21/01/2017 Spotlight

Good evening. for the news where you are.

Around 250 people have marched through Ashburton in a demonstration

against plans to close the town's community hospital.

It's one of four facing closure in south Devon.

Health bosses say it's more cost effective to treat people at home.

CHANTING: No ifs, no buts, no NHS cuts.

A day after the news that Ashburton hospital could close,

I was in here, and they helped me back to health again after three

weeks, and then I was able to go home, and they were brilliant,

and we really need to keep this hospital.

While campaigners worry about the fragility of this

community hospital, health bosses say that services in Torbay

and South Devon are just as precarious, being neither

sustainable, or consistently offering the required

CHANTING : They say cutback, we say fightback.

The plan from the clinical commissioning group is to look

after more people at home and close four hospitals in Dartmouth,

Paignton, Bovey Tracey, and here in Ashburton.

Do you think they've already made that decision?

I think they probably have made their decision,

but we're not going to lie down and take it.

We're going to fight right to the end and hope

that they'll see sense, and see that we need these services

On Thursday, a final decision will be made about the future

of this hospital and the three others in South Devon.

John Henderson, BBC Spotlight, Ashburton.

A driver had a lucky escape after a car plunged off a main

road in South Devon, and struck the side of a house.

The vehicle crashed through railings on the A379 in Yealmpton,

becoming wedged between the property and the road.

Police say the motorist escaped with minor injuries,

48 tonnes of snow arrived in Exeter this morning to form a giant ski

It was delivered by lorry from a ski centre in Milton Keynes.

It's all part of a snow sports competition held at the university,

involving skiers and snowboarders performing freestyle tricks.

Freestyle is a type of skiing where people go in the air,

they jump off boxes, it's like parkour, but on snow.

It's super fun, really easy to get involved in,

Onto the sport now, and in rugby there was disappointment

for Exeter Chiefs, who took on the French side Clermont Auvergne

Clermont got off to a perfect start, making it 34-0 at half time.

In the second half, the Chiefs staged something of a comeback,

Elsewhere, Jersey won 26-21 against Ulster,

the Cornish Pirates won 50-24 in their clash with Connacht,

In football, Yeovil drew their League Two

Plymouth Argyle secured their ninth away win of the season by beating

Cheltenham thanks to a late winner from Sonny Bradley.

Exeter City thumped Colchester United 3-0 at St James.

And in the National League, Torquay lost their away game

Hundreds of people turned out for the BBC Radio Cornwall Present Aid

The generous Cornish public have been donating unwanted Christmas

gifts to raise money for local charities and community groups.

The event is now in its thirteenth year.

Over the years, the cash has gone to various different

charities cross Cornwall, from the Cornwall Air Ambulance

to the Precious Lives Appeal, but this year, we are raising funds

for the BBC Radio Cornwall Appeal, which will go to very small

organisations in Cornwall to keep the heart of those

Let's take a look at the weather now - here's Bee.

Whilst we have had a dry day and glimmers of sunshine,

it's not been particularly warm, and I think as we head

through tonight, we keep quite a bit of cloud.

We will start to get some showers skirting the southern coast.

Further east, actually, where we do keep some dry

weather and simply spells, we could get a touch of frost,

but I think most towns and cities tonight will stay that little

So, a great start to the day tomorrow with these showers,

I think it will tend to brighten up, particularly further east

in the best of the sunshine, and actually, in the afternoon,

quite a bit of cloud will have broken up.

Temperatures up marginally on today, so perhaps not

One or two spots could hit 10 degrees.

We've got the risk of some freezing fog first thing on Monday,

but I think for most of us it will be dry, bright, chilly,

and it stays settled and mainly dry for most of next week.

That's all the news and weather for now.

Good evening. It does not get warmer. If you check the UK as a

whole, it has been one of the coldest days so far. The hard frost

to come in areas where it stays clear, parts of East Anglia, the

south-east, fog across Scotland, at West, a change, showers and parts of

Wales and England, some snow on high ground as well. Meanwhile, down