exeter

Furniture trader duped vulnerable customers in Devon and Somerset

Furniture trader duped vulnerable customers in Devon and Somerset

BBCPeter Kitson was jailed for 15 months after he pleaded guilty to fraudulent tradingThe "greedy and arrogant" boss of a mobility furniture firm which scammed vulnerable customers out of £65,000 has been jailed.Exeter Crown Court heard staff at Peter Kitson's business, Mobility Furniture Company, used aggressive and pressurised sales techniques to carry out fraudulent deals on elderly people between 2015 and 2018 across Devon and Somerset.The court was told Kitson was fully aware of the tactics being used,…

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Heavitree Road in Exeter closed for an extra week

A main road closure that has caused major traffic problems in Exeter will be closed for a week longer than expected due to engineering problems.Heavitree Road - the main bus route in and out of Exeter - will now be closed heading out of the city until Monday 13 October.The road was due to reopen last Sunday but Wales and West Utilities said work to upgrade the gas network had "taken longer than expected".The road closure has caused…

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Kwenzo Blose: Exeter prop to have surgery on ruptured Achilles

Exeter prop Kwenzo Blose is to undergo surgery after it was confirmed he has ruptured his Achilles.The South African forward was taken off injured 10 minutes after coming on from the bench in the Chiefs' 38-15 Prem win over Newcastle on Saturday.Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter said he hoped to see the 28-year-old back "before the end of the season"."We're all disappointed for Kwenzo," Baxter said. "He really started to emerge for us at the tail end…

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2023 ocean heatwave ‘unprecedented but not unexpected’

The June 2023 heatwave in northern European seas was “unprecedented but not unexpected”, new research shows. During the heatwave, temperatures in the shallow seas around the UK (including the North Sea and Celtic Sea) reached 2.9°C above the June average for 16 days. While unprecedented since observations began, the study warns that rapid climate change means there is now about a 10% chance of a marine heatwave of this scale occurring each year. The June 2023 marine heatwave…

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Help researchers track the fascinating history of seaweed eating in Cornwall

Researchers need the help of communities in Cornwall to help trace the fascinating history of seaweed eating. There has been a seaweed culinary revival in recent years, but people have eaten it for thousands of years. Seaweed’s historical use as a food seems to be less well remembered in Cornwall compared to Scotland, Wales and Ireland, where there are still living memories of foraging for and cooking with laver, dulse and carrageen. Now a research team are putting…

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Experts to embark on radical new approach to understand the challenges of academic writing

Experts will launch a radical approach to understanding the challenges of writing well at school and university. A team working on a major new study will create a ‘map’ of writing task types, and their key linguistic features, across different subject areas and educational levels. This will lead to an online resource and guidance to help educational professionals and researchers better understand the different linguistic and academic challenges posed by different text types and the ways in which…

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Deaf community takes centre stage at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre

Deaf community takes centre stage at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre

BBCMark Stocks from the Deaf Academy teaches British Sign Language (BSL) to staff at the Northcott Theatre A Devon theatre has joined forces with Exmouth's the Deaf Academy to make the venue and its productions more accessible to people with hearing loss.The collaboration grew out of a letter one of the teachers sent to the theatre about about the impeded view of the British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter on stage. Mark Stocks, of the school, was invited to…

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The Weather Book – Exeter Observer

The Weather Book – Exeter Observer

ON OUR RADAR Exeter Philharmonic Choir performs a new weather-inspired work plus pieces by Brahms, Poulenc and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Leigh Curtis   Exeter Philharmonic Choir will launch its 2025-26 season with a premiere of a new choral work which explores the history of weather and meteorology, The Weather Book, on Saturday 8 November at Exeter Cathedral. Its composer Cecilia McDowall will give a pre-concert talk about the piece at the nearby Devon and Exeter Institution. The programme…

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Predicting and managing harmful algal blooms

A pioneering new project that will harness cutting-edge technology to develop tools to predict and manage harmful algal blooms (HABS) before they grow has launched. South West Water is working in partnership with the University of Exeter, Plymouth Marine Laboratory, South West Lakes Trust, and other water companies and collaborators as part of the PEDAL project to address the growing challenge HABs pose to the water sector across the UK. HABs occur naturally when algae grow rapidly in…

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Kevin McDonald: Exeter midfielder’s goal hailed by Gary Caldwell

Exeter City boss Gary Caldwell says Kevin McDonald's winning goal was a reward for the veteran midfielder's impact at the club.The 36-year-old former Scotland player returned as a late substitute after almost two months out to score the Grecians' 90th-minute winner at Lincoln City.The 1-0 win ended a run of four successive League One defeats and inflicted a first home loss in the league this season on the Imps."It's great to see him back, he is an amazing…

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Clam shells sound warning of Atlantic ‘tipping point’

A study of clam shells suggests Atlantic Ocean currents may be approaching a “tipping point”. Scientists studied records of quahog clams (which can live for over 500 years) and dog cockles – because shell layers provide an annual record of ocean conditions. They studied these natural archives to understand long-term patterns in Atlantic Ocean currents such as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and the subpolar gyre (SPG). Recent studies have debated possible AMOC and SPG tipping points…

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Innovative approaches can help finance sector respond to nature loss

A group of researchers have published new methods to help the financial sector recognise the importance of nature to economic and financial stability. Introducing a special issue of journal Ecological Economics, Professor Ben Groom from the University of Exeter Business School said the financial sector largely fails to consider the economic and financial risks posed by biodiversity loss. Assets including equities, bonds, loans, and other financial instruments he said are vulnerable to ecological disruptions that undermine the long-term…

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