Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plymouth City Council’s leaders will give an update on the response to coronavirus in their first public meeting since the lockdown.

Members of the council’s cabinet and senior officers will take part in an online meeting which will be broadcast live on its website from 14:00 on Tuesday.

There will be statements from the city’s director of public health, Dr Ruth Harrell, council chief executive Tracey Lee and leader Tudor Evans.

Members of the Cabinet will also give updates about work taking place in their departments across the Labour-run unitary council and with partners to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A statement from the council says the meeting can be watched live by the public and a recording will be available afterwards, as previously with all public meetings of the authority.

Image source, LDRS

The city council along with others around the country started cancelling public meetings eight weeks ago ahead of the lockdown at the end of March.

The government has introduced new rules to allow councils to hold "virtual" meetings online, and all of the council’s committees are due to meet using Microsoft Teams software for as long as needed.

Council Deputy Leader Pete Smith said it was was "important to all Plymouth residents and it is as important as ever that we do this in public, are transparent and can be held accountable for the decision we make".

He added the authority would be "sticking to the previously agreed calendar of meetings and will continue to hold all meetings online as long as is necessary".

Elections due to take place on 7 May for a third of the seats on the city council have been put off for a year due to Covid-19. The vote for the post of police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall has also been postponed.

Rebecca Thorn
BBC News Online

Residents in East Devon are urged to park their cars "as publicly as possible" following a spike in fuel thefts, police say.

Officers say the number of incidents has risen during April, including nine incidents in Sidmouth and Sidbury, and three in Honiton and Gittisham.

On each occasion the thief drilled a hole in the fuel tank to syphon its contents.

Sergeant Roy Hutter said: "These thefts have been from cars parked both on the roadside and in car parks. We would urge people to park their cars as publicly as possible and make sure they are secured."

He added there was concern fuel was leaking on the road, making surfaces slippery and a hazard to pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

Anyone who witnesses any suspicious behaviour can contact the police on 101 or email 101@dc.police.uk

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

Police have fined three men for breaching social distancing regulations when they came ashore after reportedly becoming stranded in a rowing boat in the River Exe Estuary near Topsham.

A police helicopter was tasked to assist coastguards when the trio were located on a mud bank at low tide at about 22:00 on Sunday.

Officers said a 31-year-old man and a 35-year-old man, both from the same address in St Thomas, Exeter, and a 31-year-old from Newtown, Exeter, received the Covid-19 fines.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

People in Exeter should "please make sure to recycle everything you can", the city council says.

The council said it realised the coronavirus situation meant "more online purchasing and therefore more cardboard entering our homes", resulting in more packaging in green bins and less in the recycling bins at work.

But officials added that if anyone ran out of green bin space, they had two options: to order another one for free, external, or place out extra recycling on collection day in bags labelled "recycling".

The council added that, if "like many of us, you are struggling to remember what day it is at the moment", people could subscribe to its bin-reminder email service to alert them the day collection was due.

BBC Radio Devon

April saw the highest number of assaults on Devon and Cornwall Police officers and staff in the last three years, the organisation that represents officers up to the rank of chief inspector has said.

The Devon and Cornwall Police Federation said on Monday that 105 incidents were recorded - equating to more than three a day.

It said about 20 to 25% of those assaults involved spitting, with offenders threatening to give officers Covid-19.

Devon and Cornwall Chief Constable Shaun Sawyer said last month that assaults on any key workers were "unacceptable" and threatening to spread Covid-19 to anyone was "intolerable".

Last month, a woman was jailed for six months, external for spitting blood into the face of a police officer in Exeter.

Two women have also been recently given suspended sentences for spitting at officers during the virus outbreak.

BBC Radio Devon

A group of 85 Conservative MPs, led by Totnes MP Anthony Mangnall, has written to the chancellor, calling for a new support package for tourism and hospitality businesses in the wake of the crisis.

The letter to Rishi Sunak calls for an increase in the business rates relief threshold, an extension of the furlough scheme and a VAT rebate.

The Totnes MP says they were some of the first businesses to close due to coronavirus and many are expected to be the last to reopen after lockdown.

BBC Radio Cornwall

The owner of a Deli in Falmouth has decided to close permanently because of the shutdown.

Image source, Courtyard Deli

Chris Biggers says he can't see how he can cover his costs this year at the Courtyard Deli and Kitchen.

And he says not knowing when tourism will start again in Cornwall helped him make his decision.

Facebook

Devon hospital patients separated from relatives by coronavirus can have messages delivered by a new system, a local hospital trust says.

The Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust said it had arranged a new service, external so people can get in touch with loved ones to "cheer them up".

BBC Radio Devon

The Devon and Cornwall Police Federation says April saw the highest number of assaults on officers and staff in the last three years, with 105 recorded - more than three a day.

It says about 20-25% of those assaults involved spitting.

Andy Berry, chair of Devon and Cornwall Police Federation said the assaults were "unacceptable" and called on courts to "use their full powers to punish offenders".