News

Somerset Olympic Rower, Helen Glover, will be carrying the Team GB flag, together with diver Tom Daley, at this evening's opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. Work has been completed building a new mental health ward in Yeovil. Martock Library is reducing its opening hours after losing funding from the Parish Council...and more.

A crowdfunding appeal has been launched raising money to help find a Chard man missing for almost two weeks in Sardinia. Somerset Council is to sell off some of its buildings to help balance the books. Building work on the UK's biggest electric vehicle battery factory near Bridgwater will begin next month...and more.

Drivers at Buses for Somerset are involved in a second day of strike action today. Police in Yeovil confiscated a motorbike that was being ridden without insurance. This year’s Charter Fair in Crewkerne will take place over three days from the 6th to the 8th of September. The main road through the cliffs at Cheddar Gorge is closed again today for filming...and more.

A sub-postmistress from Wells, falsely accused of stealing by the Post Office, is celebrating after finally being paid compensation. An amateur jockey from near Sherborne is in hospital after sustaining a serious back injury in a fall. A man who became violent towards staff at Hollywood Bowl in Yeovil has been jailed...and more.

The RSPCA in Somerset has reported a big increase in cases of animal cruelty. The mother of a Chard man, missing for more than a week in Sardinia, has launched a desperate plea to find him. A book detailing the life of one of Stalbridge’s most famous sons, the author Douglas Adams, has been gifted to Stalbridge Town Council...and more.

Glovers Walk shopping centre in Yeovil is to be demolished. The Rock and Ribs music festival starts at Wincanton racecourse today. A mobile clinic, part of the UK’s largest-ever health research programme, is coming to Chard and Yeovil. A new community magazine has been launched in Sparkford...and more.

Plans have been submitted to build 650 new houses in Wincanton. Farmers in Somerset have criticised Avon and Somerset Police for re-deploying four officers from the rural crime team. Glastonbury and Somerton MP, Sarah Dyke, has written to the new Transport Secretary asking for a meeting about restoring a rail link between Langport and Somerton...and more.

Work to upgrade the gas network on Preston Road in Yeovil begins later this month. Somerset Council has been given the go-ahead to deliver the final phase of the Yeovil Refresh project. The wet weather is being blamed for a big drop in visitor numbers to Somerset this summer...and more.

Members of Yeovil Town Council meet tonight to vote on taking over a host of local services that Somerset Council says it can no longer afford to provide. Yeovil’s e-scooter trial is being temporarily halted. A new cafe is soon to open for people who worked at the Morlands sheepskin factory in Glastonbury to share memories...and more.

Yeovil Hospital says a new operating theatre, specialising in orthopaedic surgery, is on target to open by the end of the year. Somerset Council’s ruling executive meets today to decide on paying its waste contractor, Suez, an extra 47 million pounds. Six thousand children at thirty primary schools in Somerset have taken part in a musical promotion in support of Team GB at the Paris Olympics...and more.

Bus services around the Yeovil area look set to be disrupted later this month when members of the RMT take strike action. Members of Somerset’s ethnic minority communities will be celebrating their cultural histories at an event in Yeovil this weekend. Local charities have benefited from the generosity of the Inner Wheel Club of Chard...and more.

Police are warning people in Somerset not to approach a man wanted on recall to prison. The Ilminster bypass will close overnight for four days later this month. A Somerset cider producer says hundreds of its apple trees are at risk due to an increase in numbers of ermine moths...and more.

New figures show that from the start of the year, black people were six times more likely than white people to be the target of a stop and search by Avon and Somerset Police. A housing developer is taking legal action against Somerset Council. A Somerset teenager hopes to break records when he sets off on a journey around the UK coastline in an electric boat...and more.

Nearly 150 roads are being resurfaced this summer in Somerset. Ilminster Tennis Club has been named Somerset Tennis Club of the Year 2024 by the Lawn Tennis Association. The York Inn in Churchinford has been named the pub of the year by the Countryside Alliance...and more. 

Former Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh has quit the Conservative party accusing it of being ‘dead’. The NatWest in Yeovil is one of several NatWest branches used to withdraw £10,800 with a stolen bank card. The Mildmay Arms in Queen Camel, near Yeovil, has been put up for sale...and more.

It’s the day of the General Election with voters across Yeovil and south Somerset heading to polling stations. Ilminster Carnival has announced its 2024 date. Local charities are set to receive funds from this year’s Glastonbury Festival and more...

The RSPCA are appealing for help after an elderly neglected dog was found in Yeovil. The impact of flooding in Chard is being addressed by the Town Council. Stoke-sub-Hamdon’s new skate park is on its way to becoming a reality and more...

A prolific shoplifter has been banned from entering a number of stores in Yeovil. Motorway users faced a second weekday of problems on the M5 yesterday. The organisers of the Somerset Comedy Festival have had to cancel more shows...and more

A lorry driver has been taken to hospital after a crash. Coldplay becomes the first act to headline the Glastonbury festival five times. East Coker Community Primary raises school funds, supported by a Team England star...and more.