'Cooking' brings cancer hope

Radiologists at the Bristol Royal Infirmary are pioneering a technique that offers hope to some patients with inoperable liver cancer.

They are using new equipment that literally cooks small tumours in the liver.

Heated to 70C, cancerous cells are killed off, but the liver itself is able to recover.

The new treatment could save the lives of hundreds of patients who cannot have surgery.

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New bank saves silt peninsula

A new 300-metre earth bank has been built to prevent farmland alongside the Bristol Channel reverting to a tidal silt marsh.

Coastal defences are regularly eroded on the Steart Peninsula, a remote headland formed by river deposits near Bridgwater, Somerset.

The Environment Agency says it is confident the £30,000 project will protect it from high tides that frequently swamp it.

Critics say a more lasting solution could be found.

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Cash for moor ponies

The government may be asked to pay commoners to graze ponies on Dartmoor.

They already receive a Traditional Breed Supplement for putting sheep and cattle on the moor.

Now the National Park Authority is considering asking for the ponies to be officially recognised as a traditional breed too, to qualify for the payments.

It has identified 10 areas of the moor that need grazing, and is planning to buy up its own herd to help with the job - and to raise the breed's profile.

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Church restored with horsehair

A Gloucestershire church has been renovated using methods that date back to the late 14th Century.

St Mary's parish church in Arlingham, has been re-clad with harling, a mixture of horsehair, lime putty and small stones.

The church has also had its stained-glass windows cleaned.

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Flying vixen returns home

A plane that flew over Somerset during the 60s and 70s is returning to the county - in a ground role.

The Royal Navy Sea Vixen is being brought back to RNAS Yeovilton after spending 20 years in storage at a military compound in Hampshire.

It will be put on display as a "gate guardian" at the base entrance, helping to attract visitors to the Fleet Air Arm Museum.

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Chemical scare clears school

About 250 children were evacuated from a Cornwall school on Thursday after a chemical was spilled at the end of a science lesson.

A white mist filled the air at the Humphrey Davy School in Penzance and the children were ordered out of classrooms.

A spokeswoman for Cornwall Fire Brigade said it was not clear how "highly dangerous" white phosphorous was spilled.

Firefighters in chemical protection suits put down copper sulphate and washed out the area.