Exeter Chiefs flanker Tom Johnson is hoping his impressive on-field display in Saturday’s Aviva Premiership win over London Irish was enough to win him a place amongst Stuart Lancaster’s England squad for this weekend’s crunch RBS Six Nations clash with Wales at Twickenham.

With Saracens No.8 Billy Vunipola sidelined with a knee injury sustained in the recent win over Ireland, Lancaster will now have to make an enforced change to his back-row for the penultimate fixture in this season’s tournament.

Gloucester’s Ben Morgan is likely to get the nod from head coach Stuart...

Nearly half of the South West’s businesses plan to take on apprentices in the next five years according to a survey of employers across England. The study of 601 businesses, released to coincide with National Apprenticeship Week, also shows how Apprenticeships are growing in popularity, with half of all employers in the South West (50%) reporting that they are now more likely to offer an Apprenticeship than they were two years ago. A quarter of employers also reported that they would be taking on apprentices within the next 12 months indicating that more companies are seeing the advantages...

Fish exposed to increased noise levels consume less food and show more stress-related behaviour, according to new research from the University of Bristol and the University of Exeter.

However, the way fish decreased their food intake differed between the two British species tested.

When exposed to noise, three-spined sticklebacks made more foraging errors, whereas European minnows tended to socially interact more often with their companion fish or to reduce activity.

The team used controlled laboratory experiments to investigate how the foraging behaviour of...

Exeter School's Vocal Ensemble is looking forward to performing at TEDx Exeter for the first time.

The choral group is made up of 18 of the school's finest singers aged 15-18.

Music Teacher Mrs Mitchell said they were very excited about the opportunity. "We will be singing a range of music from the Renaissance, through to the contemporary classical music of Eric Whitacre," she said.

Exeter School's Vocal Ensemble was formed in 2008 in response to requests from the wider community to provide a small, portable, vocal group to perform at a variety of concerts and...

Supporters and shoppers stopped at Exeter’s Princesshay to watch companies compete for the Pancake World Champion title today.

The Pancake World Championship is a partnership between local Event Management Company Wacky Nation and Princesshay, to raise funds for local charity Dream-A-Way, Princesshay’s charity of the year for 2014. It was hosted by Radio Exe.

The Championship saw teams from companies including Barclays, Gourmandine and Santander flipping pancakes whilst trying to reach the finish line first.

Despite the event bringing out competitive natures in most...

Today officially marks the one-month anniversary of the closure of the South West’s main rail link after line at Dawlish was left in tatters by extreme storm damage on the 4th February.

The closure has badly hit the South West’s economy as businesses face severe disruption to their normal activity. The region’s tourist industry thought to have been hot particularly badly seeing significantly lower bookings than expected. Since the destruction, Network Rail engineers have been working hurriedly to repair and reinforce the broken track often in very difficult circumstances. The...

Fire services in the south west have joined together to identify the seven fatal factors that link most home fire deaths in the region. The report has been compiled using research data from a total of 88 deaths from 2008 to 2013.

The results show that there are seven common factors in most house fires resulting in death

The seven most common linking factors include: living alone, poor mental health and limited mobility as well as smoking, alcohol, poor housekeeping and use of both prescription or illegal drugs. Station Manager Andy Justice, Fire Investigation Manager for...

The Bishop of Crediton, Nick McKinnel, has pledged to buy and eat only local food this Lent, wherever possible.

Bishop Nick and his wife Jan will buy only food grown and produced in Devon and Cornwall throughout the six weeks of Lent, which begins this week on Ash Wednesday.

He said: “I am hoping wherever possible to buy food sourced only in Devon and Cornwall. This helps to cut food miles and carbon emissions, as well as supporting local farmers. There are farm shops and farmers markets across the county which we hope to frequent, and by shopping for local produce, we are...

Lycra-clad cycling enthusiasts are being called to take part in the second Kitsons Devon Classic Bike Ride which is supporting local charity Hospiscare in 2014. The popular bike ride, taking place on Sunday July 20, features a challenge for all cycling abilities across a choice of three routes, adding a different element to the event and allowing individuals to pick between 55, 85 and 100 mile routes. Each course starts and finishes at David Lloyd Club, Exeter, and will take the cyclists out into the beautiful Devon countryside. Another added element to this year’s event comes at the end...