Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for Devon and Cornwall

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

The government has allowed Torbay Council to take £1.4m from mainstream schools to cover overspending in its higher needs budget despite opposition from head teachers and governors.

The council had to ask for special permission from the Secretary of State for Education to move the money in the next financial year.

Its Schools Forum came up with the plan as part of a strategy to make up for overspending on higher needs – providing services for children with special educational needs, alternative provision, special schools and excluded pupils.

Headteachers spoke out against the transfer, which was opposed by nine out 10 people who responded to public consultation last year.

But the Schools Forum went ahead with the request, along with a series of other measures to find savings, after hearing the deficit was expected to reach £2.7m by the end of March.

The council is not able to cover the shortfall from its own resources, so any solution had to be found from within the education budget.

BBC Weather

Showers will die away early on Monday evening to leave patchy areas of cloud and some clear spells overnight that will allow it to turn a little chilly by dawn, with isolated hill mist or fog patches.

Winds will be westerly moderate, backing south-westerly after midnight.

Minimum temperature: 2 to 4C (36 to 40F).

Tuesday will see a bright start to the day, with some good sunny spells during the morning, although cloud will gradually build from the west during the afternoon.

Maximum temperature: 8 to 11C (46 to 52F).

Laurence Reed
BBC Radio Cornwall

Users of a mental health respite centre which is closing down have warned it has provided a vital lifeline for many people.

Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group (KCCG) says it is withdrawing funding for the Re-gain, at Oakleigh House, Menheniot, from 31 March.

The service provides residential stays for guests to give both them and their carers breaks through the year.

KCCG said the decision was "underpinned by a range of evidence and feedback, which demonstrate the impact on improving people’s mental health".

Devon Live

A Devon couple who have invented a new 'humane' way to deter seagulls, external say they have sold 5,000 in advance of the new products going on sale.

BBC News Travel

The A30 in Cornwall is closed westbound between the A395 at Kennards House and the A389 near Bolventor due to a road crash, Highways England said.

Devon and Cornwall Police and other emergency services are at the scene and a diversion is in place.

Motorists are being urged to allow extra time for journeys.

BBC Radio Devon

Some Big Issue sellers in Devon have started using card readers because of the growing number of people who don't use cash.

Tony Flynn used to be an estate agent in South Africa but said things started to unravel when he had mental health issues and he found himself homeless.

He sells the Bbig Issue in Barnstaple and has just started to use a card reader.

Peter Drummond, 38, made 400-mile round trips to see the girl after befriending her on social media.

Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle says his side will not repeat their poor performance against Ealing in next week's cup game.

Miles Davis
BBC News Online

Child safety charity the NSPCC has said not enough is being done to protect children on social media, after a police officer had sex with a 14-year old girl he made contact with on Snapchat.

Peter Drummond of Three Mile Cross, Berkshire, was jailed for eight years at Truro Crown Court.

He was found guilty at Truro Crown Court of three counts of sexual activity with a child, but not guilty of three counts of rape.

The NSPCC said its Wild West Web campaign, external was demanding that the government made the internet safe for young people by regulating social networks.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Torbay Council is going ahead with a plan to invest £15m in a new warehouse said to be for online retailer Amazon, despite concerns raised by councillors about its impact on traditional high streets.

A special meeting of the full council voted in favour of buying the centre, which is to be built near Exeter, after hearing its advisers had already spent more than £100,000 working on the proposal.

The decision was made at a special urgent meeting of the full council held in private.

The new distribution centre is due to built in the Exeter Gateway area to the east of the city, near the M5, alongside a Lidl distribution warehouse.

Amazon has been linked to the site, but has refused to confirm it will be the tenant. Torbay Council has declined to comment on the Amazon deal.

BBC Radio Cornwall

In Newquay, Mount Wise is blocked by a collision between a car and a pedestrian at Berry Road.

Traffic is at a standstill approaching the junction.

She was questioned on suspicion of aiding or abetting a suicide, police said.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Truro's reputation as being a "ghost town" after 18:00 is being tackled with the expansion of a scheme to get more people to spend an evening out in the city, city centre bosses say.

Thirty-three shops, bars and restaurants have joined Super Saver Monday, external- which offers deals for £5 on the first day of the working week.

It was introduced a year ago but is now being adopted by more businesses.

Alun Jones is from Truro's Business Improvement District...

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

A 73-year-old woman has been arrested after a body was found at the bottom of the cliffs in Cornwall, police say.

Officers were called by a member of the public who had spotted a woman's body near Gwithian on Friday afternoon.

The dead woman was believed to be a 74-year-old from Wiltshire, officers said.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the woman's next of kin had been informed, the death was not being treated as suspicious and a file was being prepared for the coroner.

They said: "In connection to this matter, a 73-year-old woman from Westbury, Wiltshire, has been questioned on suspicion of aiding or abetting a suicide under the Suicide Act 1961."

She was later released under investigation pending further inquiries.

Amy Gladwell
BBC News Online

Police have released an e-fit of a suspect they want to identify in connection with a rape on a 20-year-old woman in north Devon last summer.

It took place at a "foam party" in a barn at a farm in Holsworthy Beacon, Holsworthy, between 12:00 and 01:00 on Sunday 17 June 2018, officers said.

They added they would like to hear from anyone who was at the event and who had yet to come forward to speak to officers.

Image source, Devon & Cornwall Police

The photography competition celebrates the 70th anniversary of UK national parks.

Laurence Reed
BBC Radio Cornwall

People with mental health problems who use a residential respite centre in Cornwall have told me they are "gutted" it is closing.

Oakleigh House is a five-bedroom facility in Menheniot where guests can stay for a week at a time up to four times a year, from across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Its director, Annette Mayers, said she disagreed with Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group's (KCCG) decision to stop its funding on 31 March.

A spokesperson for KCCG said the decision to disinvest was never taken lightly and all service information and performance data was reviewed by clinicians and managers.

John Danks
BBC Spotlight

A performance involving kite flying and puppetry has been inspiring primary schoolchildren in Devon.

The production, simply called "Kite", was developed at the Dartington Hall estate.

The story is told without words but is set to specially composed music and has been designed to touch on the sensitive subject of bereavement.

Rachel Canning is creative director of theatre company, The Wrong Crowd...

Devon Live

A man has been arrested after allegedly entering a bar carrying both an air rifle and a knife, external.