Local News Tuesday 14th November

    The Deputy Leader of Somerset County Council, Councillor Liz Leyshon, says the Council is under great financial pressure to make big spending cuts. Plans have been approved to build a new operating theatre facility at Yeovil Hospital. There’s concern among health professionals in the South West that not enough people are coming forward for a Covid booster jab. Shopworkers in Somerset have been speaking out about the abuse they’re suffering at the hands of customers...and more.

    The Deputy Leader of Somerset County Council, Councillor Liz Leyshon, says the Council is under great financial pressure to make big spending cuts. The County Council is already over-spent by £20 million in the current financial year, meaning that it will need to make significant savings to balance the books for when the new financial year starts in May next year. 

    Plans have been approved to build a new operating theatre facility at Yeovil Hospital. The modular theatre unit, measuring 507 square meters, will be built on the site of the staff car park in Higher Kingston. It’s the second major building project at Yeovil Hospital this year with work having already begun constructing a specialist breast care unit within the hospital grounds. 

    There’s concern among health professionals in the South West that not enough people are coming forward for a Covid booster jab. Only 57 percent of residents in the region, who are eligible for a Covid booster, have had one. 

    Shopworkers in Somerset have been speaking out about the abuse they’re suffering at the hands of customers. Their union, USDAW, says 7-in-every-10 of its members working in retail have reported being abused by customers this year so far, with some experiencing threats of violence. The union is asking the public to show its members more respect.

    A florist’s shop in Ilminster has raised £500 to help support the cost of this year’s Christmas lights in Ilminster. Cottage Flowers put on a demonstration of festive flower arranging at the Warehouse Theatre to an audience of more than 100 last weekend. The switch-on of the Christmas lights in Ilminster takes place this Friday at 7 pm

    More from News

    • Friday 26 April

      A man has been charged with stalking, harassment and making threats to kill after being arrested in Castle Cary. The NHS in Somerset says its staff retention rate has improved over the past two years. A farmer in South Petherton is preparing to cycle 1,000 miles to raise money for charity...and more.

    • 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

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Light rain

      High: 11°C | Low: 5°C

    • Chard

      Light rain

      High: 11°C | Low: 4°C

    • Crewkerne

      Light rain

      High: 11°C | Low: 4°C

    • Somerton

      Medium-level cloud

      High: 11°C | Low: 5°C

    • Wincanton

      Medium-level cloud

      High: 11°C | Low: 5°C

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