A Plymouth man who neglected two dogs has been banned from keeping animals for seven years.

Kerys Glynn Moore, 28 and from Tamerton Foliot Road, Plymouth, Devon was prosecuted after RSPCA inspectors discovered his two dogs in appalling condition. The animal welfare brought the case and Moore was found guilty following a short hearing on September 26 which he failed to attend.

Plymouth Magistrates' Court heard how two crossbreed dogs were rescued from Moore's home by inspectors from the RSPCA. Both were struggling with their health and not getting the care they needed.

Marley was extremely thin and had a large grapefruit size growth on the side of his back left leg.

Ollie, a larger tan crossbreed dog, was in very thin bodily condition and had a skin complaint to the back and hindquarters.

In their report, the vet who examined the dogs said: "Marley was underweight weighing 15 kilograms with a body condition score of two out of nine, a healthy weight would be four, as well as some dental disease

"He had a large subcutaneous mass approximately 12 centimetres by 12 centimetres with ulceration on the surface.

"Ollie was presented with a weight of 18 kilograms and his body condition score also of two out of nine. His coat was poor with areas of hair loss.

"Both animals presented failed to show freedom from hunger as their diet was not providing adequate nutrition to provide full health. This could have been avoided by feeding an adequate nutritional balanced diet."

On October 17 Moore was sentenced at Plymouth Magistrates Court. Alongside the animal disqualification order, which he cannot appeal for four years, he was also ordered to pay an £80 fine and £200 costs. He was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £32.

Preventing animals suffering

This means enforcement agencies and the RSPCA's inspectors can now act by advising and educating owners before their pets suffer. If this advice is not followed or the animal's needs are not being met then action can be taken whether through a formal warning or in some cases a prosecution.

Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act places a duty of care on people to ensure they take reasonable steps in all the circumstances to meet the welfare needs of their animals to the extent required by good practice.

Find out what your pet needs on the RSPCA's advice and welfare pages.

Click here to join PlymouthLive on WhatsApp and we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

A Plymouth restaurant has received a zero hygiene rating and been told that “urgent improvement is necessary". Trattoria Capri on Southside Street was given the lowest rating by inspectors from Plymouth City Council, but the owner has said they’ve already “made changes”.

A full inspection was carried out at the Barbican restaurant on 13 September 2024 and it was found that major urgent improvement was necessary with regards to the cleanliness and condition of facilities and building, as well as the management of food safety.

Inspectors also deemed improvement was necessary when it comes to the restaurant’s hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

The hygiene inspectors also reported that “major improvement” was necessary in the restaurant’s management of food safety. This included system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat and evidence that staff know about food safety.

One of the owner’s of Trattoria Capri has said they have “already made improvements” and are “waiting for inspectors to return”. The restaurant will be inspected again within a few months and the owner is “waiting for a new rating”.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), overseen by the FSA, has been designed to help customers choose where to eat out or shop for food by telling them how seriously the business takes their food hygiene standards. The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and applies to restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets and other food shops.

If a premises is rated a five, the hygiene standards are very good, a four means the hygiene standards are good. The score of a three from a hygiene visit means standards are generally satisfactory.

Receiving a two in a hygiene rating means some improvement is necessary and the score of a one deems major improvement necessary, if a premises receives a zero rating then urgent improvement is required.

FSA states that food businesses must ensure they have a ‘system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat’. FSA also states that food businesses should follow the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) guidelines.

You can read the full hygiene report (from September 13 2024) for Trattoria Capri here.

Click here to join PlymouthLive on WhatsApp and we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice

From Coffins Lane to Witch Lane, Devon has the most spookily-named roads in the UK, according to the results of a new study. According to 20 percent of Brits, the annual celebration of Halloween - with all of its costumes, sweet treats, parties and scary attractions - is their favourite time of year.

Studies show that street names can have a huge impact on the perception of properties and local areas. With that in mind, buildings and contents insurance specialists Homeprotect analysed the Find My Street database to discover how many spooky roads could be found in each local area.

Devon is the county with the most spooky roads, with 80 eerily-named addresses overall. This consisted of 19 street names that contain the word moon, 23 containing grave, 14 with coffin, eight containing dark, four with dead, three with spider, two with bat or headless, and one containing goblin, lantern, cobweb, devil or blood.

Spooky names don’t necessarily mean the roads are haunted, however. Devon is also home to one of the UK’s most haunted highways. The B3212 between Dunsford and Yelverton in Dartmoor is where there have been reports of hairy hands terrorising motorists.

But if it is a spooky experience you are seeking, Devon does have several haunted places you can visit, such as Okehampton Castle and Score Chapel in Ilfracombe.

Yorkshire came in second place with 77 spooky roads such as Dead Mans Hole Lane in Sheffield and Half Moon Way in Sharow. The most popular spooky word is dark which featured 37 times.

While there are no Yorkshire roads that contain the word wolf, the B1249 between Driffield and Staxton Hill in East Riding is associated with werewolves. According to local reports, in the 1960s a lorry driver came across a mythical beast while driving along the country road.

With 58 overall, Cambridgeshire is the third county with the spookiest street names, such as Ghost Passage in Wisbech and Wolf Lane in Gorefield. Meanwhile, Somerset is the fourth county with the most spooky street names and Dorset and Norfolk are joint-fifth spookiest, with 54 and 40 spooky roads each, respectively.

Cornwall also appears on the list. In tenth place, the county has 34 spooky roads you might or might not dare to Trick or Treat on this October 31.

A factory has partially collapsed after a huge fire broke out at the Langage Business Park in Plympton overnight. Firefighters rushed to the blaze at around 10.20pm on Tuesday night and battled flames through the early hours of this morning.

As of 8am today (Wednesday, October 30) fire engines were still at the scene. Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said the fire spread rapidly, "quickly engulfing the whole building" and ending with a "partial collapse".

"This incident is still ongoing but has been scaled back to two fire appliances and an aerial ladder platform," the service said in a statement. "The company was closed at the time of call and we are happy to report there were no casualties. The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed as crews are still damping down and monitoring hotspots."

This is a live blog. Scroll below for more updates throughout the day.

17:52Jamie Hawkins

Staff at a Langage firm have been left counting the costs after a devastating fire ripped through their building during the night.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said they received multiple calls from the public regarding the large fire at the Survitec Group building on Tuesday evening at around 10.20pm. Three appliances and an aerial latter were mobilised from Plympton, Crownhill and Greenbank stations.

Read the full story here.

17:51Jamie Hawkins

11:24Shannon Brown

In an update at 8am, DSFR said:

This is a large scale incident involving a factory/warehouse which spread quickly engulfing the whole building and eventually has ended up with a partial collapse. Crews worked through the night to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent industrial units, mainly using 2 aerial ladder platforms with monitoring hose reel jets from above the fire, together with crews firefighting on the ground level. This incident is still ongoing but has been scaled back to 2 fire appliances and an aerial ladder platform. The company was closed at the time of call and we are happy to report there were no casualties. The cause of the fire has yet to be confirmed as crews are still damping down and monitoring hotspots.

11:24Jamie Hawkins

Click here to join PlymouthLive on WhatsApp and we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.

11:23Shannon Brown

DSFR said in a statement:

Multiple calls were received from members of the public reporting a large fire at a warehouse on Langage Business Park in Plympton yesterday evening. Initially, 3 pumping appliances and an aerial ladder platform were mobilised from our Plympton, Crownhill and Greenbank stations in Plymouth. However within minutes of arriving the attendance was immediately increased by a further 3 pumping appliances attending from Crownhill, Greenbank and Camels Head stations (again all Plymouth stations) together with supporting appliances and later relief crews attending from Totnes, Torquay, Ivybridge, Newton Abbot, Ashburton, Princetown, Bere Alston, Okehampton and Buckfastleigh.

An on-call operational firefighter from Devon has lost a claim that not being called out amounts to 'working time'. Additionally, stipulations such as not consuming alcohol, needing to shave, and restrictions on hair dye were acknowledged as constraints but deemed not significantly restrictive.

The Exeter employment tribunal judge explained in the ruling: "I do not seek to underestimate or devalue the inconvenience that is from time to time caused to the Claimant and his family by him being on-call, nor the sacrifices he makes to provide this important service to his local community (albeit on a paid basis)."

"I have concluded that during his on-call shifts, the constraints imposed on the Claimant by the Respondent are not such as to affect, objectively and very significantly, the possibility for him to freely manage the time during which he was not on call-outs and to pursue his own interests."

Andrew Tidd, the firefighter at the centre of the case, serves as an on-call crew manager for the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service in Modbury, South Devon, and has been with the service since 2013.

The hearing brought out details about the nature of on-call work; while firefighters like Mr Tidd receive 'availability pay' when theyre on standby without being called, they earn 'activity pay' during call-outs.

It was also highlighted that on-call teams manning 99 of the total 112 fire appliances underline the scale of reliance on such firefighters who must adhere to a five-minute response time, reports Devon Live.

On-call firefighters are required to remain sober, have cleanly shaven faces for the safe fitting of breathing gear, and refrain from dyeing their hair while on duty.

Mr Tidd, a clock and watch repairer, expressed that his work was impacted as he had to stay within a five-minute response radius, which also affected his ability to shop, socialise, and attend his twins' school events unless he could arrange cover or take leave when others were available.

He also mentioned that he couldn't engage in running, fishing, or participate with his local drama group during his on-call hours due to the possibility of being called out.

Mr Tidd said in a 45 week period until June 2024 there were 57 incident reports and he went out on a fire engine on 31 occasions and went to the fire station on four other occasions.

The barrister representing Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service highlighted that the case's outcome could significantly affect the national operation of fire services, which depend on on-call firefighters.

The tribunal judge acknowledged: "I accept that the Respondent did place constraints on the Claimant in respect of drinking alcohol, needing to be shaven and his hair style during his on-call shifts."

However, the judge concluded: "I do not conclude that these constraints had 'very significant' impacts on his ability to freely manage his time and pursue his own interests during his on-call period."

"Having to have shaved within the last 24 hours is not, objectively such an onerous undertaking as to impact significantly on someone's ability to manage their time freely nor is having to keep hair styled/coloured in such a way as not to undermine public confidence."

"I accept that not being able to drink alcohol has some objective impact on how a person might pursue their interests, however, it does not prevent them from pursuing those interests at all or, for example, spending time with friends and family socialising."

The judge noted Mr Tidd was summoned less than once a week during 2023-2024, and for 97% of his time on call, he could engage in personal activities provided he remained close to the fire station.

A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset FRS expressed satisfaction with the hearing's outcome: "We're pleased with the findings of the hearing as the alternative would have hugely impacted on our ability to provide a fire and rescue service to our communities. We rely on on-call firefighters, and we appreciate and thank them for the commitment they give to serve our communities."