Places of worship are open across much of the UK, despite lockdown.

Ed Oldfield
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Holidaymakers were advised during the coronavirus lockdown to send their luggage to Devon by courier to avoid being caught by police, according to a councillor.

Teignbridge councillor Alistair Dewhirst reported the behaviour of accommodation providers trying to get round the travel ban, and claimed that police refused to take action against visitors when they were reported.

Councillor Dewhirst said some providers in Devon continued to advertise despite the ban on holiday accommodation being open, and were advising visitors to use couriers for their luggage.

Image source, LDRS

The Liberal Democrat asked the Police and Crime Commissioner Alison Hernandez for an explanation of the police response.

Ms Hernandez said police took action in the early stages of the lockdown to deter holidaymakers, but government guidance later changed to let visitors stay on once they had arrived, to avoid continually moving people around the country.

“It was a difficult challenge during this time,” Ms Hernandez told the remote meeting on Friday.

A number of visitors were turned round by police at the Devon border and sent back home because of the ban on travel apart from essential journeys during the lockdown.

Jonathan Morris
BBC News Online

A beachgoer said a man who died at Porthcurno beach was swept off a sand bank as the tide rose.

Image source, Naomi Coleman

Naomi Coleman, who was with partner Dan Humphries on the beach, said Jan Klempar, 30, from Walsall in the West Midlands, was among four adults and three young children who had been enjoying themselves on sandbanks in a cove between Porthcurno and Pedn Vounder beach.

"We knew that they were going to get cut off, so we were ready to go round and help them, said Ms Coleman, 25, from Liskeard.

"The waves were getting higher and they just knocked him off the sandbank," she said.

There were shouts from the families as Mr Klempar disappeared from view.

Ms Coleman and Mr Humphries tried in vain to get to Mr Klempar after his body was seen floating in the water.

Mr Klempar's body was later recovered from the water after it was washed round to Porthcurno, she said.

Image source, Naomi Coleman

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Government plans to overhaul the planning system to make it easier for homes to be built have been described as “a disaster for Cornwall”.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced this week that he wanted to “build, build, build” and as part of that wants to make it easier for housing developments to take place.

Image source, LDRS

A major part of that would be to allow some developments to go ahead without the need for planning permission which would mean that local planning authorities like Cornwall Council would have little or no say over what is built in the local area.

Builders would no longer need a normal planning application to demolish and rebuild vacant and redundant residential and commercial buildings if they are rebuilt as homes.

Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole said that the proposals were “scary” and said his party would be campaigning against the changes.

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

In an effort to save Theatre Royal Plymouth from closure after it announced 100 jobs were at risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic, playwright Laura Horton has sent dozens of personal stories to the government of how the theatre has helped people.

One of those stories is about Roni Neale.

Aged 16, Roni Neale took part in National Theatre Connections - a project that brought together young people from around the UK.

The performance that year took place at TRP and it was there she made friends for life.

Image source, Roni Neale

"It was just the best day I'd had in my life until then," she said.

"TRP allowed a glimpse of the reality of working in larger-scale theatre - particularly for someone who's closest large-scale theatre was an hour's drive away.

"It was absolutely life-changing and showed me what theatre was outside of my very rural bubble.

"Coming to TRP, there was just something extraordinary about the scale and spectacle of a dedicated, properly funded performance space and it allowed me to perform to hundreds of people - even more mind-blowing.

"TRP created an incredibly welcoming and open atmosphere for young people who had heads full of questions we never thought we'd get to ask," she added.

Chris Quevatre
BBC News Online

Police are trying to reunite stolen goods with their owners after a burglary investigation saw various items recovered.

A 28-year-old woman from Gloucestershire has been arrested on suspicion of burglary after the items were recovered in the Sidmouth area.

Police said the stolen goods include "a gold link chain, a white metal ring with a purple stone, a negative of a photograph featuring two unknown males, and various tools".

It is not known where they originate from.

If you recognise any of the items, email [email protected], quoting reference CR/047517/20.

Image source, Devon and Cornwall Police

BBC Radio Cornwall

Jonathan Morris
BBC News Online

A man could have been saved on a Cornwall beach if lifeguards had been on duty, said a beachgoer.

Image source, Naomi Coleman

Jan Klempar, 30, died on 25 June after getting into trouble at Porthcurno Beach in Cornwall.

Naomi Coleman, 25, who was on the beach, told the BBC his "chances of survival would have been a lot higher" with lifeguards there.

Image source, Lynn Batten

"Because the tide was coming in they wouldn't have been on that cove, they would have already been moved over to where the lifeguards could see them," she said.

"They would also have had the equipment to get to him."

Mr Klempar was pronounced dead at the beach which got lifeguard cover two days later.

The RNLI, which had delayed cover because of coronavirus training, said its "thoughts are very much with the family and friends of the man".

Lifeguards had been delayed from being stationed on many beaches because of coronavirus safety training, it said.

"There were no lifeguards present on the beach so we ensured there was clear safety signage and have worked with the local authority to publicise which beaches currently have lifeguard patrols," it said.

An inquest into the death was opened at Cornwall Coroner's Court on Wednesday and adjourned.

A giant "thank you" has been added to the roof of the biomes at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

The sign, in four-metre high white letters alongside a blue heart, has been created by the Eden team to "express its gratitude to everyone helping people and communities through the coronavirus pandemic and all the challenges that have arisen from it".

Peter Stewart, the Eden Project’s campaigns and communications director, said: “We thank the selfless people who are helping the country through the crisis, all those in our wonderful NHS, the care workers, the key workers, the volunteers, the neighbours, the family members and friends."

Image source, Eden

Miles Davis
BBC News Online

A student in Devon has tested positive for Covid-19.

Exmouth Community College said the pupil had gone to hospital for "an unrelated injury" where they had the test.

Andrew Davis, principal at the college, said the pupil had last been at the college on 30 June for "a socially distanced 1:1 session with a member of staff".

Mr Davis said the pupil was at college with other students on 25 June.

He said: "It is our understanding that the student presented as asymptomatic and so there are no reports of, for example, coughing, which would have led to their removal from the session."

Image source, Google

All of the pupils and teachers who have come into contact with the pupil diagnosed with Covid-19 have been asked not to attend college until they get further advice.

The college provides secondary education for more than 2,000 students aged 11 to 18.

Mr Davis said: "Depending on the circumstances of when the infectious period was, we may then be advised that no action is required if they have not been onsite during the infectious period or alternatively children may have to remain at home and isolated.

"We are currently waiting for advice from Public Health England and have been advised that this could take up to 48 hours."

Traffic police stopped a driver going at almost twice the speed limit on the A30 in Cornwall.

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Hundreds of jellyfish have washed up on Woolacombe beach in Devon.

Richard Walden, who captured the sight, said they were moon jellyfish, an almost entirely translucent species, usually between 25cm and 40cm in diameter.

Image source, Richard Walden

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

Alex Ward, 20, is one of those who shared his story with Laura Horton, a playwright who is trying to save the Theatre Royal Plymouth.

He said that without TRP "I don't know what I'd be doing".

"It enabled me, as a working class boy, to find myself and my passion.

"I am a product of TRP and I say this with unimaginable pride," he added.

Image source, Alex Ward

Mr Ward did his first young company production when he was 17 and said the support he was shown "made me feel I was meant to be there".

"It's a place I can go be heard for the person I am and the work I want to create - I was given this platform where I could be safe and do stuff you couldn't do on the streets with your mates."

Mr Wards fears any risk to TRP will hit working class children the hardest who "won't get the chance to express themselves and have their voices heard".

"I am just one of many young people born in a deprived part of the country who has been given a path into this industry by TRP," he says.

"There's always going to be be opportunities but lots of those opportunities you have to pay for."

BBC News Travel

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Cornwall councillors have launched a campaign to try and save the coach tour industry which is under “severe threat” due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A motion is set to go before Cornwall Council’s full meeting on Tuesday urging councillors to lobby the government to help coach tour operators.

The motion states that coach tour operators employ 42,000 people and contribute £6bn to the UK economy.

In addition many of the operators also run hotels where their passengers stay when on the tours.

The motion says: "In Cornwall and many other parts of the country this industry has maintained many hotels completely.

"A typical holiday coach operator is thought to provide some 50,000 customers a year and day trips often for the elderly and vulnerable feeding into the retail economy."

It notes that several coach tour operators including Caledonian, National and Shearings have already collapsed due to a complete loss of income during the pandemic.

If approved the motion would see the council working with Visit Cornwall to lobby the Government “to take appropriate measures in a bespoke package supported by adequate funding to reinforce the coach tour industry”.

It calls for an extension to the furlough scheme, a relaxation of rules around the release of bonding and refund times, a VAT holiday, and a broader tailored package as necessary.

Richard Whitehouse
Local Democracy Reporting Service

Medical staff at Cornwall’s main hospital are preparing for the easing of lockdown and opening of pubs this weekend as if it was New Year’s Eve.

Toby Slade, associate medical director for emergency care at Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust, said that plans were in place for this weekend.

He said: "We are preparing for a very busy weekend coming up.

"It will be what New Year’s Eve would be like if New Year’s Eve was a whole day of people going on the beach and then going out at night.

"We are asking people to behave sensibly and responsibly."

Hayley Westcott
BBC News Online

A playwright who is trying to save the Theatre Royal Plymouth has said she's trying to hold on to hope of keeping it open.

Laura Horton previously worked at TRP as an usher, shredder and press assistant. Now the theatre has embraced her as a playwright.

Last week, TRP said 100 jobs were at risk because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Ms Horton has now sent dozens of personal stories in a letter to the government to highlight the urgent need for support for the theatre.

Image source, Edward Borlase

"I went to a local comprehensive and wasn't from a privileged background," she says.

"I never would have thought I was capable of doing a job like this.

"There's a long way to go to make the arts more diverse but if you lose the producing venues of the country, we'll be set back so much.

"I don't think it's good enough to just have London as a hub of theatre.

"I have to hold on to hope otherwise there's no point in continuing to rally the government."

BBC Radio Cornwall

The bio-detection dogs are already trained to detect odours of cancers, malaria and Parkinson's disease.

Chris Quevatre
BBC News Online

Image source, Google

Public protection officers will patrol town centres in Cornwall this weekend to help businesses "reopen safely".

Cornwall Council said its staff would be on hand to offer advice to pubs, restaurants, bars, and takeaways as they open on Saturday for the first time since lockdown.

Hospitality business can reopen providing they meet criteria set out by the government including limiting numbers and collecting contact details for customers.

Rob Nolan, Cornwall’s cabinet member for environment and public protection, said: “We are explaining, encouraging and supporting businesses to understand what they are required to do in order to reopen in a safe way that protects everyone from Coronavirus infection."