Local News

The Food Standards Agency has issued a call for people to stop washing raw chicken to reduce the risk of contracting campylobacter, a potentially dangerous form of food poisoning.

The call comes as new figures show that 44% of people always wash chicken before cooking it – a practice that can spread campylobacter bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, clothing and cooking equipment through the splashing of water droplets.

Campylobacter is the most common form of food poisoning in the UK, affecting an estimated 280,000 people a year. Around four in five of these cases come from...

Skin cancer rates in the South West of England are twice the English average, according to new figures.

There were more than 800 new cases of melanoma diagnosed in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset in 2012, with more than 100 people dying from the disease.

The figures were released as part of a new campaign by Public Health England to raise awareness of skin cancer.

Professor Debra Lapthorne, centre director of the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset PHE Centre, said: "Statistics show that those living in the Devon, Cornwall and Somerset area are at an increased risk of...

Over 8,000 dogs euthanised each year because their owner cannot be found could be saved if dog owners ‘Chip it, Check it’. Neil Parish MP for Tiverton and Honiton, the Kennel Club and Lord de Mauley, Minister for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), have highlighted this week [10 June].

The organisation, the UK’s largest dedicated to dog welfare, has said that by microchipping dogs and keeping personal details up to date, thousands of otherwise doomed dogs could be identified and reunited with their owners instead of facing possible destruction in the...

Firefighters helped the ambulance service rescue two people from a river in West Street, Okehampton in the early hours of this morning.

At 3.21am fire crew were asked by the ambulance service to attend the incident, which saw two people in two foot of water.

One female had sustained injuries and crews in dry suits used a spinal board and a 105 ladder to rescue her. One male was assisted from the water by crews also.

The female was conveyed to hospital by ambulance crews. Her medical status is currently unknown.

It is currently unknown how the pair came to be...