Inflation is causing budget problems for the new Somerset Council. A major crackdown on drugs is underway across the South West this week. People are being asked for their views on the planned spending of £29 million pounds on expanding Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. Police have appealed for the public's help to find a missing man from Cardiff who they think may be in Yeovil or Langport and St Margaret’s shop in Ilminster has moved to a new location.
Inflation is causing budget problems for the new Somerset Council. The County Council and district councils are merging to form one unitary authority that will come into being in April next year. A report suggests the new single council will need to save £44 million pounds, that's up from the previous estimate of £28 million.
A major crackdown on drugs is underway across the South West this week. Avon and Somerset Police and the region’s four other police forces have joined together on ‘Operation Scorpion’. It’s aimed at disrupting the movement of drugs, alongside delivering preventative initiatives in local communities.
People are being asked for their views on the planned spending of £29 million pounds on expanding Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The new-look Octagon will have 900 seats compared to 622 at present, two cinemas and two studio spaces, enhanced technical facilities and a new café and restaurant area. The plans will be on display at the Octagon Theatre on Friday, July 8th and Saturday, July 9th.
Police have appealed for the public's help to find a missing man from Cardiff who they think may be in Yeovil or Langport. Stephen Lewis, aged 33, has not been in contact with his family since leaving Cardiff last week to travel into Somerset.
St Margaret’s shop in Ilminster has moved to a new location. The shop has been on Silver Street for nearly 30 years but is now on the corner of Ditton Street and East Street, where the usual items of donated clothes, books, bric-a-brac, and furniture are on sale.
A new campaign has been launched to persuade people in Somerset to stop smoking. Four people have been arrested in Chard in connection with the supply of Class A drugs. A dog from Yeovil has won the title of ‘best in breed’ at Cruffs....and more.
A charity in Somerset is appealing for support after one of its sites was vandalised. The Leader of Somerset Council has been to Westminster to put the case for central government to provide councils with more money. A new primary school is to built in Chard.... and more
The union representing workers at Somerset Council is warning of further job cuts at the council next year. Secondary school pupils in Somerset are being offered help to withstand peer pressure to vape or smoke. The bells of St George's Church in Hinton St George have been fully restored after becoming difficult to ring ... and more
A property in Raglan Terrace in Yeovil has been closed down by a court order after it was linked to anti-social behaviour. NHS Somerset says investing in nurse apprenticeships has helped to boost recruitment. A new community garden has opened in Chard.... and more
The Leader of Somerset Council has repeated his call for a reform of the way that councils are funded. Crimestoppers is stepping up efforts to help tackle violent crime in Somerset. A new radar satellite is playing a crucial role in collecting data about flooding in Somerset...and more
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 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.