A rapist broke into his victim's house after trying to get in through upstairs windows as she raised the alarm through a Facebook message.Darren Whelband, from Camelford, used a ladder to try to get through two upstairs windows before smashing through a glass panel in the front door of the house.The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, could not alert the police because there was no mobile signal in the area and Whelband had broken her landline handset.She tried to report his attack on...

An incredibly rare guitar, one of only 75 ever made, has just been sold off for £9,000 – in Truro city centre.Renowned rock and roll music shop Modern Music, which has been in the heart of Truro for 35 years, recently bought in an authentic Martin D-28 John Lennon 75th anniversary edition, steel-strung guitar.The stunning acoustic arrived in the popular shop last week and was immediately snapped up by a "big fan" who paid £9,000 for it.As well as being one of only 75...

Firefighters arrived just in time to stop a fire from ripping through a house in Newquay.Crews from the town were called to a fire in a two-storey house on Henver Road shortly after 10.30am on Tuesday.On arrival they discovered a fire on the ground floor of the property, which started in the living room.Two fire crews from Newquay community fire station attended the scene.The living room and its contents were destroyed in the fire, which was extinguished within an hour.Read more: Family comes to...

A pensioner with cancer who is confined to a wheelchair due to childhood polio has been forced to pay nearly £100 for a taxi to hospital after new rules appear to deem her "independent" and deny her specialist transport.Jennifer Summers, 72, is about to undergo three weeks of radiotherapy and needs to attend an appointment on Friday (August 25) but claimed she was denied the transport service to and from the Royal Cornwall Hospital when she called to book her lift, as she had...

A £17.6 million deal to take ultrafast broadband to thousands more homes and businesses in some of Cornwall's most remote places has been unveiled.The third phase of the Superfast Cornwall programme will see the latest Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) technology - capable of delivering speeds up to one gigabit per second (Gbps) – rolled out to more than 7,000 premises by the end of 2019.The first locations to benefit are expected to be announced on the www.superfastcornwall.org website...

A devastated family from Summercourt is coming to terms with losing thousands of pounds worth of pony equipment in an arson attack which also killed its beloved guinea pigs.Chloé Cookson and her friends could only watch as a fire ripped through their new yard in the village shortly before midnight on Tuesday, August 15.A shed full of horse tack (equipment) worth thousands of pounds was burnt to the ground, as was the hutch in which guinea pigs Vivian and Gordon were sleeping as the fire...

A 17-year-old living in Cornwall has been told he faces a prison sentence after admitting raping his girlfriend on the sofa despite her repeatedly saying she did not want to have sex.The teenager is facing a possible jail sentence for forcing himself on the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and leaving her in tears.The girl, aged 17 at the time, fell asleep on a sofa at her Plymouth home after the couple watched a film, a court heard.She awoke to find her boyfriend touching her...

A homeless man with a Union Jack tattoo across his cheek asked passers-by about the value of items inside before attempting to break into a St Austell business.Gareth White, 38, previously of Horse Whim Drive in St Austell, appeared at Truro Crown Court via video link from Exeter prison to be sentenced after previously pleading guilty to two counts of possession of a knife or bladed article in public and attempted burglary.Prosecuting barrister Francesca Whebell told the court how on June 26...

Hedges can be a thing of beauty, a simple boundary, a haven for wildlife – or a source of neighbourly conflict.Now the government has issued advice to gardeners in the hope of avoiding confrontations.A hedge can be cheap to create and last for a long time. It can help bring wildlife into your garden; and its flowers, berries and leaves can add colour and beauty.What does the law say?You don't normally need permission to plant a hedge in your garden, the Department for Communities and Local...

RNLI lifeguards come from all walks of life and when they're not on patrol they get up to some really thrilling things – but what motivates them to return year after year and keep us safe on the coast?If someone is unfortunate enough to get in trouble this season they may even be rescued by a professional surfer. Mike Lay first got involved with the RNLI after spending summers on his local beach of Gwenver shortly after leaving school.To the envy of many Mike has spent the last two years...

The legendary Volkswagen Campervan is a common sight in Cornwall and now it's making a comeback - this time it will be electric and have sports car acceleration. Potential customers wrote to the German car giant urging them to turn the concept unveiled in January into reality. And VW has now announced that the surfers' favourite will be making a return to the roads by 2022. The all-electric four-door vehicle - dubbed the I.D. Buzz - will be a modern interpretation of the original model;...

A man who witnessed a seal receiving horrific injuries when it was caught on a boat's propeller on a pleasure boat tour in St Ives harbour has described the terrible incident.Reports surfaced on Saturday (August 19) that a seal in St Ives was struck by a propeller after being fed from a boat in the harbour.The seal was able to swim away but it is believed that the injuries sustained would not be survivable.Many responses have expressed concern the victim could one of the well-known harbour seals...

Police are keen to trace a man who may have information vital to a police investigation following a serious sexual assault in Falmouth earlier this year.Officers are investigating the offence, which took place at an address in Bank Place in the early hours of Sunday, May 14.The appeal for the potential witness was issued today.Read more: Police seize air rifles and replica handguns in raid near HelstonA spokesman said: "Police would like to identify and speak to the man pictured in...

Camborne Library will temporarily close for several weeks to allow an extensive repair and refurbishment programme to be completed.Ownership of the building will be transferred to Camborne Town Council and the badly needed improvement works will allow the library to be used for greater community benefit.A temporary library will be available at the Dolcoath Council Offices while the building is closed.The library service will return to its home as soon as the works are completed and the town...

Five children aged between 7 and 11 were among a group rescued after they were cut off by the tide in Cornwall. The children were with three adults and were caught in a small cove near to Porthcothan, on the north coast by Padstow. Another swimmer was also picked up in the operation, which took place on Monday at around 4.15pm. Read next: Crantock beach owners warned of 'possible fatal situation' months before man lost his life Coastguards were alerted and the Padstow and Newquay RNLI...

No one can argue that west Cornwall is not the place to be this August Bank Holiday weekend. That's a fact every year due to the Newlyn Fish Festival, but this year there's something special coming ashore in the form of the town's latest Guinness World Record attempt. The street corners of Penzance will once again become awash with buccaneers on Sunday 27. They will be hoping to regain the town's record of having "the largest gathering of people dressed as pirates". In 2014, more...

Could you decide if these were real or replica guns? Police warned that firearms officers might well shoot if confronted with similar looking weapons on the street. The two air rifles and five replica handguns were seized recently and look so much like the real thing, that police officers might well - given little time to react - assume they were real guns. Tactical firearms commander Ian Drummond Smith posted pictures of the weapons with the chilling warning: "Real or fake? One second to...

It has become one of the most talked-about 'trends' in with young babies recently.Social media has been littered with pictures of mums and dads posting snaps of their budding water baby being helped to swim with a neck float.But swimming teachers and parenting organisations have said they are seriously concerned about its safety.Read more: Mum claims she was asked to leave a pub because of her pramThey have even gone so far to label the accessory as a 'death trap'.A baby in a neck floatThe...

Good morning and welcome to our daily live blog for Tuesday, August 22. We're hoping for a scorcher today - well, at least the hottest day in August so far, which isn't saying much. We'll be bringing you all the latest news, weather, traffic, travel and information from across Cornwall to start your day today. If you see anything we're not talking about, please let us know. Did you catch the solar eclipse last night? We've seen some fab pictures from Plymouth following our live blog last...

The fate of Truro's popular bowling alley is in question after Cornwall Council purchased a large amount of land in the city centre.The council confirmed that it had bought a number properties and land at the top of Pydar Street, including the land that Truro Bowl sits on, but it won't reveal how much it paid.While the owners said that they had no plans to close the popular attraction, they added that they did not know what the future would bring.Read more: Watch driver left confused by road...