:00:00. > :00:11.throughout the night with the BBC News Channel. Now it
:00:12. > :00:15.Parts of Dartmoor and Exmoor could be "returned to the wild" according
:00:16. > :00:21.The 25-year plan could see subsidies paid to farmers being cut,
:00:22. > :00:26.allowing the areas to return to their natural state.
:00:27. > :00:32.Our Environment Correspondent Adrian Campbell reports.
:00:33. > :00:34.The wide open uplands of the south-west are
:00:35. > :00:41.But when it comes to making a profit from this land,
:00:42. > :00:45.Some farmers have benefited from subsidies, but since the Brexit
:00:46. > :00:47.vote everything is suddenly up for debate.
:00:48. > :00:50.However, it shouldn't be forgotten that the uplands
:00:51. > :00:54.provide us with important and often hidden benefits.
:00:55. > :00:59.This is sphagnum moss found here on the edge of Exmoor.
:01:00. > :01:02.It is really useful to all of us, because it traps moisture
:01:03. > :01:06.Once upon a time nobody put a price tag on this kind of thing,
:01:07. > :01:13.Farmers and environmental groups such as the RSPB have worked closely
:01:14. > :01:17.to protect this part of Exmoor over years, but they know
:01:18. > :01:21.Robin Milton is an upland farmer and the vice-chairman
:01:22. > :01:27.Let's remember it is a living, working landscape.
:01:28. > :01:32.I think it would be very, very poor of us to consider actually
:01:33. > :01:36.any forms of what could be construed as land abandonment.
:01:37. > :01:43.I'm not entirely sure that would deliver what we expect.
:01:44. > :01:46.But abandonment and re-wilding of the uplands may be on the agenda
:01:47. > :01:48.as the Government considers how to manage our countryside
:01:49. > :01:52.One option could be to plant more trees.
:01:53. > :01:53.Wildlife organisations say the Government needs
:01:54. > :01:59.The uplands should be the most favoured areas
:02:00. > :02:01.for government investment, cos they deliver so much more
:02:02. > :02:04.Flood protection, nature, all the incredible acts so that
:02:05. > :02:09.people can spend their leisure time out here.
:02:10. > :02:13.In a way they should be the favoured areas for farming investment.
:02:14. > :02:16.We contacted Defra and asked them about their plans
:02:17. > :02:22.They told us they couldn't say farming will continue as before.
:02:23. > :02:25.That's because they've just started work on a 25-year plan
:02:26. > :02:29.which they aim to publish at the end of the year.
:02:30. > :02:31.Well, this comes at a time when the farming subsidies
:02:32. > :02:34.and regulations could change as a result of the vote
:02:35. > :02:39.Today the Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom pledged to cut
:02:40. > :02:45.I will be looking at scrapping the rules that hold us back,
:02:46. > :02:50.and focusing instead on what works best with the United Kingdom.
:02:51. > :02:53.No more six-foot EU billboards littering the landscape.
:02:54. > :02:57.No more existential debates to determine what counts
:02:58. > :03:05.And no more ridiculous bureaucratic three-crop rule.
:03:06. > :03:10.By cutting the red tape that comes out of Brussels,
:03:11. > :03:14.we will free our farmers to grow more, sell more and export
:03:15. > :03:21.The mother of a Devon man stabbed to death near Plymouth is calling
:03:22. > :03:24.on the Prime Minister to provide answers over her son's killer.
:03:25. > :03:31.27-year-old Tanis Bhandari died two years ago at Tamerton Foliot.
:03:32. > :03:34.At the time of the murder one of his two killers,
:03:35. > :03:36.Donald Pemberton, was out on licence from prison.
:03:37. > :03:38.Tanis's mother Andrea Sharpe has petitioned the Prime Minister,
:03:39. > :03:40.calling for a probation service report on Pemberton's
:03:41. > :03:48.Police have criticised a decision to give a prolific south-west
:03:49. > :03:51.drug smuggler Christmas release from prison.
:03:52. > :03:54.Blake Donnellan absconded and is now on the run.
:03:55. > :03:58.He'd been serving a 15-year sentence in prison in Derbyshire for bringing
:03:59. > :04:01.huge quantities of Class A drugs into the south-west.
:04:02. > :04:03.The Police Federation says such criminals should serve
:04:04. > :04:12.Pressure is mounting at hospitals across the region with most now
:04:13. > :04:15.at the highest level of alert - struggling to cope with
:04:16. > :04:19.The Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske and Yeovil Hospital
:04:20. > :04:23.in Somerset are now on Level Four - or Black Alert - and asking
:04:24. > :04:27.people not to come to A unless it's life-threatening.
:04:28. > :04:30.They're also having to consider cancelling some operations.
:04:31. > :04:37.Torbay and Derriford Hospitals are both at Level Three.
:04:38. > :04:39.Meanwhile the future of hospital care in North Devon drew hundreds
:04:40. > :04:42.of people to a packed public meeting tonight.
:04:43. > :04:45.Campaigners fear some acute services at North Devon District Hospital
:04:46. > :04:50.could be closed and moved to Exeter or Plymouth.
:04:51. > :04:56.Spotlight's Janine Jansen was at tonight's meeting in Northam.
:04:57. > :05:00.Well, this is the fifth of 12 public meetings across North Devon,
:05:01. > :05:07.More than 300 people have turned up in Northam.
:05:08. > :05:13.It shows how worried people are about the future of the NHS.
:05:14. > :05:17.There is no doubt the NHS is going to get a shake-up.
:05:18. > :05:20.People here fear North Devon District Hospital in Barnstable
:05:21. > :05:24.could lose some of its acute services, such as maternity,
:05:25. > :05:30.I think it is our NHS, it is our National Health Service.
:05:31. > :05:32.It doesn't belong to the executives in North Devon Hospital,
:05:33. > :05:37.And I don't think we should ask them to keep our services open,
:05:38. > :05:39.or the hospital, I think we should demand it.
:05:40. > :05:41.We are not prepared to go to Derriford.
:05:42. > :05:44.We don't have time to go to Exeter when somebody's ill.
:05:45. > :05:47.We live in a rural environment and we want our hospital open,
:05:48. > :05:55.North Devon District Hospital is the most remote full-service,
:05:56. > :05:59.acute service District Hospital anywhere in England.
:06:00. > :06:02.What that means is that if you close acute services,
:06:03. > :06:05.the biggest proportion of the population would have
:06:06. > :06:09.to travel more than 60 minutes to the next acute services hospital,
:06:10. > :06:15.And that figure is nearly 92% in North Devon.
:06:16. > :06:17.Health bosses say there are no planned changes
:06:18. > :06:22.They expect to reveal their proposals in the summer.
:06:23. > :06:27.Locals will get the chance to express their views.
:06:28. > :06:30.Well, people tonight were warned that the NHS will only exist
:06:31. > :06:40.for as long as people are prepared to defend it.
:06:41. > :06:44.Two former Royal Marines from Devon are setting off tomorrow as part
:06:45. > :06:49.of a five-man military team to climb the highest mountain in Antarctica.
:06:50. > :06:52.Danny Claricoates and James Nightingale both
:06:53. > :06:56.James was shot in the jaw, while Danny had post-traumatic
:06:57. > :07:01.stress after witnessing two friends killed by a roadside bomb.
:07:02. > :07:04.Johnny Rutherford has been to see how Danny's preparing
:07:05. > :07:10.This was a spot of training for the five-man team
:07:11. > :07:12.last year in Chamonix, France.
:07:13. > :07:15.Their mission to raise money for the Royal Marines charity
:07:16. > :07:19.by climbing the highest peak in Antarctica, Mount Vincent,
:07:20. > :07:22.which is no mean feat at more than half the height of Mount
:07:23. > :07:25.But for ex-Royal Marine Danny Claricoates it's much more
:07:26. > :07:32.In 2007 he fought in Afghanistan and was awarded the Military Cross.
:07:33. > :07:35.I've come home, 18 months later went back out to Afghanistan
:07:36. > :07:42.And during that tour two lads, two friends of mine in my team
:07:43. > :07:48.So, yeah, that was the turning point for me.
:07:49. > :07:52.That's where it all sort of finished for me.
:07:53. > :07:54.Post-traumatic stress disorder brought a premature end
:07:55. > :08:01.There are days sometimes where I just don't want to get out of bed.
:08:02. > :08:04.You just sort of pull the duvet over your head and just, you know,
:08:05. > :08:08.you just want to give up on life, but by doing something
:08:09. > :08:09.like this it gives me something to work towards,
:08:10. > :08:15.Danny wants to use the expedition to make more people aware
:08:16. > :08:22.It's about addressing the stigma, it's about educating that actually
:08:23. > :08:28.We are able to own our own businesses and work for a living
:08:29. > :08:34.The extreme challenge to get to the top of the bottom
:08:35. > :08:41.There is a part of me that is a bit jealous,
:08:42. > :08:45.I think the Antarctic would be a bit harsh for me.
:08:46. > :08:47.Although Sarah herself is no stranger to physical challenges,
:08:48. > :08:51.as she won a bronze medal at the Invictus Games last year.
:08:52. > :08:55.I know for Danny with his PTSD, I have seen for myself
:08:56. > :08:58.how much he benefits from being in the outdoors.
:08:59. > :09:01.We've both been to Everest base camp together.
:09:02. > :09:07.And personally for his rehabilitation, and just
:09:08. > :09:09.for his self-confidence, his self-esteem, the benefits
:09:10. > :09:16.Walking axe, sleeping bag, couple of water bottles...
:09:17. > :09:19.The team hope to reach the summit by next Friday.
:09:20. > :09:29.Cos once a Royal Marine, always a Royal Marine.
:09:30. > :09:38.Time for the weather. How is it looking? There has been plenty of
:09:39. > :09:42.talk today about the plummeting temperatures. It is a little bit
:09:43. > :09:46.less dramatic here. Still low enough to form some frost and some bright
:09:47. > :09:52.weather to start the day tomorrow. Further west you are at the quality
:09:53. > :09:55.disguise and they mist frost. This weather front is slow-moving and it
:09:56. > :10:00.is draped across western parts of Britain for much of tomorrow.
:10:01. > :10:06.Keeping the sky is relatively cloudy. As we move into Friday it is
:10:07. > :10:12.all change again. Westerly winds and a brother from driving bringing some
:10:13. > :10:18.patchy rain. Clearer skies likely to be across eastern parts of Devon
:10:19. > :10:23.into Somerset and Dorset. Could be as low as minus five or six Celsius.
:10:24. > :10:27.Tomorrow it is split between West and East. The East has the fine
:10:28. > :10:33.weather, sunshine, the West, clouds digs with us and drizzle. For Friday
:10:34. > :10:38.it is a bit more uniform across the south-west. A chilly start.
:10:39. > :10:43.Temperature is back into double figures. A lot of cloud around.
:10:44. > :10:52.Westerly winds as we head into the weekend means wilder weather. Have a
:10:53. > :10:57.good night. Our breakfast Bolton is at 6:25am tomorrow morning but from
:10:58. > :11:01.us all, have a good night. -- bulletin.
:11:02. > :11:03.Temperatures creeping up a notch or two and turning milder into the
:11:04. > :11:17.weekend. A guarantee on your journey to work
:11:18. > :11:18.tomorrow, if you are nipping out to the shop for a paper, somebody will