Friday 20th October

    Motorists in Somerset are being urged to have their eyes tested following a report claiming a quarter of people who should wear glasses behind the wheel are not doing so. The Head of Yeovil-based Screwfix wants to see more young people become electricians, plumbers and builders. Natural England has announced the launch of a new super National Nature Reserve across the Mendip Hills...and more.

    Motorists in Somerset are being urged to have their eyes tested. It follows a report by the College of Optometrists that claims a quarter of people who should wear glasses behind the wheel are not doing so and are putting themselves, other road users, and pedestrians at risk. 

    The Head of Yeovil-based Screwfix claims a lack of tradespeople is holding back the economy. He says twelve billion pounds a year is being lost to the UK economy due to a shortage of tradespeople. CEO of Screwfix, John Mervett wants more encouragement given to younger people to learn a trade.

    Natural England has announced the launch of a new super National Nature Reserve across the Mendip Hills in Somerset. It’s part of an initiative by King Charles to enhance biodiversity and nature recovery.

    Latest figures from Ofcom show that 23,000 premises in Somerset and Devon are still not receiving a satisfactory mobile phone signal. The premises are in places known as ‘4G not-spots’. The government is currently providing £430,000 in funding through the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership to improve mobile reception across the two counties. 

    Somerset-based jockey Bryony Frost says she's hoping for more big titles as she heads into the new jump race season. Frost - who trains at Ditcheat with Paul Nicholls - became the first female jockey to win the King George Chase back in 2020.

    The Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne has won a top award. In the Condé Nast Johansens awards The Eastbury came first in the Best Value Experience category.

    More from News

    • Monday 16th June

      The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.

    • Friday 13th June

      Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.

    • Thursday 12th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.

    • Wednesday 11th June

      People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.

    • Tuesday 10th June

      A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more

    • Monday 9th June

      Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more

    • Friday 6th June 

      Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.

    • Thursday 5th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

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      High: 22°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

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      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 23°C | Low: 10°C

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