The first ever elections for police and crime commissioners (PCCs), who will be accountable for how crime is tackled in local police force areas, will be held on 15 November 2012 and residents are being encouraged to ensure that they will be able to vote by being on the electoral register. Jeff Chalk, Electoral Services Manager said: “You must be on the electoral register to vote in these new elections. If you have recently moved to the area, or moved house it is important to make sure that you register at your new address otherwise you won’t be able to vote. “It only takes a few minutes...

One of the country’s most distinguished living novelists, University of Exeter honorary graduate Hilary Mantel, will read from her latest novel Bring Up the Bodies, sequel to her Man Booker prizewinning Wolf Hall , at a special event hosted by the University of Exeter tonight (October 11).

The event takes place in the Alumni Auditorium, part of the new Forum at the Streatham Campus.

Wolf Hall is a study of Thomas Cromwell, the man who engineered the dissolution of the monasteries to the execution of Anne Boleyn.

It won not only the Man Booker 2010 but also the...

Business leaders have hailed the new £8.5 million Exeter College Technology Centre as yet another example of how the city is moving forwards.

Derek Phillips, vice-chairman of the Exeter Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “This college facility is a great asset for the city and should make science and engineering more popular with students, which is great. It’s what we need for the future and it’s a very good development.

“The striking design will appeal to many new students and it’s great news for Exeter.”

He was speaking as more than 100 members of the Chamber...

New junction arrangements on the A30 near M5 Junction 29 have come into operation as Devon County Council’s improvement scheme nears completion.

The new traffic-signal junction, which is just to the east of the M5 overbridge, connects the new link road from the C832 (old A30) at Blackhorse to the A30. It provides motorists with direct access to the M5 southbound for the first time.

Traffic will now also be able to travel in both directions on the connecting link road, and the Blackhorse on-slip to the A30 westbound will be permanently closed.

...

Harlequins and England captain Chris Robshaw yesterday launched the public ticket sale for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Final 2013 saying: "It doesn't matter which team you support you shouldn't miss English club rugby's big day out".

Robshaw, who lifted the Aviva Premiership Rugby trophy last May at Twickenham when his team beat Leicester 30-23, urged fans of every club in England to snap up one of the prized tickets - which are now on sale.

"The Aviva Premiership Rugby Final has sold out for the last five years and the same thing is likely to happen again this season,"...

Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School have for the first time identified the mechanism that protects us from developing uncontrollable fear.

Our brains have the extraordinary capacity to adapt to changing environments – experts call this ‘plasticity’. Plasticity protects us from developing mental disorders as the result of stress and trauma.

Researchers found that stressful events re-programme certain receptors in the emotional centre of the brain (the amygdala), which the receptors then determine how the brain reacts to the next traumatic event.

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Flood warnings have been issued after torrential rain swept across the region.

The Environment Agency triggered alerts for the rivers Clyst, Culm, Otter and Sid and the Exmouth area.

Today's forecast is for cloud, with light rain tomorrow, sunny intervals on Friday before heavy rain returns on Saturday.

Tomorrow will be warm at around 17C but the weekend is expected to be cooler.

We can safely say Autumn has arrived.

As staff were putting the final touches to displays inside the impressive new John Lewis bulding, outside was a different matter entirely.

With little over two days to go until opening, the area still resembles a building site where the pavements are being widened to make it much easier for pedestrians to cross between High Street and Sidwell Street.

As the rain poured down yesterday an army of contractors wearing flourescent jackets were working hard to complete the job on time. John Harvey, the city centre manager, confirmed they would be working late into the night to...

The Devon & Cornwall Police helicopter was scrambled yesterday when a driver sped off after being approached by police.

The man had pulled into the Texaco garage on Honiton Road when an officer attempted to speak to him.

According to one witness, he sped away, leaving his passenger behind.

The Police chopper was seen hovering over the Wonford area soon after, before flying off towards Exminster.

The motorist, who asked not to be named, told The Exeter Daily that the driver fled the moment he saw the officer....

Exeter City Council has turned to technology to tell residents about disruptions to refuse collections caused by bad weather.

Live information from refuse lorries is set to be beamed back to the authority’s website, informing residents of any problems caused by snow and ice.

A city council spokesman said: “We know that in times of extremely adverse weather conditions where residential roads have not been cleared of snow and ice by the Highways Authority, that it may become unsafe for our refuse collection vehicles to travel along those roads, or the roads may be blocked by...