BBC Spotlight

Exeter's long awaited Ikea store opens this morning after years of planning.

Long queues are expected when the doors open at 10:00.

The £80m furniture store is the 21st in the country and 85% of their staff were recruited from the local area.

Store manager Nick Earle said staff "have hit the ground running". "We recruited based on values and behaviours, not on experience of retail and we have some absolute superstars as part of the team."

Police are warning people roads could be busy along major routes into the city.

Jenna Hawkey
BBC News Online

Firefighters have tackled three fires in Cornwall including a suspected arson attack on a caravan.

Crews from Bodmin and St Austell tackled the blaze in Bugle at about 20:00, external. No-one was injured.

One man was treated for smoke inhalation after a detached garage fire in Wheal Rose, Porthleven, external. The cause of the blaze is thought to be accidental.

Meanwhile, crews from Helston and Mullion attended a tractor fire at a farm in Gunwalloe, external. Again, the cause of the fire was accidental.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, LDRS

A planning application for almost 1,500 new homes on land between Alphington Village and Exminster has finally been approved.

The proposal, the biggest ever rules on by Teignbridge Council planners, was first given the go-ahead last January.

Image source, LDRS

It had to go back to councillors twice because an important legal agreement had not been signed on time.

The plan will include a small GP surgery, a community hub and land earmarked for a through school for primary and secondary pupils.

The agreement also includes provision for:

• A minimum of 10% affordable housing in the first phase (25% affordable rent and 75% shared ownership)
• A minimum of 30 custom build plots
• A scheme for the provision of four gypsy and traveller pitches
• Provision of District Heating
• Provision of land and financial contribution to Chudleigh Road link and financial contribution to Devon Hotel roundabout improvements at a maximum of about £4,000 per home
• Provision of land and financial contribution of £740 per dwelling for pedestrian/cycle bridge

BBC Weather

This evening it will stay mostly cloudy with further spells of rain.

That will then clear away to the east tonight to leave it mainly dry with long clear spells.

Minimum temperature: 2 to 6C (36 to 43F).

On Thursday it looks set to be mainly dry and fine with spells of sunshine, although cloud may build for a time especially around the middle of the day bringing the small risk of the odd shower.

Maximum temperature: 11 to 16C (52 to 61F).

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Image source, Michael Symes/Devon Wildlife Trust

A beaver family has removed about 100 tonnes of polluting sediment from a Devon stream, new research says.

A study undertaken by scientists at the University of Exeter, using a captive beaver trial run by the Devon Wildlife Trust, has "demonstrated the significant impact the animals have had on reducing the flow of tonnes of soil and nutrients from nearby fields into a local river system", the trust said.

The family of beavers, which has lived in fenced site at a secret location in west Devon since 2011, has built 13 dams, slowing the flow of water and creating a series of deep ponds along the course of what was once a small stream.

Devon Wildlife Trust has been conducting its enclosed beaver trial for seven years, while since 2015 it has also been running another beaver project involving a population of wild-living beavers on the River Otter, East Devon.

It meant such work by beavers could help clean up polluted rivers and stem the loss of valuable soils from farms, the trust said.

Bereaved families are reunited with their loved ones' ashes after a wait of up to 17 years.

Chris Baker
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A council in a seaside resort is being asked what steps it has taken towards the compulsory purchase of a crumbling shopping centre.

The move comes weeks after councillors in Torbay agreed to explore the possibility of issuing a compulsory purchase order for the almost empty Crossways arcade in Paignton.

Lib Dem Christine Carter has tabled a question at next week's meeting of the full unitary council, asking senior councillors to explain what action has been taken.

Councilor Carter, who represents a Paignton town centre ward, said Crossways had been identified by residents as the number-one priority for regeneration.

The council's Town Centre Regeneration Board was told at last month's council meeting to report on redevelopment options as soon as possible.

Image source, Google

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Image source, Marine Accident Investigation Branch

Investigators are appealing for witnesses to a fishing boat capsizing which resulted in the death of a man.

The 52-year-old went into the sea off Plymouth when his 20ft (6.1m) vessel, Laura Jane, ran into trouble on Monday afternoon. It went over in view of bank holiday beachgoers.

He was pulled from the water and airlifted to hospital, but was pronounced dead.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch said, external it was "appealing for witnesses with photographs or videos of an accident involving fishing vessel Laura Jane".

Floral tributes and messages have been left on the Barbican to the man, locally named as "Robin", external, the Plymouth Herald reports.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Controversial plans for 229 new homes on the edge of the A38 in Chudleigh are being recommended for approval.

Outline planning permission for the Station Hill development on the edge of Chudleigh - which could see 230 homes built and 300 jobs created - was granted by Teignbridge District Council planners in 2014.

Developer Linden Homes has submitted the reserved matters application to planners for the scheme that will include 46 affordable homes and 11 custom-build plots for a total of 229 homes, one fewer than the outline application.

Despite Chudleigh Town Council lodging a "strong objection" to the plans, Teignbridge planners are being recommended to approve the plans when they meet on 15 May.

Image source, Via LDRS

BBC Radio Devon

Image source, Google

It's likely that the Clifton Hill Sports Centre in Exeter will close for good after being damaged by heavy snow.

Indications are that Exeter City Councillors will be asked to support the permanent closure.

Operator Legacy Leisure closed the centre after the snow damaged the roof and inside the building. Work has been going on to assess the damage, the cost of repairs and the council's options as owner of the building.

A report is being prepared for the council's executive, which is likely to recommend the permanent closure of the centre.

In the meantime, the operator is making alternative arrangements for regular users to access services.

BBC Spotlight

Devon and Cornwall traffic police are reminding people road rage can get you in trouble with the law.

While there is no specific offence of road rage, the term is used in reference to a number of possible crimes.

There have been several cases in the South West recently, including two drivers from Cornwall being jailed earlier this year after they rammed a 74-year-old off the road and attacked him on a slip road near Exeter.

Last month in Plymouth, police appealed for witnesses after a driver smashed the window of another driver's vehicle and he had to be taken to hospital.

Image source, Getty Images

Insp Rick Milburn, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said that even the smallest reaction could land people in court as "things like gesticulating, that can be a public order offence".

He added: "There can be driving offences, if people are not driving with due care, we could be looking at careless or dangerous driving.

"In more serious incidents, there could be assaults, from common assault to a much more serious offence as grievous bodily harm."

Cornwall Live

Cornwall’s police have been busting several homes in the eastern part of the county over the past few months as part of their continuing effort to crack down on drugs supply, external.

BBC Radio Devon

• In Plymouth, on the A38 Parkway, the Cornwall-bound exit slip road at Manadon is partially blocked due to a broken-down vehicle
• On the A380 South Devon Highway, heading towards Torquay, one lane is closed due to barrier repair work. There's queuing traffic

Plymouth Argyle's Wales international striker Simon Church is unlikely to play for the club again this season.

Laurence Reed
BBC Radio Cornwall

There are calls for Cornwall to get its own countywide mayor to bring business and investment to the county.

North Cornwall Conservative MP Scott Mann is behind the rallying cry, saying he had met Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and it appeared the post appeared to be working.

Mr Mann said, external that Mr Houchen, acting as a "single point of contact for foreign direct investment", had been involved in lining up potential investments totalling £10bn so far.

A review of governance at Cornwall Council in 2016 concluded there was no compelling argument to create an elected mayor in Cornwall.

Image source, Scott Mann/Twitter

Emma Thomasson
BBC Spotlight

A kayaker was joined by several dolphins as he paddled off the Cornish coast earlier this week.

Ian Tindal set off from Looe and filmed the creatures during his journey to Eddystone lighthouse.

Twitter

BBC Radio Cornwall

In Truro, St Austell Street is partially blocked by a collision between a car and a lorry at New Bridge Street and Mitchell Hill.

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

A popular North Devon inn has been bought by the National Trust in a bid to save it from closure.

Every drink and meal bought at the Hunter's Inn in Barnstaple will help to look after the wildlife in the Heddon Valley and help to pay for improved access for visitors.

The trust already cares for 2,000 acres of land there but has just paid £1.2 m to acquire the pub.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A parish council says it has only just been told a restriction on development in a village was scrapped 13 years ago.

An application for the construction of a new house in Vingoes Lane, Madron, has been submitted for a site that was covered by a section 106 agreement enacted by the former Penwith District Council in 1995, prohibiting any development on the paddock site.

The parish council said it was "a surprise" to find the agreement was scrapped in 2005 as "nothing has changed on that land for the reasons why the section 106 was granted".

However, a Cornwall Council planning committee approved the applicaton for outline permission after an officer stated a dwelling "could be designed that would not cause material harm to the visual amenities of the area of the amenities of future and adjoining residents".