Brexit: Devon MP accused of 'withholding information'
Blast-off delayed for Exeter's worms in space
Rough sleeper shelter is just 'plaster on gaping wound'
Torbay secondary schools improve Ofsted ratings
Updates on Tuesday 4 December 2018
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
A family of eight was taken to hospital with smoke inhalation after a house fire, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has said.
Two crews were sent to Stansfield Avenue in Paignton at about 06:30.
The cause of the blaze is still being investigated, firefighters added.
All of Torbay's secondary schools have been judged as good or outstanding in their most recent inspection.
That equates to an 11% improvement on last year.
Plymouth though saw a fall in ratings of 20% - with just over half the city's secondary schools now rated good or better.
The number in the rest of Devon fell by 6%, but it's still above the England average.
The figures have been revealed by the schools inspector, Ofsted in its annual report.
Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online
The government's chief law officer is defending his decision not to publish his full legal advice over the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.
Labour are accusing the attorney general - Torridge and West Devon MP Geoffrey Cox - of withholding information for political reasons by only releasing a summary, external of his recommendations.
He's firmly rejecting the accusation, telling the Commons he was only acting "in the public interest"...
Geoffrey Cox is defending his decision not to publish his full legal advice
The three-week-old lambs fell into the 20ft well in a valley known as Mrs Bean's Bottom, a farmer says.
Read MoreIn Witheridge, there are reports of a flock of sheep on Newbridge Hill near Old Market Field. Approach with care.
Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online
Cornwall Council will have 36 fewer councillors in three years time.
The independent Local Government Boundary Commission for England has published its final recommendations for new electoral arrangements.
After three phases of public consultation the Commission has drawn new boundaries for each council division across Cornwall.
It says there should be 87 councillors in the future, 36 fewer than the current arrangement.
The recommendations also propose that those councillors should represent 87 one-councillor divisions across Cornwall.
The proposed changes must now be implemented by Parliament, but will come into force at the council elections in 2021.
Quote MessageWe are extremely grateful to people across Cornwall who took part in the review. The Commission has looked at all the evidence that was put forward during the consultation. We believe these recommendations deliver electoral fairness for voters as well as reflecting community ties throughout Cornwall."
Professor Colin Mellors, Chair of the Boundary Commission
Image source, Boundary Commission
Press Association
Christmas dinner is an international evolutionary feast - with only the humble carrot native to British soil, a leading South West-based scientist has said.
Professor Dave Hodgson from the University of Exeter says global trade and domestication over thousands of years account for everything else, from turkey and bacon to potatoes and parsnips.
But he said: "Of all the animals and plants that appear on the traditional Christmas dinner plate - turkey, bacon, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, parsnip, carrot, potato, chestnut, cranberry - only the carrot is a British native, and the carrot we eat bears almost no resemblance to its wild ancestor."
Quote MessageTurkeys are from America, pigs are from Turkey, potatoes from Peru and our cabbages are from the Mediterranean. All of our food species have been bred to be edible, large, colourful and very different from their wild ancestors. Christmas dinner really is a truly global, evolutionary feast."
Professor Dave Hodgson, University of Exeter
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A fire has damaged a town centre shop in Camborne.
No-one was hurt, but people in the flat above the shop had to be evacuated this morning, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said.
Three fire engines dealt with the blaze in Commercial Street at 04:27.
Everyone has now been accounted for, but the road is closed as firefighters continue to damp down.
Traffic is at a standstill and queueing for about five miles Exeter-bound on the A38 near Chudleigh due to a multi-vehicle collision in the Harcombe Bends and a second accident on the same stretch of road.
There is also a broken-down vehicle in lane two of the queuing traffic.
Stop-start traffic is queueing back to Stover.
On the A38 the Plymouth-bound entry slip at Ashburton Rockpark Cross is partially blocked by an accident at the B3352.
In Honiton the A30 remains blocked by an accident involving an overturned car between the A35 Monkton Road and the A303 at Upottery - lots of queuing traffic there.
Conservative MP Johnny Mercer says MPs have been put in a "really difficult position".
Read MoreAfter a cold start, this morning should see some hazy sunshine for a time.
However, cloud will thicken with outbreaks of rain moving in this afternoon.
Slightly chillier than it was yesterday.
Devon:
Cornwall:
Givemore Gezi denies committing sexual offences against a 15-year-old girl he was caring for.
Read More
Image source, Getty ImagesThousands of microscopic worms grown at the University of Exeter are due to blast off in a space rocket today for research into the human ageing process.
The multi-million pound project is the first UK-led experiment to the International Space Station.
Scientists from Exeter say the 36,000 nematodes will spend a week in an incubator before they die and then will be frozen and examined on their return to earth.
The worms are being used because they have a similar muscle structure to humans.
Researchers hope studying them could help people with conditions including muscular dystrophy and diabetes.
