Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for Devon and Cornwall

Facebook

Police dog Axel is looking for a retirement home after five years on the beat in Devon and Cornwall.

The five-year-old 43kg German Shepherd has been with the force all his life, but had developed a back condition which means he now has to put his paws up.

PC Mark Stevens said: ''While the condition would not cause him distress as a non-working dog, it would be unfair to expect him to continue in what can be a fast moving and very physical role.''

Alex Osborne
BBC Weather

Tuesday night will start off with clear spells and just isolated showers.

More cloud later in the night with the showers perhaps becoming more widespread. Gentle south-westerly breezes.

Minimum temperature: 9 to 14C (48 to 57F).

Wednesday will have sunny spells and variable amounts of cloud with a few scattered showers. Light winds, mostly from the south-west.

Maximum temperature: 19 to 22C (66 to 72F).

BBC Radio Devon

A dog has been rescued from one of two neighbouring houses on fire in Paignton.

Several people called Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service to raise the alarm about the fire in Hillside Road at 15.23 on Tuesday.

Five crews were dispatched as the blaze spread from the first house to the property next door.

A fire service spokesman said the fire was under control by 17.01.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

A blackmail email has been investigated by police in Devon after threats that the recipient would have their internet search history and compromising videos revealed.

Ivybridge Police said on Facebook, external that the victim had an email "asking for euros otherwise the suspect would post that the victim searches porn and will download a video of the victim in a sexual video".

Officers said that the email had been looked into and appeared to be composed using an online translation service, which "suggests it is completely fake".

Tanyalee Davis says a guard threatened to call police when she did not give up a disabled space.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, LDRS

Dozens of people have raised concerns over plans to turn a former doctors' surgery in St Austell into bedsits.

A planning application has been submitted to transform the former GP practice in Woodland Road in St Austell into a house of multiple occupation (HMO) with 15 bedrooms.

The planning application by Property Group South West gives no detail about who the properties might be marketed towards or who might live there.

Planning permission has already been granted to convert the former surgery into eight flats but the new plans instead look to convert it into accommodation for up to 30 people.

The new plans have received 45 comments so far - all of which raise objections.

Many seem to be concerned about the fact that the property sits opposite Mount Charles School and that there could be people who used drugs or who had recently been released from prison living there.

The planning application, validated by Cornwall Council on 5 July, will be decided at a later date.

A comedian was asked to move her mobility scooter out of a disabled space on a train.

Cornwall Live

A petition battling a gig ban at a popular campsite on The Lizard has received nearly twice as many signatures as the village's entire population, external.

BBC Radio Devon

Brittany Ferries' Plymouth to Roscoff sailing at 22:00 on Tuesday has been delayed due to industrial action.

It is now due to depart at 00:40, with latest check-in at 23:59.

Marc Cole, 30, was Tasered by police, and later died in hospital.

BBC Radio Devon

A lorry driver is in hospital after a multi-vehicle crash near Chawleigh.

Three fire crews and an ambulance were sent to the road from Eggesford Station to Hollow Tree Cross at about 10:30 on Tuesday.

Three other vehicles were involved in the crash, which left the lorry driver trapped, and a person from one of the vehicles injured.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Image source, Torbay Council

A tree at a Torbay cricket club known as the "Agatha Christie Oak" is to be felled after part of it came down, the local council says.

Torbay Council said, external more than 50% of the veteran English oak at Barton Cricket Club collapsed overnight between Monday and Tuesday, and the remaining section was found to be "diseased with much decay visible".

This meant it would "have to be completely removed for public safety reasons".

Image source, Torbay Council

The council said it and the club had "done our very best to preserve this historical tree", which was identified as one that the world famous crime writer "used to sit under ... and watch and score her favourite summer sport of cricket".

However, the tree had been "suffering for years with two wood-rooting fungi", it added.

The council said: "We will now be working with the cricket club to secure a replacement tree for future generations to enjoy".

Twitter

Police in Liskeard are warning more than 70 drivers to expect ''letters in the post'' after an hour-long community speedwatch operation.

In March, a local policing report heard that residents in St Ive had complained about speed of traffic using the A390 through the village for some years.

There is now a 30mph speed limit in the village, but locals have continued to complain to police about people driving ''well in excess of this''.

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

RSPCA inspectors are investigating two snakes being dumped with "shocking injuries" in mid Cornwall.

The charity said both of the corn snakes were found with burns after in the Fraddon area in separate incidents by concerned members of the public in mid-June.

One had to be put down "straight away to stop any more suffering" because of "burns throughout its whole body".

The other is recovering after a vet treated it when it was found with "some substance over its body".

Staff have appealed for information "which could help the establish how the snakes came to be abandoned with such shocking injuries".

RSPCA exotics officer Peter Ferris said it was "sickening, upsetting and frustrating that someone could do this".

Image source, RSPCA

Andrew Segal
BBC Local Live

Two of the Isles of Scilly have "critically low" groundwater supplies, the islands' council says.

The Isles of Scilly Council said the situation meant it was "unable to meet water demand on St Mary's and Bryher" (pictured) because "water usage is now at a level that we can't sustain".

People are being told to stop using hosepipes and sprinklers "and to keep other water usage to an absolute minimum".

Supplies should also be checked for leaks, the council said.

However, it added: "Just so there is no confusion, you should continue to stay hydrated in the hot weather and drink as much water as you need. We would never ask people to restrict the amount of water they drink."

Image source, Getty Images

Laurence Reed
BBC Radio Cornwall

Some drug users from up country say they come down to Cornwall because they can get into rehabilitation programmes more quickly.

Mike Geddes, a bipolar heroin addict from Luton, said he moved to Cornwall because he said it took six years off his waiting time to get into rehab.

He said: "It's a nice place to come and they've sorted everything out for me."

However, he also said that the drug situation was "pretty bad down here".

It comes as residents in Penzance are being urged to report drug and alcohol abuse and anti-social behaviour to the authorities instead of turning to social media.

Local Cornwall Councillor Sue James said she believed the town was no worse than anywhere else, but that people taking pictures of people who were drugged up or drunk and posting them on social media were actually putting the area in a bad light.

Brent Pilnick
BBC Sport

The man behind the rise of the likes of Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Sam Simmonds has called time on his career as Exeter Chiefs' academy manager.

Robin Cowling, 74, has stepped down from the role after two decades, with Rob Gibson stepping up from his deputy to take over.

Image source, Getty Images

“It’s been a super journey for me and one which I’m very proud to have been part of," he told the Exeter Chiefs website.

“We have over the years not only produced some outstanding rugby players, but we’ve also produced some very decent people as well," added Cowling, who had a brief spell in charge of Exeter's first team at the end of the 2008-09 season following Pete Drewett's sacking.

Logan Peters, 22, was found hanged at his home the day after he was released from police custody.