A homeless man pulled a Stanley knife out of his pocket during an argument with staff at a shop in Truro just days after his release from prison. A court heard how Michael Paul Abbott was barred from The Junction shop, opposite the bus station on Lemon Quay. When staff asked him to leave he reached into his pocket and pulled out the knife, saying to the shop assistant: "I could do something if I wanted to." Abbott pleaded guilty at Truro Crown Court to possessing a knife in a public...

Recycling rules have changed in Cornwall which means households can indulge in more ice cream and chicken roasts with a clear conscience. There has always been some confusion as to what is acceptable to put out on the pavement in the council seagull-proof sacks. Some plastic bottles and packaging could be recycled, but not all of it. Now plastic pots, tubs and trays will be collected in the same way plastic milk or juice bottles are. But only clear plastic ones - not the black plastic...

Calls have been made for the tolls on the Tamar Bridge to be scrapped after the Government announced it would be scrapping the charges on the Severn Bridge next year. The tolls will be scrapped for people travelling into Wales from the end of 2018, it was announced by Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns. However, no plans are in place for a similar move on the bridge between Cornwall and Devon. It has been claimed the move will boost the economy of South Wales by around £100 million a year and...

A six-year-old Cornish girl made the brave decision to cut off at least twenty centimetres of her hair in memory of the grandmother she lost to cancer. Elowen Reeves, from Liskeard, had her hair cut on Thursday (July 20) at Craig Chapman Hair Design in Launceston. This comes after the passing of her grandmother in February this year. Carol Lay, Elowen's grandmother, died "after a short and very dignified battle with cancer". Carol had spent her life supporting children as a special...

The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are spending Friday here in the county and we're covering their visit live. We'll have regular updates from Newquay as Charles and Camilla head to Newquay. Read next: Here's what happened when Prince Charles and Camilla visited Porthleven, Truro and Bodmin today The Duke and Duchess will start by visiting the Tregunnel Hill estate, where they will award prizes to the winners of a hanging basket competition. They will then attend a street party on the...

The team behind Cornwall's magnificent Man Engine is recreating its world-famous tour across Cornwall to celebrate its first birthday with an ambitious bid to take to the world stage. The astonishing 10 metre high recreation of a Cornish miner brought out massive crowds to the streets across the Mining World Heritage Site last year proving to be one of the most successful events ever under taken. In a series of celebrations today and tomorrow, the team behind Man Engine will visit and thank...

People in Cornwall are being warned to look out for rogue traders. Police in Newquay have sent out the advice after reports of residents being charged excessive amounts of money for minimal or low grade building work. The force in Newquay were alerted on Thursday (July 20) to an incident of rogue traders operating in the Mayfield area. Read more: Newquay bites back at national paper's damning article dubbing the town the 'Shagaluf of the UK' "Two males of Irish origin who were...

Two mums have been prosecuted for failing to send their children to school, with one being tagged and ordered to stay indoors at night. Michelle Odgers, 49, of Trenance Road, Camborne, must wear an electronic tag and stay at home between 7pm and 7am at weekends for eight weeks after magistrates heard she failed to make her daughter attend school over a two-month period. The absences took place between April 17 and June 9 of this year at Pool Academy. Her son's age was not given to Truro...

Welcome to our live coverage of all the day's biggest stories, traffic and travel from across Cornwall on Friday, July 21, 2017. We'll be looking at all the traffic from 7am until this evening, so keep checking back to make sure you get wherever you're going as quickly and safely as possible. We will of course also be breaking news as it happens and keeping an eye on the weather. It's Dave here until 2.30pm when I hand over to the late team led today by Tom. ...

An official planning application has been submitted by the RNLI as a Cornish crew moves closer to getting their much-anticipated new station. The plans to build a new station and home for Penlee RNLI, in Newlyn, have been lodged – which has been welcomed as "another big step in the right direction" by the crew. "This application marks the next stage of the RNLI's upgrade to provide modern crew facilities in Newlyn Harbour," said a spokesperson for Penlee...

A week after opening the new dual carriageway stretch of the A30 at Temple has carried nearly 300,000 vehicles and could have boosted the Cornish economy by a whopping £2.5million, it is estimated. The three-mile section of road over Bodmin Moor was formally declared open for business one week ago, bringing to an end two years of roadworks misery. Read more: A30 Bodmin Temple Cornwall opens and ceremony is gatecrashed by irate farmer People living in the villages dotted around the...

Music fans around the world are in mourning after Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington was found dead. A coroner in California has confirmed the death of the 41-year-old. According to reports, Bennington hanged himself at his residence in Palos Verdes Estates, Los Angeles County. Read next: Coroner gives verdict on teen Dagmara Przybysz who was found hanged in school toilets Law enforcement officials say his body was found shortly before 9am local time (5pm GMT). The star has...

Police in Cornwall are appealing for information about a missing person. Devon and Cornwall Police shared an image of a man they are trying to trace, on their Penzance Police Facebook page. Read more: This was the moment dolphins gave young Sennen surfers a rare and unforgettable treat "Police are concerned for the welfare of Jamie Howe pictured below," read the Facebook status. Penzance Police shared the following information on their Facebook page. "He's believed to be in...

The popular holiday destination of Coverack on the Lizard peninsula still has a long way to go before it can welcome visitors again, a café owner has warned. Chloe Marsland has opened her café, Chloe's On The Beach, as a hub for the many workers and volunteers, handing out free coffees to those helping in the relief effort. The property escaped the worst of the flooding, despite water pouring down the road alongside. The village was swept by huge floods after heavy rain on...

Release date:  Thu, 20/07/2017 (All day) Main image:  Summary:  The Manacles, a treacherous rocky reef that juts out from the Lizard peninsula, famous for the shipwrecks that it has caused, is also designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. Cornwall Wildlife Trust has now carried out a Seasearch Dive expedition to survey its marine life. It was strikingly clear from the very first dive what an amazing underwater area this is.

Twelve highly experienced volunteer divers took part in the surveys, made possible with a grant from marine charity Sea-Changers, and carried out from Porthkerris Dive Centre.

They also took in areas just to the south of the Marine Conservation Zone, off Lowland Point and a rocky pinnacle called Puskies rock, both of which are also home to some stunning marine creatures.

Marine Awareness Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Matt Slater said,

“On the Manacles huge numbers of filter feeding organisms take advantage of plankton-rich seawater currents that buffet the reef. As a result every surface of the reef is totally covered in colourful anemones, sponges, soft corals, such as pink sea fans, and dead man’s fingers, and fluffy coral like animals, known as hydroids”.

Matt Slater continued,

“You can see why this area is so famous for its marine life and it is fantastic that this reef has been designated as a Marine Conservation Zone”. 

Many different species of fish were seen including, pollack, corkwing wrasse and inquisitive cuckoo wrasse, among the UK’s most brightly coloured fish species, and they are abundant on this productive reef.

Another highlight was the discovery of a rarely recorded species, the sea fan anemone, Amphianthus dohrnii. This species is only ever found growing attached to the impressive soft coral called the pink sea fan which itself is nationally scarce. On the Manacles pink sea fans are common and we noted that on one dive site at least 60% of the sea fans were home to these rare anemones with up to ten anemones per sea fan.

There are abundant kelp forests in the shallower areas of the reef which are home to juvenile pollack and a huge diversity of red seaweeds. Further out the walls of rock are covered in fluorescent jewel anemones in a wide variety of gaudy colours.

A species which was notably present was the Crawfish, also known as the spiny lobster which was seen on most of the dive sites. This is a species which became very rare in our waters in the 1980s and was virtually extinct by the 1990’s but now seems to be making a welcome return to our shores.

Matt Slater continues,

“We are calling on divers to record their sightings of this species and to report them to Cornwall Wildlife Trust”.

Marine biologist and underwater film maker Thomas Daguerre described the Manacles as one of the most incredible dive sites he had seen and along with dive buddy Andrew Ball they are making a promotional film about the expedition.

For more photos and videos of the survey results go to the Facebook group @Seasearch Cornwall. As part of a national project called Seasearch, Cornwall Wildlife Trust is training divers to help with their conservation work by recording the marine life encountered on dives! There are many more dives and training opportunities coming up this summer including, a seaweed Identification workshop and a Sea squirts Identification workshop. Find out more at www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/seasearch
 

A woman has spoken of her incredible escape after she was almost swept to her death in the flash floods in Coverack.Amid the wreckage and the recovery operation going on in the village around her, Anna Bray told how she was first trapped inside her house as the surging flood water rose so high outside that her living room windows were under water. She said she grabbed her pet dog, Booboo, but seconds later a glass door gave way and a huge torrent of water swept through her home. Ms Bray...

The two men standing trial for the murder of Stephen Bull have refused to give evidence in their own defence after it was revealed one of them had an "extremely low IQ". Joshua Buscombe, 24, and Jordan Bishop, 21, are on trial at Truro Crown Court over the murder of Stephen Bull who was stabbed in the head in a St Austell park in January. The two residents of the town's Cosgarne Hall hostel deny murdering the 31-year-old. Fellow hostel tenant Daniel Altass, 22, admitted the...

A St Just woman who single-handedly runs a horse sanctuary has launched a desperate appeal for support. The owner of perhaps Cornwall's most understaffed horse and pony sanctuary, Liz Jupe, said she may not be able to take on any more animals unless she receives support. The 63-year-old is now desperately calling for more volunteers to help her raise awareness and donations for The Broomfield Horse Sanctuary near St Just so she can continue her 31 years of hard work. Read more: Rape and...

Coastguards and the Coastguard helicopter were spotted around the Whipsiderry Beach area of Newquay earlier this afternoon. A rescue mission was under way in Newquay earlier today after two people became stranded on a rock as the sea came crashing in around them. Read more: Road sealed off in Truro after police incident - live Coastguards confirmed that they were called at around 12pm after a man and woman were cut off by the tide on rocks between Porth and Watergate Bay. The video above...

The Cornish community was left shocked and grieving 21 years ago this week when a 13-year-old from Cornwall was raped and murdered on a school trip in Brittany, France.Caroline Dickinson, a pupil from Launceston College, died on July 18, 1996, in one of the worst crimes to devastate the people of the county in living memory.Caroline was staying in a youth hostel at Pleine-Fougères, near the border to Normandy and Mont-Saint-Michel, with 39 other pupils when she was found suffocated in her...