Local News Thursday 26th May

Thursday, 26 May 2022 06:00

Yeovil is the second easiest place to pass a driving test in the UK, according to new research by the insurance firm, Ingenie. A special church service has been held at RNAS Yeovilton to remember those who lost their lives serving on HMS Coventry and the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands conflict. The Liberal Democrats, who won control of Somerset County Council in the local elections earlier this month, have confirmed Councillor Bill Revans in the role of new County Council Leader...and more

Yeovil is the second easiest place to pass a driving test in the UK, according to new research by the insurance firm, Ingenie. Between April 2020 and June 2021, the town had a pass rate of 66.5 per cent. Dorchester had the highest pass rate in the UK with 67.3 per cent of those taking the driving test, passing it.

A special church service has been held at RNAS Yeovilton to remember those who lost their lives serving on HMS Coventry and the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands conflict. This week marks 40 years since both ships were sunk during the Falklands War with more than thirty men losing their lives.

The Liberal Democrats, who won control of Somerset County Council in the local elections earlier this month, have confirmed Councillor Bill Revans in the role of new County Council Leader. At the first meeting of all 110 councillors held in Bridgwater who will run the new Somerset unitary council from April next year, Councillor Val Keitch, the current Leader of South Somerset District Council, was given the Local Government Reorganisation and Prosperity portfolio, with Councillor David Woan as her deputy.

Two garden designers from Bruton have won a ‘Best in Show’ award at the Chelsea Flower Show. Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt were chosen for their creation of a garden depicting a beaver wetland habitat. The garden, which also won a Chelsea gold medal, features a beaver lodge, dam, a pond and stream, and various plants including orchids, forget-me-nots and hawthorn.

The first business to move in at a new industrial estate in Yeovil has begun trading. The national chain, GSF, which sells car parts, has opened a Yeovil branch on the new Glenmore Trading Estate, off Lufton Way, close to Yeovil Town’s Huish Park ground.

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.