Monday 29th April

Monday, 29 April 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

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.

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, near Yeovil. It recorded 12,005 speeding offences last year. The limit on this stretch of the A303 is 30mph. The highest speed recorded was 85mph. A speed camera on the A303 between Podimore Roundabout and Hazelgrove Roundabout travelling eastward recorded 4,227 offences. The highest speed recorded last year on all cameras in the Avon and Somerset Police area was 159 mph.

Bus campaigners are calling on Somerset Council to keep the public toilets at Yeovil bus station open. The toilets are due to close at the end of May with neither Somerset Council nor Yeovil Town Council claiming they don’t have the £70,000 needed to keep them open. The Somerset Bus Users Group wants the decision reversed, citing the experience of disabled passengers and concerns about the future of the Yeovil bus station site.

Four men have been arrested in connection with an alleged assault in Yeovil. It happened in Middle Street on Sunday, April 13th at around 1.15 am. A man suffered bruising and the loss of a tooth in the attack.

People in Somerset whose homes were flooded in January by Storm Henk may be eligible for government grants of up to £5000 to help prevent it happening again. The money is to help pay towards installing measures to reduce damage from flooding in future. Grant applications should be made through Somerset Council before the end of May.

Work has started building a new diagnostic centre at Yeovil Hospital. The 3-storey building on Higher Kingston is targeted to handle 70,000 diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments every year. During the construction, sections of footpath along Higher Kingston and the A30 Reckleford are cordoned off, with pedestrians using other routes into the hospital grounds.

The funeral has taken place in Yeovil of a D-Day veteran who has died at the age of 97. Bill Tolley served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. His funeral service was held at St John’s Church last Friday.

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Wednesday 15th May

Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Tuesday 14th May

Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Monday 13th May

Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
Friday 10th May

The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Thursday 9th May

Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
Wednesday 8th May

A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.
Tuesday 7th May

Somerset Council has decided against selling the former Wilko store in Lower Middle Street in Yeovil. There’s a treat for snooker fans with Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor coming to Yeovil. An Air Engineering Commander at RNAS Yeovilton is taking on the Jurassic Coast 100km Ultra Challenge for charity...and more
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.