Devon

MP seeks action on mobility scooters

Alison Seabeck, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View, wrote to the Transport Minister, Robert Goodwill MP, last week to express her ongoing concerns about the safety and regulation of mobility scooters. This came after picking up on a number of concerns raised locally and around the country following a series of interviews she gave to the national media.

The safety and use of mobility...

Students help improve dental care for homeless

A group of second year dental students from Plymouth University, supported by the Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise, are working with residents from the Salvation Army’s Devonport Lifehouse homeless centre in Plymouth, to help them become more aware of how to maintain good oral health and access dental treatment.

The students have had several sessions with the residents and those in...

Halfway point reached on Laira Rail Bridge scheme

Work to refurbish Plymouth’s disused Laira Rail Bridge has now reached the halfway point.

The £3.5 million scheme, funded through the Department for Transport’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund, will see the former rail bridge restored and converted into a new walking and cycling route over the River Plym.

Built in 1887, Laira Rail Bridge stopped carrying passenger trains in...

Roman cemetery discovered in Devon

Fifteen ancient skeletons have been discovered on an archaeological dig in Ipplepen, a major Romano-British settlement in Devon and now the best preserved Roman cemetery in the county.

University of Exeter archaeologists and a team of students and volunteers uncovered the human remains during an excavation of a Roman Road and found a roadside cemetery, the like of which has never been...

Hundreds of foster families needed

At least 550 new foster families are needed across the South West region during 2015 to provide stable, secure and loving homes for record numbers of fostered children, according to figures released today from The Fostering Network.

Each day sees over 63,000 children living with over 52,500 foster families in homes across the UK. With a rising number of children coming into care, and...

Procurement team shortlisted in national GO Awards

The Procurement Team at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust have been shortlisted as finalists in the Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement, for the Initiative of the Year Award for 2015/16.

The team have been shortlisted for developing a Trust-wide programme, known as the ‘Non Pay Programme’. Starting in 2013, the programme has helped to manage with inflation and has...

Are you prepared for Red Tuesday?

‘Red Tuesday’ is the top dumping day of the year, just four days before Valentine’s Day, according to new research released by IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s top dating website.

3,000 people were surveyed on Illicit Encounters and one in five - 22% - had broken up with someone the week before Valentine’s Day.

Dumping someone electronically is also rising in popularity with 7.5...

Worsening skills shortage could threaten local building projects

Worsening skills shortages in the construction sector could threaten many building projects in the South West by 2019, new research* reveals today.

Data released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) highlights the severity of the skills shortages facing businesses across the region.

More than nine tenths (93%) of the surveyors questioned said that a lack of...

ES Group appointed to market historic golf course

A GOLF club near Plymouth with more than 100 years of history has been put up for sale after going into liquidation. Agents at property and asset consultancy, ES Group, are offering Wrangaton Golf Club (‘Wrangaton’), on Dartmoor, for around £500,000, after liquidator Ian Walker, Partner at Begbies Traynor, was called in in late January.

Wrangaton, founded in 1895, is expected to remain...

Police and Crime Panel approves council tax rise

Households in Devon and Cornwall will pay on average an extra £3.31 a year after the Police and Crime Panel yeseterday (Friday) approved Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Hogg’s budget and a 1.99 per cent increase in the policing precept for 2015/16.

Speaking directly after the unanimous vote, OPCC Chief Executive Andrew White said: “We are delighted that the strength of the case that...

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