Yeovil-based leather manufacturer, Pittards, is urgently seeking an injection of cash to keep the company afloat. The woodland community, Tinkers Bubble, near Norton sub Hamdon, has been granted permission to remain on the forty-acre site indefinitely. BUPA Dental Care says the future of its dental practice in Crewkerne is under review. A new community defibrillator has been installed in Chard...and more.
Yeovil-based leather manufacturer, Pittards, is urgently seeking an injection of cash to keep the company afloat. In a statement, the company says it plans to issue one-million new shares at twenty-five pence each to raise cash of £344,000. A meeting of shareholders has been called for April 11th to agree on the plan. Pittards, which specialises in producing leather for bags and other leather goods blames its financial difficulties on adverse foreign currency movements.
The woodland community, Tinkers Bubble, near Norton sub Hamdon, has been granted permission to remain on the forty-acre site indefinitely. The so-called ‘off grid, low impact community’ was set up as a temporary campsite twenty-four years ago surrounded by huge controversy. Since then, Tinkers Bubble has grown in size and now has sixteen residents who produce their own timber, cider, apple juice, and vegetables, which they sell locally. The application for permanent status was granted by South Somerset District Council with no objections from Norton sub Hamdon parish council.
Bupa Dental Care says the future of its dental practice in Crewkerne is under review and will stay open for the time being. It follows the announcement that BUPA is shutting twenty-six dental practices in England and Wales.
Avon and Somerset Police have been working with colleagues in other forces across the South West this week to tackle drug crime. The operation has also focused on the crimes that drugs bring with them - like violence, robbery, burglary and theft, as well as anti-social behaviour.
There's just under a month to go to sign up for a fifty-two-mile Coast to Coast Cycle Challenge to raise money for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance. The annual event will start in Watchet and end at West Bay in Dorset on 23rd April.
A new community defibrillator has been installed in Chard. The portable device is located on the Millfield Industrial Estate. The Chard Defib Group has thanked the National Grid and C and D Transport of Chard for funding the project.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Friday 17th May
Thursday 16th May
Wednesday 15th May
Tuesday 14th May
Monday 13th May
Friday 10th May
Thursday 9th May
Wednesday 8th May
