Actress Caroline Quentin led a fundraising event at a Victorian gothic mansion in the Westcountry.

The actress, who lives on a smallholding in Devon, got on her bike to raise funds, along with Olympic equestrian Mary King and Lady Penny Mountbatten, for the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.

The high profile names joined friends and supporters of the charity yesterday at Huntsham Court, near Tiverton, Mid Devon, for the 30-mile cycle ride.

One of the charity's two helicopters made a special landing at the property ahead of the race's start at 10am.

The event, coinciding with National Air Ambulance Week, was the first to be held under the Huntsham Hotspots initiative, allowing South West charities to host fundraising events there free of charge.

Caroline Quentin, who lives near Tiverton, said: "I've known Huntsham Court for years, and it's an amazing Victorian private mansion with a great ethos – the perfect place to hold any charity event."

At 15, Ferdinand the duck is believed to be the oldest of his kind, having lived 13 and a half years longer that she should have.

At 18 months her breed are considered to be at the right age for a roast duck dinner.

Now the friendly Silver Appleyard duck is going into retirement from Exmoor Zoo to see out her days as part of a private collection in Cornwall.

Head keeper Derek Gibson took on the duckling when she was just a day old.

"She was a late hatcher so I took her on from the people who bred her, to use her in the zoo's school visits and birthdays – she's been cuddled and stroked for all those years but now she has earned her retirement."

Silver Appleyards are bred for their eggs, as pets, exhibitions and as a gourmet roasting duck.

Now Ferdinand can settle down in retirement having lived a great, unexpected, long life over the border into Cornwall.

A Westcountry MP has said there is "growing momentum" against one of the biggest offshore wind farms in the world.

Conservative Geoffrey Cox spoke of a "very strong" surge of opposition in his Torridge and West Devon constituency as well as in North Devon over the controversial Atlantic Array project – a wind farm proposed off the Westcountry coast.

"People feel the burden of impact has been disproportionately placed on communities in Devon and yet, unlike in South Wales, it is unlikely to benefit us," he said.

Mr Cox's comments came yesterday evening after Torridge District Council performed a U-turn on Monday night over its decision to support the 240-turbine scheme.

The multi-billion pound project for the 220-metre high turbines built nine miles (16km) off the North Devon coast was rejected by North Devon Council earlier this month.

Bob Barfoot, chairman of the CPRE North Devon branch, said: "The Atlantic Array development is in a state of disarray within the district councils as well as the county council."

RWE npower renewables – the company behind the plans – said it had worked to reduce the visual impact of the turbines. It said the wind farm would produce enough power for the average needs of 900,000 homes.

But Mr Cox said there were fears that the impact would be "too heavy" on the local community and that RWE had done "too little" to alleviate those concerns.

"The Atlantic Array project is a recipe for real anxiety. There will be major visibility from the coastline and the decision on Monday night does not surprise me," he said.

Torridge councillors voted to withdraw their support "in the interests of the residents and the businesses of the Torridge District" after Councillor Chris Leather put forward a motion not to support the wind farm.

Mr Barfoot praised the decisions of both Torridge and North Devon Councils after Devon County Council voted in support of the scheme.

"Pressure may have been put on councillors not to object to the scheme, but in their decisions they have shown a degree of common sense," he said.

Earlier this month Torridge's planning committee decided not to raise any objections, but the full council voted on Monday by 15 votes to seven against the scheme. A Torridge District council spokesman admitted the two decisions were "a bit odd".

North Devon Councillors voted a fortnight ago to reject the wind farm due to the lack of economic benefit to the area, damage to the beauty of north Devon and tourism, and its closeness to the coast.

A spokesman declared that its councillors were "all singing from the same hymn sheet".

In South Wales Reynoldston Community Council recently resolved to object on visual impact grounds after Swansea City Council voted last year to oppose the scheme.

The offshore wind farm would be double the size of any currently operating in the UK if the plans are accepted by the Government which will have the final decision on the development.

Planning approvals for new homes in the South West leapt by 22% in the last year, showing house builders' "increasing confidence", market experts said.

A report out today by the Home Builders Federation shows permissions granted by councils in the region rose to 4,519 in the second quarter of this year.

The figure was up slightly from the 4,405 homes granted in the South West in the first three months of 2013.

But it marked a 22.7% increase on the second quarter of 2012, when 3,682 new homes were granted planning approval.

The 2013 figure is also nearly double the South West low recorded in the second quarter of 2009, when the effects of the credit crunch and recession saw builders granted just 2,506 homes.

Nationally, the federation's Housing Pipeline reveals a 49% year-on-year increase in the number of planning approvals for new homes in the last quarter.

But it warned the 37,053 permissions granted was still "well short" of the 55,000 permissions required on average per quarter to meet housing need.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said: "The overall trend in residential permissions is very positive.

"It reflects house builders' increasing confidence in the market and also the positive principles of the new planning system.

"With Help to Buy forging ahead strongly and developers looking to increase output, we need to see the increase sustained.

"However, at a time when developers are looking to build more much-needed homes, we are increasingly concerned by the conditions attached to many of these permissions that prevent actual work starting on site. Local authorities must ensure planning conditions are not overly onerous or unrealistic otherwise despite the success of Help to Buy, the much-needed increase in housing supply will be held back.

"Despite the increase in permissions granted, we are still well short of the 220,000 permissions required annually to meet housing need and all parties need to work closely together to ensure we see continuous and steady increases moving forward.

"Building the homes we need could take millions off social housing waiting lists and enable beleaguered first-time buyers to get a foot on the ladder. It could also create half a million new jobs, and give the country a massive and much-needed economic boost."

The report said the Help to Buy scheme, which was launched by Chancellor George Osborne in April and allows people to buy a property with a 5% deposit, had resulted in 12,500 reservations in its first five months.

The federation said developers were responding to the increase in demand. But it also warned that councils had to be "realistic about what conditions they attach to a planning permission" amid industry complaints they were "becoming more onerous and more numerous and ... causing considerable costly delays to construction".

The report is based upon analysis of housing projects being tracked by researchers at Glenigan. The firm's economics director, Allan Wilén, said: "Whilst off the high point seen at the end of 2012, the number of approvals remains significantly ahead of a year ago.

"The current strengthening in housing market activity points to a further potential rise in planning approvals during the second half of the year as housebuilders bring forward sites for development during 2014."

The leader of Britain's biggest farming union has criticised Labour's pledge to halt badger culling, warning it would "knock the living daylights" out of the industry.

As reported in the WMN earlier this week, a Labour government has pledged to halt the expansion of culling to curb the spread of bovine TB.

The success of two pilot culls, ongoing in Somerset and Gloucestershire, will determine whether more shooting takes place in up to 40 areas – most likely in the South West.

Speaking at its fringe event at the Labour conference in Brighton alongside the party's frontbenchers, National Farmers' Union president Peter Kendall was dismissive of the party's plan to focus on vaccination instead.

Mr Kendall told delegates: "What absolutely frustrates the hell out of me is you (Labour) don't even talk about the length of time on badger vaccination, you just talk about the money being put into it. I tell you what, that will just knock the living daylights out of dairy farmers."

He said farmers could see what was happening in the Republic of Ireland, where he claimed culling had contributed to a 50% drop in disease levels in cattle.

"Then we hear from Mary (Creagh, Labour Shadow Environment Secretary) that Labour won't be rolling out the 'disastrous badger cull'. Our farmer members will think: 'Well, what are you going to do other than argue about what money you are going to put into badger vaccination'."

He added: "Please, please come out with something more meaningful than looking at what is being spent on badger vaccines."

At the event, Shadow Farming Minister Huw Irranca-Davies said that even if the pilot culls achieved the predicted 16% benefit in reducing cattle bovine TB it would still "not be sufficient".

Mr Irranca-Davies said it will, instead, be spending more money to speed up the development of an oral badger vaccine, which he stated could help eradicate bTB in cattle within the 20-year timeframe laid out by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson in his TB eradication strategy, which includes culling. Mr Kendall told him farmers would be deeply frustrated at his party.

NEWQUAY'S MP Stephen Gilbert is calling on 20,000 people to help him convince easyJet bosses to save an air link between the resort and London Gatwick.

The service, currently operated by Flybe, is due to be scrapped from April next year after the company sold all its Gatwick flight slots to easyJet for £20 million.

easyJet will continue to offer a service to London Southend, but critics say the airport is too far from the capital to be attractive to holidaymakers and commuters.

Rumours have been circulating that easyJet will pick up the Newquay-to-Gatwick service and Mr Gilbert is now urging residents, businesses and visitors to back his campaign and let easyJet chiefs know the value of the service to the county.

He has already received the support of heavyweights such as tourism board VisitCornwall, the Devon and Cornwall Business Council and the Newquay Business Improvement District (BID).

Mr Gilbert said: "It is absolutely vital that Cornwall speaks with one voice and calls for the air link with London Gatwick to be retained.

"This is a crucial route for businesses in Cornwall to take local goods and services to markets in London and the South East and even further afield, as well as being a key route into Cornwall for those investing here or visiting."

Around 100,000 passengers use the route every year, and Mr Gilbert has written to easyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall and met company representatives to discuss its future.

He called on local businesses and residents to join him and urgently e-mail her at Carolyn.McCall@easyjet.com to show their support.

"easyJet are considering whether or not the link should remain and I'd ask everyone to contact easyJet to underline the local support for this vital link," he said.

"Gone are the days of 20,000 Cornishmen marching on London but I'd like to think we could get 20,000 e-mails to easyJet to explain why the Newquay to Gatwick link is so important."

Malcolm Bell, head of VisitCornwall, said he had talked to easyJet and explained the growing market for European visitors due to the popularity of Cornish exports such as Rosamunde Pilcher novels and TV shows such as Doc Martin.

"People can come from 80 destinations in Europe and use Gatwick as a hub to get down to Cornwall," he said. "There are eight routes from Germany alone."

Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, said: "The link with London for businesses and investors is crucial.

"If you then add tourism and leisure travel, and the potential to connect to international markets through Gatwick as a hub, then this becomes a top priority for us.

"The financial implications of losing the link would be very significant. We're talking millions of pounds' worth of impact.

"The Southend service doesn't supply us with the London link we're looking for, and I would encourage all businesses to back Mr Gilbert's campaign."

Eve Wooldridge, manager of the Newquay BID, said: "This is such an important connection not just for tourism, but also for business growth and inward investment into Newquay and Cornwall.

"The link with the capital helps Newquay keep abreast of industry and technology and encourages significant economic growth opportunities. In fact, there are many local residents who wouldn't be able to do their jobs without it."

Flybe announced in May that it was scrapping all its Gatwick routes, blaming airport charges, air passenger duty and "penalistic" government policy for the decision.

Cornish taxpayers subsidise the airport to the tune of around £3 million a year.

The airport is the site of a government-backed Enterprise Zone, called Newquay Aerohub, aimed at attracting aviation industry heavyweights to the site and creating 1,000 jobs.

AN ILLITERATE Bude farm worker has been found guilty of raping two women and sexually assaulting two others.

Jeremy Hawke, known as Jerry, 48, stood trial last week accused of 14 counts of rape and sexual abuse over a 16-year period from 1995.

Hawke, of Hersham, Bude, was found guilty on all counts by a jury of seven women and five men on Monday.

The sex attacker denied the accusations, which came to light in 2011 after three women made complaints to the police.

Hawke, who threatened at least two of his victims with violence and said that he would hurt their children if they told anyone about what was happening, claimed they were all lying.

After his conviction, Judge Peter Johnson told Hawke that reports would be compiled ahead of sentencing.

He said: "That will not only be looking at the length of the sentence but also the question of dangerousness in terms of whether there is a significant risk of you causing harm to members of the public."

During the trial, Mary McCarthy, for the prosecution, described Hawke as a forceful character who imposed himself on women time and time again.

She said: "He was a dominating person. Jerry thinks he can have any woman that he wants. He has clearly taken advantage of opportunities when he has been on his own with women to commit these offences.

"According to the defendant it is an entirely fictitious person that these four women have described."

Ms McCarthy told the jury that, in 1992, Hawke spent three weeks in custody in relation to an offence concerning the death of a child. He was subsequently found not guilty.

She said this explained why at least one of the victims took his threats against her children so seriously.

"She knew he had been in prison for a while," said Ms McCarthy. "He was found not guilty by a jury [but it made the victim] think it was a serious threat that he would hurt her children."

Rupert Taylor, for the defence, told the jury that Hawke couldn't read or write, and said: "What can an innocent person say other than 'I didn't do it'?"

He was found guilty of three counts of rape of the first victim and one of attempting to rape her on dates between June 1 and September 9, 1995.

Hawke was convicted of sexually assaulting a second victim on August 17, 2007.

He stands to be sentenced for a further three charges of raping a third victim on dates between July 1 and October 31, 2009, and of four counts of sexually assaulting a fourth between May 1, 2010 and July 31, 2011.

Hawke, whose application for bail as an act of "mercy" was refused, was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced next month.

"DISGRACEFUL and threatening" text messages were sent by a Mevagissey man to his former partner in breach of a court order.

In some of the 61 texts sent by 41-year-old Lee Hersey to the woman over a matter of hours he made threats to both her, her new partner and her adult daughter, as well as making abusive personal remarks.

One stated: "There will be murder and I am willing to be locked away for life."

He also wrote: "Your man will bleed and burn" and "I told you not to parade a man past my door."

Hersey had been jailed for 12 weeks and given the two-year restraining order by magistrates in June after admitting harassing the woman. The court was told at the time that this involved him posting a naked photograph of her on Facebook.

On Monday Hersey was sent to prison for six months, after pleading guilty to breaching the restraining order.

Chairman of the Bodmin bench, Martin Eustace, told him: "You have broken, repeatedly, a court order designed to protect her."

Mr Eustace referred to the "disgraceful and threatening" nature of the messages.

Hersey, of Church Street, who appeared before the court in custody, pleaded guilty to sending the woman 61 abusive, alarming or threatening text messages between September 18 and the next day.

Graham Calderwood, for the prosecution, said that Henderson and the woman had previously been in a relationship but he had been jailed in June for harassing her when that broke down.

Between 9.45pm on September 18 and 10am on September 19 he sent the 61 "disturbing" texts which the woman reported to the police.

When Hersey heard that officers were looking for him, he rang them to find out why but when they went to his address they had to begin to break down his door in order to get him out.

Barry Hilliard, for the defence, said that Hersey knew what he had done was "disgusting, despicable and appalling".

However, he had had trouble dealing with the fact that the woman had contacted him shortly after his release from prison and they had very briefly resumed their association before she told him she did not want a relationship.

Mr Hilliard suggested that the woman had "exercised control" over Hersey.

On the night of the offence, he had drunk whiskey after the woman had "flaunted" her new boyfriend near his address, and he then sent the "abhorrent" texts.

When the messages were read out to him by police, he was "horrified" at their content, said Mr Hilliard.

The magistrates told Hersey that the restraining order – which prevents him from contacting the woman or going within 50 metres of her home – would be extended to provide protection for her daughters.

Gas and electricity prices will be frozen for homes and businesses for 20 months after the 2015 general election if Labour wins power, Ed Miliband announced yesterday.

The dramatic announcement – which Labour said would save the typical household £120 and an average business £1,800 between May 2015 and January 2017 – was the highlight of a crucial 63-minute conference speech, which was delivered without notes.

Mr Miliband denounced the coalition Government and repeatedly declared: "Britain can do better than this."

He made a slew of commitments, offering an £800 million tax break to small businesses and promising to build 200,000 new homes a year, set a target for switching to 100% green energy by 2030, strengthen the minimum wage, help create more than 100,000 new apprenticeships and repeal the so-called "bedroom tax".

Mr Miliband's proposal of state action to fix prices – the first such move since the 1970s – comes in a week when he has told Labour supporters that he is "bringing back socialism".

Critics are likely to invoke the "Red Ed" moniker and accuse the Labour leader of a lurch to the left, and will point to his vow to tax big business more and seize land which developers refuse to build on.

But his energy promise came just days after consumer group Which? reported that households have been paying £3.9 billion a year over the odds for their gas and electricity, with Mr Miliband hoping to tap into public frustration with utility firms.

He addressed head-on the doubts about his personality reflected in polls, insisting that he had shown "leadership" in taking on media mogul Rupert Murdoch and stopping British military action in Syria, and challenging David Cameron and the Conservatives: "If they want to have a test about leadership and character, be my guest."

Pitching the 2015 general election as a battle with Conservatives who had allowed the proceeds of recovery to go to the "privileged few", he said: "Britain's best days lie ahead. Britain can do better than this. We're Britain, we're better than this. I will lead a Government that fights for you."

But CBI director general John Cridland said that businesses would view it as "a setback for Labour's pro-enterprise credentials" and Conservative chairman Grant Shapps said: "It's the same old Labour."

Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat Energy Minister Ed Davey warned energy price fixing led to black-outs in California while others raised questions over whether it was legal.

Labour has already announced it will legislate to introduce more competition into the energy market, and will replace regulator Ofgem with a new watchdog with sharper teeth. But Mr Miliband said that these reforms will not kick in until the start of 2017 and he was not willing to wait that long to take action – hence the freeze.

Ben Bradshaw, Labour MP for Exeter, praised a "good rousing speech". "I welcomed him tackling the leadership question head on and comparing his willingness to take tough decisions and stand up to the powerful and vested interests with Cameron's bowing before them," he added.

Alison Seabeck, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View, said the falling standards of living was the key issue for voters, adding: "It was the speech of the potential Prime Minister."

A LOCAL farm is welcoming children in to learn more about food processes and celebrate harvest time.

Over a two-week period, which began on Tuesday, primary school pupils can benefit from finding out about how produce is grown, sourced and cooked, and take part in traditional autumn festivities at Bosavern Community Farm in St Just.

Local food and community development manager Lynne Dyer stressed the importance of healthy eating and granting young people a knowledge of what they eat.

"We are going to take them out to our farm and show them where their dinner comes from," she said.

"We hope to get them involved in every stage."

Mrs Dyer added that today fewer people have an understanding of sustenance and cultivation.

"I think we can be quite disconnected in this day of the supermarket," she said.

"I think for health it's very important to find out where our food comes from – the experiences give more interest to children.

"They may not eat a courgette if you put one in front of them but if they go out and pick it themselves, they are more inclined to try it," added Mrs Dyer.

The harvest fair is being run in recognition of British Food Fortnight and also features other activities and workshops to allow youngsters an insight into seasonal pastimes.

Corn dolly making, storytelling and songs are set to take place alongside harvesting vegetables and making soup.

Schools from across west Penwith have been invited to attend events, which take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week and next.

For more information contact lynne@bcents.org

A HAPPY partnership between town traders and the group set up three years ago to bring an extra dash of colour to Penzance was celebrated on Monday.

Causewayhead traders handed over a cheque for £1,000 to Fiona Thomas-Lambourn, from the Penzance Flora Group – money which is spent on the street's hanging baskets and a new palm tree which has now been planted at the bottom of Causewayhead.

Fiona Thomas-Lambourn said: "We are very grateful to the traders' association for their very generous contribution. I have already spoken to a lot of people about the new palm and there's been a marvellous response since it appeared. Our volunteers are very happy to do what they can for the town but we would love to hear from someone who is willing to do the watering for the hanging baskets."

A spokesman for the traders said: "Causewayhead Traders' Association (CTA) has worked tirelessly to improve the ambience of the historic trading street that is Causewayhead.

"The association, which was originally set up to raise funds for the street's Christmas lights, now takes an active role in street maintenance and ensuring that shoppers have an enjoyable experience.

"Recently, as part of Cornwall in Bloom, traders purchased hanging baskets filled with a beautiful selection of flowers provided by Penzance Flora Group. These were erected, free of charge, by Craig Bond.

"Penzance Flora Group also planted the new palm tree at the base of the street to replace the tree that was vandalised last year.

"CTA would like to say a huge thank you to Craig for all of his hard work, Trevena Cross Nurseries for supplying the palm tree at a hugely discounted price, and Fiona Thomas-Lambourn, the founder of the flora group, for providing continuous support for all of CTA's projects."

THERE were plenty of putative pugilists signing up at the launch of Hayle Boxing Academy on Sunday.

The club, affiliated with St Ives Bay Amateur Boxing Club, enjoyed a busy morning, said its founder and head coach Andrew Wheeler.

"I'm overwhelmed by the interest shown in this new venture," he said.

"It's so satisfying, after all the months of hard work getting everything together, to finally open the doors and welcome new people.

"I want to thank all our coaches both new and old for their time, and must stress we all do so voluntarily. We aim to keep our subs low so everyone has the opportunity to train here and at the St Ives gym."

Classes are at Hayle Community School on Thursdays.

Sessions for ages 6 to 11 start at 4.45pm, women's fitness at 6pm and junior and senior mixed boxing at 7.15pm.

Sponsorship, support and donations have come from the Hayle Youth Project, David Morris Window Cleaners, Antonini's Italian Eatery, Lello Plant Hire, Hayle Lions Club, St Ives Bay Rotary Club, St Ives RAOB and Hayle police.

For more information call Mr Wheeler on 07527 485494 or e-mail andrew@wheeler86. wanadoo.co.uk

PENZANCE'S famous chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy has come in for high praise from top TV scientist Professor Brian Cox in a BBC TV programme.

In his new three-part series Science Britannica the particle physicist acted as a guide through the history of Britain's contribution to the development of science.

In doing so he paid a glowing tribute to the impact Humphry Davy made as a young scientist at the turn of the 19th century.

"In 1802, at the Royal Institution, he was the star attraction as the Institution's new Professor of Chemistry at the unlikely age of 23," said Professor Cox. "He was good- looking, charismatic and, many thought, arrogant; he thought he was a genius and he was probably right.

"He was also a passionate communicator of science – a genuine star."

In the programme, Professor Cox re-enacts some of the experiments that Humphry Davy would carry out in front of the packed audiences who would cram into the Royal Institution's lecture theatre to hear him speak.

"His spectacular demonstrations had all the excitement of a magic show but it was better than magic – it was chemistry," Professor Cox said.

Local historian Peter Waverly said Brian Cox's opinion of Humphry Davy confirmed what many people in West Cornwall knew and called for his picture to appear on the nation's bank notes in the same way that his disciple Michael Faraday's had done.

"Those who appreciate what Davy did have always known his genius, but Brian Cox was one of the first to recognise and state this on our public media because until now Humphry Davy has never, ever been given the public recognition he deserves," he said. "It is long overdue that Humphry Davy appeared on our currency in recognition of the phenomenal work he did in the advancement of science."

Davy was born in 1778, the son of a woodcarver. His inventions included the Davy lamp of 1815, which allowed miners to work safely in the presence of flammable gases, and as a pioneer of electrolysis, using the newly invented voltaic pile, he discovered the elements of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, boron and barium. His work on the sheathing of ships' hulls with metal is said to have been inspired by youthful observation of the decay of Hayle's sluice gates due to the electrochemical action of sea water on copper and iron. He died in Geneva in 1829, of heart disease.

Episode 1 of Science Britannica can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer.

ST JUST'S planned skating competition was postponed at the weekend and will now take place this Saturday.

Lafrowda Skate Jam was cancelled due to poor weather, but organisers are now hoping skaters and scooter enthusiasts can take to the ramps once more after the first ever event last year was hailed a big success. All ages are welcome to get involved in the extreme sports day, which also features a BBQ, music from DJ Godden, cakes baked by the famous Lafrowda Cake Committee as well as face painting, hair braiding and stalls.

It all kicks off at Cape Cornwall School, starting at 10am and running until 4pm.

A YOUTH worker's salary and a popular community group are being buoyed by a £16,000 grant.

The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales awarded west Cornwall's 3 Villages Project the sum to help the charity deliver work focusing on the "training, development and employment needs of young people" in Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul.

The funding means the organisation can continue to run on a full-time basis, as government changes had previously threatened to cut the programme by around 50 per cent.

Jen Lawry, who started volunteering in her gap year in 2005 and was given the youth worker position in 2008, said substantial sums of money are hard to come by.

"It has been hard to get core funding – it's particularly difficult for salaries," she said.

"We would have only been able to run part-time. It's meant we've been able to keep it going."

Miss Lawry is supported by a number of volunteers. She added that being able to carry on without too many limitations is vital to local youngsters.

"We have had really good feedback from people. The police said we've contributed to reducing antisocial behaviour and children say that without us they would be getting into trouble," she said.

Initially set up by churches in the area more than ten years ago as a youth club, 3 Villages Project later registered as a charity in 2004.

Activities include art workshops, dance sessions and cookery classes.

Miss Lawry added that Newlyn, Mousehole and Paul are sometimes forgotten areas.

"We work across three communities in Cornwall that contain high incidences of deprivation to make a positive difference to the lives of local children and young people."

A GROUP of Penzance supermarket workers are currently facing an anxious wait for official confirmation of a £500,000 lottery win.

The win, last weekend on a lucky dip on the Thunderball lottery and amounting to £31,250 each, would be shared by 16 members of a syndicate at the Co-op in Market Jew Street.

But syndicate leader Colin Coombes, a customer team member at the store, said he is taking nothing for granted.

"We're in limbo at the moment as they have to run a series of security checks," he said.

"I bought the ticket at the store and know that everything should be OK – the purchase was filmed on CCTV – but at the moment they are still going through the checks and I don't want to say anything until we get the money."

Mr Coombes has been running the syndicate at the town centre Co-op for eight years and only a couple of weeks ago he distributed the proceeds of all the lottery gains made since the start of 2013 – £15 for each member.

THE owner of a stolen Kawasaki motorbike is offering a "substantial reward" for its safe return.

The black KMX 125cc off-road bike was taken from outside a property in Commercial Road, Hayle, some time between 8pm on Saturday, September 7, and 10am the following day.

Anyone with any information is being asked to contact the owner on 07783 527505.

RESIDENTS of a block of St Ives flats were evacuated by firefighters during the early hours of yesterday morning after a burst water pipe flooded their homes.

Several people living in the sheltered accommodation on Porthmeor Beach Road awoke to find water pouring into their flats at around 2.40am.

By the time firefighters arrived at the block of 34 flats, the water was six inches deep in three of the second-floor properties, causing water damage described as severe.

The burst water main, which supplies the four-storey complex, was also affecting the building's electrics.

Fire crews isolated the water supply to the building and also the electrics which had been damaged by the flooding.

A Red Cross Welfare and Fire and Emergency Support Service vehicle (FESS) from Falmouth arrived at the scene to offer temporary shelter and support to three of the buildings' occupants who were unable to return to their homes after the deluge. Temporary accommodation is being arranged for them.

An electrician was called to make the electrics safe and a plumber was also summoned to deal with the leak.

HAYLE'S first fire station could be built within a year after it was granted planning permission.

Cornwall Council approved the plans for the new community fire station this week with the area planning committee voting with 13 in favour and one abstention.

It brings to an end years of campaigning in Hayle for the town to have its own dedicated fire station – until now fire cover has been provided from Camborne.

The £1 million station, which will see the ambulance service and the police working from shared facilities, will be built on Commercial Road.

Work on the new station is expected to start by the end of this year and it could be open by autumn 2014.

Under the new arrangement, 6,500 people in Hayle will now be able to be reached within the critical response time. The facility will be crewed by on-call staff and will include a community lecture and recreation room, as well as a road traffic collision training space and areas for the South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trust and Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

News that the fire station has been given approval has been welcomed by many who have campaigned for Hayle to have its own fire station for the past two decades.

Councillor for Hayle South, John Coombe, said: "Hayle is the largest town in Cornwall without a fire station and we have waited too long. We have been campaigning for a fire station for over 20 years. The whole of Hayle will now have fire cover; this is a fantastic bit of news."

Plans for a new "superstation" on the A30 at Tolvaddon, which will cover Camborne, Pool and Redruth community fire station and service headquarters were also approved this week.

This will replace both towns' existing fire stations and house the county's fire control, training centre and engineering workshops and provide a base for CCTV monitoring.

Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer, Des Tidbury, said: "This is great news for the service as it gives us the opportunity to provide modern facilities in the right location to replace existing community fire stations that are over 50 years old. But, more importantly, we will be able to significantly improve the fire, rescue and community safety service that we deliver 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year to the people of Cornwall."