BBC Radio Cornwall

A police officer from west Cornwall is preparing for a polar trek to raise money for a Cornish charity.

Ben James, who works in Penzance is raising funds for the charity Kreslu, which supports other officers who suffer from stress and illness.

The 30-year-old from Camborne has previously crossed deserts, climbed mountains and glaciers. His described his latest trek as through polar bear country in Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic.

He said: "The population of polar bears is more than people. There are more than 3,000 polar bears, so there is a lot of risk assessment."

Image source, Ben James

Keith Crawford, 73, denies the manslaughter of labourer Peter Clements in January 2015.

BBC Weather

It will remain very cold and breezy tonight with clear periods, but also some snow showers continuing to move in from the east, these mainly along the coast.

Minimum temperature: -7 to -4C (19 to 25F).

Tuesday will be another cold day with sunny spells, but also some snow showers pushing in from the north-east.

Maximum temperature: 0 to 3C (32 to 37F).

Yellow weather warnings for snow, external are in place for Cornwall and parts of Devon on Wednesday and Thursday.

Kieran Buggs

Image source, Eden Project

Seventy rowers from across the gig world descended on the Eden Project’s Mediterranean Biome at the weekend for the inaugural Indoor Gig Rowing Championships, project staff say.

Rowers aged from 14 to their mid-60s competed fiercely across nine events organised by the Cornish Pilot Gig Association (CPGA), which represents 69 rowing clubs and 8,000 active gig rowers across the county.

Rowers from across Cornwall and beyond participated over two race distances, with the best competitors in 1,000m races qualifying for 2,000m finals.

Shane Sullivan, from the CPGA, said it was a "fantastic day" and an event that "clearly captured the imagination and [is] something to build for the future".

Jenny Kumah
Political reporter

A 4.5% council tax rise has been voted in by Plymouth city councillors.

Twenty-eight Conservatives voted in favour and 26 Labour councillors voted against the rise on the 57-seat authority.

This will mean an additional £62 a year for an average band D property.

Plans for £11.5m of savings in the city's budget have also been approved.

Image source, Plymouth City Council

Twitter

The woman denies endangering the life of her 18-month-old daughter by feeding her salt.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Emergency services are dealing with an incident on railway lines between Taunton and Exeter St Davids, blocking all tracks, National Rail Enquiries says, external and British Transport Police have confirmed.

Train bosses said journeys between the stations "may be cancelled, delayed by up to 90 minutes or revised".

Disruption was expected to continue until about 19:00, it added.

The nature of the incident is not known.

Jenny Kumah
Political reporter

Plymouth City Council is debating a proposed 4.47% council tax rise.

The leader of Conservative-run Plymouth City Council, Ian Bowyer, has proposed the rise that would see an additional £62 a year for a band D property.

It is under a maximum 6% rise the authority could bring in without a referendum.

The rise is lower than in the neighbouring Devon county and Torbay unitary authorities.

Any rise will come before tough local elections the city is facing in May, with Labour only needing two seats to take control of the 57-seat city council.

Devon Live

Police have criticised a campaign in Torbay, in which a group of local business people have been photographing and challenging people begging on the streets, external.

Twitter

Cliff are being inspected across the district to ensure there are no safety concerns.

Kieran Buggs

Two Devon zoos are working to protect the animals from snow and sub-zero temperatures expected this week.

Staff at Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts in Torquay said they were ensuring plants and animals were being tended to before freezing weather hits.

Extra bedding has been provided for animals such as the tapirs and zebras to keep them warm, whilst exotic trees have been wrapped to protect against the frost.

However, it may be the keepers who will feel most hard done by as Phil Knowling said, as "the care, feeding and mucking-out of livestock goes on regardless, even when it’s freezing cold outside".

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

A teenager has appeared in court in connection with a stabbing in Plymouth last week.

Police were called to the incident in Notte Street at about midday on Friday that saw a female being taken to hospital for treatment.

Her injuries were described by police as non life-threatening.

The 19-year-old man, from Union Street in the city, has appeared before magistrates, charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent and threatening a person with a bladed article.

The case was sent to the city's Crown Court, where he is due to appear on 3 April. He was remanded in custody.

Twitter

A businessman and former UKIP general election candidate has gone on trial, accused of killing a worker who was buried in a trench as he fixed his faulty swimming pool.

Keith Crawford, of Pocombe Bridge, near Ide, Exeter, allegedly rejected safety measures - which would have cost less than £500 - which resulted in the death of labourer Peter Clements, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Mr Clements died three days after being hit by a slab of earth that fell on top of him as he was trying to escape a 9ft-deep trench on Mr Crawford's land near Exeter in January 2015.

Mr Stephen Mooney, prosecuting, said Mr Clements died in hospital from cardiac arrest after suffering broken ribs and other crush injuries.

Mr Crawford, a 73-year-old former soldier and property manager, said Mr Clements was not an employee but self-employed and responsible for his own safety.

Mr Crawford, who stood as the UKIP candidate in Exeter in the 2010 and 2015 general elections, denies gross negligence manslaughter and failing to ensure the safety of an employee.

The trial continues.

Twitter

The water-powered Victorian cliff railway links the two coastal towns of Lynton and Lynmouth.

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Image source, The National Bureau of Investigations Anti-Human Trafficking Division

Police say there could be more raids in the Philippines after the arrest of three suspected people traffickers connected to the case of a convicted Devon paedophile.

Several children have been rescued but police say the number of victims is expected to rise as they carry out more investigations.

Image source, Devon & Cornwall Police

The raids took place after an operation led by Devon & Cornwall Police into convicted paedophile Alain Charlwood-Collings last year.

The 39-year-old, from Witheridge, near Tiverton, was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May 2017, after arranging for toddlers and other children to be abused in South East Asia while he watched online.

The 13 victims who were taken into care include nine children aged between four and 17, and four adults aged 19 and 24, in Biliran and Culaba in the Philippines.

The arrested women and a man are accused of child abuse and live streaming it on Skype.

BBC Radio Cornwall

A primary school near Launceston has stopped its Year R, 1, 2 and 3 classes for the day after heating stopped working in a building.

Tregadillett Primary School said Year 4, 5 and 6 classes were still having lessons.

The whole school "should be open as normal" on Tuesday, it added.

The so-called "beast from the East" is bringing bitterly cold weather from Russia to the UK.

A wind chill means that during the day it will feel like -10C to -15C across parts of the country.

Image source, Okey Trev/BBC Weather Watchers

Snow has also been reported in the South Hams.

BBC Radio Cornwall

A Cornish MP is calling for the export of animals for slaughter to be banned after the UK leaves the European Union.

A petition set up to secure the discussion in the House of Commons has been signed by tens of thousand of people.

Image source, Getty Images

Some farmers say it would be better to continue live exports but impose tougher welfare assurance standards.

The MP for Newquay and St Austell, Steve Double, says he does not agree.

"I see no reason whatsoever why we should put animals through the traumatic experience of being moved to another country, simply to be slaughtered when they reach the destination," he said.

"It makes far more sense to me, in terms of the UK economy and in terms of animal welfare, for the slaughter to take place in this country and then for their carcasses to be exported."