Body found in Church Street in Paignton
Holsworthy Community Hospital inpatient services 'temporarily closing'
Missing 14-year-old girl found safe and well
Local energy scheme 'puts Cornwall on global stage'
Students breathe life into former cinema
Humpback whale spotted again off south Devon
Updates on Friday 3 March 2017
A paedophile ex-school technician who boasted online that he was going to the beach to look at young girls has been jailed., external
The large, rural nature of Cornwall means getting services to rough sleepers is challenging, an outreach worker has told the BBC.
Ian Inchley, an outreach worker with the homeless charity St Petroc's Society spends a lot of his time driving, seeking out new homeless people or trying to find existing clients to offer support.
"As a society, we’re not dealing with the problem, we’re just moving it around.
"That’s the thing about the countryside, there could be another site 200 yards that way, and you wouldn’t know."
Many of the people Ian helps have drug and/or alcohol addiction, mental health problems or simply can't find affordable accommodation after a relationship breaks down or redundancy.
Police have launched an investigation after a body was found in a street in Paignton early this morning.
Emergency services were called to Church Street just after 05:30 after concerns were raised about the welfare of a person who was later declared dead at the scene.
Police are treating the death as unexplained and say they're waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination later this afternoon.
Tributes have been paid to a popular teacher and church minister who was diagnosed with ovarian cancer just weeks after her retirement. , external
The closure of inpatient beds at Holsworthy Hospital on 31 March was a "complete shock to the town" says Mayor John Hutchings.
Image source, Getty Images"I fear this temporary closure will lead to a complete closure, this is purely an excuse, once closed it will stay closed," he said.
"Because of our rural location and complete lack of public transport family and friends visiting patients at other hospital will be virtually impossible."
The Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust said it has taken the decision in response to a number of significant operational and safety issues which have escalated to reach a position that is no longer sustainable.
Campaigners behind the re-opening of a historic Devon cinema say it will be a "fantastic experience".
Image source, Paignton Picture House TrustThe Paignton Picture House was a regular haunt of Agatha Christie, but has been shut since 1997.
Now students from South Devon college are creating a show inside the old cinema, using projections, acting and dance.
Paul Hawthorne, chairman of the Paignton Picture House Trust, external , said: "To see a film projected onto the screen for the first time in 20 years is a fantastic experience and it's wonderful to be working with the college."
One of the world's first local energy markets is being pioneered in Cornwall and it could lead to cheaper electricity bills.
Image source, bbcUnder the scheme, renewable energy will be produced, sold, and bought locally.
The £19m trial was launched this week and is funded by Europe and the energy company Centrica.
If successful it could be rolled out globally, with the potential to transform the entire energy industry.
Louise Walter
BBC Spotlight
In March 1967, super tanker Torrey Canyon hit rocks off the Isles of Scilly.
Thirty-six million gallons of crude oil spilled into the sea - beaches from Cornwall along the south coast and across the English Channel in France were polluted.
After 10 days the ship was bombed by the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Navy - with the aim of sinking the ship and burning off the oil.
Twelve days after she first struck rocks, the Torrey Canyon finally sank. She’d spilled virtually every drop of oil. Fifty years on, we’d love to share your memories. Drop us an email.
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A cat discovered with a crossbow bolt lodged in its stomach, external has had to be put down by vets.
Police are appealing for the public’s help to trace a 14-year-old girl who is missing from the Ivybridge area.
Image source, Devon and Cornwall PoliceOfficers said they are extremely concerned for the welfare of Abigail Moseley who was last seen at home at about 22:45 yesterday.
Police are searching around the Ivybridge and South Hams areas and on Dartmoor.
Abigail is described as around 5ft 5in tall, of slim build with shoulder length brown hair. She may be wearing a blue/turquoise jacket with a hood and carrying a blue rucksack.
Victoria Gould
BBC News Online
A humpback whale first spotted last Friday off the Devon coast has made another appearance.
Image source, Forest & BeachExperts said they were very surprised the whale was still in the area, and are urging people not to approach it by boat.
Andy Robinson who saw the whale on two separate occasions yesterday said there were thick shoals of fish close to the shore, which were attracting other sea life including porpoises.
"I have lived here for 15 years and have only seen porpoises on two or three occasions, yet I have seen them almost daily recently", he said.
Honiton Hospital League of Friends say they are "deeply saddened" by the decision from the NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to close all the medical beds at Honiton Hospital.
Image source, Google"We put forward cogent, substantiated reasons to have Honiton Hospital taken seriously as one of the sites under consideration in East Devon to retain its beds and feel disillusioned that our arguments fell on deaf ears," they said.
Community hospital beds in Honiton, Okehampton, Seaton, and Whipton, in Exeter, are to close. Health commissioners voted unanimously to shut 71 of the 143 inpatient beds in East and Mid Devon.
It leaves 32 community beds in Tiverton, 24 in Seaton and 16 in Exmouth.
The NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group said instead of people being cared for in community hospital beds, the aim is to provide care and support in people's homes and in the community, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting a faster return home.
West Country folk singer Seth Lakeman is to headline the first ever Royal William Yard Festival.
Image source, bbcThe festival on 27 and 28 May promises to celebrate "peninsular living" and "everything the beautiful West Country has to offer".
The festival will bring areas of the historic Grade 1 listed ex-Naval victualling yard to life with classic cars, motorbikes and boats providing the backdrop to six stages, dotted around the yard offering different musical styles.
Devon-born Seth Lakeman, who was nominated for a Mercury Award with his single, Kitty Jay, is celebrating the release of his eighth studio album 'The Ballads of the Broken Few'.
Scenes of crime officers have cordoned off part of a Paignton street where a body was found.
The person was declared dead at the scene in Church Street.
Police are currently treating the death as unexplained, and await the outcome of a post-mortem later.
A multimillion-pound trial to make and sell energy locally is a "unique opportunity for Cornwall to take the lead globally" say organisers.
Image source, CentricaCentrica is working with Western Power, the National Grid and the University of Exeter to create a virtual marketplace - similar to eBay - but for energy.
The electricity could be from a generator or from wind or solar.
Matt Hastings from Centrica said: "This project was developed to help Cornwall and put Cornwall on the world's stage and the world is watching, we've had interest from New York and California and European countries as well.
A body has been found in Church Street in Paignton. Cordons are in place and police are currently treating the death an unexplained. More to follow.
MP Geoffrey Cox says he is "unconvinced" by the case for the temporary closure of inpatient facilities at Holsworthy Community Hospital.
Image source, Conservative Party"I have urged that no permanent and irrevocable decision should be made before the consequences have been fully examined and the community has been fully consulted," he said.
He has raised his concerns with the secretary of state for health and he is meeting the chief executive of the trust.
The Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust said it has taken the decision in response to a number of significant operational and safety issues which have escalated to reach a position that is no longer sustainable. These are:
It added all of the other services at the hospital, including consultant outpatient appointments and day services, will continue as normal.
The completion of a major transport scheme in Exeter which has been causing delays for drivers for a year is going to be delayed by about a month.
Bridge Road in Exeter is being expanded from three lanes to four but work is going to over run by a month and should now be completed by the end of June.
The road carries 30,000 vehicles each weekday. Devon County Council's Chief Highways Engineer Rob Richards says, the 950m stretch of road has seven bridges, a river, a canal, a flood relief scheme and the main railway line to deal with.
The £13.45m project has been held up by complications with some of the seven bridges it crosses and flooding.
Ben Longhurst-Prior, who has family working in Holsworthy Community Hospital, says nurses were in tears after the announcement that inpatient beds are to close temporarily under what are being described as urgent measures due to significant safety concerns.
Image source, Google"I believe the hospital is so needed in the Holsworthy area. There is nowhere else for palliative care within an hour's drive," he said.
Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust says all other appointments will continue but the hospital is currently relying on agency staff to cover sickness and to keep it open.
There are also recruitment difficulties due to national shortages. Staff were briefed about the move yesterday.
