BBC News UK

Exeter was one of only six UK cities that saw a drop in the average age of their population in the last 20 years a study suggests.

Image source, Alamy

The Centre for Cities, which looks at built-up urban areas with 135,000 or more people, external, said it was mostly as a result of expanding student populations.

Despite these patterns, the average age of the population in most cities has changed in line with that of the population of the UK as a whole - meaning it got older - says the study.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The fishing community in the South West is waiting to hear the outcome of a meeting between Conservative MPs from coastal areas and the prime minister, where fishing policy will be discussed.

Many are angry that the EU will continue to set quotas on how much fish can be caught during the transition period after Brexit.

Image source, Reuters

The government says it has secured safeguards for the British fishing industry.

But the harbour master at Newlyn, Rob Parsons, says fishermen in the port are not impressed.

"They're stating that it's going to be European-centric for the transitional period and they're mentioning safeguards.

"But in my opinion, if there are safeguards, they need to be robust enough to protect the British fishermen to mitigate the decision to do this.

"There's more to come, but I'd say the feeling in Newlyn at the moment is disappointed and slightly sold out."

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Councillors in Devon have been told that they cannot use £2m of unspent funds from a major broadband project.

External funding has been used to finish the first phase of the Connecting Devon and Somerset scheme, external, the largest government-funded superfast broadband programme in the UK.

However, councillors who wanted to use the extra £2m to accelerate the project have been told that it is not within the county council's power to reallocate funds.

Image source, CDS

Councillor Stuart Barker, Devon County Council cabinet member for economy and skills, said: "The money isn't for us to redistribute.

"We are not the accountable authority or the contract holder, so it is not for us to redistribute that money."

The first phase of the Connecting Devon and Somerset project has been used to install superfast broadband in homes on Exmoor and Dartmoor with other difficult areas due to be completed by next year.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A 61-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murdering a 56-year-old woman in Penzance.

Peter Rogers spoke only to confirm his name and the fact he has no fixed address, at Truro Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

He is charged with murdering 56-year-old Jennifer Rogers, whose body was found at a property in Dock Lane on Saturday.

Mr Rogers was remanded in custody to appear at Plymouth Crown Court on Wednesday.

Jenny Walrond
Health Correspondent, BBC Spotlight

The South West is to be allocated an extra 158 medical school places.

Seventy will be based at the University of Plymouth and 88 at the University of Exeter.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "It will help us deal with the challenges of having around one million more over-75s in 10 years' time."

A total of 1,000 places have been allocated for intakes from September 2019 to medical schools across the UK.

The number is in addition to 500 extra places previously announced nationwide.

Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Will Chudley is to join Premiership rivals Bath at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

A review could lead to 33 Devon foster carers having their weekly payments cut.

Councillor James McInnes confirmed in a council cabinet meeting that the county was reviewing its fostering payments.

The authority said the intention was to increase the provision of in-house foster care and any proposed changes would not be about trying to save money.

Image source, Devon County Council

Mr McInnes said: "None of this is about saving money in a budget. We have made the difficult decision to review the whole of the allowance system as an attempt to encourage more people to become foster carers."

Tier 3 carers, who are paid £563.26, external, an all-inclusive rate covering allowance and fee, are facing the cuts.

The University of Exeter investigates allegations of "deplorable" comments made by law society members.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Daphne du Maurier's son has unveiled a sculpture called Rook with a Book at Berrill's Yard, Fowey.

Kits Browning says his mother would have approved of the art work - a 4ft high (1.2m) steel bird holding a novel in its claws which weighs 27 stone (172kg).

But he admits he nearly got mixed up when he was preparing his speech for the occasion. "When I was first approached to do the unveiling the festival committee said that it would be unveiling a crow.

"So I thought I better do some research on crows, starting off with the collective noun, which is a murder of crows, which I thought would appeal to my mother's rather macabre sense of humour.

"Unfortunately I then met the festival committee again and they said, 'Actually it's not going to be a crow. It's a rook.' So all of that research went out of the way."

Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds was made into a film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1963. She lived in Bodinnick, opposite Fowey, at a house called Ferryside, which her family originally bought as a second home in the 1920s.

BBC Spotlight

More than 100 builders, electricians and plumbers from Plymouth took part in a demonstration on the A38 at the weekend.

The tradesmen and women drove their vans in convoy to highlight how many of them have had their vans broken into and tools stolen.

Devon and Cornwall Police say they have seen a sharp increase in this type of theft in Plymouth recently.

The builders blame a skeleton key that thieves use to access their vans and steal tools.

Paul Davenport, who helped organise the rally, says thieves are not being deterred by stickers saying there are "no tools inside".

BBC Radio Cornwall

Image source, Bek Stratfield

A group of women have walked the Saints Way from Padstow to Fowey as part of an appeal to find a teenager who went missing last July.

Finn Layland-Stratfield was 17 when he disappeared eight months ago from Tintagel, external.

He was last seen by a hiker near a youth hostel above Hole Beach. His mother Bek Stratfield was among those who trekked the 27 miles (43km) to raise money for the charity Missing People.

She says Finn's disappearance is every parent's worst nightmare. "In a lot of ways it was so traumatic," she said. "It still seems like yesterday. On the flip side of that, I haven't seen my child for eight months. That seems like a lifetime. When you go back to those days, it was pretty horrendous."

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

The family of a man who died after being hit by a lorry on a road in Cornwall have paid tribute to him.

Tom Griffin, 28, was hit by a white commercial articulated heavy goods vehicle while walking between the St Erth and the Loggans Moor roundabouts on the A30 on 13 March.

The driver of the HGV was uninjured and the road was closed for six hours.

Image source, Devon & Cornwall Police

His family said: "Tom was very thoughtful, a gentle soul and a loving father of twin girls, we loved him very much. With his incredible talent, he recently graduated with a degree in art and design. He always loved to cook and make things for all the family. Friends always talk fondly of him and of their fun times together.

"We will miss you Tom and you will always be in our hearts from your loving mum, dad and brothers Piers and Luke."

BBC Radio Cornwall

Artwork inspired by Daphne du Maurier's short story The Birds, which was made into the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film, has been unveiled in Fowey.

The metal sculpture of a four-foot high (1.2m) steel rook holding a book in its claws has been created by father and son team, Thomas and Gary Thrussell, who are based in Temple.

Daphne Du Maurier's son, Christian "Kits" Browning, who lives locally, unveiled the artwork at Berrill's Yard, Fowey, near the lifeboat station on Monday.

It weighs 27 stone (172kg) and Gary Thrussell says it has been a challenging build.

"The actual template, or the silhouette that forms the shape, is flat steel and then I've added a few rods over the top and they're all welded in position.

"When it's in that state, I can keep cutting bits and altering it and give it that characterful look."

BBC Spotlight

A bus route in Devon which was axed last year is being brought back, after a campaign by local people which reached the House of Commons.

The number 65 in Torquay connected a large hilly residential area with the hospital and shops.

When it ended, people said they were left isolated.

Torbay Council is contributing £95,000 for the purchase of three buses, one of which will serve the 65 route and be run by a local charity.

Tracey Cabache from the Torbay Community Development Trust says the bus plays a vital role.

"We have some really hilly, residential areas where we've got a lot of our older residents.

"We've got a lot of our families that don't have access to cars and they were struggling to get to the Willows for shopping and to get to the hospital, more importantly.

"And most of them were taking taxis, so that was a £12-£15 return fare, which they simply couldn't afford."

BBC Spotlight

A fisherman from Saltash says proposed new laws to protect salmon stocks will kill off a method of fishing practised for generations.

Colin Matthews is one of a handful of people licensed to use seine nets on the River Tamar.

But he says, under Environment Agency plans, a new ban on netting could come into force next summer.

"That will take away our fishing for 10 years and then it probably won't come back because of the by-laws.

"So it'll be a total loss of the historic salmon netting in the Tamar, which has fed so many Saltash people over the years."

The Environment Agency said it recognised that these proposals would have an impact on traditional fishing but said it had a duty to maintain, improve and develop salmon stocks.

BBC Radio Cornwall

A vet in Cornwall is using an old fashioned form of medicine on the pets in her surgery in Roche.

Fiona Rawlings is using leeches to help clean and heal the wounds of a black cat called Felix.

He's believed to be the first patient in the county to have the treatment. "Felix was facing losing his leg until Fiona brought up the idea of leeches," said Leanne Kent from Clay County Cat Care.

"This is the second treatment and his leg's looking absolutely amazing.

"He isn't fussed at all about the leeches. He just wants to eat more food. But he's a fighter."

• B3192 Sorley Cross - Loddiswell to Kittaford Cross reports of ice/snow drive with caution
• A381 in the Totnes area, there's ice/snow on the roads. Drive with caution
• A3122 Totnes Cross to Dartington. Ice/snow on road drive with caution

Plymouth Herald

Car parks have never been so interesting... really! Check out this story of Plymouth car parks through the ages., external

BBC Spotlight

Bright colours, cheerful scenes and Plymouth landmarks - you can't mistake the work of the painter Brian Pollard.

The artist is holding his first exhibition for more than a decade at the Royal William Yard's Ocean Studios. But his latest work has taken on a new twist.

He's collaborated with a new artist, Arth Lawr who paints in a similar style.

Cornwall Live

A woman tells how she gave birth to her second son in her car in a lay-by on the A30 in Cornwall., external