Local News

Winkleigh's much-loved fair returns

Winkleigh's much-loved annual Fair is now underway, with a packed programme of community events and celebrations continuing throughout the week following a successful opening ceremony held on Sunday in the Town Square.

The Winkleigh Fair is one of Devon's oldest surviving community...

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Record Rise of 2.58m in South West Employment Rate

The employment rate in the South West has increased by a record 2.58 million in three months, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics this morning.

The figures show that nationally the employment rate is now at 72.3%, the highest it has been since the recession began in 2008 with job numbers increasing by 105,000 on the quarter to reach 30.19 million for...

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jobless

unemployment

Zoo staff save tiny baby

Dedicated keepers at Paignton Zoo in Devon are caring for a rare baby that weighed little more than a CD at birth.

The pygmy slow loris – which weighed just 22 grams when it was born - was one of twins born to a first-time mother. One twin did not survive, and keepers stepped in to save the other when its mother abandoned it.

For the first night head mammal keeper Craig...

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charity

conservation

Plymouth wins funding to bring Reynolds' items home

Plymouth has won over £300,000 in grant funding to bring home incredibly important items by historic portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds.

Staff at the City Museum and Art Gallery are celebrating after successfully securing £326,300 from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the acquisition of a Reynolds’ first self-portrait, used by the artist to advertise his Plymouth Dock studio in...

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joshua reynolds

Plymouth

grant

Rare Devon bird rescued from extinction

A rare South Devon Bird has been rescued from the brink of extinction following an EU-funded recovery programme.

The cirl bunting, native to South Devon, almost died out 25 years ago having falling to just over 100 pairs in 1989 due to the lack of food and nesting sites.

Now following an extensive recovery programme to protect their environments bankrolled by the European Rural...

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Police report missing methadone in Plymouth

Police are urging anyone who finds some small bottles left at a bus stop in Plymouth to hand them in.

Three 100ml bottles of methadone were left at the bus stop at the end of Wolseley Road, by the Tesco Extra store, on Tuesday 18 March between 2.30pm and 4pm.

A police spokesperson said: “A woman left the bottles at the bus stop by mistake and when she went back to get them,...

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methodone

Plymouth

police

Preferred bidder to build and run recycling facility named

Glass recycling looks set to be a lot easier for every household in Plymouth as Council plans to improve the city’s recycling and waste collections gathers momentum.

The Council has named Viridor Waste Management Ltd as preferred bidder for the contract to build and operate the replacement material recycling facility at Chelson Meadow.

The facility is where all the city’s...

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Plymouth

MRF

recycling centre

Metal theft reduced dramatically as Op Tornado continues

Police have taken part in a series of action days as the force continues to clamp down on metal theft across the region.

Over three days in February officers, along with colleagues from partner agencies, staged action days as part of Operation Tornado.

Launched in 2012 by Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Op Tornado was set up to reduce metal theft, which nationally...

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Rare frog found after three year search

A Devon conservation charity has found a rare African frog after a painstaking search lasting three years.

The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust, which runs Paignton Zoo, Living Coasts in Torquay and Newquay Zoo in Cornwall, carries out fieldwork with rare amphibians in the mountains of Eastern Tanzania.

The work is funded by zoo visitors and supporters and carried out with...

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A new chapter for library services in Plymouth

Plans to transform the way library services are provided in Plymouth look set to take a step forward next week.

Cabinet members will consider a three-year action plan to comprehensively review the library service and identify ways it can better meets the needs of its customers, as well as local communities.

The plan aims to deliver the Council’s pledge to ‘protect and...

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Water bills could fall by 13% by 2020

South West Water has taken another step to keep bills as low as possible while continuing to invest heavily in improved services.

The company has presented Ofwat, the independent water industry regulator, with updated plans that could see average prices falling by 13 per cent in real terms by 2020.

South West Water has already confirmed a price freeze on its standard tariff and...

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south west water bills

Plymouth

Devon