I’m sure many of us are concerned about the impact of the recent cold weather on those sleeping rough. Teignbridge District Council have reassured us that they have contacted all rough sleepers they are aware of in the area and offered them temporary accommodation. It should be emphasised that this offer hasn’t universally been taken up. However, if you are concerned about a rough sleeper you can report it via street link www.streetlink.org.uk and / or urge the person concerned to contact the Council. The emergency Council telephone number is 01395 516854 .

In addition due to the current weather the Council have released the following information

The Met Office has issued a red warning for snow in the south west for today. The forecast is for snow to develop through this afternoon and into the evening, significantly affecting Teignbridge. There’s also a chance the snow could freeze making difficult driving conditions.

The Local Resilience Forum has declared this as a major incident and Devon and Cornwall Police are encouraging people not to take unnecessary risks and stay safe.

We’ve been closely monitoring the situation and as many of you will have seen, the weather is not getting any better for at least 24 hours and despite the efforts of crews who did go out this morning as planned, were recalled as conditions were not safe and, additionally, the facility where black bin waste is taken had been closed. We’ve had to cancel bin collections until Monday 5 March.

The biggest priority for us is the safety of our staff and the public. Business critical services are being provided including any support for the homeless.

With this in mind, council facilities will be closing from 2pm, including Forde House and the leisure centres. Staff are being told to make their way safely home before 2pm.

We are keeping residents up to date via updates on our website www.teignbridge.gov.uk and via our twitter feed as well as liaising with media partners to help ensure people know what is happening.

We anticipate the offices will reopen tomorrow morning but given the predicted weather conditions, are asking staff to be pragmatic, take a sensible approach to what the situation may be like and liaise with their managers.

We will keep you updated and in the meantime hope you are all managing to keep safe, warm and out of Storm Emma’s way…