Man dies in Dartmoor canoe accident
--- A fallen tree trapped the canoeist in a 'roaring' river
Paedophile hunters' evidence puts man in court
Unauthorised waste caused explosions on ship, report says
'Parked cars prevent firefighters reaching emergencies'
Ship's sword-slicing honour for young Devon steward
Charity seeks to find people from famed photo archive
British beach litter picker praises Cornwall
Updates on Thursday 7 December 2017
Live updates for Devon and Cornwall have finished for the day, but we'll be back at 07:00 on Friday with the latest news, sport, travel and weather.
Don't forget Spotlight on BBC One later. There will also be news through the night on your BBC Local Radio station.
Get the latest news for your area from the BBC.
Jonathan Morris
BBC News Online
Totnes Labour group has hit back at claims by MP Sarah Wollaston that a coffin left outside her constituency office was a "crass" stunt.
Image source, Helen BeethamThe coffin was left in Totnes in a demo by Save Our Hospital Services that included members of Totnes Constituency Labour Party (CLP).
Peter McIlven, chair of Totnes CLP, said: "Using coffins in demos is a standard prop, we were not criticising Sarah personally, we were drawing attention to the effects of austerity on the NHS.
"For her to criticise it in this way and not look at the message says something about egotism.
"I think her calling it a vile gesture is wilfully misunderstanding."
Conservative Dr Wollaston, referring to the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox last year, said the effect of "delivering a coffin effigy" had passed some people by.
She tweeted, external: "It was not a ‘protest board’, it was a large model coffin that someone had taken some time to construct & the march was with an actual coffin as clear from the photographs of the demonstration @TotnesLabour, external should apologise."
Torquay United's Gibraltar international midfielder Jake Gosling is to leave the club on loan to improve his fitness.
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Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A man who died when he got trapped under a tree was with four others on the River Dart between Dartmeet and Newbridge, park rangers said.
Part of the river has been closed off while the emergency services recover the body.
Police, ambulance, fire service and mountain rescue are all at the scene, which is a popular area for kayaking.
Lynne French
BBC News Online
The plan for the growth of Sherford, a new town on the edge of Plymouth, could be changed to make it more resistant to flooding after heavy rain.
The plan involves having corridors of green space to soak up excess water. Within these areas will be drainage basins, which when the weather is dry, will be useable public spaces, including recreation areas.
However, when the weather is exceptionally wet, the basins can take excess water from the town, transforming into ponds and wetlands that allow the water to drain away naturally.
These new areas will safely transport and store rainwater, cutting water pollution, reducing the amount of surface run-off, easing the pressure on drains, and significantly decreasing the threat of flooding.
Parents collecting their children from a primary school in Helston watched in disbelief as an impatient motorist, external mounted the pavement in an attempt to get past a bus unloading pupils.
A taxi driver has been found guilty of groping a lone teenage taxi passenger, external late at night.
Adrian Campbell, Environment Correspondent
BBC Spotlight
Highways England is working to increase low heathland areas on road verges in Devon and Cornwall.
Described as a "rare and threatened habitat", the lowland heathland has been in decline for about two centuries.
Following targeted surveys locations along the A30 and A38 heather will be planted and managed to increase and improve the habitat for plants, animals and birds such as the nightjar and Dartford warbler.
The areas will include Dartmoor, Bodmin Moor and Goss Moor adjacent to the A30, and Haldon Hill adjacent to the A38.
In total, eight locations across the Highways England network in the region have been selected as offering "excellent opportunities for heathland to be created, extended and/or restored".
A young woman died after falling from a horse on Dartmoor, external while riding without wearing a helmet or using a saddle.
A professional boxer has been found not guilty of drug dealing, external after the prosecution offered no evidence in his case.
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A park ranger has described the river that claimed a canoeist's life this morning as "roaring".
The man was with a group of canoeists when he became trapped under a tree in the Dart Gorge between Darmeet and Newbridge, on Dartmoor.
Rob Steemson, from Dartmoor National Park Authority, said: "The river obviously rises and falls quite quickly, but this morning it was roaring.
"With the heavy winds as well, quite a few trees have come down overnight and unfortunately that's what's trapped this person."
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A man has died in a canoeing accident on the River Dart.
Rob Steemson, a Dartmoor National Park ranger, said the victim was with a group of six to eight canoeists, when be became trapped under a tree in the Dart Gorge between Dartmeet and Newbridge.
"One canoeist has been trapped under a tree and unfortunately the person has passed away," he said.
Part of the river has been closed off while the emergency services recover the body.
Mainly dry this afternoon, with some spells of sunshine developing.
However, some scattered showers will move in towards the end of the day and may turn to sleet or snow this evening.
Fresh or strong northwesterly winds will make it feel colder, with a maximum temperature of 9C (48F).
A 94-year-old Plymouth woman who broke her shoulder in a fall and was left screaming in pain, external had to wait almost four hours for an ambulance.
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A man has died after his canoe became trapped under a tree in the Dart Gorge between Dartmeet and Newbridge, emergency services have confirmed.
Police, ambulance, fire service and mountain rescue are all at the scene.
The river has been closed between Dartmeet and Newbridge while the body is recovered, emergency services told the BBC.
A giant cake modelled on Britain's largest warship has been presented to the Queen.
An Edinburgh cake designer created the edible replica of HMS Queen Elizabeth for the event. It took more than 100 hours to complete, and required 7kg of flour as well as 160 eggs.
The commanding officer's wife Karen Kyd and the youngest member of the ship's company Steward Callum Hui, 17, from Lynton, Devon, have cut the cake.
Image source, MODA fire service is considering buying smaller engines so it can squeeze through car-filled streets.
Firefighters have been delayed in attending a number of emergencies because of "inconsiderate" residential parking.
Katherine Billing, from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service, said firefighters will put on sirens, go door-to-door knocking but - in an emergency - getting the truck through is a priority.
"Sometimes we try to physically push them [cars] out of the way. When we can't get the hoses to reach the property, then in that event we may cause damage to someone's vehicle, but that is the last resort."
Ben Woolvin
BBC South West Home Affairs correspondent
A Devon man has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of attempted sexual communication with children, including one count of attempting to meet a 14-year-old girl after sexual grooming.
The case against 56-year-old Michael Watton, of Dartmouth, relied on evidence gathered by so-called paedophile hunters who mount stings to catch sex offenders by posing as child decoys in internet chat rooms.
Watton was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Exeter Crown Court on 4 January.
Beaford Arts wants people who see themselves in the black and white pictures to tell their stories.
Read MoreA court has heard that the captain of a trawler which crashed into rocks, external at Mount Batten Pier had been drinking on an empty stomach before the collision.
