Devon & Cornwall Live: As it happened

That's all from BBC Local Live in Devon & Cornwall for today, we'll be back at 08:00 on Monday with all the reaction to Plymouth Argyle's FA Cup battle with Liverpool and the rest of the day's news, travel and weather updates.

Don't miss BBC Spotlight at 18:30 and the late bulletin at 22:30 tonight.

The Exeter Chiefs face second placed Saracens in the Aviva Premiership tomorrow in a repeat of last season's final.

Back-to-back victories have helped to lift the Chiefs to third in the table.  

Coach Rob Baxter has made several changes to the side that beat Bath last week.

Carl Rimmer, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Greg Holmes form a new front-row. In the second row Ollie Atkins joins Geoff Parling and fellow England international Tom Johnson starts at open side flanker

Henry Slade starts at centre with James Short on the wing.

You can hear commentary on the whole of that match on BBC Radio Devon 95.8FM in Plymouth and West Devon, across the county on FM and DAB digital radio and via the BBC Sport website.

Cornwall Council is looking to gather evidence so it can extend a ban on sky lanterns and balloons being released. 

Last year the authority banned it happening from council owned and managed land.

It now wants to enforce the ban from all public open spaces but needs statistics to do so. 

It is asking people to contact them if any are found. It also needs proof they are having a "detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality".

The council says they can cause "unnecessary damage to the environment and wildlife, as well as having financial implications".

The ambulance service has confirmed it took nearly three hours for an ambulance to arrive in Tintagel when an elderly woman fell from her mobility scooter.

The 82-year-old woman was expected to have surgery on a suspected broken leg today.

The South Western Ambulance Service said the first call went in at 10:56 GMT on Wednesday, and the ambulance arrived at 13:51 GMT.

Two first responders initially attended and administered first aid, while neighbours took duvets and blankets to keep her warm. A paramedic arrived at 12:48 GMT, and was able to give some pain relief.

A spokesman for the ambulance service said: "We only have a finite number of resources available to respond to the ongoing rise in demand for our service and we must prioritise those in a life-threatening time-critical emergency situation."

Truro School confirms pupils bought cannabis and cocaine after breaking their curfew and sneaking out of a hotel during a school trip to Tenerife, according to a report in Cornwall Live.

Torquay United have extended the loan spell of Millwall's Paul Rooney for another month.

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The 19-year-old defender has impressed since joining last month, making three appearances for the National League club.

Rooney made his first league start on Monday in the 5-5 draw at Forest Green Rovers. 

It's FA Cup third-round weekend with Plymouth Argyle hoping to cause a shock at Premier League side Liverpool on Sunday. 

More than 8,000 Pilgrims' supporters are expected to make the trip to Anfield - the last time Argyle made round three was three years ago, when they played Port Vale.

The Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital has opened an extra 50 inpatient beds this week following an increase in its alert status to Level 3 - the third highest level out of four.

The hospital has cancelled all routine elective operations.

A spokesman for the hospital said: "Its not an easy decision to make cancellations, the hospital's main priority is safety."

An elderly woman who broke her leg when she fell from her mobility scooter had to wait nearly three hours on the pavement for an ambulance to arrive.

The 82-year-old fell onto the pavement in Tintagel on Wednesday morning, according to Mary Dyer who lives opposite and went to help.

She said: "I took blankets and duvets to her as it was so cold I was worried she'd catch pneumonia."

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A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service said: "We only have a finite number of resources available to respond and we must prioritise those in a life-threatening time-critical emergency situation."

The woman was taken to hospital in Truro where she was expected to have surgery today.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is closing six of his 42 UK Jamie's Italian restaurants, including the one in Exeter.

The move will affect 120 staff nationwide, whom the company said it would try to place in other parts of the chain.  

Chief executive Simon Blagden said: "As every restaurant owner knows, this is a tough market and, post-Brexit, the pressures and unknowns have made it even harder."

He said each restaurant in the chain needed to attract 3,000 diners a week to be profitable.

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Another new route from Cornwall Airport Newquay has been announced as Aer Lingus Regional reveals plans to provide a twice-weekly service to Cork Airport from May 6.  

"Tommy would do anything to help someone in trouble."

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That's the Plymouth mother of Tommy Bennett, who died trying to stop a suicidal friend from jumping from a 14th floor window ledge in Honolulu in 2015.

"He was very dedicated to his friends," said Lesley Heard, 51. "It was a very heroic thing to do and he had succeeded in speaking to the young man but the window frame broke," she said after the inquest in Plymouth in which a verdict of accidental death was recorded.

"He was fun loving, impulsive, he was a lovely character."

She said Tommy and the unnamed friend had been at a party at the University of Honolulu when tragedy struck. His friend survived, but had serious injuries.

"They were good friends," said Mrs Heard. "It was a tragic accident."

Fire crews have tackled a blaze which caused "severe damage" to a property in Kellaton, Devon.

Firefighters had to remove roof tiles to access the fire and hot spots at the property earlier today.

The annex, and ground and first floor ceilings of the main building were damaged. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was thought to have been started accidentally.

Sign up to the FA People's Cup and you could win your way on to the hallowed Wembley Stadium turf at half-time during the FA Cup Final.

Entries are now open and you can find out all the details here.

A Devon-based charity says it has been forced to let 12,000 hens nationally go to slaughter due to the threat of bird flu.

The British Hen Welfare Trust says 750 of these would have been re-homed in Devon and Cornwall.

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The group works by taking commercial laying hens that are 18 months old and finding homes for them.

Defra currently has an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone in place until 28 February. This requires all hens to be kept indoors and makes poulty gatherings illegal. As a result, rehoming events at Rose Ash and South Zeal in Devon and Redruth in Cornwall have been cancelled.

An ambulance service sees a rise in demand compared to last year.

The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said it was called to 7% more incidents yesterday than on the same day last year.

The Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro is currently at 'Level 4' alert, which means it is struggling to cope with demand. Derriford Hospital is currently at 'Level 3' alert. 

Another Cornish village will lose its Post Office later today despite a two-year fight to keep it open. 

For the last four months Stithians Post Office has been trading out of a converted public toilet block. 

The Post Office claims that there has been insufficient trade to justify it staying open, but many locals are angry with the decision.

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In a statement a Post Office spokesman apologised for the inconvenience caused to the community and said it was looking at alternative ways to provide services to Stithians.

On Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust Facebook page the Chief Nurse and Operating Officer, Professor Greg Dix said:

"Yesterday we declared the highest Operation Pressures Escalation Level (OPEL Status 4). Thanks to a fantastic response from staff within the trust and our community partners, I am pleased to inform you that the trust has de-escalated to OPEL Status 3.

"At OPEL Status 3, we remain operationally challenged and we will continue to assess patients and facilitate discharge to create capacity for the upcoming weekend and have additional medical and senior nursing cover in place to support this.

"Thank you to everyone who contributed to returning the hospital to a more manageable level, whilst maintaining the safety and care of our patients."

A mother says she has forgiven a man whose suicide attempt led to the death of her son.  

Tommy Bennett, died in Honolulu after a friend went on to a 14th floor ledge saying he was going to killing himself, an inquest heard.  

His mother, Lesley Heard, from Plymouth, said: "Because obviously he [Tommy's friend] took a lot of blame because he was the reason Tommy died, I wanted him to know he was forgiven and I did not hold anything against him.

"Being a mum, my heart went out to him too.

"I didn't want his life to be full of regrets for what had happened. I want Tommy's legacy to be that he gave up his life for his friend."

Mr Bennett was born and brought up in Reading and he moved to Hawaii, where he worked as a landscaper. A verdict of accidental death was recorded at an inquest in Plymouth.