Local News Friday August 12

    With Somerset on amber alert for extreme heat today, South West Ambulance is asking people to only dial 999 in an absolute emergency. The main A30 road through Sherborne is still closed following a gas leak that shut the road yesterday. Extra funding is being given to pay for improvements at Yeovil Crematorium. More volunteers are wanted to help young people in care in Somerset and Work is yet to start building a new McDonald’s off the Southfields roundabout on the A303.

    With Somerset on amber alert for extreme heat today, South West Ambulance is asking people to only dial 999 in an absolute emergency, and for all other advice to use NHS 111 or local chemists. With temperatures expected to reach 36 Celsius this weekend a drought could be declared for Somerset, with water restrictions introduced for local users.

    The main A30 road through Sherborne is still closed following a gas leak that shut the road yesterday. It followed an accident between Marston Road and Bristol Road in which a combine harvester hit a gas pipe, causing gas to escape, and posing a risk to people living nearby.

    Extra funding is being given to pay for improvements at Yeovil Crematorium. However, due to rising costs, some of the planned work, including demolishing the existing chapel and building new toilets, won’t now take place.

    More volunteers are wanted to help young people in care in Somerset. The Advocacy 1 Team is looking for adults to act as friends to young people, offering them advice and guidance throughout their teenage years. 

    Work is yet to start building a new McDonald’s off the Southfields roundabout on the A303 Ilminster by-pass. The drive-thru and restaurant, creating sixty-five new jobs, was due to open before Christmas last year. In a statement, McDonald’s says they don’t have an opening date in mind, nor a date for when construction work will begin.

    More from News

    • Thursday 28th March

      The waiting room and public toilets at Yeovil bus station that have fallen victim to Somerset Council spending cuts, will shut for good this weekend. A banking hub will not be provided in Ilminster when the town's last bank closes later this year. A rugby player who punched an opponent during a game in Sherborne has been ordered to pay his victim £4,000 in compensation...and more.

    • Wednesday 27th March

      Twenty-mile-an-hour speed zones are being introduced in fifteen areas across Somerset, including on roads in Chard and Ilchester. Plans to build fifty new houses at Broadway near Ilminster have been scrapped. Two people have appeared at Yeovil Magistrates Court charged with multiple drug offences...and more.

    • Tuesday 26th March

      More than two hundred and fifty new homes are to be built on the northern edge of Yeovil following a successful appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. The Shindig Music Festival, held on the Dillington Estate near Ilminster, has announced that this year's event will be their last. A hip replacement procedure at Yeovil Hospital, that can be done without patients needing an overnight hospital stay, has won a top award...and more.

    • Monday 25th March

      Twenty-five new electric buses will soon start running on Somerset’s roads thanks to a £14.7 million Government investment in public transport. A record number of houses were sold in Chard last year making it one of the most popular towns in Somerset to live in. Yeovil's Marlie Packer won her 100th cap with the England Women’s Rugby team playing Italy in a Six Nations game yesterday...and more.

    • Friday 22nd March

      A by-election for a seat on Yeovil Town Council has been won by the Yeovil Independents. Owners of empty properties in Somerset will be paying double in council tax from April. A Somerset man is celebrating after finding England’s largest ever nugget of gold, said to be worth £30,000, using a metal detector...and more.

    • Thursday 21st March

      A four-year-long, one-million-pound regeneration project in Chard, to improve the look of the town centre is nearing completion. Bus users have criticised a decision to cut a bus route between Wells and Yeovil. Yeovil is one of only three towns in Somerset to win a place in the finals of the national Britain in Bloom competition...and more

    • Wednesday 20th March

      Eighty-one motorists were caught using a mobile phone at the wheel during a two-week crackdown carried out by Avon and Somerset Police. People in Crewkerne are being asked to report incidents of fly tipping to the Town Council. A nurse at Yeovil Hospital will be raising money for the Roald Dahl Marvellous Children’s Charity when she competes in this year’s London Marathon...and more.

    • Tuesday 19th March

      Visit Somerset says the number of people visiting Somerset's tourist attraction is on the increase, despite a downturn in visitor numbers at UK tourist attractions. A new doctors’ surgery could soon open in Bruton as part of a new housing scheme. A campaign’s been launched in Bradford Abbas for the village to be given back a post box... and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Light rain shower

      High: 12°C | Low: 4°C

    • Chard

      Light rain shower

      High: 11°C | Low: 4°C

    • Crewkerne

      Light rain shower

      High: 11°C | Low: 4°C

    • Somerton

      Light rain shower

      High: 13°C | Low: 4°C

    • Wincanton

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 11°C | Low: 4°C

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