Local News Wednesday 26th May

Wednesday, 26 May 2021 06:00

Hundreds more jobs have been created to help with building the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. A vehicle has been destroyed by fire in Castle Cary. A fundraising campaign has been started by Yeovil Town to support the family of former club captain Lee Collins, who died in March. Chard School is celebrating its 350th anniversary this week. Engineering work, due to take place on a rail line between Yeovil and Weymouth this weekend has been postponed.

Hundreds more jobs have been created to help with building the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. The firm running the project, EDF, says it’s taking on another seventeen hundred workers that will bring the total number on the site to seven thousand.

Somerset’s four District Councils have been told to apologise after sending out a link to a spoof website. The offending link, which mocks senior figures at Somerset County Council, was included in the literature supporting the public vote over the future of local government in the county. The Secretary of State for Local Government, Robert Jenrick has called the error a ‘serious failure’ that ‘risks undermining the reputation and standing of local government. The District Councils have yet to make public their reply to Mr. Jenrick after he criticised them for staging the countywide poll, describing it as ‘not needed’ and a waste of public money.

A vehicle has been destroyed by fire in Castle Cary. It happened in the early hours of Tuesday (25-05), in Weir Lane. Fire service says the vehicle was left totally burnt out.

A fundraising campaign has been started by Yeovil Town to support the family of former club captain Lee Collins, who died in March. Yeovil Town are raising funds for Lee's partner and young children and mental health charities, with 10% of the donations given to Young Minds through a collaboration with his former clubs. There will also be a celebration of Lee's life when Yeovil plays Stockport County at Huish Park on Saturday.

Engineering work, due to take place on a rail line between Yeovil and Weymouth this weekend has been postponed due to it being a Bank Holiday and to avoid unnecessary disruption for passengers. GWR says the job of laying new tracks around Chetnole has been moved to later in the year.

Chard School is celebrating its 350th anniversary this week. The school was founded in Chard in 1671 by William Symes who gifted the Manor House Chard for a school. Pupils have been taking part in historic activities and local mayor, Jason Baker, attended a celebratory assembly earlier in the week.

More from News

Friday 3rd May

Labour’s Clare Moody is the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset. Somerset Council is looking to buy the Glovers Walk Shopping Centre in Yeovil, including Yeovil Bus Station. One of the biggest events in Yeovil’s outdoor calendar, the Abbey Hill Steam Rally, starts today...and more.
Thursday 2nd May

Voting is taking place today to elect a new Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset. NHS Somerset says the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital will stay open until a new replacement unit is built in Dorchester. A supermarket worker has retired after spending 52 years working at the same store in Ilminster...and more.
Wednesday 1st May

SUEZ, the company that collects Somerset’s waste is warning it may cease operations. Twenty thousand pounds is being spent cleaning red paint off the front of County Hall in Taunton following a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. An occupational therapist at Yeovil Hospital has won an award for her smart appearance at work...and more.
Tuesday 30th April

Somerset Council is taking legal action to remove an arms company from one of its commercial properties. Waste collection days across Somerset are set to change next month due to two impending bank holidays. An archaeological survey has begun on the proposed site of a new skate park in Bruton... and more.
Monday 29th April

Somerset’s busiest speed camera in 2023 has been revealed as the camera on the westbound carriageway of the A303 between the Podimore Roundabout and the Hazelgrove Roundabout. Bus campaigners are calling on Somerset Council to keep the public toilets open at Yeovil bus station. The funeral has taken place in Yeovil of D-Day veteran, Bill Tolley, who has died at the age of 97...and more.
Friday 26 April

A man has been arrested in Castle Cary and charged with stalking, harassment and making threats to kill. 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.