Team GB rower shared a photo of herself posing against a sunset with her baby bump showing.

Jenna Hawkey
BBC News Online

The Cornwall Cider Championships will make its debut at the 2018 Royal Cornwall Show.

The resurgence in the popularity of cider has led the organisers to include cider classes among the numerous competitive elements of Cornwall's largest annual event.

The championships will be open to amateur and professional cider makers from within the county as well as those based in other parts of the UK.

David Berwick, chairman of the newly-formed cider section committee, said: "Cornwall has often been seen as the little brother when it comes to cider and I feel this competition is essential to promote the industry as a serious contender on a national, as well as an international, stage."

A care home in Devon and another in Cornwall have been rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Venn House Residential Care Home, external in Lamerton, near Tavistock, and Chy Byghan Residential Home, external in Sennen were visited by CQC inspectors after concerns were raised over safety and staffing levels.

Twitter

Michael Hewitt exploited his "position of trust" in a Jehovah's Witnesses congregation, police say.

Radio Times

Eleanor Tomlinson, best known as Demelza in BBC1's hit period drama Poldark, is set to release her debut album, external this May.

Tales From Home - a collection of folk-influenced covers - will see the actress take on a series of classic hits, including Carole King's Tapestry and Simon and Garfunkel's Homeward Bound.

The album also features The Spinning Wheel, a cover of a Scottish folk song that Tomlinson recorded with her brother and fellow actor, Ross Tomlinson.

She said: "I would like to thank the Poldark fans who inspired me to make this album. Without their support, this would not have been possible."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, Via Exeter City Council

Plans for 146 new homes, a care home and a new pre-school on the site of a school for the deaf in Exeter have been backed by planners.

The scheme, on the site of the Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education in Topsham Road, would see the construction of a mixture of one and two-bedroom apartments, as well as two to five-bedroom family houses, and would include affordable housing.

A 68-bed care home and 61 assisted living apartments also feature in the plans. Developers Acorn Property Group added a new pre-school in response to concerns raised by residents.

Exeter City Council planners have recommended the proposals be approved when they meet on 19 March.

The deaf education academy (pictured below) is currently in the process of relocating to a new purpose-built facility at the former Rolle College in Exmouth.

BBC Radio Cornwall

A Cornish MP says the council's consultation on changes to adult social care is not good enough.

Some parents and carers of vulnerable adults say letters from Cornwall Council, alerting them to the changes, only arrived three days before the end of the consultation period.

The council says the consultation started in January, was due to end in February and was extended until yesterday.

It also says it was on the council website and promoted via social media, external.

Newquay and St Austell MP Steve Double says it is absolutely right the council consults on the changes.

"My problem with this is the way this consultation has been handled," he said.

"I've been contacted by families very upset that their elderly relatives, who are often very vulnerable and in great need, have only been given a few days to respond to this very complex consultation.

"I just think that's not good enough."

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) has issued a new appeal for community support as it continues to face extreme pressure and high demand for urgent care services.

The RCHT has taken to Twitter to remind people to only use the emergency department in a genuine emergency to avoid overcrowding.

It has been running a gold incident command centre since last Thursday after weeks of severe pressure on services compounded by the cold weather, snow and high levels of flu.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Cornwall Council has defended the way it has handled a consultation on changes to adult social care.

Some parents of vulnerable adults say letters from the council, alerting them to the changes, only arrived three days before the end of the consultation period.

They said it left them feeling rushed into answering questions about paying more money for meals and respite care.

They also raised concerns about people who did not have internet access possibly not being able to contribute.

The council said the consultation started Friday 26 January and was due to last until 24 February before being extended until 12 March.

It said: "The consultation was placed on the council's website and promoted via social media.

"Feedback has been received and is currently being reviewed which will shape advice to elected members."

BBC Radio Devon

In Exmouth, Maer Lane is blocked due to an accident between Gore Lane and West Down Lane.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Paignton is to get its fifth out-of-town superstore, after planners voted unanimously to back a new Lidl supermarket.

The new store, at White Rock, Paignton, will join Aldi, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's outlets, all within little more than a mile of each other.

Forty jobs are expected to be created by the new supermarket, which is scheduled to open in early 2019.

Lidl has agreed to keep its existing town centre branch (pictured) open for a minimum of five years after the new out-of-town store starts trading.

Image source, Google

Olympic rower Helen Glover and TV presenter Steve Backshall will become first-time parents later this year - to twins.

Team GB athlete Glover, who is from Penzance, Cornwall, tweeted, external: "Soooo...The biggest adventure of our lives.. 2 little (chicks) of our own arriving this summer!!!"

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Councillors are being asked to approve increasing the number of student flats set to be built on land behind the St James Park home of Exeter City Football Club.

Image source, Exeter City Council

Developers want to raise the number of beds from 312 to 336, but say it will be achieved through the creation of additional floors at lower ground level to the block closest to the Big Bank.

Steelworks for the new stand, part of the £3.4m redevelopment of St James Park, will begin to be put up at the beginning of next month.

If the project remains on schedule, the work is due to be finished by September or October.

A report on the application, which goes before Exeter City Council planners next Monday, says the footprint and height of the building will remain unchanged from the previously-approved scheme.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Network Rail is closing the main line west of Truro to Penzance, including the St Ives branch line, for four days next week.

Buses will replace trains between Monday and Thursday.

The work is taking place so that new signal systems can be installed ahead of the introduction of new intercity express trains this summer.

GWR says the new trains are specifically designed for Cornwall and Devon, will bring up to 24% more seats and reduce journeys between Penzance and London by up 14 minutes.

It is thanking customers in advance for their patience.

Northern Ireland midfielder Paul Paton signs for Plymouth after being released by St Johnstone in January.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Cornwall's Wild Young Parents Project, external has come in the top eight out of 350 organisations to win £30,000 plus expertise from the Kings Fund.

The majority of mothers and fathers that the project supports come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which often means they suffer from poor health.

The project finds ways to help the parents achieve their potential through developing skills and self esteem.

In addition to the financial award, the Wild Young Parents Project will be given access to free training and leadership development.

BBC Radio Devon

Plans to reopen a fire-damaged cafe on Teignmouth seafront are set to be given the go ahead next week.

The Beachcomber Cafe has been closed since July, when a fire destroyed the kitchen and parts of the building.

It is owned by Teignbridge District Council, which has applied for a planning application for replacement windows and aluminium panels to the roof.

It will go before the planning committee next Tuesday.

Image source, Google

Twitter

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A proposed five-storey block of flats in Paignton will not include any affordable homes, despite Torbay Council's planning policy suggesting nine of the 46 flats should be affordable.

Provisional planning permission has been given for the development on the old police station site in Southfield Road (pictured here in 2011).

Officers said a viability assessment showed the hoped-for affordable homes could not be built at reasonable cost to the developer, Torquay-based McCarthy Contracting and Development.

Councillor Mike Morey said: "I find it disappointing he could not find nine affordable homes out of 46."

Image source, Google