Tests as 'meningitis' victim named

A teenager who died from suspected meningitis in Wiltshire last week has been named as Katrina Johnson.

Cirencester College sent out 1,300 letters to students and their families following the death of the 16-year-old student.

The close family and friends of Katrina have been offered antibiotics as a precaution.

Tests are continuing at Manchester Meningococcal Reference Library to confirm the cause of the illness.

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Redundancy concerns go to EU

The plight of workers in the Forest of Dean facing redundancy at Xerox is being taken to Europe on Tuesday.

About 1,300 jobs are due to go in the next year.

Representatives of Unions, the RDA and politicians will be meeting the EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs.

The commissioner will be asked to investigate whether or not the company properly abided by EU legislation on employee consultation.

South West Labour Euro MP Glyn Ford is joining the delegation.

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Consultant rejects hepatitis concerns

A report linking herring gulls with a hepatitis threat to elderly people in North Devon has been discredited by the county's public health officer.

Housing officers on Torridgeside have taken advice from Gullguard, a Kent-based company, and their report to councillors claims that herring gulls carry hepatitis B.

This has raised concerns that they potentially could infect residents of a sheltered housing scheme at Griggs Close in Northam.

But Devon's public health consultant, Dr Mark Kealy, says that the disease could never be passed on in the way described by the report.

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Dredging starts in county's rivers

Work to combat the risk of flooding around rivers in Somerset starts today.

In recent years, thousands of tons of sand and shingle have been washed down from Exmoor, clogging up many rivers.

It is feared they will overflow unless they are cleared before the bad weather arrives again.

Dredging work is being carried out by the Environment Agency, which hopes to save many homeowners and farmers from flood misery this winter.

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Health chief backs changes

People in Cornwall are being assured that medical services will not suffer when the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Health Authority merges with other South West organisations.

There is speculation that the headquarters of the new authority may be across the county border in Devon.

But the Regional Director for the NHS in the South West, Tony Laurence, says the changes will benefit the area.

He says it will bring decision-making closer to the patient.

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Somerset gets disease all-clear

North Somerset has been declared foot-and-mouth free.

The area's agricultural and tourist trades have suffered major financial losses since the outbreak.

On farms where animals had to be slaughtered some restrictions will remain in place but the tough rules governing moving livestock were lifted at midnight on Monday.

Large dairy farms will now be able to sell cattle, helping other farms in the region to restock.

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Surf degree makes a big splash

The success of a South West surf science degree has been defended and boosted by a senior academic.

The course at the University of Plymouth has proved so popular that it has attracted interest from abroad.

A year ago, the former head of Ofsted, Chris Woodhead, classed it with what he called "silly degrees" and said it was not a strict academic discipline.

But Universities UK president Professor Roderick Floud defends the degree, saying the course has attracted interest from universities in Hawaii and Australia, and others in the world-wide surfing industry.

The number of students on the course has trebled since it started two years ago.