BBC Radio Devon

In Plymouth, Wolseley Road is blocked in both directions due to an accident between Rennie Avenue and Normandy Hill.

Katie Barker

North Devon Council's executive has backed plans to increase its share of council tax charges by 2.99%.

The authority said the plans, which would increase the amount of council tax paid by average families by 10p per week, were being considered in order to help bridge funding gaps caused by government cuts.

"Funding from the government continues to drop whilst the costs of running our services continues to rise," Council Leader Des Brailey said. "This means it's yet another year of making some tough decisions."

Other proposed changes include reforming recycling services, plans to alter collection rounds and reduce the amount of waste in landfills, which was predicted to save it a further £465,000, the council said.

The full council is due to discuss the proposals at a meeting on 21 February.

BBC Spotlight

A woman from Cornwall who was sexually abused as a young child is encouraging other people to report incidents, whenever they happened.

The mum, who is now in her 30s, spoke up after nearly three decades.

Her abuser was jailed for 12 years in the autumn.

She was supported by police and South West charity First Light.

Sharon Minty, from the charity, said she believed more people needed to be encouraged to come forward.

"Historic cases saw a huge increase following the likes of the Jimmy Savile story and other big, public name cases that came to light a couple of years ago.

"But ... we believe it's still under-reported."

First Light's figures show that last year across Cornwall and Plymouth it dealt with 224 new sexual abuse and rape cases and 454 historic cases.

There's a national campaign , externalto raise awareness called "It's Not OK" as part of Sexual Assault and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.

Twitter

The grade II-listed building dates back to the 1830s.

BBC Radio Devon

A major road in Torbay has been blocked in both directions by a crash involving a car and a motorcycle.

The A3022 Totnes Road in Paignton is closed in both directions after the crash between Elmbank Road and Hayes Road.

Cornwall Live

Fresh ideas - including the possibility of creating a new link road - to solve the problem of increased traffic near Porthcurno's Minack Theatre are set to be discussed, external.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Police are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward after a teenager was assaulted in Redruth.

A 14-year-old has injuries to his leg after the incident, external, which happened between 15:00 and 15.15 on Monday 22 January at the lane between Little Treloweth and Pumpfield Row in Pool.

The victim was cycling home from school when two other male teenagers approached the boy and kicked the tyre of his bicycle, causing him to fall and injure his leg.

Police said the offenders then stood and swore at the boy.

BBC Radio Cornwall

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BBC Radio Cornwall

Supporters of a dementia care home in north Cornwall which is under special measures are begging the council to help stop it from closing.

Highermead Care Home at Camelford was placed in special needs and subject to a placement ban by the Care Quality Commission and Cornwall Council in 2016.

The latest inspection, in August last year, brought a slightly higher rating of "requires improvement", which means the ban on residents placed by the local authority remains.

Care provider Ark Care Services Limited is in talks with Cornwall Council to try to turn the situation around.

Image source, Google

Beverley's father has dementia and is cared for at Highermead.

She was at County Hall in Truro this morning to show her support for the manager and 19 staff who currently work at the home.

"It means everything," she said. "He's lived in Camelford all his life, as I have. It's a wonderful place, the people there are amazing. I can't even believe that they're thinking about closing it down."

Council officials are due to visit the home on Wednesday to discuss what more can be done to take it out of special measures.

BBC Radio Devon

Police are appealing for witnesses and anyone with information to a sexual assault in Plymouth.

The incident happened on Sunday 17 December between 13:00 and 13:45 on The Parade, in the Barbican area of Plymouth.

Police said they were contacted after reports a 31-year-old woman had been sexually assaulted.

The victim was approached by a man while waiting for a taxi. The man is described as being in his early 20s, about 5ft 9ins (1.75m) tall and of slim build.

He had short brown hair, was clean shaven and was wearing a dark-coloured woolly jumper with a white pattern on the upper chest.

He was also believed to have a Liverpool accent, officers added.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

The leader of Plymouth City Council has welcomed a House of Commons report calling cuts to assault ships and reductions in the Royal Marines "militarily illiterate".

Image source, PA

A government review , externalwhich began last year is proposing that up to 2,000 marines are cut as well as the Royal Navy's two specialist landing ships - HMS Albion (pictured) and HMS Bulwark - which are both based in the city.

Ian Bowyer says it "makes absolutely no sense to reduce, external" the UK's military capability "while other countries are investing" in theirs.

The Sun

Aldi have taken up to 38,000 packets of frozen veg off the shelves after a customer from Liskeard complained she had found a rat in one, external.

Nine men have been charged over an armed robbery at Michael Spiers Jewellers in Truro last month, police say.

Five of the men are charged with robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery and having an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence after the raid on Wednesday 11 January:

• Tomas Bakierskis, 24, from Bristol
• Haroldas Ivanovas, 20, from Newquay
• Andrius Buinevicius, 41, from Lithuania
• Saulius Mickus, 28, from Bristol
• Rogertas Slekaitis, 25, from King's Lynn

Three men are charged with conspiracy to commit robbery:

• Agris Davidonis, 30, from an address in Gunnislake
• Gytis Inokaitis, 35, Plymouth
• Deimantas Burba, 32, from no fixed abode

Harijus Jaciaskas, 32, from Manchester, has been charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and breach of a deportation order.

All nine have been remanded in custody and are due appear before Truro Crown Court on Tuesday 13 February.

Torquay United cancel the contract of central defender Myles Anderson by mutual consent.

Image source, BBC Sport

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BBC News England

GPs are leaving the profession at an increasing rate because they feel "undervalued", research by the University of Exeter Medical School, external has found.

Doctors have spoken of concerns about the risk of litigation and problems with their own health due to work pressures.

Dr Charlotte Ferriday (pictured) quit her GP partnership in Devon in 2015. She said the job left her burnt out.

"I woke up one Monday morning and I couldn't get out of bed," she said. "For six weeks it was difficult to leave the house and it was catastrophic.

"I found it was increasingly difficult to do the job because I didn't have the resources and services that supported my patients.

"It felt like we were ignored and GPs were not valued by the government."

The government says it has committed to an extra 5,000 GPs by 2020.

BBC Radio Cornwall

A classic RAF jet plane will begin its journey from Cornwall today, as a special exhibit to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Air Force.

The English Electric Lightning is lying in pieces at the Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre at Newquay Airport at the moment.

It will form part of a display of 100 planes at the RAF Cosford Air Show in Shropshire this June.

The English Electric Lightning was the fastest all-British jet plane ever built.

Cornwall Aviation Heritage Centre co-founder Richard Spencer Breeze says it is an important part of the centenary, even though it needs to be put back together again.

"The fuselage is divided in to two, the wings have been taken off, the tail fin and tail planes have been taken off, the engines have been taken out.

"But all of the pieces are here. We've got every single piece. And even this week we've finally acquired the ejector seat for it, which is a really important component."

Exeter manager Paul Tisdale praises defender Jordan Storey after he made his first Football League start against Luton Town.

BBC Inside Out

A team of young people took on a challenge to work as vegetable pickers, a job usually done by migrant workers.

The group from Plymouth, aged 18 to 23, worked for Southern England Farms Ltd in Cornwall picking cabbages.

Owner Greville Richards said he employed 500 pickers, nearly all of whom are from eastern Europe, but would gladly employ British workers.

Research found, external that immediately after the Brexit referendum, recruitment to Cornish farms became more difficult and staffing requirements were at 65% of need.

Watch more on Inside Out South West on BBC One on 5 February at 19:30 GMT, and on the iPlayer for 30 days thereafter.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Tributes have been paid to a motorist who died in a crash on the B3266 between Bodmin and Camelford on 19 January.

Gemma Sleeman, 34, from Bodmin, has been described as "kind and thoughtful, external" by her husband, Matthew.

Image source, Devon & Cornwall Police

Emergency services were called around 12.10 on Friday 19 January after a collision between a silver Skoda Fabia and a blue Citroen Xsara Picasso.

Ms Sleeman, who was driving the Skoda, died at the scene from her injuries.

The driver of the Citroen, a 30-year-old man from St Austell, died of his injuries at Derriford Hospital five days after the crash.