Local News

Bampton Beaver Scouts meet Olympic race walker, Chris Maddocks

On a hot and humid early Wednesday evening, I joined an enthusiastic group of Bampton Beaver scouts for a walk, quite a fast walk! For the umpteenth time I came out of competitive retirement to join these 5-8 year olds and share my Olympic Games' experiences with a chat and outdoor fun. At the...

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Conference to celebrate Plymouth's great outdoors

Conservationists, scientists, rangers and public health specialists will be celebrating the success of some extraordinary outdoor projects that have transformed lives and landscapes across the city.

A conference will take place on November 28 at Hamoaze House, Mount Wise to share the learning from the projects Stepping Stones to Nature and Blue Sound which have brought together...

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Plymouth

Plymouth City Council

Stepping Stones to Nature

Blue Sound

conference

Drake Circus to open its first Santa's grotto this Christmas

Santa and his elves are to open Drake Circus’s first ever Christmas Grotto at 11am, November 16 2013.

Families who would like to visit Santa, as they enjoy one of the West Country’s most popular shopping malls with over 70 shops, will be able to book online at www.drakecircus.com , with visits starting on 23 November 2013.

Children visiting the Grotto will receive a present...

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£1.9m boost to improve energy efficiency at Plymouth hospitals

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust will benefit from a slice of a £50 million national fund to help cut its energy bill, it has been announced today.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has been awarded £1.9 million from the national fund. The money will be used to fund two projects, which will dramatically improve the Trust's energy efficiency.

Nick Thomas, Director of Planning and Site...

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Plymouth

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

energy efficiency

Flybe to axe 500 more jobs

The Devon airline Flybe has announced plans to cut 500 jobs, despite reporting a return to profit.

The Exeter-based company is planning to make £40m of savings this year and £45m in 2014-15.

Flybe chief executive Saad Hammad said: "The business needed action now and so today we are explaining our next phase which encompasses a review of everything we do and how we do it....

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Flybe

Devon

jobs

Plymouth Royal Marine found guilty of murder of Afghan

A Plymouth based Royal Marine has been found guilty by a military court of murdering an injured Afghan insurgent in 2011.

The marine, a sergeant who can be known only as Marine A, faces a mandatory life sentence for the shooting of the unknown man in what the prosecution described as "an execution", in Helmand Province in Afghanistan.

The two other marines charged were cleared...

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Warning of rain and possible flooding for Plymouth

A Met Office warning of rain and possible flooding remains in place on Monday morning (11 November) following overnigh weather conditions.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning of rain for the whole of south west England. The forecast is as follows:

Rain spreading eastwards across the UK during Sunday night will become persistent and often heavy in some areas during Monday...

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Derriford Hospital marks World Radiography Day

Plymouth NHS Hospitals Trust has marked World Radiography Day, by recognising the work of its specialist imaging staff.

World Radiography Day is celebrated on 8 November each year. The date marks the anniversary of the discovery of x-radiation by Wilhelm Roentgen in 1895.

Dr Phil Hughes, Medical Director and Consultant Radiologist, said: “The radiology department at Derriford...

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Plymouth

Derriford hospital

Plymouth NHS Hospitals Trust

World Radiography Day

Plymouth GP: “Have a cough or cold? Take care, not antibiotics”

A doctor from Plymouth has reminded people of the importance of using antibiotics wisely to help prevent the increase in antibiotic resistance.

Antibiotics Awareness Day takes place on 18 November and Dr David Gwynne, a GP from Plymouth and a clinical lead for medicines optimisation at Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), has backed a European...

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First Great Western cleaners stage third walkout

First Great Western (FGW) train cleaners have walked out for a third time in a dispute over pay and zero-hours contracts.

South West members of the RMT union working for cleaning contractors Mitie went on strike at 6am on Thursday 7 November and are not due to return to work until 5.59am on Saturday (9 November).

London-based workers will not work thier shifts between 6am on...

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Former Devon police officer jailed for paedophile crimes

A paedophile who committed a series of sexual offences against boys for more than a decade while serving as a police officer, has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Danny Bryant, aged 65 years from Bideford, was convicted at Taunton Crown Court on Thursday 7 November for historic sexual assaults against five boys between 1974 and 1985. Bryant admitted 10 indecent assaults.

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Devon

paedophile

convicted Danny Bryant

Russel Dawson

Taunton Crown Court

police officer