Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Should Cornwall have a directly-elected mayor? That is the question posed by one of the county’s MPs.

Steve Double has suggested that this could be one of the major aims of Cornwall Council in the future as it prepares to mark 10 years as a unitary authority.

The St Austell and Newquay MP said that having a mayor who would lead the council elected by the people of Cornwall would help the county.

"Having a mayor of Cornwall would suit the Cornish identity and give us a stronger voice," he argued.

“I understand why some people feel reluctant, but we should see what we could get from a directly-elected mayor.

“People have been calling for Cornwall to have more power and have more money – if the price is a mayor then I think that is worth considering."

Cornwall Council currently operates under a leader and cabinet system with a leader who is chosen by councillors and who then has the job of picking a cabinet to work with them.

Actress Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley, looks for micro plastics in the River Wye.

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

Environmental activists have returned to Cornwall from uninhabited parts of the Isles of Scilly after a big clean-up operation to tackle the problem of plastics in the sea.

Plastic bottles, ropes, buckets and all kinds of debris washed up from around the globe and the volunteers have brought back 35 huge sack loads of rubbish which they found on the islands' beaches or drifting at sea during their two-week trip.

BBC Radio Devon

In Plymouth, the Manadon flyover northbound is closed due to a multi-vehicle accident and car fire heading towards Derriford. Traffic is busy in the surrounding areas.

Image source, Sarah-Jayne Cook

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BBC Weather

It will be breezy with a good deal of cloud around as well as showers or longer spells of rain, which could be heavy with the risk of hail and thunder.

The showers will become scattered later.

Maximum temperature: 10 to 13C (50 to 55F).

BBC Spotlight

People in Looe in Cornwall had some of the longest average waits in Britain for ambulances dealing with life-threatening conditions, a BBC investigation has found.

Patients in the area waited almost 17 minutes, while the target is seven minutes.

Patients in Kingsbridge in Devon, Penzance and Bude in Cornwall waited on average over 15 minutes for emergency calls.

South Western Ambulance Service said reaching rural communities in the required response times with limited resources is a significant challenge.

A report found poor communication within Cornwall Council meant the boy's care assessment was delayed.

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"Remarkable" Margaret Partridge was one of the first women to run her own engineering business.

The boy left the girl, 10, to die and then checked to see if her body had been found, a court hears.

Ben Woolvin
BBC South West Home Affairs correspondent

The jury in the trial of a teenage boy accused of raping and attempting to murder a 10-year-old girl has been told by the judge not to reach a verdict based on the strong sympathy they may feel for the girl who was attacked.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has admitted sexual assault but denies rape and attempted murder in Exmouth last year.

In giving his directions to the jury the judge said: "This is a case that will inevitably provoke strong emotions... it is likely that many of you will have strong feelings about what happened, but you must not judge this case on the basis of sympathy or disgust or any other emotions, however understandable those emotions may be".

The jury at Bristol Crown Court is expected to be sent out on Wednesday.

Millicent Cooke
BBC News Online

The leader of Devon County Council has accused the government of ignoring the South West in its post-Brexit funding announcement.

The Stronger Towns Fund, designed to boost less well-off towns in England after Brexit, allocated £33m to the region.

Councillor John Hart, who is also chair of South West Councils, said it was "insulting".

“Yet again the South West is the poor relation to the rest of the country," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

"To only receive £33m - the same as Eurotunnel - from the government pot of post-Brexit funding is bordering on insulting.

“No consultation or communication took place with our councils prior to the funding announcement and we are bitterly disappointed that the needs of the people of the South West are being ignored."

The government agreed to pay Eurotunnel £33m to settle a lawsuit over extra ferry services in the event of a no-deal Brexit on Friday.

The £1.6bn Stronger Towns Fund will be broken down into £600m, which communities in any part of England can bid for, and £1bn allocated using a needs-based formula to the following areas:

• North West England: £281m

• North East England: £105m

• Yorkshire and the Humber: £197m

• West Midlands: £212m

• East Midlands: £110m

• South West England: £33m

• South East England: £37m

• East England: £25m

A Conservative MP has criticised the government's new Stronger Towns initiative for overlooking parts of the South West.

Cornwall North MP Scott Mann said his constituency had areas of high deprivation, yet had not been allocated any of the £1.6bn on offer nationwide.

The pot is split into £1bn, divided in England using a needs-based formula, and £600m communities can bid for.

Of all of that, south-west England is to receive £33m, the government says.

Mr Mann said Cornwall had always scored "very highly in terms of social deprivation and funding [to address it]" and he wanted Treasury assurances that his constituency would benefit.

Treasury Minister Robert Jenrick said the announcement "does provide support for the South West" in terms of the direct funding to be paid to local enterprise partnerships.

He added that towns in Mr Mann's constituency "should bid into" the competitive fund of £600m.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, LDRS/Save Westward Ho! Park

Campaigners are celebrating after plans to sell off land at a popular park to build houses were voted down.

Torridge District Council's Community and Resources Committee rejected plans for 10 houses at the site on Monday.

More than 4,000 people had signed a petition against plans to demolish the play area, tennis courts and former cafe building at the park at Avon Lane.

Image source, LDRS/Save Westward Ho! Park

Councillor Laws, who represents Westward Ho!, said after the meeting: "We don't have a huge amount of green space in the town and this park is only small and you can walk through all of it in a minute, but it is just so valued and to take part of it away for housing to me just felt wrong.

"I think the passion of the residents who all spoke up about the concerns that they had with this led councillors to one by one change their mind."

BBC Radio Cornwall

Children in Hayle are among the hundreds who have been marking St Piran's Day across the county in parades and singing.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A senior Torbay councillor has criticised others for ignoring a major policy development meeting to help disadvantaged children.

Richard Haddock said it was “disgusting” no other councillors had turned up at a meeting of the council’s executive to hear about the new policy.

He spoke out at the meeting of Torbay’s policy development and decision group, which is made up of senior councillors on the executive who run the council and report to the elected mayor.

Mr Haddock made his comments after the committee was told about a new strategy developed by council officers to support disadvantaged children’s learning.

It sets out how the council aims to meet the needs of vulnerable learners and close the gap in achievement between them and other children.

It also aims to ensure all council services and partners work with education, care and health providers to make the most of resources.

Elected mayor Gordon Oliver accepted a recommendation from the committee to approve the strategy, which will be reviewed in 2020.

The council has imposed a spending freeze because of financial pressures driven by a surge in demand for children’s social care which is heading for an overspend of more than £4m by the end of March.

The tur at Paington Zoo got into neighbouring gardens before being tranquilized and returned to its enclosure.

The three-bedroom bungalow on the Isles of Scilly was built for the Labour prime minister 60 years ago.