Friday 23rd August

Friday, 23 August 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Police are appealing for witnesses after a teenager was assaulted by two women in Yeovil. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner is making an increase in neighbouring policing one of her top priorities. A one-thousand-year-old oak tree at Sparkford has been shortlisted for the Tree of the Year competition...and more.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a teenager was assaulted by two women in Yeovil town centre. The attack happened on Church Street at around 10.30 pm last Friday. Two females, aged 16 and 18, were arrested the following day and have since been released on bail. Police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to call the non-emergency number 101.

Increased neighbourhood policing across Somerset is one of the priorities in a five-year policing plan by Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner, Clare Moody. She says increasing neighbourhood policing will help to gather in more frontline intelligence but has concerns that underfunding means policing rural crime will remain a big challenge. There’s a chance to quiz the new Police and Crime Commissioner at an open meeting in Yeovil on Wednesday, October 9th.

Somerset Council is cutting the number of councillors who sit on its Executive. From September, the Executive will reduce from eight members to seven, with the number of Associate members cut from ten to six.

Jack Goodland, a member of Yeovil Bowls Club, has won two medals at the British Transplant Games. Jack, who was diagnosed with kidney failure at seven weeks old and had a transplant when he was two and a half, and a second transplant at the age of 22, took gold in the javelin and silver in bowls at the transplant games in Nottingham.

Yeovil’s new Liberal Democrat MP, Adam Dance, will be in King George Street in Yeovil tomorrow meeting with constituents. He’ll be outside the Library from 10 am to 12.30, taking questions and responding to any concerns local people raise.

An oak tree at Sparkford, estimated to be more than one thousand years old, has been shortlisted for the Tree of the Year competition. The King John Oak is located within the grounds of Hazelgrove Prep School. Dr Kate Lewthwaite of the Woodland Trust, who runs the Tree of the Year contest, says the King John Oak is very special.

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Tuesday 14th January

Police are appealing for witnesses after two people died in a car crash near Shepton Mallet. A new passing loop could be introduced on the rail line between Castle Cary and Yeovil Pen Mill stations. St Margaret’s Hospice has thanked the public for making this year’s Christmas Tree Recycling project their most successful ever...and more
Monday 13th January

Plans to build forty-six new homes in Castle Cary have been rejected for a third time. Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he has no plans to step down from his dual role as a member of Somerset Council. Rug Ratz in Yeovil is closing permanently today, leaving the town without a children's soft play space...and more.
Friday 10th January

Yeovil Hospital has declared a critical incident due to a sharp rise in flu admissions putting pressure on bed spaces. Yeovil MP, Adam Dance, joined campaigners and colleagues in Downing Street this week to hand in a petition calling for action to tackle the shortage of NHS dentists. Yeovil's Marlie Packer has been replaced as England's Red Roses captain for 2025 season... and more
Thursday 9th January

Police say three children, missing from their home in Essex, have been found safe and well in Wincanton. Yeovil Hospital is asking visitors to A&E to wear facemasks to help avoid the spread of infection. Long traffic queues can be expected in Chard over the next nine months. A new arts and music performance space has opened in Crewkerne...and more.
Wednesday 8th January

Police are appealing for witnesses to a hit-and-run accident in Yeovil. Somerset Council says it's monitoring the weather closely following a Yellow Warning of snow across the County. A public inquiry is to decide the future of a Somerset shopping centre. Plans to build 30 new homes in Keinton Mandeville have been turned down.
Tuesday 7th January

Firefighters have used a boat to rescue a man trapped in a submerged van in floodwaters at Isle Abbots. Businesses in Somerset say there was a return to High Street buying over Christmas. The search is on locally for places where new homes and business premises could be built. Astro-tourism took off in Somerset last year, with hundreds coming to the County to view the Northern Lights...and more.
Monday 6th January

Police are treating, as deliberate, a fire at the former Oscar Mayer factory in Chard. The owner of an American diner says her takings are down 75 percent since the opening of the new dual carriageway between Sparkford and Ilchester. Yeovil-born England women’s rugby union team captain, Marlie Packer, says she’d like to captain the national side at this year's World Cup series...and more.