county news

Campaigners fight plans to reopen Devon ball clay pit

Campaigners fight plans to reopen Devon ball clay pit

BBCOne of the six lakes proposed to be removed under plans to reopen a quarryCampaigners have warned against plans to cut down a woodland as part of a move to reopen a ball clay pit. Clay pit operators Sibelco want to expand the Zitherixon quarry, located between Kingsteignton and Newton Abbot in Devon, to extract five million tonnes of ball clay over the next 50 years.The firm stopped extracting from it in 1995, but it said reserves of…

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Beaminster broadband set to return after car crash outage

Beaminster broadband set to return after car crash outage

Ros TappendenSouth of EnglandCouncillor Craig MonksEngineers are replacing the pole before work can begin to restore servicesHundreds of homes and businesses that have been without broadband since a car fire look set to be back online by the weekend.About 1,000 customers in Beaminster, Dorset, lost their internet service on Sunday when a car crashed into a telegraph pole and burst into flames.Dorset councillor for Beaminster, Craig Monks, said individual suppliers had given residents varied estimates for reconnection "ranging…

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New £7.7m Chard primary school and nursery to open by 2028

New £7.7m Chard primary school and nursery to open by 2028

A new primary school and nursery will be built in the grounds of a secondary school, in a growing Somerset town.Somerset Council has confirmed it is going ahead with a £7.75m project to build a 210-place primary school and 40-place nursery at Holyrood Academy in Chard.The council said hundreds of new homes being built in the south Somerset town meant an extra 300 primary places would be needed in the next 10 years, more than the town's current…

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Carmen – Exeter Observer

Carmen – Exeter Observer

Exeter Opera Group is performing Bizet’s Carmen on Saturday 8 November at Exeter Castle and Saturday 22 November at Mary Harris Memorial Chapel of the Holy Trinity.First staged in 1875, Carmen is one of the most frequently performed operas in the classical canon. Set in southern Spain, it recounts the downfall of Don José, a soldier seduced by the fiery Carmen.In the Exeter Opera Group production, which is performed in French with narration in English, Carmen will be…

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Swanage’s Mowlem Theatre reaches £10k goal to fix leaking roof

Swanage’s Mowlem Theatre reaches £10k goal to fix leaking roof

A seafront theatre and cinema has managed to raise the £10,000 needed to put towards repairs to its roof riddled with leaks.The Mowlem Theatre on Shore Road in Swanage, Dorset, started a six week appeal to raise the money to add a waterproof layer onto the existing flat roof on 3 October.After many temporary fixes, the theatre found the roof was getting worse and needed urgent extensive repairs to avoid further damage over the winter and the possibility…

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Jhoots ‘owes thousands’ to Bridgwater community centre

Jhoots ‘owes thousands’ to Bridgwater community centre

BBCThe pharmacy building has sat empty ever since Jhoots' evictionA community centre says it can no longer afford to run an apprenticeship scheme for residents as it is owed thousands of pounds by pharmacy chain Jhoots. Victoria Park Community Centre in Bridgwater, Somerset, rented one of its buildings to Jhoots last year, but evicted the company after it failed to pay several months' rent.It comes with Jhoots already facing allegations of not paying staff at some pharmacies and…

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Jhoots Pharmacies could lose NHS rights, MPs told

Jhoots Pharmacies could lose NHS rights, MPs told

The government has warned a pharmacy chain it could lose its rights to dispense NHS prescriptions following a series of complaints.Services at Jhoots Pharmacy are "falling well below the mark", Health and Social Care Minister Stephen Kinnock told the House of Commons.More than 150 English pharmacies operate under the Jhoots brand, but there have been repeated cases of branches closing on some days and staff wages being delayed for months, MPs were told.The Walsall-based firm has been approached…

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Dorset “wind phone” installation to help people with their grief

Dorset “wind phone” installation to help people with their grief

Sophie CridlandSouth of EnglandPortland Wind PhoneThe group are hoping the wind phone will stay long termA group of artists and volunteers are using a disconnected public phone to help people cope with bereavement and loss.Known as wind phones - an idea that started in Japan - they give the chance to have a one-sided conversation with people who have died with the words being carried to them "on the wind".An old-fashioned rotary phone is to be installed in…

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Cornwall pumpkin patches boosting farm businesses

Cornwall pumpkin patches boosting farm businesses

Ashley JonesAshley Jones said there were "thousands" of pumpkins to pick at his farmThe owner of a pumpkin patch in Cornwall says the Halloween related attraction helps his family's farm business "to survive".Ashley Jones' family owns Smeaton Farm at Pillaton near Saltash, where they have been running a pumpkin patch for about five years.He said his farm had about "20 to 30,000 pumpkins" growing in its patch, as well as a scare-maze with actors. "We're farming 700 acres,…

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Home-based dementia day care service seeks hosts

Home-based dementia day care service seeks hosts

BBCHost Tracey Brandon does a little dance with client Bill to get him to his chair A dementia day care project is looking for people to open up their homes in Cornwall. The Filo Project, a non-profit social enterprise, said it was looking for hosts from Bodmin, Falmouth and Saltash areas to spend the day with people with mild to moderate dementia. Figures from the Alzheimer's Society show there are more than 11,200 people in Cornwall living with…

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Thousands sue company alleging it hid talcum powder cancer risks

Thousands sue company alleging it hid talcum powder cancer risks

AlamyA major legal claim has been filed in the UK against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, accusing the firm of knowingly selling baby powder contaminated with asbestos.The claim involves 3,000 people and focuses on internal memos and scientific reports, which have been seen by the BBC. The lawsuit - brought by KP Law - alleges that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) was aware as early as the 1960s that its mineral-based talcum powder contained fibrous forms of talc, as…

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M5 reopens after lorry fire causes major delays in Devon

M5 reopens after lorry fire causes major delays in Devon

George Thorpe,Archie Farmer andZhara SimpsonSouth WestWatch: Dashcam footage of a lorry fire which closed part of the M5There has been disruption on the M5 after a lorry fire forced the closure of part of the road in Devon for several hours.The fire started on the northbound side of the motorway between junctions 30 and 29 in Exeter at about 11:35 BST, said Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.National Highways said the lorry was carrying 20 tonnes (2000kg)…

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