Friday 1st August

Friday, 1 August 2025 06:00

By Steve Haigh

A family in Marston Magna is trying to get a relative home from a holiday in Greece, where he's been taken seriously ill. The fire service is warning of the dangers of leaving mirrors in view of direct sunlight. Residents in Touchstone Lane in Chard have started a new community speed watch group...and more

A family in Marston Magna is trying to get a relative home from a holiday in Greece, where he's been taken seriously ill after insurers refused to pay his travel costs. His insurance company say that Alan Kirby had a pre-existing medical condition that was not disclosed when he applied for travel insurance. His stepdaughter, Lisa Whitemore, has launched an appeal for money to bring him home and is urging holidaymakers to read the terms and conditions of their insurance policies before travelling.

The fire service is warning of the dangers of leaving mirrors in view of direct sunlight following a fire at a property in Crofton Park in Yeovil caused by a mirror left by a window. The fire service says the mirror was left in direct sunlight, sparking a fire that spread to textile wall hangings in a bedroom.

Residents in Touchstone Lane and Helliers Road in Chard have started a community speed watch group. The group, which applied to register with Avon and Somerset Police, want a 20-mile-an-hour limit, together with other traffic-calming measures, introduced in Touchstone Lane and Helliers Road.

A further 60 homes could be built close to Castle Cary railway station if new plans are approved. The development will be accessed via Burfitt Road within the Lovel’s Farm site, and is in addition to the Station Green development at Ansford Hill, where 200 new homes are planned. Grass Roots Planning says a planning application will be submitted to Somerset Council before Christmas. Meanwhile, 49 new homes are to be built in Bruton. Somerset Council has approved plans for the development on the A359 at Cuckoo Hill, close to where a new doctors' surgery will be built.

And, due to the closure of A378 at Langport for bridge repairs, the Nat West mobile bank will be parked at a different location during August. It can be found in the car park at the Rose and Crown pub each Thursday, 12.30 to 1.15 pm. The A378 will be shut between Eastover and the junction with Moor Close to the end of August.

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Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
Thursday 30th July

The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Wednesday 29th July

Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
Tuesday 28th July

The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Monday 27th July

Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Friday 24th July

Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
Thursday 23rd July

The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Wednesday 22nd July

Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more