West Country (W) Devonport

An exercise drill to prepare the south west for a nuclear disaster revealed a number of gaffes, according to a new report.

Exercise Short Sermon is held every three years to prepare officials at Devonport for an explosion aboard a nuclear submarine.

The multi-agency drill, in October 2013, played out a scenario of radioactive material being released into the atmosphere with numerous casualty. It highlighted a number of lessons to be learned.

• "Severely flawed and wrong" instructions were given regarding the evacuation of a town
• "Lack of understanding" into which way the plume of radiation was moving.
• Hospital were not warned when ambulance crews brought in a "victim" suffering from radiation poisoning.
• There was "difficult" liaison between the Government's Science and Technical Advice Cell and Cornwall Council and its eventual advice was severely flawed and wrong.
• NHS England said they were unable to assess how the nuclear emergency would impact on health services as "there were no plans to include casualties outside the dockyard".
• There were also issues with broadband internet paid for by NHS England, which was not "fully available" on the day
• Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service described a "lamentable lack of information mapping or charts" at an initial meeting, with "confused" deployment of fire engines.
• Incorrect weather information, which did not originate from the Met Office, was initially provided and "it took nearly all the exercise to get this corrected".

The report, by the Ministry of Defence, found the exercise was successful overall but in future it will be replaced by a three year training programme.

Father Christmas was nabbed by Plymouth's community policing team when his 'sleigh' was found without an MoT. Santa was also given a parking ticket by officers as part of Op SMART, a policing scheme to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour in Devonport and the west of the city.

During a fortnight this month 22 houses were searched under the Misuse of Drugs Act, resulting in four arrests for possession with intent to supply, six warnings/fines for drug misuse and further investigations into burglaries and handling stolen goods. A further six people were also arrested for other related offences.

The police team also worked in partnership with Trading Standards to seize over 300 potentially counterfeit items from a single car boot sale, as well as working to tackle bad driving and parking offences.

Devonport Dockyard will not be used as a storage site for nuclear waste from redundant submarines.

The dockyard had been in the running to be an interim storage facility for the waste, sparking concerns that the city could be seen as the country's "nuclear graveyard" but the Ministry of Defence has released a final shortlist of possible locations and Devonport isn't on it.

A MoD police dog and his handler are among the best in the country. PC Simon Hill and Jura, who are based at Devonport Naval Base in Plymouth, came fourth in the National Police Dog Handling Assessment Finals. Jura is also British Police & Service Dog of the Year for the second year in a row.

Britain's longest serving nuclear submarine was given its final send off today after nearly thirty years in service.

Plymouth-based HMS Tireless has spent much of its time working in secret all over the world. Richard Lawrence reports.

The formal decommissioning of the nuclear-powered submarine, HMS Tireless, has taken place at Devonport.

At 30-years-old, she's Britain's longest serving submarine so, HAD to have her own cake. The vessel's Commanding Officer, Commander Hywel Griffiths, did the honours.

A service is being held to mark the decommissioning of HMS Tireless, Britain's longest serving submarine. The Royal Marines band has just played Mr Blue Sky during the inspection of the ship's company.

The nuclear-powered submarine returned to Devonport for the last time two weeks ago after helping in the search for the missing Malaysian airliner off Australia.

The 30-year-old boat holds the record for the longest submarine deployment: ten months away from base.

A sailor has died after an industrial accident on board HMS Bulwark at Devonport Naval Base.

Emergency Services were called to the scene just before 11 o'clock this morning when it was reported that a crew member was stuck in a lift shaft.

The man could not be saved and died at the scene.

Police are investigating, along with the Health and Safety Executive but the incident is not being treated as suspicious.

The nuclear powered submarine HMS Tireless has returned to Devonport at the end of her last deployment. The 30 year old boat has been helping in the search for the missing Malaysian airliner off Australia.

Most of her life has been spent as a hunter-killer submarine on top secret missions beneath the Atlantic Ocean, but three years ago she completed the longest deployment ever by a Royal Navy submarine on a ten month world tour.

A twenty three million pound rehabilitation centre for injured servicemen and women will officially open today at Devonport. It's been paid for by the charity Help for Heroes and the Ministry of Defence.

The centre is home to a gym and swimming pool, with doctors and personal trainers on hand to help injured soldiers recover.