BBC News Devon

Visitors to a holiday resort in Devon are being given duck whistles to help them maintain social distancing on woodland paths.

Staff at Cofton Holidays, near Dawlish, are hoping the whistles will mean guests can alert others to their presence while in "dense woodland" or "when passing dips and bends on walking and cycling trails".

Cofton Holidays

"Not only do the whistles offer an added sense of security, but they’re also an awful lot of fun," said director Chris Jeffrey.

"I piloted the whistles with my children before rolling them out – my youngest son Teddy initially thought it was another one of dad’s silly ideas, but in the end both Teddy and his older brother Harry had a great time running around "quacking" in the woods," he added.

Plymouth Argyle FC

Plymouth city council is being taken to court over its plans to rename Sir John Hawkins square after the black Plymouth Argyle player Jack Leslie.

In June the city council announced it would remove the slave trader's name after global protests against racial injustice were sparked following the death of George Floyd in the US.

Danny Bamping is one of 60 residents who contacted the Magistrates court to appeal the proposals.

He said while he supported the erection of Jack Leslie's statue outside Plymouth Argyle, changing the name of a square "at the other end of the city" was a "knee-jerk reaction".

Kelly Greenaway, the great, great niece of Mr Leslie, asked: "Why would you want a square named after a slave-trader?

"How some people must feel walking past that square, knowing that their ancestry or their history before was involved with that certain person before".

A court hearing has been set for 11 September.

More than a fifth of the nationwide rescues carried out by the coastguard on Saturday were in the south west of England.

Saturday saw a record number of incidents across the country, as the Maritime and Coastguard Agency dealt with 340 individual call-outs - the highest in four years.

Devon accounted for 43 of those rescues, while there were a further 31 in Cornwall, as sunny weather saw locals and holidaymakers flock to the region's beaches.

BBC

Across the country, the service rescued 146 people and assisted a further 371 people.

"We have seen a big rise in incident numbers this weekend as more people visit coastal areas and head to the beach," said Richard Hackwell from HM Coastguard.

"We understand that people want to have fun at the coast and enjoy the heatwave but we urge everyone to respect the sea and take responsibility in helping to ensure the safety of themselves, friends and family. “We’re heading into a period of more good weather so we want to remind you to check and double check tide times as even the most experienced swimmer or keen water sports enthusiast can get caught out by currents and tides," he added.