Thursday 2nd May

Thursday, 2 May 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Voting is taking place today to elect a new Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset. NHS Somerset says the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital will stay open until a new replacement unit is built in Dorchester. A supermarket worker has retired after spending 52 years working at the same store in Ilminster...and more.

Voting is taking place today to elect a new Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset. Polling stations opened at 7 am and will close at 10 pm.
The candidates standing are:

Benet Allen, Liberal Democrats
Katy Grant, Green Party
Clare Moody, Labour and Co-operative Party
Mark Shelford, Conservative Candidate – More Police, Safer Streets

The Police and Crime Commissioner is responsible for producing a police and crime plan, deciding how the police budget will be spent, and holding the Chief Constable and Avon and Somerset force to account on the public’s behalf.

NHS Somerset says the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital will stay open until a new replacement unit is built in Dorchester. It follows concerns raised by the West Dorset MP Chris Loder that the new Dorchester unit will not be ready before the planned closure of the Yeovil unit. NHS Somerset says none of Yeovil's existing stroke services will close until the new Dorchester unit is ready to take patients, adding that it will take around 18 months to implement the proposals. Meanwhile, Lib-Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Yeovil, Adam Dance, has called on the Health Secretary, to intervene in the decision to close Yeovil’s hyper-acute stroke unit.

A playgroup in Yeovil has been declared 'good' by Ofsted. East Coker Playgroup was rated 'good' in all five aspects that Ofsted uses to measure a school's success. Currently, East Coker Playgroup cares for twenty-four children, aged between two and four.

A supermarket worker has retired after spending 52 years working at the same store in Ilminster. Julie Hutchings clocked up 52 years, nine months, and three days working at the Co-op in Ilminster after starting out there at the age of fifteen.

Somerset County Cricket Club have confirmed they've appointed the England Women's CaptainHeather Knight to join the club's board as an advisor

More than eighty thousand pounds has been granted to the Red Brick Building in Glastonbury. The community society which looks after the building say the money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund will go towards its Industry and community projects.

More from News

Thursday 16th May

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Wednesday 15th May

Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Tuesday 14th May

Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Monday 13th May

Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
Friday 10th May

The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Thursday 9th May

Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
Wednesday 8th May

A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.
Tuesday 7th May

Somerset Council has decided against selling the former Wilko store in Lower Middle Street in Yeovil. There’s a treat for snooker fans with Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor coming to Yeovil. An Air Engineering Commander at RNAS Yeovilton is taking on the Jurassic Coast 100km Ultra Challenge for charity...and more