Emma Thomasson
BBC Spotlight

"It makes me feel free" - that's the verdict of one young girl who has taken up mermaiding in north Devon.

She attends lessons which were set up by Barnstaple woman Charlotte Scoins, who has grown a global business training people to become mermaids and mermen.

She now has 99 instructors on her books across the country and overseas, as well as a tail skin manufacturing business.

These youngsters are loving their mermaiding lessons at one local swimming pool...

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

A Devon paparazzi photographer says Meghan Markle's father has simply been "caught out", following reports in the Mail on Sunday, external that he was paid $100,000 to pose for paparazzi photographs.

It's unclear whether Meghan Markle's father will be at Windsor for his daughter's big day on Saturday, with Kensington Palace issuing a statement saying it was "a deeply personal moment for Ms Markle".

Ms Markle's estranged half-sister, Samantha, said the staged photos were her idea and her father didn't do it for the money.

But George Bamby, who's based in South Devon, says he "isn't convinced"...

BBC Weather Watchers

Thanks to one of our BBC Weather Watchers, Tommo postie, for sharing this gorgeous picture of Shaldon in the sun.

If you'd like to share your pictures, please email us.

Cornwall Live

A stone which is more than a thousand years old and linked to King Arthur’s death, external is at risk of being washed away by flooding and completely worn away.

David George
BBC Spotlight

Dean Lowe has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 28 years at a hearing at Exeter Crown Court.

He was convicted last week of murdering his partner, Kirby Noden, in Marazion in January 2017.

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police

David George
BBC Spotlight

A sentencing hearing for Dean Lowe, who murdered his girlfriend Kirby Noden in Marazion last year, has begun at Exeter Crown Court.

The court has heard a victim impact statement from Ms Noden's mother, Anita.

She said her daughter (pictured) was a warm and caring person who would "do anything for anybody".

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police

She said Lowe prevented her daughter from keeping in touch with her.

Mrs Noden said the way in which Kirby was killed and her body disposed off meant she could never have a funeral, which had made her family's grieving so much worse.

Thirty-three-year-old Dean Lowe was convicted of murder last Thursday.

BBC Radio Devon

A beach clean in Devon at the weekend found 93 disposable barbecues buried under the sand in a small area.

The shocking find was made by children and volunteers on the back beach school in Teignmouth, along with a large number of broken bottles.

Disposable barbecues were also found on other beaches after the weekend, including at Bovisand (pictured).

Image source, Beach Schools South West

Ali Murray, from Beach Schools South West, external is from Teignmouth, said: "Sadly we've become despondent about the way people who come to enjoy our beach, the state in which they leave it with disposable barbecues, glass and takeaway cups.

"They bury the barbecues which becomes dangerous for visitors and locals."

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

A "large number of lighter fuel cylinders" were involved in a fire at a flat in Exmouth last night, firefighters say.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service were called to the property on Hartley Road at about 20:00.

Firefighters added on Twitter, external that "crews worked hard to stop spread of serious fire", sharing a picture with more than 40 lighter fuel tins.

A man in his 40s was taken to hospital with burns after the blaze which lasted about three hours.

Image source, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

Janine Jansen
BBC Spotlight

Once a week, students in Paignton have to put their phones down and take part in a debate to improve their social skills.

Staff at an organisation called The Pad said it was helping prepare young people with additional needs to go out and get a job.

Jerry Byford, from The Pad, said the students were going to meet people who would talk to them.

Hamish Marshall
BBC Spotlight

Truro City's historic FA Cup run is to be marked at the final at Wembley on Saturday.

The club became the first Cornish side to reach the first round proper for almost 50 years.

The man who scored the goals to take them there, Noah Keats, is to have his name embossed on the ball which will be used for the final, alongside some other landmark scorers in this season's competition.

The British-led Bloodhound vehicle carries out some slow-speed trials in Newquay, Cornwall.

BBC Radio Devon

• On the A377, heading between Newton Cyres and Cowley, there's very heavy traffic
• In Exeter, on the A377 Alphington Road between Marsh Barton Road and Church Road, there is slow-moving traffic due to temporary traffic lights and roadworks

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

Nine beaches in England have been added to a national list considered clean enough for bathing, with eight of them in Cornwall.

Three beaches in north Devon have also failed water quality tests, with the Environment Agency advising against bathing there.

Those beaches are Instow (pictured), Ilfracombe Wildersmouth and Combe Martin.

They are the only local beaches where swimming is not advised from 134 tested by the Environment Agency in the South West.

Nationally, just 14 beaches, including the three in Devon, are considered not clean enough for bathing from a total of 422.

You can find out the water quality at your local beach here, external.

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Cornwall Live

Residents in a narrow city centre street are breathing a sigh of relief after it was revealed that gas repair work would not need to go on for three weeks - because the builders didn't need to open up the road in the first place, external.

Emma Thomasson
BBC Spotlight

The increasing popularity of "mermaiding" has prompted one north Devon businesswoman to set up a training company which has gone global.

Mermaiding is where people swim while wearing a mermaid tail or monofin.

Mermaids UK is based in Barnstaple and now has 99 instructors working from Saltash to Singapore.

BBC Weather

Mostly cloudy with mist affecting hills and parts of the north coast, but it'll become brighter with some sunny spells developing.

Maximum temperature: 21C (70F).

Andy Howard
BBC Points West

The seven-year-old star of an Oscar-winning film about deafness is being featured in a TV advert.

Maisie Sly, who was born in Plymouth, acted in The Silent Child - a film about a social worker who helps a deaf child communicate through sign language.

Image source, Aldi

The advert, for a supermarket chain, was shown for the first time Monday night during Coronation Street.

It is thought to be the first advert in the UK to use only sign language.

Jenny Walrond
Health Correspondent, BBC Spotlight

Princess Anne officially opens a new South West medical research facility later which could have an important role to play in the global fight against antibiotic resistance.

Diseases that are already resistant to antibiotics kill 700,000 people a year but that could rise to 10 million by 2050 if new antibiotics are not discovered, scientists say.

The building is home to a new Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine, where researchers will work closer to real patients on medicine that is more personalised.

Institute director Professor Oliver Hanemann said it was very significant.

BBC Spotlight

An investigation is under way following a fire at a property in Exmouth last night.

A man in his 40s has been taken to hospital in Bristol with burns after the blaze at a flat on Hartley Road.

An eyewitness reported hearing a "number of explosions".

Police said the blaze involved lighter fuel.

Three fire engines and an ambulance attended the fire, which lasted about three hours.