24-year old Mark Wakely, a Honiton plumber employed at Fords in Sidmouth, has beaten hundreds of other plumbers from across the UK to make it through to the final 15 in the 2016 UK Plumber of the Year competition.

It’s now up to the public to decide the final five and Mark is asking the local community to support him with their votes. Last year a Cambridgeshire plumber won. It would be great to make it a Devon win this year!

Now in its second year the JT, Bristan and Plumb Center UK Plumber of the Year competition celebrates plumbing and rewards Britain’s finest plumbers...

The opening hours of Honiton minor injuries unit (MIU) are to be temporarily reduced from Sunday 31 July 2016.

The MIU is currently open from 8am to 10pm, seven days a week.

From 31 July, it will be open from 8am to 8pm every day.

Rob Sainsbury, director of operations for Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “We are experiencing some difficulty in staffing the unit and have made the decision to reduce the opening hours temporarily, to make sure the service is resilient and consistent.

“We are sorry for any disruption this may cause, but our top...

A former Exeter College student is taking on a huge cycling challenge on a tiny bike in support of the BBC Media Action’s life-changing work around the world. Geraldine Sweetland, originally from Farway, will be cycling 100 miles, including climbing the infamously steep Leith Hill and lengthy Box Hill in Surrey, on a folding Brompton bike as part of the Prudential RideLondon Surrey100 event on Sunday 31st July. She is aiming to raise at least £600 for BBC Media Action – the corporation’s international development charity - which uses media and communication to help people in the developing...

Leading local advice charity, Citizens Advice Exeter, is calling for people to be on their guard against scams after the City was revealed as one of the top scam hotspots in England and Wales.

Analysis of 5,000 scams reported to the national Citizens Advice consumer service between January and March 2016 show the areas where people are most likely to report scams, and the different methods scammers use to con people out of their cash.

The average loss for victims in Exeter was £5,736 per victim, more than double the average when compared to a national average loss of £2,500...

The Devon cheesemakers have done it again!

Quicke’s have had a triple triumph at the International Cheese Awards 2016 winning two Gold medals and one Silver. Additionally, the Guild of Fine Food has also this week announced its annual Great Taste stars – with two of Quicke’s cheeses receiving two stars, and four more receiving one star.

International Cheese Awards (ICA) Organised by Nantwich Agricultural Society, ICA is one of the biggest cheese events in the world. Established in 1897, the annual awards take place at Dorfield Park, Nantwich. On Tuesday 26th July, over 200...

East Devon District Council’s StreetScene team is proud to announce that - yet again - Connaught Gardens in Sidmouth and Manor Gardens in Exmouth have proved themselves worthy of flying the prestigious Green flag award, a national award given out by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy to only the very best public parks and gardens in the UK.

This is the 13th consecutive year for Connaught Gardens and the 12th year in a row that Manor Gardens has won the award and they are among a record-breaking 1,686 parks and green spaces nationwide that have received a Green Flag – the mark...

Leading local advice charity, Citizens Advice Exeter, has published its advice trend statistics for the first three-months of the financial year.

The charity has helped 25% more people with their advice and information when compared to the same period in 2015.

The advice trends over the period were as follows:

Debt Overall, the charity has dealt with 26.8% more debt enquiries. The main increases being:

• 77.0% about bankruptcy and debt relief orders • 47.3% about water debts • 46.0% about council tax arrears

Client case studies – focus on debt and...

Sidmouth Folk Week opens today for a week-long seaside celebration of music, dance and song.

There has been a folk festival in Sidmouth in the first week of August every year since 1955 attracting tens of thousands of visitors to over 700 diverse events with broad ‘something for everyone’ appeal.

With an ear to the past and an eye on the future, the festival features established stars and emerging talent; major concerts and small intimate sessions; ceilidhs, folk dancing and lively roots parties; storytelling; fun family entertainment and youth-centred sessions; hands-on...