Local News Tuesday 12th April

Tuesday, 12 April 2022 06:00

A three-kilometer exclusion zone has been set up in and around the village of Horton near Ilminster where a case of the H5NI strain of bird flu has been detected. An amateur jockey remains under treatment at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital following a fall at Wincanton racecourse. Motorists are being asked to keep a special lookout for motorcyclists this Easter, with many more bikers expected on Somerset’s roads. An organising committee has been set up in the hope of reviving the Yeovil Carnival this year, after a seventeen-year break...and more.

A three-kilometer exclusion zone has been set up in and around the village of Horton near Ilminster where a case of the H5NI strain of bird flu has been detected. Anyone occupying premises with poultry or, other captive birds within the exclusion zone, has been told to keep records of people visiting, and all poultry entering or leaving their premises.

An amateur jockey remains under treatment at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital following a fall at Wincanton racecourse. Major Charlie O'Shea was riding in the second to last race at Sunday’s meeting when he fell from his horse, sustaining serious head injuries.

Motorists are being asked to keep a special lookout for motorcyclists this Easter, with many more bikers expected on Somerset’s roads. The warning is part of Motorcycle Awareness Week and comes from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.

GP practices in Somerset could lose thousands of pounds from carrying-out childhood vaccinations, as the way in which they are paid is set to change. GPs used to get an incentive payment if they managed to give 90% of childhood vaccines, such as MMR
but the target’s been increased to 95% with no extra payments.

South Petherton man, Stephen Carp, is running forty-seven half marathons in as many days to raise funds for the ‘I CAN’ children's communication charity. It was after his five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a severe speech disorder that Stephen was inspired to take on the challenge.

An organising committee has been set up in the hope of reviving the Yeovil Carnival this year, after a seventeen-year break. Fund-raising events are planned for the coming months, with the aim of holding a walking parade in the town in October.

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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.