PARISH councils in Torridge have combined to donate more than £8,000 to The Long House Appeal.

It follows an idea by a Holsworthy Town Councillor, who wrote to many other councils seeking their support for the appeal through the Town and Parish (TAP) fund.

The TAP fund is provided by Devon County Council at £1 per elector and Torridge District Council at 10p per elector.

Councils needs to work together in order to access these funds so not all the available money is taken up and is usually referred to county and district councils.

Holsworthy town councillor Martin Prentice said he had the idea that if a number of councils agreed, then unused TAP funds could be donated to The Long House Appeal.

The Long House, North Devon Hospice's new outreach centre, which will provide a centre for hospice services closer to families in and around the area, is currently being built on land next to Holsworthy Medical Centre.

For the full report, and a round-up of the area news and sport, see this week's edition of the Post.