The result of the ballot in the local elections should be known at around 4 pm today. People in Somerset are being asked to check if they're eligible for a spring Covid booster. A Yeovil man who failed a breathalyser test after he tried to move a car that had been involved in an accident has been given a two-and-a-half-year driving ban. Somerset’s Lord Lieutenant, Annie Maw, is dedicating the second leg of her Jubilee Jaunt to Somerset Day and a man who moved from Somerset to America has planted traditional Somerset cider apple trees and is now making the drink popular in the US.
The result of the ballot in the local elections should be known at around 4 pm today. Voting took place yesterday to elect 110 councillors to run the new unitary council for Somerset that will have responsibility for running all council services across the County from April next year. At that point, Somerset’s four district councils and the County Council will cease to exist. Votes are being counted at the Westland entertainment complex in Yeovil, with the results in the town and parish council elections also expected at around 4 pm today. You can hear all the results in a special local election programme here on Radio Ninesprings starting at 7 pm this evening.
People in Somerset are being asked to check if they're eligible for a spring Covid booster. More than 29,000 people across the south west can book an appointment to top-up their immunity against the virus. This includes people aged over 75, people who are immunosuppressed aged 12 and over, and residents in care homes.
A Yeovil man who failed a breathalyser test after he tried to move a car that had been involved in an accident has been given a two-and-a-half-year driving ban. Police were called to the scene of the accident after people saw Dumitru-Nicolae Geambasu swaying from side to side before getting into the driver’s seat and trying to drive off. He was later found to be more than four times over the drink-drive limit. Geambasu, of Higher Kingston in Yeovil, pleaded guilty to attempting to drive a vehicle after consuming excess alcohol when he appeared before Somerset Magistrates.
Somerset’s Lord Lieutenant, Annie Maw, is dedicating the second leg of her Jubilee Jaunt to Somerset Day. Annie sets off on the second leg of her Jubilee Jaunt from Holyrood Academy in Chard at 9 am on Somerset Day next Wednesday, May 11th. The route will take her past Chard Guildhall, to Avishayes Primary School, through Donyatt, then Ilminster, ending up at Dillington House at around 2 pm.
A man who moved from Somerset to America has planted traditional Somerset cider apple trees and is now making the drink popular in the US. John Hamblin lives in Oregon where he’s planted an orchard of various cider apple types.
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.
The fire service has blamed a discarded portable barbecue for starting a blaze at Ham Hill Country Park. A care home for people with autism and complex needs in Crewkerne has been rated 'good'. A seven-year-old Yeovil boy has set a new world record for completing the most number of consecutive sit-ups for his age group...and more
Somerset Council is warning motorists against scanning QR codes at its car parks payment meters. Chard Town Council is spending £10,000 on short-term youth provision over the summer months. Former Yeovil Town player Marcus Stewart says he wants to continue raising money towards finding a cure for motor neurone disease...and more.