Friday 2nd August

Friday, 2 August 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Police are appealing for witnesses to a street fight involving around twenty teenagers in Somerton. Police have seized drugs and weapons including knives during a search of three properties in Castle Cary. The annual Roma Holocaust memorial service takes place today at Sherborne Abbey...and more

Police are appealing for witnesses to a street fight involving around twenty teenagers in Somerton. It happened in Langport Road at around 9 pm on Friday, July 12th. Police would like to hear from anyone in the area at the time who saw the disturbance or has dashcam footage.

Police have seized drugs and weapons including knives during a search of three properties in Castle Cary. Cash, mobile phones and suspected counterfeit designer bags and clothing were also recovered. Three men and two women, arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of class A and B drugs, were later released under investigation, pending further enquiries.

The cost of rural crimes has risen by almost 70 percent in the last twelve months. New figures from NFU Mutual show rural crime cost the county around 1.3 million pounds between June 2023 and June of this year, with gangs stealing from several farms in one night.

Road safety concerns are blocking progress on building 125 new homes and a medical centre in Bruton. Land on either side of Brewham Road has been earmarked for the scheme with the Acorn Property Group building sixty homes to the south, and Woolsington One Ltd 65 new homes to the north, as well as allocating land for a new doctors’ surgery. Somerset Council’s planning committee south discussed both applications at a meeting on July 23rd, with officers recommending they be given the go-ahead. However, the committee voted to defer a decision until further assurances regarding highway safety and access to both sites had been provided.
A business case has been finalised to connect the West Somerset Railway line to the main rail line through Taunton. Currently, the heritage line goes between Bishops Lydeard and Minehead, via Watchet, Blue Anchor, Dunster and Williton. £6 million of public funding would be needed to create the link.

At the Olympics, Becky Wilde from Somerset won a bronze with her partner Mathilda Hodgkins-Byrne in the Double Sculls rowing final. The pair finished behind Romania who came 2nd and New Zealand who won gold in the Women's Coxless Four Final Helen Glover who went to school and trained in Somerset won silver along with her teammates Esme Booth, Sam Redgrave and Rebecca Shorten.

The annual Roma Holocaust memorial service takes place today at Sherborne Abbey. The service which starts at midday and will be attended by the Lord Lieutenant of Dorset is held every year in remembrance of Gypsy and Roma people who perished at the hands of the Nazi regime in the second world war.

A former Yeovil College media student will have his latest film premiered at Cineworld in Yeovil tonight. Connor Raithby wrote, directed and stars in Stapler, a comedy about a talking stapler.

More from News

Friday 31st July

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