Extra police teams are patrolling roads in South Somerset as part of the Christmas crackdown on drink and drug driving. The NHS in Somerset is appealing for more volunteers to come forward to help run the vaccination centre at the Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford. Police have carried out an eviction at a house in Chard. An empty building next to Chard’s new leisure centre is unlikely to be demolished now until the spring and Chard Museum has been given a grant of nearly £5,000 to run community engagement projects.
Extra police teams are patrolling roads in South Somerset as part of the Christmas crackdown on drink and drug driving. Since the start of December, police say 100 arrests for drink and drug driving offences have been made across the Avon and Somerset force area.
The NHS in Somerset is appealing for more volunteers to come forward to help run the vaccination centre at the Haynes Motor Museum in Sparkford. They’re asking for new volunteers to work one day each week. Meanwhile, drop-in Covid jabs are being offered in Yeovil & Shepton Mallet today. Anyone wanting a first, second or booster jab can just call in without an appointment at the offices of Mendip Council where the centre is located. It’s open until 10 pm. In Yeovil, walk-in covid vaccinations for anyone over 18 will be available at the Yeovil College reception building between the hours of 9 am and 11:45 am and another walk-in clinic will be open at Birchfield Church between 2 pm and 4:45 pm. On Wednesday the 22nd there will also be a walk-in clinic at Preston Academy between 10 am and 3:45 pm. If you are visiting any of the clinics please take your NHS number with you so that an efficient administration process can be assured.
Police have carried out an eviction at a house in Chard. The property in Coronation Street was cleared of its occupants after neighbours repeatedly complained about anti-social behaviour and drugs at the property.
An empty building next to Chard’s new leisure centre is unlikely to be demolished now until the spring. The structure had been meant to come down when the new leisure centre opened. Somerset District Council has blamed the delay on the planning process.
Chard Museum has been given a grant of nearly £5,000 to run community engagement projects. The money’s been awarded by the Gannett Foundation, which is the charitable arm of Newsquest, the company that publishers the Chard and Ilminster News and Somerset County Gazette.
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.
The fire service has blamed a discarded portable barbecue for starting a blaze at Ham Hill Country Park. A care home for people with autism and complex needs in Crewkerne has been rated 'good'. A seven-year-old Yeovil boy has set a new world record for completing the most number of consecutive sit-ups for his age group...and more