Local News Tuesday 21st February

Tuesday, 21 February 2023 06:00

Bus campaigners have welcomed the news of the government’s decision to extend subsidising bus travel in Somerset. A man and a 14-year-old boy have appeared in court in connection with a series of assaults in Yeovil. Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident outside Yeovil College. GWR says a programme of work will affect trains between Somerset and Dorset next week...and more.

Bus campaigners in Somerset have welcomed the news of the government’s decision to extend subsidising bus travel in the County by a further three months. It means the reduced fare of £2 on routes across Somerset can continue until at least the end of June.

A man and a 14-year-old boy have appeared in court in connection with a series of assaults in Yeovil. Magistrates were told the incidents, in which five men were injured, took place at separate locations around the town early Saturday morning. Jamie Gosney, aged 27, and a 14-year-old boy were each charged with three counts of GBH, possession of a knife in public and assault with intent to rob.

A pilot NHS training scheme in Somerset is aiming to keep people out of hospital for as long as possible and boost recruitment into the care sector. The scheme started during the pandemic and it offers skills training, including looking after patients with catheters and those with problems swallowing.

Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident in Yeovil. It happened on the A37 Ilchester Road, outside Yeovil College, on Tuesday 7th of February, at around 5.45 pm and involved a motorbike and a red Renault. Following the collision, the motorbike struck a second vehicle, a silver SAAB. If you saw what happened, or have dashcam footage. you’re asked to contact the non-emergency number 101.

A man who lives in East Lambrook has appeared in court charged with dangerous driving. Magistrates were told that Dylan Simms was filmed on a mobile phone arguing with his girlfriend and then driving away while she was on the car bonnet. Simms pleaded guilty to the charge and was given a 16 weeks suspended prison sentence and disqualified from driving for 12 months.

GWR says a programme of work will affect trains between Somerset and Dorset next week. Network Rail is planning to carry out track work between Dorchester West, Yeovil Pen Mill, and Castle Cary stations. No trains will run between Yeovil Pen Mill and Dorchester West from Monday 27th of February to Friday 3rd of March.

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.