Local News Tuesday 20th June

Tuesday, 20 June 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

New technology is being used to help identify people in Somerset at risk of developing liver disease. Tributes are being paid to Somerset racehorse owner, Paul Barber, who has died at the age of 80. Plans have been submitted to convert an office block in Yeovil town centre into a house of multiple occupation...and more.

New technology is being used to help identify people in Somerset at risk of developing liver disease. The project involves analysing people’s historic blood results and, where signs of liver disease are spotted, offering them early treatment.

Tributes are being paid to Somerset racehorse owner, Paul Barber, who has died at the age of 80. His best-known horses, See More Business and Denman, enjoyed big race successes, including winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Paul Barber was also well known as a Somerset cheese maker.

Plans have been submitted to convert an office block in Yeovil town centre into a house of multiple occupation. If approved by Somerset Council, the former Porter Dodson offices on Church Path, next to St John’s Church, would be turned into a fifteen-bed unit.

Funding has been provided to plant a further twenty thousand new trees across Somerset as part of efforts to reduce flooding. The ‘Trees for Water’ project has been given sixty-thousand pounds in funding to plant trees across the county aimed at reducing surface water run-off in targeted areas.

The Big Wildlife Count is taking place in Somerset this week. People are being asked to look out for common species like goldfinch, dragonflies, spiders and butterflies and record their sightings online. The project is being run jointly by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and Somerset Environmental Records Centre.

The Head of the Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard is walking a forty-six-mile walk today and tomorrow, raising funds for the charity. On his way over to Chard from the Ferne Estate in Wiltshire, Kevan Hodges will be passing through Henstridge, Milborne Port, West Coker, Haselbury Plucknet, Crewkerne, Roundham, and Cricket St Thomas.

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Friday 7th February

A Yeovil man has been fined £1,200 for sending hostile text messages to his ex-wife. A report into the performance of Avon and Somerset Police has found it doesn't answer emergency calls quickly enough. Twenty-two swimmers at the Trident Swimming Club in Chard have won places in this year’s Somerset County Swimming Championships...and more
Thursday 6th February

A man has appeared in court charged with murdering a one-month-old baby boy in Chard. Kingfisher Primary School in Yeovil has been highly praised by Ofsted. Somerset Council says it’s “extremely disappointed” after its bid to form a devolved Wessex group of local councils was rejected by the government...and more.
Wednesday 5th February

The Liberal Democrat Leader of Somerset Council, Councillor Bill Revans, says they had no choice but to ask the government to allow them to lift the 5 percent cap on raising Council Tax. Two teenagers have been released on bail following the stabbing in Yeovil. More than six thousand pounds has been awarded to local groups by Chard Carnival Committee...and more.
Tuesday 4th February

Somerset has been permitted to increase its Council Tax share by 7.5 percent. An Ilminster man, forced out of his house by last week's floods, says he doesn't know when he will be able to return home. Ilminster Literary Festival has launched its annual children’s writing competition, designed to encourage local children to write creative literature...and more.
Monday 3rd February

Five men have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man in Yeovil. A 16-year-old is the second person to be arrested in connection with a stabbing in Yeovil. Yeovil’s new outdoor entertainment space in Lower Middle Street has been officially opened by the town’s MP... and more.
Friday 31st January

A teenager has been arrested following a stabbing in Yeovil. Water bills in Somerset are set to go up on average by £123 from April. Yeovil MP, Adam Dance will officially open Yeovil’s new outdoor performance space later today...and more
Thursday 30th January

Lloyds bank is closing its branch in Chard. A Sherborne man has been jailed after defrauding a Yeovil woman of £40,000. A volunteer group in Chard is urging people to sign up to a flood victims register. A councillor in Shepton Mallet has become the first Reform UK member on Somerset Council... and more
Wednesday 29th January

New mums in Somerset could soon be offered a cervical screening test six weeks after giving birth. Police are asking for help in finding a Yeovil man wanted on recall to prison. The government has given half a million pounds towards planting more trees in Somerset, including 100 new trees in Yeovil...and more