Rising energy prices and the cost of living are taking their toll on pubs in the Southwest. A pub in Chard that has been vacant for more than a decade is likely to remain unoccupied for longer. A Chard man has been banned from driving for a year after failing a drugs test while in charge of a motor vehicle. Items of equestrian equipment have been stolen from a stable block at Kingsbury Episcope near Langport...and more.
Rising energy prices and the cost of living are taking their toll on pubs in the Southwest. The British Institute of Innkeepers says 400 pubs in the region closed in the last twelve months. They claim only 37 percent of hospitality businesses are currently making a profit. The government says to help the sector, the support it gives to businesses that use a lot of energy has been doubled, and employer national insurance contributions have been cut.
A pub in Chard that has been vacant for more than a decade is likely to remain unoccupied for longer. The Furnham Inn, on Furnham Road, closed in 2013 with no interest shown in buying the building to run as a pub. The owners of the Grade-2 listed property had applied to change its use to residential, but planners at South Somerset District Council turned down the application saying it failed to meet the legal requirements for converting listed buildings.
A Chard man has been banned from driving for a year after failing a drug test while in charge of a motor vehicle. Vincent Collision was caught driving in Crowshute Link in Chard in February when the proportion of cannabis in his blood exceeded the specified limit. Collision of Combe Street in Chard pleaded guilty to the offence and was also fined £450 with costs when he appeared in court in Yeovil.
Items of equestrian equipment have been stolen from a stable block at Kingsbury Episcope near Langport. Police say thieves broke into the site in the early hours of last Saturday. Two show saddles, four dressage saddles, three show jumping saddles and 15 bridles were taken. Officers from the South Somerset Neighbourhood Policing team are investigating.
A Chard man is planning to mark his 92nd birthday by flying 100 meters in the air on a zip wire for charity. Don Raddon will be raising money for the Filo Project which supports people with dementia when he makes the attempt at the Eden Project at the end of August.
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
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