A Teignbridge man, found guilty of offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, has been told by Exeter Magistrates Chair of the bench "you will not keep animals ever again."
Leslie Weatherill, 73, of The Hams, Ide, was found guilty at Exeter Magistrates Court in March, after failing to improve the squalid conditions that he kept ponies and dogs in.
The court had heard how Mr Weatherill kept his ponies on an area of scrub and woodland near Doddiscombsleigh which, according to a national expert on horses, was inadequate for their needs and so their welfare was severely...
Eight fire engines from Witheridge, Chulmleigh, Crediton, North Tawton, Exeter, Tiverton, Okehampton along with a water carrier, aerial appliance and an incident command unit were mobilised to reports of a thatched roof on fire at a property at Oldborough Cross near Morchard Bishop this morning (Thursday 16 April).
On arrival crews confirmed thatch roof involved in fire and are at work using hose reel jets and ladders to extinguish the fire.
At 12.45pm crews asked for a further two appliances. These were mobilised from standby at Exeter.
Nearly 99 per cent of Devon children have been offered a place at one of their chosen primary schools for this September.
Over 94 per cent of the families who applied to Devon County Council have been offered their first choice school.
And 98.5 per cent of applicants were offered one of their three preferences – 3.6 per cent were offered their second preference and 0.7 per cent their third preference.
In all 7,803 applications for a primary place were received compared to 7,600 at this time last year.
Devon’s Head of Education and Learning, Sue Clarke, said...
Westcountry icons The Wurzels will be performing at the Devon County Show for the first time, entertaining exhibitors and invited guests at an exclusive event on the first day of the show.
Leading Devon law firm Stephens Scown LLP has teamed up with the Devon County Show to bring The Wurzels to the Westpoint showground. The four-piece group will be playing its famous hits including Combine Harvester and I am a Cider Drinker at an exclusive event for livestock exhibitors and invited guests on 21 May.
Susie Murray, a partner in the rural services team at Stephens Scown in...
Exeter-based Pennon Group has expanded after acquiring Bournemouth Water for £100.3million.
Pennon Group Plc owns South West Water Limited and Taunton-based Viridor Limited. The Group has assets of around £5 billion and a workforce of around 4,500 people. Bournemouth Water is a water-only company serving a population of 437,600 people in an area of more than 1,000 square kilometres, including Bournemouth, Wimborne, the New Forest, Lymington and the Fawley oil refinery on the Solent. South West Water provides water and sewerage services to 1.7 million customers in Devon and Cornwall...
Exeter Chiefs are continuing their busy period of recruitment for next season with young prop Harry Williams the latest name added to the playing roster for the 2015/16 season.
The 23-year-old, tight-head prop is Rob Baxter’s seventh recent signing having agreed terms on a two-year deal from Championship side Jersey.
An upcoming front-row force, Williams has nurtured his rugby career initially as a youngster at Wasps, before moving on for spells with Loughborough University, Nottingham and, more recently, Jersey.
Standing at 6’2” and weighing in at just over 20...
Devon Air Ambulance Trust is the Charity which raises the funds to keep Devon’s two Air Ambulances flying. Although a Charity Heléna Holt, Chief Executive explained “To be a successful charity, no matter what size, it is essential that staff and volunteers receive the right training in order to run the Charity as effectively as possible.”
Carole Johnson, MD of Onelife Training UK Ltd said “My husband had a very bad accident but unfortunately it was out dealing with another incident at the time, so I know how important your service is in saving lives.
The number of properties coming onto the market continued to drop, pushing prices rapidly upwards in the South West, according to the latest RICS UK Residential Market Survey.
In most parts of the country, the supply versus demand imbalance led to a rise in house prices in March and in the South West 36% more chartered surveyors reported a rise in house prices in March (up from 31% in February) and 16% more chartered surveyors expect prices to increase over the next three months in the region compared with 6% in February (albeit the results for both are significantly lower than in...
A leading Devon law firm has reached the shortlist for the inaugural Legal Innovation Awards for its ground-breaking iPhone App for clients.
Stephens Scown LLP, which is based in Exeter, launched its “My Lawyer” App in November 2014 as a way of allowing clients to keep track of their cases quickly and easily while they were on the move. The App allows clients to view documents, keep up to date with costs, pay bills online, diarise key dates and contact their lawyer.
Stephens Scown’s managing partner Robert Camp said: “We have embraced IT developments to improve our client...
