Local News Wednesday 18th August

Wednesday, 18 August 2021 06:00

Record numbers of young people are being treated for eating disorders in Somerset. The Environment Agency has launched a month-long series of patrols targeted at people fishing illegally in Somerset. A national team is working with the police and South Somerset District Council to help educate people on how to spot a loan shark. A contractor has been appointed to undertake major improvement works to the town centre in Chard...and more.

Record numbers of young people are being treated for eating disorders in Somerset. New figures show 128 young people began treatment for issues like anorexia and bulimia between July 2020 and June of this year, which was 82 more than in the same period the year previous. Somerset NHS Foundation Trust says the pandemic, causing anxiety and isolation had contributed to young people developing eating disorders for the first time.

The Environment Agency has launched a month-long series of patrols targeted at people fishing illegally in Somerset. Enforcement officers with support from the Angling Trust, voluntary bailiffs and local police are conducting patrols around rivers, lakes and ponds to protect fisheries from harmful activity, including theft and fishing with illegal traps. The patrols coincide with National Fishing Month that runs to the end of August.

A national team is working with the police and South Somerset District Council to help educate people how to spot a loan shark. The 'bite back' campaign has been launched to offer support and highlight alternative and safe ways for people to borrow money.

A contractor has been appointed to undertake major improvement works to the town centre in Chard. Civil engineers, Alun Griffiths Ltd, will carry out the works in Fore Street, Holyrood Street, Boden Street and the Eastern Gateway. South Somerset District Council, who over see the Chard Regeneration Project, say it will create a better town centre environment, worthy of Chard’s historic character, meanwhile, Chard looks set to get a new business centre. Somerset County Council plan to build the centre on land they own near the recycling centre, on Beeching Close. It's the latest in a series of County Council funded enterprise centres for small and medium size businesses.

A project is coming to Somerset aimed at encourage more people to cycle. 'Get Somerset Cycling' is led by the national charity Lifecycle UK and offers a range of incentives to help people feel better mentally and physically through cycling.

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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.