Rob England
BBC News Online

The future of food waste disposal in Cornwall could be decided as councillors set out their plans for the future.

Image source, Getty Images

Cabinet members will consider whether to provide weekly recycling collections and caddies for recycle food waste in 2020 at a meeting next week.

Councillors will choose between moving to a new system, designed to boost recycling, or keeping current collections the same.

Councillor Sue James said the decision was "an important one" for Cornwall.

"Many residents recycle but overall we could do more, and these changes will help facilitate that," she said.

It will be discussed on Tuesday 18 December.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

A new bridge has been installed over a Dartmoor brook as part of work to improve a path and drainage on a public right of way.

The new clapper bridge - a bridge involving a walkway made out of slabs of rock, in this case granite - will allow people to get over the Western Wella Brook, which is part of both the Abbotts Way and the Two Moors Way.

The project was led by Dartmoor National Park and jointly sponsored by Totnes Ramblers and South Devon Ramblers.

It was carried out because of a "need for a bridge at this location for many years", those behind the work said.

Image source, Dartmoor National Park

Rob England
BBC News Online

"Heavy rainfall" and saturated ground along Cornwall's coast is likely to make cliff falls "more common", experts say.

However, officials have confirmed walkers are in "no immediate danger" on the South West Coast Path after footage of a dramatic cliff fall was shot on Monday.

Deborah Smith was at Lynstone Road, Bude, when she said she noticed "some little bits going, then saw the rocks moving and quickly videoed it".

Richard Walton, from the South West Coast Path Association, said the fall had not "significantly impacted" on the area.

"A geologist will be inspecting the site as soon as possible to assess the full scale of the damage.

"We ask that members of the public remain vigilant when walking along cliff tops, to stay on the designated path and not to stray any closer to cliff edges."

Mr Walton also advised beach walkers to "maintain a good distance" from the base of cliffs.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Councillors have given the go-ahead for a £10m investment to build a new business park which it is claimed will create up to 350 jobs in Torbay.

Plans were approved for a new junction, access roads and industrial building, with outline permission for another unit, on wasteland alongside Brixham Road at Claylands Cross, Paignton.

Torbay Council’s development control committee backed the scheme at the former waste handling site at a meeting on Monday, after hearing it would eventually add about £13m a year to the local economy.

Councillors welcomed the jobs and investment at the site which is identified in the Torbay Local Plan for employment.

But there were concerns raised about the impact of construction work on residents, and possible traffic disruption on the major Torbay Link Road, which has already seen two years of roadworks.

Image source, Via LDRS

BBC Radio Devon

A van has been destroyed in a suspected deliberate blaze in mid Devon, firefighters say.

Emergency services were called to Applemede in Silverton at 05:30 on Tuesday.

There were no reports of any injuries.

Police were investigating the cause, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said, external.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

The refit of one of the Torpoint ferries is to be reviewed after technical problems saw the service cut back to a two-vessel service on the day all three chain-pulled boats were supposed to be back in action.

Tamar Bridge and Torpoint Ferry General Manager David List said the Plym II went back into operation from 09:00 after earlier problems on Tuesday.

It was taken out of service in September and was due to be back in October.

He apologised "for the very protracted episode of reduced service level and reliability that resulted from an extended refit period".

Kirk England
BBC Radio Devon

A crowdfunding campaign has been stared by a town mayor to help keep a charity which supports the elderly operating.

Age Concern Barnstaple has been described as a "lifeline" and is facing closure unless £25,000 can be found in the next few months.

It has 70 volunteers that make home visits and host drop in mornings for its clients, many of whom are over 80.

Barnstaple mayor Ian Roome, who has launched the campaign, said it was a "vital service" in the area...

Devon County Council said it would consider funding Age Concern Barnstaple if the charity could put a sustainable business plan in place.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Appledore Shipyard must "never be lost", councillors have demanded, with further details about plans for the yard expected to be revealed later this week.

Owner Babcock has announced the yard is to close next year when it ends the lease at the site in March.

The company said it had offered relocation opportunities for all 199 Appledore employees at other Babcock facilities, 140 of whom are already on short-term redeployment to its Devonport operations in Plymouth.

But county councillors have raised serious concerns about the effect of the closure of the shipyard on Torridge.

Devon County Council has heard that Babcock had not provided assurances it would keep the yard open, and the loss of jobs in that part of the county would cause a local skills drain.

Image source, LDRS

The GMB union and the Friends of Isles of Scilly Transport have said the shipyard could be saved if it was awarded a contract to build a new ferry for the Isles of Scilly to replace the 41-year-old Scillonian III.

The GMB also said future work building new frigates and support ships for the Royal Navy could be awarded to Appledore, with the ferry contract keeping it open until then.

A working group session regarding the shipyard is scheduled for 13 December.

Rob England
BBC News Online

A man has died in hospital after two car crashes in Cornwall, police have said.

Officers were called to Heamoor Road, Penzance, on Friday at about 17:10.

The man, who was in his 80s, was driving a silver Toyota and was involved in a crash with a parked black van, and later with two parked cars in Reens Crescent.

He was taken to Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske, a force spokesman said, and died there on Saturday.

Police are investigating the cause of the crash.

Image source, Google

A woman out walking captured part of a cliff falling on to rocks below near Bude.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

More police are needed in Newton Abbot to tackle its growing population, plus antisocial and drug problems, a councillor has demanded.

Devon County Councillor Gordon Hook has written to the Insp Nigel Yelland, of Devon and Cornwall, calling for more funding to be allocated to the town.

Cllr Hook said he "supported police 100%" but that the current level of policing was "stretched" and left residents "dangerously exposed with totally inadequate cover at many times of the day and night".

His comments come as a motion was submitted to Devon County Council last week calling for more funding to be allocated to the police.

This council is calling on the government and local MPs to ensure a fair funding formula that ensured an increase in funding for Devon and Cornwall Police which did not pass funding increases on through council tax beyond current permitted level of a 2% in the police precept.

Last month, the BBC reported that Police Federation said the Devon and Cornwall force was "on a cliff edge" due to fewer officers and an increase in demand.

The Home Office said then it recognised demand had changed and more money was being spent

BBC Radio Devon

A mystery benefactor in Devon known locally as "Mr Incredible" has given away about £70,000 to good causes in Teignmouth over the last four years.

He first approached Teignbridge Community and Voluntary Services, saying he wanted to "give something back", initially saying he would donate about £10,000 a year.

However, since then, he has given out small grants to many projects in the town.

Chloe Myers, from Teignmouth charity Volunteering in Health, said her organisation had received several grants from Mr Incredible...

Hamish Marshall
BBC Spotlight

Pioneering engineering work which took place nearly half a century ago in Exeter has been recognised for helping transform nearly two million lives.

The Exeter Hip Stem has been named as one of the UK's 100 best breakthroughs by Universities UK.

The prosthetic implant is used in 125,000 replacement operations worldwide each year.

It was first implanted in to a patient in 1970 at the Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Hospital in Exeter.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor John Timperley says the replacement hips give pain-free mobility back to patients...

BBC Spotlight

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police

Devon and Cornwall Police is launching a campaign designed to raise awareness of the control element that affects domestic abuse victims.

The latest campaign will highlight the fact that whatever type of abuse takes place - physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or financial, external - the abuser is trying to control the victim.

Since the introduction of the new offence of controlling and coercive behaviour, external in December 2015, Devon & Cornwall Police says it has seen a four-fold increase in crimes being reported.

Rachaele Hambleton, a domestic abuse survivor, now helps others to escape it...

• Coercive behaviour: How to tell if your partner's controlling you

Kirk England
BBC Radio Devon

A charity in north Devon, which has been described as a "lifeline" for the elderly, says it is facing closure unless it can raise £25,000 in the next few months.

Age Concern Barnstaple says it has struggled to find funding and has run out of money.

The charity has 70 volunteers which make home visits and hold drop-in mornings for its clients, many of whom are over 80.

Some have been referred by their GP because they are lonely.

These pensioners say the charity provides them with some solace...

Devon County Council says it will consider funding Age Concern Barnstaple if the charity can put a sustainable business plan in place.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Image source, Getty Images

Despite a planned well-publicised return to a three-boat service on the Torpoint Ferry, only two vessels are running between Torpoint and Devonport.

It was due to a "continuing technical problems with the third ferry", managers said.

Up to a 45-minute wait was reported at about 08:00, with emergency repair work under way on the malfunctioning chain-pulled vessel.

The Plym II has been out of action for a refit since September, meaning longer waits for commuters.

Bosses had said on Monday all three ferries would be running again on Tuesday.

Cornwall's only incinerator has to send any items larger than a bin bag 23 miles away to be shredded.

Christine Butler
BBC Radio Cornwall

Waste that is too big for Cornwall's only incinerator is being carted miles across the county to be shredded.

The incinerator can only take items smaller than a black bin bag - so anything larger must be driven about 23 miles (37km) away to Connon Bridge.

Rubbish including 1,000 mattresses a week is ferried from tip to shredder to incinerator.

Cornwall Council said the shredder site was "a trial" and a final decision on the location had yet to be made.

Janet Haley said more than 80 lorries, containing about 390 tonnes of waste, came and went from Connon Bridge each week....

BBC Weather

It will be mostly dry with rather cloudy skies, but a few bright or sunny spells too.

The cloud may be thick enough to give just the odd spot of drizzle. Maximum temperature: 8 to 11C (46 to 52F)