The cross channel relay swim we told you about earlier has now begun.

Pupils from Taunton School are taking on a team of serving and injured Royal Marines.

They set off from Dover a few minutes ago and are due to finish at about 10pm tonight.

Good luck to everyone taking part.

Image source, SPL

The chair of the Liberal Democrats in Cheltenham has quit his role after appearing to compare prostitution with accountancy as a career option.

At the party's conference Dennis Parsons questioned why prostitution was not suggested as a career for pupils.

He said: "The fact that we are asking 'should we seek to prevent people entering sex work?' is part of the problem."

Mr Parsons has since apologised and said he did not put the comments forward as a serious suggestion.  

Read the full story here.

Seven 13-year-old pupils from Taunton School in Somerset are minutes away from setting off from Dover on a swimming relay race across The English Channel.

They're competing against a team of serving and injured Royal Marines, and some of their teachers, and are raising money for The Royal Marine Charity in the process. 

The challenge was due to have taken place last week, but was postponed until today because of bad weather.

Here are some of the stories making the headlines in your local newspapers this morning:

Somerset Live: How a brief encounter in a Wincanton supermarket led to marriage, external

Bristol Post: Balloon crash lands in Bristol - turns into an impromptu community event, external

Wiltshire Times: Westbury chimney demolition in pictures, external

Gloucestershire Live: Flooding 'expected' along Wye and possible along Severn in Gloucestershire, external

Work is getting under way this morning to replace a bridge near Taunton's train station.

The former rail bridge at Station Road in the town centre is being converted into a road bridge as part of work to build a £21m relief road, external.

As a result, Station Road will be closed all week until until 11.30pm on Friday, 23 September.

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's a giant inflatable penguin....

Image source, Longleat Safari Park

At the weekend Longleat was lit up by a night glow event with more than 30 hot air balloons firing up their burners to musical accompaniment.

It was part of a year-long series of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Longleat Safari Park.

Image source, Longleat Safari Park

How well have councils in the West Country delivered when it comes to taking in Syrian refugees?

The government says it now has enough local authority places to meet its promise to resettle 20,000 refugees by 2020.

Inside Out West has been looking at the figures and have also met a Syrian family who are living in Wiltshire.

You can see the report in full on Inside West on Monday, 7.30pm on BBC One.

There'a a different skyline in Westbury this morning.

The cement works chimney, which stood 122m-high (that's 400ft) and dominated the Wiltshire skyline for decades, is no more after it was demolished yesterday. 

The big red button was pressed by nine-year-old Lily Sargent who said it was "quite a big explosion". 

The Westbury cement works, owned by Tarmac, were constructed in the early 1960s and mothballed in 2009.

You can read more about what happened by clicking here.

Good morning and welcome to Local Live - a full round-up of the day's news, sport, travel and weather - we're with you until 10 tonight.

Let's start with a look at the weather with Emily Wood...