Somerset road car ban to be made permanent due to coastal erosion

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:BBC Somerset
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Daniel MumbyLocal Democracy Reporting ServiceBBCThe B3191 Cleeve Hill has been closed to vehicles since January 2023A ban on cars travelling on a key coastal road will be made permanent over fears of coastal erosion.The B3191 Cleeve Hill, which links Watchet to Blue Anchor in Somerset, closed to traffic in 2023 but reopened to pedestrians and cyclists in the spring of 2024.Somerset Council confirmed on Friday the closure would become permanent from 31 October, despite 1,000 local residents objecting…

Cornish mining firm makes lithium hydroxide breakthrough

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:BBC Cornwall
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A mining company from Cornwall said it has become the first in the UK to produce lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM).LHM is a key element of lithium-ion batteries and found in electric vehicles, grid scale battery storage and batteries in consumer electronics.Cornish Lithium has repurposed a former china clay quarry and used patented low-carbon processing technology to produce LHM extracted from Cornish granite.Founder and executive chairman Jeremy Wrathall said it was an important day for his company and the…

Fresh row over work on 1,200-home Wolborough site in Newton Abbot

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:Devon News
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Miles DavisDevon political reporter, Newton AbbotBBCPeter Sadler from Vistry Homes says everything it is doing is within planning rulesA developer has denied claims it may be in breach of planning controls by starting infrastructure work on a controversial scheme for 1,200 homes in Devon.Teignbridge District Council previously issued a stop notice to Vistry Homes in April which has now expired and the developer has restarted work on the Wolborough site in Newton Abbot.The council is "urgently seeking further…

Somerset Council votes to put derelict Frome site back on market

Post published:October 24, 2025
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Michelle RuminskiSomerset Political Reporter, FromeBBCOne of the abandoned buildings on the Saxonvale site in the middle of FromeA derelict site in the heart of a town centre is to be put back on the market.Somerset Council has withdrawn its offer to exclusively sell the 12-acre Saxonvale site in Frome to Mayday Saxonvale, as the social enterprise has been unable to complete the sale due to a lack of funding.Paul Oster, co-director of Mayday Saxonvale, said there had been…

Devon massage therapist jailed for sexually assaulting patients

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:Devon News
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BBCIan Nicholls, 64, has been jailed for four years for sexually assaulting womenA massage therapist has been jailed for four years for sexually assaulting three women who were his clients.Ian Nicholls, 64, took advantage of the naked or partially clothed women as he gave them massages at his rented workplace in Newton Abbot, Devon, between 2018 and 2021.A jury convicted Nicholls four counts of sexual assault at an earlier trial.Judge David Evans said the three women suffered "real…

Team reach South West in military field gun charity challenge

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:BBC Cornwall
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BBCThe Military vs Cancer team has reached the South West as part of its challenge to pull a field gun across BritainA team who have pulled a one tonne field gun across Britain for a charity challenge are heading towards the end of their journey.Hundreds of people dragged the artillery cannon from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End in Cornwall to raise money for Military vs Cancer, who support military personal, veterans or their families affected by…

Sixty tonne ‘bargain boat’ sunk by coastguard following rescue

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:Devon News
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Rebecca RicksSouth West Investigationsskyflicksmedia.comThe Faithful, pictured after a refit several years ago, is now a wreck off the Devon coast after being sold for £1 when it became 'abandoned' in 2024A £1 dream of a life on the ocean ended up underwater when two boats were sunk by authorities after drifting for days in shipping lanes.There is a growing issue with abandoned boats, which are left for councils and harbours to try to deal with - some offering…

Celebrity Traitor Jonathan Ross surprises girls football team

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:BBC Dorset
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Curtis LancasterSouth of EnglandJessica LevittJonathan Ross visited the Dorset based-clubTalk show host and Celebrity Traitors star Jonathan Ross visited a girls' football team and surprised them with a message from England Lioness Chloe Kelly.Ross spent two hours with the under-11s at Swanage Town and Herston Football Club in Dorset on Thursday evening.He talked to the players and their parents and signed merchandise, including a Traitors board game, which the club hopes to sell at an upcoming fundraising event.Jessica…

More 20mph zones proposed for Dorset’s towns and villages

Post published:October 24, 2025
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Residents are being asked to comment on plans to introduce 20mph limits in more parts of Dorset.The schemes are being proposed for roads in 10 areas, including much of Lyme Regis.It follows the implementation of 20mph limits in five towns and villages in recent weeks.The latest consultation is open until 7 November.Parts of Briantspuddle, Bridport, Gillingham, Milborne St Andrew, Pymore, St Leonards and St Ives and Winterborne Whitechurch are also included in the plans.Critics on local social media…

Devon otter charity raises thousands to help relocate

Post published:October 24, 2025
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Caroline RobinsonSouth WestUK Wild Otter TrustThe UK Wild Otter Trust was given six months to relocate its rescue and rehabilitation centre.An otter charity has raised more than £30,000 to relocate its rescue and rehabilitation centre.The UK Wild Otter Trust, which cares for hundreds of otter cubs every year at its current base at Umberleigh in north Devon, had been given six months to leave the site.It set a fundraising target of £15,000 to dismantle, move and rebuild the…

Leonardo workers set to strike over pay

Post published:October 24, 2025
Post category:BBC Somerset
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Members of staff at one of the world's biggest defence firms are set to strike.Leonardo, which runs the UK's only helicopter factory in Somerset, is facing 3,000 members of the union Unite walking out across five of its sites in November.The company offered staff a two-year rise of 3.2% at the start of October, describing this as "fair", but members of Unite are demanding the company returns to the negotiating table to make an improved pay offer. Staff…

Devon church collects 500 Christmas presents for shoebox appeal

Post published:October 24, 2025
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Caroline Robinson,Devon and Hattie McCann,DevonBBCVolunteers packed and checked the boxes Five-hundred shoeboxes have been filled with Christmas presents for children in Eastern European countries. Volunteers at St Mary's Church, in Brixham, Devon, have packed and checked boxes filled with toys, toiletries, clothing and other presents. The boxes will be be taken to Ukraine and Moldova by Christian Response, a charity based in Exmouth. Volunteer Lindsay Williams said: "They're going to children who otherwise wouldn't have Christmas." The boxes…