Local News Thursday 26th January

    St Margaret's Hospice has admitted to losing one-million pounds in a failed business venture. A Yeovil shop owner is asking to be compensated for the loss of customers that she claims is due to the disruption caused by the improvement works to the town centre. A Somerset mother has set up a website to help other parents protect children when they're on their phones... and more.

    St Margaret's Hospice has admitted to losing one-million pounds in a failed business venture. The Somerset-based charity bought into a franchise, opening funeral shops and offering funeral plans but after 5-years of trading the business closed after running up huge debts. 

    A Yeovil shop owner is asking to be compensated for the loss of customers that she claims is due to the disruption caused by the improvement works to the town centre. Speaking to members of South Somerset District Council, Rachel Charles, who owns Sports of Bond Street, described the Yeovil Refresh Project as a “terrible disaster” and asked the council to compensate her and other independent businesses for the loss of trade. Portfolio holder for Yeovil Refresh, Councillor Peter Gubbins, said no money was available within the Refresh budget to compensate businesses and claimed the drop in footfall could be due to other factors and not just the disruption caused by the town centre improvements.

    A Somerset mother has set up a website to help other parents protect children when they're on their phones. Miranda Wilson was shocked by what she was hearing from friends about online abuse and decided to act.

    Somerset Community Foundation says donations to its Surviving Winter Appeal have risen to £150,000, taking the total donated since the appeal launched in 2010 to over one million pounds. Money is donated to the Appeal by people who receive the government’s Winter Fuel Allowance and who feel they don’t need the payment.

    A group of Yeovil Town supporters has launched an appeal to pay for the headstone on the grave of former player Johnny Hayward to be restored. Johnny Hayward holds the record for being Yeovil’s highest goal scorer, having netted 548 times during his 20-year career with the Glovers.
     

    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

      Heavy Rain

      High: 10°C | Low: 6°C

    • Chard

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 9°C | Low: 6°C

    • Crewkerne

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 9°C | Low: 5°C

    • Somerton

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 11°C | Low: 5°C

    • Wincanton

      Light rain

      High: 10°C | Low: 6°C

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