Updates from Monday 21 May until Friday 25 May 2018
Today will be fairly cloudy with the chance of one or two showers, particularly this morning.
There should be a few bright or sunny spells in places too though, with maximum temperatures between 15 and 18C (59 to 64F).
Rob England
BBC News Online
Police are investigating a blaze at a flat in Plymouth.
Fire crews were called to the property in Clittaford View after fears were raised people were still in the burning flat., external
When they arrived at about 23:15 firefighters found everyone was accounted for. The cause of the blaze is being investigated.
In Plymouth on the A386 Tavistock Road outbound at Sendalls Way, the traffic lights are out of order, with no right turn. A diversion is in place.
South West Water has had to turn off a pumping station to deal with a damaged sewer that is on a difficult cliff top site in Cornwall.
Tankers are being used to transport waste water from Mousehole to another pumping station in Penzance.
The water company says local supplies are unaffected but it has apologised for the significant disruption likely to be caused by the tankers.
The damaged pipe is described as complicated and engineers are considering repair options.
Rob England
BBC News Online
A vehicle has been "severely damaged" in a suspected arson attack in Tavistock, Devon.
Police and fire crews were called to Whitchurch at about 02:00.
Firefighters said one vehicle was "severely damaged" by the fire and another showed signs of "heat damage".
BBC Radio 5 live
Image source, Visit CornwallThere's growing concern in some UK holiday resorts about the impact of second homes and holiday homes on the local community. On Thursday, three communities on the north Northumberland coast voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to ban the building of homes explicitly intended to be sold to holidaymakers.
To find out how this might work, Radio 5 live's Wake Up To Money looked to the Cornish seaside town of St Ives, which took a similar decision last year. Rita Lait, a St Ives town councillor, told the programme: "It's too early to draw any conclusions, but we are hoping that it will slow and hopefully halt the rise that has occurred in unoccupied properties."
She said that in the old part of the town, 48% of traditional cottages were no longer full-time residencies as a result of being bought by people who did not live in them all year round. She added: "You finish up with a ghost town in winter."
A former Bishop said the abuse was 'a tragedy' for the man who carried it out, a review finds.
Read MoreAston Villa or Fulham, who meet in the Championship play-off final, will receive at least £160m in revenue after promotion.
Read MoreAn authority in Penzance says it does not want to move users on without dealing with the problem.
Read More
Press Association
Image source, PAThere could be more badger culls in England as the government steps up action to tackle outbreaks of bovine TB in cattle.
Almost 20,000 badgers were culled in 19 areas last year in Cornwall, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Devon, Herefordshire, Cheshire and Wiltshire.
Farming Minister George Eustice said the move would "strengthen disease control" and expand options to tackle new outbreaks.
However, permission will only be given in "very exceptional circumstances" where an area is judged to meet the criteria for a bovine TB "hotspot".
Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Drug users have been visiting the toilets in Cornwall Council's Penzance offices to take drugs, but councillors say they can't move them on.
Penzance councillor Cornlieus Olivier highlighted the problem at a meeting of the council's neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee.
He said he had been shocked to hear that staff at St John's Hall were having to deal with the issue.
Cllr Sue James, Cabinet member for environment and public protection, admitted that she knew it had been happening but said: "There is a dilemma here. The knee-jerk reaction is that our toilets shouldn't be used for drugs at all. We have to be careful as we can't be saying go and do it in an alley or a park."
Image source, GoogleQuote MessageWhile we are not encouraging or supporting, we are looking at whether we take a harder line. We can't push them to somewhere where they could cause more disruption. We are trying to take a measured response to ensure we manage the situation rather than putting a security guard in the toilets all the time and pushing them out of the building."
Councillor Sue James, Cabinet member for environment and public protection
Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Cornwall Council is "colluding" with holiday home owners to "break the law" by not preventing them from taking advantage of waste collection services.
That was the view of Sue James, Cabinet member responsible for waste, when she spoke about the problem this afternoon.
The council's neighbourhoods overview and scrutiny committee, external is set to carry out a waste review which, among other issues, will look at the issue of holiday homes using the council's rubbish collection service.
Under the law holiday homes should be classed as commercial premises and so should have to pay for their waste to be collected.
However it is claimed that many place their rubbish out for collection alongside that of local residents.
Quote MessageI am frustrated that there isn't an opportunity to press a button tomorrow to identify these holiday lets and get them to do the right thing. We have to get onto this and the people that we know about (who are doing this) as otherwise we are colluding with them to break the law."
Councillor Sue James, Cabinet member responsible for waste
The Park for Truro service at the Langarth car park had to bring in a beekeeper, external to deal with the rugby ball-sized swarm.
Image source, Knight FrankLamorna Cove is up for sale, with a guide price of £2,650,000, external.
It includes a private road into the cove, the beach foreshore, a slipway and harbour wall, private gardens and cliffs, as well as a restaurant, gift ship, gallery, kayak and boat facility and two pay and display car parks.
Also included are two cottages and two holiday apartments.
Agents Knight Frank say they received a flurry of calls within an our of the cove being advertised, with one potential buyer flying in from Croatia to view it.
To quote the Cornish song of the same name, external; "And we rode all night, through the pale moonlight, away down to Lamorna."
Image source, Knight Frank
Image source, Knight Frank
Jenna Hawkey
BBC News Online
Police are appealing for information after an alleged rape in Plymouth last night, external.
A 19-year-old man was walking along Armada Street where he was forced down an alleyway by a stranger, police said.
The incident is alleged to have taken place in an alleyway between Amity Place and Waterloo Street at about 02:15.
The suspect is described as a black man with a foreign accent and approximately 5ft 4ins (1.6m) tall.
Police would like to hear from anyone, external who was in the area before or after the attack, and from anyone who may have any information that could assist them with their inquiries.
Image source, GoogleThe alleged incident took place in an alleyway off Armada Street, Plymouth
Ross Ellis
BBC Radio Cornwall
Cornish rugby star Josh Matavesi will wear Camborne rugby socks when he runs out for the Barbarians at Twickenham on Sunday.
The versatile back, who appeared for Newcastle Falcons in their Premiership semi-final defeat to Exeter last weekend, was named in the side that will face England earlier this week.
One of the Barbarians' many traditions is to wear the socks from their own club strip.
Matavesi, who was born in Camborne, has 17 caps for Fiji.
Quote MessageChris French [Camborne RFC kit manager] sent two pairs of Camborne socks up by express delivery on Monday morning. As a kid, I always thought in my head if I ever play for the Baa-Baas I would always represent Camborne, so I'm really excited to be wearing them. It's a club I hold dear to my heart, it's a place where my dad and my brothers and my uncles have all grown up playing, so doing this is a little gesture back."
Josh Matavesi
Image source, Getty ImagesThree teenage girls who were rescued in Penzance were trying to swim from Albert Pier into the harbour when they got stuck on sharp rocks and seaweed, it has emerged.
They were standing in chest-high cold water for more than one hour before the alarm was raised and were rescued by the Penlee lifeboat.
Image source, RNLIThe grandmother of one of the girls, Debbie Gorringe, says they have had a real scare.
"She was very, very frightened," she said. "She realised how bad it could have been. Unfortunately she got cramp in her leg as well. It was very serious.
"I'm just so grateful for the RNLI, the crews and everyone that helped. We can't thank them enough."
A group of council planners in Teignbridge have been shortlisted to win an award for their work.
They are in the running to be named "local authority planning team of the year" at the Royal Town Planning Institute Awards for Planning Excellence, external.
Teignbridge District Council leader Jeremy Christophers says it is a huge honour as they are the only district authority to make the final.
Plymouth City Council is also nominated in two categories.
The winners will be announced during a ceremony at London's Milton Court Concert Hall tonight.
BBC Politics
The government says it is looking at ways to improve mobile signal and wi-fi coverage for rail passengers in the South West.
The Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport, Luke Pollard, raised the issue in the House of Commons. He said better signal would allow businessmen and women to do more work on the train.
Quote MessageA digital railway is vital for improving capacity in the far South West but not necessarily journey speeds. If our journey times are to be long, they at least need to be productive. So may I ask the secretary of state to commit to work with colleagues at DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) to improve our mobile and wi-fi signals, to remove all the not-spots in the far South West, especially on the rail journeys to Plymouth?"
Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
The Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, agreed saying they are looking at the best options to do that.
Quote MessageThe mobile operators [should] put up more masts down the routes and, particularly as we move to a 5G network, I want to see that 5G network up and down the railway, [and] not just for passengers. It helps the digital railway as well. On this one, I'm absolutely with him."
Chris Grayling, Transport Secretary
Cornish Stuff
