BBC Spotlight

The man in charge of boosting the local economy has been awarded a pay rise of 26% despite opposition from some councils.

The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership is a publicly funded body covering Somerset, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth.   

Chief Executive Chris Garcia will now see his pay increase to £115,000.

Somerset Council Leader John Osman said: "I'm sorry to say that in the public sector we are not about giving 25% pay rises - even if you are very good at your job, we cannot afford 25%,"  

BBC Radio Cornwall

BBC Radio Cornwall has been sent pictures of what is believed to be a dead harbour porpoise washed ashore at Port Holland in Cornwall.

Charlie Whetter sent in the pictures after finding the animal this morning.

Image source, Charlie Whetter

It comes after a dead dolphin was washed up on Polly Joke beach near Newquay on Sunday with injuries that could have been caused by a shark.

It is not clear whether the porpoise has any injuries.  

Image source, Twitter

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

Ten years ago the MSC Napoli grounded off Branscombe beach with a huge cargo on board. 

Here are some facts and figures:

• Total containers on board at start of journey: 2,318 

• Persons on board: 26 (all airlifted to safety by the Royal Navy) 

• Containers lost overboard: 114 (including two lost in French waters prior to vessel being beached) 

Image source, Getty Images

• Containers washed ashore: 80 

• Total oil spilled: 302 tonnes (estimated) 

• Cost of incident: £120m 

• Duration of incident: 924 days (2 years, 6 Months and 12 days) 

• Salvaged items: BMW motorbikes, a 4x4 vehicle, ladies' shoes, Bibles in a foreign language, nappies and personal items

Image source, MCA

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport

Cornish Pirates coaches Alan Paver and Gavin Cattle have signed new contracts at the Championship club.

The pair, who took over from Ian Davies in the summer, have agreed to stay at the Mennaye until May 2019 having led the club to fifth place in the Championship this season, one point off the play-off places.

Image source, Brian Tempest

Both had long playing careers with the club and were assistants to Davies before taking over after cost cuts forced Davies to leave.

The Pirates have also brought in former England forward and Nottingham coach Martin Haag on a part-time basis.

BBC Weather

Today it will be mostly dry with remaining cloud continuing to break as sunny spells develop. 

East or southeasterly winds will be mainly light or moderate.The maximum temperature will be 9C (48F).

Sian Davies
BBC News Online

Image source, Marie Curie

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has been forced to abandon his latest challenge due to severe back pain.

The 72-year-old was attempting to climb Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, but had to be helicoptered from the 6,962m mountain, when he was just a few hours from the summit on Monday. 

Image source, Marie Curie

Sir Ranulph was climbing the mountain as part of his attempt to become the first person to cross both the polar ice caps and climb the seven highest mountains on each continent - all to raise money for the charity Marie Curie. 

Image source, Marie Curie

Speaking from Mendoza in Argentina Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: "I was within just a few hours of the summit but problems with my back meant I couldn't continue. I'm very frustrated, but I've learnt that at my age you can't ignore any pain."   

BBC Travel

• In Plymouth on Outland Road, two lanes will open in both directions from 15:30, and two lanes will open in both directions on Tavistock Road for the match
• In Plymouth on the St Budeaux Bypass around Carlton Terrace temporary traffic lights are in place due to roadworks. Traffic is slow moving
• In Devon, we have reports that Cockpit Hill is blocked in both directions due to an accident between the B3181 Fore Street and Duke Street
• In Bodieve, the B3314 is blocked in both directions, with slow traffic due to accident
• On the A38 at Dobwalls there are various lane closures due to barrier repairs
• On the A3047 at Mount Ambrose there's slow traffic due to traffic lights and roadworks

Sian Davies
BBC News Online

Visitors to a Devon art gallery have far exceeded expectiations thanks to the V&A Museum of Childhood exhibition - Clangers, Bagpuss & Co.

The Burton Art Gallery at Bideford has had the exhibition on display since 5 November and, with just four days to go before it ends, the venue's footfall visitor count for the 11-week period of the exhibition has reached 19,000. 

The exhibition has been one of the most popular in the Burton's 65-year history as an art gallery. 

There are just hours to go until tonight's big match between Plymouth Argyle and Premier League side Liverpool. 

Thousands of supporters will pack into Home Park tonight.

Because of the numbers attending the match, Plymouth City Council said it has agreed with its highways contractor that there will be two lanes open in both directions along Outland Road from 15:30 this afternoon. There will also be two lanes open in both directions on Tavistock Road, where work is taking place on the Derriford Transport Scheme.

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

It's ten years since the MSC Napoli got into trouble off the Cornish coast before grounding off Branscombe beach in Devon.

Eighty containers washed ashore containing a range of items, many of which were scavenged by members of the public.

Image source, Getty Images

Among the loot were 17 BMW motorbikes.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency says that of these 13 were properly reported, two were seized by Devon and Cornwall Police and two were never found.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a property fire in Newquay.

Insp Dave Meredith, said: “One of the residents inside the property [on St Thomas Road] had noticed flames in the area of the front door and contacted the fire service, who attended and quickly put out the fire.

“Seven people were evacuated from inside the property but thankfully no one was injured. There is some fire damage to the front door and surrounding frame, but the rest of the property is unaffected. We have a police scenes of crime officer at the scene and our enquiries are underway.

“At present the police are treating this fire as suspicious and are appealing for any witness or persons with knowledge of the incident to contact us. This appears to be an isolated incident; there have been no recent reports of similar incidents in the Newquay area.”

BBC Radio Cornwall

A hunt has agreed not to meet for the rest of the season on land owned by the National Trust following an incident involving its hounds chasing a domestic dog at Gunwalloe near Helston.

Cury Hunt holds a licence to trail hunt on National Trust land over a restricted area, for a specific number of times per year.

Last weekend some of its riders went down to Gunwalloe beach to wash their horses off in the sea.

One horse was spooked, kicked out at a hound which then ran off and was involved in an altercation with a pet dog being walked by its owners.

Image source, National Trust

The hunt says the hounds were removed from the area and the dog was checked and cleared as fit and well by a vet.

Today the National Trust says the hunt have told them they were not trail hunting on its land that day.

But following a meeting the hunt has agreed to not meet again for the duration of this season on National Trust owned land. The licence is also be subject to an annual review.

BBC Radio Devon

Comedian and writer Ricky Gervais has promised the takings from his latest warm-up gigs for his national tour to a Devon charity.

Former Royal Marine Pen Farthing is the founder Nowzad, which rescues stray and abandoned animals in Afghanistan.

Image source, Pen Farthing

The charity was created after Pen, who was serving in the market town of Nowzad in Helmand Province in 2006, broke up a dog fight and became "best buddies" with one of the dogs. 

He managed to smuggle the pup out of Afghanistan and back to Britain.

BBC Radio Cornwall

An RNAS Culdrose aircrewman has been recalling a dramatic rescue that happened 10 years ago today.

The container ship, MSC Napoli got into trouble 46 miles off the Cornish coast, and the crew was forced into the ship's lifeboat.

Jay O'Donnell managed to get all 26 crew winched to safety in atrocious conditions.

Image source, Royal Navy

He's been telling BBC Radio Cornwall: "The lifeboat they were in had very little control and was rolling all over the place. And the more people we got off, the lighter it was and the more unstable it became."

He said: "We were absolutely fuel critical - the helicopter crew was signalling how many minutes we had left. 

"When we got back we were literally on fumes. But I knew they'd come back for me if they had to."

He was awarded the Queen's gallantry medal for his part in the rescue.

Sian Davies
BBC News Online

Work on Tavistock Road has been halted after grenades were found at the site. Here Plymouth City Council answers your questions:

What happens if one ‘goes off’?

In the very unlikely event of one breaking and combusting it would expel smoke (and possibly some flame).

What would happen to the traffic?

The smoke (and possible flame) would be largely confined to the fenced off excavation area and dealt with quickly by on-site staff. It would pose a very low risk to passing vehicles but if there were any public safety concerns a cordon would be set up.

How long will this process take?

We expect to complete search and removal in the area where the SIPs [Self-Igniting Phosphorus] were found within a week. We will then begin a search of the wider area.

How many devices are thought to be buried at the site?

It is not yet known whether this is limited to two individual finds separated by a few metres or part of a wider cache of abandoned and buried UXO [Unexploded Ordnance].

Exeter Express & Echo

An amazing 48 tonnes of real snow, external will be delivered to Exeter this weekend to create a huge ski slope.

BBC Spotlight

A head teacher says there is "no good news" in government changes to make education spending fairer - as it will leave more than a third of Devon's schools worse off.

Daryl Chapman, Principal at Okehampton College said: "It will have a detrimental affect to everything we try to do, whether that's provide the extra curricular options for the youngsters. 

"Potentially class sizes will be affected, potentially staffing allocations will be affected. There's no good news in this."

The government says overall Devon will gain 0.5% in its education budget.   

Chris Ellis
BBC News Online

Police and Dartmoor search and rescue teams are continuing to search Burrator Reservoir for a cyclist who went missing at the weekend.

The search was called off as light faded yesterday but resumed this morning.

The 30-year-old man was reported missing from Plympton. Police have not yet released his name.

John Henderson
BBC Spotlight

A police helicopter has found a missing man in an "extremely remote area of Dartmoor".

Officers were concerned for the welfare of a 24-year-old man who was reported missing yesterday.

Adrian Taylor said: “The police helicopter was deployed within six minutes of being called to assist in this missing person search.

“The missing man was found in an extremely remote area of Dartmoor. With the use of our night vision goggles, we were able to locate the man and illuminate the area to guide ground officers to him.”

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police