Firefighters spent over an hour at a church in Brookway, Whipton today after reports the derelict building was on fire.

Reports of the fire, at The Old Church, came in at 3.37am with two appliances from Middlemoor and Danes Castle being deployed to the scene.

Upon arrival crews immediately asked for two more fire fighting appliances and an aerial appliance to assist in extinguishing the fire which was well alight.

The incident is believed to be deliberate and not, as reported earlier, caused by the use of hot metal cutting equipment.

A charitable fund in the memory a Devon woman killed in a car crash while on a round-the-world cycle challenge has passed its £10,000 target. Friends and family of Sharon Bridgman raised more than £11,500 in her memory after she was struck and killed in by a car in Bolivia in April. Sharon and husband Tim, from Zeal Monachorum near Okehampton, were on the home stretch of a two-year journey that had already taken them from Norway across Europe and Africa in an effort to raise money for a disaster relief charity. Sharon’s husband, Tim Bridgman writes: “Reaching the target is incredible and...

The Calista Group, a new renewables business operating from Uffculme, is celebrating after its leader, Paul Brown, Ex-Connaught regional director and green champion, has been shortlisted in the Entrepreneur of the Year category in the renewables industry’s equivalent to the ‘Oscars’, the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards.

Now in their fourth year, the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards celebrate the leading businesses, executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and campaigners from across the green economy, highlighting how these pioneers are driving the emergence of innovative and sustainable new...

Telephone numbers to Devon County Council’s customer service centre are changing from today (Tuesday 2 June 2014).

Numbers currently using the prefix 0845 are changing to 0345, because telephone companies have to include 0345 numbers in their free minutes packages.

The existing 0845 numbers will remain in use for six months to allow people time to get used to the change.

The Council’s customer service centre is open Monday to Friday, from 8am to 8pm, and on Saturdays from 9pm to 1pm.

For a list of all customer service telephone numbers, visit the Council’s...

Exeter City Football Club statement:

"As we are all aware, Exeter City AFC Ltd is not owned and funded by any one individual and this means that finances are always stretched and 2013/14 was no different.

"However, we have also been adversely affected by match attendances being below expectations and a lower than anticipated uptake of season ticket renewals so the finances in the close season have been under pressure.

"As a result, the Club received a short-term, temporary loan from the PFA on Monday 2nd June."

Thousands of people across Devon sat with their neighbours for the sixth annual Big Lunch yesterday (Sunday). They joined an estimated four million people across the UK.

The Big Lunch, which is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Eden Project, encourages people across the UK to have lunch with their neighbours once a year, for a few hours of community, friendship and fun. Organisers behind the initiative say that the simple act of chatting to neighbours can make a real difference in communities and can help tackle isolation.

In Tiverton, a Big Lunch organised by...

East Devon District Council’s Countryside team and staff from the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth are joining forces in a ‘Nightjars and Stars’ walk at Trinity Hill Local Nature Reserve on Thursday 12 June and again on Tuesday 1 July between 9pm and 11pm.

Nightjars arrive to breed in southern Britain from Africa around late April, coinciding with the time of the moth population explosion. The birds are difficult to spot during their day due to their amazing camouflage, but at dawn and dusk when they are out hunting for flying insects, they often perch in prominent positions...

This year Hospiscare celebrates its 10th anniversary of Open Gardens. Hospiscare’s Open Gardens Programme runs from the start of May through to October 2014.

Members of the public open their gardens for others to enjoy, as they sit back and relax, or take tips for their own gardens. Some serve homemade refreshments, offer plant and book stalls and even entertainment. Entry and donations to the gardens raise funds for local end of life care charity, Hospiscare.

Among those taking part is Sharon Rehbock from Budleigh Salterton.

Sharon was inspired to take part in...

A rare vintage car stolen from Ottery St Mary has been found burned out and destroyed in Somerset.

The 1968 MKII Austin Mini Cooper was taken from a car park at Otter Mills Switch Gear on Mill Street around 11pm on Thursday 29 May.

Police and the fire service found the £6,500 classic car well alight in a side road off Welshmill Lane in Frome around 1am on Saturday 31 May. It was completely destroyed by fire.

Officers are now appealing for anyone who may have seen the distinctive car in the area during the 24 hours after it was stolen.

They are particularly...