Police are warning of a spate of thefts of Ford cars in South Somerset. The government has turned down a bid for levelling-up funds to build a new train station to serve Somerton and Langport. Long-running roadworks on the Somerset-Devon border will continue over the Christmas holidays after a repair scheme was postponed...and more.
Police are warning of a spate of thefts of Ford cars in South Somerset. Several Ford Fiestas and Ford Eco Sports have been stolen over the past four months without a door key being used. Police say it's part of a national increase in thefts of Ford Fiestas that are no longer in production. The vehicles are less than 10 years old and it is believed are being stolen to order for breaking-up for spare parts. Owners of Ford cars are being advised to be extra careful where they park their vehicles and to report anything suspicious by calling 999.
The government has turned down a bid for levelling-up funds to build a new train station to serve Somerton and Langport. The Langport Transport Group, supported by Somerset Council, submitted the bid last year claiming there was a strong case to have a new station provided in the area and asked that the project should progress to the next phase. The government says it’s financing five projects with levelling-up funding across Dorset and Somerset at a cost of £87 million but the new train station proposal for Langport and Somerton is not one of them. Langport and Somerton were originally served by trains on the Taunton to Castle Cary line but their stations were closed in the 1960s.
People are being asked to flag up places that are the most at risk of flooding in Somerset. It’s part of a consultation by Somerset Rivers Authority into a new 10-year plan, aimed at minimising the flood risk.
Long-running roadworks on the Somerset-Devon border will continue over the Christmas holidays after a repair scheme was postponed. For the past 18 months, motorists travelling on the A30 have had to contend with temporary lights at Crawley Farm, between Chard and Yarcombe. The lights, installed by Devon County Council following a landslip, should have been taken down in September but the council has now put back the date for doing the work to early January.
A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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