At 10pm on Thursday, the polls will close the counting gets under way to decide who will form the UK's next Government. Cornwall Live will be delivering the first and best coverage of the General Elections as they emerge with live blogs and the latest news of what's happening in the county and beyond. After the polls close, ballot boxes from polling stations across Cornwall will be gathered at two locations for counting. Truro and Falmouth and Camborne and Redruth, will be counted in...

Part of Truro city centre has been shut off to vehicles after a "serious accident" this lunchtime. Traffic experts Inrix say: "Prince's Street in both directions closed, very slow traffic due to serious accident at Boscawen Street, congestion on A390 Morlaix Avenue to Quay Street." We've been sent photos from the scene which show emergency services - paramedics and police - crowded around someone on the ground while ambulances wait. Our reporter Mike is headed to the...

Polling day is looming and this is the list of candidates for Cornwall's seats in the General Election. In the last General Election, just two years ago in 2015, numerous alternative parties gave the main groups a run for their money with one ballot paper listing a choice of up to nine. Read more: Cornwall Live Campervan Election Tour - Truro and Falmouth But this time the ballot paper is considerably shorter with just three names on two constituency lists, four on two and five on...

Anyone who has been in or near Helston is used to seeing military aircraft in the skies around RNAS Culdrose – but an unusual flight by two veteran aircraft certainly turned a few heads. The sight of the old Jetstream aeroplane and an old variant Sea King helicopter being airlifted by a Chinook helicopter was captured in a fascinating time-lapse video by photographer Bob Sharples on behalf of the Royal Navy. You can see the video above as the giant Chinook appears to dart and dance...

We all head out for a bit of fast food once in a while, but what exactly is the worst option you could go for when choosing from the menu? As anyone knows, a burger and fries from a takeaway isn't the healthiest option, but this could give some people another reason to end their fast food relationship. One user on social media site Reddit has posed the question online and received a huge response from takeaway restaurant staff around the world. Read next: Serious accident shuts Truro city...

How well do you know the rules of the road? Most of the Highway Code comes naturally to drivers - but there are a few laws that might take you by surprise. Yes, we all know that if you speed faster than the limit or if you cross a solid white line to overtake, you're breaking the law. But there are other laws you may not even know about. In fact, some of us may regularly commit them without even realising. Read next: This is why you could face £2,500 fine and 9 penalty points for...

A busy route through Truro has been shut this morning after a fire broke out at a house near the main road. Here's the roads affected by the fire, and we will bring you live updates from the scene in our live blog which will load below. B3284 ST CLEMENT STREET - TRURO - CORNWALL Slow traffic on B3284 St Clement Street at Campfield Hill, congestion to Union Street and on Carvoza Road to Bodmin Road / Mitchell Hill.Due to house fire that has occurred at Parkins Terrace off St Clement...

Release date:  Tue, 06/06/2017 (All day) Main image:  Summary:  An extremely rare species of earthworm, only recorded once before in Britain has been discovered on Tremough Campus, Penryn during a Recording Workshop organised by the Environmental Records Centre for Cornwall and Isles of Scilly (ERCCIS) who are hosted by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

Alison Laing and Charlotte Bain, both students at the campus, found the worm while attending an ERCCIS identification workshop on earthworm recording. Matthew Shepherd from Natural England confirmed their identification of the earthworm as Aporrectodea cupulifera, which previously only had one British record, from Cumbria.

Laura Fox, ERCCIS Workshop Coordinator says,

“It is unclear whether this species truly is as rare as it seems, or merely very under-recorded. The main purpose of ERCCIS workshops is to improve skills and confidence in identifying and recording species groups in order to help fill the gaps in our knowledge.”

The specimen will be taken the Natural History Museum in London, and the record supplied to the Earthworm Society as the official national recording scheme, who share their records with the NBN and local record centres.

ERCCIS and Cornwall Wildlife Trust are always keen to hear about your wildlife sightings, anything from earthworms to humpback whales. You can share your sightings through the Online Recording Kernow and Scilly website www.ORKS.org.uk or via email to WIS@cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk.
 

A yachtsman had to be rescued by an RNLI lifeboat crew after suffering a head injury off the Cornish coast in what was described as "horrendous weather conditions". The crewman on board the Irish-registered yacht Encore suffered the injury as gale force winds swept across Cornwall over night. The boat, which was an hour out from Sennen Cove at the time, sent a distress call shortly after 6am on Tuesday (June 6). The all-weather lifeboat from Sennen Cove Lifeboat Station was...

This summer will bring the introduction of the new plastic ten pound notes – but what is happening to the millions of old ones currently changing hands? The new polymer notes are set to arrive in September, probably leading to weeks of speculation over unique serial numbers, bizarre defects and how much they make them worth. There are a 723 million paper tenners still in circulation though, but the Bank of England does have a plan to deal with them.Read next: Over £2k raised to...

The company that has gone from providing for the young to providing for the old with plans for an elderly dementia care home on the site of a former Falmouth pub said work could start as early as spring next year. It all depends on permission – first for One Red Ltd's outline application relating to access to the former Four Winds site only, which is due to be submitted this month. A scheme for purpose-built student housing on the site was refused earlier this year and the site owners...

It has been confirmed that three people have died following a serious crash on the A38 this evening. A van overturned on the Plymouth-bound carriageway of the A38. Read more: Former Cornish schoolboy and pilot killed in devastating plane crash At the time of the incident it was believed that four people had suffered serious injuries. It has been confirmed that sadly, three people have now died. The Plymouth Herald reported that the road had been closed and that three air ambulances as...

Trains in and out of Cornwall are being disrupted due to the heavy rain and strong winds hitting the county. Crosscountry has cancelled its services through Dawlish in Devon on the main line between Penzance and London. Read more: This is why it's so dark in Cornwall at the moment - and there's more days of darkness ahead A CrossCountry Trains spokesman said: "Due to a combination of high tide and forecast strong onshore winds causing waves to overtop the sea wall at Dawlish, some...

A man has been slammed for risking his own life after he "surfed" on the roof of a moving car in Newquay. The daredevil can be seen clinging to the top of the vehicle as it sped out of the McDonalds/Lidl junction on Treloggan Road on Friday evening. Newquay resident Paul Smith captured the crazy scene on camera and shared his images in the Newer Newquay community Facebook page. Read next: Newquay man jailed for life for murdering two-year-old toddlerMr Smith said: "I think...

A former Bodmin College student who trained as a pilot in Cornwall has been killed in a devastating plane crash in Australia. The tragic accident in the South Australian Riverland, claimed the lives of all three passengers on-board, including that of chief pilot and father, Martin Scott, who had previously undertaken aviation training across Cornwall. Read more: This is where 27,000 new homes will be built in Cornwall Australian police found the plane wreckage in forestland, about 4km...

Sheryll Murray's team has spoken of "concerns for her safety" after the hustings chaos that took place in Callington on Saturday. People have been left shocked by a video that shows the South East Cornwall Conservative candidate arguing with constituents before telling her team to call police to remove a disabled woman with whom she clashed.Read more: First London terror attack victims named and families of missing desperately appeal for helpAmid accusations of assault from Ms Murray's...

A well-known dairy farmer and property developer has been crushed to death by his own tractor after his dog apparently entered the cab and set the machine in motion. Businessman Derek Mead, 70, a former columnist on the Western Morning News, is understood to have suffered a heart attack after the "tragic accident" on his farm on Sunday afternoon. Read more: Grass skirt-wearing stag party become traffic heroes after lifting car blocking the road It is understood that the...

The owner of a "stolen" Rolex watch has claimed a Swiss auction house tried to blackmail him into buying it back. Philip McColl, from Flushing, made the claim as police seized the item from Christies. Mr McColl, 68, was given the £10,000 timepiece by Italian billionaire Raul Gardini after the pair became friends shortly before the tycoon's death. But the yacht engineer was left heartbroken when he lost the Rolex Submariner in 1998 and thought he would never see it again. Read...

Huge multi-million-pound plans which would dramatically transform Wadebridge have been unveiled. A property developer has submitted fresh plans to build 146 houses at Bodieve Park and relocate Wadebridge Town Football Club, at a cost of nearly £5 million, as well the development of 300 homes on another site between Gonvena Hill and Bradford's Quay. Leicester-based Michael Merriman has been trying to develop the football club site since 2007, initially promoting plans for a Morrisons...

Swedish flat pack furniture giant IKEA may have said it will never build a store in Cornwall but it might still recruit you for its new Devon store. The company is recruiting some 350 people for its new outlet in Exeter and some of these jobs will be paid more than £33,000 a year. The company said the retail roles will see the total number of staff employed in the UK rise to 11,700. Read more: Ikea says you shouldn't have to travel more than 2.5 hours to reach a store - then shuns...