Man sexually abused in Drake's Island tunnels, court hears
Police appeal after 'man stabbed and assaulted by group of men'
New link road for Cornwall announced in Budget
Man hospitalised after flood crash in North Devon
Six 'never events' at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust in six months
Trains suspended due to high tide and strong winds
'Massive' training exercise imitates war at sea
Tourette's man 'taming the beast' and uses condition to help others
Padstow School scraps Christmas tree decorating tradition
More news, sport, travel and weather from 08:00 on Thursday
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
That's all from BBC Local Live in Devon and Cornwall this Wednesday. We'll be back tomorrow at 08:00 to bring you all the news, sport, travel and weather updates.
Don't forget Spotlight this evening on BBC One at 18:30 with Justin Leigh and Victoria Graham.
Pregnant women are being promised one-to-one care at a new midwife-led birth centre in Truro.
The unit at the Princess Alexandra Wing at Treliske has four private rooms with birthing pools.
The rooms are designed to offer a homely environment within reach of extra medical support at the nearby delivery suite.
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Council chiefs have launched a consultation for motorists and residents who have endured numerous changes to roads around Elburton. , external
Sophie Pierce
BBC Radio Devon
An organisation which has helped hundreds of community and voluntary groups in Torbay is facing losing all its grant from Torbay Council.
The Torbay Community Development Trust is set to lose £60,000 worth of funding in April.
Chief executive of the trust, Simon Sherbersky, says cutting their funding would be a false economy.
The proposed axing of the trust's funding is contained in a whole raft of budget proposals being put forward by the Mayor of Torbay Gordon Oliver.
The council says it's welcoming feedback on the budget proposals and the consultation is open until 15th December.
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust has had more never events in six months than almost any other NHS Trust in England.
There have been six of the so-called never events which are largely preventable.
Derriford Hospital in Plymouth had three never events between April and September.
It was announced in today's budget that a new £79m link road is to be built near St Austell.
It will connect the north of St Austell with the A30 at Victoria, close to Cornwall Services.
The 3.9 mile stretch will bypass the villages of Stenalees, Bugle and Roche in clay country.
Image source, Cornwall CouncilChair of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, Mark Duddridge said: "This is another critical piece in the infrastructure jigsaw that will hugely improve connectivity in mid-Cornwall.
"It will increase access to existing and new employment sites like the Carluddon Technology Park and key destinations including the Aerohub Enterprise Zone and Cornwall Airport Newquay."
This evening will stay mild, wet and windy with heavy bursts of rain.
The rain will clear later and as a result, it will become colder as cloud clears across Devon.
Thursday will be windy - but less so than today - and most of the day will be sunny and cold with maximum temperatures of 11C (52F)
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
Cornwall Air Ambulance will be given £36,000 by the treasury to provide welfare and pastoral accommodation for paramedics, doctors and aircrew.
It was announced by the chancellor, Philip Hammond, in this year's Budget.
Exmouth charity, Pete's Dragons, which provides support after suicide loss is also set to receive money from the same funding.
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John Henderson
BBC Spotlight
The director of a dairy in Cornwall which makes an award-winning cheese says it's down to "years of skill, experience and knowledge".
Cornish Kern, an alpine-style cheese, won the World Champion Cheese award at the annual World Cheese Awards
Owner and director of Lynher Dairies in Ponsanooth, Catherine Mead said: "When they say it’s the best cheese in the world it really is because of the level of judging it has to go through. It went through so many levels, from more than 3,000 to the top 16 and then they were judged again to get the top one. The world champion."
It takes 16 months for a Kern to mature and the dairy made 15 tonnes of it last year, 30 tonnes this year and are hoping to make 50 tonnes next year.
Police who had to deal with the aftermath on a crash on the A38 which claimed the lives of three young men have been honoured for their work., external
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A manager at a new birth centre in Truro says midwives "could learn a lot" from BBC series, Call the Midwife.
She said the "hands-on approach" used in the show could help the pregnant women who are being promised one-to-one care at the new midwife-led birth unit in Truro.
The facility is within the existing maternity wing at the Royal Cornwall Hospital and will handle around 1,200 births a year.
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A group of musicians, performers and artists have opened a new arts centre in Devon.
Ashburton Arts raised £180,000 to buy a Grade Two listed Methodist church and bring it back into public use.
The campaigners have managed to do it against the odds with funding for the arts constantly under threat and other venues closing.
Huge plans that would bring brand names such as KFC, Home Bargains, Starbucks and Lidl to a greenfield site on the outskirts of Camborne have been put forward to Cornwall Council., external
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
There will be delays on train services between Exeter St David's and Yeovil Junction until the end of the day.
The delays are due to a track circuit failure between Honiton and Crewkerne, where trains have to run at reduced speed on the line.
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Hamish Marshall
BBC Spotlight
A man who claims to have been sexually assaulted by Plymouth businessman Charles Howeson says the incident was an "ambush", a court has heard.
The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, said Mr Howeson touched him inappropriately under this clothes whilst on Drake's Island, Plymouth.
The man was there with the then Groundwork Trust executive director on a site visit.
The man said the pair were alone in tunnels when the lights went out and Mr Howeson told him he would lift him up so he could fiddle with the wires to get the lights back on.
"He lifted me up to the lights to fiddle. Charles Howeson was behind me and almost immediately his hand went down my trousers," the man said.
"I thought it may have been an accident so I pulled his hand out. His hand went straight back after I pulled it out. I couldn't see a thing. I struck back with my free hand and my legs. I think it was a well planned ambush with no witnesses", he added.
Charles Howeson denies 12 counts of historic sexual offences.
The trial continues.
John Henderson
BBC Spotlight
A cheese made at a dairy in Cornwall has been crowned World Champion Cheese at the 30th annual World Cheese Awards.
Cornish Kern, an alpine-style cheese, won the accolade after just a few years in development.
The buttery medium-hard cheese beat 3,000 other entries.
More than 6,000 kerns are currently maturing at Lynher Dairies in Ponsanooth, with it taking 16 months to get them ready for the table.
Ruth Kielty has worked at Lynher for 12 years. She said when she's not painting the new world champion cheese with its distinctive black coating, she's wrapping the dairy's other award winner, Cornish Yarg, in its coat of Cornish nettles.
Ruth said: “We are so proud of this. When I moved here from the north I was a fishmonger. But there is something really arty about what we do - from painting the kern to sticking the nettles on to the Cornish Yarg. When it looks good, it makes us feel good.”
A £79m investment in a brand new link road connecting the A30 to St Austell has been announced in this year's Budget.
The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, also said other towns and cities across the South West will be able to bid into a national £840m fund to support transport projects in their area.
Cornwall MP for St Austell and Newquay, Steve Double welcomed the news, saying "it will relieve pressure on Roche, Bugle and Stenalees while providing massive economic benefits and a more direct route to Cornwall Airport Newquay".
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Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport
Former Exeter City defender Christian Ribeiro has been forced to retire due to a knee injury.
The 27-year-old, who joined Oxford United in June 2016 after being released by Exeter City, has been told by specialists if he continues playing it may affect his ability to walk later in life.
"He's very sad, having worked very hard as a footballer to overcome these injuries," Oxford United manager Pep Clotet told BBC Radio Oxford.
Image source, Getty ImagesRibeiro made just 17 appearances for Oxford United during his time at the club, last appearing in the 4-3 Football League Trophy defeat by MK Dons on 7 November.
He made 188 appearances in a career that also took him to Scunthorpe, Carlisle and Colchester having made his debut at Bristol City in August 2008.
"The fact he now has to put an end to his career based on a medical recommendation, it just shows how sometimes life is ruthless," Clotet added.
"One thing's for sure, he'll succeed in whatever he chooses to do in life. The amount of work he puts in made him earn everything that he has."
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A man has been stabbed in Cornwall after being confronted by a group of men in the street, police have said.
The local man, who in his 20s, was approached by a group of four men - three of which assaulted and stabbed him in Pool.
It happened at about 11:45 on 16 November in the street beside Pool Market, close to the Emanuel Gospel Church.
The victim attended Treliske Hospital to be treated.
The suspects are described as four white men, all in their early 20s and of skinny builds.
Police are appealing for witnesses.
Between Bovey Tracey and Haytor Vale, the B3387 is blocked due to a fallen tree.
