Local News Thursday 26th May

Thursday, 26 May 2022 06:00

Yeovil is the second easiest place to pass a driving test in the UK, according to new research by the insurance firm, Ingenie. A special church service has been held at RNAS Yeovilton to remember those who lost their lives serving on HMS Coventry and the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands conflict. The Liberal Democrats, who won control of Somerset County Council in the local elections earlier this month, have confirmed Councillor Bill Revans in the role of new County Council Leader...and more

Yeovil is the second easiest place to pass a driving test in the UK, according to new research by the insurance firm, Ingenie. Between April 2020 and June 2021, the town had a pass rate of 66.5 per cent. Dorchester had the highest pass rate in the UK with 67.3 per cent of those taking the driving test, passing it.

A special church service has been held at RNAS Yeovilton to remember those who lost their lives serving on HMS Coventry and the Atlantic Conveyor in the Falklands conflict. This week marks 40 years since both ships were sunk during the Falklands War with more than thirty men losing their lives.

The Liberal Democrats, who won control of Somerset County Council in the local elections earlier this month, have confirmed Councillor Bill Revans in the role of new County Council Leader. At the first meeting of all 110 councillors held in Bridgwater who will run the new Somerset unitary council from April next year, Councillor Val Keitch, the current Leader of South Somerset District Council, was given the Local Government Reorganisation and Prosperity portfolio, with Councillor David Woan as her deputy.

Two garden designers from Bruton have won a ‘Best in Show’ award at the Chelsea Flower Show. Lulu Urquhart and Adam Hunt were chosen for their creation of a garden depicting a beaver wetland habitat. The garden, which also won a Chelsea gold medal, features a beaver lodge, dam, a pond and stream, and various plants including orchids, forget-me-nots and hawthorn.

The first business to move in at a new industrial estate in Yeovil has begun trading. The national chain, GSF, which sells car parts, has opened a Yeovil branch on the new Glenmore Trading Estate, off Lufton Way, close to Yeovil Town’s Huish Park ground.

More from News

Friday 17th May

A new website has been launched to support people in Somerset with mental health issues. One of Yeovil’s oldest pubs has been sold. Artwork on the theme of aviation produced by students at Yeovil College has gone on display at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil.A pupil at Tatworth Primary School near Chard has won a prize in a national competition for writing a book review...and more
Thursday 16th May

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Wednesday 15th May

Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Tuesday 14th May

Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Monday 13th May

Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
Friday 10th May

The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Thursday 9th May

Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
Wednesday 8th May

A woman driver has been told she faces a prison term for causing the deaths of two people in a crash on the A303. The AA says there are more potholes than ever on Somerset’s motorway network, leading to an increase in damage to vehicles. The new cancer treatment unit at Yeovil Hospital should be open before the end of the year...and more.