Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for the Channel Islands

Second rows Alex Thompson and Liam Hallam-Eames will join Championship side Jersey Reds next season.

Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for the Channel Islands

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

Flybe says its employees did "everything possible" to help a tearful 12-year-old girl who was allegedly refused entry on a flight because her "bag was too big".

Jersey Consumer Council said it heard from several parents after the incident in Jersey in which another girl was also reportedly forced to use her pocket money to pay a £50 baggage charge.

The airline says it was "very concerned" by the allegations and investigated them as a "matter of urgency".

Image source, PA

"In the case of the 12-year-old passenger, our agents were advised her parents had left the airport confines and they failed to respond to any of the phone calls made.

"Flybe is advised by its agents that during this time, they did not immediately board the minor, however having failed to contact the parents, were not prepared to offload or cause hurt so they took the decision to nevertheless board her on to the flight together with her hand baggage which was carried in the hold free of charge," it said.

The airline apologised for the distress the girl experienced but said the agents at the airport resolved the situation in a "satisfactory and sympathetic way".

Worcester's former Jersey lock forward Pierce Phillips is to join French Top 14 club Agen this summer.

Jersey Reds agree new contracts with centre Apakuki Ma'afu, back-row Jake Upfield and prop Zei Alexis until May 2020.

BBC Radio Guernsey

The chair of the Guernsey International Business Association (GIBA) is urging the public to make sure they use the newly announced air routes.

From May, Aurigny will be offering twice daily flights to Jersey and also direct flights to Southampton from Guernsey.

While GIBA welcome the move by Guernsey's State-owned arline, the association has warned it's up to the public to use the routes or risk losing them.

David Oxburgh said the move "reflects more business and leisure travellers calling for more rotations, particularly to Jersey".

But he warned the routes will have to be used regularly, otherwise "improvements will only be for the short-term".

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

Image source, ROGER VIOLLET/ARSÈNE GARNIER/MAISONS DE VICTORHUGO

About £10m is needed to fund the big-screen adaptation of Victor Hugo's Toilers of the Sea, its producer has said.

David Shanks is "exploring" crowd-funding the film with donations from people in Guernsey who will "ultimately own the film," a booklet promoting it reads.

"The hardest [funding] to get is the first £100,000, which will deliver the document which will be solid enough to raise the next £9,900,000," Mr Shanks said.

"In a funny way Potato Peel [Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society] has helped us because people have seen the value of an international feature film, but realise that perhaps that value could have been utilised more.

"So for that, I just need a little bit of help in raising the development money so we can go full steam ahead." he added.

Twitter

There could be nearly a 15C (59F) difference in temperature compared to a year ago, Jersey Met Office has tweeted.

On 26 February 2018, the temperature peaked at just 2.4C (36F) in Jersey - today it could reach 17C (63F).

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

A cyclist was left with an injured wrist after being hit by a car in St Mary, police have said.

It happened at about 07:10 at the junction of La Verte Rue and La Rue du Motier.

Officers said a black Ford Fiesta - being driven by a 43-year-old woman - hit the cyclist as he was riding past St Mary's school.

They added the bicycle and car "sustained minor damage" and the male cyclist, 66, was taken to hospital.

Any witnesses are asked to contact police via 612 612.

Image source, Google

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

Havelet slipway will stay closed until further notice due to storm damage, Guernsey Harbours has said.

It added the slipway surface and coping stones are still "unstable, unsafe and should not be used under any circumstances".

It was originally closed towards the end of last year.

Image source, Guernsey Harbours

BBC Radio Jersey

A 12-year-old girl burst into tears after she was told to pay an extra £50 baggage charge on a Flybe flight from Jersey to Doncaster because her bag was too big, according to the Jersey Consumer Council.

Another young girl was reportedly forced to use her pocket money to pay the charge.

The airline has been enforcing its baggage policy more strictly since January.

Carl Walker from the Jersey Consumer Council said several parents had been in touch to complain about the way in which the charge was being enforced.

Flybe said it was taking the allegations seriously and would be investigating the matter.

Rob Byrne
BBC News Online

Image source, AFP/Getty Images

A battle between a giant octopus and a fisherman in Victor Hugo's Toilers of the Sea captured Victorian imaginations, but the word he used for the eight-legged creature also has another significance.

The classic novel is set to be adapted into a £10m movie, shot partly in Guernsey - the inspiration for the book.

Hugo used the word pieuvre for the giant cephalopod - from Guernsey French, or Guernesiais - widely spoken in the island during his time in exile there between 1855 and 1870.

Today, both pieuvre and poulpe are words used for Octopus in French, Guernsey politician Jonathan Le Tocq explains.

"If you ask a Frenchman what's the word for Octopus he'll think for a moment and say 'well, strangely there's two words'.

"And I'd say one of them is Guernsey French, and you're actually speaking Guernesiais when you're saying that," he said.

In Toilers of the Sea, Hugo claimed the animal, well known previously to seafarers but little seen by anyone else, drank the blood of its "victims".

Victor Hugo's Guernsey-inspired Toilers of the Sea is to be made into a new movie without dialogue.

BBC Weather Watchers

Thanks to our weather watchers Brass, in Guernsey, and The Ranger, in Jersey, for capturing the blue skies over the islands earlier this morning.

BBC Radio Jersey

Two environmental groups have accused the States of ignoring their warnings about the risk of pollution from building projects on the waterfront.

Save our Shoreline and Earth Project Jersey say work should be halted on the States-backed project for 284 waterfront flats if it's found the contractor breached its discharge permit - allowing untreated water to leak into the Elizabeth Marina.

Andrew Le Quesne, from Earth Project Jersey, says the groups have repeatedly advised the States about their concerns...

Jersey's States says it's already investigating the reports and won't comment further until the examination is completed.

Live coverage of the States of Jersey meeting from BBC Radio Jersey.

Live coverage of the States of Jersey and analysis from BBC Radio Jersey.

BBC Radio Jersey

Monday was the warmest February day in Jersey since records began.

The Met Office recorded a maximum temperature of 17.1C (62.78F) - beating Sunday's 16.9C (62.42F) high.

The previous record of 16.2C (61.16F) was set back in 1948.

The UK also experienced its warmest day in winter on Monday.

For the first time since records began, more than 100 years ago, the temperature went above 20C (68F) in February.

Listen to BBC Radio Jersey coverage of the States of Jersey.