Skipper Dean Mumm says it’s only right that the Exeter Chiefs put pressure on themselves ahead of Saturday’s Aviva Premiership encounter with Gloucester at Sandy Park (4.30pm).

Saturday’s 31-14 loss at local rivals Bath meant it was successive defeats for Rob Baxter’s side over the festive period - and Mumm knows it won’t get any easier for him and his team-mates with the Cherry & Whites next on the agenda.

That said, a return to home comforts will be most welcome for the Devon club, who back in September claimed one of their seven league victories this season when they...

Exeter Racecourse looks set to share in jump racing’s success story with pre-sales for its traditional New Year’s Day meeting ahead of its last January 1 fixture in 2012.

Both Premier and Grandstand & Paddock tickets have seen strong pre-sales. There has also been a recent swathe of abandonments due to frosty conditions, and with temperatures set to rise in time for Thursday’s fixture the racecourse is expecting an exceptional turnout.

Spokesman Jade Walters said: “Racing on Haldon Hill is such a tradition in Devon that nowadays everyone seems to head up the hill to...

A Hospiscare charity shop manager saved Christmas for a Topsham family after finding nearly £1,000 in notes stuffed in a donated pair of men’s boots.

The £980 was still in wads with bands around them after an elderly man had collected them from the bank to give to his family at Christmas.

He stored the money in the boots then forgot and donated them to the local Topsham Hospiscare shop.

Jackie Hulin, shop manager said: “A gentleman brought in two bags, one of clothes and another with boots and he gift aided them.

"I put them to one side and it was only when...

From the 19-22 January the Exeter Phoenix will be hosting an exciting new production of the musical Rent, produced and performed by the University of Exeter’s Shotgun Theatre Company.

Set in early 1990s Manhattan, Rent tracks the trials and tribulations of several struggling artists living in the island’s East Village. The musical’s narrator is film-maker Mark Cohen who, along with musician Roger Davis, can’t drum up the outstanding rent for their old friend and landlord Benny. Mark and Roger’s story is intertwined with those of their friends and love interests, as well as all the...

Police are appealing to the public to look out for a distinctive Ford Cortina stolen from Topsham over Christmas.

The fern green Mk3 Ford Cortina was left parked near to St Matthew’s Hall in Fore Street around 7.30pm on 23 December.

The owner returned around 2pm on Christmas Eve to find the car missing.

Now police are urging the public to keep an eye out for the car and report any sightings to them.

The car, valued at £1,000, is described as having patchy paintwork and the interior is in poor condition. It carries the registration number YTA 700K.

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GPs should consider a more overt discussion with patients when referring them for further investigation of symptoms which may indicate cancer, according to a paper published in the British Journal of General Practice.

In an NIHR-funded study, researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Cambridge, Durham and Exeter conducted interviews with patients being referred for possible lung and colorectal cancer.

They found that patients were rarely involved in the decision to be referred for investigation and that reasons for referral tended to be couched in non-specific terms...

As the Exeter Business Improvement District (BID) reaches the next stage in its campaign, those involved in the BID are beginning to explore options with other businesses within the city centre with a view to design, plan, manage and deliver a Business Plan that reflects their business priorities to take the city centre forward for the next five years.

Ray Frame, store manager at Wilkos is one of the faces of Exeter BID who are supporting the scheme

1. How do you feel about the Exeter BID?

City and town centres have, over the years, lost their position in the...

A Mid Devon village school has been praised by education inspectors for making learning enjoyable and achieving above average standards.

They have rated Rackenford primary as a good school across the board.

They say the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils is good, as is the behaviour and safety of the children and the leadership and management.

Pupils say the school is ‘brilliant’ because the teachers make it fun to learn, report the inspectors from the school standards agency Ofsted.

Lead inspector Andrew Saunders says: “Pupils reach standards...