Local News Wednesday 26th April

Wednesday, 26 April 2023 06:00

By Steve Haigh

Local schools are preparing for more disruption when teachers take further strike action tomorrow and next Tuesday. A new way to help victims of domestic abuse has been introduced in Somerset. An uninsured driver from Chard has been banned from driving for six months. An Ilminster girl has come runner-up in a national singing competition...and more.

Local schools are preparing for more disruption when teachers take further strike action tomorrow and next Tuesday. Members of the National Education Union are due to stop work on Thursday and also Tuesday, May 2nd in their long-running pay dispute. It’s understood that Fiveways Special School and Buckler’s Mead Secondary School in Yeovil will be partially shut tomorrow. Huish Episcopi Academy at Langport will be partially shut when NEU members walk out on strike.

A new way to help victims of domestic abuse has been introduced in Somerset. Help is now being provided more quickly, with victims encouraged to visit new 'pop-up' advice hubs for support.

No trains will be running between Castle Cary and Taunton stations between Sunday, April 30th and Wednesday, May 3rd due to track improvements. GWR says only Weymouth trains will run through Castle Cary with Taunton trains replaced by a coach service.

An uninsured driver from Chard has been banned from driving for six months. Appearing before magistrates in Bath, Andrew Collins, of Windsor Crescent, was also fined six-hundred-and-sixty pounds with costs of one-hundred-and-ten pounds.

A group of patients and professionals from NHS Somerset's Psychosis service are sailing along the English south coast this week as part of a challenge called Voyage to Recovery. They left Portsmouth on Sunday and aim to arrive in Dartmouth by Friday.

An Ilminster girl has come runner-up in a national singing competition. Lucy Speke was competing in the Rotary Young Singer of the Year contest held in Manchester. Lucy, who’s 17, will be performing in the Broadway Amateur Theatrical Society’s production of Billy Buckett at Broadway village hall, during the first week of May.

More from News

Wednesday 29th April

Somerset Council says Hendford Hill in Yeovil should be fully reopened to traffic by the end of May. Plans have been approved to build 40 new homes in Crewkerne. A huge pile of illegally dumped rubbish in Glastonbury has been cleared... and more
Tuesday 28th April

Police are appealing for witnesses to a fatal collision at Rimpton. A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage in South Petherton. Former Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has been retained as first-team manager of Taunton Town for next season... and more
Monday 27th April

A former school in Sherborne has been badly damaged by fire. A care home in Yeovil has been rated outstanding. ublic spaces in West Coker owned by Somerset Council are being handed over to the parish council. Mendip Golf Club has presented a cheque for £12,000 to Mind in Somerset... and more
Friday 24th April

Plans have been submitted to turn a property on Preston Road in Yeovil into a House in Multiple Occupation. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has been recalled to the England Red Roses starting line-up for tomorrow’s Women’s Six Nations game against Wales. Three sisters from Yeovil will be running the London Marathon this weekend in support of Guide Dogs UK... and more
Thursday 23rd April

Helicopters from RNAS Yeovilton have completed six weeks of sorties, protecting Cyprus from attacks by Iran. People in Somerset who use domestic heating oil are calling on the government to regulate the oil supply industry. Patients are being invited to register at a new NHS dentist in Crewkerne... and more
Wednesday 22nd April

Expectant mothers are using Yeovil Hospital once again to give birth following the reopening of the maternity unit. A Yeovil man has been jailed for four years for committing sexual offences against two young girls. Plans have been approved to convert a pub in Milborne Port into housing... and more
Tuesday 21st April

NHS Somerset has delayed closing the hyper-acute stroke unit at Yeovil Hospital. A former Avon and Somerset Police officer has been jailed for making indecent images of children. A Somerset man has been fined after pleading guilty to hunting a wild animal with dogs... and more
Monday 20th April

Nearly one hundred roads in Somerset will be surface dressed this summer to prevent further damage. Almost all children starting primary school in Somerset in September have been offered a place at one of their top three school choices. People in Somerset are being asked to record wild mammals in gardens and other green spaces over the summer... and more