Inflation is causing budget problems for the new Somerset Council. A major crackdown on drugs is underway across the South West this week. People are being asked for their views on the planned spending of £29 million pounds on expanding Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. Police have appealed for the public's help to find a missing man from Cardiff who they think may be in Yeovil or Langport and St Margaret’s shop in Ilminster has moved to a new location.
Inflation is causing budget problems for the new Somerset Council. The County Council and district councils are merging to form one unitary authority that will come into being in April next year. A report suggests the new single council will need to save £44 million pounds, that's up from the previous estimate of £28 million.
A major crackdown on drugs is underway across the South West this week. Avon and Somerset Police and the region’s four other police forces have joined together on ‘Operation Scorpion’. It’s aimed at disrupting the movement of drugs, alongside delivering preventative initiatives in local communities.
People are being asked for their views on the planned spending of £29 million pounds on expanding Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. The new-look Octagon will have 900 seats compared to 622 at present, two cinemas and two studio spaces, enhanced technical facilities and a new café and restaurant area. The plans will be on display at the Octagon Theatre on Friday, July 8th and Saturday, July 9th.
Police have appealed for the public's help to find a missing man from Cardiff who they think may be in Yeovil or Langport. Stephen Lewis, aged 33, has not been in contact with his family since leaving Cardiff last week to travel into Somerset.
St Margaret’s shop in Ilminster has moved to a new location. The shop has been on Silver Street for nearly 30 years but is now on the corner of Ditton Street and East Street, where the usual items of donated clothes, books, bric-a-brac, and furniture are on sale.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service says July has been its busiest month ever for emergency calls. Police have recovered a 1970s Austin Mini pick-up stolen in Shepton Mallet. A specialist spinal injuries service at Yeovil Hospital has treated three hundred patients in its first year... and more
The Environment Agency has declared a drought across Somerset as the hot weather takes its toll on the county's water supplies. Police are appealing for witnesses following a fatal road traffic accident near Crewkerne. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow...and more
Police have arrested two suspects in connection with a series of moped thefts in Chard. A combine harvester has been destroyed in a farm fire at Forton, near Chard. A bowls player from Yeovil has won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow... and more
The former Beales department store in Yeovil could be brought back into use as part of a wider masterplan for the future of the town. A yellow heat health alert is in place across Somerset from nine o’clock this morning until nine o’clock on Friday morning. A Somerset farmer says this year is the driest on his land since 1976... and more
Gooch and Housego, based in Ilminster and one of the town’s biggest employers, has been sold in a multi-million-pound deal to an American private equity firm. A father who shook his four-week-old baby to death at a house in Chard has been sentenced to life in prison. A doctor who works for the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance is one of five people to have jointly set a new world record for rowing around Great Britain... and more
Avon and Somerset Police are warning people to watch out for scammers posing as Amazon. The CEO of the company that provides Somerset's recycling is warning of a major incident if people continue to put used batteries in waste bins. A former Yeovil pub could be demolished to make way for a major hotel expansion.
The West Country is officially one step closer to being declared in drought. Somerset Council says it's remodelling its service after a children's home was closed following an inspection. A new McDonald's planned off the M5 at Bridgwater could create up to 120 local jobs... and more
Two men have been jailed for stealing electrical items and cash from a property in Yeovil. Somerset Council has defended its use of Yeovil’s new performance area in The Triangle, in Lower Middle Street. Tintinhull Primary School, near Yeovil, has won a top national award for outdoor play... and more