Local News Wednesday 2nd February

Wednesday, 2 February 2022 06:00

Yeovil Hospital has repeated its request for people not to visit the accident and emergency department unless it’s absolutely necessary. The owner of a vineyard at Langport is hoping changes to alcohol duty will benefit producers of British wine. An Ilminster man has raised £10,000 for Prostate Cancer UK by completing six marathon walks. People living in Combe St Nicholas have raised more than £125,000 in a bid to reopen the only pub in the village...and more.

Yeovil Hospital has repeated its request for people not to visit the accident and emergency department unless it’s absolutely necessary. The hospital says it needs the public to co-operate with the appeal, due to the huge pressures of Covid and the busy winter that it is under.

The owner of a vineyard at Langport is hoping changes to alcohol duty will benefit producers of British wine. The changes in which the highest taxes will be charged on drinks with the highest alcohol content, come into the force from April. Guy Smith who runs the Smith and Evans Vineyard at Langport believes that due their low alcohol content, British-made wines, could escape the tax increases.

An Ilminster man has raised £10,000 for Prostate Cancer UK by completing six marathon walks. Lee Crossland walked the marathons, each of 26.2 miles, during January, completing five to six miles every night after work. Lee has thanked people in Ilminster for their generosity in supporting the Prostate Cancer UK charity.

People living in Combe St Nicholas have raised more than £125,000 in a bid to reopen the only pub in the village. Locals started a campaign called ‘Save the Dragon’ 2-years ago after the closure of The Green Dragon pub. The group says it still needs a further £55,000 to buy the Green Dragon.

Chard Carnival Committee has handed-out grants totaling £3,250.00 to local organisations from money raised at last year’s Chard carnival. Awards were given to Manor Court School, Avishayes School, Tatworth Amateur Pantomime Society and Chard 1st Scouts & Beavers. Chard Carnival Committee holds its annual general meeting on Sunday, February 13, at 7 pm, at the Guildhall in Chard.

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Thursday 16th May

Work laying a gas main on the A37 Dorchester Road near the Quicksilver Mail roundabout in Yeovil is to continue for a further two months. Somerset Council says the public toilets in Yeovil bus station will close at the end of the month but the waiting room will stay open temporarily. Former Yeovil Town Captain, Josh Staunton, has set up in business as a professional gardener...and more.
Wednesday 15th May

Somerset Council seeking to save £40 million by cutting one thousand jobs says 201 employees have so far applied to leave the authority based on voluntary redundancy. East Somerset Railway near Shepton Mallet has been used for filming the TV adaptation of Jilly Cooper's novel Rivals. An old-style red phone box in Castle Cary is being turned into Somerset's smallest museum...and more
Tuesday 14th May

Somerset's Chief Medical Officer says GP surgeries using healthcare professionals alongside doctors to provide treatments has freed up GP appointments. A farmer has been fined £15,000 for polluting a household water supply. Avon and Somerset’s new Police and Crime Commissioner has officially started work in the role. Chard Post Office is closed today for the handover of the business to new owners...and more.
Monday 13th May

Health inspectors have criticised Somerset's maternity services, including those at Yeovil Hospital. Somerset Council says re-opening Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre in its original form could cost up to £200,000 if a multi-million-pound upgrade of the building falls through. A film made by a Yeovil man on a budget of just five thousand pounds was screened at the prestigious British Independent Film Festival...and more.
Friday 10th May

The Ferne Animal Sanctuary near Chard says it needs an immediate injection of £100,000 to keep going. Yeovil’s Marlie Packer has returned to Yeovil Rugby Club where she began her rugby career 20 years ago. Twenty-five Town criers from across the South will be in Ilminster tomorrow competing in the annual Ilminster Town Criers' Competition...and more.
Thursday 9th May

Train services through Somerset are again being disrupted today due to continued strike action by the train driver’s union ALSEF. A campaign has been launched in Somerset aimed at stopping people overdosing on opioids. A Somerset business is raising a smile with its name.‘Top Of The Clops’, a tack shop near Taunton has won a place in the top ten of the UK’s funniest business names...and more.
Wednesday 8th May

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