Local News Friday 27th May

Friday, 27 May 2022 06:00

Emergency stroke services in the county could be offered in one hospital instead of two, in the future. court has heard how a Chard woman, who portrayed herself as being homeless, stole a man’s wallet after he invited her back to his flat for a meal. The former Conservative Leader of Somerset County Council, David Fothergill, has been speaking about making the switch to the new Somerset unitary council. A Yeovil man is setting-up Somerset’s first wheelchair rugby club...and more.

Emergency stroke services in the county could be offered in one hospital instead of two, in the future. NHS managers are looking at whether to close the emergency stroke unit at either Yeovil or Musgrove Park hospitals, so they have all the specialist staff and equipment in one place.

A court has heard how a Chard woman, who portrayed herself as being homeless, stole a man’s wallet after he invited her back to his flat for a meal. Taunton Crown Court was told that Emma Shirley, now of David Way in Chard, approached the man in Yeovil town centre claiming to have no money for food and repaid his kindness by stealing £180 from him. Shirley, who had a history of similar offending, was jailed for fifteen months.

The former Conservative Leader of Somerset County Council, David Fothergill, has been speaking about making the switch to the new Somerset unitary council. From April next year, Somerset’s district councils, including South Somerset and the County Council will disappear and be replaced by the new 'one' council that will run all council services across Somerset. The Liberal Democrats won control of the County Council at the local elections and will run the new unitary when it comes into being in 2023. Councillor Fothergill says he wants the new unitary authority to be a success.

A Yeovil man is setting-up Somerset’s first wheelchair rugby club. Julian Allen, who won silver in the wheelchair rugby at the Invictus Games in the Netherlands, has enlisted the support of Help for Heroes and the Rifles’ Care for Casualties charity with the venture. He’s aiming to have a Somerset-based wheelchair rugby club in place to compete against teams like Southampton Sharks Bournemouth Lions by the start of the 2023 season.

A four-year-old boy from Chard, who suffers from eczema, is taking on a walking challenge to support other children with the condition. Ezra Venn was diagnosed with eczema as a baby and despite being given various treatments his condition remains pretty much unchanged. Ezra, who will start primary school in September, is completing 5,000 walking steps every day during May, raising funds for Eczema Outreach Support.

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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.