BBC Devon & Cornwall Live: 19 February

Properties have not been damaged "as yet" by a water main burst in Plymouth, police say.

Officers said the burst in Melville Road, in the Keyham area, was reported at about 15:45 when a "significant amount of water" was seen "running downhill onto St Levan Road".

Parts of the road surface have collapsed by the junction with Alexandra Road, they added. The road was also left flooded by Wolseley Road.

Fire crews and highways officials have also been called to the area.

Traffic has not been affected on St Levan Road, but the junction with Melville Road closed, as has Melville Road itself.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Continuing to turn progressively cloudier through Tuesday evening and overnight.

Staying mainly dry, but just the small risk of the odd light shower, mainly for western and northern districts.

Minimum temperature: 4 to 7C (39 to 45F).

BBCCopyright: BBC

A cloudy but mainly dry Wednesday is expected.

Conditions should stay mainly dry, but the odd isolated shower may again affect northwestern districts, with the chance some brightness in the south and east.

Maximum temperature: 9 to 12C (48 to 54F).

A union has questioned the decision by Torbay Council to invest £15m in a new warehouse for online retailer Amazon near Exeter.

The council voted to go ahead with the deal in private despite concerns raised by councillors about the impact of the business on high streets, its working practices and tax payments.

The GMB union said the decision was “odd” and questioned why the council was investing outside Torbay.

The investment decision is part of a strategy by the council to raise extra income through buying commercial property and leasing it out at a profit.

Torbay has seen cuts of £76m in government funding over the last seven years, and is looking for £17m of savings and extra income over the next three years.

Questions raised about the Amazon investment follow controversy over the recent £3m purchase by the council of a factory in Bodmin in Cornwall used to make pasties.

Amazon has declined to confirm it will be the tenant of the warehouse in the Exeter Gateway area near the M5. Torbay Council has also declined to comment.

Chris Radburn/PA WireCopyright: Chris Radburn/PA Wire

BBCCopyright: BBC

South West Water say it is working to isolate a water main burst and restore supplies after the burst in Plymouth.

The burst, in the Melville Road area, has seen the road closed between Alexandra Road and Cambridge Road after the main burst outside Ford Primary School.

Staff from South West Water are at the scene.

The utility said the burst was "on the main pipe serving the area and properties in PL1, PL2 and PL3 may be experiencing interruptions to their water supply".

It added that alternative water supplies were being made available to those on its priority services register.

BBCCopyright: BBC

Road surfaces in Plymouth have suffered damage after a water main burst in the Keyham area of the city.

The burst, in the Melville Road area, has seen the road closed between Alexandra Road and Cambridge Road after the main burst outside Ford Primary School.

An inspector from South West Water is en route to the scene.

BBCCopyright: BBC

BBCCopyright: BBC

An inspector from South West Water is en route to the scene of a burst water main in Plymouth, the utility says.

The burst, in the Melville Road area of Keyham, has seen the road closed between Alexandra Road and Cambridge Road after the main burst outside Ford Primary School.

South West Water said it was "hoping to restore water supplies as soon as possible".

One city policing team has tweeted a picture showing road surface damage and water running down a hill.

A Plymouth road has been closed after a water main burst.

Melville Road is closed between Alexandra Road and Cambridge Road due to the main outside Ford Primary School.

A sheep has been rescued on one of the highest spots of Cornwall.

Firefighters said the animal fell 50ft (15m) down a quarry at Minions, on Bodmin Moor.

After the operation, the animal was said to be "safe and happy back on the moor."

The NHS is expected to have spent about £1m on sending patients for surgery to other sites by the end of March, including private hospitals, after the closure of two operating theatres at Torbay Hospital, bosses say.

Two of 10 operating theatres were closed at Torbay in November due to the failure of an air handling unit.

Repairs and upgrades are expected to cost £1.8m and the theatres are due to reopen in June.

Patients due for operations have been treated at other locations including the private Mount Stuart Hospital in Torquay and Plymouth Nuffield.

Details emerged after a union questioned whether NHS staff were still insured if they were working in a private hospital.

Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust said it was voluntary for staff to work at Mount Stuart Hospital and confirmed they were covered by insurance.

A statement from the trust said it had "put in place contingency plans to ensure as many people as possible have their surgery as planned and it was "prioritising those in greatest clinical need and those who have been waiting the longest".

BBCCopyright: BBC

Environment AgencyCopyright: Environment Agency

The Environment Agency has issued flood alerts in Devon and Cornwall.

In Cornwall, alerts are in place for the north and south Cornwall coasts, and the tidal River Camel.

The Cornwall alert also extends from Rame Head to Plymouth in Devon, including tidal estuaries.

Elsewhere in Devon, an alert is in place for north Devon, from Hartland Point to Lynmouth.

The agency said flooding was possible for all high tides from Wednesday morning to Friday evening inclusive.

An alert means "flooding is possible - be prepared".

LDRSCopyright: LDRS

The 800-year-old Newton Abbot cattle market could face closure as part of plans that would see a new 72-bedroom hotel built on the Halcyon Road car park.

Operated by a national hotel chain, the proposal is part of the masterplan for the regeneration of the town and has already been backed by the council’s executive as the best offer for the site.

Teignbridge District Council has resolved already that the redevelopment in the town will come with no net loss of parking provision, and the cattle market site has been highlighted as an opportunity area for creating temporary parking.

The council is to be presented with three options:

• Terminate the existing selling licence with the cattle market auctioneers and demolish the sheep/cattle pens
• Revise the selling licence with the auctioneers. To allow for continuing trade from the covered pens, but taking back sheep pens and setting out this area as parking
• Adopt a phased closure, converting sheep pens to parking in summer 2019 and closing the cattle pens at a later date once the development of the hotel is due to commence

A decision will be made at the full council meeting on 28 February.

There has been a livestock market in Newton Abbot since 1221 and it moved to its present location in the centre of town in 1938.

Eleanor Stobbart/Paignton ZooCopyright: Eleanor Stobbart/Paignton Zoo

Despite a name that might make you think that days out at the beach will never be the same, don't fear the scarily-named vampire crab, Paignton Zoo says.

And even though it sounds like a baddie in a horror film, the tiny crustaceans are popular with aquarists.

So much so, that, in fact, "illegal over-collection for the pet trade is a real threat to the species", the zoo said.

The zoo's latest breeding success is seeing it as home to some 60 new nippy youngsters, bringing its total of vampire crabs up to about 80 after the first attempt to hatch the critters by the lower vertebrates and invertebrates team.

The species is found in India, south east Asia and the islands of the Pacific.

The spooky name was coined because of their startling appearance. However, the good news is, they don’t actually suck blood at midnight.

Keeper Lauren Lane said: "We hope that lots of the hatchlings will survive. We will split them into smaller groups to reduce the risk of them eating each other."

The planned closure of a mental health unit in south east Cornwall is still prompting concern among service users in the county.

The five-bed unit Oakleigh House in Menheniot, near Liskeard, is due to close within the month. It provides residential stays for guests to give both them and their carers breaks through the year.

Clinical commissioning group NHS Kernow said the money could be better spent on mental health provision elsewhere.

Several users have contacted the BBC to emphasise how they rely on it.

The local MP, Conservative Sheryll Murray, said she wanted to reassure users that she was doing all she can to find out what's going on.

Quote Message: There are a number of service users who are really concerned about this closure. What I have done already is written to the clinical commissioning group asking for the real information that the decision has been based on. I will do all I can get to the bottom of the real reason for this." from Sheryll Murray South East Cornwall MP (Conservative)

There are a number of service users who are really concerned about this closure. What I have done already is written to the clinical commissioning group asking for the real information that the decision has been based on. I will do all I can get to the bottom of the real reason for this."

Delays can be expected on the A390 at St Blazey while crews tackle a property fire.