Friday 26th January

    The campaign to stop the closure of the acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital has ended in failure. People in Yeovil could be paying an extra £130 a year in council tax to Yeovil Town Council from April to fund Local Amenities. South Somerset saw the highest increase in the number of fly-tipping incidents in the South West in the year 2022 to 23...and more.

    The battle to stop the closure of the acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital has ended in failure for those who've campaigned to keep it open. At a meeting yesterday, NHS Somerset’s Integrated Care Board members voted to downgrade the Yeovil unit and provide a single emergency stroke unit for the whole County at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. 

    People in Yeovil could be paying an extra £130 a year in council tax to Yeovil Town Council from April to fund the Town Council's take-over of services like public toilets, Yeovil Recreational Centre and the Octagon Theatre that Somerset Council says it can no longer afford to provide. Yeovil Town Council will vote on the increase next Tuesday. 

    South Somerset saw the highest increase in the number of fly-tipping incidents in the South West in the year 2022 to 23. Incidents increase from 478 in 2021/22 to 801 in 2022/23 an increase of 67.5 percent.

    Somerset Wildlife Trust has been awarded £60,000 funding from the Blue Influencers scheme. It’s one of twenty-two charities nationally to secure funding and will receive £20,000 a year for three years. The grant will be used to employ a 'Blue Mentor' tasked with recruiting young people between the ages of 10 and 14, to create and implement social initiatives aimed at environmental betterment in their schools and communities.

    The Managing Director of Thatcher's has expressed disappointment at losing a high court case against Aldi. The Somerset cider maker had alleged that the German supermarket had copied its cloudy lemon cider drink but a judge has ruled that Aldi hasn't copied the brand, and posed no reputational risk to Thatchers.

    More from News

    • Monday 16th March

      Drivers are being told that it could take several more weeks yet before Hendford Hill in Yeovil reopens to traffic. A new bus service between Glastonbury and Castle Cary railway station is to start on a trial basis. Children in Chard are being given free reading books as part of a scheme founded by Dolly Parton... and more

    • Friday 13th March

      The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more

    • Thursday 12th March

      A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more

    • Wednesday 11th March

      Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more

    • Tuesday 10th March

      Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more

    • Monday 9th March 

      Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more

    • Friday 6th March

      Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more

    • Thursday 5th March

      Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Light rain

      High: 12°C | Low: 9°C

    • Chard

      Low-level cloud

      High: 11°C | Low: 8°C

    • Crewkerne

      Low-level cloud

      High: 11°C | Low: 8°C

    • Somerton

      Light rain

      High: 11°C | Low: 9°C

    • Wincanton

      Light rain

      High: 11°C | Low: 9°C

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