Local News Thursday 27th April

Thursday, 27 April 2023 07:00

By Steve Haigh

The Somerset Coroner is calling for better checks on mobility scooter drivers. Tatworth Pre-School has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. Somerset Council has been fined five hundred pounds over a series of delays in issuing a vulnerable child with a care plan. An ambulance worker from Barrington is preparing to scale the Three Peaks twenty-seven times in twelve days for charity....and more.

The Somerset Coroner is calling for better checks on mobility scooter drivers, following the death of a ninety-two-year-old woman in Taunton. Natalie Young died in April last year after being hit by a mobility scooter in a supermarket. After the inquest into her death, the Somerset Coroner wrote to the Department for Transport asking for better regulation of scooter users. The department says a new scheme is due to come in force by the summer that will be overseen by Driving Mobility.

Tatworth Pre-School near Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. In a report, Inspectors highlighted how working in small groups had helped the children to deepen their concentration and knowledge.

Waste collections in Somerset will take place as normal on Bank Holiday Monday next week with collections as normal for the rest of the week. There will be no waste collections on Bank Holiday Monday, May 8th, with collections running one day late for the whole week.

Somerset Council has been fined five hundred pounds over a series of delays in issuing a vulnerable child with a care plan. It follows an investigation by the Social Care Ombudsman who has instructed Somerset Council to issue an apology and compensate the family for the distress caused.

A man from Somerset has returned to Ukraine for a third time. Steve Brooks is currently in the south of the country, helping to train medics on the front line.

More food parcels than ever before have been given out across the South West by the Trussell Trust. Nearly two-hundred-and-forty-eight thousand emergency food packages were provided to people in our region by the charity in the last twelve months. It's a forty-two per cent increase from last year.

An ambulance worker from Barrington near Ilminster is preparing to set what he believes will be a new record. Next month, Dean Lewis will attempt to scale the Three Peaks twenty-seven times in twelve days, raising money for charities that support emergency workers.

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.