BBC Radio Cornwall

MPs are due to vote on the government's latest lockdown plans on Wednesday afternoon ahead of their introduction - if approved - at midnight.

They will mean pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops closing until at least 2 December in an attempt to curb the the spread of coronavirus.

Labour is supporting the move, but some Conservative MPs will oppose the plans.

St Ives Conservative Derek Thomas told the House of Commons he was worried some small businesses might not survive despite their being "one of great successes in recent years" in Cornwall.

He called for "support for fledgling businesses, so they really have the finances to sustain these jobs next year and beyond".

Hamish Marshall
BBC Spotlight

A rise in coronavirus cases in Torbay means it now has the equal highest infection rate in the South West.

There were 222 new cases in the week to last Saturday, up from 183 cases in the previous seven days.

That took its infection rate to 163 per 100,000 population, which is the same as Plymouth.

Two deaths were announced on Tuesday at Torbay Hospital, and, in separate figures, three deaths in care homes in the bay between 17 and 23 October were announced.

Plymouth had 427 new Covid cases in the seven days to last Saturday - an increase from 394 the previous week.

Exeter has the next highest rate of 125 per 100,000, but its number of new cases was 164 which was down from 211.

Case numbers in North Devon more than doubled from 41 to 97, taking the infection rate to 100 per 100,000.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly still have the lowest infection rate in the region. A small reduction in new cases sees its infection rate at 46 per 100,000.

All areas are well below the England average which is 227 per 100,000 population.

There are 151 councils out of 315 in England with higher infection rates than Torbay and Plymouth.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

The public health team tackling the response to Covid-19 in Torbay has had its government funding cut by more than £1.7m in the last six years.

The figure was given by Torbay Council Cabinet member Jackie Stockman in an update on budget plans for next year.

Image source, Ed Oldfield

Councillor Stockman said the ring-fenced public health grant had seen cuts of £1,736,000 over the last six years.

“That has had a big impact on public health,” Councillor Stockman told a meeting to review the budget plans on Monday night.

She said the grant for next year will go up by £620,000 to £9.7m.

But £450,000 of that will go to cover a pay rise for health staff which is now the responsibility of the council under changes to social care.

Councillor Stockman highlighted the “extreme stress” the council’s team of 13 public health staff had been working under to deal with the local response to the pandemic.

Responsibility for public health moved from the NHS to local authorities in 2013, including services to tackle sexual health, obesity, tobacco, drugs and alcohol misuse.

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During the last lockdown, many surfers were confused about how far they were allowed to travel to go surfing, or whether they could travel at all.

The government guidance for the second lockdown, external, beginning on Thursday, is that you are allowed to travel for exercise "if you need to make a short journey to do so".

Surfing England noted on its website the guidance did not define what a short distance was "and relies on people to apply some common sense".

It said: "At Surfing England, we will be keeping our journey times for surfing or exercise to within 30 minutes."

BBC Radio Devon

Thursday's national lockdown has come at the right time for Devon, according to one of the county's top nurses.

Darryn Allcorn, Chief Nurse of the NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group, said with rising cases, a lockdown will give emergency services the best chance of managing the cases of Covid-19.

BBC Radio Devon

A Devon MP has asked for economists to be a larger part of the debate about England entering a new lockdown on Thursday

Mel Stride, Conservative MP for Central Devon, is also Chair of the Commons Treasury Committee, and is urging the government to involve economists "more prominently", including during press briefings at Downing Street.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Cornwall's Director of Public Health is supporting plans to keep schools open during the new lockdown - despite cases of Covid-19 doubling in Cornwall in the last week.

Although the rate - at 47 cases per 100,000 people - is very low compared with the rest of England, there have been calls to close schools to all but vulnerable children and those of key workers.

Director of Public Health Rachel Wigglesworth said there's no room for complacency, but agrees children should be going to school.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Cornwall's Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs) are to will remain open during the next Covid lockdown, Cornwall Council has said.

The month-long measures in England are due to come into force on Thursday until 2 December and will see pubs, gyms and non-essential shops close; but schools, colleges and universities stay open.

Rob Nolan, council cabinet portfolio holder for environment, said that during the lockdown "we expect that more people will be visiting the sites and this means there could be queues.

To help maintain social distancing and protect staff and other site users, the council said it would continue to operate its current number plate entry system "to limit the number of people at the sites at any one time".

It meant people with an odd number as the last digit on their vehicle registration plate could only visit on odd days of the month, and people with even number last digits could only visit on even days.

People could also be turned away if there were long queues, the council said

Full deatils are on the Cornwall Council website, external.

Image source, Google

Covid-vulnerable mum-of-five Gemma York writes to Boris Johnson asking for clearer guidance.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The spread of Covid 19 in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has risen slightly.

There are now 47 cases per 100,000 people, up from 46 on Monday.

However, the rate is still significantly below the England average of 153.

Ahead of an England-wide lockdown from Thursday, the pair reorganised their nuptials in just 24 hours.

An ICU healthcare assistant says she is so sad she will not get married this month.

An effort to track down paths left off the map has revealed thousands of missing miles in some counties - and even some potential historical finds.

The project by the Ramblers asked volunteers to take part in an online mapping search to find lost paths ahead of a Government deadline of 2026 to register them on official maps.

It has uncovered routes such as a small stretch missing from the map in Devon that could be part of the Mariners' Way, a route thought to be followed by sailors in search of work, taking them between the ports of Bideford in North Devon and Dartmouth on the English Channel, across Dartmoor.

The short section of path linking the banks of the River Dart at Holne Bridge to Ausewell Wood does not appear as a public right of way on the current Ordnance Survey map, but did appear on a map from 1906.

George Coles, Ramblers area vice-chair for Devon, said: "It's a short stretch of path, just about half a kilometre, but a useful one which would enable people to reach the open access land of Ausewell Wood - a beautiful ancient oak woodland - as well as possibly being of possible historical significance too.

"It might just be the first step in reinstating the lost portion of the Mariners' Way."

The central section of the ancient trail is fairly well traced, and parts of it are waymarked and regularly enjoyed by walkers on Dartmoor, but the final 20 or so miles south to Dartmouth are uncertain, the Ramblers said.

Image source, PA Media

A couple rearranged their wedding in 24 hours to tie the knot before new lockdown restrictions come into force in England on Thursday.

Jo Loosemore, 33, and her fiance Matt Goffin, 37, had been due to get married near the bride's parents' home in Devon on November 14.

After learning of the impending restrictions on Saturday morning, they arranged to get hitched the following day in Witcham, Cambridgeshire where they live with their eight-month-old son Rupert.

The now Mr and Mrs Goffin married at the Church of St Martin in Witcham on Sunday morning.

BBC Radio Devon

The Bishop of Plymouth has written to all MPs in the South West to express "the Catholic community's dismay" at the government's decision to stop public, communal worship.

Bishop Mark O'Toole asked that faith groups be "treated fairly" and for MPs to recognise the "legitimate rights to religious freedom and expression, so deeply held within our democracy".

England's four-week lockdown will see most religious services banned. Funerals will still be allowed though, with a maximum of 30 attending.

Many religious groups in England have strongly criticised the new lockdown rule banning communal worship.

"Faith communities have played a vital role in sustaining personal, spiritual and mental health these past months, as well as encouraging vital charitable activities, which support millions of people in all sections of the community, and especially the most vulnerable," said Bishop O'Toole.

It is "incumbent on the government to be transparent and produce the evidence that fully justifies its decision to ban communal worship", otherwise the "ban on public worship should be removed," he added.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

A South West MP has warned there were no guarantees that the new Covid lockdown will only run for the four weeks proposed by the government.

Boris Johnson is preparing to ask MPs to support his plan for a national coronavirus lockdown in England, which will come into force on Thursday, with it currently due to run until 5 December.

However, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove warned at the weekend ministers would be "guided by the facts" and, although they believed "on the basis of the evidence that we have that we will be able to [lift restrictions]" by 2 December, the lockdown could be extended beyond that deadline.

South East Cornwall Conservative MP Sheryll Murray also said there were no guarantees the new lockdown would only run for the four weeks proposed because "the way the disease is spreading, you have to take action".

Labour said it would support the move, but some Conservatives said they would vote against it because of the harm it would do to the economy.

Newton Abbot's Conservative MP Anne-Marie Morris, who is one of them, said she "really feared" high streets would not recover after taking a "real hit" since the first lockdown.

She said: "They need the help because we need these retail outlets, we need these high streets - they are the core of our communities."

BBC Radio Devon

Boris Johnson is due to tell MPs this afternoon that there is "no alternative" to a month-long national lockdown in England, to try to bring down coronavirus infections.

The Commons will vote on it on Wednesday -- a day before it's due to come into force.

Some Conservatives say they'll oppose the measure because of the harm it'll do to the economy -- and the Scottish Tories say the shutdown should have happened sooner.

The Labour leader of Plymouth City Council, councillor Tudor Evans, says he will be lobbying the government for extra funding as the region will be badly affected by the lockdown.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Cornwall Council is working with care providers to ensure "safeguarding" is at the heart of "each organisation we work with" after a review about abuse in care homes found incidents were not properly investigated until after a BBC investigation.

The Morleigh Group operated seven homes in the county until closing in 2016 after undercover filming by BBC Panorama at one home revealed abuse.

An official review found there had been hundreds of reports of concerns since 2013.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Safeguarding Adults Board review, external highlighted failings and missed opportunities to address the problems.

Cornwall Council apologised and said its officials were "now able to step in much sooner if a provider is struggling".

Cabinet portfolio holder for adults Rob Rotchell also said: “We have also reviewed our contract with care providers to ensure that safeguarding is placed at the heart of each organisation we work with."

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The chief superintendent of Devon and Cornwall Police has celebrated a member of staff for managing to run the force's control room from a bedroom.

Ian Drummond-Smith praised the dedication of his control room supervisor, who is currently in self-isolation.

Mike Newton described his setup in his "dog's bedroom" as the "Satellite Operational Command Centre".

A review finds neglect in Cornwall care homes was only properly investigated after a BBC report.