Local News Wednesday 19th May

Wednesday, 19 May 2021 at 06:00

Somerset County Council is setting aside ten million pounds to help Somerset recover from the impact of the Covid pandemic. People are being asked to vote on the planned changes in local government in Somerset. Police are appealing for help in finding a local man. Plans for a 70-bed care home in Chard have been submitted to South Somerset District Council. Six horses have been stolen in Bower Hinton...and more.

Somerset County Council is setting aside ten million pounds to help Somerset recover from the impact of the Covid pandemic. Two million pounds will be spent on expanding local work to control Covid outbreaks. There'll also be funding to support people whose mental health has been affected.

People are being asked to vote on the planned changes in local government in Somerset. The choice is between replacing the County Council and four District Councils with one council for Somerset proposed by the County Council or two councils; one to cover the Eastern half of Somerset and another for the Western half of the county, proposed by Somerset’s District Councils. The District Councils have written to the Secretary of State to ask that the result be considered as part of the decision making on the future of local government in Somerset. The poll closes at 5 pm on Friday, the 4th of June.

Police are appealing for help in finding a local man. Kieran Finn, aged 28, has links to Chard and Crewkerne and is suspected of breaching his bail conditions. Police say Finn has a swallow tattoo on his neck and a heart tattoo on his fingers. They asked anyone who knows his whereabouts to call 999.

Plans for a 70-bed care home in Chard have been submitted to South Somerset District Council. A number of buildings in East Street would be demolished to make way for the new care home.

A proposal by the government to force eating places to advertise calorie counts on menus has been described as a bad idea by a local eating disorder charity. The plan was one of a number of new laws put forward in the Queen's Speech to help tackle the problem of obesity.

Six horses have been stolen in Bower Hinton. The animals were taken from a field in Hills Lane on Saturday, 15th May. If you live in the areas and saw the animals being loaded onto a trailer, you’re asked to call the police non-emergency number 101.

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