West Country Torquay

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has begun an investigation following the death of a 35-year-old man in Devon & Cornwall Police custody.

Initial indications are that officers at Torquay custody suite noticed the man was unwell in his cell in the early hours of this morning (14 September 2016).

An ambulance was called and the man was taken to Torbay Hospital, but he sadly died.

After being notified by the force, the IPCC determined that an independent investigation should be carried out. Investigators are at Torquay Police Station today examining the scene and gathering relevant information.

The man is yet to be formally identified. A post mortem will take place in the coming days.

Three people are in police custody after a firearm incident in Torquay.

Police were called at around 9.30pm on Monday 29 August with reports of gunfire being heard and a vehicle being rammed in the Fore Street area.

Police Armed Response Units were called to the scene and one man was found with a number of pellet wounds - believed to have been from an air rifle. He was taken to hospital.

ARV units and police officers, supported by the dog unit and the police helicopter launched a major search across Torquay to locate the suspects.

Police found an abandoned car as the suspects attempted to flee the area. Police dogs tracked the suspects and a 20-year-old female and 18-year-old man was arrested.

Police also tracked another suspect to a property in Falloway Close and a 27 year-old man was arrested at around 5am this morning.

All three suspects remain in police custody on suspicion of causing GBH; the man who sustained the pellet wounds has already been released from hospital.

Police are appealing for witnesses and would like to hear from anyone who was in the Fore street area of Torquay around the time of the incident.

If you have any information you can:

• contact police on 101
• email 101@dc.police.uk quoting log number 995 for the 29th August
• you can also give information anonymously on 000 555 111

Police have closed a road in Torquay as they respond to an ongoing incident.

The Strand (A379) is currently closed in both directions between Victoria Parade (The Clock Tower) and Fleet Walk.

It's after reports of an incident involving a firearm.

The road is likely to be closed for much of the morning.

More to follow.

Rowcroft Hospice in Torquay has told staff that jobs are likely to be lost as the charity has a million pound funding shortfall. It cared for 2,200 people in 2015 either at its facility off Avenue Road or through its community and hospice at home teams.

Acting Chief Executive Jon Hill said that despite making half a million pounds worth of cuts and generating £500,000 extra through its shops and fundraising - a cut by more than half in the amount of money left as legacies has been the major problem.

Paul Sandell's father is currently being cared for at the hospice. He says the family of the patient are also looked after. The charity arranged for his sister to have a wedding blessing at its chapel so their father could walk her down the aisle.

Like most hospices Rowcroft only gets limited state funding. The NHS does provide about twenty seven per cent of its budget and with money tight everywhere can't help further.

Bosses say the impact of the cuts will be felt by all who use the services.

The hospice is now appealing for anyone who can help plug the funding shortfall to come forward with whatever help they can

A charity fund set up in memory of junior doctor Rose Polge has raised more than £12,000.

The 25 year old was discovered in the sea off Portland in April after disappearing from Torquay two months earlier.

Rose's family launched the appeal to help mental health charity MIND and Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, which helped search for her.

The Just Giving page reads: "Rose was not a 'sad person' - she had an infectious enthusiasm for life."