Local News Friday 14th October

    The opening hours of the minor injuries unit at Chard Hospital are being reduced. Military veterans in Somerset, struggling with paying their energy bills, are being offered up to 200 pounds a month for a year by the Royal British Legion. Three quarters of a million pounds has been spent on equipment to help people in Somerset who've had a fall at home or in a care home...and more.

    The opening hours of the minor injuries unit at Chard Hospital are being reduced. NHS Somerset says it'sdue to staff shortages. The unit will now open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday but stay closed on Wednesday and Friday. Meanwhile, NHS Somerset says they’re preparing for an extremely busy winter. It comes as new data has shown that NHS waiting lists in England are growing because of a lack of staff and beds.

    Military veterans in Somerset, struggling with paying their energy bills, are being offered up to 200 pounds a month for a year by the Royal British Legion. The money’s been given in addition to the financial support provided by the government. 

    Three quarters of a million pounds has been spent on equipment to help people in Somerset who've had a fall at home or in a care home. The equipment is now used to lift people up safely following a fall andwithout a carer having to call an ambulance, unless the person is in need of hospital treatment.

    A new TV documentary has thrown new light on the origins of the T.S. Elliot poem The Waste Land, described as one of the defining poems of the 20th century. T.S. Elliot, who lived in South Somerset and is buried in East Coker, always claimed the poem had nothing to do with his private life but programme casts doubt on the theory. The programme can be viewed on the BBC I-player.

    Castle Cary is gearing up for big crowds arriving inthe town this weekend. Castle Cary Carnival takes place tomorrow evening with more than 40 entries in the parade and hundreds expected in the High Street. 

    More from News

    • Friday 17th May

      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

    • Thursday 16th May

      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.

    • Wednesday 15th May

      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

    • Tuesday 14th May

      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.

    • Monday 13th May

      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.

    • Friday 10th May

      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.

    • Thursday 9th May

      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.

    • Wednesday 8th May

      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.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 21°C | Low: 9°C

    • Chard

      Light rain shower

      High: 20°C | Low: 9°C

    • Crewkerne

      Light rain shower

      High: 20°C | Low: 9°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 9°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 21°C | Low: 8°C

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