The owner of a "stolen" Rolex watch has claimed a Swiss auction house tried to blackmail him into buying it back. Philip McColl, from Flushing, made the claim as police seized the item from Christies. Mr McColl, 68, was given the £10,000 timepiece by Italian billionaire Raul Gardini after the pair became friends shortly before the tycoon's death. But the yacht engineer was left heartbroken when he lost the Rolex Submariner in 1998 and thought he would never see it again. Read...

Huge multi-million-pound plans which would dramatically transform Wadebridge have been unveiled. A property developer has submitted fresh plans to build 146 houses at Bodieve Park and relocate Wadebridge Town Football Club, at a cost of nearly £5 million, as well the development of 300 homes on another site between Gonvena Hill and Bradford's Quay. Leicester-based Michael Merriman has been trying to develop the football club site since 2007, initially promoting plans for a Morrisons...

Swedish flat pack furniture giant IKEA may have said it will never build a store in Cornwall but it might still recruit you for its new Devon store. The company is recruiting some 350 people for its new outlet in Exeter and some of these jobs will be paid more than £33,000 a year. The company said the retail roles will see the total number of staff employed in the UK rise to 11,700. Read more: Ikea says you shouldn't have to travel more than 2.5 hours to reach a store - then shuns...

It's all a bit dark outside at the moment, with foul weather, and forecasters say we've got more dark daytime periods ahead this week. Someone in the Cornwall Live office even described it as "the worst weather I've ever seen in Cornwall without a weather warning". But why is it so dark? We thought it had something to do with rain and clouds and stuff - but we weren't sure, so we spoke to the experts to firm things up a bit. Can someone explain where the sun went? Not loving...

From spectacular dream homes with seven figure price tags to properties snapped up for as little as £40,000, these are April's sales highlights. New data from the Land Registry has revealed the properties which sold across the country in April this year. As you can imagine, the price range is vast. By far the most expensive sale of the month was Apartment 1101 at Knightsbridge in London. The flat sold for a staggering £90,000,000 on Friday, April 7. Read next: Look inside...

A driver got trapped after her car left the A30 and virtually disappeared when it ended up on its roof in a ditch.Four fire crews from Launceston and Okehampton were called to the scene near Sourton, Devon, after a driver left the road and got trapped just before 8pm yesterday (June 4). Ambulance crews found the car in a ditch and on its roof.Read more: A39 and A390 in Cornwall named among the most dangerous for motorcyclists in the south west"One female was out of the vehicle and in the...

St Ives is getting ready to host its 7th Swellboard Shootout this weekend – with those planning to attend already trying to second-guess this year's fancy dress surfing costumes. Fancy-dressed surfers will take to the seas again from 11am on Sunday (June 11) to take part in the annual event organised by St Ives Surf School. "It is with great delight and a smile on my face that I invite you to join us for the 7th edition of the Swellboard Shootout," wrote an organiser on the...

A Newquay man has been jailed for life for the murder of a two-year-old boy. Joseph Eke, 22, inflicted "catastrophic" fatal injuries on May 26 last year when he lost his temper while left alone with toddler Harry House at their family home in Broadmayne, Dorset, for a few minutes while the child's mother had popped to the shops. Last month a jury at Winchester Crown Court found Eke - who grew up in Newquay before moving to Dorset - guilty of murder and causing grievous bodily harm...

A man who is alleged to have started a fire and climbed onto the roof of a property in Falmouth, threatening to harm himself, has been arrested after a stand-off with police. Emergency services were called to Trelawney Road on Saturday evening after reports of an incident inside a house. Detective constable Rob Denton said the man set fire to his bedding and climbed out of a skylight on to the roof, threatening to harm himself. "All emergency services were in attendance and Cornwall...

As many as 32,000 homes in Cornwall are exposed to high levels of radon, a radioactive gas linked to lung cancer. Of the homes at risk nationwide, the county has almost half. The figures show that Cornwall has more homes at risk than any other part of the country, with Devon coming second with 10,500. Radon is a radioactive gas that is hard to detect, being colourless, odourless, and tasteless. It occurs naturally in the bedrock around Cornwall. The gas dissolves easily into water in the...

The families of victims and people missing since the London terror attack have been sharing pictures and moving tributes to their loved ones since the atrocity on Saturday which killed seven people and injured nearly 50 others. Three terrorists ploughed into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at random as they roamed through Borough Market, leaving people with horrific injuries.One of the seven victims was a Canadian tourist who died in her fiance's arms moments after she was mowed...

Here in Cornwall we love our four-legged friends and we take them everywhere with us; to the beach, out to lunch and often in our cars – but did you know that taking your canine companion in your car with you could land you with a hefty fine and invalidate your insurance? Next time you think about driving to the beach with your dog, or packing a suitcase and heading on a dog friendly weekend away, you might want to think twice about how you're pooch is travelling. Many of us opt for...

New research has placed two of Cornwall's roads in the top 10, as A-roads are named the most treacherous stretches of road in the south west. Both the A39 and A390 are among the most dangerous roads for motorcyclists in the south west, with the A39 ranked second only to the A370 in North Somerset. The findings are the result of research compiled by insurance broker Swinton.Read next: A30 Temple roadworks: People think they will not finish in time and these photos show whyThe research also...

Release date:  Mon, 05/06/2017 (All day) Main image:  Summary:  If Cornish wildlife needed a place to play they could find no better location than Lethytep, near Lanreath. This stunning 52-acre garden is a haven designed specifically to attract wildlife and it is one of the regular supporters of Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s Open Gardens scheme.

Event details:
• Fulltitle of event: Open Garden – Lethytep
• Date and time of event: Sunday 18th June11am to 4.30pm
• Where to meet:Lethytep, Penaldlake, Lanreath, PL13 2PG
• Cost of event: adults £5 under 16s free

This year Lethytep opens on Sunday 18th June from 11am to 4.30pm. Admission to the garden is £5 per adult, with under 16s free. Pasties, cream teas, and beverages will be provided by Crantock Bakery, Roddas and Cornish Coffee. Sorry, no dogs allowed at this one. 

Wild flower meadows descend to three large ponds full of aquatic plants, birds and insects. A meandering path leads along a grass meadow, down through the woods then out onto a wetland area full of wildflowers, orchids, dragonflies and butterflies. Gardeners will enjoy this one just as much as the wildlife does. 

There is a large area of car parking and you can’t miss the signs. They have been specially produced by owner Phillip Hambly in the shape of Kingfishers with the beak of the bird showing the way.

Chris Betty, Communications Officer for the Trust, says, 

“We are so grateful to the gardens which open for the Trust and Lethytep is an old friend. We are sure you will enjoy visiting this one just as much as we do.”

This will be the sixth year the Trust has run their Open Gardens fundraising scheme which has grown year on year and provides much-needed funds to protect the wildlife and wild places of Cornwall. The event now has an overall sponsor with Cornwall tourism company Stayincornwall.co.uk

Other gardens opening for the Trust this year are: July 2nd Meadowside, Trevarth, Redruth, July 23rd Trenarth, High Cross, Constantine near Falmouth, August 20th Bolts Quarry Farm, at St. Breward near Bodmin, September 3rd Mazey Cottage, Tangies, Helston, and September 10th Tanglewood Wild Garden, Newbridge, Penzance

More details can be found here
                                                                
 

They weren't the heroes the city wanted, but they were the ones it needed. When traffic gets really bad and everyone is getting hot and bothered, the last thing you expect is a bunch of lads wearing grass skirts to save the day. But that's exactly what happened this weekend. Rugby players physically lifted a car out of the way after it was left in the middle of the road, blocking a bus and causing long traffic queues. The stag do party dressed in Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts lifted...

These are the sites where 27,000 new homes could be built in Cornwall. The Site Allocations Development Plan Document (DPD) shows where the majority of the 52,000 homes the Government wants built in the county up to 2030 will go. The proposals were open for consultation last year and also set out the main employment sites around Cornwall. The plan was endorsed by Cornwall Council's Cabinet in March and this month is due to go forward for a further public consultation.Read more: Boy aged...

Welcome to our live coverage of all the day's biggest stories, traffic and travel from across Cornwall on Monday, June 5, 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 Gareth here until 2.30pm when I hand over to the late team. If you've seen something going on and want us...

If you have been wondering just what has been going on behind the hoarding which has been around the former Falmouth Beach Hotel site since it burnt down in 2014 - we can show you. The final touches are currently being made to a new £2 million health club at St Michael's Hotel which also features an indoor running track and outdoor fitness terrace. It is part of a £6 million scheme to create a wellbeing resort. It will boast one of the largest hydrotherapy pools and gyms in the...

The second terror attack to strike Britain in less than two weeks has left seven people dead and almost 50 injured.The attack shook the country, with reports suggesting a van was ploughed into people on the iconic London Bridge before three suspects got out of the van and started attacking people with knives.Read more: These missing people from Cornwall have not been seen for up to eight years or moreIt has also been reported that the suspects were wearing jackets with fake explosives...

A Cornish teenager might have to face a total hip replacement due to an alleged mistake at the Royal Cornwall Hospital three years ago. Growing up Jodie Tamblin, from St Austell, suffered from a rare hip condition that affects children and young people called perthes.Three years ago, when Jodie was just 12, she went to the Royal Cornwall Hospital to undergo a set of X-rays.Read more: These missing people from Cornwall have not been seen for up to eight years or moreBut allegedly the radiographer...