Exeter

Figures have been released for Devon and Cornwall Police’s summer drink driving campaign for 2015.

Police officers administered a total of 788 breath tests of which 163 were positive, refused or failed to provide, equating to 20%.

Last year the comparable figures were 776 breath tests with 132 positive, refused or failed to provide which equates to 17%.

Examples which stood out during the campaign included a 37 male driver who blew 143 at 8:50am on a Saturday morning and a 71 year old male who blew 120 at 9:20am on a Tuesday morning. The legal limit is 35.

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An animal that has only been recorded once in the UK before and was thought to be extinct has been found alive and well living on a Devon Wildlife Trust nature reserve.

The fly, Rhaphium pectinatum, was last recorded on 19 July 1868 when the renowned Victorian entomologist George Verrall caught a male and female at Richmond in Surrey. In the decades since it was presumed that the fly was extinct, but now, nearly 150 years later it has been spotted again, this time at Devon Wildlife Trust’s Old Sludge beds nature reserve, near Exeter.

The remarkable discovery was made by...

Over 90 business leaders from across the city attended the July Chamber lunch with guest speaker, Ben Bradshaw.

The event that was held at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum saw Ben give delegates an update on his Deputy Leader campaign as well as covering topical subjects such as better broadband for Exeter, city wide congestion and renewable energy.

The next Chamber lunch will take place in the Guildhall in Exeter on the 19th August. Last year, the end of summer lunch saw over 80 delegates meet for a networking focused lunch with catering from Exeter based business, Posh...

Pathfinder Homes have announced an expansion leading to the recruitment of at least 50 new team members.

The Newton Abbot based, UK’s leading luxury lodge manufacturer plans to create new apprenticeships and skilled jobs in the forthcoming year. The new recruits to Pathfinder Homes will work in a range of areas, including carpentry, painting and decorating, plumbing and even sales, accounts and HR.

Pathfinder Homes has recently become the only lodge manufacturer to win the prestigious ‘Ultimate Lodge of the Year Award’ for three consecutive years and have always focused...

With the first part of its finance and support programme successfully complete, Seedbed is now looking for more social ventures in the Exeter area to join the exciting next stages.

The new recruits will join existing social ventures for the Development and Growth Stages of the South West’s Seedbed accelerator programme, starting in September 2015 and finishing in January 2016.

Each social venture will have access to cutting-edge support to help it grow and become stronger and more sustainable.

The development programme will provide access to social finance loans of...

Exeter’s community radio station, Phonic FM, has commissioned a group of artists to produce four ‘radio portraits’.

These will be creative radio programmes, exploring the city and its communities as Rugby World Cup 2015 arrives in town this autumn.

The artists producing these radio portraits would love to hear from the people of Exeter, to weave their stories into these special radio programmes.

They’d especially like to hear from:

• Teams and groups: these could be sports and games teams; craft and activity groups;
• bands and choirs;
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East Devon residents are asked for their views and suggestions on polling stations ready for council to consider in December

East Devon District Council is due to launch a review into the district’s polling districts and polling places and is seeking feedback from the public.

The council will be pleased to receive views from anyone, but particularly stakeholders, such as electors, parishes, political parties and councillors. It will also be grateful for comments from people and organisations with expertise in access for people with disabilities.

Anyone who would...