely get to the bottom of your lung when you breathe them in and thats when theyll start to have reactions. So, this is well above whats typical for a city, and the fact that these are being maintained for longer periods of time is concerning. At this drive through in liverpool they reached ten times the legal limit. So, what does the union for some drive through workers make of that . Its horrendous, isnt it . I mean, every one of those spikes has the potential of causing somebody irreparable harm. Its the particulates that get into lungs that very often cause problems. Im not a doctor, but you know, thats horrendous. Spikes that needs dealing with. We sent a copy of our report to all four of the drive through operators. Mcdonalds, burger king and costa told me they take their employees health extremely seriously and have measures in place to reduce their exposure to pollution, like rotating shifts and installing ventilation. In a statement, mcdonalds told us the readings were taken from our car parks and therefore are not indicative of the experience at the Service Windows where we have measures in place to minimize exposure to air pollution. Burger king said much the same thing the samples taken were not a true representation of the air our employees inside the drive through breathing. Is that a valid point . Well, its certainly true that there will be Different Levels inside and outside, but theyre leaning outside into the areas that youve measured. And youve already shown that the levels of nitrogen dioxide are a lot higher. Costa told us our store teams are instructed to take regular breaks every four hours and we ensure rotation during every shift. Were also reviewing our future signage to encourage drivers to turn off their engines when stationary. Which just leaves kfc, which didnt respond to emails and didnt return my calls. What should the drive through operators be doing . I think the first step would be to measure the pollutants. As one senior official at another drive through company told me, we would consider letting you monitor inside our premises. But then again, if you confirm there is a problem, ive got to do something about it. Ignorance is bliss, eh . No wonder the Union Representing drive through workers is demanding action now. We should be taking this the likes of our parliamentary group. We should be making sure that we take account of this and make all the people accountable for it. But i think as a priority, we should be talking to the companies that we deal with who have drive through restaurants and see exactly what theyre going to do, no doubt. Because if our results are anything to go by, theres certainly room for improvement. Next tonight, many dog owners are becoming more concerned about dognapping. It can be hugely distressing for owners. As rebecca woods been finding out, there have been calls for dog theft to be classified as a specific crime with heavy penalties for offenders. This is brandy. Shes my girl. Ive had herforfive years. And in that time, weve been through a lot together like families do. Sometimes shes a bit moody, but shes always there to keep me company. Give me a cuddle and generally lift my spirits. If anything happened to brandy, i dont know what id do. But sadly the number of owners having to deal with the nightmare of having their dog stolen is on the rise. And of those reported stolen to the police, only one in five get returned safely. Its heartbreaking. Its like youve lost a piece of yourself. Dogs are stolen for a number of reasons. Extortion to breed from orjust a chance to make some quick cash selling them on. Its all about money, really, that the key reason why people do it because it has become a low risk, high reward crime. And thats because as the law currently stands, stealing a dog is the same as stealing a mobile phone or other inanimate objects like theft or scrap metal. Theses are dealt with as specific crimes. But the theft of a much loved family pet isnt seen that way in uk law. Freya woodhalls sprocker spaniel, willow, was stolen from her garden in shropshire in 2018. I went out for about an hour. Its a nice, secure back garden. Weve got gates each side and thought she would have been safe. Sprocker puppies sell for around £500, but willow was priceless to freya, and over a year since she was taken not a day goes by that freya doesnt think of her. Shes lovely. Shes definitely part of the family. You know, shes like another child to me. Until it happened to her, freya had no idea how common dog thefts are. It is really awful, to know that nearly 60 dogs a week go missing. Its heartbreaking all over again because i know that new people are losing. Sorry. A family member. And nobody should be in that situation. The pain of losing willow is still raw even after all this time and thats why freya wont give up trying to find her. I know that shes out there. I know that, you know, we want her home and we will never stop feeling that. I mean, my kids are heartbroken. And if i can help try and fix their broken hearts by doing this, ill keep going. Ijust cant imagine what freyas been through for willow to have just disappeared like that and to still have no idea what happened to her 18 months on. But sadly, willows story is a familiar one to dr daniel allen from Keele University and also dog dad to rupert the chocolate labrador. Daniels a patron of sampa, the stolen and missing pets alliance. Hes discovered that dog thefts in england and wales raised by almost 20 in one year, and hes campaigning for the law to be changed. We have to recognize that pets are family. We need to recognise these sentient beings. We need to recognize that this crime should be taken far more seriously. Where does the law stand at the moment about dog theft . Dog theft is treated under the theft act 1968, and stolen dogs are treated exactly the same way as stolen computers or laptops. Basically classed as property. Thats it. And thieves can make good money selling our pets on or breeding from them. If you get a dog which is still intact, people breed from them. And then puppies have lots of puppies, lots of rounds of puppies, so thousands, thousands of pounds. So, its all about the money. Daniel wants to see more convictions and tougher penalties for dognappers to stop it being low risk, high reward crime. It used to be that people kept dogs to deter burglars, but now some owners are more worried about thieves breaking in to steal their dogs. Like mandy dance, shes been showing and breeding champion dogs for a0 years and knows the rise in dog thefts is worrying people in the world of show dogs. These are miniature wire haired dachshunds. And then bobby, here, he was home checked yesterday. Mandy breeds dogs to show, but sometimes has puppies to sell and has had to become very careful who she lets into her house. In the old days if somebody would ring up, we didnt have emails and whatever then, but theyd ring up and say, you know, come and have a look, and thats all. Yes, weve got a litter to come and have a look at them. And they would come. Wed welcome them in. Theyd look at them. Wed assess whether we like them or not. And then take it from there. They neverjust came and took a puppy. You have to understand. But now were very cautious about who we allow in because you just dont know who these people are. Pedigree dogs can be worth hundreds of pounds so mandy makes sure her prospective puppy parents are genuine and her Little Champions like gloria here, are kept very secure. Weve done quite a lot, actually. Weve fitted new locks all over the house and weve got an alarm system fitted to the house. The dogs come with us every time we leave. And if we cant take them, somebody comes in, sits with them. We never leave them now. Which we would have done quite happily in the old days, you know, when i was much younger, we would have happily left them with the run into the garden from the kitchen or whatever. I would never dream of doing that now. They are always under supervision at all times because you just cannot take too many precautions. Mandy supports changing the law. I would like to see the law accepting that dogs are part of the family and because i think for the majority of people, that is what they are. And daniel agrees. He sees rupert as part of his family, and thats central to his campaign for pet theft reform. The law is not up to scratch. Its not fit for purpose in relation to missing and stolen pets. To most of us, our pets are invaluable, but under the law, if your dog is worth less than £500, the most a thief could face is two years in prison. Daniel believes the monetary value of your pet shouldnt matter. He thinks changing the law could make thieves think again. What its going to do, its going to provide sentences that fit the crime, and appreciate and recognize that pet theft is serious. Its something which does have a massive impact, not just on our pets, but also on families. And hopefully that it act as a deterrent. The governments states that dog thieves could face up to seven years behind bars, but last year only one in a hundred cases ended with a conviction. The largest dog Welfare Charity in the uk wants harsher punishments handed out, as lee paris from dogs trust explains. Well, what wed like to see, actually, is amendments made to the sentencing guidelines, which would allow the courts to hand down tougher sentences for those convicted of stealing dogs. Why do you think doing that would make a difference . Well, by handing down tougher sentences, were hoping that it sends out a strong message to thieves, that its a crime thats taken seriously. We approached defra, the Government Department that deals with Animal Welfare issues, and a spokesperson told us. Robust laws are already in place. All reported crimes should be taken seriously, investigated and where appropriate, taken through the courts and met with tough sentences. But daniel says that rarely happens. The people that are being caught, which is very minimal numbers. They basically get a small fine, up to £250, sometimes a bit more, prison time very unlikely. So its something where its really not taken serious by the current laws. So how can you keep your beloved pooch safe from thieves . Lee gave me some good advice. Definitely making sure that the dog is microchipped and tagged and has the right information on that, on the database or on the tag itself. Never leaving your dog tied up outside, at a shop, or left alone in a car, and even being mindful of them when theyre out in the garden and making sure that youve got your eye on them and that your property is secure you cant put a price on your pet. But when the thieves do, maybe we all need to take more care. Finally, tonight. Picture this. The cotswolds, the shropshire hills, the peak district, all sounds very nice, doesnt it . Well, for many years, the youth hostel has provided a reasonably priced bed for wherever the scenery is the loveliest. Well, mike dilger, has been looking into the story of one of our nations most treasured institutions, the yha. Ah the peace and quiet of the great outdoors. Cheering time to explore nature and get back to basics. From lands end to berwick upon tweed, there are 151 Youth Hostels dotted all over england and wales. This is the story of one of our best known british institutions. Its 90 this year. Ill be finding out how it all began. Almost there. And getting stuck in with this lot. Cheering an ambulance, please, take me home, im done. Youth hostels began in this country all the way back in 1930. Rare film footage still survives and is kept under lock and key at a National Archive in york. Were really lucky to be getting a look at it with a hostel historian who is also a warden for 25 years. What was the ambition of the Youth Hostel Association back then . Well, back then you were coming from a time when it had been very difficult for young people, particularly, but not particularly wealthy people to get out into the countryside. And remember, this is but one of some 300 similarly adapted buildings, whose infinite variety is a story in itself. The ambition of Youth Hostels was to enable everybody, but especially young people, to get out into the countryside. That was what it was there for, at a low price. And how much would it have been to stay a place like this . When yha started you always paid the same and in the 1930s when yha started, you paid a shilling a night. It didnt matter where you stayed, how old you are. You paid a shilling a night. The majority of people staying in Youth Hostels were young. They were under 26 and they were staying with schools, they were staying with groups and they were taking their first Summer Holidays on their own as well. It was good, wholesome fun, and back in the 19705, when it was time for lights out, young men and women still had to go their separate ways. Look at those pajamas goodnight all thats you imagine telling people theyve got to go to bed today and its lights out. Youd have a riot, wouldnt you . You know, today Youth Hostels arent like that. No, theyre certainly not oh, my word, you almost won. Every year, more than 100,000 schoolchildren get outside with the yha. For many of them, its the first time theyve ever done anything like this. The yha is celebrating its 90th anniversary, but not so long ago, a crisis in the countryside left it struggling for survival. It was from this area foot and mouth was unwittingly shipped around much of the country, farmers living near this growing cluster say they are starting to worry about their futures. Foot and mouth in 2001 was a really big moment in yha. In a stroke, 20 of our bookings in that year were wiped out. That was a big point where we had to think about who we were and where we were going. Some of the hostels and some of the countryside were off limits. Yeah, right. I mean, there were hostels that werent actually open so you couldnt even get to them and that was a real shock to us as an organization. We in the end had to, very sadly, we had to close ten hostels around that time. But actually out of that, i think came a realisation that we needed to look at what we were for the modern age. It was right at the start of the century and we had to really think about it. People moving on with families come in what . Stay with us. Weve got people expecting Higher Standards than they did 90 years ago. And actually, that moment really helped us to think about the future in those terms and really modernize what we were doing. Two, four, six, eight, perfect for a bunch of lads or lasses for a weekend. Exactly. So this is one of our bedrooms. Its available by the dorm bed or by the room itself. And you can see lots of features as well. Yeah, yeah. So each bed has its own lights. Youve got that ability to kind of read a book late at night. Theres also charge points. You get your phone charge, you know, against the modern feature of yha that weve kind of introduced. The next ten years is about modernising our mission, really putting ourselves back on the map as a leading National Charity for young people. Were Something Like the ninth Biggest Charity by membership in the country, very few people know that. Im really keen that we put that at the forefront of what we do. No mobile phones, no social media, no tech. Its quite liberating, isnt it . Absolutely. They can be different children outside the classroom, you see different, different sides to the children. And notjust the children. Youth hostels are for any age, young and old. And lets face it, some of us are just big kids at heart. Laughter happy 90th birthday, yha. After storm jorges rain, now comes in the wind, picking up further to the rest of today, in particular across southern scotland, Northern Ireland and north wales. Because here you are closer to the southern flank of the steep area of low pressure which isjorge. It is sunshine and showers over much of the uk at the moment, but in terms of whatjorge has done, we are not of whatjorge has done, we are not of the weather has as yet. It has brighten up for many of us after this mornings rain, much unwelcome rainfall flooded areas. In terms of warnings for that for the letter today and tomorrow, there could be some travel disruptions, also warnings for sale across the hills of scotland, continuing through today and into tomorrow. Not really easing until at the end of the weekend. The rest of the afternoon, showers to the south, thundery with hail. An area of rain and hill is 110w hail. An area of rain and hill is now are sliding across Northern Ireland, scotland and north wales. Feeling cold out after this mornings rain, enhanced by this really gusty wind. Some gusts up to 70 mph, elsewhere, 50 60, that is why we will see some travel disruption in places. It stays windy overnight. There are showers around, some longer spells of wet weather through Northern Ireland, parts of Northern England and scotland. Some of the higher hills delivering some snow here, particularly on scotland, even into tomorrow, quite a long lasting event of rain, sleet and snow here. Good deliver a0 centimetres of fresh snow tomorrow. Elsewhere, sunshine and showers, some places will avoid them and stay dry, there will be some bright and blue sky and at times. Any showers me fairly quickly in this brisk wind. It will ease a little bit deep into sunday, it still feels chilly in that wind, it will be fairly chilly week to come next week. There will be some frosty nights around, not as windy though, perhaps not as wet thankfully. There will be some showers around, but also, showers around at times too. There are some of his warnings out there at the moment as i have mentioned, sidhu had to be busy with it online for the latest information on those. There are some flood warnings around at the moment, you can get up to date with what they are, where they are, at our website and also check out what is coming up in the week ahead. Thats it for now. This is bbc news. The headlines. 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