As it happened: Devon and Cornwall live

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT) admits bed blocking is a growing problem that's not going away. 

It comes as the charity, the Nuffield Trust, reveals Cornwall is the 5th worst area in England for discharging people from hospital - because of problems providing social care in their homes. 

Forty-three people per thousand patients are not able to leave hospital, compared with one in a thousand at the top performing hospitals. 

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The Chief Operating Officer of the RCHT, Richard Best, is urging all health and social care providers to think creatively with their budgets.

He said: "We're trying to work very, very closely with adult social care but they have seen, as we have seen, a growth in demand.

"We've seen about 5% or 6% growth in our emergency admissions and no surprise they've seen about a 5.5% increase in the people they look after under domiciliary care arrangements."

An ex-footballer from Spain has been told he faces a substantial prison sentence for sexually abusing boys in Devon.

Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts in Torquay are to stop selling plastic drinks bottles. 

The charity which runs the attractions wants to highlight what it says is the huge problem of waste plastic particularly in the sea. 

The Whitley Wildlife Conservation Trust says it's removed all single-use plastic drinks bottles from its shops and cafes. 

The number of child sex offences recorded by Devon and Cornwall Police rose to a record 1,500 last year - an average of four each day. 

That's according to figures obtained by the NSPCC.

Police recorded crimes against children that included rape, sexual assault, and sexual exploitation. 

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The force says it's working hard to support victims and is encouraged they're finding the bravery to come forward. 

Sarah Allum, from the NSPCC, said: "It may well be that the police are recording these crimes more clearly. 

"It could be that because of other media coverage more victims are feeling safer and more able to come forward and talk about what's happened.

"It is a shocking number of children and young people who are obviously needing help."

Falmouth University has been ranked as the sixth best for student experience in the UK.

In the South West, it beat Exeter, Plymouth, Bristol and Bath in a survey carried out by the Times Educational Supplement.

Students were asked to vote on more than twenty measures including teaching, facilities, accommodation and social life.   

Vice Chancellor, Professor Anne Carlisle said: "We are constantly investing in teaching and facilities to provide the best possible student experience, helping our graduates get great jobs. 

"As the UK's number one university for the creative industries, we're proud that more and more students from Cornwall are accessing our world-class education."

The RNLI has released up-close footage showing the rescue of a whale in Start Bay.

Chris Lowe, from British Divers Marine Life Rescue, can be seen hanging off the side of a boat, untangling "Doris" from the web of whelk pots that had her trapped for hours.

"Doris" the whale has been spotted in the area several times in the past few weeks.

Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale says it is only a matter of time before 16-year-old defender Ethan Ampadu is given his first senior Wales call-up.

Ampadu, who is still at school, is one of 11 players on a standby list for Wales' World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland on Friday.

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"When he eventually does get included in a Welsh senior team, there won't be too many surprised," Tisdale told BBC Radio Devon. "I think he's in their picture going forward so if it's not this time, it'll be another time."

A Cornish school has been paying tribute to three students from France who were injured in the London terror attack yesterday .

Penzance is twinned with the town of Concarneau, and the Humphry Davy School has run exchange programmes with Lycee St Joseph for several years.

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Simeon Royle, Assistant Headteacher, said: "Everyone at Humphry Davy School was shocked and saddened to hear of the terrible incident in London yesterday and our sympathies are with those families who have lost loved ones, in particular the students from Lycee St Joseph in Concarneau. 

"Students from Humphry Davy have visited the school in our twin town and been involved in exchange programmes as well as working collaboratively on curriculum projects. 

"Always we received the warmest of welcomes and can only imagine what a terrible shock this will be to the school community. Our thoughts and prayers are with our friends at Lycee St Joseph during this difficult time."

A man who tampered with his dead mum’s blue badge to park for free in Plymouth has been handed a court bill of almost £1,000.

It will be a cloudy with further outbreaks of rain affecting the south tonight. There will be a strong east, north-easterly wind, with gales possible around exposed southern coasts and hills. It should be mostly dry and cloudy in the north. It will be a frost-free night. Minimum temperature: 5C (41F).

Friday will see a cloudy and damp start and for much of the South West it will stay rather cloudy for much of the day. The rain will ease through the afternoon with some brightness possible later. Feeling cool in the easterly wind. Maximum temperature: 12C (54F).

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• In Plymouth, William Prance Road is close for roadworks. There's no right turn into Charlton Road. There are already long hold ups there and on Tavistock Road and Outland Road 
• At Yarcombe the A303 is partially blocked eastbound by a fallen tree near the B3170. There's congestion to the A30 at Upottery
• In Plympton there's queuing traffic on Sandy Road and Ridgeway near the A38 at Deep Lane due to the temporary traffic lights and roadworks
• In Barnstaple on the A39 North Road there's slow traffic due to temporary traffic lights and roadworks by the North Devon District Hospital
• In Truro, Kenwyn Road is partially blocked because of a collision near Pydar House - Lots of traffic building up there at the moment
• Near Penryn there's slow traffic on the A39 approaching the Treluswell Roundabouts due to the road improvements 
• In Lostwithiel on Queen Street around Fore Street and Bodmin Hill there's slow traffic due to roadworks and temporary traffic lights

Chief Superintendent Jim Colwell, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said the London terror attack "was a dreadful thing".

"Devon and Cornwall Police stand shoulder to shoulder with the communities of both our counties and only by standing together will we defeat those groups responsible.

"The events in London, although tragic, were not unexpected. Police forces have been planning for that type of incident, including Devon and Cornwall.

"Through our partners we'll work to prevent such incidents in the future."

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The trial of a woman accused of pretending to be an Asian porn star in an alleged £35,000 Facebook dating scam has collapsed.

Chief Superintendent Jim Colwell, from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "We lost one of our colleagues yesterday [in the London terror attack] which is tragic.

"Our thoughts and prayers are directed to those directly impacted."

The man believed to be responsible for the attack in Westminster has been named as Khalid Masood , by the Metropolitan Police.

Masood, who died in the attack, was not the subject of any current police investigations, but he had a range of previous convictions for assaults.

The 52-year-old was born in Kent but was believed to have been living in the West Midlands.

Eight arrests in London and Birmingham  followed the attack that has left four dead - PC Keith Palmer, Aysha Frade, Kurt Cochran and the attacker.  

The work of the police and security services during yesterday's terror attack in Westminster has been praised by several South West MPs and peers.

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Derek Thomas, MP for St Ives, was inside the building, close to where the incident took place. 

He told BBC Radio Cornwall: "We could see what was going on. It was quite clear that a policeman had been hurt and then we saw this other individual who the police had secured. 

"At that stage it was quite incredible to see how the police and the security services work because they were very quick to usher us into the building, at the same time running the other way towards what was to them an unknown danger. 

"We heard the shots but we had no idea who was shooting and how many there were."

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Prime Minister Theresa May revealed the Westminster attacker was British-born and known to the police and intelligence services.

She told MPs he had been investigated some years ago but was not part of the current intelligence picture.

The so-called Islamic State group has said it was behind the attack.

Eight arrests in London and Birmingham  followed the attack that has left four dead - PC Keith Palmer, Aysha Frade, Kurt Cochran and the attacker.

Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police are looking for a 78-year-old woman with dementia who's gone missing in Saltash.

Catherine Blandford was last seen at her home address in Campion Close at about midnight.

Devon and Cornwall PoliceCopyright: Devon and Cornwall Police

Police describe her as about 5ft 5in tall and with short black hair. It is believed she is wearing a purple coat.