South West

Luke preparing for stardom despite failing to win top spot

Luke Friend is preparing for stardom, despite failing to reach the X Factor final.

The 17-year-pld from Teignmouth failed to secure enogh votes to go through to last night's sing off but despite that he is still being tipped for the top.

And among those singing his praises have been a number of celebrities.

Elli Goulding, who dueted with Luke, from Teignmouth, on...

Met Office issue weather warnings

The Met Office have issued a Yellow Weather Warning, indicating heavy rain in the South West this evening and tomorrow.

A Yellow Weather Warning indicates the public need to be aware of their weather conditions.

Periods of rain, heavy at times, will affect parts of southern England later on today and more particularly on Monday 16 December.

The public should be aware...

Ofsted release South West report

Ofsted has published its first ever report reviewing education standards in the South West.

The Annual Report 2012/13 for the South West finds that the proportion of good or outstanding primary and secondary schools in the region has increased. As a result, over 48,000 more pupils now benefit from a good or outstanding education than was the case 12 months ago.

Despite the...

Fears that the housing market recovery could "overheat"

As the South West housing market continues to show signs of economic recovery commentators have warned of the danger of the market may “overheat”.

A new report by the National Housing Federation (NHF) argues that “whilst economic growth has returned to many areas, this has caused the already over-stretched housing market there to overheat.”

In their “Home Truths” report they...

South west forces agree regional forensic collaboration

Exeter will be the base for one of three regional centres for police forensic services after the five south west police forces agreed to a new streamlined state-of-the-art service.

Currently each force has both fingerprint and chemical laboratories but under the new agreement this will reduce to three with fingerprint services being delivered in Exeter and Portishead and the chemical...

Devon to freeze in icy blast

The Met office has warned of incoming frost as temperatures plunge in Devon.

An icy blast is set to end the current mild spell in the South of England and will begin a period of low average temperatures over the coming months.

The Met Office said: “Indications are that December will most likely be colder than average. For December-January-February as a whole uncertainty is...

Floods cost UK economy nearly £600 million

One year on from some of the worst flooding in 2012, latest research by the Environment Agency reveals that last year’s record-breaking wet year in England could have cost the UK economy close to £600 million.

The overall financial cost to businesses of the extreme weather was up to £200 million as total commercial property and contents damage totalled up to £84 million, and further...

Taxis answer 999 calls in South West

A Freedom of Infomation (FOI) request has revealed that the South Western Ambulance Trust (SWASFT) has sent taxis to 158 999 calls in 2013/14.

The evidence was presented to the House of Commons yesterday by Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham who claimed that the news revealed a deepening crisis in UK A&E’s.

Andy Burnham MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, said: "People...

Zero-hours contracts make SMEs in South West ‘feel guilty’

A third of small business owners in the South West say zero-hours contracts are deeply unfair on employees – however 38 per cent use them on their own staff.

Research into the attitudes of SME owners across the country focusing on how they hire, pay and view their staff revealed that zero-hours contracts are seen as a necessary part of running a business in what are still uncertain...

Number of jobseekers in Devon continues to fall

The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) in Devon is continuing to fall, with figures decreasing by 204 claimants over the past month.

Claimants in Devon have fallen from 6,717 in September to 6,513 in October meaning that figures have now decreased over the past eight consecutive months.

Year on year, the number of people claiming JSA in Devon has fallen by 2,...

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