Police are appealing for witnesses to a crash on the A358 that led to the road shutting for 24 hours. A diabetes remission programme, piloted by NHS Somerset, is being rolled out across England. A Yeovil woman has won a top award for her cake-making...and more.
Police are appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage of an accident involving a black Range Rover and a white DAF lorry on the A358 at Hatch Beauchamp. It happened just before 3.50 pm on Wednesday between Bickenhall Lane and Griffin Lane. The A358 was closed for 24 hours between the A303 and A378 for investigators to examine the scene. If you witnessed the crash or have dashcam footage, you’re asked to please call 101.
A type-2 diabetes remission programme, piloted by NHS Somerset, is being rolled out across England. The scheme involves patients being fed a strict diet of soups and shakes to stabilize their diabetes and cut body weight.
Somerset-based defence company, Thales, says a new contract worth £1.85 billion, awarded by the British government to build new sonar technologies for the Royal Navy, will secure around 200 jobs at its site in Templecombe. Another 100 jobs will be safeguarded at Thales’s factory in Cheshire. Many of the jobs will be apprenticeships, working on sonar development.
More than one million recordings of birdsong have been made as part of a project to monitor bird populations on the Somerset Levels. The recordings are being analysed to help improve biodiversity on the Levels.
A Yeovil woman has won a top award for her cake making. Holly Miller, who started her cake business eight years ago, was presented with the National Wedding Cake Designer of the Year award at the Wedding Industry Awards held in London.
Crewkerne Community Hospital is to lose half its inpatient beds. A review will be conducted of a project to make Bridgwater more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Chard Methodist Church is offering residents a free lunch on Christmas Day. Yeovil-based Screwfix is opening a new outlet in Minehead...and more.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance has warned that delays in ordering 30 new medium lift helicopters for the RAF is putting the future of Somerset’s defence industries at risk. Somerset's farmers are being urged to convert more cow manure into biogas to heat homes. A new visitor centre has opened at Ham Hill country park...and more
Parcel business, Evri, has been criticised by Glastonbury and Somerton MP Sarah Dyke over what she claims have been ‘widespread delivery failures’. Demand for mental health support provided by South Western Ambulance Service is running at record levels. A nine-year-old Somerset boy has completed 100 days of litter picking for charity...and more
New data shows that crime in the Avon and Somerset police area is at an all-time high. Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard has issued a warning to prospective pet owners ahead of Christmas. The owner of four pubs in Somerset has warned that many could be forced to shut unless the government reconsiders business rates...and more.
Toolstream in Yeovil has been put into administration, threatening the jobs of dozens of employees. NHS Somerset has issued a last chance call for people to get a flu jab after hospital admissions increased by 76% in a week. Police are investigating the theft of a bike valued at £7,000 in Sherborne... and more
The Chief Executive of Somerset Council, Duncan Sharkey, has admitted to making mistakes in cutting jobs. Yeovil MP Adam Dance is supporting a Lib Dem initiative to introduce a new ‘Farm First’ training scheme. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance has launched an appeal to help buy a second helicopter... and more.
A man has appeared in court in connection with an attack in Wincanton. A member of Somerset Council, jailed for 26 months for taking part in a Just Stop Oil protest, may not have to stand down as a councillor. NHS Somerset has announced that changes to stroke services at Yeovil Hospital will "go live" in the spring of next year...and more
Avon and Somerset Police say 62 drivers were arrested in the first week of the Christmas drink and drug driving campaign. A reindeer farm near Yeovil thinks it may have to close after being told it needs a Zoo licence. Father Christmas has made a special delivery of presents to Charlton Farm Children's Hospice in Somerset...and more