Exeter

Award success for pioneering diabetes research

Two University of Exeter Medical School scientists have won prestigious awards from the national charity Diabetes UK.

Dr Tim McDonald won the Lilly Diabetes Clinical Research prize, and Dr Kashyap Patel won the Nick Hales Young Investigator award at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference last week in Glasgow. Both academics hold joint roles at the Medical School and the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.

Dr McDonald presented data on screening for a rare but severe condition called neonatal diabetes. This is a condition in which babies are born with a genetic...

Precious war medals stolen in Braunton burglary

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 04/08/2016 - 3:28pm

Police are investigating a burglary at a Braunton home where precious war medals were taken while the owners were away on holiday.

Offenders smashed through the back door to get inside the property on the A361 in Heddon Mill sometime between 9.30am on Saturday 26 March and 00.30am on Monday 4 April.

They made a very untidy search of the property before stealing £645 in cash, various items of jewellery and a number of irreplaceable medals.

At least four war and campaign medals were stolen, some of which are inscribed with ‘506065 G F Jones’ and belonged to the father...

Bins now collected in Newtown area

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 04/08/2016 - 2:42pm

Bins in the Newtown area have now been collected, after Devon & Cornwall Police gave Exeter City Council the green light to go back into the area following a serious incident earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, the Police asked the City Council to suspend its rubbish and recycling collections while they carried out a search of the area after a man was attacked.

A spokesman for the City Council said that its crews were allowed to resume collections on Friday lunchtime.

“We have now collected all the rubbish and recycling that was initially presented on Wednesday,...

30% of new home development bought by housing association

The Spectrum Group have completed the takeover of 30 new homes on the former site of Cummings nursery at Cullompton.

The development, named Rivel’s Green is set to provide one bedroom apartments, as well as two, three and four-bedroom houses. In total there will be 100 new properties built, including the 30 that Spectrum have recently taken over.

Devonshire homes, the project company, Managing Director Steve Russell said “We have been working with Spectrum on this site for many months.”

He continued: “We are delighted that, as construction begins, they have...

St Thomas emergency flood plan to be tested

Dates and details have been set to test the emergency flood plan in place for St Thomas in Exeter.

The first test, a tabletop exercise, will take place at Danes Castle Fire Station on 12 April, between 7pm and 9.30pm. It will be hosted by Devon Fire and Rescue Service and will include members of the St Thomas Community Emergency Group working alongside the Environment Agency and blue light services.

The purpose of the exercise is to test the plan in response to a flood event in St Thomas based on a real-time scenario.

In May, the second exercise will see the...

A396 Cove opens under 24-hour traffic control

The A396 Cove road, between Tiverton and West Somerset, opened to all day traffic light control today (April 8) at 3.30pm, a day earlier than originally planned.

Originally the road was due to be closed on Saturday April 9 between 9.30pm and 3.30pm.

This means that the road will be open under 24-hour traffic control from this afternoon (April 8) until May 3, which will include Bank Holiday Monday.

Finally, for the final phase of the work from May 3 to May 14, the road will revert to traffic light control during peak times and overnight only, from 3.30pm to 9.30am...

Strong wind weather warning issued for Devon

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 04/08/2016 - 11:41am

A severe weather warning has been issued for Devon by the Met Office.

Strong winds are expected to affect the region on Sunday morning with gusts of 45-55mph quite widely inland, locally 60mph, particularly on exposed coastlines and hills.

The winds will be accompanied by a band of rain, which may be heavy and persistent at times.

Driving conditions could be tricky, with the potential for a combination of strong winds and spray on roads. There could be some minor travel disruption.

Chief forecaster at the Exeter-based agency said: “An area of low pressure is...

City remain focused despite impressive run

Exeter City manager Paul Tisdale has urged his side not to get carried away despite an excellent run of form, that sees them just two points off of the Sky Bet League Two play offs.

Fresh from the Devon derby victory against Plymouth Argyle, that saw youngster Ollie Watkins take all of the plaudits, Tisdale though pleased with City's recent results is staying grounded.

He said: “The worry is that you finish the game as high as a kite, you think everything is great. The reality is we are in with a chance of the play offs. We’ve created an opportunity for ourselves and we...

Unique crowdfunding programme launches in SW

Crowd10, a crowdfunding initiative aimed at helping ambitious start-up businesses to grow, is being launched in Bristol.

Crowd10, which has been developed by crowdfunding experts IdeaSquares, will shine a light on ten of the most exciting start-ups in the South West region.

Kirsty Ranger, Founder of IdeaSquares, explained: “Equity crowdfunding is an increasingly popular method of funding for start-ups. It allows entrepreneurs to harness the power of their own network by giving their friends, family members, customers and suppliers the opportunity to become part of the...

Better cycling, walking and park & ride provision to tackle congestion in Exeter under Labour

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Fri, 04/08/2016 - 6:48am

Cycling, walking and park and ride will be boosted and smart ticketing on buses and trains introduced to help tackle congestion and pollution in Exeter if Labour retains control of the council in May.

The council will also insist on more frequent local services and stops at Exeter's train stations as both of the rail franchises serving the city come up for renewal.

Exeter Labour pledge to set up a Transport Board to serve the city, bringing together transport providers, the public sector, cycling groups and others to develop a strategic plan to improve transport and reduce...

Pages