Weekly round-up: Stories you may have missed

Sleeping pods for the homeless, a new mobile speed camera and the collapse of a local airline were among the stories in the news over the past week.

Here’s a round-up of some of the stories reported by BBC Jersey and BBC Guernsey in the past week.

Airlines step in following collapse of Blue Islands

Last weekend Aurigny and Loganair started to offer rescue flights for those stuck due to the collapse of Blue Islands.

About 1,200 passengers were affected and described feeling “numb”.

Blue Islands entered administration owing Jersey’s government £9.1m and two of the airline’s planes were impounded.

Camera aims to ‘stop racing and endangering lives’

Police in Jersey have unveiled the island’s first mobile speed camera.

Chief officer Robin Smith said it was designed to catch “people that are racing around our island, endangering other islanders”, which he described as an “enduring and persistent problem”.

He said the camera would be deployed in a way that was “more subtle” than the bright yellow cameras that are commonplace in the UK.

Homeless sleeping pods installed at Vale Douzaine

Two emergency sleeping pods were installed at the Vale Douzaine Rooms on Tuesday.

The pods, sourced from from the UK through Amazing Grace Spaces, are solar-powered and self-contained with no need for mains services, helping them to be deployable at short notice.

Graham Merfield, chair of Caritas – the charity behind the project, said: “The pods are not a final answer to homelessness, but they will provide immediate shelter and dignity in times of crisis.”

Lack of online age verification sparks concern

Politicians have expressed concern for children’s safety after a review found there was no age verification on adult sites in Jersey.

The UK introduced age verification on porn sites in July to make it harder for under-18s to see explicit material.

The review by the education scrutiny panel found assumptions UK regulations would indirectly protect children in Jersey were not wholly correct, meaning “children in Jersey may now face fewer barriers to accessing inappropriate content than their UK counterparts”.

Responding to the review, Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel said legislation was being drafted that would allow people to have harmful content removed.

How hard is it for Channel Island footballers to become professionals?

BBC Sport looked as how big a barrier the stretch of water between the Channel Islands and England is to becoming a professional footballer, with the travel and costs involved making it much harder for youngsters from the islands.

“We’ve got good talent over here, and if our island was attached to the mainland these players would be at academies,” says Guernsey FC manager Tony Vance.

The Green Lions are one of two Channel Island football clubs with teams playing in the English league pyramid – along with their rivals Jersey Bulls.

The club gave Alex Scott his first taste of men’s football, as a 16-year-old, before he left Guernsey for Bristol City. From there he moved to Bournemouth, where his form earned him a call-up to the England squad this month.

“The travel, the finance; they’re the big barriers,” said Jersey Bulls manager Elliot Powell.

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