Local News Monday 24th July

Monday, 24 July 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A new call has been made to improve farm safety in Somerset. Plans have been submitted to build fifty-two new houses in the village of Henstridge. A team of doctors in Somerset has been awarded three hundred thousand pounds. Roger McGough, the brother of Paul McCartney, is one of the headline speakers at this year's Yeovil Literary Festival...and more.

A new call has been made to improve farm safety in Somerset. It comes from the Farm Safety Foundation and follows new data showing that twenty-seven people died in farm accidents across the UK last year, including children and visitors.

Plans have been submitted to build fifty-two new houses in the village of Henstridge. Developers, Macra Ltd, want to use land behind Townsend Farm off the A30 for the scheme. Somerset Council is expected to make a decision on the application before the end of the year.

Police are investigating the theft of chainsaws and hedge trimmers from a property in Holwell near Sherborne. The break-in happened in the early hours of last Friday, July twenty-first, at a workshop in Holwell Drove. Five chainsaws, three hedge trimmers, a cordless sander, and other small tools were taken. Anyone with information that would help the Police is asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

Rail travellers wanting to object to the planned closure of ticket offices at stations in Somerset have until Wednesday this week to submit their comments. GWR says four out of five rail tickets are now bought online or by using a ticket machine.

A team of doctors in Somerset has been awarded three hundred thousand pounds to improve cervical cancer screenings among women who've recently given birth. Currently, mothers have to wait twelve weeks to be tested but the new study aims to reduce the wait time to six weeks and make it part of post-natal care.

The names of some of the speakers who will be appearing at this year’s Yeovil Literary Festival have been announced. In the line-up will be Deborah Meaden, Sarah Beeny, Chris Packham and Roger McGough, the brother of Paul McCartney. Yeovil Literary Festival takes place during the last week of October.

Drivers are being reminded that the A30 through West Coker is closed for re-surfacing. Access to local businesses is still being provided with the road not due to re-open until the end of August.

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Wednesday 1st April

No money has been committed to major new road projects in Somerset. A road linking Chard and Clayhanger has been closed after it collapsed due to badgers burrowing under the surface. The Bishop of Bath and Wells is on day-2 of his pilgrimage across Somerset to mark the holy week of Easter... and more
Tuesday 31st March

Somerset Council says it doesn’t have the money to install solar panels on the roof of the Octagon Theatre. Three men have been charged in connection with an investigation into a hunt in Somerset. Changes have been announced to the times of waste collections in Somerset over the Easter holidays... and more
Monday 30th March

Avon and Somerset Police say its armed officers attended 2,700 incidents in Somerset last year. Plans have been submitted to build 40 new homes in Curry Rivel. South Western Ambulance is offering free CPR and defibrillator training to help improve cardiac arrest survival rates...and more
Friday 27 March

There's been a big improvement in ambulance response times in Somerset. Three local people have been charged with offences linked to the theft and supply of prescription-only drugs. A fragment of a jawbone found in a cave in Cheddar Gorge appears to show that humans kept dogs as pets as far back as 5,000 years ago... and more
Thursday 26th March

Somerset Council is offering food vouchers during the school easter holidays to families whose children receive free school meals. A local man has been charged in connection with an incident involving a firearm in Yeovil. The Environment Agency says it could take up to 10 years to protect homes at Holway House Park and Home Farm Park in Ilminster from flooding...and more.
Wednesday 25th March

Yeovil MP Adam Dance has raised concerns in the House of Commons about the planned closure of Yeovil Hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. Police in Yeovil are appealing for information after a man was arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm. A 13-year-old terrier named Mole has been rescued after becoming trapped underground...and more
Tuesday 24th March

Yeovil College has received a glowing report following an Ofsted inspection. The main road between Chard and Ilminster is to be better protected from flooding. A six-thousand-year-old wooden walkway has been uncovered on the Somerset Levels... and more
Monday 23rd March

A wildcat helicopter belonging 815 Squadron based at RNAS Yeovilton has been in action tracking two Russian ships in the English Channel. People living in Somerset will have to pay to use Dorset’s household waste recycling centres from today. A road in Ilminster has closed to traffic today and will stay shut for the next ten days... and more