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Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says the region is right to demand improvements – but progress is being made. The first leg of my visit to the South West last week, from London Paddington to Exeter St Davids was scheduled to take about two and half hours. But in a little more than 30 minutes, I was already seeing a project that will make a big difference to the region. The £850 million investment at Reading Station...

A FORMER Helston man hoping to launch the country's first 'drive-thru' pasty business has defended his scheme, saying it will help the area. Ken Cocking has applied for planning permission to build a Helston Pasty Company factory, shop and takeaway on the former Hilltop Garage site on Sithney Common Hill. Mr Cocking, who sold a Cornish pasty business some years ago in a multimillion-pound deal, wants to set up the enterprise with...

Cornwall MPs are to meet with Public Health Minister Anna Soubry tomorrow to press for help for victims of the 1988 Lowermoor water poisoning. A long-awaited report into the long-term health effects of the incident which hit the Camelford area of North Cornwall almost 25 years ago was published last month. The Government-appointed committee concluded it was "unlikely" that the pollution, caused when 20 tons of highly...

RESTRICTIONS on development around Falmouth docks could become a thing of the past if plans to drastically reduce the so-called 'blast zone' go ahead. A&P Falmouth wants to modify the conditions relating to the storage of hazardous substances. The changes to the consent which was granted in 1992, relate to the amount of ammonium nitrate (AN) and urea fertiliser and the locations it is stored on site. Last year Cornwall Council...

Westcountry MPs have joined a growing Conservative rebellion over Britain's membership of the European Union. Up to 100 Conservative backbenchers are expected to register their anger that the Government's plans for the next year do not include a law to enshrine David Cameron's pledge for an in-out vote by 2017. Some 78 MPs have signed an amendment to the Queen's Speech, which sets out the coalition Government's legislative...

THE new Cornwall Council could be led by the Independent group, it has emerged. The news came out following the shock defection of top Tory, Councillor Mike Eathorne-Gibbons to the Independents. The results of the elections on May 2 were inconclusive as far as leadership, with 36 Liberal Democrats, 35 Independents and the Conservatives 31. But Mr Eathorne-Gibbons' defection has put the Liberal Democrats and Independents on level-pegg...

A TEENAGER with Asperger's syndrome and a life-threatening heart condition is refusing to let them stop her living to the max. Charlotte Banfield is even hoping to take part in the autism surf championships next month, and wants to become a marine biologist – despite having had a terrifying seizure in the sea. The 14-year-old from Penryn was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia, which causes an irregular heartbeat. She...

The UK Independence Party has won its first council seats in the Westcountry as Nigel Farage's party hailed breakthrough local elections. At Cornwall Council, the first election since becoming a "super" authority in 2009 saw the Conservatives ousted as the biggest group, with a hung vote possibly leading to a "rainbow" coalition of diverse freshly-elected politicians. The eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP)...

Two former Westcountry MPs have resurrected their political careers after being elected as county councillors in Devon and Cornwall. Richard Younger-Ross, Liberal Democrat MP for Teignbridge in Devon until 2010, won in Teignmouth yesterday after unseating the town's mayor. He said: "We campaigned on providing a strong voice for Teignmouth. We listened to the concerns of the people of the town and I am delighted that they...

A "SCOURGE of Falmouth" has been jailed for breaching a court order imposed to keep him from causing trouble. Michael John Starling, 31, was jailed on Monday for 12 weeks after being found drunk by police on Friday. Starling had been given an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) the day before by Truro magistrates banning him from being under the influence of alcohol in Falmouth or Truro town centres. Inspector Mark Richards...