BBC Devon & Cornwall Live: Friday 16 November

The BBC Children in Need Appeal 2018 has seen people from across Devon and Cornwall "doing their thing" to raise money.

Currently, the charity supports 2,400 projects across the UK - including 80 in Devon.

The projects help children facing a range of disadvantages - such as poverty and deprivation, children who have been the victims of abuse or neglect or disabled young people.

Here's what some have been getting up to today in the region:

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• You can catch all the action on BBC One from 19:30. To donate, click here.

A largely cloudy evening ahead with the chance of some mist and fog.

The odd spot of drizzle is likely in some places too - remaining fairly mild.

Minimum temperature overnight of 8C (46F).

Devon:

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Cornwall:

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A man made inappropriate comments to a 14-year-old girl before attempting to touch her, police have said.

It happened at about 06:30 on 14 November in Mallock Road in Torquay.

Officers said the girl immediately left the area and was unharmed.

The suspect is described as a white man, aged in his 30s or 40s, chubby and about 5ft 7in (1.7m) tall.

He has long, unkempt brown hair and was wearing a dark hooded jacket and white jogging bottoms.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Devon and Cornwall Police via 101.

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The critically-acclaimed musical, Les Misérables is heading to Plymouth.

After nearly a decade since its last sell-out UK tour, it will hit the city's Theatre Royal stage next summer.

Seen by more than 120 million people worldwide in 51 countries and in 22 languages, it's considered one of the world’s most popular musicals.

Tickets go on sale at the end of the month.

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Three Cornwall Council-owned cottages in the county are being bought and renovated by a local community-led organisation to provide more affordable homes.

The Peninsula Trust has been working with Cornwall Council to make the properties in Cawsand available for people to buy.

The council had been faced with a decision on whether it should renovate the cottages itself or sell them at auction but it admitted it wouldn't necessarily be "cost-effective".

A solution was put forward by the trust - which has previously saved the Old Ship Inn at Cawsand, rebuilding it as a community-owned pub and cafe with flats above.

The proposal includes buying the coastguard cottages from the council, renovating them and then letting them to local families at an "affordable rent".

Work on renovating the cottages has begun.

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Quote Message: We are very pleased with the way this initiative has worked out. It’s another practical demonstration that Cornwall Council is serious about our objective to work with partners and the community to provide the right homes in the right place." from Councillor Andrew Mitchell Cornwall Council

We are very pleased with the way this initiative has worked out. It’s another practical demonstration that Cornwall Council is serious about our objective to work with partners and the community to provide the right homes in the right place."

The care industry regulator has issued a warning that a home care business operating in Devon is facing financial problems.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) says Allied Healthcare has not been able to provide assurance of its funding beyond the end of November.

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The CQC's chief inspector of adult social care has written to 84 local authorities across the country including Devon County Council to warn them of a “credible risk of service disruption”.

But the company says the CQC’s warning is “premature and unwarranted” and its services are “sustainable and safe” with no risk to continuity of care.

Allied healthcare looks after 78 people in Exeter and Barnstaple, with funding from the local authority, NHS and direct from clients.

A Devon County Council spokesperson said: "The chief executive of Allied Health Care has given assurances that there is no risk to the continuity of service."

Firefighters are reminding people to check their smoke alarms after they attended a kitchen fire earlier.

Fire crews from Falmouth and Truro were called to the blaze at Glen View, Penryn at about 09:30.

No-one was injured.

A spokesman said: "The easiest way to protect your home and family from fire is with a working smoke alarm."

A Devon MP has said the Exeter-based company, Flybe, is a "good business model" and is confident it has a future.

Hugo Swire's comments come after it was announced earlier this week the airline has put itself up for sale - just weeks after issuing a profit warning.

The MP for East Devon said the region needs the airport [Exeter] and the "connectivity" it brings with other countries...

Five men will be questioned by Border Force officers after being picked up from a vessel in the English Channel.

A Home Office spokeswoman said the men, claiming to be Iranian nationals, will be interviewed in Falmouth after being removed from the commercial vessel earlier.

"The group will now be interviewed by Border Force and their cases progressed in accordance with the immigration rules," she added.

In Plymouth, there are reports of a three-vehicle crash on the A3064 Weston Mill Drive near the fire station. There's slow traffic in the area.

Two secondary schools in St Austell could be united in a new multi-academy trust.

Poltair School has this week written to parents explaining that it has an “excellent opportunity” to join Cornwall Education Learning Trust (CELT).

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CELT is an amalgamation of two existing multi-academy trusts (MAT) and Peninsula Learning Trust, which includes St Austell-based Penrice Academy, and Newquay Education Trust (NET).

It would bring together the two secondary schools in St Austell which have, for years, had a friendly rivalry between their students.

The NET is made up of Newquay Junior Academy, Newquay Tretherras and Brannel School.

The merger of NET and PLT to form CELT is set to take place in September 2019. As well as the existing schools the CELT will also have a free school opening in 2020.

In its letter to parents Poltair School head teacher Stephen Tong states: “We are considering this as we believe that it will help us fulfil and achieve a number of stated goals on behalf of Poltair School and its students.”

It also says that by joining a MAT with three other secondary schools it would help “deliver school improvement when required” and ensure “enrichment, breadth and strength in students’ learning experiences”.

A Cornish family have been contacted by police after a body was found in Wales.

Officers said the body was found at Pembray beach, Carmarthenshire, on Thursday.

A spokesman said: "Whilst formal identification has yet to take place, the family of Nicholas Cocks have been informed of this development."

Mr Cocks, 62, from Bodmin was reported missing on Sunday 4 November.

The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Devon and Cornwall Police have called for people to volunteer to help the force in a scheme called Citizens in Policing.

While the police have long had the special constabulary, which sees people working as volunteer officers alongside “regular” officers, there are also a number of other volunteer roles available.

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Sarah Corber, citizens in policing development officer, said in 2016 the police force looked at “the in funding and the reduction of police officers in Devon and Cornwall” and “realised that we are not maximising the community around us”.

Sarah, who is based in Camborne and covers the west half of Cornwall from Truro to Penzance, has been working to increase the number of volunteers and making people more aware of how they can volunteer for the police.

She explained that the special constabulary was “crucial to the force” and said there was work being done to attract a wider range of people to get involved.

“What we are finding at the moment with the special constabulary is we have a lot of young people getting involved but they then move on very quickly to become regular police officers,” she said.

“We are struggling to maintain our numbers.”

She said the police wanted to hear from more people who wanted to become specials as volunteers, not as a way of starting a career in policing, and from “older people and people from more diverse backgrounds”.

Health campaigners in Dartmouth have written to the Secretary of State asking for an inquiry into the way the local NHS is handling provision of care in the town.

The cottage hospital was closed in 2016 and a deal to replace it with a private care operator fell through.

Now, the NHS is talking about building a new healthcare facility on the edge of town.

Andrew Jarrold is from the Dartmouth Healthcare Action Group and says a community group to work closely alongside the NHS has not been set up - and should have been...

The NHS said there was a full consultation in 2016 and plans are being developed in partnership with local people.