Monday 6th January

Monday, 6 January 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

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.

Police are treating as deliberate a fire at the former Oscar Mayer factory in Chard. Crews from Chard and Ilminster dealt with the blaze on Furnham Road that broke out at lunchtime last Thursday. Anyone with information that might help the police is asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

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. National Highways has promised to install new advertising boards on the A303 for Mattia Diner but the signs are not yet in place.

Plans for a new housing development in Yeovil originally turned down over concerns about traffic congestion and flooding, will now go ahead. Somerset Council has drooped its objections and agreed to the development of sixty new homes on land between Brimsmore Garden Centre and Yeovil Gospel Hall on Tintinhull Road.

Supporters of trail hunting in Somerset have criticised the Labour government for planning to ban the sport. Trail hunting was introduced as a more humane alternative to fox hunting. Labour claims it’s a smokescreen for illegal hunting but Ollie Hughes from the British Hound Sports Association says they see no reason to ban the sport.

Yeovil-born England’s women’s rugby union team captain, Marlie Packer, has been speaking about her hopes for 2025. Marlie, a former pupil at Bucklers Mead School in Yeovil, says she’d like to captain the national side at this year's World Cup series being played in the UK.

Somerset Ramblers Association has welcomed the decision to extend the deadline for registering public footpaths and rights of way. People now have until 2031 to have a public footpath and right of way, currently not registered, or mapped, protecting them from being built over.

More from News

Thursday 2nd April

The joint master of a hunt in Somerset has criticised the decision to hold a public consultation on banning trail hunting. Images of two men police want to speak to in connection with an arson attack on a barber’s shop in Wincanton have been released. The company that runs four leisure centres in the Mendip area has gone into administration... and more
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