Awards hat-trick for Sapphire Spaces

An interior design team from Devon has won the ultimate UK luxury bathroom award.

David Aspinall, Director and Designer at Sapphire Spaces, beat competition from around the country to win Ultimate Luxury Bathroom Design of the Year in the 13th annual Designer Kitchen and Bathroom Awards.

Sapphire Spaces, based opposite Darts Farm near Exeter, pride themselves on creating first class living environments for their clients in homes ranging from stunning new builds and conversions to terrace houses and West Country cottages.

David said: “Being a designer is a...

Pensioner found dead following house fire

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Tue, 12/15/2015 - 8:22pm

Members of the public are being asked to keep an eye on their neighbours at Christmas to help keep them safe from fire.

The appeal follows a fire in Mount Dinham, Exeter, on 10 December, during which firefighters discovered the body of a man.

Three fire crews attended the incident and extinguished the fire. The 89-year-old man was found close to a gas fire in a ground floor lounge.

Investigations are continuing into the incident and a report will be prepared for the Coroner but there have been several fire-related deaths that Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue...

Police appeal to find missing Devon teenager

Update: 16 December: Abbie Grant has been found safe and well. Police thank everyone for their help.

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Police are appealing to the public to help them trace 15-year-old Abbie Grant who was last seen on the 8th December in the High Street area of Exeter.

Abbie is a white female, 5ft 4 tall, medium build with black shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail.

She was wearing grey jogging bottoms and a navy blue sweatshirt and has links to both Newton Abbot and Exeter areas.

Police are concerned for Abbie's welfare and need to locate...

Theatre announces new season and new look

The Bike Shed Theatre has launched a new website, a newsletter, a trailer and a whole new look.

With more behind-the-scenes information, interviews with artists and specialist cocktail recipes, the subterranean venue offers an an enticing glimpse inside for anyone who’s curious.

A new season of work kicks off with a festival of the finest Devon-based theatre companies. From Devon with Love is a celebration of fresh new work from homegrown voices, taking place this January. Hot on its heels, The Laugh Out Loud festival brings acclaimed comedians to Exeter, including The...

New Dawlish cycle link approved

Proposals for a safe cycle link between Dawlish Warren and Dawlish town centre has been approved.

Councillors at Devon County Council’s Cabinet Meeting on Wednesday, December 9, backed a scheme which will extend the Exe Estuary walking and cycling route from Dawlish Warren towards Dawlish Town Centre.

The scheme, which has an estimated cost of £621,485, is one of several which, when combined, will eventually link Dawlish Warren to Dawlish Town Centre.

Once completed it will create a shared use footway/cycle route on the south western side of Exeter Road.

...

Students help Exeter Cleaning to record year

Authored by Socialhaus
Posted: Tue, 12/15/2015 - 3:30pm

Exeter Cleaning Company has announced that, this year, it carried out the the largest number of cleans of private student lets in its history. Almost 10% of all returning Exeter University students this year ​came back to accommodation cleaned by the Exeter business.​​

Every year the standards expected by university students increase and students from overseas have shown a particular desire for the highest quality accommodation and service standards. This has led to more and more private landlords and organisations turning to the professional cleaners at the Exeter Cleaning Company...

Devon firms urged to cut procurement fraud

Businesses in Devon are being urged to do more to reduce the hundreds of millions of pounds lost to fraud in the county each year. With procurement fraud now recognised as the second most frequently reported form of economic crime, analysis of figures from the National Fraud Authority carried out by Devon-based blur Group, reveals that £126m a year is lost to fraud by businesses in the county, including £52.6m to procurement fraud. The scale of the wasteful spend means firms are less profitable, have less money to invest in their business and are at risk of losing out to competitors who...

Dartmoor Junior Rangers collect awards

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 12/15/2015 - 12:13pm

On Saturday 5 December naturalist and TV presenter Nick Baker attended an award ceremony for the first group of teenagers to complete the Dartmoor National Park Junior Ranger programme. Nick’s inspirational talk on his life’s journey with wildlife set the scene for the Awards in which all 12 Junior Rangers' achievements were celebrated.

Over the last 12 months of this pilot programme the Junior Rangers aged 13 -16 have been working towards achieving not one but three different Awards - The Dartmoor National Park Authority Junior Ranger Award, the John Muir Explorer 8 day award and...

Mystery of missing exoplanet water solved

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Tue, 12/15/2015 - 11:47am

Astronomers from the University of Exeter have helped shed light on the atmospheres of a group of planets which orbit stars outside our solar system, known as exoplanets.

Exeter academics led an international team of experts in analysing observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.

Their combined power gave a detailed study of the atmospheres of 10 hot-Jupiter exoplanets – the largest number ever collectively studied – in a bid to understand their atmospheres.

Previously, scientists had been puzzled that they had not...

National recognition for dog friendly hotel

Authored by MiHi Digital
Posted: Tue, 12/15/2015 - 11:33am

A Devon hotel is celebrating having received national recognition for the quality of its ‘dog friendly’ accommodation.

Elizabeth and Steve Morey own the award-winning Blagdon Manor restaurant and hotel near Ashwater and have been welcoming dog owners from across the country for 15 years.

The hotel has been awarded a ‘certificate of excellence’ for its positive reviews on the world’s largest travel site, Trip Advisor and also named in the Independent and London Evening Standard as one of the ‘Top ten dog friendly hotels in the UK’.

To further enhance their...

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