Yeovil business owner, David Harris-Heffer, who runs the Vodaphone franchise in the town, says the government’s furlough scheme that ended yesterday helped save his company from bankruptcy. Around 400 people in Martock who bought tickets in the September People’s Lottery will find out today how much they have won. Opposition is growing over plans by Leonardo Helicopters to replace part of the grass runway at their Yeovil factory with a new hard surface runway. A tractor, stolen from a farm near Sherborne, has been found crashed in East Coker.
Yeovil business owner, David Harris-Heffer, who runs the Vodaphone franchise in the town, says the government’s furlough scheme that ended yesterday helped save his company from bankruptcy. Eleven and a half million people across the UK had their wages subsidised by up to 80% through the pandemic, including over 60,000 on furlough in Somerset.
Around 400 people in Martock who bought tickets in the September People’s Lottery will find out today how much they have won. It was announced earlier in the week that ticket holders in the postcode TA12 6 had won a share of £7.3 million. The full winning postcode and exact amount won by each ticket holder will be revealed at a cheque presentation event at Kingsbury Episcopi Community Centre this morning (01/10).
Opposition is growing over plans by Leonardo Helicopters to replace part of the grass runway at their Yeovil factory with a new hard surface runway. Leonardo says the grass runway is no longer fit for purpose, but people living nearby want the scheme scrapped. They’ve written to South Somerset District Council claiming that turning the runway into a hard surface would encourage more flights and create more noise at the airfield. It’s expected the District Council will make a decision on the plans before the end of the year.
A tractor, stolen from a farm near Sherborne, has been found crashed in East Coker. The blue Ford 5610 tractor with the registration C381 HMR was taken from Oborne on Monday. Police found it in Green Lane, East Coker. They’re asking for anyone with dashcam footage of the tractor to call the police non-emergency number 101.
A father has been found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son at Yeovil Hospital. From Monday, no trains will be stopping at Crewkerne until further notice. Experts say the dry weather has created ideal conditions for wasps to multiply in significant numbers across Somerset. A rare railway carriage from the 1880s, believed to have been built in Somerset, is being given a new lease of life...and more.
Tourism leaders in Somerset are hoping to reverse last year’s downturn in visitor numbers now that the six-week-long school summer holiday is underway. A Chard woman who was driving a van without insurance that crashed has been given a 16-month driving ban. A Somerset hedgehog rescue centre says a lack of rain and hard ground conditions are making it difficult for hedgehogs to survive this summer...and more.
Somerset Council is planning to open twelve new Special Educational Needs units in mainstream schools. Yeovil Hospital is participating in a trial that could revolutionise the treatment of sepsis within the NHS. A 55-acre site in Chard, with plans approved to build 295 homes and a new football ground, has been put up for sale...and more
Somerset Community Foundation has launched a "Together for West Somerset Appeal" to help families affected by last Thursday's school coach crash on Exmoor. People in Somerset are being encouraged to improve their recycling of food waste. Free family cooking sessions are being held in Chard. A new children’s soft play area is soon to open in Yeovil...and more
A GoFundMe page set up to support families of last week’s Exmoor bus crash, in which a 10-year-old boy died, has raised over forty thousand pounds. A local councillor is calling for the introduction of speed cameras on the A30, from Yeovil to Sherborne. A group from a school in Ilchester have hiked 26 miles across the Jurassic Coast to fundraise in memory of a school colleague...and more
EDF has completed another milestone in constructing the new 'Hinkley C' nuclear power plant near Bridgwater. The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire opens today with helicopters built in Yeovil on display. A road leading to Chard reservoir, shut two months ago for strengthening work to a dam wall, has re-opened...and more
Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he has serious concerns about plans that could see the closure of inpatient beds at Crewkerne Community Hospital. Ilminster residents are being asked to vote in a referendum on adopting a new neighbourhood plan for the town. An event in which people take part in a race against horses is returning to Somerset later this year...and more
A children’s play area in Ilminster has been closed on safety grounds after badger setts were found on the land. Somerset Council sold off £90m of property assets last year to help fight off bankruptcy. Crewkerne Community Hospital could be turned into a neighbourhood health centre...and more.
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