Local News Monday 27th March

Monday, 27 March 2023 07:00

By Steve Haigh

Cars are being vandalised for being parked on the busy A371 outside Castle Carey railway station. Recycling centres will be open for longer from next month. A motorist in Crewkerne has thanked a pedestrian for alerting her to flames coming out from beneath her car before it exploded. A fifty-two mile Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge is being held to raise money for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

Cars are being vandalised for being parked on the busy A371 outside Castle Carey railway station. Passengers say the station’s car park is too small, leaving them with no option but to park on the road outside the station.

A motorist in Crewkerne has thanked a pedestrian for alerting her to flames coming out from beneath her car. Liz Earl was driving in Henhayes Lane and was able to get out of the car within seconds of it exploding in a ball of flames. Liz says she owes her life to the passer-by who left the scene without giving her the chance to say a big thank you. It’s believed the blaze was caused by an engine fault or a petrol leak. The car – a Fiat 500 - was completely burnt out.

Today is the last day for people in Castle Cary and Ansford to take part in a survey that will be used to help compile a new Community Plan for two parishes. The survey gives residents the chance to suggest services and facilities they would like to have provided over the next ten years. The survey can be found on the websites of both Castle Cary and Ansford parish councils.

Recycling centres change their opening times next month. Beginning from the first of April, the two recycling centres in our area in Yeovil and Chard will stay open for an extra hour. The two centres will open as usual at 9 am and stay open until 6 pm rather than 5 pm at present. Weekend opening hours at the two sites remain the same, 9 am to 4 pm.

There's just under a month to go to sign up for a fifty-two mile Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge to raise money for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. The annual event starts in Watchet and ends at West Bay in Dorset on 23rd April.

IT consultants Mark ONE of Yeovil took the runners up prize in the Family Business of the Year category at the Somerset Business Awards held at the weekend. Sparkford based, Sycamore Process Engineering, won the Large Business of the Year award with Bradford’s in Yeovil and Concept Products of Somerton sharing the runners up prize in the Environmental Achievement category.

More from News

Thursday 25th April

The NHS is offering spring COVID-19 vaccines to people in Somerset who are at increased risk of serious illness from the virus. A new way of making roads safer for children in Somerset has started this week. A Yeovil-based apprentice has been named as a winner in the JTL Regional Awards. Haselbury Mill near Crewkerne has been put up for sale...and more
Wednesday 24th April

Yeovil Town FC have sent a strongly worded letter to the Football Association asking for plans to end FA Cup replays to be dropped. A Somerset woman who's spent the last 32 years living with Hepatitis C, says better support is needed for those affected by the contaminated blood scandal. A new school of musical theatre has opened in Chard...and more.
Tuesday 23rd April

Two teenage boys have admitted animal cruelty after filming themselves throwing a lamb down a stone staircase at Montacute. Somerset Council could lose around £5 million by selling the Marks and Spencer building in Yeovil. Chard, Wincanton, Castle Cary and Ansford are on a list of fifteen places in Somerset where new 20 mph speed limits could soon be introduced...and more.
Monday 22nd April

The parents of a two-week-old baby boy, accused of his murder at Yeovil Hospital, are to stand trial. Protesters have splashed red paint across the front of County Hall in Taunton for a second time. A comedy film about the world of competitive marrow-growing and made in Shepton Mallet has opened in cinemas across the UK...and more.
Friday 19th April

Work starts today building a new eastbound carriageway as part of dualling the A303 between Sparkford and Podimore. A childhood obesity clinic in Somerset has revealed that it is treating children as young as eight months old. Somerset Wildlife Trust has launched a campaign to recruit an army of young people to act as conservation champions...and more.
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.