Local News Wednesday 12th October

    The mandatory wearing of facemasks has been reintroduced at Yeovil Hospital. A temporary bridge over the A303 in South Somerset is to be taken down next month. Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh says he disagrees with the prime minister's u-turn on income tax. Trees in Somerset have produced a bumper crop of conkers and acorns this year. A boy in Crewkerne, who has cerebral palsy, is to make a 15,000-foot skydive to raise money for his football team..and more.

    The mandatory wearing of facemasks has been reintroduced at Yeovil Hospital. Patients and visitors are being asked to wear face coverings in A&E, Outpatients and all other clinical areas. The wearing of facemasks is optional in the café, shop, corridors and in the lifts. The reintroduction of mandatory face coverings follows a sharp rise in Covid cases in South Somerset.

    A temporary bridge over the A303 in South Somerset is to be taken down next month. National Highways put up the bridge in May as part of the major works to dual the A303 between the Podimore and Sparkford roundabouts and says it’s no longer needed. This stretch of the A303 will shut from Friday, November 11th to Monday, November 14th for the bridge to be removed.

    Yeovil MP Marcus Fysh says he disagrees with the prime minister's u-turn on income tax. Liz Truss had planned to remove the 45 percent top rate of income tax for high earners to encourage growth but then scrapped the plans shortly afterwards. Mr. Fysh claims cutting the top rate would have increased tax revenues and was a good decision. On inflation, he says it’s a global issue with the cost of living rising by 17 percent in the Netherlands, 10 percent in Germany and 9.5 percent in Italy. He says the government is right to introduce bold fiscal policies to grow the UK economy.

    Trees in Somerset have produced a bumper crop of conkers and acorns this year, according to experts. Kindlewoods, a community woodland social enterprise project, says the very hot summer and low rainfall have brought about the exceptional harvest. 

    A boy in Crewkerne, who has cerebral palsy, is to make a 15,000-foot skydive to raise money for his football team. 16-year-old, Casey Young, plays in goal for the Bristol City Cerebral Palsy football team and is raising funds for his side to compete in a football festival in Copenhagen next year. 

    Organisers of Chard Carnival have thanked all those who took part in the event for making this year’s event so successful. The collection taken during the two-hour-long procession of floats last Saturday raised just under £4,300.

    More from News

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    • 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

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    • Tuesday 14th May

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    • 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

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    • 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.

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    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Light rain

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 19°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Heavy rain shower

      High: 19°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Light rain

      High: 18°C | Low: 10°C

    • Wincanton

      Light rain

      High: 19°C | Low: 10°C

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