Local News Monday 17th April

    Plans to build a new police station in Yeovil have been scrapped. Somerset Council has apologised for sending out thousands of pension credit letters to the wrong addresses. The green light has been given to build a huge solar farm at South Perrott. Cider makers in Somerset are staging events this week to mark British Cider Week...and more.

    Plans to build a new police station in Yeovil have been scrapped after more than five years of waiting. The existing station on Horsey Lane was due to be demolished and replaced with a new two-storey building, but Avon and Somerset Police say the scheme has been cancelled due to escalating costs. A decision to refurbish the existing building instead is expected to be announced shortly.

    Somerset had the highest number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the South West last year, according to Diabetes UK. The charity says that thirty-seven thousand people in Somerset were told they had the condition in 2022. 

    Somerset Council has apologised for sending out thousands of pension credit letters to the wrong households. The Council says a glitch in its computer system led to eleven thousand letters being sent to the wrong addresses. A revised and corrected letter has been prepared and is now being sent to eligible residents.

    The green light has been given to plans to build a huge solar farm that partly crosses into Dorset from South Somerset. The scheme had already approved a fifty-four-hectare site near South Perrott and now Dorset Council has also given its approval. The solar farm will be built close to Pipplepen Farm on School Hill in South Perrott. Developers, Elgin Energy claim it will generate enough power for around 10,000 homes.

    It’s been confirmed that Dillington House near Ilminster is to close as a venue at the end of September. The decision to permanently shut the building was made by Somerset County Council last October after the Council ran up huge losses running it as a venue. Bookings between now and the end of September will go ahead as normal.

    Cider makers in Somerset are staging events this week to mark British Cider Week. UK cider is said to account for thirty-nine per cent of all worldwide sales of cider.

    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: 26°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

      Sunny intervals

      High: 24°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 24°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 27°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 26°C | Low: 10°C

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