More than two hundred knives have been anonymously handed into Avon and Somerset Police so far this month. Plans to build five houses in Chard town centre have been turned down. A man has been fined £220 for illegal fishing in Yeovil. Councillor Brian Hamilton has been elected the new Mayor of Ilminster...and more.
More than two hundred knives have been handed into Avon and Somerset Police through surrender bins so far this month. It follows the launch of Operation Sceptre which has included weapons searches and educational programmes in schools. Five thousand blades have been anonymously surrendered in the Avon and Somerset Police area since surrender bins were introduced in 2016.
Plans to build five houses in Chard town centre have been turned down. The development was planned at the rear of 25 and 27 Fore Street. Reasons for the refusal given by Somerset Council include the application being contrary to policy and insufficient access arrangements.
A man has been fined £220 for illegal fishing in Yeovil. Kevin Tadd from Bridgwater was caught without a rod licence while fishing at Ash Ponds in Yeovil.
Councillor Brian Hamilton has been elected the new Mayor of Ilminster. Councillor Michelle Gunn will act as his Deputy.
Somerset Cricket Club’s Head Coach, Jason Kerr, says he’s assessing the squad ahead of their opening game in this season's T20 Blast against Essex on Friday. Somerset’s batting line-up was affected by illness and injury as they lost their latest County Championship match against Durham by an innings and six runs in only two days.
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
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.