Local News Friday 18th August

Friday, 18 August 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Network Rail is investigating what services could be provided at a re-opened Chard railway station. Plans have been submitted to extend Keinton Mandeville Primary School. Somerton Town Council has introduced a dress code for its members. Yeovil is bidding for new honours in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition...and more.

Network Rail has agreed to investigate what services could be provided as part of plans to bring back a railway station to Chard. Chard Junction station fell victim to the Beeching cuts in 1966 and now a group of councillors and local business people are campaigning to have it re-opened. They’ve raised twenty thousand to prepare a business plan that will be submitted to the government before the end of the year.

Plans have been submitted to build an extension at Keinton Mandeville Primary School. Land within the school grounds that was previously a car park would be used for the two-classroom modular building.

Somerton Town Council has introduced a dress code for its members. It bans councillors from wearing summer shorts or sports clothing at meetings, also hats of any kind. The new rules apply to full council meetings, committee meetings and other events where a councillor is acting in an official capacity.

A collection of twenty ventriloquist dolls, some dating back more than one hundred years, will be sold in Sherborne later this month. They’re due to be auctioned at Charterhouse Auctions on August 31st and September 1st.

Police are searching for the driver of a blue Suzuki car believed to have left the scene of a road traffic accident in Glastonbury. The accident involving the Suzuki and a scooter happened on Old Wells Road last Friday. If you witnessed or have dashcam footage of the crash you’re asked to call the non-emergency number 101.

Yeovil is bidding for new honours in this year’s Britain in Bloom competition. It’s the twenty-seventh year the town has taken part in the South West section having won gold every year since 2011. Britain in Bloom judges visited Yeovil in July and were shown the flower displays in St. John’s Churchyard together with hearing about the charity, Able2Achieve helping with the planting.

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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