Updates from Monday 23 April until Friday 27 April 2018
Maisie Duncan death: Police seek three witnesses after Looe road crash
Cornwall Council's £46k Cannes trip scrutinised
Ten Devon and Cornwall Police officers assaulted in single night
Parents campaigning to save 'inadequate' Plymouth free school due to close
Parade to call for more affordable housing on Rame Peninsula
Home-schooling stats reveal Cornwall in fourth place in UK
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A cat's condition is being described as "touch and go" after it was the target of a "horrendous" acid attack.
It happened on Monday evening in Exeter.
The owner said she is "heartbroken" after the cat called Georgie sustained "life-threatening" injuries.
She is undergoing treatment at a local vets.
Squatters have taken over the old Edinburgh Woolen Mill store in Falmouth.
The police say they are aware of the situation but trespass and squatting is a civil matter not a criminal one.
Officers said it will be down to the landlord or property owner to seek a possession order to have the squatters removed.
Image source, GoogleFalmouth Town Centre Manager Richard Gates says it is being dealt with.
"You've got to do it in the correct manner," he said. "I'm not a lawyer and I don't confess to be. Basically that is all going through with the agents and the solicitors in order to do that, so everything is correct.
"They go to the courts and that is dealt with by the solicitor and via the police."
A breeding programme for the Cornish Chough is letting people follow the progress of the first eggs laid using special webcams.
The birds can be seen incubating the precious eggs in the aviaries of Operation Chough at Paradise Park in Hayle.
If the eggs are fertile, the chicks are expected to hatch in the first week of May.
Take a look...
Del Crookes
BBC News Online
A 30-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply a Class A drug, external, police have said.
Officers executed a warrant at a property in Honiton on Tuesday, seizing cash and a quantity of drugs.
The man who was arrested has been released under investigation pending further inquiries.
Quote MessageIt is important that the police and the local community work together to combat this type of activity in East Devon. Intelligence and information from our community is vital and enables us to tackle criminality in the local area. I want to reassure the local community of Honiton and the surrounding areas, that this type of activity is not accepted."
PC Jeanette Bassett, Neighbourhood Beat Manager
Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Image source, LDRSA proposal to expand celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage base in Devon has been recommended for approval by planners.
Plans submitted to East Devon District Council include a 16-room guesthouse, a cookery school, an events space and an informal lounge space at River Farm near Axminster.
Image source, Satellite ArchitectsThe application says it would allow River Cottage to compete with other major cookery schools and will help secure the future of the business, as well as creating 19 new jobs.
East Devon District Council planners meet next Tuesday at Knowle, Sidmouth, to vote on the scheme.
Image source, Satellite ArchitectsQuote MessageThe business plays an important role in promoting the West Country, and in particular, the contribution of Devon and Dorset to Taste of the West. This is significant both for our local economy directly (because of the national standing of River Cottage) and for the image of the South West, which has consequences for tourism and related industries."
Sir Oliver Letwin, MP for West Dorset
Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live
Some commuters are facing up to five days of disruption as union members at three train firms plan strikes in a dispute over the role of guards.
Workers on operators Northern, Greater Anglia and South Western Railway (SWR) are due to strike on 9 May, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union says.
SWR staff also plan to strike on four more days: on 11, 14, 16 and 18 May. The operator has services from London to Exeter, via Honiton and Salisbury.
Image source, PAThe union claimed proposals to change the role of guards and extend driver-only services would compromise staff and passenger safety.
The Department for Transport said the "continuing industrial action is pointless" as guards "have been guaranteed their jobs and the independent rail regulator has ruled that driver-controlled trains ... are safe".
Del Crookes
BBC News Online
Image source, St Austell Community Fire StationA bullock which was stuck in mud at Wadebridge has been rescued, external.
Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said it was called by a member of the public just before 10:00 to reports of an animal in the River Camel.
Image source, St Austell Community Fire StationA crew from Wadebridge, a rescue team from Bodmin and a water rescue unit from St Austell Community Fire Station were sent.
The bull was stuck in about six feet (1.8m) of mud, 10 feet (3m) from the river's edge.
Image source, St Austell Community Fire StationIt took about half an hour to rescue the animal.
A motion to try to protect hedgehogs goes before Mid Devon Council later.
Councillor Luke Taylor, who represents Bradninch, is calling for special hedgehog warning stickers on council grass cutting machinery - to encourage users to check for the creatures before using the equipment.
The stickers have been produced by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and are being offered free to all local authorities.
Quote MessageWe've got to make sure people are trained and making sure they understand to check. It only takes a couple of seconds before they start cutting and strimming. It's not a lot of effort to do beforehand."
Councillor Luke Taylor
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A snake has been treated for "potential smoke inhalation" after a fire in Exeter, firefighters have said., external
Crews were called to Newman Road at about 07:45 after "reports of smoke issuing" from a two-storey property.
On arrival, it was confirmed a fire had started in the electrical cupboard under the stairs and the property was "heavily smoke-logged".
The RSPCA was called after concerns about the snake.
There was 10% fire damage and 70% smoke damage to the ground floor and 100% smoke damage to the first floor, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said.
Natalia Spencer will keep walking until she raises £1m in memory of her daughter Elizabeth, who died in 2015.
Read More
Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Carers could be given the equivalent of blue badges because of a problem finding parking spaces when visiting patients.
The idea is part of the findings from Cornwall Council's Positive Parking Inquiry, which has been looking at issues relating to parking.
There have been reports in the past of carers getting tickets because they had been unable to park while working.
Image source, LDRSColonel Richard Robinson, who chaired the inquiry, said: "A carer who has a 45-minute slot to look after someone is spending a lot of that 45 minutes finding a parking space, they then have about 20 minutes left to actually care for the person."
Councillors have also backed plans for a review of all car parks owned by the council and plans to bring them all up to a minimum standard.
The inquiry has also recommended that the council look at the use of technology to make parking more efficient and more customer friendly.
The fire-hit Bancourt hotel in Torquay is to be redeveloped as a luxury care home, external with 'studio' apartments costing up to £100,000 each.
The hotel has been closed since it was damaged by a fire in the spring of 2017.
One of Devon's best-known tourist attractions has failed to sell at auction.
The Golden Hind, moored in Brixham, is a full-size replica of the galleon sailed by Sir Francis Drake in Elizabethan times.
It had a guide price of nearly £200,000 but failed to attract any buyers.
The auctioneers in Cornwall said they were talking to some interested parties who had now come forward.
Owner Neil Worrell, 58, bought the boat four years ago.
It is the second replica to be moored in Brixham's inner harbour and was built 1988. The original was built in 1964.
Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online
Bank Street was closed for a short time after a body was found
A police cordon that closed a section of Newquay town centre after a body was found has been removed.
Devon and Cornwall Police were called to Bank Street at about 06:30 after the body of a man was found in the doorway of a closed shop.
It is believed the dead man was a member of the homeless community.
Officers said earlier the death was not believed to be suspicious.
Police say the man was found in the doorway of a closed shop site
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
The A361 eastbound, between Barnstaple and Braunton at Pilton West, is "completely blocked" after two vehicles crashed into a lamp-post.
Devon and Cornwall Police said one driver was taken to hospital but his injuries were "not believed to be serious at this time".
A fuel leak from one of the vehicles and the lamp-post that fell into the road is causing traffic disruption.
Drivers are being urged to avoid the area.
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
Police are appealing for information, external about a man (pictured) after reports of fraud in Honiton.
He's thought to have entered a pub on High Street on 2 January between 12:30 and 13:30, claiming to work for a bedding store that was closing down.
Police said he offered to sell the victim bedding products "for a cut down price" and took £500 cash for the agreed items.
He left a number of duvets at the premises but, however, did not return with the rest of the items, Devon and Cornwall Police added.
Anyone who recognises the man or has any information is asked to contact police via 101.
Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police
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Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport
Truro City's National League South play-off hopes are back in their own hands after a 2-0 win at Weston-Super-Mare.
Connor Riley-Lowe gave the White Tigers a 32nd-minute lead before Aaron Lamont doubled the score 12 minutes after half time.
Image source, BBC SportThe result means City move up to sixth on 68 points ahead of their final game of the season at third-placed Hampton and Richmond.
Lee Hodges' side could still finish third and book a home play-off semi-final if they can beat Hampton and Richmond and Hemel Hempstead Town and Chelmsford City both lose their final games of the season.
Del Crookes
BBC News Online
Five plastic crates containing antique brass taps worth £5,000 have been stolen from a farm near Okehampton, police say.
They were taken from a workshop in Lewdown on Monday afternoon between 12:45 and 13:15.
Officers said two men were seen on the farm. They were described as white, aged in their 30s and both of heavy build.
One was thought have had light hair, while the other had dark hair.
They were believed to have been travelling in a Ford Transit van with chevrons on the back.
