woop woop #Ikea is coming to Exeter! There goes my bank balance

— Gina Caro (@Gina_Caro) March 17, 2013

Asda and ikea is coming to exeter, make me not want to leave! Eekk

— Sophie greenham(@sophiegreeenham) March 15, 2013

Fan news just heard IKEA is coming to Exeter! No more traipsing up to Bristol! Woo hop!

— Rachel Morris (@kidmorris) March 13, 2013

No joke, Mum, Dad and I just spent like 5 minutes dancing around the living room because Ikea is coming to Exeter.

— Cal (@littlec0mets) March 12, 2013

After a number of near misses with traffic on the road, a Devon horse rider is calling for drivers to be reminded to pass wide and slow.

Emily Fisher regularly rides her horse on country lanes particularly in the Broadclyst area of Exeter – on the road towards Town and Country Supplies – and has encountered numerous incidences with cars, plant hire vehicles and HGVs.

"I've found that a significant number of drivers who pass horses on the road just don't seem to take any care when overtaking, particularly in narrow places. I can't stress enough that a reminder of the highway code should be put out to the public to recognise various signals when asked of them by horse riders – for example to stop and slow down."

Emily added: "Many a time my horse has been spooked by speeding cars that simply fail to slow down. They are clearly not aware that horses are flight animals – they either fight or run."

According to Emily, Devon County Council has put horse warning road signs in place, however this appears to have had no effect.

"The traffic seems to have a total disregard for these signs, in fact they have increased their speed significantly along these lanes and take no care when approaching and passing horses," said Emily. "I feel I would be safer riding on a main road!"

Emily highlighted the fact that this was not just a problem for horse riders as there are many cyclists, walkers and young children who also use these roads.

"I feel it's getting worse. I understand that the road speed limit is at national speed limit but drivers must be aware that they need to slow down especially in the narrow places. Blasting past puts both horse, rider and driver at risk – horses don't dent, they die and the impact would cause some serious damage to the vehicle too."

Emily feels that the situation is made worse due to the state of the roads which currently have deep ruts in places. "Drivers are driving more central – but just aren't being considerate to the horse."

When riding out Emily always wears her reflective gear which includes a tabard / waistcoat with the words 'Please Pass wide and slow', as well as a hat band. Her horse also wears reflective gear.

"Hopefully by reminding drivers of the highway code signals they will know what to do when asked to slow down."

The British Horse Society (BHS), which launched its accident reporting website, www.horseaccidents. org.uk in November 2010, says there have been 17 incidents reported in Devon. This included one horse fatality. In 76% of these cases drivers passing too close was cited as a contributory factor.

The BHS has just joined forces with road safety organisation GEM Motoring Assist to take a new approach to horse and rider safety on the roads. Together they have created a 'Horse Rider Safety' leaflet to promote road safety for both horse riders and drivers alike.

Sheila Hardy, senior executive safety at the BHS, said: "It is very easy to blame other road users for accidents or misunderstandings on the road. If we have a greater understanding of the needs and concerns of others it can only serve to make everyone safer on the roads."

It was announced yesterday that the Government is to implement nearly all of the changes recommended by Tory peer Lord Heseltine last year in his report, No Stone Unturned.

Lord Heseltine called for the Government to slash red tape and hand back decision-making powers to the regions, giving them greater say over matters including transport, housing, and vocational training to boost economic growth.

The Government will create a single pot of money, in 2015, which Local Enterprise Partnerships will bid into and spend on projects of their choice.

Lord Heseltine wanted this to be worth around £70 billion but it is believed that the pot will fall well short of this.

Lord Heseltine said: "The Chancellor's decision to accept so many of the recommendations in my recent report No Stone Unturned is one of the most strategic supply-side decisions that I can remember. In essence, it accepts that London and its functional bureaucracies should rely more on the incentivisation of England's provinces and less on central instruction."

In return for greater financial control, the Government will make LEPs set out their long-term plans in Local Growth Deals, with £500,000 of funding over two years made available to help them do this.

The chief executive of the Devon and Somerset Local Enterprise Partnership, Liz Waugh, welcomed the increased funding but urged the Government to ensure that it is calculated in a way that does not favour the more densely populated areas of the South East and North West.

She called on the Government to ensure that rural areas received their fair share, saying she was "really concerned" that it would be done on a per capita basis.

"The concern is that the funding mechanism is fair and that there are sufficient opportunities to bid in from rural and coastal areas," said Ms Waugh. "We have been spending a lot of time talking to politicians, saying that urban centres are important, for example Plymouth has a City Deal, but you can't afford to ignore the rural economy. We want to see a counterpoint to the urban focus."

Chris Pomfret, chairman of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership, said that the combination of a single funding pot and the possibility of LEPs having more control of European funding could be "truly transformational."

But he, too, said he was concerned about the way funding arrangements would be calculated. "If I have one concern it's that it sounds like the money will be distributed on a formulaic basis," he said.

"If it's done on a formula of population then Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly tends to lose out because it's a relatively small population."

LEPs were announced in 2010 as private-sector led successors to Regional Development Agencies which would leverage in investment from business to drive growth.

But, in practice, the difficult trading conditions have meant that the private sector contribution has not been nearly as much as the Government had hoped, particularly in areas like the South West whose economies are dominated by small businesses that simply don't have the resources for such investment.

Exeter City could hold a psychological advantage in the npower League Two promotion race in that manager Paul Tisdale has been in this position many times before.

A thumping 4-1 win over Bradford City last Saturday left the Grecians firmly entrenched in the play-off zone, but, rather than settle for what they have, it is an automatic promotion place that they really crave.

Tisdale was at the helm when Exeter reached the Conference play-off final in 2007, when they lost to Morecambe. Twelve months later, he oversaw the Grecians' return to the Football League by returning to Wembley and beating Cambridge United and, a year later, City went up again as runners-up in League Two.

This time around, Gillingham look odds-on for the League Two title. They are four points clear of second-placed Port Vale (67 points) and have a game in hand, which they play tonight at Rochdale.

Burton Albion (66) are third, the last of the automatic promotion spots, Cheltenham Town (64) are fourth and Exeter fifth, on 63 points. City travel to seventh-placed Rotherham United (61) on Saturday with Tisdale looking for his side to put themselves into a strong position for the final games of the campaign.

"It's a cliche, but it is one game at a time," Tisdale said. "It's a cliche, but make sensible decisions, don't try and chase the games and win the games too early, but let the games come to you.

"There will be a team that wins five or six of their remaining games and there may be teams that lose five or six. We need to be in a position where we can put a run of wins together and that means being sensible.

"We have had real issues with the injuries and losing creative players in midfield like Matt Oakley, Alan Gow and Liam Sercombe has been a blow – and Tommy Doherty has been a loss to us as well.

"That is the issue we have at the moment, but every team will have them and it is how you deal with it."

The Grecians have been stretched at times and the recent losses of Oakley and Doherty led to Tisdale bringing in Lawson D'Ath on loan from Reading. He celebrated his debut in style by netting Exeter's second goal against the Bantams last Saturday, but, while he has been a welcome addition to the squad, the losses of Sercombe, Gow, Oakley and Doherty should not be under-estimated.

"Our challenge at the moment is dealing with that centre midfield injury crisis that we have got and we are dealing with it very well," Tisdale said.

"Every team at this stage of the season that is involved in the promotion push will have some sort of challenge, be it two or three suspensions at once, injuries in one position, a loss of confidence, or something. Our something at the moment is that injury challenge in midfield, but we are coping really well.

"We have changed our style a little bit and Scot Bennett and Mark Molesley played to their strengths superbly against Bradford."

However, while Exeter may be a little thin on the ground right now, they have allowed striker Tom Nichols rejoin Dorchester Town on a month's loan.

The 19-year-old has only featured three times for the Grecians this season and spent time at both Hereford United in Blue Square Bet Premier, and Bath City, in Blue Square Bet South.

Last season, Nichols enjoyed a successful spell with the Magpies and he will look to better that this time around and aid them in their push for the Blue Square Bet South play-offs.

Exeter supporters wanting a ticket for the Devon derby at Plymouth Argyle a week on Saturday are reminded that it is all-ticket for away fans, and they are on sale at the St James' Park ticket office.

Tickets will be sold on a strict two-per-person policy, and each buyer will only be able to make a single transaction (it will not be possible to buy two tickets on separate occasions).

Individuals or groups will be able to purchase for other eligible fans, provided they have full details – name, priority number and address/postcode or contact number – of each supporter. They are priced at £20 for adults, £15 for over-65s and students, £7 for under-18s.

City fan Neil Le Milliere is one of three supporters shortlisted for the npower Fan of the Year award at the 2013 Football League awards.

The shortlist is comprised one fan from each division, with the three fans in contention to receive the honour being Derby County supporter Nick Webster, Coventry City's Paty Raybould and Le Milliere.

Le Milliere is a co-opted member of the Exeter City Supporters' Trust, a member of Supporters Direct and founder of the London Exiles.

He researches the routes and accommodation for fans to get to Exeter's games, and also mans and runs a bottle bar at the ground with all the profits going back to the club.

The humble apostrophe looks to have been saved from extinction after a council leader signalled a U-turn on plans to ban punctuation from new road signs.

Mid Devon District Council sparked fury among lovers of English last week with plans to expunge the apostrophe to avoid "confusion".

Guardians of the language, including lecturers, editors and proof readers called the move "contemptuous", "disrespectful" and "unhelpful" to teachers.

The Conservative authority immediately gained worldwide notoriety and was reported in the New York Times as having sparked a "grammar war".

It initially said it was simply looking to formalise a long-standing policy, at a meeting of councillors next week.

But in a turnaround yesterday, Tory leader Peter Hare-Scott said: "The convention not to use apostrophes when naming new streets has been in place since long before this administration took over.

"Personally I'm not happy about using English that's incorrect and don't find this acceptable.

"We are reviewing the situation and I shall be recommending to cabinet on 28 March that they amend the policy so that street names may indeed in future have apostrophes".

Officials said only three streets in the district currently carry the mark – Beck's Square and Blundell's Avenue, both in Tiverton, and St George's Well in Cullompton. The proposed new naming and numbering policy document states streets should not be given names "that may be open to re-interpretation by graffiti or shortening of the name shall be avoided".

It adds: "All punctuation, including apostrophes, shall be avoided."

The new policy originated in a report by the council's head of information technology and was subsequently supported by the policy discussion group.

The council's communications manager Andrew Lacey said the proposal to amend the list of street names in the district "gazetteer" had been "recommended" to cabinet for approval and must now face a vote.

John Richards, founder and chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society, which has successfully forced the correction of signs with errors such as an offer to "print menu's", welcomed the reverse.

"If they have changed their mind then it is a good idea," Mr Richards said.

"It was very quick and just shows that pressure does work sometimes – they are to be praised as it is not often that councils change their mind."

The Government has been criticised for failing to take "simple measures" to tackle wildlife crime such as the poisoning of birds of prey which has blighted the Westcountry.

Ministers rejected calls by MPs to guarantee long-term funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit – led by Devon and Cornwall Police Inspector Nevin Hunter – in order to ensure it can fight such crime effectively, including monitoring criminal activity on the internet.

The Environment Department and Home Office have each committed £136,000 to the unit for its running in 2013-14 and no decision on funding for 2014-15 has yet been made, the Government said.

In its response to a report by the Environmental Audit Committee on wildlife crime, the Government also rejected steps to criminalise possession of the main poison – the pesticide carbofuran – used to kill birds of prey.

Two years ago, four goshawks, three peregrine falcons and a buzzard were found poisoned in Devon and Cornwall.

The MPs said the Government should bring in the order listing proscribed poisons "to send a clear signal that it regards poisoning birds of prey as wholly unacceptable" and make it easier to secure prosecutions.

But the Government said existing laws already make the sale, supply, storage and use of carbofuran illegal, with unlimited fines upon prosecution, and that it is a crime to use a poisonous substance to kill or take wild birds.

Tony Whitehead, from the RSPB in the South West, said: "Our network of wildlife crime officers do a great job. Devon and Cornwall Police's Operation Wilderness, launched last year, introduced sophisticated surveillance equipment to help guard rare bird of prey nests.

"Last year there were no reports of crimes against these magnificent birds in the county. But these officers need support; often they are doing their work in addition to their normal duties.

"This is one of the many things the National Wildlife Crime Unit can provide and it's vital it receives a guarantee of future funding."

He added: "Our courts need the option to deliver tougher sentences for those that commit crimes, and particularly for the possession of poisons such as carbofuran."

Ministers have concluded there are alternative ways to deal with the issue, such as running pesticide amnesties to ensure remaining supplies of products such as carbofuran are handed in.

Environmental Audit Committee chair Joan Walley said: "The Government has missed an opportunity to take two simple measures to protect important wildlife threatened by poachers and criminals in the UK.

"It has failed to follow Scotland's lead in criminalising possession of carbofuran, the main poison used to kill birds of prey.

"And it has refused to provide the long-term financial certainty that the National Wildlife Crime Unit needs, only making money available for the next 12 months."

Hazel the pickpocketing squirrel likes to take the aerial route to collect her lunch.

She is able to jump through the air to steal hazelnuts from her feeder's coat at her country park home in East Devon.

She developed the skill to obtain food from the rangers at Escot Park near Ottery St Mary who carry nuts for all of the eight red squirrels in the park's enclosure.

Leaping through the air, Hazel aims for park ranger Victoria Sissons's arm, before running along the sleeve and taking a peek inside her pockets.

Rangers have excused Hazel's behaviour because she is pregnant and gathering food ahead of giving birth.

And her behaviour is not unusual as red squirrels can jump up to 20ft through tree canopies when they spot food.

Hazel was born in 2011 in the enclosure at Escot, which is surrounded by 20ft of sheet metal to keep out grey squirrels that are a threat to the reds. She breeds with partner Big Red.

John-Michael Kennaway, whose family has owned the estate for 200 years, has helped to establish a small conservation area for red squirrels on his land.

Mr Kennaway said: "Hazel is the matriarchal type and was one of the first squirrels here, so she is also one of the braver ones.

"All the squirrels here are used to humans and are really tame. They know all the keepers and will happily forage in their pockets for food."

He added: "They even have a check in visitors' pockets despite us not encouraging them to feed the squirrels."

One day the staff at Escot hope to release the red squirrels into the wild near Land's End.