Local News Friday 4th November

    Plans have been announced for a new rail service in Somerset that would be managed as a co-operative. Occupational therapy is being expanded across Somerset. More help is being provided to people in the greatest need in Chard. There's been a 50-percent increase in the number of disabled people losing benefits due to long hospital stays in Somerset...and more.

    Plans have been announced for a new rail service in Somerset that would be managed as a co-operative. Go-op is a community-owned train operating company that plans to run services between Taunton and Westbury, including ten trains a day through Castle Cary and Bruton from next year. The company has applied to the rail regulator, who is now considering the idea. 

    Occupational therapy is being expanded across Somerset. It’s now available at local GP surgeries in Somerset as part of efforts to reduce pressure on local hospitals. 

    More help is being provided to people in the greatest need in Chard. The Chard Community Fridge project provides tinned food, cooked meat, fresh vegetables, and other food items, also hygiene products, and shampoos. It operates from the Chard Community Hub with food items donated by local supermarkets.

    There's been a 50-percent increase in the number of disabled people losing benefits due to long hospital stays in Somerset. The Government doesn’t pay benefits to people when they are in receipt of long-term NHS in-patient care. It’s to stop the taxpayer from paying double to recipients but charities claim the ruling penalises the most vulnerable in society. 

    A girl from Broadway near Ilminster has raised £1000 to help provide new playground equipment in the village. Kaitlyn Harrop held a Halloween party last weekend, raising £1034 to help pay for new play equipment at Broadway Village Park.

    More from News

    • Thursday 1st May

      There’s been a call for the Somerset Levels to be designated a National Landscape. A Yeovil man has raised £2,000 for a new school minibus at Fairmead School in Yeovil by running the London Marathon. Exmoor Ales, which provides cask ales across the region and beyond, is closing its Somerset brewery and moving the business to Surrey...and more.

    • Wednesday 30th April

      The long-awaited refurbishment of Yeovil police station is finally to get underway this summer. Plans have been approved to build 185 new homes off Bunford Lane in Yeovil. Police have arrested three men in Yeovil for being involved in the supply of Class A drugs. A Somerset jockey has been named Champion Conditional Jockey of 2025...and more.

    • Tuesday 29th April

      New figures have shown that registering as a new patient with an NHS dentist in Somerset is still just as difficult as it was six months ago. The go-ahead has been given to build 160 new houses on Station Road in Castle Cary. A sailor from South Petherton has been chosen to lead a team in the round-the-world Clipper Race...and more.

    • Monday 28th April

      Somerset Council is being criticised for taking too long to re-open Yeovil's Octagon Theatre. The Liberal Democrats have won a seat on Chard Town Council by one vote. Dates have been announced for this year’s illuminated carnival processions in South Somerset...and more.

    • Friday 25th April

      Police are investigating the theft of a motorbike in Ilminster. Tributes have been paid to the former Yeovil Town player-manager, Cecil Irwin, who has died aged 83. Town criers from across the South West will be in Yeovil tomorrow competing for the loudest voice in the Yeovil Town Crier Competition 2025...and more

    •  Thursday 24th April

      Police are appealing for witnesses to an accident in which a child was struck by a car in Yeovil. This week, a planning inquiry is being held into plans to turn a Somerset shopping centre into a retirement complex. A Somerset woman is planning to walk the 70-miles of Hadrian's Wall to mark her 90th birthday...and more.

    • Wednesday 23rd April

      Tourism bosses in Somerset say they feel confident the County will have a good summer for visitors this year. A group representing care providers in Somerset is warning that some residential homes are at risk of going out of business due to rising costs. A Somerset animal charity has taken into care, three orphaned badger cubs...and more.

    • Tuesday 22nd April

      The Care Quality Commission has given two GP practices in Yeovil a 'good' overall rating. According to insurers, AXA, thefts at commercial premises in Somerset are on the rise. Bus users in Somerset could see changes to the frequency of services when the new West of England mayor takes office. Martock is to host its first Pride event in June...and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 27°C | Low: 11°C

    • Chard

      Sunny intervals

      High: 25°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 25°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 27°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 27°C | Low: 11°C

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