The Government has announced plans to double free childcare for hard working families – which will benefit up to 50,000 parents in the South West to the tune of £5,000 per year.

The offer of 30 hours of free childcare per week during term time means parents will be able to get on while bringing up a family.

All three- and four-year-olds in working families will be eligible for 1,140 hours of free childcare per year - twice the current entitlement.

The £5,000 extra in savings is on top of the £2,500 they can already save from existing free childcare offers. The new...

Devon & Cornwall Police is warning drivers to be careful this summer, as it launches its annual drink and drug driving campaign.

Despite long term reductions, drink driving still accounts for 15% of road deaths and almost 10,000 casualities annually.

Throughout the month-long operation, police will be emphasising these messages with motorists across the Force, and drivers can expect to be tested if they are involved in a collision or if stopped for an offence. Routine stop checks will also result in drivers being tested.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of...

Patients at the Royal Devon and Exeter (RD&E) hospital can now benefit from a more convenient outpatient prescription service thanks to a new Boots pharmacy which has opened its doors to the public. The new Boots UK outpatient pharmacy service is located on the ground floor in the main hospital corridor. The dispensary will enhance patients’ experience while visiting the hospital, help to reduce waiting times and free up RD&E pharmacy staff to focus on inpatient care.

Since the RD&E’s pharmacy department was built at the Wonford site in the late 1980s, demands for its...

People across the county are being invited to take part in the Devon Cycle Challenge which starts next week.

Devon County Council is working with Love to Ride, as part of the National Cycle Challenge, to launch the new initiative which is aiming to get more people in Devon on their bikes.

The event is a fun, free and sociable competition which is open to all local organisations and businesses, to see who can get the most people cycling between Monday 8 June and Sunday 28 June.

Everyone who registers online and logs a cycle ride of at least 10 minutes during the...

A weather warning for strong winds has been issued for the South West.

An unseasonably windy spell is likely across many parts of the UK later today (Monday), overnight and well into Tuesday, as active frontal systems sweep across the UK.

An initial swathe of southerly gales will move east across many parts later on Monday, giving gusts to 50 mph widely but 60-65 mph across exposed Irish Sea and perhaps some English Channel coasts.

Winds will become west or southwesterly on Tuesday, with further gales in places, before gradually easing later. Heavy rain will...

Everys Solicitors is holding a networking event at the Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel next month and would like to invite extra guests to join them.

This will be the second networking event held by the Southernhay Gardens-based firm after the first one was held on April 17 and attracted 40 guests.

This event costs £25 per person and will start at 5.30pm on Thursday, June 25. Ticket price includes a barbecue supper.

Anyone interested in attending should contact Rosie Ridgers at rosie.ridgers@everys.co.uk .

Police are investigating an incident that occurred at Exeter Bus Station on Paris Street at around 10am on Wednesday 27th May.

The incident took place on the upper deck of the bus station and involved a man, woman, and three children. A member of the public is known to have intervened to defuse the situation and police would also like to speak to this woman.

If you witnessed the altercation or are the woman who intervened, please contact the police by emailing 101@devonandcornwall.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101 quoting police crime reference CR/037071/15.

Teatime is dangerous for children in the South West. That’s when serious accidents peak, according to findings released today by the Child Accident Prevention Trust.

The charity reveals how the end of the day spells the start of danger for children in the South West, with nearly half of all serious road accidents occurring between 3pm and 7pm. And the danger doesn’t stop there – children are also more than twice as likely to suffer a serious burn between 3pm and 6pm as they are during the morning.

The peak in child road deaths and injuries is linked to the after-school rush...