Wednesday 20th September

Wednesday, 20 September 2023 07:00

By Steve Haigh

We're being asked to think carefully before using NHS services in Somerset this week, due to strikes by doctors. Wilko will shut its Yeovil store at the end of September. Crosscountry Rail, who run trains through Somerset, has been given a new contract with the government...and more.

We're being asked to think carefully before using NHS services in Somerset this week, due to strikes by doctors. Consultants walked out yesterday for forty-eight hours, with junior doctors starting three days of action from today. Junior doctors have been offered a nine percent pay rise, which they have refused.

Crosscountry Rail, which runs trains through Somerset, has been given a new contract with the government. The eight-year contract, starting from next month, comes despite figures showing that Crosscountry had one of the highest numbers of cancellations of all train operators between April and June this year.

It’s been announced that Wilko will shut its Yeovil store at the end of September. The final day of trading at the shop in Lower Middle Street will be Friday, September 29th. All four hundred Wilko outlets across the UK will shut by early October, according to the administrators, Price Waterhouse Cooper. In a separate development, The Range has bought the Wilko brand and website.

A local spider expert is asking people not to kill spiders when they enter our homes but to allow them to breed. Dee Patel, an entomologist based in Somerset, says spiders are good for the environment and that their numbers need to grow.

Ilminster hairdresser, Ben Russell, has made it through to the finals of the Australian Hair and Fashion Awards. Ben’s success at last year’s British Hairdressing Awards gave him automatic entry into the Australian awards where he will compete for the title of Global Hairdresser of the Year.

More from News

Friday 13th March

The first of the new medium lift helicopters being built by Leonardo in Yeovil for the RAF will be delivered in 2031. Somerset Council has launched a public consultation on planned new charges at its two hundred public car parks. More women in Somerset are said to be taking up walking football... and more
Thursday 12th March

A Yeovil headteacher says he’s concerned about plans to stop giving school holiday food vouchers to families on low incomes. The owner of Yeovil Town is calling on fans to be patient as he continues his overhaul of the National League side. A high voltage fault is being blamed for plunging 1700 homes into darkness in the Ilminster area... and more
Wednesday 11th March

Plans have been submitted to convert two properties in Yeovil into houses of multiple occupation. A new court date has been announced for a Yeovil man charged with attempted murder. An engineer who has worked at the Leonardo factory in Yeovil for 40-years has won a top industry award... and more
Tuesday 10th March

Police say a fire at the former Oscar Mayer food factory in Chard was started deliberately. Yeovil College says it would have been adversely affected had Leonardo not won the contract to build new medium-lift helicopters. A seven-foot dragon will be visiting towns and villages in our area during the next few weeks to promote Somerset Day... and more
Monday 9th March

Two Wildcat helicopters from 815 Squadron at RNAS Yeovilton have arrived in Cyprus to help protect RAF Akrotiri from further Iranian drone strikes. New figures show that 40 people were killed on Avon and Somerset’s roads in the last 12-months. A Somerset man has been recalling the day 60-years ago when he was a passenger on the last train on the Somerset and Dorset Railway... and more
Friday 6th March

Defence Minister Luke Pollard has been explaining why it took the government so long to confirm a contract for the Leonardo in Yeovil to build new medium lift helicopters for the RAF. Police are investigating a break in at a pet shop in Ilminster. Somerset Council is to stop using red ink on council tax reminder letters... and more
Thursday 5th March

Two military helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton are being sent to Cyprus to help bolster UK’s defences amid the US-Israel war with Iran. Yeovil Town Council is seeking legal advice over the closure of the hyper acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. Flood warnings have been lifted on the Somerset Levels... and more
Wednesday 4th March

A man has died in a fire in Wincanton. Somerset Council is planning further cuts of twenty-one million pounds to help balance its books. A campaign to raise £30,000 for a minibus has been launched in Chard... and more