Local News Tuesday 20th June

Tuesday, 20 June 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

New technology is being used to help identify people in Somerset at risk of developing liver disease. Tributes are being paid to Somerset racehorse owner, Paul Barber, who has died at the age of 80. Plans have been submitted to convert an office block in Yeovil town centre into a house of multiple occupation...and more.

New technology is being used to help identify people in Somerset at risk of developing liver disease. The project involves analysing people’s historic blood results and, where signs of liver disease are spotted, offering them early treatment.

Tributes are being paid to Somerset racehorse owner, Paul Barber, who has died at the age of 80. His best-known horses, See More Business and Denman, enjoyed big race successes, including winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Paul Barber was also well known as a Somerset cheese maker.

Plans have been submitted to convert an office block in Yeovil town centre into a house of multiple occupation. If approved by Somerset Council, the former Porter Dodson offices on Church Path, next to St John’s Church, would be turned into a fifteen-bed unit.

Funding has been provided to plant a further twenty thousand new trees across Somerset as part of efforts to reduce flooding. The ‘Trees for Water’ project has been given sixty-thousand pounds in funding to plant trees across the county aimed at reducing surface water run-off in targeted areas.

The Big Wildlife Count is taking place in Somerset this week. People are being asked to look out for common species like goldfinch, dragonflies, spiders and butterflies and record their sightings online. The project is being run jointly by the Somerset Wildlife Trust and Somerset Environmental Records Centre.

The Head of the Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard is walking a forty-six-mile walk today and tomorrow, raising funds for the charity. On his way over to Chard from the Ferne Estate in Wiltshire, Kevan Hodges will be passing through Henstridge, Milborne Port, West Coker, Haselbury Plucknet, Crewkerne, Roundham, and Cricket St Thomas.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more