Summary

  • Fly-infested house death 'a mystery'

  • Five teenagers arrested after fire

  • 'Brain on fire' girl left in care 'grey area'

  • Lyn Bryant appeal generates 27 new leads

  • Fatal crash caused by 'driver error'

  • Guinea Pig set on fire and dumped in park

  • Scammers make £500k on Cornish doorsteps

  • Triple amputee wins Invictus gold in breaststroke debut

  • Updates on Wednesday 24 October 2018

  1. "Idiot" police chase driver jailedpublished at 10:40 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    Chris Quevatre
    BBC News Online

    An "idiot" driver who was chased around Torquay by police has been sentenced to six months in prison, and banned from driving for 15 months.

    Michael Jeffrey, 19, from Torquay, bought his VW Polo - which had no rear brakes - for £125, but had no licence or insurance.

    After receiving a high volume of complaints, Devon and Cornwall Police tracked Jeffrey down using a helicopter.

    He tried to outrun the police, driving at 55mph in 30mph zones, and drove so dangerously that police gave up the chase at one stage, leaving the helicopter to monitor his whereabouts.

    The chase took 12 minutes and started in the centre of Torquay before he drove out through Babbacombe and St Marychurch.

    At one point Jeffrey hit an oncoming car, but kept on driving.

    He only stopped when he hit a curb and burst a tyre, running off when he was near his home in Teignmouth Road.

    At Exeter Crown Court, Judge Peter Johnson called it a "shocking example of very irresponsible driving".

  2. Disabled visitor attraction guests to benefit from fundingpublished at 10:34 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    BBC Radio Devon

    Cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund, external is helping to improve access to 20 historic visitor attractions in the South West for people with disabilities.

    With cash totalling £500,000, it's giving deaf and blind people - as well as wheelchair users - unprecedented access to all of them.

    The charity, Heritage Disability is installing ramps, lifts - where possible - as well as specially tailored routes and guides.

    The National Trust's Castle Drogo in Devon is the latest to get a makeover.

    Paula Clarke, from the organisation there, says it's important to get people interacting...

  3. 'Three people' treated after Falmouth house firepublished at 10:15 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    Millicent Cooke
    BBC News Online

    The BeaconImage source, Google

    Emergency services were called to a house fire in Falmouth on Tuesday.

    Firefighters from Falmouth and Truro were called to The Beacon at about 19:40.

    On arrival, crews found a fire on the outside of the building that had spread to the porch of the property.

    Three people were examined by paramedics at the scene, but no injuries were reported.

    Police also attended, by say the fire is not being treated as suspicious.

    The cause is unknown.

  4. Train disruption at Exeter due to signalling faultpublished at 10:04 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    Hayley Westcott
    BBC News Online

    Railway lines between Exeter St David's and London Waterloo are currently disrupted due to a signalling issue between Woking and Surbiton.

    South Western Railway is advising passengers to check their route before travelling.

    It added Network Rail engineers have been on site through the morning and are working to resolve the problem "as quickly as possible".

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  5. Shaldon Bridge closed for compulsory government checkpublished at 09:55 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    BBC Radio Devon

    Shaldon Bridge is closed until 21:00 so the lifting mechanism on it can be looked at to see if it's still in good working order.

    An Act of Parliament requires Devon County Council to carry out the checks even though it's been 90 years since the lifting span was raised for commercial shipping.

    The bridge is closed to all vehicles and pedestrians during the testing.

    bridge
  6. Firefighters rushed to car boot blazepublished at 09:12 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    Millicent Cooke
    BBC News Online

    Ross StreetImage source, Google

    Firefighters were called to tackle a blaze in the boot of a car in Plymouth on Tuesday.

    Fire crews from Camels Head were rushed to Ross Street at about 20:32 following reports of a car fire.

    On arrival, they discovered a "small fire" within the boot of the car, which was quickly put out.

    It is not known what caused the fire, but police said that it is not being treated as suspicious.

  7. Gap in care for 'brain on fire' teenpublished at 08:45 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    BBC Spotlight

    The father of a Cornish teenager with a rare brain condition says there seem to be some gaps in the NHS for adolescent care.

    Bridget Wells, who's 16, suddenly became ill at the beginning of September.

    Doctors recently diagnosed her with an illness sometimes known as "brain on fire".

    Her father Johnnie Wells says her care at the Royal Cornwall Hospital has been excellent, but because she's neither a child nor an adult, accessing specialist care elsewhere in the country has been tricky.

  8. Half a million pound access scheme for South Westpublished at 08:25 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    BBC Spotlight

    Half a million pounds of Heritage lottery cash is making life better for thousands of disabled people in the South West.

    Castle Drogo on Dartmoor is one of 20 historic visitor attractions that will be using the money to improve access for deaf and blind people as well as wheelchair users.

    The charity 'Heritage Disability' says where access can't be improved it'll provide things like virtual tours and more easily accessible guides.

    Maryann Soaper from Heritage Ability says they are working with the sites...

  9. Weather: Dry with sunny spellspublished at 08:11 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    BBC Weather

    BBC weather forecast for the South West

    Dry today with sunny periods. Staying dry tonight but becoming cloudier.

    Once any early mist patches have cleared, Wednesday will be dry and generally fine with sunny periods and patchy cloud cover.

    Maximum Temperature: 16C (61C).

  10. Council spends more than £1m on temp execspublished at 08:11 British Summer Time 24 October 2018

    Richard Whitehouse
    Local Democracy Reporting Service

    Cornwall Council spent more than £1m on temporary executives over the past two years, with some being paid more than £800 a day, an FOI request has revealed.

    Figures released by the council show that in 2017 and 2018 the authority spent more than £600,000 on 23 interim executives.

    Cornwall Council

    That was an increase on the previous year when the council spent £520,000 on 10 interim chiefs. In 2015/16 the amount spent was much lower at £171,728.48 on five staff.