The 57-year-old man got into difficulty in the water at West Hoe in Plymouth.

Bringing you the news, sport, travel and weather for Devon and Cornwall from Tuesday 2 July 2019.

Network Rail says some areas have seen two months' worth of rainfall in one day with drains overwhelmed.

A diving group alerted HM Coastguard that a member was "in difficulty" off Plymouth Hoe.

The Home Office is piloting a scheme recruiting non-EU workers for seasonal farm work.

Bee Tucker
BBC Weather

It will be dry on Monday night and there will be long clear periods. There will be a light north-westerly breeze and it will become rather cool, especially in sheltered valleys.

Minimum temperature: 6 to 9C (43 to 48F).

A cool, bright start to Tuesday. Some cloud will develop during the day, but there will be sunny spells throughout and it is expected to remain dry.

A little cooler than normal for the time of year.

Maximum temperature: 17 to 20C (63 to 68F).

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Part of a beloved Exeter park will not be sold off to become a turning point for cars to access a new housing development.

Exeter City Council has announced that it has reversed an earlier decision made by its executive committee to sell 130 sq-m of Bull Meadow Park to the Exeter Homes Trust.

Back in February, the committee, despite hundreds of local residents objecting, agreed to dispose of the land, subject to Exeter Homes Trust’s £9m redevelopment plans of the Fairpark Almshouses, at the bottom of Magdalen Road and overlooking Bull Meadow Park, being approved.

That application has yet to be determined, but Cllr Phil Bialyk, leader of the council, has said he wanted to keep the current open green space after carefully considering representations from residents and councillors.

Local residents have reacted to the decision and called it a victory for common sense.

Image source, LDRS

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, LDRS

The future of Exeter's valley parks have been secured for the next 30 years after a lease to manage them was handed over to the Devon Wildlife Trust.

The six parks will now be run by the trust on behalf of Exeter City Council, as budget pressures mean the authority has been unable to do them justice.

Exeter City Council has paid the Devon Wildlife Trust £425,000 as an advance fee for the next five years so the trust can maintain and manage the parks for wildlife and improve and increase public access.

The parks are:

• Mincinglake Valley Park
• Ludwell Valley Park
• Riverside Valley Park
• Barley Valley Park
• Whitycombe Valley Park
• Duryard & Belvidere Valley Park

The news follows recent public consultation on the future of green space and parks in the city which saw public feedback suggesting no more green space should be lost, and it would be detrimental to the whole city and to council priorities if it was.

The pair made the 1,390 nautical mile journey in a 60-year-old, 16ft-long open dinghy.

The man who died in the sea at Prussia Cove in west Cornwall was 43 years old and from County Down in Northern Ireland, police have said.

The man was spotted in the water at about 12:50 BST on Friday.

He was brought in to Praa Sands and treated by ambulance crews but was pronounced dead at the scene.

Image source, Mari Buckley/WikiCommons

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Quad-bike racing is coming to Plymouth Speedway after councillors agreed to allow the machines onto the track at Marsh Mills.

The use of buggies was also approved, as long as the noise is less than the speedway motorbikes.

The track operators had asked the city council to alter planning permission for the circuit by adding the extra vehicles. They said they needed to find other attractions to fill the gaps in the speedway season and ensure the circuit is financially viable.

There were a number of objections from people living nearby complaining about noise. But councillors were told a test carried out for quads ahead of a speedway meeting showed they were slightly quieter than the motorbikes.

They were also told the council’s planning policies included supporting sports venues.

The operators asked to add events for quad bikes and children’s buggies because there are not enough teams in the speedway league to race every weekend in the season.

The track at the former St Boniface College Sports Ground near Marsh Mills roundabout off the A38 has been in use for about 12 years.

"Hundreds of hours of work are down the drain," say organisers of the event, which has been postponed.

Plymouth Argyle sign attacking winger Danny Mayor after he left newly-promoted League One side Bury.

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

Image source, Nipegegi Round Britain

Two UK endurance adventurers have arrived back in Salcombe "safe, but tired" after circumnavigating the coastline of mainland Britain non-stop in an open sailing dinghy in 15 days and 4 hours.

Will Hodshon, 42, and Rich Mitchell, 44, set sail from the Devon port on 15 June for their 1390-nautical mile (2,237km) trek, sailing in a refurbished 60-year-old, 16ft-long open sailing dinghy named the Nipegegi.

Their trip was helping with fundraising attempts to support related ocean-based charities.

Image source, Nipegegi Round Britain

Image source, Nipegegi Round Britain

Rich Mitchell: “The beauty of the British wildlife around our coast has always astounded me but what really struck me was what wasn’t there. Our grandfathers would have seen maybe a 100 whales we saw maybe 10 and how many will our children get to see?

"With this in mind, we truly need to look after what we’ve got and try and restore our nation’s riches.”

Will Hodshon: “I can’t believe we’ve actually done it! Not only in such good time but to also complete the non-stop and unassisted aspect which at times seemed unachievable.

"It’s a special moment in Nipe’s long history."

They hope to have the record verified by Guinness World Records.

Image source, Nipegegi Round Britain

BBC Radio Cornwall

Police are searching for a third man suspected of being involved in a serious assault in Newquay.

A man was set upon by three men in the Trenarth Road area on Friday evening, who were armed with what police would only call "a weapon".

The victim was flown to hospital in Plymouth for treatment and is in a stable condition.

Two men have already been questioned and released on police bail.

Inspector Dave Meredith, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said he wanted to reassure local residents that it was an "isolated incident".

There has been widespread coverage in the national media of plans for "90-minute journeys to Australia, external" from Cornwall's Spaceport in the early 2020s.

However, the Spaceport itself has said it only plans to launch "small satellites, not humans".

The UK government and Cornwall Council are prepared to invest up to £20m into Newquay airport (Spaceport Cornwall) to make it a base for Virgin Orbit.

A nine-year-old girl made it safely out of the water but the body of a man, 21, was recovered, police say.

Charley Adams
BBC News Online

Image source, NipegegiRoundBritain

Two intrepid UK endurance adventurers have successfully circumnavigated the coastline of mainland Britain in just over 15 days.

Completing the challenge in an open sailing dingy, they said they believed they had beaten the existing world record.

Will Hodshon, 42, and Rich Mitchell, 44, set sail from Salcombe, Devon, on 15 June and completed the 1,390-nautical mile (2,237km) journey at about 10:30 on Monday.

They hope to have the record verified by Guinness World Records.

Image source, NipegegiRoundBritain

Andrew Segal
BBC South West

A pedestrian who died in a crash with a car near the Royal Cornwall Hospital on the outskirts of Truro was a "very well-known character", tributes to her say.

Eighty-seven-year-old Patricia Martin, from Truro, died at the scene on Tresawls Road last Wednesday.

Friends paid tribute, external, saying she was a "very well-known character in the Truro area, especially with the equestrian fraternity".

They added: "She will be sadly missed by many people, especially her close friends and neighbours".