A benefit cheating South Devon builder has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for fraud and money laundering offences.
Appearing at Exeter Crown Court, 46 year old Darren Scott of Hele Road, Kingsteignton, was sentenced following investigations led by Devon and Somerset Trading Standards Team.
The court heard how, over an eight month period in 2011, Mr Scott deliberately targeted a vulnerable 85 year old pensioner from Okehampton, charging her over £20,000 for building work on their home. When assessed by a qualified surveyor, much of the work was found to be...
Graham Hopkins, a 60 year old man from Exeter, ran his first ever Exeter’s Great West Run when it was first hosted in 1985, and has completed it every year since, with 2015 set to be his 31st! Graham has always had a love for running and taking on long-distance races. After watching the first London Marathon in 1981, he wanted to run it for himself and so entered the 1982 London Marathon and was lucky enough to be accepted. Whilst training for the London marathon, Graham discovered that Exeter had also organised its first full marathon and decided to enter. With only a couple of weeks...
The UK’s farming unions are calling for the four UK farming ministers to hold a joint meeting with them to find solutions to the serious problems facing farmers.
The dairy, lamb and arable sectors in particular are seeing serious challenges. Official figures show that the number of dairy farmers in England and Wales has gone down constantly over the time. Since January 2015, 236 farmers have left the dairy sector and the trend look set to continue.
The NFU also estimates that only around 10 per cent of dairy farmers are on contracts that track farmers’ cost of production....
The Howard League for Penal Reform has called for an urgent review of the new criminal court charges system, after putting together a list of cases which it says prove the fees are ‘unrealistic and unfair’.
A teenager who stole sweets and ice cream worth £5, a woman found begging in a car park and a man who kicked a flower pot after being stabbed are among thousands of people who have been ordered to pay a controversial new charge which penalises the poor and encourages the innocent to plead guilty.
Since April, magistrates and judges have been told that they must impose a...
The number of self-employed people in Devon has risen by 25 per cent since the financial crisis and now stands at 101,100, according to new figures published by the Office of National Statistics.
The rise comes as experts at Business Debtline called for more support in tackling the ‘advice gap’ for those starting out in self-employment.
New figures show an estimated 101,100 people in Devon were self-employed in 2014/15, equating to 18.6% of the working population. The total is up from 80,600 before the recession in 2007/2008, as more and more people turned to working for...
Transport Minister Andrew Jones officially opened the first section of the Tithebarn Link Road in Exeter on Tuesday 4 August as part of a two-day tour of major infrastructure projects in Devon.
The Minister was in Exeter to see the progress being made on developing transport links to support the delivery of housing and jobs in the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point. The first section of the Tithebarn Link Road, which connects Cumberland Way to Pinn Lane, opened to traffic at the end of June. Since then, work on the remainder of the road, from Pinn Lane to the Science Park, has...
Police in Exeter are advising residents to be vigilant following a spate of theft from vehicles.
A number of vehicles have been entered having been left unlocked or entered by unknown means without causing damage, and property stolen.
Residents are asked to be alert to unusual people in their area, to keep all vehicles locked, keep valuables out of sight and to report all suspicious activity to the police.
In the latest spike of crimes vehicles were entered in the Beacon Heath and Heavitree areas overnight.
A Nissan vehicle was entered whilst parked on the...
With more people choosing to grow their finances in buy-to-let properties, one of the country’s leading housebuilders says getting mortgage fit will help potential investors sail through the buying process.
Barratt is providing information and advice that is designed to help investors secure specialist mortgages, allowing them to let their new assets for potential medium and long term profit.
The five star housebuilder currently has a number of homes in the Exeter area suitable for investors. Developments locally include Rydon Place and Hillside Gardens.
Superact is pleased to announce their new project Exe-Arts for the St David’s community in Exeter.
Superact is a not for profit arts organisation based at the Exeter Community Centre in St David’s, and from September will be offering community art sessions for all ages in the art rooms of the centre. Superact delivered a pilot for this initiative in March of this year and has now received funding to run a full programme of activity.
The Exe-Arts is a two-part initiative offering a programme of community participatory workshops open to the public, alongside some bespoke...
