News

With Somerset on amber alert for extreme heat today, South West Ambulance is asking people to only dial 999 in an absolute emergency. The main A30 road through Sherborne is still closed following a gas leak that shut the road yesterday. Extra funding is being given to pay for improvements at Yeovil Crematorium. More volunteers are wanted to help young people in care in Somerset and Work is yet to start building a new McDonald’s off the Southfields roundabout on the A303.

Residents in the Hendford Hill area of Yeovil have won their fight to stop a former care home from being converted into a homeless hostel. Another heat warning is in force in Somerset today with the Met Office forecasting extreme heat up to Saturday. A local man caught growing cannabis has been jailed for three years and seven months and National Highways is advising motorists in Somerset to check their tyres more often to avoid the risk of breaking down.

Controversial plans to convert a former care home in Yeovil into a homeless hostel are due to be decided at a meeting tonight. A new report claims the freight industry in the southwest created over 11 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2019. Misterton Church of England First School is to re-open as an education centre for vulnerable children. A local motorist has been given a suspended prison sentence for drink driving and with the hot dry weather set to continue, more calls have been made to permanently ban disposable barbeques.

New figures have shown that bus passenger numbers in Somerset are thirty percent below what they were before the pandemic. New research has shown that it has become almost impossible to register as a new patient with an NHS dentist in Somerset. A Somerset man has been explaining why he’s decided to return to Ukraine. A fully accessible forest school has been launched near Langport and more.

Plans to improve the appearance of Wincanton have been put on hold following a change of mind at South Somerset District Council. A campaign has been launched to have the gates to Yeovil Town’s original ground at Pen Mill preserved. Volunteers are needed to help with the rollout of the Covid19 booster programme in Somerset. The site of a former garage on the A30 Yeovil to Sherborne dual carriageway has been put up for sale with development potential...and more.

Plans to improve the look of Wyndham Street in Yeovil are to go ahead following a change of mind by members of South Somerset District Council. An investigation is being held into a fire near Ilminster in which two campervans were destroyed. Rising costs and staffing challenges are affecting small businesses in Somerset, according to the Federation of Small Businesses. Police are asking people in South Somerset to look out for a convicted drug offender...and more.

A Yeovil woman has been given a nine-month suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to possessing materials for making an explosive. Police are appealing for help in finding a wanted Yeovil man. A Somerset cancer charity is behind a new film that stresses the importance of checking for early symptoms of the disease. Eight lock-up garages in Yeovil have been sold at auction for £58,500 and Pupils at Holyrood Academy in Chard have signed their names onto a steel frame being used in the construction of a new extension to the school.

The new CEO of Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil says the business is in good health. Wessex Water says it had no plans to introduce a hosepipe despite the above-average dry spell. The cost of rural crime in Somerset has fallen by 22% in the space of twelve months, that's according to NFU Mutual. An ancient oak tree has been cut down to make way for a new slip road off the A303 at Sparkford despite a protest to keep it standing and a new Lord Lieutenant has been appointed to represent Somerset.

NHS Somerset is urging people who haven't had any or all of their Covid-19 vaccinations to do so. A report on delivering a new relief road in Chard won't be made public now until the late autumn. King Alfred's Tower at Stourhead is to reopen for its 250th anniversary. A labyrinth shaped like a giant snail has been cut into the grass of a hay meadow near Langport and Compton House Cricket Club, who play at Compton Park near Sherborne have been given planning permission to build a new pavilion.

Up to one hundred new houses could be built on the edge of Crewkerne if plans are approved. People in Somerset are being asked for their thoughts on how nuclear fuel is stored at Hinkley Point C. A decision will be taken before the end of the year on whether plans to build new railway stations at Somerton and Langport will go forward. Somerset County Council is asking people to nominate public places that are positive about breastfeeding...and more.

An inspectorate report says there are concerns about the behaviours of some staff members of Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service. Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil has set out its case for manufacturing a new fleet of aircraft for the British military. A Somerset charity that supports disadvantaged young people is looking to recruit more volunteers and the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, Annie Maw, has completed her 70-mile Jubilee Jaunt.

A Yeovil children’s nursery has been shut down due to "safeguarding concerns". Police have issued images of two men they want to question in connection with the theft of a quadbike in Yeovil. Plans have been submitted to convert a pub in Chard into a house. Waterlake Road in Tatworth near Chard is closed today and for the next two days for repairs to a domestic water pipe...and more.

A box of old family photographs from the 1950s has been found in a store room at Pen Mill railway station in Yeovil during a clearout. Protesters are continuing to occupy a giant historic oak tree near Sparkford to stop it from being cut down as part of work to dual the A303. Rail passengers in Somerset are being advised not to travel today unless it’s absolutely necessary. Police are continuing their investigation into the death of a one-month-old baby in Chard...and more.

People in Somerset are being encouraged to use a new website to tell police about public places where they feel or have felt unsafe. Rail passengers are being advised that due to strike action by the RMT, ASLEF, and the TSSA unions, only a limited number of trains will be running in Somerset tomorrow. A charity that supports women dealing with addiction and other issues is planning to open more advice centres in Somerset...and more.

A planning application has been submitted to build an enclosed artificial pitch on playing fields at Preston School in Yeovil. Patient satisfaction with GP services in Somerset has dropped to its lowest ever level, according to a new survey. A new visitor attraction opens this week at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and A woman from Somerton is taking on a 290-mile running challenge.