Local News 26th July

Wednesday, 26 July 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Police are investigating the attempted kidnap of a woman in Yeovil. Somerset Council has signed a letter to the Prime Minister asking for e-scooters to be legalised. Court Barton in Ilminster is closed again to traffic today and won’t reopen until Friday. An Ilminster woman has launched a campaign to get more giant sunflowers grown in Somerset...and more.

Police are investigating the attempted kidnap of a woman in Yeovil. It happened as she was being followed by a silver Skoda SUV along Preston Road at around 9.50 pm on Sunday, July 9. Police say the car pulled up alongside the woman and a man grabbed her arm and tried to pull her into the car. The offender has been described as white, with dark features, in his mid to late 30s and was wearing a black hat. Police would like to speak to a man and woman who were walking a dog in Preston Park off Preston Road at around the time of the incident. If you can help, you’re asked to please call the non-emergency number 101.

Somerset Council has signed a letter to the Prime Minister asking for e-scooters to be legalised. More than fifty organisations including environmental charities and campaigners claim the UK is the only developed nation not to have permanently legalised e-scooters or committed to do so.

Court Barton in Ilminster is closed again to traffic today and won’t reopen until Friday. It’s to allow for Wessex Water to carry out repairs.

An Ilminster woman wants to see more sunflowers grown in Somerset. Marjorie Edwards started growing the giant blooms in 2021 during Covid to get people out into their gardens. She's launched a grow a sunflower as tall as a house’ initiative in the hope that gardeners will grow more sunflowers.

Local man Michael Peach is the latest to qualify as an on-call firefighter with the Devon and Somerset Rescue Service. On-call firefighters do the same emergency work as full-time firefighters but can also have other jobs. They carry a pager, which activates when they are needed to attend incidents.

Jason Inchley of Chard has won best in class at the Riding for the Disabled National Championships. Scoring seventy-seven points riding his thirteen-year-old mare, Rubin Ryella, Jason won the Open Grade Two section outright.

Yeovil Town beat League Two side Newport County 2-0 in a pre-season friendly at Huish Park last night. Yeovil's goal scorers were Morgan Williams on twenty-one minutes and Jake Hyde in the seventy-third minute.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more