Local News Friday August 12

    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.

    With Somerset on amber alert for extreme heat today, South West Ambulance is asking people to only dial 999 in an absolute emergency, and for all other advice to use NHS 111 or local chemists. With temperatures expected to reach 36 Celsius this weekend a drought could be declared for Somerset, with water restrictions introduced for local users.

    The main A30 road through Sherborne is still closed following a gas leak that shut the road yesterday. It followed an accident between Marston Road and Bristol Road in which a combine harvester hit a gas pipe, causing gas to escape, and posing a risk to people living nearby.

    Extra funding is being given to pay for improvements at Yeovil Crematorium. However, due to rising costs, some of the planned work, including demolishing the existing chapel and building new toilets, won’t now take place.

    More volunteers are wanted to help young people in care in Somerset. The Advocacy 1 Team is looking for adults to act as friends to young people, offering them advice and guidance throughout their teenage years. 

    Work is yet to start building a new McDonald’s off the Southfields roundabout on the A303 Ilminster by-pass. The drive-thru and restaurant, creating sixty-five new jobs, was due to open before Christmas last year. In a statement, McDonald’s says they don’t have an opening date in mind, nor a date for when construction work will begin.

    More from News

    • Friday 17th October

      A new £7 million primary school and nursery is to be built in the grounds of Holyrood Academy in Chard. A public consultation has opened into plans to merge the parishes of Ansford and Castle Cary. The nomination papers that paved the way for Margaret Thatcher to become Britain's first female Prime Minister have been uncovered in a Somerset garage...and more

    • Thursday 16th October

      Two mothers in Chard are calling on carnival organisers to make carnivals more accessible to children with special educational needs. 4,000 people have been put on a waiting list at a new NHS dental practice in Somerset. Channel 4’s ‘Love It or List It’ is looking to feature properties in Somerset in a new series... and more

    • Wednesday 15th October

      The maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital is to reopen within the next six months. There’s been a further delay to reopening Yeovil’s Octagon theatre. No CrossCountry trains will run through Somerset this weekend due to planned industrial action by the RMT union...and more.

    • Tuesday 14th October 2025

      Film and TV crews have given Somerset's economy a £4 million boost in the last 12 months. Around 100 people have objected to plans to build 325 new homes in Crewkerne. Somerset Council is asking the public to report anyone they see sleeping rough...and more

    • Monday 13th October

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance is urging people to join a campaign for improved support for children with dyslexia. An opposition Conservative member of Somerset Council says businesses will suffer a ‘terrible blow’ if plans go ahead to sell off five Yeovil town centre car parks. A Yeovil man has been jailed for three years... and more.

    • Friday 10th October

      Union members at Leonardo sites across the UK, including in Yeovil, have voted to go on strike after rejecting a 3.2 percent pay offer. GWR has apologised for not providing a visually impaired Yeovil women with an escort to cross between platforms at Pen Mill station. A walnut grower in Somerset is calling on supermarkets to stop importing the nuts from aboard and to sell the ones he grows instead... and more

    • Thursday 9th October

      Police are appealing for witnesses to a break-in at The Crossing Café on Preston Road in Yeovil. A Yeovil Pharmacist says a 70 percent of people booking an online covid jab are not eligible this year. A former doctor in Chard has won through to the semi-finals of BBC Mastermind...and more

    • Wednesday 8th October 

      A child safeguarding review is underway following the murder of a two-week-old baby boy at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset’s been chosen for a pilot scheme in which drones are used to monitor environmental emergencies. Yeovil nightclub, Club Neo in Stars Lane, has got a new owner and is changing its name... and more

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 15°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

      Sunny intervals

      High: 16°C | Low: 9°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 16°C | Low: 9°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 15°C | Low: 10°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 15°C | Low: 10°C

    Recently Played