Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Three people have been arrested, external after police found a large quantity of crack cocaine and heroin in their hire car last night.

The vehicle, being driven by a woman from Exeter, was stopped on the M5.

Officers say the drugs have an estimated street value of more than £10,000.

Two men from Coventry are also in police custody.

Image source, Devon & Cornwall Police

BBC Radio Cornwall

A Cornish sculptor has created a statue of a prominent suffragette on the 100th anniversary of women first being given the right to vote in the UK.

Richard Austin from Wadebridge was commissioned by Northampton Borough Council to design a 7ft (2m) sculpture of Margaret Bondfield, a Labour MP for Northampton who became the first female cabinet member as well as co-founding the first trade union for women.

Image source, Richard Austin

Mr Austin says it is a great way to mark such an important figure.

"Northampton Borough Council has been amazing," she said. "It's unprecedented in commissioning a sculptor to create seven life-size sculptures of important people from Northampton. She's the final one.

"It's fantastic that she's such an important lady from Northampton and especially in this year of 100 years of women getting the vote."

The sculpture joins six other famous Northampton figures commissioned by the council - Francis Crick, Lady Wantage, Edgar Mobbs, Walter Tull, John Clare and Malcolm Arnold.

Margaret Bondfield's statue will be unveiled at Northampton Guildhall on 20 March.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Police say they are carrying out a raid at a flower picking farm in Helston to tackle a case of suspected modern slavery.

Specialist officers, with support from the Gang Masters Labour Abuse Authority, say they executed a warrant at Bosahan Farm, external, near Manaccan, on the suspicion that offences were taking place against migrant workers.

Three men from the area have been arrested on suspicion of modern slavery offences and are now in police custody waiting to be questioned.

The welfare of about 200 workers is now being managed by Cornwall Council with support from The Salvation Army at a specially-created reception centre.

Police say those affected by the alleged crime are mostly male migrants thought to be from Lithuania, Romania and Bulgaria.

BBC Radio Devon

There is anger in Totnes because of a proposal to move its war memorial nearer the road.

Those behind the idea say they want to improve the space around it for commemorations and remembrance, and moving it a few metres will mean more room for people to stand.

But relatives of the fallen say it is like moving a grave.

Val Price's grandfather died in the Battle of Passchendaele and his name is on the memorial.

She says it should not be moved.

"A lot of the men on this memorial have no known grave," she said. "We, the relatives, do consider this to be their last resting place.

"You would not move somebody from their last resting place."

The War Memorials Trust and Historic England both oppose the move, which has been put forward by Totnes Trust, Totnes Parochial Church Council and Totnes Town Council.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) says it is "broadly" behind proposals which could see a GCSE in agriculture being offered to 13 year olds in England.

The idea has been raised in a parliamentary debate by the Conservative MP for York Outer, Julian Sturdy.

Its backers say it would help children understand where their food came from and perhaps persuade more of them into farming.

David George from the NFU says many young people have no idea about how food reaches their table.

"Most of us live in urban environments, not in the countryside," he said.

"I think these days, meat is something you see pre-packed in plastic on a supermarket shelf. Likewise, milk comes in plastic cartons.

"But how does it get there? It's not anyone's fault. That's just the way things have happened over the years."

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK which has a qualification for agriculture at the moment.

BBC Radio Devon

A gas leak in North Devon has been dealt with by fire crews and the Environmental Protection Unit.

They were called to North Road in Holsworthy after a strong smell of gas was reported near cylinders within a locked compound, external.

Crews say they managed to get into the compound and isolate one of the cylinders just after 02:00.

Plymouth Herald

A dog walker says she was shocked to discover Batten Bay beach in Plymstock apparently covered in cod fillets, external.

Devon Live

The funeral of Elizabeth Cookworthy, who died 185 years ago, has taken place after her body was found for the second time, external during construction work at Plymouth's Bretonside bus station.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Image source, Facebook/Balleka

A glider pilot died in a crash on Dartmoor in December 2016 after taking off in "turbulent conditions", according to an Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report.

YouTube star Matt Wright, who was known as Balleka online, was killed after his aircraft plunged to the ground after attempting a turn after taking off from Brentor Airfield.

Other pilots tried to resuscitate the 47-year-old, from Tiverton, after he came down in a patch of gorse but paramedics confirmed he was dead 25 minutes after the crash.

Image source, AAIB

The AAIB report, external says another glider pilot decided not to carry out a second flight after experiencing windy weather an hour before but the decision was taken to resume flying after winds appeared to have dropped.

The Dartmoor Gliding Society had earlier grounded all of its aircraft because of the weather conditions.

The report said "regardless of the pilot’s significant experience an area of sinking air meant that the glider did not have the performance to complete the circuit safely".

Investigators used three cameras mounted on Matt Wright's glider to look into the accident and said it had issued additional guidance related to launch failures after the crash.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Experts are warning the 2018 summer season may not be smooth sailing for Cornwall's tourism industry.

Challenges including increased competition and a decrease in consumer confidence and spending are among the challenges businesses are likely to face, according to Visit Cornwall.

Malcolm Bell, from the tourist board, said visitors are getting the "book direct message" rather than booking through holiday platform sites. He said "going direct is robust and reliable", but the challenges mentioned above are making "it harder for smaller businesses".

The issues will be addressed at an annual tourism summit taking place in Newquay later.

Martyn Oates
BBC South West Political Editor

The government is looking into a "loophole" that allows holiday homeowners to avoid paying council tax and business rates, the Local Government Minister Rishi Sunak has announced.

Owners can convert to business use and enjoy small business rate relief to avoid both charges.

Mr Sunak said there was "scope for ambiguity" in the existing system, which St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double said meant councils in tourist areas were losing out financially.

Last week during PMQs Mr Double asked Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington to address the issue, saying holiday homes in Cornwall were "a mixed blessing".

Struggling on the pitch and run by a "mysterious" chairman off it, Torquay United fans fear for the future of their club.

The Tory MP for St Austell and Newquay says councils in tourist areas are losing out on revenue.

BBC Weather

Largely staying dry through tonight with clear spells and a little more cloud at times.

Chilly once more with a frost developing.

Minimum temperature: -4C (25F).

Thursday will see a dry morning with some brightness at first but cloud will tend to increase.

Thickening cloud in the afternoon will bring with it a little rain and drizzle.

Maximum Temperature: 9C (48F).

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

A 19th Century coffin discovered during demolition work in Plymouth was not moved with other coffins from the site in the 1950s because it was not found at the time.

The coffin of Elizabeth Cookworthy, who died in October 1833, aged 70, was discovered last December while the Bretonside bus station site was being cleared for the construction of a new cinema complex.

She was the wife of the grandson of Quaker and local benefactor William Cookworthy.

Brentonside is on a former Quaker burial site and about 50 bodies were previously exhumed and transferred to Efford Cemetery. However, Mrs Cookworthy's remains were not found then because they were buried deeper than the others were.

Her remains have been re-interred at Efford Cemetery, where the other bodies were also moved to.

BBC News England

A Devon district council has the highest overspend proportionately of local authorities in England, figures have found.

Analysis by the BBC England Data Unit has found around one in every three local authorities spent more on services in 2016-17 than they expected to.

Across England of those councils that overspent, the average overspend in 2016-17 was 3.1%.

South Hams District Council in Devon said it would spend £31.5m on services in 2016-17 but reported spending £38m.

The council said government grants covered most of the additional spending.

However, it was still left with a £45,000 overspend, equivalent to 0.5% of the budget.

The council’s net budget was £8.4m for 2017-18. Final decisions on its 2018-19 budget are due to be made at a meeting on 22 February.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that, over the next four years, councils across England were to get real terms increases in their budgets.

Independent

A young mother say she was left feeling humiliated by Tesco staff, external when she was told to breastfeed her baby in a storage area at a Plymouth store.

From sports grounds mascots to railway station mousers - the roles fulfilled by felines.

Martyn Oates
BBC South West Political Editor

The prime minister has dismissed calls for extra health spending in the South West, but said that the government would continue to look at the distribution of NHS funding and ensure "it takes account all the factors that it needs to".

Theresa May was responding to St Ives Conservative MP Derek Thomas during Prime Minister's Questions, who said NHS Kernow and other providers in the region needed more money because of "inequality" compared to other areas.

Kevin Thomas
BBC Weather Forecaster