AN EMOTIONAL family occasion was shared with an entire nation on Monday as the country said goodbye to its Queen. King Charles III came close to tears during the state funeral service for his mother at Westminster Abbey, where the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Queen had touched ‘a multitude of lives and had been a joyful figure to many.’

Ponies lives continue to be endangered by careless visitors on Dartmoor who are feeding them and even riding them, despite widespread safety advice. Animal welfare bodies and animal owners report an increase in incidences of people ignoring or being unaware of many warning signs across the moor advising them to not approach the ponies and their foals, let alone feed them unsuitable food.

A double glazing company has apologised to disappointed customers across West Devon and Cornwall who have complained of being ‘abandoned and let down’ when work was not started, completed or done badly and deposits not returned when projects were not honoured.

A sailor from West Devon has spoken of his huge honour after being picked to guide the Queen’s coffin safely and smoothly to her funeral through the streets of Central London. Able seaman Jack Osborne, 24, from Bere Ferrers, was one of a group of sailors hand-picked to to pull Her Majesty’s coffin on the historic State Gun Carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey and afterwards to the hearse to travel on to Windsor.

Parents have backed up a damning Ofsted report painting an image of Tavistock College where bullying is rife. The report labelled the school as ‘inadequate’ and placed the school under monitoring from Ofsted to address ‘serious weaknesses’.

People using Lloyds Pharmacy in Okehampton have spoken of their frustration after the pharmacy was shut for two days last week.

The new government should prioritise the cost of living crisis, said Okehampton residents as Liz Truss won the Tory leadership campaign to become the new Prime Minister. As the news of Ms Truss’s success broke, Okehampton residents expressed hopes that the new PM and her government would work towards tackling the cost of living crisis as prices continue to rise and energy price caps set to increase to over £3,000 next month.

Okehampton residents have stepped up calls to bring back round-the-clock care at the local hospital as they turn towards RD&E’s emergency department to avoid long waiting times at Okehampton’s MIU. Residents are reporting that the MIU (minor injuries unit) at Okehampton Medical Centre is becoming increasingly congested due to the town’s growing population and ever-lengthening ambulance waiting times.

Okehampton Town Council has handed in a petition to West Devon Borough Council calling for a review of the town boundaries. Town clerk Emma James handed in the bundle of documents containing signatures from 570 people backing the town council’s request at the borough council’s meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

Tavistock’s much-loved Original Pasty House has gone on the market after owners Nigel and Janet Eadie announced their plans to retire.

West Devon libraries are welcoming anyone who wants to stay warm, save energy costs and meet others during autumn and winter.

Parents have claimed victory in a fight to have an earlier bus service enabling their children to get to school in time, after a later service made them repeatedly late for lessons. Students from the Tamar Valley and Callington area have been regularly late since the school term started after a scheduled 7.50am Cornwall Go service became and 8.20am service.

West Devon is now home to 139 Ukrainians from 51 family groups who are fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Tavistock bowler, Stephen Hartley has taken victory at the Para Home Nations outdoor championship.