Local News Thursday 23rd September

    A lack of investment is putting the future of public swimming at risk in Somerset, according to Swim England. A coffee morning in Chard has raised £3,500 in memory of a local man who died from cancer. Police are investigating the theft of a tractor from a farm near Yeovil. Farmland next to a new special school being built on the outskirts of Yeovil is being sold off by Somerset county council for development. English Heritage has launched a new initiative...and more.

    A lack of investment is putting the future of public swimming at risk in Somerset, according to Swim England. The national governing body for swimming in England says serious money needs to be spent updating and replacing older pools in the County or up to 14 could close within the next eight years.

    A coffee morning in Chard has raised £3,500 in memory of a local man who died from cancer. Guy Warren died in 2009 and every year since his family has collected for Macmillan Cancer Support. Star of ITV’S Doc Martin, Martin Clunes, was the special guest at this year’s event held in Chard Guildhall.

    Police are investigating the theft of a tractor from a farm near Yeovil. The vehicle, a TAFE 45 tractor, was taken on Monday from farm premises at Haselbury Plucknett. Anyone with information that would help the police is asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

    Farmland next to a new special school being built on the outskirts of Yeovil is being sold off by Somerset county council for development. The land comprises four agricultural fields between the school site and the A303 dual carriage, close to turn off to Ash.

    English Heritage has launched a new initiative inviting people to enjoy an hour of peace and quiet. The 'hour of contemplation' project is using Muchelney Abbey near Langport as a place where people can escape the pressures of modern-day living. 

    More from News

    • Friday 25th July

      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.

    • Thursday 24th July

      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. 

    • Wednesday 23rd July

      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

    • Tuesday 22nd July

      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

    • Monday 21st July

      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

    • Friday 18th July

      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

    • Thursday 17th July

      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

    • Wednesday 16th July

      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.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 23°C | Low: 12°C

    • Chard

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      High: 22°C | Low: 12°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 12°C

    • Somerton

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      High: 23°C | Low: 12°C

    • Wincanton

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      High: 23°C | Low: 11°C

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