Local News

Do you recognise either of these men? British Transport Police (BTP) officers want to speak to them after the ticket office window at Honiton was smashed. The incident happened at around 9.35pm on Saturday, 6 June. PC Gary Archer said: “Two men left the platform and started messing about on the tracks. “They crossed several times before picking up ballast and making their way to the front of the station where they smashed the ticket office window.” Officers have analysed CCTV from the station and are today issuing images of two men who they think can help with enquiries into the incident....

Overall business confidence has risen in the South West in the last six months, underpinned by companies’ expectations of an improvement in exports as well as an anticipated increase in investment levels, according to the latest Business in Britain report from Lloyds Bank. The twice-yearly report, now in its 23rd year, gathers the views of 1,500 UK companies, predominantly small to medium sized businesses, and tracks overall business confidence, which is based on the balance of firms expecting an increase in sales, orders and profits over the next six months. Since the last report in...

Devon Wildlife Trust said it had been ‘delighted’ by the kind contributions received to its fundraising appeal to purchase Bystock Pools nature reserve. The popular wildlife haven and beauty spot, between Exmouth and East Budleigh, was put up for sale by the landowner in spring 2015, having been leased to Devon Wildlife Trust as a nature reserve since the 1970s. The Exeter-based conservation charity launched an appeal in June to try to raise £45,000 to help meet the purchase price of the land. By the beginning of July, more than £36,000 had been received in donations from local residents,...

Children in the South West waiting to be adopted are to be found stable, loving homes more quickly, thanks to brand new online maps which will help would-be-adopters find the child to complete their forever family.

So far in 2014-15, 280 children in the South West have been placed in the permanent home they desperately needed, as a direct result of the government’s reforms to speed up the adoption system.

However, the latest figures show that 340 children are still waiting to be matched with new parents, with many having spent months in care despite adopters being readily...