► NEWTON Abbot’s leading retailer, Austins, has this week confirmed it has taken over the adjacent former Marks & Spencer building on the town’s Courtenay Street.

The Jobcentre Plus will remain on the ground floor as the Department for Work and Pensions has a four-year lease. David Austin, managing director of Austins, said: ‘While the building is currently occupied as a Job Centre Plus, the acquisition is not only a big vote of confidence in Newton Abbot town centre, but offers the prospect of the building, which was an important part of the high street for so many years, being returned to retail use at some point in the future.

‘Austins holds a very positive view about the future of the high street, and for Newton Abbot as a town overall.

► HOMES had to be evacuated in Bovey Tracey on Sunday afternoon following the discovery of a grenade.

Police were alerted just after 5pm after reports the grenade had been found within a property on The Priory.

Officers attended and put a 50m cordon in place around the property. Homes within the area were evacuated.

Bomb disposal officers from the EOD were called in to check the device. They confirmed the grenade was not a viable device and collected it for disposal.

► A HIKE in licence fees for a beach hut on The Point in Teignmouth has been slammed by one of the hut owners.

Seasonal beach hut owners on The Point describe as ‘a disgrace’ that their licence has been increased by 135 per cent from the previous year.

Teignbridge Council have sent out an email saying that all councillors have voted for this increase to bring them into line with other sites and adjacent local authorities.

They say that they are responding to more cuts and make the ‘huts more commercial’.

► A RECENT pay rise has helped to reduce the number of waste staff vacancies in Teignbridge, councillors have heard.

Salaries were increased in the department in December after the district council acknowledged it was ‘consistently paying below average rates’ compared to the rest of Devon.

Driver wages went up from an average of £23,088 to £24,491, part of rises for all 166 staff in the waste department including loaders, sweepers and supervisors.

► DIY SOS TV star Julian Perryman ‘Jules’ has dug in to help a deserving local cause.

A much-needed construction project has finally got underway thanks to the efforts of Newton Abbot Rotary Club and a dash of showbiz star power to boot.

On Tuesday, Rotarians Martin Smith and Jeremy Newcombe were on site at Meadowside Residential Home in Newton Abbot as Jules of DIY SOS fame began building an access point onto Brownhills Road for vehicles.

► HOURS of free family fun, coupled with frank discussions about Newton Abbot’s future, were to be had in the town centre on Saturday.

Children, and the occasional young-at- heart adult, enjoyed egg decorating, balloon modelling plus egg and spoon races.

Larger-than-life mascot, Newton, put in an appearance as did two theatrical hatching eggs whose animated antics kept the crowds entertained.

► A MOTORCYCLE group brought their horsepower to Easter egg handout on Friday April 15.

THAT food bank in Buckland were joined by members of the Ride’til We Rot Society, an international society of bikers and trikers, for their Easter egg trail.

The foodbank dropped off more than 50 personalised family packs of Easter eggs to addresses across Buckland.

► SPECIAL Constables and members of the Teignmouth and Dawlish Rural Neighbourhood Team took part in a successful operation against poaching known as ‘OP Half Moon’.

The evening operation, which took place, last Friday, was aimed at detecting and preventing rural crime.

► SOCIETY of Independent Brewers’s (SIBA) beloved beer festival came back with a bang following a two year absence.

MaltingsFest finally returned on Thursday April 21 following previous years cancellations and this year it was more than just ale on the menu.

Guy Sheppard, Committee member for SIBA, said: ‘The festival was always just ales, but this year we have keg beers, lagers, craft beers, local gins, a rum, a whiskey and ciders.

‘It is still very much majoring on the beers, as brewers that’s what we want to sell.’