Friday 23rd August

Friday, 23 August 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Police are appealing for witnesses after a teenager was assaulted by two women in Yeovil. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner is making an increase in neighbouring policing one of her top priorities. A one-thousand-year-old oak tree at Sparkford has been shortlisted for the Tree of the Year competition...and more.

Police are appealing for witnesses after a teenager was assaulted by two women in Yeovil town centre. The attack happened on Church Street at around 10.30 pm last Friday. Two females, aged 16 and 18, were arrested the following day and have since been released on bail. Police are asking anyone who witnessed the incident to call the non-emergency number 101.

Increased neighbourhood policing across Somerset is one of the priorities in a five-year policing plan by Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner, Clare Moody. She says increasing neighbourhood policing will help to gather in more frontline intelligence but has concerns that underfunding means policing rural crime will remain a big challenge. There’s a chance to quiz the new Police and Crime Commissioner at an open meeting in Yeovil on Wednesday, October 9th.

Somerset Council is cutting the number of councillors who sit on its Executive. From September, the Executive will reduce from eight members to seven, with the number of Associate members cut from ten to six.

Jack Goodland, a member of Yeovil Bowls Club, has won two medals at the British Transplant Games. Jack, who was diagnosed with kidney failure at seven weeks old and had a transplant when he was two and a half, and a second transplant at the age of 22, took gold in the javelin and silver in bowls at the transplant games in Nottingham.

Yeovil’s new Liberal Democrat MP, Adam Dance, will be in King George Street in Yeovil tomorrow meeting with constituents. He’ll be outside the Library from 10 am to 12.30, taking questions and responding to any concerns local people raise.

An oak tree at Sparkford, estimated to be more than one thousand years old, has been shortlisted for the Tree of the Year competition. The King John Oak is located within the grounds of Hazelgrove Prep School. Dr Kate Lewthwaite of the Woodland Trust, who runs the Tree of the Year contest, says the King John Oak is very special.

More from News

Friday 12th June

It's claimed the increasing availability of drugs such as ketamine and cocaine has normalised drug use among young people in Somerset. The trial of a man accused of killing his one-month-old son in Chard begins today at Bristol Crown Court. A stone pillar outside the Langport Arms Hotel in Langport has been replaced after it was destroyed in a car crash... and more
Thursday 11th June

Sir Keir Starmer has paid tribute to the three aircrew from RNAS Yeovilton who died in last week's helicopter crash in Devon. Two men have been arrested and stolen vehicles seized following a major multi-agency operation in South Somerset. An event highlighting opportunities for women in the aerospace industry has been held in Yeovil... and more
Wednesday 10th June

The public will be consulted on how best to spend fifty million pounds of government funding to tackle flooding in Somerset. Avon and Somerset Police are backing a new road safety campaign aimed at reducing motorcycle fatalities. New welcome signs have been installed at entrances to the Mendip Hills National Landscape... and more
Tuesday 9th June

The government has announced a £50 million investment to strengthen Somerset’s flood defences. A woman from Stoke-sub-Hamdon has been banned from driving for 14 months after admitting drink-driving. Somerset Council has been told it must improve its adult social care services... and more
Monday 8th June

Plans for a new railway station in Langport remain stalled in Whitehall, according to Somerset Council. Plans to build 50 new homes in Broadway, near Ilminster, have been refused. The new water fountains in Yeovil’s Triangle, in Lower Middle Street, are being switched off during very hot weather because of safety concerns... and more.
Friday 5th June

A new NHS dental practice in Crewkerne says it won’t start operating at full capacity until July due to staff shortages. Somerset Council says it has no plans to show England matches in the World Cup on the Big Screen in Yeovil town centre due to safety concerns. A Somerset family has been thanked after completing a 73-mile walk raising money for a third world charity... and more
Thursday 4th June

An investigation continues today into the crash of a Royal Navy helicopter, based at RNAS Yeovilton, in which all three aircrew were killed. Somerset Council has confirmed that a new operator will take over several leisure centres across the county. The new live-action Masters of the Universe movie, filmed in Somerset, is released this week...and more
Wednesday 3rd June

A Yeovil man has appeared in court charged with assaulting three police officers. Somerset Council has begun legal action to recover more than £320,000 owed by housing developers. The line-up has been announced for this year’s Ilminster Midsummer Experience...and more