Local News

A benefit cheating South Devon builder has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for fraud and money laundering offences.

Appearing at Exeter Crown Court, 46 year old Darren Scott of Hele Road, Kingsteignton, was sentenced following investigations led by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Team.

The court heard how, over an eight month period in 2011, Mr Scott deliberately targeted a vulnerable 85 year old pensioner from Okehampton, charging her over £20,000 for building work on their home. When assessed by a qualified surveyor, much of the work was found to be...

The Canterbury brand roadshow roared into action today in Exeter’s Princesshay Shopping centre, the first stop on its three month journey across the country, allowing fans to step into the footsteps of their rugby idols through a host of interactive experiences and storytelling, cementing the brands commitment to the game over the past 111 years.

Local fans from Exeter will be immersed into a host of rugby experiences, including the chance to win a very special one-to-one training session with Canterbury ambassador and England star Sam Burgess as part of the Canterbury speed test,...

The UK’s farming unions are calling for the four UK farming ministers to hold a joint meeting with them to find solutions to the serious problems facing farmers.

The dairy, lamb and arable sectors in particular are seeing serious challenges. Official figures show that the number of dairy farmers in England and Wales has gone down constantly over the time. Since January 2015, 236 farmers have left the dairy sector and the trend look set to continue.

The NFU also estimates that only around 10 per cent of dairy farmers are on contracts that track farmers’ cost of production....

The number of self-employed people in Devon has risen by 25 per cent since the financial crisis and now stands at 101,100, according to new figures published by the Office of National Statistics.

The rise comes as experts at Business Debtline called for more support in tackling the ‘advice gap’ for those starting out in self-employment.

New figures show an estimated 101,100 people in Devon were self-employed in 2014/15, equating to 18.6% of the working population. The total is up from 80,600 before the recession in 2007/2008, as more and more people turned to working for...