News Archive

Passenger numbers slump at airport

PASSENGER numbers at Newquay Cornwall Airport have plummeted by around 65,000 since the start of April compared to the previous year, latest figures reveal.

The 29% slump – from 222, 704 to 157,790 – has been blamed mainly on Air Southwest ceasing services on September 30 and the departure of Ryanair’s flights to Alicante.
October’s passenger numbers were down 47%, from 26,249 last year to 14,042 this year. Passenger numbers fell from 35,610 last June to 23,641 in June of this year, down 34%.

Cornwall Council is due to discuss the airport’s business performance at a Newquay Cornwall Airport Consultative Forum meeting tomorrow. The council has spent

[ View Story ]

Poker player Daniel nets $100,000

A CRANTOCK man has struck it lucky in Australia after winning $100,000 in a poker game.

Daniel Parsonage first played poker in a tournament at the Edgcliff Club in Newquay seven years ago and says he’s “never looked back”.

The 27-year-old travelled to Australia in late October after spending a week in Thailand.
He took part in a contest called Badbeat Jackpot which involved him sitting at a cash table online where he had a hand of four of a kind.

Despite the big win, Daniel hasn’t splashed out on anything

[ View Story ]

Trains to run on winter Sundays

A NEW winter Sunday train service is being launched on the Newquay branchline on Sunday – which could be the first in its 135-year history.

Three trains will run in each direction between Newquay and Par on Sundays throughout the winter. The new Sunday service will mean that Newquay will have trains every day of the week, all year round, apart from Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Researchers are looking at old timetables to establish whether Sunday winter trains have ever run on the Newquay-Par Atlantic Coast Line. It is believed to be the first winter

[ View Story ]

Top show spin-off plan for resort

TELEVISION bosses are reported to be planning a seaside spin-off series in Newquay of the reality hit show ‘The Only Way Is Essex’.

ITV2 is understood to have plans already underway to film a group of twenty-somethings living in the resort to document their life, loves and laughs.

‘The Only Way Is Essex’, a real-life soap opera which follows a group of youngsters living the glamorous Essex lifestyle, has won a series of awards since it first hit the screens in 2010.

Stars such as Lauren Goodger, Mark Wright and Joey Essex

[ View Story ]

Deal looms over Tregunnel scheme

A LONGSTANDING plan to build a major housing development on greenfield land in Newquay is earmarked for approval.

The Duchy of Cornwall’s proposal to build 174 properties and 572 square metres of employment space on fields between Tregunnel Hill and Trethellan are back on the table for a decision following negotiations. The company, which looks after Prince Charles’ business interests, is seeking to modify the planning requirement to provide 35% affordable housing without a grant, and instead offer 27.59% affordable housing, comprising 18 affordable rent and 30 shared ownership properties.

The Duchy also aims to provide an on-site informal play area, a financial contribution of £20,000 towards a public open space in the locality of the

[ View Story ]

Man airlifted from Towan cliffs

A DRAMATIC rescue unfolded at a Newquay beach on Monday evening when a young man was left stranded on rocks after being caught off guard by the rising spring tide.

A stroke of luck meant the man, who was wearing a white top, was spotted on the rocks above Towan Beach by a passing couple – one of whom is a Coastguard.
Andrew Maccreadie and his wife were walking past when they saw the man and, realising the tide was coming in, stopped and watched him.

Mr Maccreadie said the man went on to the rocks to take

[ View Story ]

Review into club's licence

A POPULAR Newquay pub and nightclub’s licence is under review after a 16-year-old girl was served alcohol.

The Chy Bar and Koola in Beach Road, which recently received a sexual entertainment venue licence to operate Wild Cherry lap dancing club, failed a Cornwall Council Trading Standards sting operation during the summer. The licence review will be held at a Cornwall Council Licensing Act sub committee meeting, which is being staged at its St Austell offices on Wednesday, December 28.

The action the council can take includes issuing an informal warning, modifying the conditions of the premises licence, exclude a licensable activity

[ View Story ]

Santa's coming to town!

HUNDREDS of people gathered at the weekend to welcome a very special Christmas visitor to Newquay.

Santa Claus arrived at the town by train on Saturday and was greeted by carol singers from St Columb Minor Academy and their parents.

He then travelled by sleigh to his grotto at Trenance Cottages, with the help of Newquay Towan Blystra Lions, where he then met hundreds of children over the weekend. The event, which continues next week on Saturday and Sunday (December 3-4) saw around

[ View Story ]

Surfers battered by huge waves

SEVERAL surfers were injured along Newquay’s beaches on Saturday as huge 12-foot waves pounded the shore.

A 20-year-old suffered face and head lacerations when he was hit by a wave attempting to jump off rocks into the water at South Fistral at about 10.40am.

The man was rescued after he had been dragged across the jagged rocks and washed into a gully. He was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro by ambulance to be treated

[ View Story ]

Disease outbreak shuts animal centre

AN animal rescue centre near St Columb Major has been closed following the outbreak of a suspected highly contagious disease.

The RSPCA William and Patricia Venton Animal Centre at Higher Quoit, which is the county’s main animal adoption and refuge facility, has shut in a bid to contain a canine parvovirus after a dog contracted the illness.

Although the virus, which mainly affects dogs, can be lethal, it does not infect humans. Pet owners have been warned not to take any animals to the centre until further tests have been carried out.

Jo Barr from the RSPCA said: “The animal centre believes the outbreak, which is transmittable

[ View Story ]