Somerset's hospitals, pharmacists and GPs are being sent detailed guidance for helping with the major expansion of the Covid booster programme. Police say they’ve stopped a large amount of drugs from circulating in Chard. Police are investigating a spate of thefts of tools from parked vans in Ilminster. The go-ahead has been given for a new farm shop to be built on the outskirts of Keinton Mandeville. One in ten people in the South West says they've been involved in a collision on a rural road...and more.
Somerset's hospitals, pharmacists and GPs are being sent detailed guidance for helping with the major expansion of the Covid booster programme. The government wants millions of people to book appointments over the coming weeks to head off the threat posed by the Omicron variant. Health leaders warn the rollout poses a "huge logistical challenge" for the NHS.
Police say they’ve stopped a large amount of drugs from circulating in Chard. It follows the arrest of a man who was carrying a bag containing drugs and also cash by members of the Chard Neighbourhood Police Team.
Police are investigating a spate of thefts of tools from parked vans in Ilminster. The Ilminster Police Neighbourhood Team is asking people who leave tools in vans overnight to stay vigilant and to report any suspicious activity.
The go-ahead has been given for a new farm shop to be built on the outskirts of Keinton Mandeville. South Somerset District Council approved the application at Newlands Farm on the grounds that it represents a justified farm diversification scheme that would benefit the local economy.
One in ten people in the South West says they've been involved in a collision on a rural road. Between 2018 and 2020, 372 people were killed on rural roads in the region with 103 killed on urban roads. NFU Mutual, British Cycling and The British Horse Society are now launching a "Respect Rural Roads" campaign to improve safety.
A new professional orchestra has launched in Somerset. The Chamber Orchestra of the West is making its debut tour of the county this week. Orchestra Leader, Jackie Shave says their aim is to bring live music to as many communities in Somerset as possible.
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.
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.
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.