An inquest has been opened into the death of a kayaker who drowned last week after becoming trapped under a fallen tree on the River Dart.

Tobias Hamer was part of a seven-strong group of kayakers on a "roaring" River Dart in the Dart gorge when the accident happend on Tuesday 7 December at Bel Pool following heavy rain and strong winds which had brought down some trees.

Gloucester-born Mr Hamer was a 23-year-old teacher at Milton Abbey School, in Milton Abbas, Dorset.

The inquest in Plymouth was told there were no suspicious circumstances and the cause of death was drowning.

The inquest was adjourned until a full hearing can take place on a date still to be decided.

Plymouth Herald

The mum of a schoolboy who died suddenly, external has leapt to the defence of his former school, after it was revealed it had failed to improve for 10 years.

BBC Radio Cornwall

• Around Redruth on the A30 eastbound near the Avers Roundabout one lane is closed due to a number of accidents and recovery work. Westbound traffic is stop start
• Flights from Land's End Airport to the Isles of Scilly have now commenced after previous delays

Falmouth Packet

A decision is expected next week on plans to create a 2,000 bed student village in Cornwall, external, with the case officer urging councillors to refuse the scheme and the developers encouraging people to write in favour of it.

Devon Live

There have been calls for Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston to be deselected, external as the town's Conservative MP after she joined a rebellion to defeat Prime Minister Theresa May over Brexit in the Commons last night.

Cornwall Live

There has been traffic and travel disruption across Cornwall , externalwith a number of crashes reported, part of the A30 closed and reports of ice and trees blocking roads.

Lynne French
BBC News Online

Firefighters have rescued a dog trapped in a mine shaft in Cornwall.

The alarm was raised just before 07:30 after the dog fell about 50 - 65ft (15 to 20m) down a dry shaft at Wheal Boys in Redruth.

Line rescue equipment was used to recover the dog and reunite it with its owners.

BBC Radio Cornwall

An accident in Penryn has partially blocked the B3292 around Church Hill.

BBC Radio Devon

The Conservative MP for Totnes says she wasn't trying to obstruct Brexit by voting against the EU Withdrawal Bill in the Commons last night.

Dr Sarah Wollaston was one of 11 Tory MPs who backed a Labour amendment to the bill, calling for MPs to be given a vote before any deal is implemented.

The backbench revolt resulted in Prime Minister Theresa May suffering her first Commons defeat by just four votes - 309 to 305.

"It's not about obstructing Brexit at all," Dr Wollaston said.

"It was just to put in place the thing we all voted for, which was to bring back control to parliament."

The MP said she was not voting to "overturn the will of the people", but against a clause - Clause 9 - which gave a government minister the authority to take the UK out of Europe just by putting through a regulation rather than an act of parliament and "with almost no scrutiny".

"It's the duty of parliamentarians to look at these bills line by line and say 'we'd either like you to remove that bit, or amend it,'" she said.

In a tweet after the vote, the MP said she was "proud to #TakeBackControl".

BBC Spotlight

Hundreds of Star Wars fans gathered overnight in Plymouth to watch the latest release in the film franchise, The Last Jedi.

Die hard fans, many dressed as Star Wars characters, queued up to see the first official screening just after midnight.

The majority gave the film, the "thumbs up", with comments such as "awesome" and "wicked".

"I really loved it. It was a lot less of a remake of the original, which was my problem with the last film," one fan said.

Plymouth Herald

Work to remove combustible cladding on all three Devonport Towers, , externalin Plymouth, looks set to move forward early in 2018, it has been confirmed.

BBC Weather

If you're planning a trip to the coast today, here are the all-important times of high water.

There's a full local weather forecast in the lunchtime news on BBC One at 13:30 and on Spotlight tonight at 18:30.

Lynne French
BBC News Online

Totnes MP, Dr Sarah Wollaston, was one of 11 Conservative members who voted against her government last night by backing an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill.

The backbench revolt resulted in Theresa May suffering her first Commons defeat as prime minister by just four votes, as MPs backed a Labour amendment - calling for MPs to be given a vote before any final Brexit deal is implemented - by 309 to 305.

Devon Live

Police say a sword and a baseball bat were used in an armed robbery which targeted a security van , externalin Devon on Wednesday.

BBC Weather

Today will see a mixture of sunny spells and frequent, blustery showers, these mixed with sleet and hail at times and with some snow falling over moors and high ground.

Windy, with gales around exposed coasts and hills, but with the wind easing in the east later and a maximum temperature of 8C (46F).

BBC Radio Devon

• Reports of an accident at Honiton on the A30 around the A35 heading towards Upottery, with delays expected
• At Chawleigh on the B3042 around Butts Close, there are reports of an accident
• In Bickington, Old Bideford Road is partially blocked around Broadclose Road due to a fallen tree
• Slow traffic on the M5 southbound around Cullompton due to an earlier accident. All lanes are open

BBC Radio Cornwall

• A fallen tree and accident between the A30 and Shortlanesend is partially blocking the B3284
• Near Doublebois, the A38 is also partially blocked in both directions due to a fallen tree, with slow-moving traffic

BBC Spotlight

Plymouth Argyle's Home Park is expected to get planning permission later to revamp the ground.

The club wants to redevelop and extend the grandstand and also to build an ice rink at the site.

It also has secondary plans for restaurants, offices, a hotel and a gym.

Image source, ADG/Kensington Taylor

Image source, ADG/Kensington Taylor

BBC Radio Cornwall

The number of successful prosecutions for fly-tipping has fallen to a record low, according to a BBC investigation.

This is despite the the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) saying more people are doing it.

In South West it costs nearly £800,000 each year to clean up dumped rubbish.

A Defra spokesman said: "Fly-tipping is an unacceptable blight on our landscape, which is why we have cracked down on offenders by working with the Sentencing Council to strengthen sentencing guidelines and given councils the powers to hand out on-the-spot fines to fly-tippers.

"We have made it easier for vehicles suspected of being used for fly-tipping to be stopped, searched and seized and will continue to work with local partners to stop this inexcusable crime."