Good morning and welcome to the bbc news at nine. A bbc investigation has found that drug crime in some villages in england and wales has more than quadrupled in five years. Thats as drug crime as a whole has risen in rural areas and smaller towns, but fallen sharply in major city centres. The findings highlight concern about the spread of so called lines gangs which traffic drugs using children and vulnerable people. Dan johnson reports. The latest frontier in the fight against drugs. Heroin and crack cocaine are pouring into north wales from merseyside and manchester. Theres a lot of money to be made in this town. Children and young people are running drugs hundreds of miles. They are vulnerable and at risk. If someone becomes established here, then llandudno is their town, if you like, so if another rival gang or someone from manchester or Something Like that tries coming into town and muscling in on the business, well, youre going to start getting sort of fighting between the two gangs. Its a struggle to keep people safe and to get drugs off the street. The minute you get rid of one or two, theres another three orfour readily available to come down. Heres how the problem is shifting. Across the north, look where drug crime is down big cities like liverpool, manchester, leeds and sheffield. But the pink spots show there are more drug offences in smaller places like chester, huddersfield and lincoln. Further south, in westminster in central london, over the last five years, drug crime more than halved. But 20 miles away, offences quadrupled in the tiny village of westhumble. And this is it, a sleepy spot in rural surrey. Its the last place you would expect to have any sort of drug problem. Its a very quiet area. It would be easy for people to come out here and be unobtrusive. So yes, i can see how it might happen. How often do you see the police . Very infrequently. The figures here are still really low. But the fact that there has been the steady increase over the last few years does show that drug dealers are more active in places like this, and you can see why. Its quiet, its rural. The police are very thinly spread in this part of the world. So that is the appeal, and its also the challenge. And it is Police Forces like north wales that are dealing with the extended reach of county lines gangs, spreading more drugs and more misery. Theres most probably enough of us to just about manage the situation, in terms of making sure no ones getting seriously hurt. But in terms of seriously disrupting or attempting to stop the supply, theres nowhere near enough of us. And you can find out more about the bbcs investigation into drug crime in england and wales, including seeing what drug crime is like in your area at bbc. Co. Uk news. The Prime Minister is to launch a review into the sentencing of dangerous criminals, and whether they should spend more time injail before they are released. Critics say theres no evidence that longer sentences prevent crime, and the uk already has the largest prison population of any country in western europe. The review is the latest in a series of recent an autumn general election. Our political correspondent, helena willkinson is at westminster. A lot of promises flying about. Tell us a lot of promises flying about. Tell us the detail . It appears Boris Johnson is trying to rebuild the conservative party as a party which is tough on crime. What he says in his view is that there are violent criminals who are being released from prison to early, and he also says there are criminals who go on to reoffend as soon as they come out of prison. So he is announcing a review of sentencing. He will be at downing street later this morning, meeting those involved in the criminal justice system, meeting those involved in the criminaljustice system, people who know what they are talking about like Police Officers, judges and probation officers, and they will be looking at whether sentences need to be increased or not. Earlier, we heard from thejustice secretary Robert Buckland, who said he was supporting the Prime Ministers plans. I have a view that is based upon nearly 30 years of experience of the system. I think that we need to build in a better system of incentives to encourage progress and good behaviour, to reduce reoffending and to make sure that when eventually, prisoners are released, that they are in a position to resume life in the community in a way that doesnt pose a risk to the public. Thats myjob. There are critics who say there isnt evidence that the promises that Boris Johnson isnt evidence that the promises that borisjohnson is suggesting to do with the criminaljustice system will work. One of them is the shadow home secretary diane abbott, who is dubious about his plans. We know, as Wider Society knows, that we have record levels of Violent Crime under this tory government. And as a party, we are committed to what works. If you take stop and search, all the research, even the home offices own Research Demonstrates that stop and search, random stop and search in and of itself does not bring down Violent Crime and knife crime. Its about what works. We also know that the treasury has agreed to this money, £85 million going to the crown prosecution service. That is the body who decide who is prosecuted and for which crime. What we dont know is where that money is going to come from. As you suggested, this is all adding to the speculation that number ten is doing the groundwork to prepare for a possible general election this autumn. Thank you. Lets speak now to the conservative mp and chair of the commonsjustice select committe, bob neill. Do you agree with the principle that if you send more people to jail for longer, it will reduce crime in the end . Not automatically. It depends how you use the time in prison and who you sent to prison. I welcome the review. It is sensible that the Prime Minister is talking to serious practitioners in the field, and i welcome the extra money for the crown prosecution service. Our committee has been calling for that for a number of years. Committee has been calling for that fora number of years. So committee has been calling for that for a number of years. So that is good. It is not as simplistic as to say that if you look more people, you reduce crime. Evidence suggests to the country. But there is a problem where our prisons are currently so overcrowded and there are so many currently so overcrowded and there are so many difficulties that the staff face there with drugs and psychoactive su bsta nces staff face there with drugs and psychoactive substances and so on, that we are not able to do the rehabilitation work for the prisoners who do want to reform, and many do. So there is a problem and it is right that it is addressed. Borisjohnson is saying 10,000 new prison places, costing 37 thousand pounds per prisoner. Where will the money come from . I hope we will have clarity after that. Our committee will want to know that. I trust that it is new money. And i hope it is dedicated money for the Prison Service which is not being taken from other bits of the justice system. You have said you trust it is new money, he has not even promised the money, he hasjust said he wants new prison places. Is that sensible . Well, i hope it is going to be new money and i think it is necessary to have a look at it. I am not negative about the extra money. Wherever it comes from, it is necessary. The important point is how we use it. There are cases where it is important that those who commit serious crimes are locked up for the protection of the public for a long time. In fact, all the evidence shows that sentences that have increased the things like murder, violence and Sexual Offences have increased anyway. The prison population has nearly doubled in 25 yea rs. Population has nearly doubled in 25 years. Judges already have the power to impose extended sentences which mean people dont automatically get reviewed at halfway. So the tools are there. But we have notjoined them up together. Sew on the point where you take judges them up together. Sew on the point where you takejudges already have discretion in terms of the sentencing, when the government is saying that there is to be a review of sentencing, anything meaningful would need a change in the law. Again, does it sound like a promise without properly scrutinising the reality on the ground . No, i dont ta ke reality on the ground . No, i dont take it that way. I think having a proper review with practitioners like Robert Buckland, i spent 30 yea rs like Robert Buckland, i spent 30 years as a barrister in the coming of courts, and i think that is sensible. But we also have to recognise that at the same time as you need to get the prison is safe and in better condition and deal appropriately with dangerous offenders who the public want to see locked up, at the moment we imprison far too many people for non violent offences, frequently where their offending is driven by personal and social problems, things to do for example with drug addiction, alcohol addiction, Mental Health issues and other types of problems were you might be better punishing those people in a way that restricts their liberty, but stops short of imprisonment. That is why it is important that we invest in our Probation Service. I am glad that a couple of weeks ago, there was a reform of the Probation Service which i think was needed. You have tojoin up the which i think was needed. You have to join up the system. There is a lot of talk about this looking like electioneering. Are you expecting a snap election in the autumn . Well, i think any member of parliament who predicts that is sticking their neck out. As a constituency mp, i am ready as and when it comes. But i hope it is not necessary. I think it is more important that we resolve this situation and leave the eu in an orderly fashion, i hope with a deal. But if an election comes up, that may not be in my gift. Bob neil, thank you forjoining us. We have some breaking news to bring you about Airport Parking charges. Four out of five uk airports have increased their fees for drivers dropping off or collecting people at airports this summer according to a study. 18 of 22 airports and lice have introduced or raised drop off fees since an investigation carried out by the rac. Stansted and luton a p pa re ntly out by the rac. Stansted and luton apparently have the most expensive initial charge, £4 forjust apparently have the most expensive initial charge, £4 for just ten minutes. Lots of details on how much airports are charging. We will bring you more on that with our correspondent later. A man has died after being stabbed in an attack outside a cheshire pub. Police were called to reports of a serious assault in widnes on sunday afternoon. A 47 year old man was found with serious stab wounds and died at the scene. A man charged with the attempted murder of a Police Officer who was run over with his own patrol car will appear in court today. West Midlands Police said the 42 year old traffic officer was attempting to pull over a stolen car in birmingham when he was assaulted. 29 year old Mubashar Hussain will appear at birmingham magistrates court. The hadlines on bbc news. Drug crime increases in many small towns and villages despite falling in city centres. The government begins a review of sentencing policy dangerous offenders. Police fire tear gas into a Railway Station in hong kong in the 10th in the 10th consecutive weekend of pro democracy protests. In of pro democracy protests. Sport, manchester uni chelsea in sport, Manchester United thump chelsea 4 0 in their premier league opener. Arsenal also beat newcastle by1 0, obama young opener. Arsenal also beat newcastle by 1 0, obama young scoring the only goal of the game. Leicester drew 0 0 with wolves. Theres plenty for eddiejones to think about after convincing win for his side over wales at twickenham. In britain because my Jamie Chadwick has won the first ever w series championship. She has finished fourth at brands hatch to win the series. We will speak to herjust after 9. 40 this morning. All of that coming up. The family of the 15 Year Old School Girl with special needs whos gone missing in malaysia could offer a reward to find her. A Liaison Officer from the irish Police Arrived to support nora quoirins family on saturday. Hundreds of people are looking for her and Malaysian Police have opened a hotline for any information connected to the disappearance. Our correspondent Howard Johnson sent this update from the scene this morning. Im standing outside the resort where she went missing eight days ago. What were hearing from the Lucie Blackman trust, the charity that are working alongside the family, they were set up to help british nationals in crisis abroad. Theyre telling us the family are considering offering a cash appeal for any information, a cash reward, rather, for any information that could lead to the discovery of their daughter. We do know that the family have raised a lot of money on some crowdfunding appeal websites. They currently have more than 100,000 that had been donated to them by concerned members of the public. Today, search and rescue teams are continuing to fan out around a four square kilometre area. At the moment, they are 350 strong. Thats the largest number of personnel that have been deployed on this search and rescue effort since this search began more than a week ago. The family are obviously very concerned. The police are continuing to treat this as a missing persons case. The family would also like to explore the angle that she could have been abducted. The police say they are not ruling that outjust yet. We have some breaking news about flights to hong kong. Hong kong airport authorities announced all check in services for departure flights has been suspended other than the departure flights that have completed the check in process and the arrival of flights that are already heading to hong kong. All other flights have been cancelled for the rest of the day. Members of the public are advised not to go to the public are advised not to go to the airport. So that will obviously have a big impact as those protests continue in hong kong. We will keep you updated. The number of gamblers complaining about british betting companies has increased almost fifty fold in the past five years. New figures obtained from the Gambling Commission by the bbc, show that there were a record 8,000 complaints in the last year. The rise in complaints follows a big increase in gambling over the past decade, as Bronagh Munro reports. The betting business is booming, and its punters who are paying the price. The amount theyre losing to the Gambling Companies has almost doubled in the decade. Last year, it was £14. 5 billion. The biggest rise has been in online gambling. Amanda was in herfifties when she started gambling on a site called jackpotjoy. She doesnt want to be identified, but she lost £633,000 before being made bankrupt. Its horrific, what ive done to myself, really. Everything that id worked for, everything that my children were. Looked up to me. Now ive blown their inheritance, as such. Jackpotjoy said it had frequent contact with amanda and encouraged her to use responsible gambling tools, but figures obtained by panorama suggest the industry has a lot of unhappy customers. They show there were 8,266 complaints last year compared tojust 169 in 2013. The Gambling Commission says its a complicated picture. We are pushing the industry to know its customers and part of this is actually possibly a good sign because its suggesting that consumers are demanding more of gambling operators. Major betting companies have already agreed to provide £60 million a year to help problem gamblers. And bbc panorama addicted to gambling can be watched tonight at 8. 30pm on bbc one and on the bbc iplayer afterwards. The number of empty shops in town centres is at its highest for four years. New industry figures reveal the scale of the problem with the vacancy rate injuly at its highest level since january 2015. Lets talk to our Business Correspondent dominic oconnell. Hejoins me now. So one in ten of high street shops is now vacant, the highest forfour yea rs. Is now vacant, the highest forfour years. This is part of a continuation of what we all know is going on with shopping. Retail sales asa going on with shopping. Retail sales as a whole are growing, but all that goes is online and high streets and Shopping Centres are seeing their foot for fall sharply. In the month ofjuly, it fell by nearly 2 . Shopping centres had held up ok, but 110w Shopping Centres had held up ok, but now they are starting to fall as well and that migration online is just continuing. A lot of the high street shops are finding themselves in this vicious downward spiral of not making enough money to reinvest in the shops to make it an attractive place to go, so less people come and down you go. So that migration online has not stopped and is getting worse. What is the solution . Obviously if you trade online, you dont have the costs of a high street shop. And high street rents a re a high street shop. And high street rents are going up. I think we will see another push from retailers on Business Rates. We have had a push on rents and they have started to come down after bhs and so forth. On Business Rates, we will see a