Residents of Chard are being asked to be more proactive and call the local police when they spot acts of crime and anti-social behaviour. Somerset Council says its gritting teams went out 1700 times last winter, covering more than 117,000 miles and spreading 6,000 tonnes of salt to keep local roads open. Leonardo Helicopters says it will be conducting test flights over Yeovil tonight up until 10.30 pm...and more
Residents of Chard are being asked to be more proactive when they spot acts of crime and anti-social behaviour. Speaking at a meeting of Chard Town Council, Police Community Support Officer Beatrice Gane said the police were not getting the full support of local people in the fight against crime. She said people would post on Facebook about seeing a crime but not tell the police so they could make a proper response. At the same meeting, Town Clerk David Bell said the Council had dealt with a “dramatic increase in littering and drug paraphernalia” in the town in the past year.
A charity supporting people involved in the infected blood scandal, including those in Somerset, says it’s vital that the government speeds up compensating victims. It's been a year since the official report on the infected blood scandal was released, yet only 100 people have been compensated. Hazel Busby, who lives in Street, contracted Hepatitis C in the 1970s after she was given contaminated blood. She says the delay in paying compensation is 'appalling'.
A councillor is calling for more to be done to help keep village life going. Councillor Matt Martin, who represents the King Alfred division on Somerset Council, wants local jobs provided to keep young people living in villages; otherwise, he warns that small communities will die. Speaking at the council’s climate and place scrutiny committee, Councillor Martin said one way to keep young people in the county and attract more young people to Somerset would be to create a ‘University of Somerset’.
Somerset Council says its gritting teams went out 1700 times last winter, covering more than 117,000 miles. 6,000 tonnes of salt were used to prevent ice from forming on local roads. The coldest road surface temperature of the winter in Somerset was minus 5.3 degrees Celsius on January 3rd.
Leonardo Helicopters says it will conduct test flights over Yeovil tonight. The exercise is due to be completed by 10:30 p.m.
A family in Marston Magna is trying to get a relative home from a holiday in Greece, where he's been taken seriously ill. The fire service is warning of the dangers of leaving mirrors in view of direct sunlight. Residents in Touchstone Lane in Chard have started a new community speed watch group...and more
A bird flu surveillance zone has been imposed in Somerset. The go-ahead has been given to build sixteen new homes in Shepton Beauchamp. The catering team at Yeovil Hospital has won a top award for the food it serves. Year Four pupils at Herne View Primary School in Ilminster have been presented with dictionaries by the local Rotary Club...and more
The fire service says they still don’t know what caused Monday’s major shop fire in Yeovil. A safeguarding review is being carried out into the case of Daniel Gunter, who was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court last week of murdering his two-week-old baby son at Yeovil Hospital. National convenience store chain, Costcutter, has taken over the empty YMCA charity shop in Middle Street in Yeovil for a new store...and more
Parents in Somerset are being advised not to leave their children unsupervised with pets. Somerset Council says it's dealing with a backlog of sixteen hundred planning applications. Ninety thousand pounds has been raised so far for Somerset Community Foundation’s appeal supporting people affected by last week’s coach crash in West Somerset...and more
A boat used for sightseeing trips on the River Parrett at Langport has sunk after being vandalised. A union representing firefighters in Somerset says former retained staff are missing out on pension payments. Thirty-nine new affordable homes are to be built in Merriot...and more
A father has been found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son at Yeovil Hospital. From Monday, no trains will be stopping at Crewkerne until further notice. Experts say the dry weather has created ideal conditions for wasps to multiply in significant numbers across Somerset. A rare railway carriage from the 1880s, believed to have been built in Somerset, is being given a new lease of life...and more.
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