Updates from Monday 14 May until Friday 18 May 2018
Scilly helicopter service 'suspended'
Dogs pay tribute to Harry and Meghan's wedding
Man arrested following bomb disposal call out
Suspected drink driver abandons car on Torpoint Ferry
Miles Davis
BBC News Online
About 1,000 riders from as far afield as Austria and Altringham took part in the fourth annual Eden Classic mass cycle ride on Sunday, according to organisers.
Cyclists completed routes of 35, 62 and 100 miles along the roads around the Eden Project, near St Austell, in the fourth annual event.
Image source, Eden ProjectDon Armand, Danny Cipriani, Faf de Klerk, Jamie Gibson and Vereniki Goneva are Premiership player of the season nominees.
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Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
It's been a busy time in the bird enclosure at Paignton Zoo, external.
Handlers are caring for recently hatched crested pigeon, speckled pigeon, pied imperial pigeon, golden pheasant chicks and red-crested pochard ducklings.
Some need feeding up to five times a day and are weighed every day with records kept of all food consumed.
A spokesperson said: "It’s meticulous, dedicated work.
"Some chicks very definitely have the cute factor while some, to be honest, are appealing out of sheer ugliness."
We'll let you decide which ones belong to which category.
Image source, Paignton Zoo
Image source, Paignton Zoo
Image source, Paignton Zoo
Image source, Paignton ZooJohnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
The company that provides water for Devon and Cornwall has been fined for failing to maintain sewage treatment plants in two popular coastal towns.
South West Water has been fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £21,800 costs for the offences in Dartmouth and Salcombe.
Exeter Crown Court heard the company failed to correct faults at the facilities between 2014 and 2016.
Helen Todd from the Environment Agency said: "South West Water's repeated failure to comply with the conditions of its permit at Salcombe and Dartmouth meant that effluent which had not been fully treated was being released into the water environment.
"We are working closely with the water company to improve permit compliance and reduce waste water pollution."
Cornwall coach Graham Dawe says he expects criticism after the Duchy were knocked out of the County Championship.
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Sophie Pierce
BBC Radio Devon
A pilot well-being scheme in south Devon is reducing people's visits to hospital and GPs by half and people on it are seeing "definite improvements", managers say.
The idea is that people get practical as well as clinical help, and get involved with things such as gardening, swimming and lunch clubs.
Twelve well-being coordinators are being employed by the NHS in Torbay and South Devon for the scheme.
Dr Andrew Thornton is a GP evaluating the programme...
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
A billionaire is heavily investing in Goonhilly Earth Station, external near Helston.
Peter Hargreaves, founder of leading finance and investment services company Hargreaves Lansdown, external, is investing £24m.
Goonhilly provides spacecraft tracking and monitoring services to many of the world’s largest satellite operators and has plans for further deep space communications.
Goonhilly is also a key part of ambitions to site Europe’s first Spaceport in Newquay. If successful, Goonhilly would provide tracking and mission control services.
Mr Hargreaves said: “The team at Goonhilly have been delivering on an insightful vision which has already propelled them to the key position in this expanding market. I wanted to add my backing to ensure they can realise their bold plans to be the recognised leader in the field”.
He was listed at number 42 in the Sunday Times rich list, with an estimated wealth of £2.9Bn.
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A Penzance police officer has successfully skied across part of the Arctic to raise money for charity.
Ben James was part of a group of four people that traveled coast to coast across Svalbard, as well as climbing the highest mountain.
They were dropped off by snowmobile before skiing 165km in temperatures down to -20C (-4F) while pulling their own kit in territory occupied by thousands of polar bears.
Ben said: "It was really, really hard. It was just constant pushing yourself. Although I prepared and trained for it, that many days straight for nine hours a day was pretty wearing."
The expedition raised money for Kreslu, external, which provides support to police officers, staff and volunteers injured in the line of duty.
Image source, Ben James
Image source, Ben JamesThe underground reservoir was part of the engineer's vacuum-driven railway in Devon.
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Lynne French
BBC News Online
Highways experts "will have to go back to the drawing board" after a 19th Century engineering project by Isambard Kingdom Brunel has scuppered a long-awaited road widening scheme.
Funding for the work in Starcoss, Devon, was allocated last month, but work has been suspended with the discovery of a "nationally significant" underground reservoir.
Image source, Nick IrvingIt was part of Brunel's atmospheric railway, which used a vacuum system to move trains.
The "potentially unstable" chamber has been fenced off and the entrance locked. Structural assessments are under way and archaeologists are being consulted.
Devon county councillor Alan Connett said: "It seems Brunel may have the last laugh on modern day planners and developers."
The Guardian
Tin mining is set for a comeback in Cornwall as a Canadian company that plans to reopen the South Crofty mine in 2021 announced it would float on the London stock market next month to help fund the venture, external.
Cornish Stuff
Goonhilly Earth Station have announced that Peter Hargreaves, a billionaire who appears at number 42 on the latest Sunday Times Rich List, has become the major investor in Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd, external.
A 21-year-old fisherman has been taken to hospital suffering with shark bites on Sunday morning.
HM Coastguard said a rescue helicopter was sent from Newquay to a fishing boat about 120 miles off Land's End.
It's thought he may have been bitten by a porbeagle shark that was brought on deck in the vessel’s nets.
The man was airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro by the coastguard helicopter.
Twitter
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Most of the South West's mainline rail services run to and from Paddington.
Chris Baker
Local Democracy Reporting Service
A survey is being called for to investigate continuing problems of huge holes appearing on the main road linking Paignton and Torquay.
Torbay Council's transport working party heard there were fears the busy seafront road at Livermead could be plagued by large holes continuing to appear after severe winter storms.
Lib Dem Steve Darling asked the party what checks had been done to make sure the road was not built on a "honeycomb" of cavities.
Councillors had earlier heard that it had been hoped work to fill a hole that appeared after a previous storm would last several years.
However, another cavernous hole, 30ft deep, appeared in March after the sea wall had been battered for days by waves driven by strong easterly winds.
Highways manager Ian Jones said: "Storm Emma has proved there are still some issues. We need to do some form of survey work there, to see what things might be or might not be lurking under there."
Alison Johns
BBC South West
Patients on a ward at the Royal Cornwall Hospital have been enjoying a special tea party.
It was held on Tintagel Ward, where general medical care for elderly patients is provided, to give them a reason to get up out of bed and get dressed.
They were encouraged to have a chat and a cup of tea as part of a national scheme to end what is known as "pyjama paralysis".
Image source, Sgt Harry Tangye/TwitterOn the A30 near Whiddon Down, one lane is blocked in an Okehampton direction due to a broken-down lorry which has a blown-out tyre.
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A fisherman has suffered leg injuries after being bitten by a shark on a trawler in the Atlantic Ocean.
The 21-year-old was airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro by coastguard helicopter.
It happened on Sunday, about 110 miles west of the Isles of Scilly, coastguards said.
Exciting plans to preserve and improve one of Cornwall’s most historic public parks, external have been finalised between community group South Kerrier Alliance and Cornwall Council.
A motorcyclist has been airlifted to hospital, external following a serious collision in south Devon on Sunday evening.
