Local News Wednesday 13th July

    Somerset remains under a Level 3 heat-health alert today. It’s led to councils having to grit roads to stop tarmac from melting. Somerset County Council says 600 local people applied to the government’s Household Support Fund within the first week of the scheme opening. It’s being claimed that one-in-four children in the South West are living in poverty. Pigeon fanciers in Somerset say the cost of racing birds abroad has increased due to Brexit and more.

    Somerset remains under a Level 3 heat-health alert today. It’s led to councils having to grit roads to stop tarmac from melting. Meanwhile, Somerset Waste Partnership is asking for people's patience as the hot weather and staff shortages delay recycling collections. Yesterday’s affected collections were in Yeovil and around Castle Cary. Those collections have been rescheduled for Saturday. 

    Somerset County Council says 600 local people applied to the government’s Household Support Fund within the first week of the scheme opening. The council’s been given an extra one million pounds by the government to hand out to families unable to cope with the cost of living. 

    It’s being claimed that one-in-four children in the South West are living in poverty. The charity, Action for Children, says the cost of living, coupled with changes to Universal Credit is causing families great hardship. The Government says it provided additional funds to protect eight million of England’s most vulnerable families.

    Pigeon fanciers in Somerset say the cost of racing birds abroad has increased due to Brexit. Under EU rules, each bird now has to have a signed export health certificate before it can take part in cross-channel races. DEFRA says it’s continuing to support the racing pigeon community as changes created by Brexit take effect.

    A disused red telephone box in Chard has been given a new lease of life. Eight-year-old Ophelia Lynch, a member of Chard Brownies, came up with the idea of turning the phone booth into a book bank and has been awarded a Speaking Out badge for her efforts. The book bank on the corner of Fore Street and Crowshute Road is now open for taking-out books.

    More from News

    • Monday 16th June

      The new owner of Yeovil Town says he’s in talks with Somerset Council about buying back Huish Park. Water levels at some of Somerset’s reservoirs are below what they should be for this time of year. A Chard woman has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours... and more.

    • Friday 13th June

      Police are appealing for witnesses to a road traffic accident near Chard, which left one person with life-threatening injuries. Texas Rocks in Middle Street, Yeovil, has closed temporarily following a significant fire. A Yeovil dental hygienist has been named as a finalist in the Ms Great Britain competition...and more.

    • Thursday 12th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance has criticised the Chancellor’s Spending Review for not delivering real change for Yeovil and South Somerset. The CEO of Leonardo UK states that they’re working towards closing the gender pay gap within the company. Yeovil Town is relocating its first-team training camp to Bristol... and more.

    • Wednesday 11th June

      People in Somerset are being asked for their views on the state of the county’s roads and footpaths. A trial is being conducted at Yeovil Hospital to investigate whether administering shorter courses of antibiotics to patients can effectively treat sepsis. Somerset Council says it has no plans to reopen a block of public toilets in Chard...and more.

    • Tuesday 10th June

      A mother from Chard says schools need to do more to identify students with dyslexia. A fire in a van that caught alight at Stoke-sub-Hamdon is being treated as accidental. A former Yeovil-based police officer, who made it appear he was working when he wasn’t, has been barred from policing...and more

    • Monday 9th June

      Somerset Council is giving £1.5m to Hill View Special School at Ash near Martock to prevent it from closing. Two men have been convicted of killing a Yeovil man they mistakenly believed to be a convicted paedophile. People across Somerset are being asked to make a note of any wildlife they see...and more

    • Friday 6th June 

      Community Speedwatch volunteers in Keinton Mandeville have stopped monitoring the local traffic because of online and verbal abuse. Redstart Primary School in Chard has been rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted. A care home resident in Glastonbury has raised more than one thousand pounds for Children's Hospice Southwest by knitting soft toys...and more.

    • Thursday 5th June

      Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he’s been told the temporary closure of the maternity unit at Yeovil Hospital will not be made permanent. Firefighters have dealt with a fire on a coach carrying passengers at Vagg Hill in Yeovil. The authorities in Chile are holding a man who lives in Milborne Port after being found with class-A drugs in a suitcase...and more.

    Today's Weather

    • Yeovil

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 10°C

    • Chard

      Sunny intervals

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Crewkerne

      Sunny intervals

      High: 20°C | Low: 10°C

    • Somerton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 22°C | Low: 11°C

    • Wincanton

      Sunny intervals

      High: 23°C | Low: 10°C