Local News

Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, is chairing a public meeting in Upottery on rural broadband in Devon. The meeting has been organised by Upottery Parish Council after concerns that rural areas like Upottery will not see the benefit of the Government’s rollout of superfast broadband.

The Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) Programme is on track to deliver superfast broadband to 90% of premises across the Devon and Somerset area overall by the end of 2016, up from 64% overall when the programme began. The programme is supported by a £32 million investment from Broad Delivery...

There are fears that more severe flooding could be on the way as the Met Office upgrade many of its severe weather warnings to ‘amber’ for the rest of the week. Much of Devon and the South west will be covered by the ‘amber’ warnings and will see heavier rainfall than other areas. Forecasters predict that further spells of heavy and persistent rain will remain in Devon until a Saturday morning adding an extra strain to already saturated ground. The Met Office’s Chief Forecaster said: “Another area of low pressure will bring spells of heavy rain to southern England from Thursday afternoon...

More than £4 million of National Lottery funding was invested into Exeter last year, figures released today reveal. Across Exeter, 63 grants were awarded, providing a vital cash boost to local arts, sport and heritage and community groups helping the area’s most vulnerable people. In 2013, grants were awarded to:

• £9,540 to Exeter City Football in the Community to purchase IT equipment, office furniture and kitchen equipment. This will enable the group to provide an enhanced learning space for children who attend the group activities.
• £355,522 to Exeter Citizens
...

A long line of colourful ants is marching through Paignton Zoo.

The 8-inch insects form a trail that will lead from the Zoo’s entrance building all the way to the new invertebrate house, a distance of over 300 metres.

The invaders are pictures which are being coloured in and hung up. The Amazing Ant Trail will guide visitors to the new Investigate exhibit, which is due to open at Easter.

Paignton Zoo’s Jenny Paton has organised the trail. “Each year leading up to our 100th birthday we will be celebrating a different aspect of natural history. This year we’re...