SURGERY staff in Tavistock have voiced fears that they may have to ditch hundreds of Covid-19 vaccines because of the number of booster no shows. Abbey Surgery in Plymouth Road, which has coordinated an heroic vaccination programme for the past 12 months, says up to 2,000 people have declined to attend a booster jab session.

Former Tavistock Moorlanders player Luke Northmore is named in England coach Eddie Jones’ 36-man rugby squad for the Six Nations.

West Devon Borough Council put the brakes on issuing approval for a controversial four-storey extra care facility in Tavistock after an appeal by ex town councillor Graham Parker to the Government to ‘call in’ the decision. The Plymouth Road plan by Baker Estates which includes 60 flats in the extra care facility and 44 bungalows was put on hold whilst the Secretary of State decided whether to ask a planning inspector to reconsider the decision.

Okehampton town councillor Jan Goffey called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help solve West Devon’s housing crisis by banning the use of badly-needed homes as holiday lets. The councillor wanted to see new rules which would see holiday lets put on the market either as affordable homes for local people or used for long-term rented properties.

Ambulance chiefs pledged to improve services in Okehampton after MP Mel Stride complained to health secretary Sajid Javid over lengthy waiting times. South Western Ambulance Service admitted their resources are stretched due to the covid pandemic following concerns raised by Okehampton Town Council.

A £1.7-million school which is being built in Okehampton for children with specific needs was given huge backing from the community. The Promise School, which will cater for children with social, emotional and mental health needs, received an all-round approval rating in a survey carried out by the Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust.

The Government was mulling over a number of suggestions to clamp down on anti-social behaviour on Dartmoor. Massive traffic queues, road blocks caused by badly parked vehicles and claims of damage to farmers’ property arose from huge amounts of visitors coming to the area after lockdown restrictions were eased. Defra is considering a raft of measures which could include Public Spaces Protection Orders being imposed on parts of the moor or fixed penalty tickets issued for infringement of byelaws and traffic orders.

Okehampton Hamlets Parish Council turned down a plea from its neighbouring council to contribute towards the hefty cost of maintaining the town’s public toliets — saying it could not justify spending money outside its own parish. The Hamlets rejected the council’s request for a contribution towards the loos at Fairplace and Market Street, rejecting the argument that as people in the Hamlets use the facilities they should contribute to them too.

Okehampton United Charities secured 33 acres of land surrounding Okehampton to protect in perpetuity from development and maintain it as a greeen space for residents. The charity secured the purchase of Tramlines Bridleway and the fields at Kempleys, Tramlines and alongside the East Okement River and intends to conserve the land as an environmentally-friendly space for recreational and educational use.

Health security experts have reasured the public that the risk of avian flu in humans is very low following a case in Devon.

West Devon residents are in line for a cash payout worth up to £5,000 if they downsize and free up their home for a family that is struggling in cramped conditions. The offer is being made by West Devon Borough Council.

Livestock farmers in West Devon are being urged to stay on alert by police after sheep rustlers got away with a haul of 25 pregnant ewes.

Water supply issues in Calstock which left some homes without water for 89 hours amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic were slammed as ‘absoluely appalling’ in the 21st century. A leak in the reservoir at Hingston Down caused a myriad of problems on the supply network with households from Gunnislake to Harrowbarrow, and Drakewalls to Calstock finding their taps had run dry one evening... and the next day... and the one after that.