Somerset Council has approved a seven-and-a-half percent increase in council tax. People are being asked to return boxes of paracetamol bought from Boots Chemists in Somerset. It’s been revealed that five members of staff at Somerset Council are being allowed to work from home outside the UK...and more
Somerset Council has approved a seven-and-a-half percent increase in council tax. This means a typical Band D property will pay an extra £129 a year in council tax from next month. The decision was taken at a full council meeting yesterday and follows the government permitting Somerset to break the five percent limit on council tax increases, introduced by the previous conservative government. Speaking at yesterday’s meeting, Lib Dem Leader of Somerset Council, Councillor Bill Revans, said the system of local government finance was "broken" but opposition Conservative leader, Councillor Mandy Chilcott claimed the council's budget for 2025/26 was "littered with red flags".
People are being asked to return boxes of paracetamol bought from Boots Chemists in Somerset. It's after a packaging mix up with the batch number 24-10-05. Boots says the tablets are paracetamol but the packaging is incorrectly labelled.
It’s been revealed that five members of staff at Somerset Council are being allowed to work from home outside the UK. Two are employed in the Council’s Legal Department, two in the adult social care department, and one is an Engineer in the Highways Department. A block on accessing Council’s computers from outside the UK has been lifted to allow the five staff members to work from overseas.
A heritage railway in Somerset is looking for new volunteers. The East Somerset Railway, near Shepton Mallet, is holding an open day this weekend in the hope of signing up new recruits.
Ilminster and District Men's Skittles League has presented a cheque for £555 to the Beacon Cancer Centre at Musgrove Park Hospital. Last year, the league donated over £2,000 to the Beacon Centre and Cancer Research UK.
Somerset Council has been told that hundreds of millions of pounds in loans taken out by former district councils, including South Somerset, have to be paid back. A Somerset charity says it needs more volunteers to help with research into new treatments for dementia. A local shop owner has welcomed Somerset Council’s decision to scrap plans to charge for parking after 6 pm...and more.
The population of Somerset has reached record levels with nearly one in ten born outside the UK. Stanchester School in Stoke-sub-Hamdon has been rated as ‘requiring improvement’. Experts have been called in to appraise a 15th-century piece of artwork in Sherborne...and more.
A woman from Crewkerne has been fined £280 for assaulting two emergency workers. Plans have been announced to open new NHS dental surgeries in Chard and Crewkerne. A Yeovil man has been thanked for raising £10,000 for the cardiac charity Heartbeat...and more
A local man has been charged after allegedly driving a tractor while under the influence of alcohol. One hundred bikes, collected with household waste in Somerset, have been donated to charity. The junction of the A37 Ilchester Road and Stiby Road in Yeovil will again shut this evening for resurfacing...and more.
Fourteen hundred people have added their names to a petition against Somerset Council's plans to scrap free car parks. St Margaret’s Hospice has won a share of £25 million of government funding. A man from Charlton Adam is preparing to visit Ukraine as an Aid Worker for a tenth time...and more
A local man has been charged with possessing an air weapon following an incident in Yeovil town centre. The Labour government has removed funding to the Amulet Theatre in Shepton Mallet that the previous Conservative government had allocated. Entries are now open for this year’s Minster Miles 10K fun run with organisers aiming to exceed last year’s number of runners...and more.
A new report says Avon and Somerset Police is struggling to cope with a big increase in cases involving the abuse of sexual images of children. Three primary schools in our area have been chosen to take part in a pilot of the Government’s free breakfast clubs for pupils scheme. A new TV documentary has captured footage of 50,000 starlings in a group gathering over the Somerset Levels...and more
The Leonardo Group, which owns the Leonardo Helicopter factory in Yeovil, has announced strong full-year results for 2024. A new bus station could be built in Langport. Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident in which a dog was fatally injured in Yeovil...and more