25/08/2014 Spotlight

Good evening. tonight on BBC1 at 10.30.

There's a warning from Devon and Cornwall's Police and

Crime Commissioner that the force could "go bust" unless

Tony Hogg says the constabulary must find new ways

And he's also calling for more volunteer effort to help

Like all local public services, Devon and Cornwall Police are under

They are already considering closing some front desk enquiry offices

and are investigating sharing resources with neighbouring Dorset.

But further savings still need to be found.

And in an article to mark the halfway

point in his term of office, Devon and Cornwall's Police and Crime

We have got to find a further ?14.1 million's worth of efficiencies

That is to seek to balance the budget.

That is where we need to get to, we need to be spending the same

That is a big challenge for us but it is one Tony Hogg is

With the number of police officers in Devon expected to fall to just

over 3,000 in the next four years, the Commissioner has also called

for volunteers to play a greater role in keeping the streets safe.

He says he can envisage local communities clubbing together to pay

for items such as speed limit signs and even

The Home Office has said the police have had

a challenging funding settlement but the reform is working.

The Environment Agency has told the BBC its dredging operation

on the Somerset Levels is past the halfway mark.

It brings reassurance for flood victims, but many worry how dredging

Millions of tonnes of good earth are being excavated from the riverbed.

On the Levels, they have been digging up rivers for years.

But major dredging stopped in the mid`'60s.

After two years of serious floods, the dredgers are back.

The likes of David Broster, shifting 700 tonnes of silt

When they said we were coming here to dredge this, you know,

I am proud to be helping the community.

Maintaining the river will cost ?100,000 a year, according to

No`one's sure yet whether the money will come from.

Celebrations have been taking place today to mark

the 200th anniversary of the first horse`drawn barge using the

In football, Torquay United made it four games unbeaten

The Gulls slipped to 14th in the table after a 1`1 draw

It follows their goalless draw at Dartford on Saturday.

After the footage we showed you yesterday of hundreds of fish

stranded in a pool in Plymouth, unusually high numbers of whitebait

have also been causing the sea off West Dorset to apparently "boil".

This footage captured by a local photographer and gives

This footage captured by a local photographer gives

It's thought to be caused by mackerel chasing

the whitebait for food, causing them to jump in the air.

Locals have described the numbers as "phenomenal".

Here with the latest weather details is Alexis Green.

All courtesy of this low pressure which is slowly drawing itself

away from the United Kingdom out towards the near continent.

It will be improving picture tomorrow but quite a lot of rain to

content with this evening and overnight. That could cause water. A

year low weather warning is in force until midnight. Quite mild tonight

with outbreaks of rain. Rain could be on the heavy side in some places

with temperatures dipping to a mild 15`16dC. The rain will be with us

first thing tomorrow morning, gradually easing from the south`west

through the day. We will see some brightness in the afternoon with

temperatures at a high of 17`18dC. 20 in some places in the sunshine.

Quite pleasant in the sun but the risk of showers in the morning. He

is the outlook for the rest of the week. Risk of rain tomorrow. Rain

and the afternoon on Wednesday. Thursday, showers and blustery

conditions, similar on Friday. Conditions on higher ground is

particularly treacherous. Particularly on Dorset. Do take care

if you're out there today tonight. I'll be back at 20 past ten. For

now, have a evening. Goodbye. Hello, if you love wet weather, you

appreciate a satellite picture. A big swell cloud around to the west

of Ireland. If you love bank holidays, you would choose different

words