Herald Express

Vandals have damaged the graves of children buried in a cemetery, leaving a shocked and disgusted family with a possible £1,500 repair bill.

A night-time attack was carried out on the children's section of the graveyard in Ailescombe Road, Paignton.

The memorials damaged were on the graves of Susan Rashid's nine-year-old daughter Sarah and another three-year-old, who both died in the mid-1990s.

A large chunk was broken off the rim of a heart-shaped memorial marking Sarah's resting place. A teddy bear headstone on the grave of the younger child was snapped off and the plinth dislodged.

Sarah died in 1993 having been afflicted with severe brain damage all her life, which meant she was unable to speak or walk.

Susan, a supply teacher from Galmpton, said: "I feel extremely sad and despair that these things go on.

"It is such a callous thing that has been done. It doesn't show respect for the dead or their families.

"Where is people's sensitivity? They don't seem to appreciate that people have lost someone dear."

She said the attack has upset all members of the family, Sarah's father Aziz, and her sisters Hannah 23, and Rebecca, 21.

The memorial stone was valued at more than £1,500 and the family are investigating the cost of repairs.

Paignton will be going green for an environmental event in September.

Torbay's Go Green on the Green event will feature a range of exhibitors covering public transport, cycling, low-carbon vehicles, recycling, water efficiency, fair trade, energy efficiency, climate change, renewable energy and local food and drink.

The annual event began three years ago when an environmental event was held to recognise In Town Without My Car Day.

The aim was to encourage people to use more sustainable forms of transport to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which are the main cause of climate change, and improve local air quality. The event was a great success.

The event organised by Torbay Council was rebranded Torbay Green Day in 2008, and attracted nearly 2,000 visitors.

Every visitor will receive a free reusable shopping bag. Over-70s and benefits claimants will also get a free low-energy light bulb. In addition people can try their skill at making their own smoothie using pedal power.

They can also make their own musical instrument out of rubbish at a junk band workshop with Big Beat.

There will also be the chance to play Carbonopoly and win some prizes. Other attractions will include music and stunt bikes.

Torbay Council cabinet member Chris Lewis said: "This year's event provides an excellent opportunity for people to come along and find out how they can play their part in tackling climate change."

The event takes place on Saturday, September 18, from 10am-4pm on Paignton Green between the pier and the cinema.

A DRINKER on his way to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in Plymouth lied to police by saying he was not at the wheel of a car which crashed on the A38.

Nicholas Fox, 53, was over the legal alcohol limit and blamed his fiancée Michelle Barker for the accident which led to the green Ford Focus ending up on its roof on the A38 last October.

But Fox was so overcome with guilt about the lie that he later changed his story and owned up to being the driver, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Fox appeared in court for sentencing after previously admitting perverting the course of justice.

The court was told Fox, who had been a successful health and safety consultant, had fallen off the wagon after 14 years of abstinence two weeks before the crash near Newton Abbot on October 30.

Prosecutor Alexander Allsop said Fox, from Brook Lane, London, and Miss Barker were travelling to Plymouth from London to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting when the accident happened.

He said Fox had stopped along the way and bought alcohol during the drive.

When police attended the accident on the A38 near Heathfield both occupants said Miss Barker had been driving.

Barker later told police this was a lie, saying Fox had pressured her because he did not want to lose his job.

A breath test at the scene recorded Fox was over the limit.

But Leslie Smith, counsel for Fox, said it was the defendant who had wanted to tell the truth.

He said Fox had seen his life fall to pieces since the accident.

He had lost his job and split up with Miss Barker.

Fox, Mr Smith said, had suffered a breakdown and been admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

In order to get to court for the sentencing he had borrowed money from a church in London which he 'attended in desperation'.

"His life has been broken and damaged," said Mr Smith.

He said being honest was at the heart of the AA programme and that had prompted him to tell the truth.

Judge Barry Cotter QC said it was not possible to tell who had been the first person to tell police the truth about the incident.

He said the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence had been considered.

Instead he imposed a community order with a 12-month supervision requirement, a ten-day activity programme and an alcoholic treatment requirement.

"You should consider this a lenient sentence," the judge said.

"But I sincerely hope you are able to get your life back together."

He also asked Mr Smith to thank the diocese of St Catherine's for lending Fox the money to travel.

FORMER Olympic super star Daley Thompson joined hundreds of amateur cyclists yesterday in Teignmouth for a charity ride.

The Mayor of Teignmouth, Councillor Ian Parkes, got on his bike for the first time in 50 years and was joined by Daley and radio DJ Mark Goodier for the Prostate Cancer Charity Tour Ride, in partnership with the Tour Of Britain.

Organisers promised a festival atmosphere would be awaiting to welcome the weary and tired cyclists who have completed their epic journeys.

Olympic gold medallist Daley and Smooth Radio DJ Mark were joined by professional cycling squads Rapha Condor Sharp and the South West Bike Academy, who set the pace during The Tour Ride, which gave people the opportunity to cycle an official stage of the Tour Of Britain across three distances.

Braver cyclists rode a gruelling but scenic 175km route from Minehead, in Somerset, to Teignmouth — the toughest stage of this year's Tour Of Britain.

At 70km the Challenge Ride begins in Honiton, and included the tough coastal climb of Peak Hill outside Sidmouth.

There was also a friendly family-fun ride of 2km in Teignmouth.

LOCAL businesses got together to show off the Start Bay area.

Sarah Gillespie who painted the Slapton Ley Nature Reserve and Caroline Curtis of Eden Designs who designed the make-over of the field centre's grounds, opened the show.

A variety of stalls provided information on activities and products from Start Bay .

A range of have-a-go activities were available such as pizza making, bug hunting and wildflower spotting. Canoeing and kayaking were offered as a one off.

They also put on a Secret Slapton Walk which took visitors to parts of the nature reserve the public doesn't normally see. The walk ended with refreshments in the recently opened Stokeley Barton Farm Shop.

Rebecca Crookshank from South Hams Art Collective directed a number of young actors in an interpretation to mark the 50 year anniversary of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

There were talks on beekeeping, asking how green is your garden and looking at changes in the community over the past 50 years, and a look at the future of Slapton Line.

Head of the field centre, Andy Pratt, said: "There was a buzz all day despite the weather. The event proved a fun way for locals and visitors to take part in and find out more about the diversity of activities and products available in Start Bay."

The Slapton coast road is a site of great environmental interest and the event brought in an estimated 1,500 visitors.

THE landlady of a South Devon pub has been banned from the road after admitting drink-driving — and has also lost her licence to run a pub for six months.

Nataley Vinall, 44, the landlady of the Wellington Inn, Ipplepen, Newton Abbot, was spared from a drink banning order which could have stopped her going into pubs or even drinking.

Vinall, of Longacre, Compton, near Marldon, had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to drink-driving on July 17.

She was fined £250, banned from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay costs of £100.

Her personal licence to run a pub was suspended for six months.

Prosecutor Christopher Bittlestone said Vinall was stopped by police in Highweek Street, Newton Abbot. She was breath-tested and gave a positive reading.

She was arrested and at the police station gave a breath reading of 56 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35.

Vinall, who was not represented, said: "I was very stupid and it has cost me dear."

She said she had to hand back her personal licence to run a pub five days after she was convicted, and had to put another designated person on the licence to run the pub.

The bench was told it had the authority to suspend the pub licence for six months or to order it be forfeited.

The bench had the authority to impose a drink-banning order which would have prevented Vinall from going into pubs, named areas, or from drinking, if the public was in danger from further offences being committed by her.

However, it declined a drink-banning order, in view of her "occupation and livelihood".

TORBAY Council has secured cash to tackle pubs and clubs that sell alcohol to youngsters.

A £4,750 Department of Health grant will enable the council to send out under-cover teenagers to attempt test purchases in licensed establishments across the Bay.

It is the latest in a run of similar schemes in which young people try to buy booze from suspect premises.

A council spokesman said: "As part of our continued efforts to address the issues of potential sales of alcohol, tobacco and other age-restricted goods to young people, we carried out a test purchase operation earlier this year.

"Two 16-year-old volunteers visited seven licensed clubs or bars, and on every occasion they were asked for identification to show they were 18.

"As they were unable to produce this ID, they were quite properly either refused entry or, where there were no door staff, refused to be served with alcohol.

"We were very pleased that staff complied with the legal responsibilities placed on them by refusing to serve the 16-year-olds.

"This exercise followed another test purchase operation last December.

"Alcohol was sold to under-age volunteers in just one out of nine visits to off-licences, resulting in a written warning being issued.

"The council has now secured up to £4,750 Department of Health funding to carry out work in respect of the control of tobacco sales.

"We work closely with retailers and businesses across the Bay to ensure they are fully aware of the legal duties placed on them regarding the sales of goods to under-age people.

"We are pleased that our test purchase operations in on-licence and off-licence premises, which will be repeated, are proving successful."

A MAN drove 250 miles to his favourite holiday haunt in Brixham only to find he was banned from drinking in the bar.

Paul Wyke, 43, from Stockport, was looking forward to a refreshing beer in the bar when he arrived at Brixham Holiday Park. But on arriving at the licensed premises was denied service.

"I feel I have been treated pretty badly," he said.

"I have probably been there more than 30 times. I come down every year. My son lives in Paignton and when we come and visit we stay at the holiday park. I thought I had a really good relationship with the park."

Paul said he believed he may have been banned because on his last visit to the park in July he made an unwelcome comment about the entertainment. He claimed he was not ejected from the bar at the time.

Brixham Holiday Park franchises out the bar to Ron Love.

Mr Love was staying tight-lipped about why Mr Wyke was banned from his premises.

He confirmed he had been banned and said it is his "prerogative to refuse anybody service".

Mr Wyke said he was angry he had driven 250 miles then been unable to access the bar at the holiday park.

"I rang three weeks ago and paid my money. If I was barred from the bar I feel they had every opportunity to tell me then," he said.

Mr Love said he "probably did not tell reception" about the ban.

After being refused at the bar, Mr Wyke left, then contacted Brixham Holiday Park manager Margaret Tudge and was eventually given a full refund.

Ms Tudge said she told Mr Wyke that "under the circumstances it was probably best if he didn't come back to Brixham Holiday Park".

KEEP your heads down. It starts today — Torbay's rubbish revolution.

Torbay Council has teamed up with private firm May Gurney to launch joint venture company Tor2 which is totally revamping and re-organising the resort's rubbish collection service.

For the majority of residents, out have gone the much-trusted and cherished green wheeled bins and in have come a selection of smaller black boxes.

It's all in the name of recycling. Tor2 reckon the new system will save the council — i.e. taxpayers — £14 million a year in landfill taxes and fines. Not to be sniffed at in the current economic climate and looming cuts in public expenditure.

The plan is to see at least 50 per cent of all the Bay's household waste recycled by 2012.

Kerbside recycling rates should also increase ten per cent in the first year of the new rubbish rounds.

More than 60,000 households in the three towns should have by now received leaflets detailing how it will work and a new fleet of 20 Tor2 lorries with special compartments are ready to rumble.

The transformation so far hasn't been exactly smooth.

Tor2 had to set up a special call centre to deal with inquiries and complaints from confused and angry members of the public. At the last check it was still dealing with 1,000 calls a day.

The Herald Express has been inundated with calls, letters and e-mails about the switch-over — with the majority of readers against the plans and some calling for the wheeled bins to stay.

Dustcart men have felt the wrath of some out on the streets, with some residents refusing to accept their new boxes. Just a plea on behalf of the workers today. Whether you are for or against the new bins, it's not their fault, they are just doing their job.

The merits of the new recycling venture cannot be questioned and, no doubt, in months to come we will all look back and wonder what all the fuss was about — hopefully. But today could still be a testing time. Let's hope the actual delivery of the service will be less trouble-free than the build up to it.

A JUDGE has warned a homeless Torquay man that either a prison cell or the Grim Reaper awaits him unless he quits drinking.

Alcoholic Michael Poblocki, 58, was told by Judge Barry Cotter QC his fate depended on whether he would admit he had a drink problem and deal with it.

The father-of-two had previously admitting one count of affray and one of using threatening language to police officers in Torquay.

He appeared at Exeter Crown Court for sentencing after doctors concluded his psychotic tendencies were caused by excessive alcohol rather than mental problems.

The court was told that on April 23, Poblocki was spotted drinking vodka from a bottle while waiting for a bus in the Strand area of Torquay.

A witness saw him put the bottle down before he tried to board the bus.

When he was refused entry Poblocki became abusive, picked the bottle up and smashed it on the door of the bus.

The bottle shattered and the door was damaged.

The court was told Poblocki was chased, caught and handcuffed by police.

He told the officers: "I'm going to break both your necks. Take me back to prison."

Mitigating solicitor Niall Brooks said Poblocki had been an alcoholic since at least 1991.

He was estranged from his wife and two children and had been homeless for some time.

Mr Brooks said his recent offending seemed to have been triggered by the death of his parents.

The court was told Poblocki had spent 130 days in custody after Mr Brooks requested psychiatric reports.

Poblocki told doctors he did not think he had a problem and intended to drink when he got out.

Mr Brooks said a period of abstinence in prison had since 'simmered him down' and made him view his situation differently.

Judge Cotter replied: "Drying out rather than simmered down is more appropriate."

The judge told Poblocki he had to choose between giving up drink and re-offending.

"Either it is the Grim Reaper or the court service that faces you.

"You can either drink yourself to death or commit a crime like this and it's going to be a long custodial sentence."

Poblocki was given 260 days in prison. He walked free from court due to the time he had already spent in custody.

FRIENDS, family and fellow war veterans have said a final farewell to a heroic D-Day landing veteran.

About 100 people attended a requiem mass and paid tribute to Gerry Taylor (pictured), a decorated Normandy veteran who died on August 25, aged 85.

Military music welcomed mourners to Our Lady Help Of Christians and St Denis St Marychurch Roman Catholic church.

Mr Taylor's Union Flag-draped-coffin was then carried into the church to the singing of Jerusalem.

Members of the Normandy Veterans Association South Devon branch stood inside the church to pay their respect to one of their own. All proudly wore their medals and carried regimental flags.

In his homily Father Jonathan Shaddock said Mr Taylor, who was born in 1924, and moved to Torquay more than 20 years ago, 'lived on in our memories of him'.

In a heartfelt tribute, Gerry's grandson Dani, said his grandad was a 'genuine hero who served his country and was a hero in other countries'.

Dani said: "My grandad was a hero to his family. We were all very proud of him.

"My grandad was a caring, generous and funny man.

"He was selfless and gave up his time for us. He was also mischievous and had a great senses of humour.

"My grandad was a modest man who never bragged about his war time.

"He will never be forgotten."

Another member of Mr Taylor's family said the Normandy veteran was a 'great story teller' who had hundreds of stories and a phenomenal memory.

Tony Rider, honorary secretary of the South Devon Normandy Veterans' Association, also paid tribute to his long-time friend .

He said: "Gerry was a good friend of the association and was always ready to help us raise fund for us. He will be sadly missed by us all. It has been a privilege to know him."

Gerry, who lived in Torquay, was a Normandy veteran whose bravery earned him the Polish equivalent of the Victoria Cross.

He received his medal for braving rifle fire to help a Polish tank crew during fighting in Holland.

As the coffin carrying Gerry to his last resting place left the church, a bugle player sounded the Last Post.

Gerry Taylor, whose funeral took place on Friday September 3, is survived by daughters Ann and Jean, son-in-law Brad and grandchildren Dani and Kelly.

TORBAY'S new and highly controversial kerbside recycling collection scheme is launched today.

Those residents included in the new scheme should see their two boxes, a green wheeled bin and a food waste bin collected from a fleet of special new lorries from this week.

Council officials said the new recycling scheme will help save council tax payers up to £14 million a year in landfill taxes and fines.

The project, run by Tor2, a new company made of Torbay Council (20 per cent) and construction firm May Gurney (80 per cent), has been plagued by complaints.

The team of waste doctors has received some 1,000 calls a day from people complaining they received the wrong bins, did not need the bins or received too many or too few bins.

The Herald Express has also seen an influx letters from readers angry with the scheme.

Now all 60,000 households in the three towns have received leaflets from Tor2 telling them of collection days.

This week 20 Tor2 green lorries fitted with special compartments for the various recyclables start their new role.

Officials insist the new recycling service will see at least 50 per cent of all Torbay's household waste recycled by 2012, and that kerbside recycling rates will increase ten per cent in the first year of operation.

Tor2 director Alistair Campbell said: "The new recycling and waste services are a fundamental change for Torbay but a very positive one.

"This allows Torbay Council to avoid fines and landfill taxes of up to £14million a year. It is a significant sum of council tax payers' money which would essentially be wasted without the introduction of this recycling service."

Mr Campbell said the scheme would allow Torbay Council and residents to cut their carbon footprint and do more to help preserve the local environment.

It would also bring Torbay Council's recycling services into line with other local authorities in the South West, he said.

He said: "We aim to preserve the best parts of the old recycling and waste service, such as assisted collections for all disabled and infirm residents, while combining this with the convenience of a kerbside recycling service for all residents."

The new service should enable residents to recycle a wide range of goods including paper, plastic bottles, food tins and drinks cans, aerosols and mixed textiles, shoes and clothing as well as foil, mixed glass and cardboard and food waste.

All recyclables will be collected on a weekly basis with residual waste collections becoming fortnightly.

A PARCEL of land left to a village by a reclusive spinster is set to be turned into new homes.

Plans have been approved by Teignbridge Council's development control committee for two new homes to be built on land belonging to the late Molly Coombe, of Bishopsteignton.

Councillors expressed some surprise that, despite a storm of local opposition, no one had attended to speak publicly on the controversial matter.

The homes plan is for land off Flow Lane which belonged to life-long village resident Miss Coombe, who died in February 2007.

She bequeathed virtually her whole estate to Bishopsteignton Museum, a total of £1,572,376.

One of her last wishes was to have the museum housed in her own home but it was scuppered by legal and planning constraints.

Plans for a new museum building and three homes, needed to help fund the project, went to planners earlier this year.

The museum was approved but the homes plan was thrown out.

The executors of her estate went back to the drawing board and came up with the new homes application which was recommended for approval at the meeting.

Ahead of the committee meeting there was a public meeting in Bishopsteignton to discuss how the Flow Lane land could be protected from development.

Residents said they did not want the homes or the museum built, and the land should be kept as a village amenity.

At the meeting, Bishopsteignton Councillor Alun Williams urged objections against the homes to be submitted before it was considered by planners.

In the last week the council received seven letters of objection, but no one attended the meeting to articulate levels of local feeling.

The executors of Miss Coombe's estate or the agent behind the application, David Lovell of Exeter-based Mulberry Architectural Services Ltd, also did not attend the meeting to speak.

Mr Williams said: "I am surprised no one is here."

He proposed refusal based on the land being overdeveloped, the loss of amenity space and it would have an adverse impact on the area.

Development control committee chairman Councillor Howard Milton said he was 'rather surprised' there were no public speakers given the 'comments already made' publicly.

Referring to the row over what should happen with Miss Coombe's estate, he said: "It plays no part in the decision over this planning application.

"The reasons for refusal would not hold up at appeal."

Councillor Sylvia Russell said: "I tend to agree: we would be on very shaky ground."

A proposal to refuse the application was lost before it was approved by 14 votes to seven.

RESIDENTS have welcomed a district council's commitment to closer public consultation after plans to create sport facilities in Bishopsteignton sparked an outcry.

Teignbridge Council has agreed to form a new liaison group with villagers after the Bishopsteignton Residents' Group took the authority to task over its acquisition of Michaels Field.

The council says although all legal procedures, policies and processes were followed correctly and properly, it could have done more to ensure residents were kept fully informed.

It said: "Lessons have been learned."

The matter was discussed by Teignbridge Council's overview and scrutiny committee.

It was decided a new liaison group has been set up involving residents, parish and district councillors and other parties so are kept informed with future decisions relating to Micheals Field.

Residents group chairman Bob McMahon said: "We are very pleased with the outcome."

Michaels Field is a 10-acre piece of land which is set to be turned into allotments and sports facilities after plans were approved in July.

Residents against the sports plan signed a 170-strong signed petition accusing the council of failing to consult on Micheals Field in line with its community engagement strategy.

The petition failed to get the plan deferred but was brought before the overview and scrutiny committee to address the concerns over the community-engagement strategy.

Residents claimed they had been left in the dark after the council acquired the land at auction in 2005.

The council said there was no secrecy and it was doing its best to preserve land for community uses.

The petition was the first of its kind to be considered by the committee at its meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting was attended by the authority's top officers, including chief executive Nicola Bulbeck, legal services director Simon Barnes and building control director John Cocker.

Bishopsteignton Councillor Alun Williams said: "It seems to me that as the local authority that owns the land, we need to bend over backwards to make sure people are satisfied."

During the 90-minute debate, members were told the decision-making process had been carried out in accordance with requirements stipulated at the time.

Council leader Councillor Alan Connett offered to meet parish councillors and residents, saying: "It's regretful we have arrived at this point today but I sense a willingness that we can move on."

Councillor Stuart Barker said: "We need to be making sure the residents of Bishopsteignton are fully engaged with what may or may not happen with that land. It's about how we can ensure that residents leave the meeting today feeling satisfied that they will be engaged in the processes."

Councillor Terry Falcão said: "Clearly we fulfilled our statutory obligations and we stuck to the letter of the law but the most important point is residents were in the dark and we need to address that."

Councillor Sylvia Russell said: "I believe that lessons have been learned from this."

A recommendation to create the new liaison group will go to the executive.

Speaking afterwards, Mr McMahon said: "We are delighted we are going to get the consultation we feel that we are entitled too. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding but the right noises have been made and we find that very encouraging."

THE leader of Teignbridge Council has added his voice of objection to the proposed closure of Newton Abbot and Totnes courthouses.

The authority's executive committee is meeting today to decide on whether it needs to send representations against the move to the Government.

Council leader Councillor Alan Connett said: "This will strike a blow to justice if the closures go ahead."

Newton Abbot and Totnes magistrates courts are among 157 which face being shut in a move which could save £15.3 million a year and a one-off maintenance backlog bill of £21.5 million.

A consultation process, instigated by Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke, is under way and set to end on Wednesday next week.

The proposal has provoked an outcry with magistrates, solicitors and court staff unions saying it would be detrimental to the justice system.

Mr Connett and other council leaders in Devon have already sent the Government a general letter of objection.

The executive will decide today if further pressure is needed to try and keep the courts open.

Mr Connett said shutting Newton Abbot court may have some 'resource implications' for officer costs, particularly in relation to travelling to Torquay, the only courthouse that would remain open in South Devon should the cuts get the go-ahead.

Mr Connett said: "I understand the Government wants to save money but this will strike a blow to justice. Justice has to be seen to be done. If the courts in both Teignbridge and Totnes are shut, leaving only one for the whole of South Devon in Torquay, where is the justice in that?

"This proposal may seem good for the bank balance but it isn't good for the judicial system. Another aspect to this is that people who live in Teignbridge, the South Hams or Torbay can go along to their local courthouse and see justice being dispensed.

"If that is taken away from them people will not see that being done and they will lose confidence in our justice system."

Newton Abbot court sits on a daily weekday basis. Its two courtrooms deal with a range of cases including non-police prosecutions, youth cases and specialist domestic violence court trials.

Totnes operates on an ad hoc basis, usually for family court hearings.

AMBITIOUS plans to transform the centre of Newton Abbot will be put before Teignbridge Council's executive committee today.

Newton Abbot Regeneration Study is a comprehensive regeneration plan designed to improve the town over the next ten years.

The scheme, which is going to the executive for final consideration, outlines 18 potential projects to improve the town — eight of which received "widespread public support".

Projects include enhancing Victoria Garden, improving the bus interchange, relocating the town hall in the town centre, redeveloping Bradley Lane and improvements along Queen Street.

Parts of Market Walk could be swept away to make room for bigger shops and the multi-storey car park could be covered in a living wall of plants, radically altered or demolished.

Controversially, the report also suggests doing away with the livestock market and creating new homes and shops along Halcyon Road.

A six-week public consultation took place in July and August with 980 attending over three days. Out of thousands of residents, 174 questionnaires were filled in and returned to Teignbridge Council.

Tony Watson, head of economy and regeneration for Teignbridge Council, said: "The initial indication is that there is support for most of the projects, apart from proposals involving Maltings Square (Osbourne Street car park) and Highweek Way.

"In view of this, it's anticipated that a Newton Abbot Regeneration Plan will consider if these projects should be omitted in order to focus on projects which have received a greater level of public support."

He continued: "There is widespread support from the community for eight of the projects. These are: Queen Street, Market Square, Town Quay, Victoria Garden, Heritage Trail, improving shop front designs, station forecourt and takeaway and Library corner and Golden Lion Square.

"Each of these projects was supported by more than 75 per cent of respondents," said Mr Watson.

New cycle routes and the opening up of the area by the River Lemon are also on the cards, complete with seating and a coffee shop or kiosk.

There are also plans for a multiplex cinema in Sherborne Road and a new bus terminal.

Mr Watson said Teignbridge Council wanted to "stay ahead of the game" and have a viable plan in place for when the economy recovered to attract investors into the town.

The report says more than 72 per cent of respondents "strongly supported" ideas for town centre redevelopment and stressed "a strong desire" to re-inforce the role of Newton Abbot as a market town.

There was strong support for the redevelopment of the livestock market area as part of the town centre development project, although it was felt the needs of the farming community should be met.

Residents also said they wanted to see new buildings built to a high standard of design; the opening up and access to the River Lemon to "create a unique identity for the town"; street furniture and planting to create an attractive environment and that Market Square should be key to re-inforcing Newton Abbot's status as a market town.

POLICE have used powers to secure the first immediate shut down of a seafront bar in Torquay where a 25-year-old woman suffered serious facial injuries in glass-throwing incident last weekend.

Mojo's, on Torbay Road, was closed on Friday after the Bay's police commander Superintendent Richard Baker expressed concerns there was a significant risk of 'further crime and disorder' taking place.

The temporary lease on the premises was due to run out yesterday.

He told a hearing of Torbay Council's licensing sub-committee before the weekend that police attending the scene of violence on August 29 at 11.30pm found evidence of drugs misuse and that Mojo's owner Colin Bowden was under the influence of alcohol, a claim contested by Mr Bowden at the hearing which was also attended by the licensee Jim Brent.

The sub-committee, after hearing the police concerns and responses from Mr Brent and Mr Bowden, sanctioned the interim instant closure under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003.

The decision will be discussed again at a review hearing of licensing members at their meeting on September 30 if Mr Bowden and Mr Brent call for the meeting.

Mr Bowden, the premises licence holder, insisted afterwards he was not under the influence of alcohol and Superintendent Baker's information was not correct.

He said: "The issue is nothing to do with drinking. I don't drink. The main problem we had, and I respect the police view, is that Mr Brent could not be on the premises over the weekend because of getting married.

"There are issues with Mojo's as there with every pub in the Bay. All we are doing is closing a day earlier than planned."

Superintendent Baker, who said he stood by his comments, confirmed it was the first time such a prompt course of action had been taken to shut down licensed premises in the Bay.

He said officers would not usually have taken the fast-track route to closure had it not been for the fact Mojo's was due to close when the lease expired anyway yesterday — and there was a fear further trouble might be encountered this weekend and that the licence objectives could not be met.

The injured woman was hit in the face by a flying glass during a brawl involving at least 10 people at the venue on August 29. No arrests were made, although the offending glass-thrower is still being sought.

The casualty, who has not been named, suffered a cut to her top lip and left cheek as well as a chipped tooth.

She received treatment at Torbay Hospital before being allowed home.

Police say the incident was one of a number at the location which had given senior officers cause for concern over the past six months.

The sub-committee was told three private engagements had been due to go ahead at Mojo's with other members of the public invited.

However there were 'real concerns' further crime and disorder could occur.

Sub-committee chairman Peter Addis said the closure action was taken because of members' concerns about the management of Mojo's as outlined by police.

A MAN who died in a 'one-in-a-million accident' on Friday was a former cellist with the famous Electric Light Orchestra, it has been revealed.

Michael Edwards, 62, from Totnes, died when a runaway six hundred weight bale of silage careered out of a field and hit his white Ford Transit van on the A381 between Harbertonford and Halwell at 12.30pm.

Now police are appealing for help to try to track down the musician's next of kin as their inquiries have so far drawn a blank.

Sergeant Steve Walker, the senior investigating officer from Plymouth traffic unit, said Mr Edwards was a cellist with the rock group and also taught the cello in Totnes.

"We haven't been able to locate the family but we know Mr Edwards has a brother called David Edwards and that last area he lived in was Yorkshire," said Sergeant Walker.

"North Yorkshire police have been helping us with our inquiries but so far we have reached a blank.

"We are issuing this information with the hope that someone who knows him can help with our inquiries."

He explained a hay baler was working in a field at the time of the accident and that one of the bales — weighing between six and seven hundredweight — rolled down the hill and bounced over the hedge before landing on the passing Ford van.

"It was a one in a million, it was a freak accident, " said Sergeant Walker.

"We know who the man was operating the baler, we are making inquiries in relation to the tractor driver and working practices of the task that was going on in the field at the time."

Hundreds of cars had to be diverted through the narrow country lanes as the main road between Totnes, Kingsbridge and Dartmouth was left closed following the accident on Friday afternoon.

The Electric Light Orchestra released 11 studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. Mr Edwards was ELO's cellist from April 1972 to January 1975. He had an eccentric style, when he played a cello solo at a concert on the pier at Hastings. Instead of fingering the notes, he used a grapefruit.

He also won a Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music and reported to have changed his name to Deva Pramada because of religious convictions.

His cello can be heard on the albums ELO II, On the Third Day, The Night The Light Went On (In Long Beach) and Eldorado.

If anyone has any information regarding the fatal incident, they can call the police on 08452 777444 quoting log number 400/03/09.

A MAN was winched to safety by helicopter in one of three major search-and-rescue operations in Torbay over the weekend.

The 37-year-old man, part of a stag party, suffered spinal injuries in a 'freak' accident while coasteering on cliffs at a Torquay beach yesterday afternoon.

It was the second time in less than 12 hours a stag party had been involved with rescue alerts.

Despite initial reports that the man may have been tombstoning, coastguards say he was in a party who were coasteering on cliffs at Redgate Beach, near Anstey's Cove with Launceston-based company Outlook Adventure, when he jumped into the water at 1pm.

"He was recovered to the beach at Redgate by other team members of the party where he was treated by lifeboat crew and a Portland coastguard helicopter winchman before he was taken to Torbay Hospital for further treatment.

Mr Perrett said: "It was a bit of a freak injury and they were down on a stag party.

"He was wearing a wetsuit, a helmet, a lifejacket and everything else."

Staff at the adventure company were unable to comment yesterday..

In a separate incident yesterday at 2.30am at Beacon Cove, another rescue operation was sparked after two members of a stag party decided to go for a night-time dip.

When they hadn't returned 20 minutes later, concerned friends on the shoreline raised the alarm.

Brixham coastguards co-ordinated a rescue involving police, Torbay's two lifeboats and the resort's coastguards.

The RMB Chivenor helicopter was put on standby but all services were stood down when the men were found to have returned to their hotel half an hour later.

A Coastguard spokesman said: "It is dangerous to go swimming at anytime in drink. I wouldn't advise anybody to go swimming if they had been drinking and at 2am in the morning when it is dark and cold.

"It is dangerous to go in the water if you have been drinking and it is extremely dangerous and foolhardy to do it when the light is bad."

The Coastguard rescue helicopter from Portland was also called in to rescue a climber from cliffs surrounding Meadfoot beach.

At just after 1.30pm on Saturday, coastguards received a report of a man waving from the side of cliffs at Meadfoot Quarry, at the Osbourne Hotel end of the beach.

Torbay and Berry Head coastguard teams, Torbay Council's Patrol Boat Oscar 4 and the Portland Helicopter all went to assist him.

The coastguard helicopter found the climber and winched him off the cliff face to safety — landing him on the grass cliff top at Daddy Hole Plain.

It was the second time in three days the helicopter has been involved in a rescue from cliffs surrounding Meadfoot.

On Thursday, a 53-year-old artist from Orpington, Kent, fell 100ft from the cliffs at the Kilmorie end of the beach.

He sustained multiple injuries and was winched and transported to safety by Torbay Coastguard and the Portland based rescue helicopter.

It is understood the man was trying to get down to the bottom of the cliffs to a scene he wanted to draw when he fell.

A Westcountry university is at the forefront of a multi-million-pound research project to design a new breed of robot that can form memories and engage in social interaction.

Plymouth University is part of a Europe-wide consortium taking part in the £6.96 million project, codenamed ALIZ-E.

The European Commission-funded work is hoping to overcome traditional limitations in artificial intelligence by building social cognition for the robots.

To achieve this the robots will be connected to internet-based programmes with much greater computing power.

Plymouth University will be leading the team of eight European institutions and a Milan-based hospital hoping to use the robot for the rehabilitation of young patients.

Dr Tony Belpaeme, the project leader, said: "The aim of the ALIZ-E project is to explore how human-robot interactions can be extended from minutes to the scale of days, thus forging longer-term constructive bonds between robot and user.

"The ALIZ-E project will use the principles of embodied cognitive robotics to create agents capable of sustaining believable, in-depth social relationships with young users, over an extended, potentially discontinuous timeframe."

Dr Belpaeme said one of the current limitations of robots was the size of their on-board processors, which are incapable of forming "memories" over a long period of time.

He said that by using experts across Europe, the team will hope to create a system which will enable the robots to store and recall information and modify their behaviour on the basis of previous experiences.

The partners have all been selected for specific roles, including speech recognition at the National Research Council in Italy, recognition of emotion at the University of Hertfordshire, and development of the "cloud" computing techniques that will be at the heart of this memory system, in France. There are currently 20 of the robots being worked on across the partnership.

Each weighs 4.3 kilos and stands 58 centimetres tall.

The project has been funded under the European Commission seventh Framework Programme.

Dr Belpaeme said: "The ALIZ-E programme will look to develop a viable alternative to animal assisted therapy (AAT) – a practice whereby children in hospital are given animal companions during serious, long-term illnesses.

"We will specifically explore robot-child interaction capitalising on children's open and imaginative responses to artificial 'creatures'.

"When a child is in hospital and has to learn how to manage a long-term condition such as diabetes, it becomes very important to develop effective communication.

"The theory is that the robot acts as a companion and a communication channel between patient, parents and hospital staff.

"We will essentially be taking robots out of the lab and putting them to the test in a health education role, with young diabetic patients, in a busy paediatric department at the San Raffaele hospital in Milan."