BBC Local Live: Devon & Cornwall on Thursday 6 April 2017

Summary

Cocaine carrying skipper jailed for 16 years
Ex-soldier sentenced to life for murdering on-off girlfriend
Hotel plans approved for Drake's Island
River rescue after man jumps from boat
School absences on the rise in Devon and Cornwall
Test drilling for tin and tungsten starts at Kelly Bray in east Cornwall
Dartmoor's honesty boxes could be replaced with pay and display machines
Could you be related to the founder of a tropical Caribbean nation?
Updates on Thursday 6 April 2017

Live Reporting

Rapid rise of clothes moths threatens historic fabricspublished at 11:18 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
South West heritage sites are enlisting the help of the public in fighting an increase in clothes moths.
Visitors to English Heritage sites will be able to collect a free clothes moth trap to place in their home, to help monitor the presence and type of moths. The collected data will be used to help the charity to decide how moths are spreading and how best to focus their conservation efforts.
Only a handful of the 2,400 species of moths found in the UK pose a threat to clothing , upholstery, furs and even stuffed animals.
The insects only fly when it is warm and tend to shun light, hiding in dark recesses where they lay eggs on wool, feathers or skins.
Image source, SPL
Image caption,
English Heritage want members of the public to see if they can catch clothes moths in traps
Car fire on the A30published at 11:01 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
A car is on fire on the A30 near Chybucca. Police say all passengers are out of the vehicle but road closures are in place. They're asking people to avoid the area
Conservationists try to help one of the UK's most endangered birds published at 10:52 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Sophie Malcolm
BBC News Online
Help is on hand for one Devon's most endangered species.
The Devon Willow Tit Project is trying to track the elusive bird which has suffered from loss of habitat, changes in land management and climate change.
It's thought by tracking their movements more can be done to help boost numbers.
Media caption,
The Devon project helping the endangered willow tit
Dry and bright with some sunny spellspublished at 10:29 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Weather
Settled conditions will continue across Devon and Cornwall today.
It may turn more cloudy at times, but we are likely to see some good sunny spells, especially in coastal areas.
The maximum temperature will be 13C (55F).
Media caption,
BBC weather for the South West
School absences on the rise in Devon and Cornwallpublished at 10:14 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Sophie Malcolm
BBC News Online
Term-time holidays accounted for a quarter of unauthorised absences from schools in England , analysis of official figures shows.
Almost a million children missed at least one day of school in England, despite the threat of fines.
Teachers said the fines were a "blunt instrument" and the problem was down to the price of holidays.
Torbay, Bournemouth, Poole, Cornwall and Devon are among the 10 areas with the highest percentage rise in holiday absence.
Cat called Pickle rescued by fire crews after getting in a pickle published at 10:04 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Devon Live
Pickle the cat lived up to him name when he became trapped, external 20ft down in a steep sided concrete flood culvert in the night.
Accident in Plymouthpublished at 09:52 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
In Plymouth, Embankment Road is partially blocked around Elliott Road due to an accident.
Family's fury after beloved pet cat has cigarette stubbed out on back of his neck near Redruth published at 09:46 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Cornwall Live
A family has been left furious after their cat returned home with what they believe is a cigarette burn on the back of his neck, external .
Exe Estuary future debatedpublished at 09:37 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Spotlight
People are being asked to help shape the future of the Exe Estuary in Devon.
Dog walkers, water users, local businesses and residents are being asked for their thoughts on how the area should be used.
The Exe Estuary Management Partnership is reviewing the activity zones and codes of conduct in a bid to ensure people and wildlife continue to live alongside each other.
Horses on the roadpublished at 09:25 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
In Pool on Agar Road around Agar Crescent there are reports of two horses on the road. Approach with care
Are you enrolled to vote?published at 09:17 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Radio Cornwall
It's exactly four weeks until Cornwall will elect a new unitary council - and there are calls for people to make sure they're registered to vote.
The deadline to register to vote for the polls at county, town and parish level is 13 April.
All 123 seats at the unitary council are up for grabs.
Spring is herepublished at 09:09 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Weather Watchers
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Thirty years on, exploration drilling starts againpublished at 09:00 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Neil Gallacher, Business & Industry Correspondent
BBC Spotlight
It's 30 years since anyone last went drilling for tin in the Callington area. On that occasion, the prospectors ended up going away again. But now, finally, exploration drilling for tin and tungsten has started there again.
It's well known that tin and tungsten are in the ground at Kelly Bray. It used to be a mine, mainly in the 19th Century - The Redmoor Mine, as it was known.
An Anglo-Australian company that owns the mineral rights is spending £1m drilling 23 holes on this old mine site over the next few months.
When you knock on doors around Kelly Bray it's striking that quite a number of local people either support the mine idea outright or at least say they can see both pros and cons to a possible restart.
No-one I spoke to would go on the record against it.
But such a development would be years away; the mine company would first need to raise many tens of millions of pounds and work up a planning consent from scratch, on the edge of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Plymouth's crime hotspots revealedpublished at 08:48 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Plymouth Herald
Crime hotspots in Plymouth have been revealed by latest figures published by the police, external .
Dartmoor honesty boxes could be replaced with pay and display machines published at 08:34 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Spotlight
Honesty boxes could be scrapped, and pay and display machines brought in at several car parks in Dartmoor National Park.
The authority says following a trial in Princetown, it now wants to bring in parking meters at car parks in Meldon, Newbridge, Postbridge and Haytor.
Money raised would go towards maintaining the car parks. If the plans are agreed this week, a public consultation will be held.
Road blocked at Whimple after accidentpublished at 08:29 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
In Whimple, London Road is partially blocked near Church Road due to an accident
Could you be related to the founder of a tropical Caribbean nation? published at 08:23 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
The Cayman Islands' representative to the UK is in Cornwall today, trying and track down relatives of the man thought to have founded their nation.
Eric Bush is meeting North Cornwall MP Scott Mann in Wadebridge this afternoon.
Three-hundred-and-sixty-three years ago a Cornishman left Portsmouth as part of Oliver Cromwell’s army, to invade the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean, but he never returned to his homeland.
Image source, Dragon Advisory/ BBC
Instead, after the capture of Jamaica, the soldier, whose surname was either Bodden or Bawden, sailed to the Cayman Islands and settled there.
It's part of a wider scheme to develop closer links between Cornwall and the islands, covering business, culture and history.
Test drilling for tin and tungsten beginspublished at 08:16 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC Spotlight
After more than a year of planning, test drilling for tin and tungsten has started at Kelly Bray in east Cornwall.
Eleven people are now working at the site of the old Redmoor Mine. If drilling results are good, a modern mine might be set up on the site.
Accident in Whimplepublished at 08:14 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
In Whimple on London Road near Church Road there are reports of an accident
Ferry service out of action today; delays on Plymouth's Tavistock Road published at 08:05 British Summer Time 6 April 2017
BBC News Travel
- The Brixham to Torquay Express Ferry is out of service today
- In Plymouth heading outbound there are delays on Tavistock Road due to roadworks
- In the Glynn Valley, the A38 westbound is closed for roadworks between the superstore & Halfway House
- Near Newton Abbot there are temporary traffic lights on the A383 Ashburton Road near Chercombe Bridge Road. Expect delays
- Near Penryn on the A39 expect slow traffic on the approaches to the Treluswell Roundabout due to the road improvement works
- Near Saltash at the Carkeel Roundabout on the A38 and A388 there's slow traffic