Monday 29th January

Monday, 29 January 2024 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Play areas in Yeovil will not get any new equipment installed for the next twelve months as part of spending cuts at Somerset Council. A Milborne Port man has been jailed for six years after being found in possession of £17,000 worth of class-A drugs. The owners of the former Oscar Mayer factory in Chard have yet to submit a planning application to develop the site, two years after it closed...and more.

Play areas in Yeovil and across South Somerset will not get any new equipment installed for the next 12 months as Somerset Council seeks to cut its spending by £100 million. The Council says the pause on buying new kit will save £168,000 and claims it will not put children and young people at risk.

The Chief Medical Officer for Somerset, Doctor Bernie Marden, says he understands people’s concerns about closing the emergency stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Despite strong objections, NHS Somerset has decided to downgrade the unit, with people who suffer a stroke in Yeovil being taken to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton. The changeover will take about eighteen months to implement. Doctor Marden claims it will lead to better outcomes for stroke patients.

A Somerset man has been jailed for six years after being found in possession of £17,000 worth of class-A drugs. Matthew Appleyard, of Combe Hill, Milborne Port pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine at Taunton Crown Court. It’s estimated that Appleyard’s criminal activity netted him around £250,000. A hearing will now be held under the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure he profits from his activities.

Somerset Council says the owners of the Oscar Mayer site in Chard have yet to submit a planning application to develop the site. The former ready-meal factory in Furnham Road remains untouched, two years after it closed. Somerset Council says it’s keen to see the site used for a business, rather than housing.

A cheque for £2,300 has been presented to Yeovil Hospital by Milborne Port Sports and Social Club. The money, given to the Oncology and Haematology Day Unit at Yeovil Hospital, was raised at events held by the Club last year.

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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.