Devon

East Devon Coronavirus update – closure of parks, gardens, play areas, public toilets, beach huts/beach hut sites and suspension of green waste and bulky waste collections

Councillor Geoff Jung, East Devon District Council’s Environment Portfolio Holder and John Golding, Strategic Lead for Housing, Health and Environment have confirmed that the council has closed parks, gardens, play areas and beach huts/beach hut sites.

The green waste and bulky waste services have also been temporarily suspended in order to focus resources on kerbside recycling and...

New editors join BBC Spotlight and BBC Radio Cornwall

Daisy Griffith is now leading the most popular regional news bulletin in the country, Spotlight, which reaches more than 50 per cent of the South West each week.

Meanwhile Emma Clements is running BBC Radio Cornwall, a station with more than 100,000 weekly listeners.

Stephanie Marshall, head of the BBC in the South West and West, said the experienced journalists would bring...

Recycling centres restricted to essential use only

Residents should only visit recycling centres if absolutely necessary.

Those with small amounts of waste which are suitable to be placed in the kerbside collection, those over 70, those who are self isolating (vulnerable or displaying symptoms of COVID 19) should not visit the sites from today (Monday 23 March) until further notice.

The new measures follow thousands of...

New Mortgage Information Support Service to ease financial worries of homeowners across the South West 

Mortgage Advice Bureau South West has launched a dedicated Mortgage Information Support Service to help homeowners who are worried about their finances as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The free support service, which is available to homeowners across the south west, has been set up to answer any queries or worries local people may have about paying their mortgage,...

Temporary changes to on-street parking enforcement

In order to help residents parking outside their homes while working from home or self-isolating during the Coronavirus outbreak, the County Council’s parking enforcement teams will reduce enforcement on certain roads – although double yellow lines will still be enforced.

Changes to routine patrols will enable officers to concentrate their efforts on keeping key routes running...

Likely increase in domestic violence as a result of Coronavirus – what you can do

Suggestions that there will be a surge in domestic violence in the region as families self-isolate and schools face long closures has prompted a response from The Family Law Company.

Director Jane Chanot who is part of the Children, Child Abduction and Domestic Violence Team, says “I have real concerns that we’ll see an increase in situations where families are kept inside together...

Torquay penguins inspire novel

Living Coasts, in Torquay, famous for its penguins, has helped inspire a novelist to write a book featuring penguins – published by Penguin.

The novel, by Exmoor-based writer Hazel Prior, is called Away With The Penguins . Living Coasts' Senior Keeper, Jason Keller, helped Hazel with her research into hand-rearing baby penguins.

Away With The Penguins has been described as a...

How to tell if your great ape is pregnant...

The world’s number one selling brand in home pregnancy and fertility tests has donated pregnancy kits – for orang utans.

The Clearblue brand helps over 20 million women every year – and now, a couple of broody female Bornean orang utans… Keepers at Paignton Zoo in Devon approached Clearblue because they hope their orang utans will breed this year.

Senior Head Keeper of Mammals...

Free bus travel for community volunteers

Stagecoach South West is offering free travel for community volunteer groups delivering vital supplies across the county.

At this troubling time the bus operator wants to reward those community heroes who are helping people isolated at home and unable to travel. The offer for organised volunteer groups will help keep the volunteers moving as the South West prepares for a rise in...

Learning where bread comes from in one of Britain’s oldest working mills

Primary school pupils from North Devon travelled to the east of the county for a lesson in how grain was milled 1,000 years ago.

As a part of their ‘Farm to Fork’ topic, pupils aged between four to six years old, from Umberleigh Primary Academy and Brayford Academy, visited the East Devon village of Otterton where the ancient water-powered mill produces stoneground wholemeal flour in...

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