Jenny Walrond
Health Correspondent, BBC Spotlight

The Department for Health and Social Care has said figures from two universities saying the R number in the South West is now one are "estimates".

A government spokesman said: "These estimates are just one of a number that inform the scientists advising the government and do not represent the consensus view.

"SAGE’s current best estimate of R for the UK is 0.7-0.9, which is updated on a weekly basis."

The spokesman said there were many factors that could influence the infection rate in a particular area, including population density, age, and the position of an area on the pandemic curve.

They added: "It is important to note that regional R values have wide uncertainty ranges.

"This needs to be carefully considered when reporting these figures."

Jenny Walrond
Health Correspondent, BBC Spotlight

Two universities have said the R number in the South West is now one.

The R value tells us how many people catch coronavirus from each infected patient and it needs to be below one in order for the virus to die out.

Both the University of Cambridge and The London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine put the R value for the South West at one.

But government figures show that the greater South West, which includes Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, has the lowest number of coronavirus cases (7,766) and the lowest rate of infections by population (138.9 per 100,000 people)

This means we have fewer cases but those cases are more likely to be passed on to someone else.

If 100 people had coronavirus in the South West and the R value is one, between them they would pass it on to another 100 people.

Somewhere like the West Midlands with a higher number of cases but a lower R value of 0.8 might have 1,000 people with the virus who between them pass it on to another 800.

We need to be careful about the statistics because not everyone who has the virus is tested and with low overall numbers here it is easy for a small local outbreak such as the one around Weston-super-Mare to skew the figures for the whole region.

BBC Radio Devon

Free parking in Plymouth city centre has ended with only credit and debit card payments at council car parks.

Image source, Google

Charges for car parks and on-street parking were suspended at the start of lockdown.

All council-owned pay and display car parks except Meavy Way (long stay), William Prance Road (Derriford for commuters) and Broadway (long stay) have debit and credit card payment options.

On-street machines can only accept cash or RingGo.

The council said it was working to introduce debit/credit and contactless payments for on-street parking., external

Devon County and South Hams District councils have already re-introduced their parking charges.

BBC Radio Devon

North Devon Council says it's facing financial collapse unless it gets more help from the government.

Image source, Devon County Council

The council says the cost of the coronavirus crisis and a fall in income means it's short by about £3m and it may have to cut services.

John Trigg, the council's head of resources, said: "We have seen a significant drop in core income for the council over the last couple of months since the pandemic started.

"We're predicting this will continue certainly into the foreseeable future as the economy slowly recovers out of lockdown.

"The government needs to fund local government properly."

BBC Radio Cornwall

Eastern Airways says it will operate a new route between Cornwall Airport Newquay and Teesside International Airport starting on 6 July.

Image source, Eastern Airways

The route will operate up to three times a week, initially running on Mondays and Fridays, with an additional Sunday service added from late July.

Pete Downe, Newquay airport's managing director, said he was "delighted" and the route was "vitally important in supporting the recovery of our visitor economy and wider business community, not just as lockdown restrictions begin to ease, but over the long term".

Roger Hage of Eastern Airways said the route would offer a "quick and easy Cornish staycation destination".

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Image source, Ed Oldfield

A development of up to 100 homes on fields in a village near Paignton is being recommended for approval.

The scheme from housebuilder Bloor Homes is one of a series in the pipeline for Collaton St Mary.

A masterplan for the area was agreed in 2016 that sets out sites for 460 homes.

But villagers and others are objecting because of the impact on traffic and public services as well as damage to wildlife including rare bats.

They oppose building on farmland and say the scheme conflicts with local planning policies.

Concerns have been raised about the capacity of the local sewers and drainage system to cope with the new homes.

Objectors also say the overall new homes target set for Torbay is too high, and not justified by the level of jobs growth.

Johanna Carr
BBC News Online

Image source, Getty

Torbay Council says it has had a great response to its appeal for new foster carers but more people are still needed.

The council recently launched its new We Are Family fostering campaign that resulted in 36 inquires from potential foster carers and 29 new potential foster carers being assessed by the council’s fostering team.

There are currently 69 households fostering in Torbay but there are still about 340 looked after children in Torbay so more foster carers are needed.

The local authority also recently announced a range of measures to support local foster carers, including providing more training and support and increasing the weekly fee to £538 depending on the experience of the foster carer and the age of the child.

A new Resilience Fostering service was also announced, which is a direct alternative placement option for those children who are at risk of being placed in, or are currently in residential care.

This will come with an enhanced fee rate of £1,000 per week.

Councillor Cordelia Law said: "I’m so pleased these families have come forward and that our new campaign has got off to such a great start – but there is still lots of work to do and lots of children who are in need of a safe and loving home."

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A Plymouth bar linked by police to under-age drinking and disorder has had its licence withdrawn.

Image source, Ed Oldfield

Councillors took the decision after a review of the premise's licence for Bar 9 when they heard a police officer had described it as “a youth club with beer”.

The officer said the pool and sport bar in Western Approach was a “powder keg for youth-related violence and anti-social behaviour”.

The hearing at a meeting of the city council’s licensing sub-committee took place after a three-month closure order was imposed at Plymouth Magistrates' Court in March at the request of police.

Licence holder James Wright had admitted breaching licence conditions in an interview.

He said he was planning to sell the lease of the bar and would no longer be involved in running it as he wanted to leave the pub trade.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

A call has been made for the government to provide more grant funding for businesses in Cornwall affected by coronvirus.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and Cornwall Council say that much more funding is needed for discretionary grants which will help businesses.

The LEP said the funding could help limit the rise in unemployment being seen in Cornwall.

Cornwall has been given £13.5m to distribute to businesses but the council said it has had 1,800 applications and another 1,600 expressions of interest.

The council has so far paid out more than £1m to businesses but the LEP said that in order to help all those eligible Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly it would need £20m.

The discretionary grant scheme was set up by the government in response to concerns that some businesses had slipped through the gaps in earlier business support funding programmes.

Under the first funding programme Cornwall Council has paid out more than £200m to businesses across the county.

Glenn Caplin, chief executive of the LEP, said: "What is really clear is that the amount of funds in that pot – £13.5 million – is not enough to meet the demand and need that is out there."

Johanna Carr
BBC News Online

Police are asking for help locating a 48-year-old man from Redruth.

Stuart Graham, who was reported missing on 26 May, was last seen in the area of Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske in Truro.

Mr Graham is described as white, 5ft 7in, of medium build with dark cropped hair.

He is possibly wearing a grey hooded top and jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101, external.

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police

Claire Gilbody-Dickerson
BBC News

Cornwall Council leader Julian German said he "remains deeply concerned" about the lack of guidance on the test and trace system.

The councillor said during a press conference "it is a pivotal moment in our fight against coronavirus" as he called on the government to provide "urgent" answers on how the scheme will work and what role local authorities will play.

Image source, Google

He said the council, and others, failed to be consulted in the process "yet we've been asked to outline local lockdown plans" in case of an outbreak, "with no additional powers to meet those plans and no guidance from government about what that response should be".

"We cannot coordinate these activities if we continue to be left in the dark," Mr German said.

He warned localised lockdown could lead to schools, businesses and community spaces temporarily closing, which in turn would have "profound effects" on Cornwall's residents.

Claire Gilbody-Dickerson
BBC News

A rally has taken place in Barnstaple in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of African American George Floyd in the United States of America.

Jaycee Makin, who helped organise the event in the Devon town, said her family had faced a lot of racism since moving to the South West of England.

She told BBC Radio Devon: "It makes you feel that you are unequal to people just because of the colour of your skin.

"I was born into this skin colour and I love it but some people just hate you for that one reason and it just makes you want to change their mind really."

The protest came as the US sees its eighth day of protests against racism and the police killings of black people following 46-year-old Mr Floyd's death on 25 May.

Those attending the Barnstaple protest wore face masks and carried placards saying 'we kneel with you George' and 'no justice no peace'.

BBC Radio Cornwall

Princess Alexandra has spoken of her fears for the Cornish economy as she opened the virtual Royal Cornwall Show on BBC Radio Cornwall.

The station is broadcasting memories from past shows and interviews with farmers, food producers and others who would have been on the Wadebridge Show ground over the next three days.

The Queen’s cousin praised the region’s strength of community amid the “dreadful” coronavirus pandemic and the enduring spirit of the countryside, and expressed her hopes business would be back to normal soon.

"I do hope that your agriculture, fishing and tourism businesses, which are so important, will very soon be able to be working flat out again," the 83-year-old princess said.

"Meanwhile, I know that these last few months have once again shown the strength of Cornwall’s community.

"As part of this, let us celebrate the enduring spirit of the countryside and hear from those that make Cornwall the wonderful place it is."

Thousands of visitors and competitors normally flock to the annual agricultural event, which could not go ahead due to the pandemic.

Johanna Carr
BBC News Online

Police investigating a series of incidents in Truro believed to be linked to a group of teenagers are asking the public to come forward with CCTV or mobile phone footage.

Officers are investigating knife-point street robberies, assaults, shoplifting, criminal damage and antisocial behaviour in the city.

Devon and Cornwall Police said the incidents involved what is believed to be the same group of young people, both male and female, aged 14 to 18.

A spokesman for the force said: "Police were called to Cornish Crescent at around 21:30 on 3 June with reports that a 19-year-old man was being attacked by a group of around 15 youths, armed with weapons and throwing rocks."

In a separate incident sporting equipment worth about £1,000 was stolen or damaged from Truro Rugby and Football Club, which is being used as a Covid-19 testing centre, overnight on 3 to 4 June.

Anyone with information or footage of the incidents is asked to call police on 101.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

St Austell Business Improvement District (BID) has been preparing for the reopening of shops in the town.

Signs have appeared in the street, on shop windows and on benches advising how to maintain social distancing while shopping.

Image source, LDRS/Richard Whitehouse

Advice on the signs includes thinking about the time of day you visit to avoid crowds and queues, not visiting in groups and following the “stay right” signage dotted around the town.

People are asked not to queue beyond the markings set out for each shop and to try again later and to carry hand sanitiser for their own use.

Shoppers are also asked to not “stand around chatting” as that could block other people trying to get around safely, and if you wear gloves you are asked to dispose of them at home.

In White River Place there are signs advising people to walk on the right with yellow tape dividing the walkways.

Outside each shop there is more yellow tape providing a marker for where people should queue and keep their 2m distance.

The BID said: "These are unusual times and things will be very different for a while... we look forward to welcoming you all back to St Austell."

Image source, LDRS/Richard Whitehouse

David George
BBC Spotlight

Image source, Truro and Penwith College

A further education college in Cornwall has become the first in the country to offer a new nursing qualification to help fill thousands of vacancies in the profession.

Nursing associates will be able to give medication and carry out some procedures, while operating department practitioners will do equivalent work in theatres.

The new support role in England bridges "the gap between healthcare support workers and registered nurses to deliver hands-on, person-centred care as part of the nursing team", according to NHS Health Education England, external.

The courses, being offered by Truro and Penwith College, includes using a clinical simulation suite at the Truro campaus, equipped like a hospital ward (pictured).

A dozen nursing associate students, all previously NHS healthcare assistants, are due to start on the first course in mid-June.

Truro and Penwith College is working with Greenwich University to provide the courses, which are the first in England to be approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust is also involved.

By the end of the year, 36 nursing associate students will have started the two-year course, with student operating department practitioners starting soon after.

BBC Radio Devon

Campaigners in Newton Abbot said they will continue to fight plans for thousands of new homes on the edge of the town, despite the development getting the go ahead on appeal.

There have been numerous protests and marches about the plans for Wolborough, which also include a hotel and a school.

The group Newton Says No said it will now take the case to the High Court.

Member of Netwon Says No and Teignbridge councillor Richard Daw told Radio Devon: "There are very, very few defences for this development. It clearly is all about money."

He said while there is a housing need, the houses tipped for construction would cost up to £300,000.

"These are not the houses we are looking for," he said.

Daniel Clark
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Exeter City Council will explore setting up a market rent housing company to private rented accommodation for the public.

Homes would be bought from Exeter City Living or the private sector market and then be leased out for market rent to members of the public.

Image source, LDRS

The project would help bridge the £3.7m medium term financial gap that the city council faces.

Exeter City Council’s executive in Tuesday night unanimously recommended to the full council that £300,000 is spent on the development of three business cases to explore the feasibility of creating the new subsidiaries.

Dave Hodgson, chief finance officer, told the meeting it would be essential that before starting any of the new companies, the council satisfies itself they are viable and that the balance between risk and reward is acceptable, and therefore business cases must be developed.

Business cases would be explored for the feasibility of expanding Exeter City Group’s range of subsidiaries to include a company providing market rent properties to let, a consultancy company and a company to provide retro-fit solutions for existing housing.

BBC Radio Devon

A Network Rail representative defended plans for an £80m sea wall to protect the Dawlish railway saying previous material "didn't weather the storm".

Some in the town are not happy about the way the planned defence would look - saying it does not fit in with the town.

Image source, Google

Network Rail representative Simon Masters acknowledged the material being used "is not as soft as the previous material", but said the change was necessary for a stronger defence against waves crashing in during storms.

He said a section of Marine Parade is already "showing the job that it's doing", before adding "we have done what we can to be as sympathetic as possible".