Seven-year-old house cat Koko can be heard miaowing under the bonnet of a car in Plymouth.

BBC Spotlight

Great Western Railway and Cross Country rail services are severely disrupted between Plymouth and Totnes due to a lorry striking Fardell Bridge at Ivybridge.

Track manager Network Rail said disruption was expected throughout Tuesday evening.

Also, as a result, Cornwood Road in Ivybridge is blocked in both directions, with very slow traffic due to the bridge strike between Zeth Hill Lane and Bridge Mill Lane.

BBC Spotlight

Trains are at a standstill on part of the main Devon and Cornwall railway line after a lorry struck a bridge at Ivybridge, between the Plymouth and Totnes stops.

National Rail Enquiries said CrossCountry and Great Western Railway services would be affected and that "trains may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes".

Disruption was expected until 18:15, it added.

Dan Downs
Weather Forecaster

Tuesday night looks set to remain dry with clear periods and patchy cloud cover.

Quite chilly under the clear skies.

Minimum temperature: 1 to 4C (34 to 39F).

Image source, b

Wednesday will be cold but dry and fine with sunny periods and a few patches of cloud.

Maximum temperature: 4 to 7C (39 to 45F).

Firefighters took 45 minutes to rescue the pet in Plymouth.

Kirk England
BBC Radio Devon

A horse has been rescued from a disused slurry pit in north Devon, firefighters say.

Emergency crews were called to the scene in Aller Road, in the Dolton area, at about 09:15.

They used farm machinery to gain access to the pit before a specialist rescue team used lines, strops and small tools to rescue the horse.

The animals was then left with its owner and a vet.

BBC Radio Devon

Devon is to have £8m invested in improving bridges.

The money is coming from nearly £19m given to Devon County Council for road maintenance in the Budget.

Figures released this week by the RAC Foundation showed that Devon had the highest number of substandard road bridges in Britain, with 244 in need of maintenance work.

The council said the term "substandard" did not mean there was a problem with a bridge, but that it could not carry a full 40-tonne "standard" highway load.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

"Lives will be saved" by the flagship new £12m tidal defence scheme to protect Exmouth from flooding.

East Devon District Council’s Development Management Committee unanimously approved the Environment Agency scheme to reduce the risk of flooding from the sea to more than 1,400 homes and 400 businesses in the town.

The £12m scheme will reduce the flood risk from the current 1-in-25-year risk (4% chance of flooding in any year) to 1-in-200-year (0.5% chance).

It will include flood embankments and walls, raised defences strengthening the existing seawall, improving drainage for water to drain back out to sea and flood gates.

The need for the scheme was demonstrated during Storm Callum in the autumn when the seafront flooded.

Work is set to begin in April, due to be completed by 2021, and will be tailored to avoid disruption on the seafront during the summer and to winter birds on the estuary.

Image source, Via LDRS

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

A man who died after being hit by a car on the A30 near Camborne and Redruth in Cornwall has been named as as 22-year-old Shaun Salmon.

The road was closed between the Avers Roundabout and Tolvaddon after the crash early on Monday.

The car driver was also seriously injured in the crash.

Police have asked witnesses to come forward.

Police said he "suffered fatal injuries", which happened as he "walked along the side of the road".

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Falmouth's branch of Mark & Spencer is to close on 2 February, the company has confirmed.

The Market Street branch was earmarked for closure in January last year.

Head of South West Region John Dorrington said the decision was "a difficult but necessary one".

He added that the company remained "dedicated to serving customers" at other stores in the county.

The company has yet to publish its figures for how well it did over Christmas, but it did see a 3% increase in shares at the end of last week.

Image source, Google

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Image source, Paignton Zoo

A brave veterinary dentist has managed to avoid a (big) cat-astrophe while operating on a tiger at Paignton Zoo, in Devon, who needed root canal surgery.

The patient was 11-year-old male Sumatran tiger Fabi - more than 2m (6ft 6in) long and weighs more than 100kg (220lb) - who needed bilateral root canal treatment on teeth after a bit of "wear and tear", staff said.

As well as dentist Matthew Oxford, on hand for the operation were three vets, three vet nurses, two big cat keepers and senior animal staff for the two-and-half-hour procedure.

As part of the safety protocols, a keeper with a shotgun was also on standby, bringing "a whole new meaning to the phrase 'armed to the teeth'", as the zoo pointed out.

Fifteen minutes after the procedure, the big cat was sitting up "totally unaware of the team that has provided his dental care", staff said.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Two men are still in hospital after a head-on crash between an Audi and a BMW near St Kew in Cornwall, police say.

It happened on the A39 just after 18:30 last Thursday.

The drivers, a 23-year-old man and a 35-year-old man, both sustained multiple serious leg injuries which were described as potentially life-changing, Devon and Cornwall Police said.

Police have appealed for witnesses.

We answer your fatberg questions after a "monster" example is discovered in Sidmouth, Devon.

BBC Radio Devon

Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested by police investigating assault and public order offences in Plymouth.

Officers said they were called to reports of a "large-scale disorder" near Frankfurt Gate in New George Street just after 21:00 on Thursday.

A teenage boy was taken to hospital.

The two 17-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of affray and assault before being released on police bail.

Devon Live

Exeter City Council's executive will be asked to approve a public consultation, external on permanently closing 15 public conveniences to achieve budget savings and enable a balanced budget to be set.

BBC Radio Devon

Plans to completely refurbish a Plymouth fire station have been submitted to the city council.

The £2.6m proposals for Camels Head fire station include a new design which would make the building more eco-friendly, as well as the installation of a lift and better heating systems, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said.

Image source, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service

BBC Radio Cornwall

Mental health services provided for children in Cornwall have been cited as a model example in a recent report from the House of Commons.

The report looked at the benefits of early intervention to improve mental health.

Headstart Kernow is a multi-agency partnership led by Cornwall Council, and was highlighted in the report by the Science and Technology Committee, external.

Its work includes building an understanding of adverse childhood experiences and how they can affect children.

The report also calls for a national government plan to make the level of early intervention services consistent across the UK.

Hamish Marshall
BBC Spotlight

A man stabbed in a north Devon car park cried out "Why me?" as his attacker ran off, a court has heard.

Thirty-nine-year-old Lee Turner died from a number of wounds from the attack in a Tesco car park in Barnstaple on 3 August 2018.

Store worker Aron Baggaley described at Exeter Crown Court the attack alleged to have been carried out by Kevin Gale.

He said Mr Gale went up to his victim and put his hand on his shoulder, looking like "he was patting him on the back like an old friend".

He said there was then a quick motion and it was not until the attacker ran off into town "that I noticed the blood".

Mr Baggaley told the court Mr Turner was surprised at the attack, shouting: "Why me? What have I done?"

Mr Gale, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, is unfit to plead in his trial. Jurors have been told their role is to decide whether the 50-year-old carried out the attack.

The trial continues.

BBC Radio Devon

A new study of hermit crabs is helping scientists learn more about why animals fight and what makes a good fighter.

The three-year study is being carried out by experts at the University of Plymouth.

They're using crabs that battle over empty snail shells used for protection.

Professor of Animal Behaviour Mark Briffa said such studies told a lot about a species...

Victoria Derbyshire

The family of a woman who campaigned to lower the cervical screening age from 25 to 18 have suggested a law be named in her memory as part of her campaign.

Natasha Sale, 31, from Newton Abbot, set up an online petition before she died of cervical cancer which will be considered for debate in Parliament.

She was diagnosed in 2016 and wanted to help the "next generation of young ladies".

Before her death she had gathered more than 78,000 signatures - the petition has since gone over the 100,000 signature mark.