BBC Radio Devon

Plymouth has won the bid to host the start of the next edition of the Transat yacht race, external in 2020.

The 3,500-mile (5,632km) race, which takes place every four years, will start on 10 May 2020 and it is expected to be part of the Mayflower 400 celebrations.

The race, for professional sailors, is the successor to the original solo race across the North Atlantic that was born as the OSTAR in 1960, and which featured legends Blondie Hasler and Sir Francis Chichester.

In 2016, Frenchman Armel Le Cleac’h won the IMOCA 60 class aboard Banque Populaire, in a time of 12 days, 2 hours, 28 minutes and 39 seconds.

A pedestrian who was changing a tyre on a vehicle on the side of the A30 has been hit by a passing van, police have said.

Air ambulance and land ambulances are at the scene near the Alphington junction.

Highways England said the eastbound carriageway remains closed.

Police said: "This appears to be a serious incident and we ask that road users seek alternative routes for the foreseeable future."

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Officers say they are looking for two people in a truck after a man was assaulted and left with a fractured hand.

Police say it happened earlier this month in the Morrisons car park in Totnes and involved the occupants of a red recovery vehicle and the driver of a small hatchback.

After an altercation, the men in the truck left the car park.

It happened between 10:30 and 11:00 on Thursday 8 March.

Image source, Google

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Police are appealing for witnesses after an assault outside a pub in Plymouth on Friday afternoon.

The victim, a man in his 50s, was hit in the face, then punched and kicked while on the floor, in what officers say was an "unprovoked attack".

The suspect is described as white, 5ft 8in (1.7m) tall and of stocky build with grey hair.

Image source, Google

BBC Radio Devon

The A30 is closed in both directions between the M5 and the Alphington Junction (the A377) due to a serious accident.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

About 7,000 properties have been affected by a water main burst, South West Water says.

People in areas from St Ives to Camborne have had no water or only low water pressure because of a burst at Trevu Reservoir.

Alan Hyde, from the utility, said engineers were "working as hard as we can to recharge the system and get the pressure back as quickly as possible".

He said that "thousands" of properties were still affected at about 12:00, but that was "reducing as the system is recharged".

Alternative water supplies were being provided to the most vulnerable customers with registered priority needs, the company said.

In a tweet to a customer, external who had low pressure and was concerned they would lose their supply, it recommended "filling some containers and a kettle with some water for drinking as a precaution should your pressure drop further".

Mr Hyde said staff would look at what was behind the burst "once we've restored supplies", which he said he hoped would be later this afternoon.

However, he added that it was "difficult" to accurately say when all supplies would be restored "because we don't what caused burst".

Image source, South West Water

BBC Radio Cornwall

A Cornwall school is closing early because it has lost its water supply.

Connor Downs Academy, near Hayle, said it was to shut at 13:00 with children able to be collected from 12:15.

People in the Camborne and St Ives areas have had no water or only low water pressure because of a burst water main at Trevu Reservoir, South West Water said.

BBC Spotlight

Devon is to receive nearly £4.5m and Cornwall more than £2.5m to fix potholes caused by the recent freezing weather.

It's part of a £100m payout from the government, external to help local councils repair roads.

The Department for Transport said the money would help repair almost two million potholes nationwide, as well as help protect roads from any future severe weather.

Last week it was estimated the cost of dealing with and clearing up after the heavy snow in Devon alone will cost nearly £1.5m.

BBC Radio Devon

Traders on Exeter Quay are being trained in lifesaving techniques so they know exactly what to do if someone falls into the River Exe.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue, the RNLI and an urban search and rescue crew are taking part in the throwline training.

Eight local traders are initially being given the knowledge and skills "to conduct public rescues if someone should slip, trip or fall into the water", organisers said.

BBC Radio Cornwall

In Bude, the A3072 Stratton Road is partially blocked near Stucley Road due to an accident.

The Newsroom
BBC World Service

Researchers say the cause of severe morning sickness is genetic - not in the mind.

The condition affects 1 in 100 pregnant women, including the Duchess of Cambridge.

In its most serious cases, sufferers report being sick up to 50 times a day. Up until now, it's been unclear as to what causes it, but scientists from the University of California think they've made a breakthrough.

Lead researcher Marlena Fejzo spoke to the BBC's Alex Ritson...

• The Cornish mum whose morning sickness has never gone away

Twitter

BBC Weather Watchers

There was (almost) nothing to see here as fog shrouded a building in Plymouth this morning, as this picture from BurgessMoon shows.

Image source, BurgessMoon

However, there was quite a contrast in Topsham, neat Exeter, as Alan O's photo shows.

Image source, Alan O

Have you any pictures you want to share with us? If so, please email them in.

BBC Sport visits the Plymouth swimming club providing 12 swimmers from six nations for this year's Commonwealth Games.

John Ayres
BBC Spotlight

The parents of a three-year-old girl in the South West are urgently trying to raise £50,000 to pay for an operation they hope could prevent her from spending a large part of her life in a wheelchair.

Elsie, from Cornwall, has cerebral palsy, external.

The operation they want her to have is designed to remove her muscle stiffness, but the NHS is currently not funding it because it wants more evidence about its effectiveness.

The new technique is currently being trialled on 38 patients at the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children where a lead surgeon suggests major orthopaedic surgery later in life can be avoided.

The trial is also assessing whether it should be NHS-funded.

Ross Ellis
BBC Radio Cornwall

Train operator GWR says it is boosting seat numbers on trains heading into the South West and will double the frequency of services on the region's main line.

A fleet of new intercity express trains is due to come in to service this summer, and work on an upgraded signal system to handle them is under way.

GWR said the trains would replace smaller, less powerful trains on this part of the network; doubling the number of seats as part of a commitment to improving rolling stock across every part of the network.

BBC Politics

Theresa May is facing calls from almost 100 MPs to establish a cross-party commission to address challenges facing the NHS and social care.

The group hopes to break what it calls a "political deadlock" over how to fund and organise services.

Totnes Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs the Commons Health Committee, said: "It's about building the public support for spending changes and, ultimately, making it fair across the generations - that's the really important thing here."

BBC News England

A statue of David Bowie has been unveiled in the town where he debuted Ziggy Stardust.

The bronze sculpture, entitled Earthly Messenger, can be found in Aylesbury's Market Square.

It features a likeness of Bowie in 2002 regarding a selection of his alter egos down the years, with Ziggy at the front.

Money to create the work, unveiled on Sunday, was raised through grants and a £100,000 crowdfunding appeal by music promoter David Stopps.

Bowie first performed as his Stardust persona and debuted two albums at gigs at the Friars music venue in the Buckinghamshire town in the early 1970s.

The statue was designed by Devon-based sculptor Andrew Sinclair (pictured), who used the mask taken from Bowie's face during the filming of The Man Who Fell to Earth to create the likeness.

Plymouth Herald

Teachers at crisis-hit Marine Academy Plymouth have the backing of parents, as the school battles for its future, external.

Education bosses are threatening to pull its funding, throwing its future into doubt.