Local News Friday 30th September

Friday, 30 September 2022 06:00

People in Somerset are being encouraged to take up their Covid booster and flu jabs as soon as they're offered them. Only a handful of trains will be running through Yeovil Junction and Sherborne stations on the Exeter to Waterloo line tomorrow and Sunday due to further strike action. A Chard man has been fined £120 for stealing alcohol from the Tesco store in the town. The National Trust is raising concerns about the climate's impact on autumn colour across the landscape in Somerset and a girl who lives in Ilminster has raised over £1500 for Young Lives versus Cancer in Somerset.

People in Somerset are being encouraged to take up their Covid booster and flu jabs as soon as they're offered them. Public health officials are warning of an earlier and bigger wave of seasonal flu, combined with rising numbers of Covid cases. NHS Somerset says the Covid autumn booster programme for people aged 65 and over and for healthcare workers has been very busy already.

Only a handful of trains will be running through Yeovil Junction and Sherborne stations on the Exeter to Waterloo line tomorrow and Sunday due to further strike action by members of the RMT and TSSA unions. South West Railway is advising people to use other forms of public transport this weekend and to only use the train if the journey is essential.

A Chard man has been fined £120 for stealing alcohol from the Tesco store in the town. Chino Brun of Phelps Close in Chard pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of gin and two bottles of whisky from Tesco and also admitted being in breach of a conditional discharge imposed for a previous offence of theft when he appeared before magistrates in Yeovil. (This story is courtesy of Chard and Ilminster News).

The National Trust is raising concerns about the climate's impact on autumn colour across the landscape in Somerset. They say the next few weeks will be vital in determining how much the summer heat wave and the ongoing lack of rain have influenced the colours within the local landscape.

A girl who lives in Ilminster has raised over £1500 for Young Lives versus Cancer in Somerset. 6-year-old Lydia raised the money with a fate that she organised with the help of her parents. Last year, Young Lives versus Cancer in Somerset give grants worth £17,500 to local families to help with the costs of fighting cancer.

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Thursday 18th April

A Martock man has been jailed after admitting to shining lasers at aircraft flying over Yeovil. Police are investigating an attempted break-in at the TK Maxx store at Babylon Hill. Nearly four hundred people have put their names forward for redundancy at Somerset Council...and more.
Wednesday 17 April

Three local primary schools have been named on a list of England's top five hundred primary schools. A new co-working space for businesswomen has opened in Wincanton. Urgent repairs are being carried out to Ilminster's new public clock after it started showing the wrong time...and more
Tuesday 16th April

A new operator has been found to run a Chard care home that has been at risk of closure. A licence has been granted to run a new music festival in West Dorset. People have until midnight tonight to register for a vote in the election for a Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset...and more.
Monday 15th April

Four people have been arrested as part of an investigation into the illegal supply of prescription-only drugs in Yeovil. A Yeovil man has appeared in court in connection with two burglaries in Langport. A well-known farm and restaurant business in South Petherton has been put up for sale. New figures have shown a further decline in the number of House Sparrows in Somerset...and more.
Friday 12th April

Yeovil Town will play National League football next season after beating Truro 2-0 last night to win promotion and the National League South title. Somerset Council says the cost of keeping Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre closed has risen to £140,000 a year. A holiday website has reported a 31 percent upturn in visitor numbers to Somerset...and more.
Thursday 11th April

Yeovil Town get another chance tonight to clinch promotion when they play away against Truro. Citizens Advice in Somerset says people are continuing to struggle with the cost of living. Some of England’s loudest voices will be heard in Yeovil later this month when the town's annual town crier competition takes place...and more,
Wednesday 10th April

A former sub-postmaster from Wincanton says she's having to work a 70-hour week to pay off debts she incurred due to the Post Office IT scandal. Two people have been fined for illegal fishing in Yeovil. Images of wildlife taken by a photographer in Somerton have been chosen to feature on a new set of charity cards...and more.