Local News Wednesday 26th May

Wednesday, 26 May 2021 06:00

Hundreds more jobs have been created to help with building the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. A vehicle has been destroyed by fire in Castle Cary. A fundraising campaign has been started by Yeovil Town to support the family of former club captain Lee Collins, who died in March. Chard School is celebrating its 350th anniversary this week. Engineering work, due to take place on a rail line between Yeovil and Weymouth this weekend has been postponed.

Hundreds more jobs have been created to help with building the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point. The firm running the project, EDF, says it’s taking on another seventeen hundred workers that will bring the total number on the site to seven thousand.

Somerset’s four District Councils have been told to apologise after sending out a link to a spoof website. The offending link, which mocks senior figures at Somerset County Council, was included in the literature supporting the public vote over the future of local government in the county. The Secretary of State for Local Government, Robert Jenrick has called the error a ‘serious failure’ that ‘risks undermining the reputation and standing of local government. The District Councils have yet to make public their reply to Mr. Jenrick after he criticised them for staging the countywide poll, describing it as ‘not needed’ and a waste of public money.

A vehicle has been destroyed by fire in Castle Cary. It happened in the early hours of Tuesday (25-05), in Weir Lane. Fire service says the vehicle was left totally burnt out.

A fundraising campaign has been started by Yeovil Town to support the family of former club captain Lee Collins, who died in March. Yeovil Town are raising funds for Lee's partner and young children and mental health charities, with 10% of the donations given to Young Minds through a collaboration with his former clubs. There will also be a celebration of Lee's life when Yeovil plays Stockport County at Huish Park on Saturday.

Engineering work, due to take place on a rail line between Yeovil and Weymouth this weekend has been postponed due to it being a Bank Holiday and to avoid unnecessary disruption for passengers. GWR says the job of laying new tracks around Chetnole has been moved to later in the year.

Chard School is celebrating its 350th anniversary this week. The school was founded in Chard in 1671 by William Symes who gifted the Manor House Chard for a school. Pupils have been taking part in historic activities and local mayor, Jason Baker, attended a celebratory assembly earlier in the week.

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