Local News Monday 16th August

    The Oscar Mayer food factory site in Chard that closed at the weekend has been bought by Numatic. Police are expected today to name the two people killed when their light aircraft crashed at Buckland St Mary near Chard. An appeal's been launched to find volunteers to support victims of modern slavery in Somerset. Land is being sought to create a new woodland in Ilminster. An office building in Yeovil could be converted into flats.

    The Oscar Mayer food factory site in Chard that closed at the weekend has been bought by Numatic, the company famous for making the 'Henry' vacuum cleaner. Numatic, based in Chard, say they need the site to meet demand. Meanwhile, the Mayor of Chard, Jason Baker, has praised Oscar Mayer for the way in which they have handled the factory closure. He says a majority of the eight hundred workers who worked there have been found new jobs. 

    Police are expected today to name the two people killed when their light aircraft crashed at Buckland St Mary near Chard. The crash happened last Thursday on farmland and the area remains closed as the Air Accidents Investigation Branch carries out an investigation.

    An appeal's been launched to find volunteers to support victims of modern slavery in Somerset. The pilot project called ‘Hidden Voices’ is an initiative by the Diocese of Bath and Wells. It's one of the first projects of its kind in the country with funding provided by the Home Office. 

    Land is being sought to create a new woodland in Ilminster. The woodland’s being planted to mark the Queen's Platinum jubilee next year as part of the Green Canopy Project, launched by Prince Charles. 

    An office building in Yeovil could be converted into flats. Plans for a ‘change of use’ on Brunel House on the Houndstone Business Park have been submitted to South Somerset District Council. If approved, the two-storey building would be transformed into 8 one-bed and 16 two-bed flats.

    More from News

    • Monday 16th June

      The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.

    • Friday 13th June

      Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.

    • Thursday 12th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.

    • Wednesday 11th June

      People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.

    • Tuesday 10th June

      A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more

    • Monday 9th June

      Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more

    • Friday 6th June 

      Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.

    • Thursday 5th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

      Sunny intervals

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 23°C | Low: 10°C

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