UK customers were affected after spending in shops, restaurants and other businesses a week ago.

A giant bike created to celebrate the Tour of Britain has been turned into a giant penis.

BBC Radio Devon

Image source, East Devon District Council

Urgent repairs to a Mamhead slipway in Exmouth are under way.

East Devon District Council says it will be closed temporarily, external so rocks at the revetment can be replenished.

The work has to be done now so birds are not disturbed in the winter.

Image source, East Devon District Council

The life-size statue, which resembles Shaun the Sheep, has been described as a "village icon".

Del Crookes
BBC News Online

Zone nightclub in Redruth has confirmed it is closing its doors in two weeks time, on Saturday 22 September.

The venue has been open for about 30 years.

The management has thanked all their customers over the decades and say there could be plans for another club, Zone 2, in the area in the near future.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

The sighting of Asian hornets in Cornwall is "concerning", a university professor says.

Bee inspectors have been carrying out surveillance around the area in Fowey where the bee-killing invasive species was sighted, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

Surveillance and monitoring in a 1-2km radius area around the initial sighting spot of the insect is being carried out.

Professor Juliet Osborne, from the University of Exeter, a leading expert on Asian hornets, said: "Last year a nest was found in Devon, and the year before in Gloucestershire.

"This suggests that further sightings, particularly in the South West of the UK, are highly likely and we must all be vigilant.

"It is an invasive species providing a major new emerging threat to our beleaguered pollinator populations."

BBC Radio Cornwall

Work to create a new coast path link between Penrose and Porthleven is now complete, eight months after a major cliff collapse forced its closure.

The new route is more than 2,100ft (650m) long and has been designed to blend into the exposed coastal landscape.

Another 1,640ft (500m) of new bridleway has been created for horse riders and cyclists as part of the project.

The path is open with the bridleway link being opened on Friday.

The work cost more than £40,000.

Dan Downs
Weather Forecaster

Some late sunshine is possible in places on Tuesday evening.

Thereafter, expect a partly cloudy and mainly dry night. A few misty patches may form towards dawn under any lengthier clear spells. Light winds.

Minimum temperature: 11 to 14C (52 to 57F).

Any early mist patches will lift on Wednesday morning to reveal a dry and increasingly bright day, with some good spells of sunshine developing by the afternoon. Winds remaining light.

Maximum temperature: 16 to 19C (61 to 66F).

Water voles around the country have suffered from predators and loss of habitat.

BBC Radio Devon

A £1m plan to regenerate part of Paignton town centre has been put on hold because of a council spending squeeze.

The improvements to the Station Square area would have been funded by taking out a 25-year loan, but Torbay Council said it could not be confident of making repayments of between £63,000 and £65,000 a year to the government-funded Public Works Loan Board.

Conservative elected mayor Gordon Oliver was advised to postpone the scheme.

The mayor agreed, but added that the scheme should be considered for next year's budget.

A group of Plymouth Argyle supporters allegedly took part in a mass brawl with Exeter City fans after stopping off in Exeter on the way back from an away match in April 2017, a court has heard.

The Argyle fans were returning from a 1-1 draw at Portsmouth and, after police stopped them confronting Pompey fans, they got off a train at Exeter instead of carrying on to catch a connection to Plymouth, Exeter Crown Court was told.

They walked through the centre of Exeter to the King Billy pub, which was full of City supporters celebrating a 2-1 win over Barnet, and fighting broke out moments after they arrived, prosecutors said.

CCTV camera inside and outside the pub filmed much of the violence, which included people being hit over the head with bottles and punched in the face, the jury was told.

Four Plymouth supporters and three Exeter fans are on trial.

The seven - from Exeter, Plymouth and Weston-super-Mare, and aged between 25 and 55 - all deny affray and say they were acting in self defence.

The trial continues.

Lauren Haly
BBC News Online

A four-month-old puppy is to become the UK’s first defusing therapy dog and will support firefighters across Devon and Somerset.

Digby, an Australian Labradoodle, is the latest recruit at Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, external.

He will work with fire crews in critical incident defusing sessions, which help prevent crews suffering from long-term psychological damage after traumatic incidents.

The puppy will also provide contact with vulnerable people in schools, hospices and hospitals.

Image source, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

Digby attended his first session following a serious crash on the A35 near Honiton in July, where he worked alongside his handler.

Training manager Matt Goodman said: “The use of therapy dogs has been scientifically proven to help people who have been exposed to traumatic situations, or who are dealing with very challenging situations in their lives, such as ill health or learning ability.”

Millicent Cooke
BBC News Online

A cyclist has been saved from a river following a three-hour rescue operation.

The man had been cycling on a path in Saltram when he came off and fell 10m into the River Plym estuary.

Paramedics said they were called at about 15:50 on Monday.

They attended, alongside specialist rescue teams from the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue service.

Crews used specialist equipment to save the man, who was unable to move, and he was taken to Derriford Hospital by ambulance.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A former Exeter restaurant and part of a city centre car park could both be used this winter as homeless shelters.

Exeter City Council planners on Monday night unanimously approved plans to transform the former Spice Island restaurant on Magdalen Street into a "winter night shelter and community facility for homeless people".

They also approved a large temporary outbuilding and a toilet block to be built in the corner of Howell Road car park.

Homeless support organisation Julian House, which will lead the scheme, said it was "essential" as the city "faces challenges with around 20 to 30 rough sleepers a night".

The Hotel Du Vin, opposite the former restaurant, had objected, saying it "could lead to anti-social behaviour and guests could be intimidated if large groups of people gathered outside the facility, causing them to take their business elsewhere".

However, the plans were backed by councillors, with Cllr Phil Bilayk saying that the hotel was being overprotective of its guests and that homeless people were no more anti-social that anyone else.

Image source, Via LDRS

Millicent Cooke
BBC News Online

A 20-year-old man has been arrested following a "lengthy" police chase in Plymouth.

Police were called to Lipson Road at about 15.20 on Monday following reports of a man with a knife in Freedom Fields.

On arrival, officers said the suspect ran away and they chased after him on foot.

Police said they used a Taser and the man was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a bladed article.

He remains in custody.

Millicent Cooke
BBC News Online

A driver has been caught filling out "paperwork" while going 70mph on the M5.

Police said the man has been reported for the offence and would be receiving points on his licence.

It is thought a diver stole parts from the vessel which were found during a police raid in Anglesey.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, Google

A planning application has gone in for a new 161-bed hotel to replace the closed Park Hotel, which was rated as one of the worst places to stay in Paignton.

New owner the Fragrance Hotel Group wants to demolish the three-storey terrace of Victorian villas and redevelop the site overlooking Paignton Green, the beach and pier.

Image source, Kay Elliott Architects

The 47-bedroom hotel on Esplanade Road is one of three the Singapore-based group has bought in Torbay.

It also owns the closed Palace Hotel at Babbacombe and the Corbyn Head Hotel on Torquay seafront, which is being operated by a management company.

A separate planning application has been lodged to demolish the hotel.

Both applications will be decided by Torbay Council in due course after a public consultation.

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

A challenge set on Radio 1 to get a pasty hitchhiked from Cornwall to Scotland is now well into its second day.

It came about when a listener called Sarah from Aberdeenshire told Greg James, the breakfast show presenter, that she had never eaten a pasty.

His team contacted the Chough bakery in Padstow who made a pasty at 03:00 on Monday before it started its 675-mile route with a short hop on board the ferry to Rock.

It has since had stops in Launceston, Bude, Bideford, Barnstaple, Bristol, Gloucester and Tamworth.

You can track its progress on the Radio 1 website - it is currently in the Midlands.

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