BBC Radio Devon

A 5% council tax rise and £20m worth of cuts have been voted in by Devon county councillors.

More money will be spent on the county's roads and services for the elderly and vulnerable, the authority said.

Opposition councillors put forward an amendment for cash to be taken out of reserves to save 30 health visitor posts, a schools mental health scheme and other services, but their proposal wasn't agreed.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

A proposal to close St Michael’s Church in Honiton is to be debated by the town council next Monday, external.

Councillors say they have received a letter saying the Diocese of Exeter can no longer maintain the building and has petitioned the Bishop of Exeter for its closure.

Image source, Tony Atkin

A report written by Honiton Town Council’s clerk Mark Tredwin said: "These proposals, if implemented by a pastoral scheme, would have the effect of closing the church for public worship and vesting it in the Exeter Diocesan Board of Finance for care and maintenance, pending a decision on its future.

"Any such decision would be the subject of a second scheme, called a Pastoral (Church Building Disposal) scheme, which would be prepared and published by the Church Commissioners."

The body of a man was found this afternoon in Longdown, near Exeter, by Devon and Cornwall Police and the Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team.

Officers say formal identification has yet to take place, however, the family of missing 20-year-old student Rory Cattermole has been informed of this development.

Mr Cattermole, who is studying in Exeter, was last seen on Tuesday.

Plymouth Herald

The landladies of Plympton pub, the Post Office Inn, are leaving on Saturday following a long-running dispute with the pub's owners, external - Ei Publican Partnerships.

Cornwall Live

Plans for a free range egg farm at Nancegollan, near Helston, which would have housed 112,000 birds have been rejected by Cornwall Council planners, external.

BBC Weather

Many of the showers will die out through this evening, leaving just one or two lingering overnight.

There will be clear spells allowing it to turn cold.

Minimum Temperature: -2 to 2C (28-36F).

Tomorrow, there will be plenty of dry weather with decent amounts of sunshine.

However, there is the chance of the odd shower as well.

Maximum Temperature: 7-10C (45-50F).

Two Plymouth-born victims of Barry Bennell have explained how he turned their dreams into a "horrendous nightmare".

The former youth football coach has been convicted of 43 sex assaults on boys.

Micky Fallon, who still lives in Plymouth but was targeted by Bennell at Crewe, said: "We stand before you today as men united but, at the same time, we were very young boys.

"We were little boys with a dream and our innocence was shattered. Our dreams turned into the most horrendous nightmare."

Jenny Kumah
Political Reporter for BBC Devon and South West

Devon County Council has approved a 5% council tax rise and says it plans to cut £20m from spending.

More cash will be spent on roads, the elderly and vulnerable.

But 30 health visitor jobs are due to go and a schools' counselling service could end.

The increase will add about £63 to the average Band D bill.

BBC Radio Devon

Exmouth Museum trying to buy its building - owned by South West Water - "a big rent rise".

The firm has offered to sell it to the museum for £130,000, but volunteers need to raise the cash to purchase it.

In a statement, South West Water says 50% of the proceeds of the sale of the building will be returned to customers through the company's next price setting.

Image source, Google

Peter Cowper, the fundraising organiser at the museum, says he needs as many people as possible to get involved.

"We're actually trying to collect as many names as possible of people who want to know [what is going on] as we go through the funding process," he said.

"We'll keep them informed about what we're doing and what events we are holding during the time that the museum is open, because it opens from April until October."

Cornwall Live

Plans for a 2,000-bed student village on the outskirts of Penryn have taken a step forward after being granted outline planning permission, external.

BBC Radio Devon

The South West Wildlife Trusts (SWWT) partnership is calling for a radical rethink by developers, local authorities and the government to make sure new housing estates take more account of animals, external.

The SWWT says the natural environment is often forgotten and houses are packed together with small gardens that prevent wild animals moving around.

They want more corridors to help species such as bats, insects and small mammals.

Image source, South West Wildlife Trusts

Ed Parr Ferris, from Devon Wildlife Trust, says it does cost a lot to develop special spaces, but it is worth it.

"You need to leave gaps for things like services, overhead power lines, water courses and these are opportunities to put in these corridors for wildlife," he said.

"You can widen them out a little bit and suddenly you've got a wildlife corridor right through the heart of a development, which is somewhere where people can come and enjoy wildlife as well."

BBC Radio Devon

The future of the village of Ogwell near Newton Abbot is being decided in a parish referendum today.

Residents are being given the chance to vote on a Neighbourhood Plan, external which suggests several ways to improve the village, including ideas for new community, sports and leisure facilities.

The polling stations are situated at Canada Hill Primary School and Ogwell Memorial Hall and will be open until 22:00.

Image source, Richard Broome

BBC Radio Cornwall

Thousands of people with dementia in Cornwall could soon get a blue badge to give them priority parking.

Thirty-five thousand people in the county already have the concession.

With a government consultation under way, there are concerns any increase in numbers might lead to a lack of parking spaces and more abuse of the system.

Image source, alamy

Ian Sherriff, who lives in Plymouth and chairs the prime minister's Rural Dementia Friendly Task and Finish Group, says local authorities need to learn from each other.

He said: "In our car parks we have special dementia-friendly car spaces, which are on the lower floors right next to the ticket machines.

"This helps the carer, or the person with dementia, so that they're quite near the place where they have to get the ticket and therefore the carer can keep an eye on them so they don't wander."

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

The government says it does not recognise Trades Union Congress (TUC) figures around child poverty.

According to the TUC, external, the South West has seen the biggest rise in the number of children in public sector families living in poverty.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A decision to hold gross misconduct hearings over the death of a man who was restrained in police custody is "inappropriate" and "totally unacceptable," the Police Federation claims.

Six Devon and Cornwall officers and staff will face the hearings, five years after the death of Thomas Orchard from Exeter, after an announcement by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

The Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers, said it was "extremely disappointed with both the decision and the delay" - and would continue to "support and represent the officers" as they try to move forward from this decision.

The Isles of Scilly Steamship Company has said it has been "bowled over" that 700 people inquired about its new helicopter service within an hour of its announcement.

The company will start operating eight flights a day from May between the islands and Lands End.

The move comes as the owner of Tresco Island, Robert Dorrien-Smith, has vowed to continue with plans to secure a new service to Penzance.

Sue Jackson, from Newquay, suffered with chronic pain in her arm for nine years, lost her job and couldn't even pick up her first grandchild before finding help at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

It all started after a fall at Christmas in 2006, which resulted in Sue fracturing her wrist, displacing her collar bone and shoulder blade.

A new centre is being built at the RUH to help more people like Sue.

Woman with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome says therapy has changed her life.

Devon Live

Residents of Torbay’s homeless hostel have had to be rehoused following a fire at the shelter., external