Every effort must be made to ensure a vaccine is available later this year to help combat the spread of the deadly Schmallenberg virus (SBV), the NFU said today.

The call comes as many farms with early lambing flocks across the country have experienced higher than normal losses with still births and deformities ranging from fused limbs to twisted necks.

The disease has spread across England and Wales to the Scottish border region and has now been confirmed on more than 1,000 UK farms. Although it is still being recognised by Defra and the European Commission as ‘low impact...

UPDATE 11.41am: The road has now been reopened and services are returning to their normal timetable.

There are currently diversions in place on Stagecoach's 57 Exeter - Exmouth service due to a road closure following a Road Traffic Accident on the Exmouth Road (A376) between Lympstone Marine Camp and Lympstone Village.

From Exeter: service is running as normal as far as Lympstone Marine Camp then diverting across Woodbury Common, down Hulham Road and into Exmouth where we will resume the normal route.

From Exmouth: the Exmouth - Brixington section of the route is...

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights have ruled that Exeter Christian nurse Shirley Chaplin, 57, was not the victim of religious discrimination by her employers at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital.

Ms Chaplin was transferred to a desk job by Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Trust Hospital in 2009 for failing to remove a confirmation crucifix on a small chain, which she had worn to work for 30 years.

The hospital said it had acted in an appropriate and sensitive matter.

In the same hearing, the Court have ruled that British Airways employee Nadia Eweida's...

Volunteers at a Devon charity clocked up a thousand days of help during 2012.

People who gave their time to Paignton Zoo Environmental Park and Living Coasts in Torquay helped raise over £72,000 and gave more than 24,000 hours - equivalent to 2.75 years, 143 weeks or over 1,000 full days.

For the year ending in October 2012 volunteers gave 24,142 hours - 2,677 more than in 2011. Volunteer Coordinator Neil Thomas-Childs is hugely impressed by these figures:

“It was a terrific year - volunteers have continued to support us in all weathers. By the middle of the season...

Devon County Council is pledging up to £3 million to repair and modernise the Grand Western Canal.

Council leader John Hart said the money would be included in the authority’s capital budget which will be examined next week.

The decision follows the catastrophic breach of the canal wall at Halberton in November following torrential downpours.

Mr Hart said today: “This is an historic feature with many listed structures along its length.

“It is a major tourist attraction and vital to Mid Devon’s economy and to Devon as a whole.

“I am awaiting a...

Sidmouth College is hosting an Open Evening for Year 11 students and their parents on Thursday 24th January (7pm-8pm), to introduce potential new students to the academy scheme which is being launched by Exeter City Football Club in September.

Exeter City’s college partnerships, which combine on-field training and matches with classroom-based study, have proven hugely successful at Bideford College and Exeter College. As well as giving aspiring footballers the opportunities to develop their talents, the course also gives the students BTEC qualifications, A-Levels and a wealth of...

Police are investigating an assault in Honiton High Street which left a man and a woman requiring hospital treatment.

The victims, from Honiton, were attacked after they attempted to break up a violent argument between another man and woman.

The arguing pair, plus another woman, assaulted the female victim outside Costa Coffee and the man outside the war memorial.

The 41-year-old man suffered serious injuries including broken ribs and the 40-year-old woman sustained black eyes.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident just after midnight on...

Police and students in south Devon have undertaken a drive to restore a police car to its former glory.

The 1999 Ford Escort was retired out of police service in early 2006 and lay unused and deteriorating until 2008 when it was acquired by the police Heritage and Learning Resource (the Historic Collections of Devon & Cornwall Police) based in Okehampton.

In 2011 a sponsorship deal was struck with three local companies who agreed to supply restoration materials and the car was taken to South Devon College in Paignton who had agreed to supply the labour to return the car...