Local News Tuesday 2nd May

Tuesday, 2 May 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Several local schools are facing disruption today again as teachers stage another strike. Somerset Council has published a timetable of works for the next round of new traffic lights in Yeovil. Work building a new Enterprise Centre in Chard is close to being completed. A well-known café in Langport has announced that it's shutting...and more.

Several local schools are facing disruption today as teachers stage another strike. Members of the National Education Union are taking action in support of their long-running dispute over pay. The schools in our area affected are: Buckler’s Mead School in Yeovil, Huish Episcopi Academy in Langport, Ashlands Primary School in Crewkerne and Ansford Academy in Castle Cary.

Somerset Council has published a timetable of works for the next round of new traffic lights in Yeovil. Larkhill Road will be the first of three places in the town to get new lights installed with work commencing in late May. Work to install new traffic lights on West Coker Road will commence in early June. Work to replace the traffic lights at the junction of Wyndham Street and Sherborne Road will start in July.

Drivers in Somerset are being told to get their eyesight tested regularly with estimates that nearly one million people in the UK are driving with poor vision. Avon and Somerset Police and Somerset Council are involved in a national campaign aimed at getting older drivers to have their vision checked.

South Western Railway says trains on the Waterloo to Exeter line through Yeovil Junction and Sherborne stations will be running as normal from today. SWR was forced to make cuts to the timetable last week when a problem with diesel fuel led to a number of trains being withdrawn from service.

Work building a new Enterprise Centre in Chard is close to being completed. The building in Beeching Close has been funded by Somerset Council with a grant from the European Regional Development Fund. Local businesses and, in particular, owners of new start-up businesses in Chard are now invited to take up space at the new Centre.

A well-known café in Langport has announced that it's shutting. Secret Teacup at Old Kelways will close for good on Friday, blaming increases in the cost of ingredients, electricity and wages for the decision.

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